Factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of school-based sexual health education     

E. Sandra Byers  Heather A. Sears  Lyndsay R. Foster 《Sex education》2013,13(2):214-227

This paper examines factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of the sexual health education (SHE) they received at school. Participants were 478 predominately White young people (256 girls, 222 boys) in grades 6–8 who completed a survey assessing their demographic characteristics; dating and sexual experience; and perceptions of the content, delivery and quality of the SHE they had received. Boys and students in a lower grade and with less sexual experience rated the quality of their SHE more positively. After accounting for student characteristics, students who more strongly agreed that their SHE matched their interests and covered sexual health topics more adequately, as well as who viewed their teacher as being more comfortable talking about sexual topics and doing a better job answering questions, reported higher quality SHE. Students' perceptions of the adequacy of coverage of 10 sexual health topics were also positively correlated with their reports of higher quality SHE, although only two topics (correct names for genitals and puberty/physical development) contributed uniquely to the prediction of this variable. These results reinforce the need for a comprehensive SHE curriculum as well as adequate preparation of teachers if SHE is to be engaging to students.  相似文献   

Early education teachers’ conceptualizations and strategies for managing closeness with the class in child care     

Sharon Quan-McGimpsey  Sarah Carmen Marziliano  Trevor Gregory Hassen  Allison Sandra Brown  Leon Kuczynski 《Teachers and Teaching》2013,19(5):514-526

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of closeness during interactions with the group of children in child care. Structured interviews were conducted with 24 female teachers who were teaching children between the ages of three and five (mean age = 3.9) regarding their perceptions of closeness with the group of children in the class. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed a group solidarity domain of teacher–group relationships composed of three dimensions which comprise emotional solidarity, consensual solidarity, and functional solidarity, with emotional solidarity most dominant in the teachers’ perceptions. This group solidarity domain was interpreted as being consistent with qualities found in Grusec and Davidov’s group participation domain. The findings that, teachers’ closeness with the group of children in the class were dominated by the emotional dimension is similar to previous research results which report the predominance of personal and intimate interactions in relational closeness between teachers and individual children. Teachers described intentional strategies for managing close group relationships that made use of interactional histories between the teachers and children in the class. These discoveries provide a new perspective on teacher closeness with groups, an area of research not often investigated. It also provides insights into the importance teachers place on connecting emotionally with children when they are with the collective group in the classroom.  相似文献   

Tolerance for Diversity of Beliefs: Learning about Tolerance and Liking It Too     

Sandra Wood  Kristina Thalhammer  John L. Sullivan  Karen Bird  Patricia G. Avery  Kate Klein 《Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies》2013,35(3-4):349-372

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Interactive Read-Alouds—An Avenue for Enhancing Children’s Language for Thinking and Understanding: A Review of Recent Research     

Sandra Lennox 《Early Childhood Education Journal》2013,41(5):381-389

Enhancing young children’s early literacy achievement is a top priority in many countries. There is a considerable body of research demonstrating young children’s language development as a critical factor in reading and later academic success. Implementation of high quality literacy instruction has the potential to improve literacy outcomes for all children, especially those “at risk”. However, a significant challenge has been to implement instruction that will support children’s language for thinking and understanding, rather than narrowly focused instruction on easily quantified code-related skills. This article reviews some of the recent research on the value of interactive read-alouds as an avenue for enhancing early literacy learning for preschoolers. Although there is abundant evidence supporting the practice, there are a number of aspects that interact in dynamic ways to affect the efficacy of read-alouds. They include pedagogical knowledge, book selection, the quality of interactions around books, and developing vocabulary and inferential language skills. The way books are shared may open or close learning opportunities and possibilities to use language for an increasingly wider range of purposes. Skillful teachers can play a significant role in building, refining and extending literacy knowledge, skills and dispositions.  相似文献   

The Impact of an Early Literacy Initiative on the Long Term Academic Success of Diverse Students     

Stella SiWan Zimmerman  Michael C. Rodriguez  Kirsten L. Rewey  Sandra L. Heidemann 《Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk》2013,18(4):452-481

The primary goal of the Words Work (WW) early literacy initiative was to prepare diverse students to become successful learners in school. Four groups of students were followed over 6 years: students from traditional Head Start (HS) centers, students from augmented HS centers (WW students), students eligible for HS but not enrolled (waitlist or WL), and a random sample of non-Head Start students (NHS). Students received school readiness instruction at approximately 4 years of age, and their performance on standardized tests was followed from 1st grade through 5th grade. WW students significantly outscored HS, WL, and NHS students of similar backgrounds in reading and outscored WL and NHS students in mathematics on 2nd-grade standardized assessments. In addition, WW students were able to maintain their lead through 5th grade in both reading and mathematics. Based on these results, WW is an effective HS enhancement for minimizing the achievement gap often observed between students who may be at risk for academic difficulty and students who are at low risk.  相似文献   

TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: EXPLORING DISTANCE LEARNING FROM A CONSTRUCT/VIST PERSPECTIVE     

Kathleen P. Glascott  Sandra J. Stone 《Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education》2013,34(1):17-24

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which distance learning (distance learning vs. traditional) may influence undergraduate education majors’ emerging constructivist perspective. Elementary education majors at 2 universities (N = 102) volunteered to complete questionnaires. The 3 independent variables were traditional vs. distance learning, whether or not ever enrolled in distance learning, and instructor difference. The 3 dependent variables were concerned with what the instructor provided; what the instructor demonstrated; and what students believed they learned. A Multiple Analysis of Variance (Manova) compared the 3 independent variables across the 3 dependent variables and indicated that students in traditional classrooms rated what the instructor provided, what the instructor demonstrated, and what students believed they learned significantly greater than students in distance learning classrooms. An interpretation suggests that distance learning technology may hold potential for facilitating undergraduate education majors’ emerging constructivist perspective.  相似文献   

The Preschool Instructional Context and Child–Teacher Relationships     

Carollee Howes  Allison Sidle Fuligni  Sandra Soliday Hong  Yiching D. Huang  Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo 《Early education and development》2013,24(3):273-291

Research Findings: The purpose of this article is to examine how dimensions of the preschool instructional context predict child–teacher relationship quality. A total of 118 low-income, predominantly Latino/a children and their teachers participated in this study. Children were observed in their 1st preschool classroom. Measures of instructional context included the classroom instructional climate and teacher instructional strategies with individual children. Measures of child–teacher relationships included both observed and teacher-perceived child–teacher relationship quality. Our findings suggest that aspects of classroom instructional context do influence child–teacher relationships. Children are more likely to have secure, positive relationships with teachers who are more skilled at setting up appropriate classroom environments and giving children high-quality feedback to stretch their emerging knowledge and skills. Practice or Policy: These data provide preliminary support for the notion that high-quality early education can and should develop children's academic skills in a context that is deeply rooted in positive and supportive social interactions.  相似文献   

Reading to Children and Listening to Children Read: Mother–Child Interactions as a Function of Principal Reader     

Sandra Martin-Chang  Odette N. Gould 《Early education and development》2013,24(6):855-876

Research Findings: Although storybook reading has received considerable research attention, listening to children read has been the source of much less inquiry. In this study, 40 mother–child dyads were videotaped during adult-to-child and child-to-adult reading. Relations between book-related themes (e.g., types of talk), maternal evaluative feedback (e.g., praise, criticism), maternal miscue feedback (e.g., graphophonemic clues, terminal feedback), and child engagement (e.g., laughter, questions) were analyzed. The results suggest that the development of literacy appreciation and literacy skill can occur during the same storybook-reading session. Specifically, when mothers read to their children, communication about the illustrations was associated with increased child engagement, yet a positive correlation was also observed between text-related productions and child engagement. When children read to their mothers, text-related productions were featured more prominently. After children made reading errors (miscues), graphophonemic and terminal feedback were the 2 most frequent responses by mothers. In addition, graphophonemic cues were positively associated with child engagement. Practice or Policy: In sum, the results demonstrate that adult-to-child and child-to-adult reading serve the goals of both literacy acquisition training and literacy appreciation; furthermore, orienting children toward the text during either session did not hamper child engagement.  相似文献   

Continuing Series on the Integration of Neuroscience Into Early Education and Development     

Sandra Twardosz 《Early education and development》2013,24(4):669-670

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Teachers conceptualizing childhood: conversations around fictional childhood texts     

Sandra Chang-Kredl 《Teachers and Teaching》2013,19(2):203-220

This article offers a unique perspective on teacher thinking by connecting the study of early childhood teachers’ beliefs with the field of childhood studies, and with film and literature studies. The purpose of the research is to examine (a) how films can be used to evoke responses in teachers about their implicit beliefs in childhood and (b) the processes through which the teachers generate conceptualizations of childhood. Focus group discussions following viewings of short film clips were conducted with five experienced teachers. Thematic analysis suggests that the selection of film narratives influences the patterns of beliefs expressed by the teachers. Conversation analysis reveals that the teachers tended to use both their own memories of childhood and their identification with children to cross boundary spaces in time (past, present, and future), and between adulthood and childhood. The teachers tended to shape their beliefs in dichotomous renderings as oppositions to others, but also to display a playful willingness to surrender themselves to interior spaces of boundary crossings, and to share and dialog their discoveries with others. In terms of implications of the study for teacher education, the use of books and films seemed to provide teachers with tools to discuss and situate their understandings of childhood in ways that involved processes of memory, identification, lived experience, and teacher practice.  相似文献