Letter knowledge in parent–child conversations: differences between families differing in socio-economic status

When formal literacy instruction begins, around the age of 5 or 6, children from families low in socioeconomic status (SES) tend to be less prepared than children from families of higher SES. The goal of our study is to explore one route through which SES may influence children's early literacy skills: informal conversations about letters. The study builds on previous studies (Robins and Treiman, 2009; Robins et al., 2012, 2014) of parent–child conversations that show how U. S. parents and their young children talk about writing and provide preliminary evidence about similarities and differences in parent–child conversations as a function of SES. Focusing on parents and children aged three to five, we conducted five separate analyses of these conversations, asking whether and how family SES influences the previously established patterns. Although we found talk about letters in both upper and lower SES families, there were differences in the nature of these conversations. The proportion of letter talk utterances that were questions was lower in lower SES families and, of all the letter names that lower SES families talked about, more of them were uttered in isolation rather than in sequences. Lower SES families were especially likely to associate letters with the child's name, and they placed more emphasis on sequences in alphabetic order. We found no SES differences in the factors that influenced use of particular letter names (monograms), but there were SES differences in two-letter sequences (digrams). Focusing on the alphabet and on associations between the child's name and the letters within it may help to interest the child in literacy activities, but they many not be very informative about the relationship between letters and words in general. Understanding the patterns in parent–child conversations about letters is an important first step for exploring their contribution to children's early literacy skills and school readiness

Psychometric Evaluation and Design of Patient-Centered Communication Measures for Cancer Care Settings

Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of questions that assess patient perceptions of patient-provider communication and design measures of patient-centered communication (PCC). Methods Participants (adults with colon or rectal cancer living in North Carolina) completed a survey at 2 to 3 months post-diagnosis. The survey included 87 questions in six PCC Functions: Exchanging Information, Fostering Health Relationships, Making Decisions, Responding to Emotions, Enabling Patient Self-Management, and Managing Uncertainty. For each Function we conducted factor analyses, item response theory modeling, and tests for differential item functioning, and assessed reliability and construct validity. Results Participants included 501 respondents; 46% had a high school education or less. Reliability within each Function ranged from 0.90 to 0.96. The PCC-Ca-36 (36-question survey; reliability=0.94) and PCC-Ca-6 (6-question survey; reliability=0.92) measures differentiated between individuals with poor and good health (i.e., known-groups validity) and were highly correlated with the HINTS communication scale (i.e., convergent validity). Conclusion This study provides theory-grounded PCC measures found to be reliable and valid in colorectal cancer patients in North Carolina. Future work should evaluate measure validity over time and in other cancer populations. Practice implications The PCC-Ca-36 and PCC-Ca-6 measures may be used for surveillance, intervention research, and quality improvement initiatives

Alfabetização baseada na ciência: manual do curso ABC

O presente manual faz parte do projeto ABC – Alfabetização Baseada na Ciência, fruto de um Acordo de Cooperação Internacional celebrado entre a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), a Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP), o Instituto Politécnico do Porto (IPP) e a Universidade Aberta de Portugal (UAb). Essa importante parceria tem o objetivo de contribuir para a formação continuada dos profissionais da educação brasileiros que atuam na área de alfabetização, somando-se aos vários esforços que têm sido envidados pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC) para elevar a qualidade dos processos de alfabetização no Brasil e, consequentemente, os seus resultados. A formação de professores tem sido um dos pilares da Política Nacional de Alfabetização (PNA), instituída pelo MEC por meio do Decreto 9.765/19, a qual destaca entre seus princípios a fundamentação de programas e ações em evidências provenientes das ciências cognitivas, bem como a adoção de referenciais de políticas públicas exitosas, nacionais e estrangeiras, baseadas em evidências científicas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Paid work, child care, and housework: A national survey of high school seniors' preferences for sharing responsibilities between husband and wife

A large national sample of high school seniors rated their preferences for the allocation of work and family duties within their own prospective marriages. The results indicate that many seniors favor half-time or full-time work for wives without children. On the other hand, the majority prefer that the mother of preschool children stay home, although half-time work is acceptable to many. Respondents who are male or White or did not have a working mother themselves are somewhat more conservative on these issues. Virtually all seniors view less than full-time employment by the husband as unacceptable. With regard to child care and housework, most seniors prefer equal sharing between the spouses. A comparison of four senior classes reveals a slight trend from 1976 to 1979 toward increased sharing of duties.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45650/1/11199_2004_Article_BF00303114.pd