The shaping of communication across boundaries

This article will consider the formative effect of boundaries between activities in directing and deflecting the attention of actors who are seeking to develop innovatory practice at these boundaries. Specific attention will be directed to practices of communication at these boundaries and also to the way in which these boundaries shape the practices of communication themselves. The concept of boundary strength will be developed and discussed. Its utility will be illustrated through reference to an investigation of the consequences of 3 very different examples of attempts at boundary crossing as Local Authorities in England attempt to develop integrated Children's Services from traditional collections of single service agencies (e.g., Education, Health, Social Services). The data will be drawn from a 4 year study of professional learning in and for interagency working directed by the authors and funded within the UK Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme.     

Variability in the age of schooling contributes to the link between literacy and numeracy in Côte d'Ivoire

Literacy and numeracy are correlated throughout development, however, our understanding of this relation is limited. We explored the predictors of literacy and numeracy covariance (i.e., shared fluency between literacy and numeracy) in children (N = 1167, girls = 563) in rural Côte d'Ivoire, with specific focus on how developmental timing of instruction may relate to covariance. Many Ivorian children experience late enrollment and grade repetition, leading to variation in age-for-grade; participants were between grades 1 to 6, but their ages ranged from 5 to 15 (M = 9.19, SD = 2.07). Phonological awareness, numerical magnitude, ordinality, working memory, and inhibitory control were cognitive predictors of covariance. Age-for-grade was negatively related to covariance suggesting that covariance is related to timing of instruction.