Co-occurring forms of child maltreatment and adult adjustment reported by Latina college students

OBJECTIVES: This study had two primary objectives: First, to examine the nature and co-occurrence of various forms of child maltreatment (sexual, physical, emotional, and witnessing violence) reported by Latina college students, and second, to explore coexisting maltreatment types and acculturation status as possible contributors to long-term adjustment difficulties. METHOD: Participants were 112 Latina undergraduate students categorized by the number of childhood maltreatment types experienced (0, 1, or 2 or more) and acculturation level (1 to 5). The possible effects of co-occurring forms of maltreatment, in conjunction with acculturation status, were investigated with respect to participants' reported trauma symptomatology. Data were collected using self-report measures. RESULTS: Nearly three out of 10 participants (29%) experienced more than one type of child maltreatment and, as expected, these individuals reported greater trauma symptomatology than those reporting either a single type of maltreatment or no maltreatment at all. Those who reported multiple types also endured more severe maltreatment than did respondents who experienced a single type. Acculturation level was neither directly related to trauma symptoms nor did it moderate the lasting correlates of maltreatment among victims. Interestingly, those who experienced a single form of maltreatment reported no more trauma symptoms than did participants who reported no maltreatment history at all. CONCLUSION: This investigation documents a large degree of overlap among various forms of self-reported childhood maltreatment within a Latina college population. The results underscore the need to consider multiple forms of maltreatment, as well as severity, when making inferences regarding potential effects on later functioning.     

TEACHER BEHAVIORAL PRACTICES: RELATIONS TO STUDENT RISK BEHAVIORS,LEARNING BARRIERS,AND SCHOOL CLIMATE

Student behavioral problems pose a myriad of challenges for schools. In this study, we examine the relations among teacher and school‐level constructs (i.e., teacher collaboration, supervision/discipline, instructional management), and student‐related outcomes (i.e., high‐risk behaviors, barriers to learning, student social–behavioral climate). Teachers across 29 high schools, in a large urban school district serving primarily low‐income students, completed self‐report surveys. Multilevel regression was used to test both individual‐ and school‐level predictors of student outcomes. Findings suggest that teacher practices at the individual and school levels are linked to student high‐risk behaviors, barriers to student learning, and school climate. More specifically, findings indicate that better supervision/discipline and instructional management are associated with fewer high‐risk behaviors and barriers to learning. More instructional management is also linked to positive social–behavioral climate. Results from this study highlight the association between teacher practices and a range of student‐related problem behaviors, and suggest that system‐level interventions in the school may have positive effects.     

Latinx students’ experiences with college access and preparation at college preparatory charter schools

Charter schools that target underserved communities, including Latinxs, have proliferated in the U.S., claiming a unique, more autonomous and successful alternative to traditional public schools, often with a promise of increased postsecondary access and preparation. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding their effectiveness on academic outcomes, prompting additional research on charter schools. This study examined the college access and preparation experiences of 14 Latinxs attending college preparatory charter schools within one school system in Texas. Findings highlight how schools assisted students in preparing for college, but challenges in accessing college knowledge and assistance still existed, particularly for undocumented students.     

Interactive Television (ITV) Instructor Behaviors: Implications of Frequency and Importance

Two hundred students majoring in education responded to the Validation of Effective Behaviors of Distance Instructors Inventory (McKenzie, Kirby, & Mims, 1997). The 41 items measured two dimensions: frequency and importance of effective behaviors in delivering distance instruction. A two-way within-subjects ANOVA was conducted. Of the 41 items, 14 were rated higher in importance than in frequency. The 14 items were then analyzed using Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotation, which yielded two factors: Effective Learning Methods and Student Guidance. This study suggests that the behaviors of Interactive Television (ITV) instructors may be lacking in these two important factors.     

The effect of instruction on early nonword reading strategies

This paper reports the results of a study examining the role of early reading instruction on the nonword reading strategies employed by beginning readers. Three groups of children given different styles of reading instruction were asked to read a list of nonwords presented (a) in isolation and (b) using the clue word technique (Goswami, 1986, 1988). The three groups of children were following either (i) the Early Reading Research project (small units instruction), (ii) the National Literacy Project (instruction emphasising onset‐rime and rhyme awareness), or (iii) usual classroom practice (combined large and small units instruction). Children given small units instruction (Early Reading Research) were found to make significant use of grapheme‐phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and were more accurate than the other two groups of children at reading the nonword items. The National Literacy Project children demonstrated a preference for a rime‐based strategy, once familiarity with the analogous words was controlled, and made significantly more use of this strategy than the Early Reading Research children. The results suggest that early reading instruction does have a significant impact on early reading strategies and should be taken into account in future studies of this type.     

Preservice Teachers Adrift on a Sea of Knowledges

The paper argues for fresh recognition of the complexities faced by preservice teachers, particularly during the practicum, where they are expected to bring their stockpile of diverse, and sometimes conflicting, knowledges about effective teaching to immediate use with classroom learners. The paper abo draws on insights from postmodern theorising on the privileging of knowledges. While the major focus of the paper is on issues surrounding multiplicity of knowledges about effective classroom teaching, it is also recognised that much of learning to teach occurs in affective, ethical and interpersonal ways as well as cognitive. Several suggestions are made to assist preservice teachers negotiate the complexities of the process of becoming teachers. It is argued that the practicum in preservice teacher education can be seen as a rich site for further exploration of this process—and should be resourced commensurately. Such explorations have the potential to illuminate the ways in which preservice teachers mesh knowledges about effective teaching with their own personal values and beliefs within the specific contexts of their classrooms. Associated with the recognition of the complexities of the processes involved, is a call for university and school based teacher educators to model, with respect to their programmes and practices, the same level of critical reflection they advocate for student teachers.     

Dignifying the educational process through conscientização

Teaching is a very complex endeavor. Embedded within this complex environment are issues of power, culture, ethnicity, and race. When teachers and students come together, in the classroom, some of these issues become visible and others remain invisible. Attempting to make influences on teaching and learning visible is one of the steps toward developing a practice framed by conscientização. Ms. Cook, the teacher of this story, is empowering herself and her students; through critical reflection that serves to deneutralize educational acts by recognizing they are embedded in issues of culture, ethnicity, politics, power, and, race. Classroom based research must be more inclusive and indeed cognizant of the mediating macrostructures that teachers deal with everyday. For example, Goldberg and Muir Welsh describe some of the students as being Latinos. In doing so, they adopts a third person as opposed to a first person view of these students. A first person view can acknowledge a dialectical relationship between race and ethnicity.     

Toward multimodal inquiry: opportunities,challenges and implications of multimodality for research and scholarship

In this article, we suggest that we are witnessing a challenge to the hegemony of text-based knowledge in academic scholarship, brought about by newly available modes of expression, and a cultural shift in our notions of reading and writing, authorship, and networked knowledge production. The central question we address here concerns the implications of widening our ideas of acceptable forms of inquiry, analysis and representation in academic scholarship. As a collective of scholar-practitioners exploring new modes of expression and working both within and outside the formal structures of academia, we argue for the increasing significance of multimodal research in the contemporary context of academic inquiry. By more equitably valuing different ways of thinking, knowing and communicating, multimodal research can facilitate wider and more diverse participation in the production of knowledge, offer a more nuanced and ethical mode of inquiry, emphasize different ways of knowing and connecting, and make scholarship more broadly accessible beyond academic contexts. Here, we analyze the key opportunities facilitated by multimodal inquiry, as well as the obstacles that stand in the way of a wider adoption of this type of research in higher education.     

Energy,macronutrient and water intake during a mountain ultramarathon event: The influence of distance

Adequate dietary strategies are essential for the successful participation in ultra-endurance races. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the energy and water intakes of participants during three different mountain ultra-endurance runs. The study took place at the “Ultra Mallorca Serra de Tramuntana” (Mallorca, Spain), an ultra-endurance mountain event with runners participating either in a 44-km (Marathon, n = 51), a 67-km (Trail, n = 109) or a 112-km (Ultra, n = 53) run competition. Participants in the study answered a questionnaire focused on the nutritional intake within an hour after finishing the competition. Mean energy intake during the competitions was 183 kcal · h^¯1, with an average carbohydrate intake of 31 g · h^¯1 (52.1% of participants consumed less than 30 g · h^¯1). No significant differences between competitions were found in these parameters. However, a higher percentage of energy from lipids in participants in the Trail and the Ultra was found (P = 0.034). Furthermore, significant differences were observed in water intake per hour of competition (P = 0.039), with the lowest value for the intake during the Ultra competition. In conclusion, the majority of the participants in the study present low carbohydrate intakes. However, fluid intake seems to be adequate. Different distances did not significantly influence the participants’ nutritional strategies.     

Determinants and patterns of physical activity practice among Spanish university students

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of physical activity practice, as well as the motivations for being or not being physically active in Spanish university students. A representative sample of students from a Spanish university (n = 2,051; 42.1% males; mean age 21.9, s = 4.8 years) participated in the present cross-sectional study. A questionnaire including questions regarding lifestyle, dietary habits, parents' characteristics, and physical activity habits was administered to the students. The socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of physical activity practice were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. 68.4% of men and 48.4% of women reported to practise physical activity in the present sample. Those who practised physical activity consumed more fruits and were less likely to be smokers compared to non-physically active students. Also, physically inactive men spent more time in front of the computer and physically inactive women spent more time in front of the TV and were more likely to be frequent alcohol consumers. Maternal educational level and maternal physical activity habits were also important determinants of physical activity practice among men and women respectively. In conclusion, physically active students tended to engage in other healthy habits in the present population, suggesting the clustering of healthy or unhealthy lifestyle factors among specific subgroups.