Measures of risk for challenging behaviors： A comparison between the CBC and BDI

A growing body of evidence indicates that for some children, early incidences of challenging behaviors are predictors of later difficulties. These incidences of challenging behaviors may predict mental health issues, social adjustment issues and/or increased challenging behaviors that will impede school success and impact transition to adult life （Lipsey ＆ Derzon, 1998; Wagner, Cometo ＆ Newman, 2003; Walker, Ramsey ＆ Gresham, 2005）. This study seeks to explore the relationship between two commonly used assessments in early childhood settings, the Battelle Developmental Inventory （BDI） （given by caregivers/teachers） （Newborg, 2005） and the Child Behavior Checklist （CBC） （given by both parents and caregivers/teachers） （Achenbach, 2000）. Two significant correlations that linked the use of the BDI and the CBC were found. Further research is needed with larger sample sizes.     

大学生创业意向与动机研究

大学生创业对缓解目前我国严峻的就业形势及推动经济发展等方面都具有积极作用,大学生群体的创业意愿与动机值得关注。文章通过对大学生创业意愿、创业动机、创业意向和创业制约因素的调查统计,分析了大学生创业意识的现状,并就如何提高大学生自主创业意识和能力,从学生、学校和社会三方面提出了对策与建议。     

The (limited) use of local-level assessment system: A case study of the Head Start National Reporting System and on-going child assessments in a local program

Using concepts from the evaluation literature, this case study describes the instrumental, conceptual, and political influence of the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) and on-going child assessments in a local Head Start program. This study found that a local program intentionally aimed to limit the influence of the NRS. The NRS validated the program's performance for the program administrators and local governing bodies. It had no impact on teaching and learning, and was not used to make decisions to guide local program improvement. On-going child assessments were more widely valued within the local program. These assessments had some impact on teachers’ individualization of instruction for children, and managers made some effort to use program-level findings to inform program development. Similar to the NRS, the on-going child assessments were also used to provide accountability with local governing bodies. Based on these findings, implications for the use of local-level systems in early childhood programs are discussed.     

Cognitive skill performance among young children living in poverty: Risk, change, and the promotive effects of Early Head Start

The purposes of the present study were to examine associations between risk factors and the cognitive performance from one to three years of age of children living in poverty, and to investigate the protective and/or promotive effects of EHS on children's cognitive skill performance. Analyses were conducted using data from the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project, a prospective study of 3001 children and families living in poverty. There were four main findings. First, children's cognitive skill scores decreased significantly from one to three years of age in comparison to national norms. Second, children whose families were on government assistance, children whose mothers had less than a high school education, children who received lower levels of cognitive and language stimulation at home, and children who had higher levels of negative emotionality evidenced more rapid rates of decline. Third, children in families who received government assistance, children whose parents were unemployed, and children whose mothers had less than a high school education had lower cognitive skill scores at three years of age. Fourth, children who were enrolled in Early Head Start (EHS) had higher cognitive skill scores at three years of age than their peers who were not in EHS. Implications for policy and early education are discussed.     

Use of the ‘Stop,Start, Continue’ method is associated with the production of constructive qualitative feedback by students in higher education

Students in higher education are increasingly asked to give feedback on their education experience, reflecting an increase in the importance attached to that feedback. Existing literature demonstrates that qualitative student feedback is valued and important, yet there has been limited evaluation of the means by which qualitative student feedback is collected, and how collection method influences the depth of feedback from students. We evaluated the depth of feedback written by students on programmes at three different universities in the United Kingdom, using an established evaluation instrument. We found that the use of a structured pro forma (Stop, Start, Continue) was associated with feedback of greater depth than that produced using free text entry. We then evaluated the effect of switching from a free text to a structured pro forma at one institution and found, again, that the structured pro forma was associated with feedback of greater depth. In addition, students indicated a preference for the structured pro forma.     

Implications of different methods for specifying classroom composition of externalizing behavior and its relationship to social–emotional outcomes

In this paper, we examine common methods for using individual-level data to represent classroom composition by examining exemplary studies that thoughtfully incorporate such measures. Building on these studies, and using data from the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), this paper examines theoretical and analytical implications of a set of different transformations of individual ratings of child externalizing behaviors in order to examine and compare the influence of these representations of classroom composition on Kindergarten internalizing behaviors, social competence, and attention/impulsivity problems. Results indicate that each Kindergarten outcome is influenced by distinct aspects of classroom composition of externalizing behaviors. Kindergarten internalizing behaviors are positively associated with the proportion of children in the Head Start classroom who started with externalizing scores above the 75th percentile regardless of the average value of externalizing behaviors in the classroom. In contrast, Kindergarten social competence is predicted by three aspects of the classroom distribution of externalizing behaviors in the fall of Head Start—the classroom mean, standard deviation, and skew. Finally, Kindergarten attention/impulsivity problems were not associated with any aspect of classroom composition of externalizing behavior examined in this paper.     

The quality of teachers’ interactive conversations with preschool children from low-income families during small-group and large-group activities

This study examined the quality of preschool teachers’ interactive conversations with three- and four-year-olds in two Head Start classrooms serving children from low-income families in the United States. Over a period of 20?weeks, 10 bi-weekly observations of conversations (totaling 15?h per classroom) were conducted in one small-group (Play Time) and two large-group (Breakfast Time and Circle Time) contexts. The teacher–child verbal interactions were transcribed and coded using the Teacher Interaction and Language Rating Scale (TILRS) to determine the frequency of responsive language strategies employed by the teachers across the three contexts. The two teachers applied Child-Centered Strategies and Interaction-Promoting Strategies the most during Circle Time, followed by Play Time, and the least during Breakfast Time. While it was observed that both teachers did talk to the children face to face frequently across contexts, they rarely used Language Modeling Strategies to engage them in cognitively challenging conversations. Implications for professional development are discussed.     

五国城城名考释

五国城城名源于辽代五国部,但五国城非等同于五国部,五国城不是指五国部的五个城,而是一个城,二者区别明显。针对史载五国城亦有五国头城之名,考证认同越里吉城即五国头城。     

思想政治理论课教学“首席教师负责制”的探索

"首席教师负责制"是我校在实施高校思想政治理论课"05方案"过程中,为提高课程教学实效、加强集体备课并建立在教研小组制度基础上的一项新的教学改革创新。虽然它还处于初创时期,但它在教学实践中所显示出来的生命力是勿庸置疑的,具有自身独特的优越性和先进性。