Waiting to inhale: how to unhurry the moment of birth

A doula and expectant mother's view of birth is forever changed when she sees a midwife simply place a newly born child below her mother at the moment of birth. The pause that the mother experiences in this moment as she studies, touches, and claims her child prompts the author to reflect in this guest editorial on ways we might be disturbing the natural sequence of birth as we deliver babies directly to their mothers' chests.     

Erratum to: Effect of Current Electricity Simulation Supported Learning on the Conceptual Understanding of Elementary and Secondary Teachers

This study examined the impact of computer simulation and supported science learning on a teacher’s understanding and conceptual knowledge of current electricity. Pre/Post tests were used to measure the teachers’ concept attainment. Overall, there was a significant and large knowledge difference effect from Pre to Post test. Two interesting interactions were observed during the data analysis. The first was the difference between Elementary and Secondary teachers. Both groups had significant gains, with large effect sizes, but the Elementary teachers (Pre-Mean = 3.70, Post-Mean = 7.51) started lower and ended higher exhibiting a significantly larger gain than the Secondary teachers (Pre-Mean = 4.96, Post-Mean = 6.71). The second interaction was the impact of gender. Both groups showed significant gains, with large effect sizes, but females (Pre-Mean = 3.90, Post-Mean = 7.21) gained significantly more than males (Pre-Mean = 5.13, Post-Mean = 7.01). These results confirm that computer simulation supported science learning can have a positive effect on concept attainment in teachers.     

A Qualitative Examination of the Challenges, Resources, and Strategies for Serving Children Learning English in Head Start

The dramatic growth in the number of children learning English as a second language in our country has led to a corresponding increase in the need to understand how teachers and schools can effectively teach children who are learning English as a second language. Many teachers report not feeling prepared to meet the needs of these children (National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher preparation and professional development: 2000. , 2002). The current study used focus group interviews to examine how Head Start teachers in one program addressed the special learning needs of children learning English in their classrooms. Key challenges involved communicating with children and their families in their home language. Teachers used other staff, parents, and children in the classroom to interpret. Strategies involved visual aids, pictures, gestures, and a welcoming classroom environment. Resources used by teachers were professional development and language skills of other staff. However, available resources were often underutilized and limited for teachers to use in meeting the challenges the teachers faced in the classroom. Suggestions are presented for overcoming the challenges and limited resources encountered by teachers, such as changes in preservice and inservice training opportunities, and second language learning opportunities for teachers. Further implications for training and research are discussed.     

Teaching about the importance of trees: a study with young children

This paper reports on a study undertaken with the primary aim of investigating the effect of the storytelling teaching approach on kindergarten children's retention of ideas about the importance of trees. The study also assessed the effect of storytelling on children's intention to participate in a tree planting activity that they had to select from a list of activities. The story that was created included such elements as binary opposites, mental images, mystery, and wonder, according to Kieran Egan's theory. The study utilized a two‐group design, was conducted in three phases (pre‐test, intervention, and post‐test), lasted 11 weeks, and its results provide evidence of the effectiveness of the storytelling approach when compared with the traditional method of expository teaching complemented with visual images (pictures) of trees and their importance to human beings. The pedagogical appropriateness of the story, which was based upon the binary pair of opposites ‘security–insecurity’, is also discussed in the paper.     

The Talking Drawings Strategy: Using Primary Children’s Illustrations and Oral Language to Improve Comprehension of Expository Text

Listening and reading comprehension can be assessed by analyzing children’s visual, verbal, and written representations of their understandings. “Talking Drawings” (McConnell, S. (1993). Talking drawings: A strategy for assisting learners. Journal of Reading, 36(4), 260–269 is one strategy that enables children to combine their prior knowledge with the new information derived from an expository text and “translate” those newly-acquired understandings into other symbol systems, including an oral discussion with a partner, a more detailed drawing, and written labels for the drawing. The Talking Drawings strategy begins by inviting children to create pre-learning drawings. These initial drawings are a way of taking inventory of a child’s current content knowledge about a particular topic. After pre-learning drawings are created and shared, children listen to or read an expository text (e.g., information book, passage from a textbook) on the same topic as their drawing. Pairs of students discuss the information and either modify their pre-learning drawings to be more detailed or create completely new drawings that reflect the recently-acquired information. Students are encouraged to label their drawings with words in a diagram or schematic fashion. By evaluating the “before” and “after” artwork, educators can identify advances in students’ reading and listening comprehension of the terminology, facts, and principles on a particular topic.     

Increasing cesarean birth rates: a clash of cultures?

Cesarean birth rates in the United States reached a high of 27.6% in 2003, a 6% increase over 2002. A cultural conflict appears to exist between the views of those who believe that birth is normal and many cesareans are unnecessary and the views of those who feel that higher rates are justifiable. Childbirth educators can share cultural concepts of normal birth in their classroom.     

The developmental relation between cognitive stage and the comprehension of speaker uncertainty.

3 hypotheses were tested concerning the developmental relation between children's concepts of physical uncertainty and their comprehension of a speaker's uncertainty. 2 cognitive tasks of physical uncertainty were used to assign 56 subjects (aged 5-4 to 17-11) to 1 of 3 cognitive stages. 2 tests for comprehension of speaker uncertainty were administered to all participants. The results indicated that cognitive stage was related to (a) comprehension that a speaker could be uncertain, (b) comprehension that uncertainty could be expressed in different degrees or magnitudes, and (c) the internal consistency of judgments made about the relative degree of uncertainty conveyed by an utterance. These findings are interpreted as evidence for the position that development of cognitive stages is structurally related to comprehension of speech act uncertainty.     

Multiple Dimensions of Instructional Effectiveness in Reading: A Review of Classroom Observation Studies and Implications for Special Education Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to review and analyze effective classroom reading practices for early graders, using information gathered from the existing content-general and content-specific observation protocols measuring teachers’ classroom reading practices. Dimensions and constructs from 28 observation studies were synthesized to identify classroom instructional practices that have positive impacts on student achievement. Findings revealed that (a) instructional support, emotional support, and classroom management have positive impacts on student achievement, (b) the degree to which instructional practices are effective depends on students’ particular learning needs, and (c) students’ entering skills and primary language are associated with instructional effectiveness in reading. Challenges and implications for future research on effective instructional strategies for special education and the development of an observational protocol for special education teacher effectiveness are discussed.