Overt and covert verbal problem-solving strategies: developmental trends in use,awareness, and relations with task performance in children aged 5 to 17

Age-related changes in children's use, self report, and awareness of verbal problem-solving strategies (private speech) and strategy effectiveness were explored with a large (N = 2,156) cross-sectional sample of children aged 5 to 17. Children's verbal strategies moved from overt, to partially covert, to fully covert forms with age. Self-reports of verbal strategy use were accurate yet incomplete. Awareness of children's use of verbal strategies was low and increased with age. Although verbal strategies were associated with competence among the youngest children, self-talk was unrelated to task performance for older children, suggesting considerable persistence over time of a relatively ineffective strategy. Awareness was not a prerequisite for children's verbal strategy use but was positively associated with strategy effectiveness among those who talked.     

THE CLUE TO CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: UNITING THEOLOGY AND EDUCATION, 1950 TO THE PRESENT

Christian religious educators in the Religious Education Association are challenged to reclaim their theological nerve and their partnership in public conversations about the educational practices of U.S. society. Beginning with the work of Randolph Crump Miller in the 1950s, this essay traces through the pages of Religious Education the dialogue about the partnership of education and theology. A practical theology of education is offered where the teaching and forming of Christian identity is complemented with a public theological examination of educational practices and meanings in the wider culture.     

HOLDING ONTO HOPE: ADDRESSING THEOLOGICAL CONFLICT THROUGH CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Today deep theological differences threaten to divide Protestant denominations. In turn, these differences often mute church education and block mission. This article seeks to offer glimpses for addressing that theological controversy. It is an exercise in historical retrieval examining a generative period in the history of Christian religious education, that is, the theological conflict between the liberal religious education movement and neo-orthodoxy in the 1930s through 1950s. As Christian educators moved through this earlier conflict, underlying theological commitments and theological practices emerged that offered a faithful politics of hope calling the church to mission.     

RESPONSE: “SLEEPER TRANSITIONS” AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Abstract

In this article the authors present the results of their research of cooperation schools in the Netherlands. These schools are an exception in the dual educational system because they originate from a merger of a religiously neutral public school and a religious school. The data, provided by school principals, show key values of the cooperation schools. These values are compared to characteristics of public education. The authors also focus on the organization of religious education. This study is a first step in a broader research of Dutch experiments concerning the merging of different religious school identities.     

Treatment of depressed mothers in home visiting: Impact on psychological distress and social functioning

Objectives

Depression is prevalent in mothers receiving home visiting. Little is known about the impact of treatment on associated features of maternal depression in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a novel, adapted treatment for depressed mothers in home visiting on psychological distress and social functioning.

Methods

In-Home Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (IH-CBT) was developed to treat depressed mothers in home visiting. A randomized clinical trial design was used in which subjects were 93 new mothers in a home visiting program. Mothers with major depressive disorder identified at 3 months postpartum were randomized into IH-CBT and ongoing home visiting (n = 47) or standard home visiting (SHV; n = 46) in which they received home visitation alone and could obtain treatment in the community. Measures of psychological distress, social support, and social network were measured at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and three-month follow-up. Clinical features of depression and home visiting parameters were examined as potential moderators.

Results

Subjects receiving IH-CBT reported decreased psychological distress at post-treatment (ES = 0.77) and follow-up (ES = 0.73). Examination of types of psychological distress indicated broad improvements at both time points. Those receiving IH-CBT reported increased social support over time relative to those in the SHV condition. Effect sizes were modest at post-treatment (ES = 0.38) but increased at follow-up (ES = 0.65). Improvements were seen in affiliative and belonginess aspects of social support, in contrast to tangible support which was statistically non-significant. Findings were not moderated by clinical features of depression or home visiting parameters. No group differences were found in size of and involvement with social networks.

Conclusions

IH-CBT is effective in reducing psychological distress and improving perceived social support in depressed mothers receiving home visiting. To the extent that mothers are better adjusted and feel socially supported, they are more available to their children and more amenable to home visiting services. IH-CBT is a feasible, readily adopted treatment that is compatible with multiple home visiting models. As a result it is a promising approach to help depressed mothers in home visiting. Additional interventions may be needed to support depressed mothers in building sizable and stable social networks.     

Education policy and the development of the school organisation committee

This article investigates some of the administrative processes involved in setting up the School Organisation Committee (SOC) in one Shire County in England. Labour central government wants SOCs inter alia to make decisions on the planning and provision of school places 'more local and to speed up the process' that previously involved often lengthy periods of consideration of cases by the Secretary of State for Education. Local politicians' views on the SOC and the implications for local-central power relations are reported in this article.     

Looked-after Children: what supports them to learn?

This paper outlines a study which explored six young Looked-after Children’s perceptions of what supports them to learn. The participants were aged between eight and nine years old and lived in the UK. The study adopted semi-structured interviews and notepad diaries as research methods and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research methodology. Three super-ordinate themes were developed, which focussed on the importance which participants placed on school as the major support for learning as summarised in the themes: a place where I am accepted; a place where I can make choices; and a place which personalises learning. A model seeking to outline the findings was generated and the implications which the research raises are discussed. Additionally, considerations for future research are outlined.     

The celler committee report*

TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING. By the Staff of CBS News. New York, Toronto, London: McGraw‐Hill Book Company, Inc., 1958. 182 pp. $5.75.

THE ANNOUNCER'S HANDBOOK. By Ben Graf Henneke and Edward S. Dumit. New York: Rinehart &; Company, 1959. 293 pp. $4.00.

ADVERTISING: MASS COMMUNICATION IN MARKETING. By C. A. Kirkpatrick. Boston: The Houghton Mifflin Co., The Riverside Press, Cambridge; 1959. 639 pp.

AN INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH IN SPEECH. By J. Jeffery Auer. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1959. 244 pp. $5.00.

ZOOMAR. By Ernie Kovacs. New York: Doubleday &; Co., 1957. 348 pp. $3.95. Paperback edition: New York: Bantam Books, 1959. 344 pp. 50 cents.