Child Care Subsidy and Program Quality Revisited     

Becky F. Antle  Andy Frey  Anita Barbee  Shannon Frey  Jennifer Grisham-Brown  Megan Cox 《Early education and development》2013,24(4):560-573

Research Findings: Previous research has documented conflicting results on the relationship between program quality and the percentage of children receiving subsidized child care (subsidy density) in early childhood centers. This research examined the relationship between subsidy density and the quality of infant and preschool classrooms in child care centers, taking into consideration teacher education and salary as well as other structural variables associated with quality. A multimethod evaluation was conducted with 110 child care centers utilizing an interview of center directors as well as classroom observations using standardized measures of quality and language/literacy in the classroom. Regression analyses indicate that subsidy density does not predict the quality of infant classrooms. However, subsidy density is a significant predictor of the quality of preschool classrooms. Teacher education is predictive of some quality indicators, but teacher salary is not. Practice or Policy: Practice and policy implications are discussed to promote the quality of child care centers that serve low- income children. Statewide initiatives should target centers with higher subsidy density for quality improvements. Local programs and state policy should provide teachers with opportunities to obtain additional education and then offer incentives to remain in their current early childhood settings.  相似文献   

Navigating Community College Transfer in Science,Technical, Engineering,and Mathematics Fields     

Becky Wai-Ling Packard  Janelle L. Gagnon  Arleen J. Senas 《Community College Journal of Research & Practice》2013,37(9):670-683

Given financial barriers facing community college students today, and workforce projections in science, technical, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, the costs of unnecessary delays while navigating transfer pathways are high. In this phenomenological study, we analyzed the delay experiences of 172 students (65% female) navigating community college transfer pathways in STEM fields in Massachusetts. When focusing on institutional delays, three central elements emerged: (a) informational setbacks from dissatisfactory advising, (b) imperfect program alignment with four-year institutions, and (c) college resource limitations. Students took unnecessary courses or could not get into courses in a timely manner, resulting in lost time, money, and credit. An accumulation of delays is particularly detrimental to STEM women and men, given the sequential nature of their programming. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.  相似文献   

Evaluation Findings from High School Reform Efforts in Baltimore     

Becky Smerdon  Jennifer Cohen 《Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk》2013,18(3):238-255

The Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) is one of the first urban districts in the country to undertake large-scale high school reform, phasing in small learning communities by opening new high schools and transforming large, comprehensive high schools into small high schools. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a dozen local foundations, and school reform developers and technical assistance providers, BCPSS opened 18 small high schools between 2002 and 2006. Using data from surveys, administrative records, and site visits, we examine the implementation and outcomes of these reform efforts. Although BCPSS high schools met many obstacles while implementing the reform, including continual leadership turnover and limited resources, students and staff in the small learning communities reported more positive social and academic environments than their counterparts in the district's comprehensive high schools. In addition, students in small, newly created high schools demonstrated positive academic outcomes (e.g., higher test scores, engagement) relative to students in the other schools in the district.  相似文献   

Retooling the Health Care Workforce in the Era of the Affordable Care Act: An Evaluation of an Advanced Certificate Program in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care     

Kyle H. O’Brien  Mary C. Acri  Peter C. Campanelli  Joseph A. Cerniglia  Mary M. McKay 《Journal of Teaching in Social Work》2013,33(5):522-535

The Affordable Care Act aims to increase affordable coverage, reduce overall costs, and improve health outcomes. To achieve these aims, new knowledge and skills must be built within the existing workforce. The purpose of this article is to examine the behavioral and organizational changes brought about by an educational program that aimed to retool the healthcare workforce for the implementation of integrated primary and behavioral healthcare models, with an added emphasis on prevention. Sixty-three participants of an Advanced Certificate Program completed 1 or more evidence-informed learning modules centered on integrated primary and behavioral health care. The vast majority of students who completed each of the 5 modules of the program reported acquiring new knowledge and skills. Student satisfaction of the program met or exceeded overall expectations. In addition, program participation has resulted in not only students’ intentions to change workplace practices but also actual implementation of workplace changes related to integrated care models. The Advanced Certificate Program appears to be a promising platform for service providers to align their knowledge and skills with the premises of current healthcare reform.  相似文献   

Independence in learning: towards community     

Veronica McKay  Mike Sarakinsky  Elija Sekgobela 《Open Learning》2013,28(2):52-55

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Gender,toys and learning     

Becky Francis 《牛津教育评论》2013,39(3):325-344

In spite of continuing patterning of curriculum subject preference and choice by gender, there has been little recent attention to the argument developed in the 1970s that children play with different toys according to their gender, and that these provide girls and boys with (different) curriculum‐related skills. The article describes a small‐scale empirical study that asked parents of 3–5 year old children to identify their child’s favourite toys and viewing material, and analysed responses according to children’s gender. The most frequently identified toys and viewing materials were subjected to content and discourse analysis, with the intention of identifying both educative aspects of content, and the gender discourses reflected. The article explores conceptual issues around categorisations of ‘education’ within toys and entertainment resources, positing the notion of ‘didactic information’ to delineate between overtly educational content and other social discourses. Analysis reveals toy preferences to be highly gendered, with boys’ toys and resources concentrated on technology and action, and girls’ on care and stereotypically feminine interests. Didactic information, and aspects developing construction and literacy skills, were identified in the selected toys and resources for boys, and were lacking in those for girls. All the toys and resources could be read as implicated in ‘gendering’: the various gender discourses, and other discourses around aspects of social identity reflected in the toys and resources are identified and analysed. The analysis presented suggests the value of reinvigorated attention to children’s toys and entertainment resources in terms both of the education they afford, and their role in the production of social identities.  相似文献   

Designing Blended Inquiry Learning in a Laboratory Context: A Study of Incorporating Hands-On and Virtual Laboratories     

Eva Erdosne Toth  Becky L. Morrow  Lisa R. Ludvico 《Innovative Higher Education》2009,33(5):333-344

This article reports on the development of a methodology that integrates virtual and hands-on inquiry in a freshman introductory biology course. Using a two time × two order-condition design, an effective combination (blend) of the two environments was evaluated with 39 freshman biology participants. The quantitative results documented no significant effect of presentation order but demonstrated a significant effect of the combined learning experience. The qualitative results showed a strong preference by students for the virtual work preceding the hands-on laboratory. The study provides practitioners an effective alternative to traditional instructional practices by combining virtual and hands-on inquiry learning.

Lisa R. LudvicoEmail:

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Studying Artifacts of Visitor Learning     

Becky Devito 《Curator: The Museum Journal》2005,48(2):193-209

Evaluation of instructional materials, environments, and programs is an undertaking that is difficult to design and initiate due to its complexities. This paper seeks to offer guidance by presenting techniques that are gaining recognition within qualitative research. This is an area of study that characterizes learning by examining the products that learners create in response to instruction. These products are often referred to as “student work.” By using protocols that facilitate a study of student work, museums can learn much about their own attempts to meet their educational missions, in addition to getting to know their audiences better. This paper offers a brief overview of published resources for examining student work along with ideas for implementing them in museum settings, and outlines the procedures for using two specific protocols.  相似文献   

The impact of chronic carbohydrate manipulation on mucosal immunity in elite endurance athletes     

Alannah K. A. McKay  David B. Pyne  Peter Peeling  Avish P. Sharma  Megan L.R. Ross  Louise M. Burke 《Journal of sports sciences》2019,37(5):553-559

Carbohydrate (CHO) availability could alter mucosal immune responses to exercise. This study compared the effect of three dietary approaches to CHO availability on resting and post-exercise s-IgA levels. Elite race walkers (n = 26) adhered to a high CHO diet (HCHO), periodised CHO availability (PCHO) or a low CHO/high fat diet (LCHF) for 3 weeks while completing an intensified training program. HCHO and PCHO groups consumed 8.0–8.5 g.kg^?1 CHO daily, with timing of ingestion manipulated to alter CHO availability around key training sessions. The LCHF diet comprised 80% fat and restricted CHO to < 50 g.day^?1. A race walk test protocol (19 km females, 25 km males) was completed at baseline, after adaptation, and following CHO restoration. On each occasion, saliva samples were obtained pre- and post-exercise to quantify s-IgA levels. Resting s-IgA secretion rate substantially increased ~ two-fold post-intervention in all groups (HCHO: 2.2 ± 2.2, PCHO: 2.8 ± 3.2, LCHF: 1.6 ± 1.6; fold-change± 95% confidence limits), however, no substantial differences between dietary treatments were evident. Post-exercise, substantial 20–130% increases in s-IgA concentration and 43–64% reductions in flow rate occurred in all dietary treatments, with trivial differences evident between groups. It appears that high volume training overrides any effect of manipulating CHO availability on mucosal immunity in elite athletes.  相似文献   

Acute intraocular pressure responses to high-intensity interval-training protocols in men and women     

Jesús Vera  Beatríz Redondo  David Cárdenas  Bryon R McKay  Amador García-Ramos 《Journal of sports sciences》2019,37(7):803-809

We aimed (1) to test the acute impact of two high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) protocols differing in the level of effort on intraocular pressure (IOP) responses, and (2) to elucidate whether the IOP responses differ between men and women. Twenty-four physically active collegiate (12 men and 12 women) performed three protocols: low-fatigue HIIT (eight 30-m sprints with 60-s of rest), high-fatigue HIIT (eight 30-m sprints with 30-s of rest), and control (walking). IOP was taken at baseline, after sprints and recovery by rebound tonometry. Our data revealed an acute IOP reduction during both HIIT protocols compared to the control condition (effect size [ES]:0.81–1.65). The differences between both HIIT protocols were generally negligible (ES<0.30), however, the reduction of IOP was moderately higher for the low-fatigue HIIT protocol after the 7th (ES: 0.67) and 8th (ES: 0.74) sprints. Women showed a more prominent lowering effect on IOP during the control condition (ES: 0.42–1.02), and during the two first sprints of both HIIT protocols (ES: 0.54–1.03). These findings highlight that a time-efficient HIIT protocol may acutely reduce IOP levels, while low-fatigue HIIT protocol could be recommended since it induced a higher reduction on IOP than the high-fatigue HIIT protocol.  相似文献