Executive function skills of 6–8 year olds: Brain and behavioral evidence and implications for school achievement

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children’s self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based neuropsychological measure of EF skills. The sample included 74 children (37 females; M = 86.2 months) who participated in two assessments of working memory and inhibitory control: Knock–Tap (NEPSY: Korkman, Kirk, & Kemp, 1998), and participated in event-related potential (ERP) testing that included the directional stroop test ( DST, Davidson, Cruess, Diamond, O’Craven, and Savoy (1999)). Three main findings emerged. First, children grouped as high vs. low performing on the NEPSY Knock–Tap Task were found to perform differently on the more difficult conditions of the DST (the Incongruent and Mixed Conditions), suggesting that the Knock–Tap Task as a low-cost and easy to administer assessment of EF skills may be one way for teachers to identify students with poor inhibitory control skills. Second, children’s performance on the DST was strongly related to their ERP responses, adding to evidence that differences in behavioral performance on the DST as a measure of EF skills reflect corresponding differences in brain processing. Finally, differences in brain processing on the DST task also were found when the children were grouped based on Knock–Tap performance. Simple screening procedures can enable teachers to identify children whose distractibility, inattentiveness, or poor attention spans may interfere with classroom learning.     

What,Where, and How? Special Education in the Climate of Full Inclusion

After the passage of PL 94-142 in 1975 guaranteeing a free, appropriate, public education to all students with disabilities, multiple reauthorizations of IDEA have refined, revised, and renewed the nation's moral and pedagogical commitment to providing well-planned, public, inclusive, and appropriate education to all students with disabilities. But conflicting views of where that education should take place, what that education should consist of, and how that education should be delivered have continued to plague the field of special education. In this article, we provide an historical perspective on the arguments over where, what and how. We open four “windows” on special education service delivery in four different settings in Pennsylvania to illustrate contemporary interpretations and contemporary public policy related to where, what, and how. In the end, we raise questions about whether current, fully inclusive special education practices fulfill the promise of PL-94-142 to provide a special and appropriate education to students with disabilities.     

Supervisor and Supervisee Attachments and Social Provisions Related to the Supervisory Working Alliance

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between supervisors' and supervisees' self‐reported ability to make healthy adult attachments in relationships, social provisions, and the perceptions of the supervisory working alliance. Data from 67 supervisee‐supervisor dyads indicated that supervisees' social provisions and ability to make healthy adult attachments did not predict supervisees' or supervisors' perceptions of the working alliance at a statistically significant level, but the supervisors' ability to make adult attachments was predictive of both the supervisees' and supervisors' perceptions of the supervisory working alliance. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Quadriceps EMG muscle activation during accurate soccer instep kicking

Six competitive soccer players were recruited to examine EMG activation in three quadriceps muscles during a kicking accuracy task. Participants performed three maximum instep place kicks of a stationary ball, 11 m perpendicular from the centre of the goal line towards targets (0.75 m(2)) in the four corners of the goal. Surface EMG of the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and rectus femoris of the kicking leg was normalized and averaged across all participants to compare between muscles, targets, and the phase of the kick. Although no significant difference were observed between muscles or kick phases, kicks to the right targets produced significantly greater muscle activity than those towards the left targets (P < 0.01). In addition, kicks towards the top right target demonstrated significantly greater muscle activity than towards the top and bottom left (P < 0.01). Under accurate soccer shooting conditions, kicks aimed to the top right corner of the goal demonstrated a higher level of quadriceps muscle activation than those towards the other corners.     

School science as a rite of passage: A new frame for familiar problems

The purpose of this article is twofold: to characterize and describe school science as a rite of passage, and to expose problems in school science that are made visible through the use of this metaphor. Like other rite-of-passage studies by van Gennep, Turner, and White, school-science-as-a-rite-of-passage follows the classic model: First, science students are separated from other students through their enrollment in introductory science classes and laboratory (the phase of separation). Science students are then secluded in the classroom and laboratory where a specialized body of knowledge unique to the scientific community is transmitted to them (the phase of transition). Eventually, students are presented via graduation ceremonies to the ordinary world with accompanying changes in their status and rights (the phase of reincorporation). However, unlike traditional passage rites, school science is a lengthy and ambiguous process that muddles the points of separation and reincorporation and fails to clarify the value of transition rituals.     

What Will I Like Best When I'm All Grown Up? Preschoolers' Understanding of Future Preferences

Three experiments investigated 3‐, 4‐, and 5‐year‐olds' (N = 240) understanding that their future or “grown‐up” preferences may differ from their current ones (self‐future condition). This understanding was compared to children's understanding of the preferences of a grown‐up (adult‐now condition) or the grown‐up preferences of a same‐aged peer (peer‐future condition). Children's performance across all three conditions improved significantly with age. Moreover, children found it significantly more difficult to reason about their own future preferences than they did to reason either about an adult's preferences or the future preferences of a peer. These results have important implications for theories about future thinking and perspective‐taking abilities, more broadly.     

Implementing an integrated pest management (IPM) program in child care centers: A qualitative study

Pesticide use in and around child care centers is a potential health threat to children and staff. The implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) can reduce these risks yet child care providers receive minimal, if any, education concerning pest management. The objectives of this qualitative study are to: (a) develop a model to describe the process of implementing an IPM program in child care centers, (b) identify the facilitators and barriers to implementing an IPM program in child care centers, and (c) examine congruence between IPM practices identified on an IPM checklist with practices reported in qualitative interviews with child care managers. Interviews and IPM checklist observations were conducted with nine child care center managers in California before and after the introduction of a pilot IPM education intervention program. The qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed a four-stage IPM implementation process, from awareness of IPM, recognizing the importance of IPM and learning how to practice it, motivation and the decision to adopt IPM, to the implementation of IPM. A wide range of facilitators and barriers were identified. There was general congruence between the manager interviews and IPM checklist findings on IPM policies, practices, and management. Understanding the process of how an IPM program was implemented in these child care centers and the facilitators and barriers involved in the process can inform planning efforts for future health interventions in child care.