Children's Memory for Traumatic Injury

Children between 2 and 13 years who suffered traumatic injury necessitating hospital emergency room treatment were recruited as subjects. They (and adult witnesses) were interviewed a few days and 6 months later, using free and probed recall, about both injury and hospital treatment. Children at all ages were able to provide considerable information about both stressful events, although the amount of detail increased with age. They also made few commission errors. Surprisingly, children's distress at time of injury did not affect the amount or accuracy of their recall of that event, whereas distress during hospital treatment did decrease recall. A tripartite classification into 3 categories of detail was used: central, peripheral-inside the emotional events, or peripheral-outside those events. Children's recall differed depending upon detail category. Implications for children's testimony are discussed.     

The administrative control of principals in effective school districts: The supervision and evaluation functions

In this article we examine the nature of administrative control of school principals in 12 especially effective districts in California. We combined two lines of inquiry, knowledge regarding control in organizations and information from the teacher effects and school effectiveness research, to examine types and patterns of control mechanisms in these districts. Although the work reported herein is exploratory in nature, we see evidence that, contrary to the norm, supervision and evaluation of site level administrators were rational and meaningful processes in these effective districts. We report further that the supervision and evaluation functions appeared to form important linkage mechanisms between schools and districts. In addition, we note that supervision and evaluation provide a strong base for the development of other important linkage functions, especially goal setting. Finally, we report that the superintendents often appear to be the key figures in the supervision and evaluation functions in these effective school districts.     

Factors That Promote Faculty Involvement in and Satisfaction with Institutional and Classroom Student Assessment

This study examines institutional factors that promote faculty satisfaction with their institution's approach to and support for student assessment and that are related to faculty involvement in their institution's support practices and in their own engagement with student assessment in the classroom. The study is based on a survey of faculty from 7 institutions that vary by type, control, and accrediting region. The institution's student assessment purposes, its administrative support patterns, and its faculty instructional impacts are significant predictors of faculty satisfaction with their institution's approach to and support for student assessment. External influences on, faculty uses, and perceived benefits of professional development practices for student assessment are significant predictors of faculty involvement with student assessment in their institution and their classes.     

The use of motor activity as an index of curiosity in children

The curiosity of 120 elementary school children, aged five through thirteen years, was assessed by three measures: (1) the amount of coordinated sensory-motor activity directed toward designated objects in a waiting room environment during a 10-minute waiting period, (2) the number of unsolicited questions asked within the same time period and environment, and (3) teacher ratings, where classroom teachers estimated children's curiosity based on their normal classroom behavior. In a three-way analysis of variance, the amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was found significantly related to groups based on racial-ethnic origins, but not to groups based on age or sex. The amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was negatively correlated with teacher ratings in one class but not significantly correlated in three other classes. Children who asked most questions were rated highest in curiosity by their teachers, but exhibited least curiosity through motor activity in the waiting room.     

Can Infant Temperament Be Used to Predict Which Toddlers Are Likely to Have Increased Emotional and Behavioral Problems?

The 'terrible twos' are often associated with increased temper tantrums, noncompliance and aggression. Although some expression of these behaviors is normal, whether early individual factors can predict which children are most at risk of frequent or prolonged emotional and behavioral problems is of increasing interest. The current study of 6,067 toddlers found that their 9 month scores on a new brief measure of temperament—the Infant Behavior Questionnaire – Revised - Very Short Form (IBQ-R-VSF)—were associated with both difficult behaviors and prosocial behaviors at age 2, measured using a preschool version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Controlling for a range of demographic, maternal characteristics and contextual factors, we found that infants higher on the trait Negative Emotionality and/ or lower on Orienting Capacity and Fear were more likely to develop hyperactivity, emotion, peer and conduct problems and less likely to demonstrate pro-social behaviors at two years of age. Temperament aged 9 months explained an additional 1 - 6 % of the variance in toddler behavior. These findings suggest that infant temperament is associated with the behavior strengths and difficulties of 2-year-olds and provide the first longitudinal validation of the new 5-factor structure of the new IBQ-R-VSF.     

Critical incidents for new and experienced college and university presidents

Twenty-six college and university presidents, 12 new and 14 experienced, were interviewed and asked to report at least four incidents which they felt had been critical to their effectiveness as presidents. One hundred and twelve incidents were collected and then analyzed using a modification of the Critical Incident Technique. The great majority of the incidents (94.6%) were found to involve the internal affairs of the institution. Students were found to be involved in more incidents than any other group, followed by the faculty and then the administration. Finances and campus unrest led the list of factors precipitating the incidents, followed by staffing-related concerns and governance issues. Implications for new and experienced presidents are discussed.