The Child Care Ecology Inventory: A domain-specific measure of home-based child care quality to promote social competence for school readiness     

Julie C. Rusby  Laura Backen JonesRyann Crowley  Keith Smolkowski 《Early childhood research quarterly》2013

This study investigates the reliability and validity of the Child Care Ecology Inventory (CCEI), a measure of the quality of family child care in the social domain. The CCEI focuses on research-based environmental features and caregiving practices for promoting positive social development in preschool-age children. A total of 198 family child care homes in the Northwest USA participated. Good scale reliabilities were found for the measures of the environment (Enrichment and Organization) and for caregivers’ practices (Monitoring, Positive Attention, Promoting Social Skills, and Teaching Rules) and interrater reliability was adequate for research purposes. The CCEI was associated with other commonly used measures of child care quality that assessed similar environmental and caregiving constructs. Linear regression models were run to determine the features of family child care quality that were concurrently associated with observed child behavior. The child–caregiver ratio, Environment Organization, and caregivers’ Teaching Rules were negatively associated with children's problem behavior (noncompliance and aggression). Caregivers’ provision of Planned Activities/Routines and Positive Attention were associated with positive child behavior. Results indicate that different aspects of quality are related to different aspects of children's social interactions and behaviors.  相似文献   

Segregation,integration, inclusion—the ideology and reality in Finland     

Joel Kivirauma  Kirsi Klemelä  Risto Rinne 《欧洲特需教育杂志》2013,28(2):117-133

In this paper, we try to examine the classical sociological points of special education, especially the organizational form of special education, social background of students and the minority status of students. The material of the study was collected mostly during 2003 from one large city in Finland. This city has more than a 100‐year‐long tradition of organizing special education, and it is also still organized very traditionally, that is mainly in special schools. The oldest functioning special education school was founded in 1901. This form of organization based on special schools is no longer typical in Finland. Over 1000 questionnaires were sent to special education school teachers, and students and their parents, as well as to special needs assistants. The percentage of returned responses was between 70% and 80%. Local material is practically the only way to get information of these critical points because of the Act on the Protection of Privacy and the administrative orientation of state statistics. The results show that boys are strongly over‐represented in special education. Over three out of four of the students in classroom‐based special education are boys. According to our comparison, the children from immigrant families account for less than one out of ten students in general education, but in classroom‐based special education they represent nearly 14%, and in part‐time special education as much as one‐quarter (25%). The form of education differs also in regard to the social class of the parents. The parents have been divided into upper, middle and lower social classes according to their occupation. The proportion of upper‐class parents of the student group in general education (42%) is doubled when compared to the parents of both special education groups. The majority of the parents of severe disabled students support the idea of special education schools, but the majority of the parents from the other special education groups are in favour of education in the nearest school.  相似文献   

Measuring perceived competence and social acceptance in children with cerebral palsy     

Vanessa Scholtes  Adri Vermeer  Geoffrey Meek 《欧洲特需教育杂志》2013,28(1):77-87

The Dutch Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Children with Cerebral Palsy was translated and administered to an English sample. This scale was developed to assess the child's perception on cognitive, physical and social domains. Thirty-two children, aged 4 to 9 years, were tested twice. The results indicate good test/retest reliability and good internal consistency. The results on the intercorrelations between the four sub-scales supported internal validity of the pictorial scale. It is concluded that the pictorial scale for young children with cerebral palsy is a reliable and valid instrument for determining the perception of children with cerebral palsy, and application in clinical and class settings is discussed.  相似文献   

Social Desirability,Environmental Attitudes,and General Ecological Behaviour in Children     

Britta Oerke  Franz X. Bogner 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(5):713-730

Socially desirable responses have been widely discussed as potentially biasing self-reported measures of environmental attitude and behaviour assessment. The direct and moderating effect of social desirability on children has not been analysed before. By applying a Lie scale together with a two-factor environmental attitude set measure and a scale of self-reported General Ecological Behaviour (GEB) to 198 pupils, we found a moderate impact of Lie scores on only one of both attitude measures and a small impact on GEB. In a multiple regression analysis general behaviour was predicted by attitude, social desirability, and the interaction of both. Social desirability had no moderating effect on the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour. Implications of these outcomes for research on environmental issues with children are discussed.  相似文献   

Culturally Diverse Undergraduate Researchers’ Academic Outcomes and Perceptions of Their Research Mentoring Relationships     

Angela M. Byars-Winston  Janet Branchaw  Christine Pfund  Patrice Leverett  Joseph Newton 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(15):2533-2554

Few studies have empirically investigated the specific factors in mentoring relationships between undergraduate researchers (mentees) and their mentors in the biological and life sciences that account for mentees’ positive academic and career outcomes. Using archival evaluation data from more than 400 mentees gathered over a multi-year period (2005–2011) from several undergraduate biology research programs at a large, Midwestern research university, we validated existing evaluation measures of the mentored research experience and the mentor–mentee relationship. We used a subset of data from mentees (77% underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities) to test a hypothesized social cognitive career theory model of associations between mentees’ academic outcomes and perceptions of their research mentoring relationships. Results from path analysis indicate that perceived mentor effectiveness indirectly predicted post-baccalaureate outcomes via research self-efficacy beliefs. Findings are discussed with implications for developing new and refining existing tools to measure this impact, programmatic interventions to increase the success of culturally diverse research mentees and future directions for research.  相似文献   

On being critical: uniting theory and practice through emancipatory action research   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Margaret Ledwith 《Educational Action Research》2013,21(4):597-611

This paper engages with some of the specific issues that challenge critical practice. My argument is related to the Carr and Kemmis debate on ‘staying critical’ and to ideas expressed in my current book, Community Development: A Critical Approach. I refer to critical practice as any practice that has a transformative social justice intention, and which happens in a range of contexts from grassroots community activism to more institutionalised settings, such as hospitals or schools. My own professional base is community development, and this paper is founded on emancipatory action research developed over many years in grassroots practice. It is my view that emancipatory action research, committed to the practice of social justice, with the intention of bringing about social change, is a necessary component of critical practice. In fact, I would go so far as to say that emancipatory action research is the glue that binds critical praxis in a unity of theory and action. However, all too often collective action for change is not followed through to its greatest potential, and practice remains contextualised in the immediate, local and specific without making critical connections with the structural roots of oppression from which inequalities emanate. The result is that we constantly fixate on symptoms, and leave the root causes free to perpetuate oppressions. At the same time, we find ourselves in a globalised world marked by intensifying social divisions. So, it is my intention to raise a few issues which present challenges to get beyond sticking points in critical practice as we face times in which there is an accelerating urgency to ‘become critical’.  相似文献   

Using action research as a methodological tool: understanding teachers' understanding of science     

Stephen Waters-Adams  Jennifer Nias 《Educational Action Research》2013,21(2):283-300

A series of questions and answers between Jennifer Nias in her role as supervisor and Steve Waters-Adams as student explores the rationale for the inclusion of action research as a methodological tool within a wider PhD study. The study explored the effect of teachers' understanding of the nature of science on their teaching. In discussing the complexities of the research, Steve Waters-Adams suggests that action research provided a powerful means of gaining access to important tacit and dialectical aspects of teachers' practice. The discussion considers the process of action research, particularly with regard to the extent that its form and purpose may be defined, the importance of collaboration and the centrality of personal commitment. Steve Waters-Adams concludes that there is scope for subject-oriented research in education to make more use of action research as a methodological tool, given that the process engages with, and exposes for scrutiny, practitioners' values, aims and motives.  相似文献   

基于社会管理创新的社会稳定风险测定及预警建议——以西部民族地区为例     

王海娟  甘月文  莎日娜 《内蒙古师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版)》2013,(6):122-125

西部民族地区的稳定关系全国经济发展及人民生活,维护社会公正、和谐应成为政府工作的中心。由于社会稳定属于社会管理职能,本文从社会管理方面的风险出发,通过问卷调查法制定了民族地区社会稳定风险评估体系,并运用层次分析法,对西部民族地区社会稳定的风险进行测定。结果显示政治风险在二级指标中权重最大,政治风险中比重大的是腐败及对政策的满意度。最后,有针对性地提出了维护社会稳定的预警机制。  相似文献   

幼儿教师工作压力、社会支持对心理健康影响的路径分析     

卢长娥 《阜阳师范学院学报(社会科学版)》2013,(1):143-146

采用幼儿教师工作压力问卷、社会支持量表和症状自评量表对302名幼儿教师进行了调查,表明:(1)工作压力与社会支持呈显著负相关,与心理健康呈显著正相关;社会支持与心理健康呈显著负相关。(2)自我期望和工作条件、工作负荷、幼儿和家长、主观支持、客观支持对幼儿教师的心理健康有显著的预测作用;工作负荷、工资福利待遇两个因子通过社会支持间接影响幼儿教师的心理健康;自我期望和工作条件、工作负荷、幼儿和家长以及对社会支持的利用度共同作用于幼儿教师的心理健康。(3)通过构建结构方程模型进一步验证了社会支持是工作压力与心理健康关系中的中介变量。  相似文献   

Training Versus Monitoring: A Qualitative Examination of Athletic Department Practices Regarding Student-Athletes and Twitter     

《Qualitative Research Reports in Communication》2013,14(1):105-111

Twitter has created a number of issues for collegiate athletic programs. Via their tweets, student-athletes have sparked public relations issues for athletic departments and educational institutions. This research examined the messages student-athletes receive from athletic department officials and coaches about Twitter. Semi-structured interviews with 20 student-athletes at a Division I school were conducted. Results revealed that these messages occurred in 1 of 3 areas: (a) (non)training, (b) surveillance/monitoring, and (c) reactive training. The results indicate that student-athletes are left to their interpretations of what constitutes inappropriate Twitter content while also being subjected to monitoring. Education about Twitter typically occurs after a violation of an unclear or unknown policy. This reactionary and ambiguous approach to Twitter appears to be doing little to mitigate controversial tweets. Athletic administrators are encouraged to devote resources to front-end, rather than back-end, training and to define clear boundaries for Twitter usage.  相似文献