The Future of Farming: Regional Variation in Opinions From Louisiana and the Nation

Findings from a 1987 telephone survey of Louisiana residents are reported. Opinions of 701 persons were gathered using a weighted probability sample across the state. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were used to identify regional clusters of parishes to determine differences among regions of the state. The results point to a paradox. While the clusters exhibited extreme variation in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, there was surprising similarity in the responses regarding opinions on agricultural issues. Support for agriculture was uniformly strong across all regions, with over 80 percent of respondents agreeing that both the state and federal governments should do a lot more to help farmers. Public concern for the future of farming was evident. Of the survey respondents, 40 percent felt that the financial future of farming will get worse, while only 30 percent felt it would improve. While opinions on specific resource-allocation measures to help agriculture were less definite, the findings show that residential location has little effect on respondents\u27 opinions regarding agricultural issues

Coefficients of Association Analogous to Pearson's r for nonparametric Statistics

The rz and rp coefficients of association are discussed. Both coefficients, like Pearson's r, are based on a z/z max framework. They yield coefficients directly comparable for all levels of measurement being based on an obtained/maximum departure from independence in z units interpretation. The r z coefficient can be applied to any nonparametric test statistic in which a normal approximation equation is appropriate. The rp coefficient is applicable to any nonparametric test statistic in which exact probabilities are known.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Direct and mediated effects of a social-emotional and character development program on adolescent substance use

Mitigating and preventing substance use among adolescents requires approaches that address the multitude of factors that influence this behavior. Such approaches must be tested, not only for evidence of empirical effectiveness, but also to determine the mechanisms by which they are successful. The aims of the present study were twofold: 1) To determine the effectiveness of a school-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) program, Positive Action (PA), in reducing substance use (SU) among a sample of U.S. youth living in a low-income, urban environment, and 2) to test one mechanism by which the program achieves its success. We used longitudinal mediation analysis to test the hypotheses that: 1) students attending PA intervention schools engage in significantly less SU than students attending control schools, 2) students attending PA intervention schools show significantly better change in SECD than students attending control schools, and 3) the effect of the PA intervention on SU is mediated by the change in SECD. Analyses revealed program effects on both SECD and SU, a relationship between SECD and SU, and the effects of PA on SU were completely mediated by changes in SECD. Future research directions and implications for schoolbased social-emotional and character development efforts and substance use prevention are addressed.peer-reviewe

Effects of a School-Based Social-Emotional and Character Development Program on Peer, Family, School, and Neighborhood Contexts: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Aims: To evaluate the impact of a school-based social-emotional and character development program on the various socializing contexts of youth. Methods: A matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled trial included 1,170 students from 14, low-income, urban, Chicago Public Schools. Outcomes were assessed longitudinally for a cohort of youth followed from grades 3 to 8. Multilevel growth-curve modeling and endpoint analyses were conducted on indicators of peer, family, school, and neighborhood contexts. Results: Students in PA schools had slower rates of decline and higher end-point scores than students in non-PA schools across all of the contexts examined. For example, impacts were observed for positive school orientation, peer victimization, parent attachment, and neighborhood context. Conclusion: Results illustrate that school-based social-emotional and character development programs have the capacity to affect youth experiences in a range of environmental contexts that are key for youth development and functioning

Alienation and Age: A Coniexi.Specific Approach*

ABSTRACT A context-specific conceptualization of alienation is used to describe age-group differences. Traditionally, alienation has been treated in terms of specific, modes (e.g., powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation, self-estrangement). This research adds to each of these modes social structural contexts (e.g., polity, economy, education, religion, family) to produce a matrix of context-specific alienation. Age-group differentials on specific components of alienation are examined in a three-generation sample. The postulate that alienation is related to position in the social structure leads to the hypothesis that there is a curvilinear relation between alienation and age, the youth most alienated, the middle-aged least, and the elderly in between. The hypothesis is generally supported

Strengthening school readiness for Head Start children: Evaluation of a self-regulation intervention

The present study examined the efficacy of a self-regulation intervention for children experiencing demographic risk. Utilizing a randomized controlled design, analyses examined if children (N = 276 children in 14 Head Start classrooms; M age = 51.69, SD = 6.55) who participated in an 8-week self-regulation intervention demonstrated greater gains in self-regulation and academic achievement over the preschool year compared to children in a control group. In addition, indirect intervention effects on achievement outcomes through self-regulation were explored and differential intervention effects for English language learners within a sample of children from low-income families were tested. Results indicated that children in the intervention group demonstrated stronger levels of self-regulation compared to the control group in the spring of the preschool year. Group comparisons also revealed that the intervention was related to significantly higher math skills for children who were English language learners. In other words, English language learners who participated in the intervention demonstrated stronger levels of math in the spring of preschool in comparison to children in the control group and relative to English speakers who also participated in the intervention. The present study provides support for the efficacy of a school readiness intervention in promoting self-regulation and achievement in young children, especially English language learners.This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/early-childhood-research-quarterly/Keywords: Academic achievement, Self-regulation, Intervention, School readines

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes

This study examined relations between children’s attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children’s age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children’s early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.Keywords: self-regulation, academic achievement, educational attainment, attention span-persistenc

Living in Non-Parental Care Moderates Effects of Prekindergarten Experiences on Externalizing Behavior Problems in School

The current study examines the effects of prekindergarten quality and quantity on externalizing behavior problems for children living in non-parental care, compared to other children from socioeconomically at-risk backgrounds. Data were obtained from the Head Start Impact Study. Non-parental care was defined as a primary caregiver other than a biological, adoptive, or step-parent. The sample included 3029 children who attended center-based prekindergarten. Teacher-child conflict and more hours of prekindergarten predicted increased externalizing behavior problems for the full sample. Teacher-child closeness and overall process quality were only associated with externalizing behavior for children in non-parental care. Findings are discussed within a goodness-of-fit perspective in which the vulnerabilities of children in non-parental care explain how they respond to their prekindergarten experiences.Keywords: teacher-child relationships, early care and education quality, non-parental care, school readiness, externalizing behavior problems, prekindergarte

Teachers' Perceptions of School Organizational Climate as Predictors of Dosage and Quality of Implementation of a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program

Abstract Organizational climate has been proposed as a factor that might influence a school's readiness to successfully implement school-wide prevention programs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of teachers' perceptions of three dimensions of school organizational climate on the dosage and quality of teacher implementation of Positive Action, a social-emotional and character development (SECD) program. The dimensions measured were teachers' perceptions of (a) the school's openness to innovation, (b) the extent to which schools utilize participatory decision-making practices, and (c) the existence of supportive relationships among teachers (teacher-teacher affiliation). Data from 46 teachers in seven schools enrolled in the treatment arm of a longitudinal, cluster-randomized, controlled trial were analyzed. Teacher perceptions of a school's tendency to be innovative was associated with a greater number of lessons taught and self-reported quality of delivery, and teacher-teacher affiliation was associated with a higher use of supplementary activities. The findings suggest that perceptions of a school's organizational climate impact teachers' implementation of SECD programs and have implications for school administrators and technical assistance providers as they work to implement and sustain prevention programs in schools

Predictors of early growth in academic achievement : the head-toes-knees-shoulders task

Children’s behavioral self-regulation and executive function (EF; including attentional or cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of academic achievement. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a measure of behavioral self-regulation called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) by assessing construct validity, including relations to EF measures, and predictive validity to academic achievement growth between prekindergarten and kindergarten. In the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, 208 children (51% enrolled in Head Start) were assessed on the HTKS, measures of cognitive flexibility, working memory (WM), and inhibitory control, and measures of emergent literacy, mathematics, and vocabulary. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control in prekindergarten and kindergarten. For predictive validity in prekindergarten, a random effects model indicated that the HTKS significantly predicted growth in mathematics, whereas a cognitive flexibility task significantly predicted growth in mathematics and vocabulary. In kindergarten, the HTKS was the only measure to significantly predict growth in all academic outcomes. An alternative conservative analytical approach, a fixed effects analysis (FEA) model, also indicated that growth in both the HTKS and measures of EF significantly predicted growth in mathematics over four time points between prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results demonstrate that the HTKS involves cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, and is substantively implicated in early achievement, with the strongest relations found for growth in achievement during kindergarten and associations with emergent mathematics.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by the Frontiers Research Foundation. The published article can be found at: http://www.frontiersin.org/Psychology.Keywords: academic achievement, measurement, self-regulation, executive function, early childhoo