Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.     

Fetal heart rate and variability: stability and prediction to developmental outcomes in early childhood

Stability in cardiac indicators before birth and their utility in predicting variation in postnatal development were examined. Fetal heart rate and variability were measured longitudinally from 20 through 38 weeks gestation (n = 137) and again at age 2 (n = 79). Significant within-individual stability during the prenatal period and into childhood was demonstrated. Fetal heart rate variability at or after 28 weeks gestation and steeper developmental trajectories were significantly associated with mental and psychomotor development at 2 years (n = 82) and language ability at 2.5 years (n = 61). These data suggest that the foundations of individual differences in autonomic control originate during gestation and the developmental momentum of the fetal period continues after birth.     

Cognitive processes associated with child neglect

OBJECTIVE: To compare neglectful and non-neglectful mothers on information processing tasks related to child emotions, behaviors, the caregiving relationship, and recall of child-related information. METHOD: A natural group design was used. Neglectful mothers (N=34) were chosen from active, chronic caseloads; non-neglectful comparison mothers (N=33) were obtained from community agencies serving families. Participants were administered the IFEEL Picture task to assess maternal perceptions of infant emotions, eight vignettes of young children's behavior to assess attributions for child behavior across different scenarios, and a passage recall task to assess information processing problems. A measure of depression was used as a covariate to control for this variable. RESULTS: Neglectful mothers were significantly less likely to recognize infants' feelings of interest, more likely to see sadness and shame, more inaccurate at labeling infants' emotions, and had a more limited emotion vocabulary. They also made more internal and stable attributions for children's behaviors in situations where it was not clear whether a child was at risk of harm, and had poor recall of information. Depressive symptoms had little effect on these findings with the exception of information recall. CONCLUSIONS: Neglectful mothers show significant problems in information processing concerning their child's emotions and behaviors, which may affect their childrearing behavior. Cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve parents' abilities to recognize their child's emotions and to address maladaptive attributions may be of value.     

不“靠谱”的教科书

爱迪生7岁的时候利用镜子反光,使妈妈的手术得以进行——如果你没有把小学语文课上的分分钟浪费在传纸条、和同桌掐架、和好、再掐架上的话,那么相信上面的故事你会有印象。然而让人感到奇怪的是,竟然找不到任何英文资料记载此事。     

风雨百年,回望辛亥

百年前的1911年10月10日,湖北新军工程营中的一声枪响,划破了武昌的夜空。这一枪,绝非普通的一枪。它是中国民主主义革命的发令枪,是埋葬清王朝267年统治的夺命枪,也是结束中国长达两千余年封建帝制标志性的一枪。这一声枪响之前,中国处在怎样一个大背景下?     

经济社会变革中的教育使命 从城市转型发展的十大趋势看教育服务的对策

改革开放以来,上海按常住人口计算的人均GDP已突破1万美元,经济实现了跨越式发展。然而,上海的经济发展基本上走的是高投入、高投资、高消耗、高污染的粗放型道路,加快转变经济发展方式成为保证上海经济发展和社会和谐的内在要求。上海经济发展方式转变的重要标志是实现创新驱动、城市转型发展。面对上海转型发展的大趋势,教育应有怎样的思索和对策?近期,由上海市教卫党委书记李宣海和市教委主任薛明扬总牵头,上海市     

首次提出的全光控制高灵敏纳米光机质谱仪

上海交通大学物理系朱卡的教授(图1)及其博士生李金金(图2)利用等离子体和纳米材料的耦合系统首次提出了用全光控制的方法测量微观粒子的质量。2011年6月,美国物理协会APS的新闻中心Physical Review Focus(PRF)报道了此项以交大为唯一单位的工作,题为"Plasmon-assisted mass sensing in a hybrid nano-crystal coupled to a nanomechanical resonator"(Physical Review B 83,245421 2011)。美国物理协会以"Weighing DNA Down to the Zeptogram"     

家长警惕消极心理暗示 切勿做“乌鸦嘴”妈妈

一张张不负责任的"乌鸦嘴",在不经意间影响了孩子们健康成长的轨迹,甚至使孩子与父母、老师的教育初衷背道而驰。