A longitudinal investigation of the effects of parental discipline strategies on social competence in early childhood

In the current study, we investigated the associations between parenting discipline strategies (i.e., physical punishment and non-violent punishment) and social development using n = 3265 reports from primary caregivers across three waves of data. Analyses were conducted using cross-lagged structural equation modeling, where we evaluated the developmental effects of physical punishment and non-violent punishment on social competence. The findings showed partial support for developmental changes between non-violent punishment and social competence unfold reciprocally and longitudinally; the relationship between physical punishment and social competence appeared unrelated, as physical punishment in Wave 2 only negatively predicted social competence in Wave 3. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the developmental pathways for parenting discipline strategies and social skill development among children living in urban neighborhoods

Are grandparents raising grandchildren receiving the services they need?

Grandparents play an important role in the upbringing of grandchildren and face increased levels of stress. Using family stress theory, the present study examined the effectiveness of service programs for grandparents raising grandchildren. Data were collected through focus group interviews and audiotaped from a sample of four custodial grandparents living in Ohio U.S.A. To better understand grandparents that are raising their grandchildren, we asked the following questions: 1) What support is needed for grandparents raising grandchildren? 2) At what stage is the support needed: beginning, middle or late stages of caregiving? 3) What are grandparent caregivers’ perceptions of service programs? The audiotape was transcribed verbatim and analyzed for themes relevant to the research questions. The findings from these questions are examined and implications discussed

A Needs Assessment for the Adoption of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in K-12 Education in the United States

Since its inception, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) blue print has attracted interest from more than 40 states in the United States. The overall objective of these proposed changes is to align K-12 science education with current trends in technology and career needs. However, the assessment of teacher preparedness and classroom technology needs is still a critical factor in the implementation of these changes. Our study conducted a needs and preparedness assessment using online surveys on public K-12 teachers before the implementation phase. The data collected for this study comprised 214 responses from schools in 16 states across the US. The study indicates that most of the teachers were not knowledgably equipped to fuse the proposed changes in standards with the current curricula and their teaching plans. The teachers made several suggestions, based on their views regarding the level of preparedness of their students. The implications of these findings and suggestions for further adjustments are presented and discussed

The Next Generation Science Standards and the Quest towards Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Perceptions of K-12 Educators

The K-12 education system is increasingly becoming more culturally diverse. Due to this change in student population diversity, the public, policy makers, employers, and educators agree on the need to change how science is taught in classrooms. Answering this call, states are rushing to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in K-12 public schools. However, there is need to assess how culturally responsive teaching (CRT) can be meshed with NGSS to achieve desired results. This study explored teachers’ views on the benefits and implications of using CRT in K-12 science education under NGSS. Survey data were collected from K-12 teachers in 18 states in the US using an online questionnaire. Based on our data, 86.36% of the respondents had a positive view of the potential impact of integrating CRT with NGSS. However, connecting CRT and NGSS to the science content emerged as one of the major concerns among the teachers. The study also found that teacher training programs on the awareness and adoption of both NGSS and CRT are still needed.Based on these findings, three major recommendations were proposed: 1) phased-adoption and re-assessment of the CRT-NGSS combination on student success; 2) immersive professional development for in-service teachers on how to include NGSS in the existing science curricula; and 3) evaluation of how CRT fits into the new science standards

Kindergarten students\u27 explanations during science learning

The study examines kindergarten students\u27 explanations during science learning. The data on children\u27s explanations are drawn from videotaped and transcribed discourse collected from four public kindergarten science classrooms engaged in a life science inquiry unit on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. The inquiry unit was implemented as part of a larger intervention conducted as part of the Scientific Literacy Project or SLP (Mantzicopoulos, Patrick & Samarapungavan, 2005). The children\u27s explanation data were coded and analyzed using quantitative content analysis procedures. The coding procedures involved initial “top down” explanation categories derived from the existing theoretical and empirical literature on scientific explanation and the nature of students\u27 explanations, followed by an inductive or “bottom up” analysis, that evaluated and refined the categorization scheme as needed. The analyses provide important descriptive data on the nature and frequency of children\u27s explanations generated in classroom discourse during the inquiry unit. The study also examines how teacher discourse strategies during classroom science discourse are related to children\u27s explanations. Teacher discourse strategies were coded and analyzed following the same procedures as the children\u27s explanations as noted above. The results suggest that, a) kindergarten students have the capability of generating a variety of explanations during inquiry-based science learning; b) teachers use a variety of classroom discourse strategies to support children\u27s explanations during inquiry-based science learning; and c) The conceptual discourse (e.g., asking for or modeling explanations, asking for clarifications) to non-conceptual discourse (e.g., classroom management discourse) is related to the ratio of explanatory to non-explanatory discourse produced by children during inquiry-based science learning