3 research outputs found
Children\u27s Endorsement of Mastery Goals Predicts Their Academic Competence
Children’s academic motivation has implications for current and future scholastic performance. Students who espouse mastery goals focus on the process of learning, whereas students who espouse performance goals focus on how they appear to others. In the present study, students who endorsed mastery goals were more academically competent than students who endorsed multiple goals. This finding speaks to the unresolved scholarly debate between the mastery and multiple-goal perspectives. It contributes to an understanding of the patterns and development of children’s academic strivings, thereby helping concerned adults facilitate age-appropriate learning environments that foster children’s optimal development
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Countering Deficit Narratives in Quantitative Educational Research
The deficit narrative is a critical component of the white racial frame and attributes disparate outcomes to the racialized groups themselves rather than the policies and actions that create conditions that produce these disparities. Educational research that employs racialized groups as a variable in quantitative research holds potential to contribute to deficit narratives by attributing differences in educational outcomes to racialized groups rather than the educational interventions and/or systems under study. This paper examines the extent to which research published over a ten-year period presents findings in a manner that contributes to deficit narratives. The findings indicate nearly sixty percent of manuscripts employed language that creates or perpetuates deficit narratives specific to educational outcomes about people of Black African descent. Suggestions are presented for how findings can be presented in a manner that avoids deficit narratives and instead produce an anti-racist narrative
Evaluation of a cluster-randomized controlled trial: Communities for Healthy Living, family-centered obesity prevention program for Head Start parents and children
Abstract Background This study reports the outcomes of Communities for Healthy Living (CHL), a cluster randomized obesity prevention trial implemented in partnership with Head Start, a federally-funded preschool program for low-income families. Methods Using a stepped wedge design, Head Start programs (n = 16; Boston, MA, USA) were randomly assigned to one of three intervention start times. CHL involved a media campaign and enhanced nutrition support. Parents were invited to join Parents Connect for Healthy Living (PConnect), a 10-week wellness program. At the beginning and end of each school year (2017-2019), data were collected on the primary outcome of child Body Mass Index z-score (BMIz) and modified BMIz, and secondary outcomes of child weight-related behaviors (diet, physical activity, sleep, media use) and parents’ weight-related parenting practices and empowerment. Data from 2 years, rather than three, were utilized to evaluate CHL due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We used mixed effects linear regression to compare relative differences during intervention vs. control periods (n = 1274 vs. 2476 children) in (1) mean change in child BMIz and modified BMIz, (2) the odds of meeting child health behavior recommendations, (3) mean change in parenting practices, and (4) mean change in parent empowerment. We also compared outcomes among parents who chose post-randomization to participate in PConnect vs. not (n = 55 vs. 443). Results During intervention periods (vs. control), children experienced greater increases in BMIz and modified BMIz (b = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.02,0.10; b = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.12), yet were more likely to meet recommendations related to three of eight measured behaviors: sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (i.e., rarely consume; Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2,2.3), water consumption (i.e., multiple times per day; OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.2,2.3), and screen time (i.e., ≤1 hour/day; OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.0,1.8). No statistically significant differences for intervention (vs. control) periods were observed in parent empowerment or parenting practices. However, parents who enrolled in PConnect (vs. not) demonstrated greater increases in empowerment (b = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.04,0.31). Conclusions Interventions that emphasize parent engagement may increase parental empowerment. Intervention exposure was associated with statistically, but not clinically, significant increases in BMIz and increased odds of meeting recommendations for three child behaviors; premature trial suspension may explain mixed results. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03334669 , Registered October 2017