Racism in Maine: Beyond Black and White

This panel discussion examined the impact of institutional racism and cultural genocide. Panelists discussed racism’s effect on Maine’s Tribal communities, the legacy of slavery in Maine, the role of faith communities in combating racism today, and how the model of community policing can change the relationship between communities of color and law enforcement. Panelists also examined how daily experiences of racism affect people’s physical, mental and spiritual well-being

Precarious Voices: The Shared Hopes and Dreams of those Teaching and Supporting Learning in Digital Contexts

University staff in learning technology related roles are critical to the capability of the institution to effectively enhance the student experience, deliver an engaged curriculum and achieve significant pedagogical change. However, their perceptions of identity, precarity, status and capability and the locations and roles they are located in within many institutions can challenge that capability. Drawing on data gathered about the hopes and dreams of over two hundred learning technology related staff at three workshops held in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, this paper will explore the contradictions and paradoxes that impact on the capability of staff in learning technology related roles to influence and shape pedagogical and technological change

Variations of Quality of Teacher–infant Interactions Across Play and Care Routine Activities

This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher-infant interactions varies across play and routine care activities. In addition, the effects of the quantity of adult involvement in the quality of teacher-infant interactions were investigated. Participants were 90 infant classrooms in Portugal. Classrooms had, on average, 6 infants enrolled (M = 6.38, SD = 2.34), with the number of adults ranging from 1 to 3 (M = 2.00, SD = 0.60). Classrooms were observed by trained observers using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Infant (CLASS-Infant; Hamre et al., 2014). Research Findings: Multilevel models showed that interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity. The quality of interactions of all CLASS domains was lower in routine care activities compared to play activities. Findings further showed that adult involvement was positively associated with all CLASS domains. In addition, after adding adult involvement to the models, differences between play and routine care activities were no longer statistically significant for most CLASS domains. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the importance of considering the context of the activity and the levels of adult involvement when assessing and improving the quality of teacher-infant interactions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The quality of caregiver–child interactions in infant classrooms in Portugal: the role of caregiver education

Recent research has shown that caregiver education and training can be important in determining levels of quality in early childhood, but has mainly considered the education and training of the lead teacher. In infant child care, however, classrooms have more than one caregiver with varying levels of education and in Portugal it is less common to have a qualified teacher exclusively assigned to infant classrooms. This study examines the quality of caregiver–child interactions in infant classrooms and its association with caregiver qualifications and training, specifically the level of pre-service education and in-service training of the lead caregiver, whether she is exclusively assigned to an infant classroom or to more classrooms, and the pre-service education of the multiple caregivers in the classroom. Participants were 90 infant classrooms from Porto, Portugal. The CLASS–Infant was used to measure quality of caregiver–infant interactions. Classrooms with one lead caregiver holding at least a bachelor’s degree, whether exclusively assigned to the infant classroom or not, showed higher levels of quality. Few effects were found for in-service training. Results suggest that lead teachers with pre-service education in early childhood are likely to play an important role not only directly by interacting with children but also indirectly through team work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessment of Early Intervention Services to Better Child Outcomes among Part C Infants and Toddlers

Background: Early intervention services have been shown to improve child outcomes. Rapid proliferation of neural connections and circuits contribute to the rapid growth of the brain in the first three years of life. These neural circuits which create the foundation for learning are most flexible in this period and become increasingly more difficult to change thereafter. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between early enrollment in Georgia’s Part C birth to three early intervention program and improved child outcome ratings upon exiting the program at 3 years of age. The study used 2013 & 2014 Annual Performance Report (APR) data. Methods: This study included 6,309 participants who enrolled and received services in the Part C, Babies Can’t Wait (BCW) program. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to assess if there was an association between age at enrollment and improved child outcome score. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the variances within the age groups for equality. Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the mean child outcome score across the enrollment age groups. Results: A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between enrollment age and improved child outcome score at 3 years of age. One-way ANOVA showed that the variances within the enrollment age groups were equal while the mean child outcome scores were not. Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that the mean child outcome score in the enrollment age group 0 to ≤ 6 months was significantly higher than the other age groups. Conclusions: Significantly better child outcomes were associated with enrollment in early intervention services before 6 months of age

Stability and change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time

Given that an increasing number of infants spend part of the day in center-based childcare in many countries, understanding infants’ education and care experiences in these settings is essential. The aims of this study are to examine change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time, and to determine the extent to which teacher and classroom structural characteristics are associated with change in teacherinfantinteraction quality. Ninety infant childcare classrooms from the greater metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal, participated in this study. Each classroom was observed twice (6-month interval between Time 1 and Time 2) by trained and reliable observers using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ITERS-R; Harms et al., 2006), the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – Infant (CLASS-Infant; Hamre et al., 2014), and the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS; Arnett, 1989). Additionally, teachers provided demographic information aboutthemselves and structural characteristics ofthe classroom. Overall results indicated that the quality of teacher-infant interactions changed over time, with a general trend toward lower quality at Time 2. The increase in infant:adult ratio from Time 1 to Time 2 was an important predictor of process quality levels at Time 2, after controlling for prior quality and other structural characteristics. These findings can be informative for policymaking as group size and number of adults per classroom are regulated features of childcare in many countries, including Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contributions of Hot and Cool Self-Regulation to Preschool Disruptive Behavior and Academic Achievement

The construct of self-regulation can be meaningfully distinguished into hot and cool components. The current study investigated self-regulation in a sample of 926 children aged 3–5 years old. Children’s performance on self-regulatory tasks was best described by two latent factors representing hot and cool regulation. When considered alone, hot and cool regulation were both significantly correlated with disruptive behavior and academic achievement. When considered together, cool regulation was uniquely associated with academic achievement, while hot regulation was uniquely associated with inattentive-overactive behaviors. Results are discussed with respect to treatment studies that directly target improvement in children’s self-regulation

Children with Disabilities Tend to Stay in a Highly-resourced Early Head Start/Head Start Program Longer than Children without Disabilities

Using data from 21 Educare schools, the researchers measured the rate at which children from birth to kindergarten-age enter the school and rate at which they exit the school. Educare schools are highly resourced Early Head Start/Head Start programs targeting children at risk, especially children from low-income backgrounds. About 10% of the children have a disability. Results showed that children with a disability tended to stay in the program longer, especially when enrolled in Early Head Start.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ccids_posters/1037/thumbnail.jp

Predictors of parent-teacher communication during infant transition to childcare in Portugal

Although literature reports associations between parent-teacher communication and childcare quality, little is known about how such communications are related to family, child and childcare characteristics. This study examines whether child, family and childcare experience characteristics predict the level of parent-teacher communication, and differences between parents’ and teachers’ reports of communication. Participants were mothers of 90 infants and their teachers in childcare in Portugal. Results show that both parents and teachers report higher levels of communication in higher-quality programmes. Teachers reported more frequent communication than parents. Teachers, but not parents, reported more frequent communication when children spent fewer hours in childcare. Discussion highlights the relevance of monitoring the quality of childcare contexts, especially in early ages, and to increase parent-teacher communication when children spend more time in childcare. The importance of promoting high-quality childcare and accounting for variables at the mesosystemic level of development in teacher training are also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NMNAT1 Mutations Cause Leber Congenital Amaurosis

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is an infantile-onset form of inherited retinal degeneration characterized by severe vision loss. Two-thirds of LCA cases are caused by mutations in 17 known disease genes (RetNet Retinal Information Network). Using exome sequencing, we identified a homozygous missense mutation (c.25G>A, p.Val9Met) in NMNAT1 as likely disease-causing in two siblings of a consanguineous Pakistani kindred affected by LCA. This mutation segregated with disease in their kindred, including in three other children with LCA. NMNAT1 resides in the previously identified LCA9 locus and encodes the nuclear isoform of nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase, a rate-limiting enzyme in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide $(NAD^+)$ biosynthesis. Functional studies showed the p.Val9Met mutation decreased NMNAT1 enzyme activity. Sequencing NMNAT1 in 284 unrelated LCA families identified 14 rare mutations in 13 additional affected individuals. These results are the first to link an NMNAT isoform to disease and indicate that NMNAT1 mutations cause LCA