Evaluation of a rime-based reading program with Shuswap and Heiltsuk First Nations prereaders

The utility of teaching reading using rime-based readingstrategies with prereaders was examined. Two experiments are presentedthat studied the effects of a rime-based reading program with FirstNations prereaders; one experiment with Shuswap kindergartners andthe other with Heiltsuk Grade 1 children. Rhyming, phoneme identity,letter-sound knowledge, phonological working memory, First Nationslanguage speaking ability, and reading were measured. In the Shuswapgroup, the reading program increased the abilities that werespecifically taught, rhyming, initial phoneme identity, letter-sounds,and word reading by rime-analogy, compared to the control group.Children also developed abilities that were not specifically taught,final phoneme identity and reading by letter recoding, and could use therime-analogy strategy to read words with unfamiliar rime endings.Phonological working memory remained unchanged. The Heiltsuk childrengained in reading compared to a Grade 1 comparison group. Pretestletter-sound knowledge and rhyming were related to later reading butphoneme identity and First Nations language ability were not. Progressin phonological awareness and word reading can be enhanced in prereadersby adding experience with rime-based strategies to the readingprogram.     

Characteristics of a cognitive tool that helps students learn diagnostic problem solving

Three related studies replicated and extended previous work (J.A. Danielson et al. (2003), Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(3), 63–81) involving the Diagnostic Pathfinder (dP) (previously Problem List Generator [PLG]), a cognitive tool for learning diagnostic problem solving. In studies 1 and 2, groups of 126 and 113 veterinary students, respectively, used the dP to complete case-based homework; groups of 120 and 199, respectively, used an alternative method. Students in the dP groups scored significantly higher (p = .000 and .003, respectively) on final exams than those in control groups. In the third study, 552 veterinary students responding to a questionnaire indicated that the dP’s gating and data synthesis activities aided learning. The dP’s feedback and requirement of completeness appear to aid learning most.     

Using Qualitative Assessment in Career Counselling

Advancements in conceptualisations about career and career development and irreversible changes in the world of work have necessitated that career counsellors reflect on their practice in order that it keeps pace and maintains relevancy.Fundamental to these reflections isconsideration of the place and nature of career assessment in career counselling.Traditionally, emphasis has been given toquantitative assessment. More recently, theprofile of qualitative assessment has beenraised, and its place in career counselling hasbeen strengthened relative to but not to theexclusion of quantitative assessment. However,there is little to guide the use of qualitativeassessment. This paper presents a theoreticaloverview of qualitative assessment in careercounselling and proposes guidelines for usingqualitative assessment.     

Faculty work in a regional public university: An empirical assessment of goal consensus and congruency of actions and intentions

This analysis is concerned with the horizontal and vertical consensus of definitions of work appropriate to accomplish the goals of university administrators and faculty, as well as the congruency of ideal (intent) and actual (action/behavior) work of faculty. Data-gathering techniques include the following: historical analysis of the university; interviews with the provost, 5 college deans, and 32 chairpersons; and a survey of 503 faculty (69% return rate). Faculty work perceived to achieve departmental goals lacked horizontal consensus, especially among chairpersons in the same college and among faculty in the same department. Vertical consensus was weak, especially between chairpersons and their faculty, and in most colleges between deans and chairpersons. Greatest incongruencies were between faculty intentions and reported actions. There was declining support for administrative goals as one moved down the hierarchical structure within the university. Perspectives were explored that account for the lack of goal consensus and the incongruency between intentions and reported actions.     

Sexual violence and youth in South Africa: the need for community-based prevention interventions

OBJECTIVES: South Africa is reported to have one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world, with adolescent girls between the ages of 12-17 being particularly at risk. Given that adolescence is considered a critical developmental period for establishing normative sexual behavior, this study explored multiple levels of risk influences that render adolescent girls vulnerable to becoming victims of sexual violence and adolescent boys vulnerable to becoming perpetrators of such abuse in one South African community. METHOD: A case study approach using qualitative rapid focused ethnographic methods was used. This involved 10 focus group interviews and 10 individual interviews with a volunteer convenience sample of adolescent boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16 years. RESULTS: Inductive thematic analysis revealed that there were indeed multiple levels of risk influences for adolescent girls and boys becoming either victims or perpetrators of sexual violence. Using the Theory of Triadic Influence as a framework, influences at the distal socio-cultural/environmental level included traditional notions of masculinity and normalization of inter-personal violence as well as poverty and the commodification of sex leading to rape supportive attitudes. Influences at the proximal situation context/social normative level included high-risk social norms as well as a weak adult and community protective shield. Finally, influences at the intra-personal level included low self-esteem and self-efficacy as well as inter-personal affective anger. CONCLUSION: Given the multiple levels of risk influences that need to be addressed to protect youth from becoming either perpetrators or victims of sexual violence in the South African context, prevention programs should necessarily be comprehensive, developmentally timed, and community-based.     

Schoolhouse in the Field: How Agrarian Cultural Values Shaped Texas Schools for Mexican Children, 1910-1930

This paper discusses the influence of agrarian cultural values on schools for children of Mexican heritage in Texas from 1910-1930. Both White landowners and Mexican laborers displayed values connected to the farming lifestyle in regards to children and education during this period. These shared agrarian values were bolstered by White racist behavior to keep education for Mexican children at a minimum. The weak educational system these values created has fostered continued low academic achievement for Mexican Americans during the past 80 years. Beliefs held by both Whites and Mexicans about children's work in the fields and the necessity of education are discussed. Other characteristics of both Whites and Mexicans in Texas are described. School facilities, teachers, curriculum, funding, compulsory attendance, and the typical attendance and achievement for children of Mexican heritage are explained. The challenge to the old system by Mexican Americans is also noted. The purpose of the rudimentary schools created in Texas and the implications for today concludes the discussion.     

Neighborhood Characteristics,and Child Care Type and Quality

Research Findings: Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this article relates neighborhood characteristics to the type of child care used in families with toddlers and preschoolers (N = 1,121; representative of children in Chicago in 1996–1998). Neighborhood structural disadvantage was assessed via U.S. Census data, and neighborhood processes (i.e., density of social networks, collective efficacy, and level of participation in neighborhood organizations) were accessed with a community survey. Child care decisions (i.e., whether they chose care in centers; child care homes by non-relative, by relatives, and exclusively by parents) and the quality of center child care (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised) were assessed in a longitudinal sample. After controlling for family characteristics, various neighborhood characteristics were related to child care characteristics. In communities with denser social networks, children were less likely to experience care in child care homes by unrelated adults. Children were more likely to be in child care homes and less likely to cared for by parents exclusively or by relatives when collective efficacy was higher. Center care quality was lower in disadvantaged neighborhoods and higher for publicly funded programs. Further, neighborhood structural disadvantage was more negatively related to quality when mothers had less education. Practice or Policy: These findings provide further evidence that public programs such as Head Start and public pre-kindergarten programs may be especially important to ensure that children living in poverty in disadvantaged neighborhoods have access to the types of child care that promote school readiness.     

Strategies for Effecting Strategic Organisational Change in Teaching Practices: Case Studies at Deakin University

The vision of Deakin University is, in part, to be recognized as a world leader in flexible and lifelong professional learning and in the innovative and timely applications of information and communications technologies to teaching and learning. This paper describes aspects of the university's Online Teaching, Learning and Enhancement Project, which sought to bring about faculty change by adopting a combination of institutionally imposed and faculty-driven strategies to expand the use of information and communications technologies in programs across the university. In particular, the paper describes and analyzes the models of change underpinning the project, discusses the ways in which the adoption of information and communications technologies for teaching and learning were used as a mechanism to effect and encourage desired change, contrasts the approaches used to implement the project in three faculties, and identifies several key pedagogical and administrative outcomes of the project. Finally, the paper draws some tentative conclusions regarding critical success factors for the adoption of technology-based teaching and learning in higher education.     

The pedagogical use of internships in criminal justice programs: A nationwide study

Internships have been viewed as an important component of many disciplines, including criminal justice. Most studies on the use of internships in criminal justice, however, have been program-specific discussions and have not focused on how they are used in general. This study uses a nationwide survey of 99 programs to ascertain the organization, application, implementation, and evaluation of internships in criminal justice. The data reveal that although there are some differences in how programs use these internships, there are also a number of similarities. Implications for changes based on these results are addressed.