Invisible children? The need for support groups for siblings of disabled children

Previous research and first-hand experience suggest that a child with a disability can have a profound effect on family life. Although the need for sibling support has been acknowledged in legislation, the implications for non-disabled siblings remain unclear. In this article, Angie Naylor, lecturer in psychology, and Phil Prescott, senior lecturer in childhood and youth studies, both based at Edge Hill, review a number of key themes emerging from the literature on sibling support. They go on to report the findings from an in-depth study of one sibling support group. The work was carried out in partnership with Barnardo's in the north-west of England and involved setting up a sibling support group, in response to an analysis of local need, and evaluating its impact. This research indicates a clear need for further service provision to meet the needs of the siblings of disabled children who attended the scheme. Angie Naylor and Phil Prescott argue for a reinvigorated debate about the needs of such children and champion the importance of listening to children and valuing what they have to say. The results of this small-scale evaluation project have clear implications for future research and, potentially, for policy and practice.     

The veridicality of punitive childhood experiences reported by adolescents and young adults

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of the present research was to determine whether retrospective reports of childhood disciplinary experiences and perceptions of that discipline correspond to actual childhood events and whether the accuracy of that report was influenced by the affective state of the respondent. METHOD: Eighty-three adolescent and young adult males completed a retrospective measure of physical child maltreatment, Assessing Environments (AEIII), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). As children the participants had been observed naturalistically in their homes interacting with their parents an average of 10 years earlier. RESULTS: Analyses were consistent with the hypothesis that both current mood and actual observations of parent-child interactions during childhood predict self-reported recollections of childhood maltreatment by one's parents. Further the veridicality of such recollections appears to depend upon the objective specificity versus the perceptive nature of the questions used to elicit the recollections. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that assessment instruments suitable for obtaining information regarding earlier childhood victimization must utilize behaviorally specific items. Thus, items that are either global or intimate a normative comparison should be avoided.     

Professional development for rural and remote teachers using video conferencing

Teachers in rural and remote schools face many challenges including those relating to distance, isolation and lack of professional development opportunities. This article examines a project where mathematics and science teachers were provided with professional development opportunities via video conferencing to help them use syllabus documents to develop their teaching programs. The study is qualitative and draws on teacher conversations and surveys using a community of inquiry theoretical framework to analyse the data. The results demonstrate that teacher professional development via video conferencing has both strengths and weaknesses but can support teachers through collaboration to develop their expertise in writing teaching programs.     

Using collaboration to foster academic integrity

Abstract

For students new to higher education, the task of developing their academic writing skills, and particularly the principles and practices of source-referencing, can be daunting. Although institutions and teachers can and do provide positive guidance on this score, all too often students veer into inadvertent plagiarism through lack of confidence and confusion. This case study identifies opportunities through collaborative work to help students approach referencing with greater clarity and confidence. A project with first-year Arts students engaged in collaborative writing encouraged them to attend to their recording and writing-up of source references using individual ‘reading and referencing’ logs and then passing on completed references to their group’s designated bibliographer. Checks on later, solo, assignments by these students indicated that they were less likely to stray into inadvertent plagiarism, whilst feedback from the students themselves pointed towards improved confidence in their academic writing skills and development of study habits conducive to effective self-monitoring.     

Elementary school–wide implementation of a blended learning program for reading intervention

The authors examined the implementation of a blended learning program for literacy instruction across kindergarten through Grade 5 in a Title I urban elementary school, including a population of students (18%) who are English learners. Student progress in the online component of the blended learning program was a significant predictor of growth in reading performance on a standardized reading assessment (Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation, Pearson Assessment, Boulder, CO) when controlling for student grade level, initial student skill level, and English learner status; however, students in kindergarten through Grade 2 showed more substantial gains than students in later grades. These results suggest there is a benefit of a blended learning approach to literacy instruction for a diverse cross-section of students, particularly when beginning instruction in the early grades.     

Care into Core

In 2002, the UK Government set the target of increasing participation in higher education to 50% of 18–30 year olds by 2010, with a particular focus on young people from ‘non‐traditional backgrounds’. In order to increase this participation, a range of initiatives have been introduced in an effort to encourage young people to enter post‐16 education. One significant initiative is Aimhigher, which specifically targets lower socio‐economic groups and aims to raise the attainment and aspirations of young people. This paper emerges from research conducted in 2008 into post‐16 withdrawal rates amongst Aimhigher students in the South East of England. Drawing from interviews and case studies with young people, further education (FE) colleges and schools, the paper argues that students benefit significantly from the intensive pastoral support provided in Aimhigher target schools, but that this is rarely carried over into FE. Although there is often significant pastoral support provided to students in FE, it is often quite disparate from that provided in Aimhigher schools and suffers from low take up. Whilst previous research investigating student withdrawal has focused on individual factors (socio‐economic status and ethnicity) or institutional factors (the labour market), this paper highlights the views of young people and argues that, through establishing effective and cohesive mentoring schemes, schools and FE colleges have a substantial role to play in reducing student withdrawal.