Parent Involvement,Parental Depression,and Program Satisfaction Among Low-Income Parents Participating in a Two-Generation Early Childhood Education Program

Research Findings: This study simultaneously examined parental depression and parent involvement as predictors of satisfaction with an early childhood intervention program. Parents (N = 203) of Head Start children participated in this short-term longitudinal study. Measures of parent involvement and satisfaction assessed multiple dimensions of these constructs. Nearly 40% of low-income mothers reported being sometimes or chronically depressed over the course of 1 year of the Head Start program. Compared with mothers who were never depressed, those who were sometimes depressed reported less involvement in home- and school-based activities as well as fewer interactions with their child's teacher. Never depressed parents were more likely to be satisfied with their child's teacher compared with either group of depressed mothers. Higher levels of parent involvement and parent–teacher interaction predicted optimal satisfaction with Head Start services. Practice or Policy: Implications of results for practice are considered in terms of teacher training to recognize unique needs involved in working to establish a home–school connection with mothers experiencing depression. Strategies for building community partnerships to assist with mental health needs are discussed.     

Analysing the integration of engineering in science lessons with the Engineering-Infused Lesson Rubric

ABSTRACT

Science teachers are being called on to incorporate engineering practices into their classrooms. This study explores whether the Engineering-Infused Lesson Rubric, a new rubric designed to target best practices in engineering education, could be used to evaluate the extent to which engineering is infused into online science lessons. Eighty lessons were selected at random from three online repositories, and coded with the rubric. Overall results documented the strengths of existing lessons, as well as many components that teachers might strengthen. In addition, a subset of characteristics was found to distinguish lessons with the highest level of engineering infusion. Findings are discussed in relation to the potential of the rubric to help teachers use research evidence-informed practice generally, and in relation to the new content demands of the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards, in particular.     

Towards graduate employment: exploring student identity through a university-wide employability project

Students have expectations of their university education leading to graduate careers, with universities investing considerable resources in institution-wide initiatives designed to enhance opportunities for student work placements and work-related learning. However, there are large variations between courses and disciplines in student uptake of these opportunities, with limited evidence explaining why this might be the case. Recognising recent approaches which consider student identity in transitions, this study explored student attitudes to work-related learning across a range of subject disciplines. The first phase of the study used in-class surveys (N = 199) to focus on students’ self-identification and perceptions of employability initiatives. Follow-up interviews were conducted to further explore themes emerging in the survey data. The study found that, while some students drew on resources for identity work in their recognition of and approach to work-related learning, access was limited, and university resources were not always recognised or effective. The findings have implications for the design of effective graduate employability initiatives.     

Trends in children's fiction in the United Kingdom during the 1980s

Through her work onChildren's Books of the Year Julia Eccleshare has a unique overview of the development of fiction written for children during the 1980s.CLE invited her to detect trends in the writing and publishing of children's books during the past decade.Julia Eccleshare is a freelance editor, advisor to publishers, and reviewer of children's books for national newspapers. She has written or edited some 15 books, includingTreasure Islands: The Woman's Hour Guide to Children's Reading: BBC 1988.     

Children’s private speech during algorithmic and heuristic drawing tasks

This cross-sectional study examined the private speech and task-related activity of 108 school-aged children while they drew pictures of real objects (i.e., a house, a person, and an animal) and make-believe objects (i.e., a house, a person, and an animal) to investigate developmental and task-related changes in self-regulation. Composite scores for each first-grade (N=36), third-grade (N=36), and fifth-grade (N=36) participant were calculated from the repeated raw frequencies of overall private speech and private speech in conjunction with task-related behavior during the two types of drawing activities (i.e., real and make-believe). Scores were then analyzed using regression analysis and 3×2 (Grade×Task Type) ANOVA’s to explore study hypotheses. This study found that: (1) there was a concave curvilinear developmental trend in overall private speech production, (2) participants utilized more private speech during heuristic (i.e., make-believe) drawing tasks than algorithmic (i.e., real) drawing tasks, and (3) school-aged children used private speech in conjunction with task-related behavior in a different manner during the two types of drawing activities. These findings contribute to the Vygotskian perspective regarding the development and function of private speech.     

School psychology graduate education retention research characteristics: Implications for diversity initiatives in the profession

Lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the school psychology workforce has been a concern since the profession's inception. One solution is to graduate more racially and ethnically diverse individuals from school psychology programs. This structured review explored the characteristics of studies published from 1994 to 2017 that investigated graduate student retention and school psychology. An electronic search that included specified databases, subject terms, and study inclusion criteria along with a manual search of 10 school psychology journals yielded two published, peer‐reviewed studies focused primarily on graduate student retention and school psychology over the 23‐year span. Two researchers coded the studies using a rigorous coding process with high inter‐rater reliability. Findings suggest that mostly Black and White individuals served as participants, undergraduate students represented the largest group sampled, and key school psychology stakeholders’ views were missing. Additionally, programs interested in retaining racially and ethnically diverse students should have a commitment to multicultural issues, expose students to diverse professional networks and mentorship, and cultivate an inclusive program environment. Implications point to a need for more studies focused on school psychology graduate student retention in general and in specific relation to retaining racial and ethnic minoritized students.     

School alienation and student well-being: a cross-lagged longitudinal analysis

European Journal of Psychology of Education - School alienation is identified as a severe educational problem that hampers students’ academic journey. However, little is known about the...     

Practitioners’ conceptions of ethical practice in social networking in career services

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - This article reports on a phenomenographic investigation into practitioners’ conceptions of ethical practice in social...     

Profile analysis of standardized intelligence test performance of very high IQ children

Practitioners are frequently faced with the need to evaluate the intellectual skills of individuals with very high levels of functioning. Due to the statistical rarity of these persons, few tests have sufficient range of scores for a detailed analysis of intraindividual differences in performance. This paper describes a method using age equivalents and standard scores to recreate the full range of variability in the scores of high-functioning individuals. The method allows for a more complete interpretation of performance that can lead to better educational and therapeutic programming.