This study explored the effects on self-concept of a Cross Age Learning Program (CALP) where students in grades four to six taught mathematics to students in grades one to three. All 27 participating students were judged, by their teachers, to be having difficulty in mathematics but were capable of achieving in a regular environment. These children were divided into four groups, Older Learning Partners (OLPs), Younger Learning Partners (YLPs), Older Non Learning Partners (ONLPs), and Younger Non Learning Partners (YNLPs). The OLPs and the nPs participated in learning sessions where each OLP was trained and then taught basic math to a YLP for approximately four months. The ONLPs and the YNLPs did not participate in the program. A self-concept measure, the Self Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I, Marsh, 1990) was administered three times to all students: before the program began, four and a half weeks into the learning sessions and then four weeks after that. The scale scores were compared for the two older groups (OLPs and ONLPs), the two younger groups (YLPs and YNLPs) and for the Learning Partners versus the Non Learning Partners (LPs and NLPs). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary students' attitudes toward physical education and to identify the variables that contribute to the formation of those attitudes. In addition, the link between the attitudes that students hold toward physical education and their behavior in physical education class was investigated. A survey given to 150 students was used as a screening device to select thirty-six participants. Data were collected by: (a) conducting two group interviews with each of the student participants, (b) conducting stimulated recall sessions and individual interviews, (c) observing classes, (d) videotaping classes, and (e) interviewing each of the four teachers who were conducting the observed classes. The data were coded and analyzed revealing differences and similarities between students who held varying attitudes toward physical education. Aspects of cultural, societal, and school contexts were found to be the major influences of student attitudes toward physical education. The major influences within the cultural context were gender, an idolization of elite sport persons and a compartmentalization of the body and mind. Within the societal context, influential factors were family, mass media, the participants' sporting experience and skill level, peers, previous physical education experiences, and perceptions of fitness. These factors influenced the self concept and self esteem of the students. The most influential factor within the school context was the teacher. Students often expected (a) physical education to be fun, (b) physical education class to have few goals or challenges, (c) learning not to take place in physical education, and (d) physical education to be sport. Those expectations lead many students to believe that physical education was not a "real" subject. This belief, together with the influential factors within the three contexts, affected student attitude toward physical education. The findings suggested that student behavior often does indicate attitude. Students, however, could be influenced by certain situational pressures which placed them under pressure to act in a way contrary to their attitude.

Considerable evidence indicates that touch is vital to the healthy psychological development of children. However, teacher-child physical contact has rarely been investigated. This study was therefore designed to obtain descriptive data on teacher-child touch in preschool classrooms, the teacher, child and center variables which affect such contact and the messages teachers give to children regarding human closeness. The central question addressed was: do all children receive physical affection from caregivers? The frequency and duration of seven categories of touch were measured in eight preschool classrooms in four day care centers: Affectionate, Caretaking-Helpful, Comfort, Play, Attentional-Control Neutral, Attentional-Control Negative-Punishing and Attentional-Control Affectionate. Data was collected through observation of teachers and 148 children, and interviews with twenty teachers and four directors. The results indicated that while teachers do provide physical affection for children, they are more likely to use touch for caretaking-helpful purposes or to control-punish children than to comfort, express affection or touch in the context of play. However, great variance was found among individual teachers and centers in both the frequency and nature of touch. Education and positive attitudes toward physical contact were found to be related to higher rates of positive teacher touch. Center variables influencing higher rates of positive touch and lower rates of controlling touch were director attitudes and leadership styles, implicit center policies and director expression of physical affection to teachers. A small percentage of children received the majority of all types of physical contact; some children received little or no affection. The most important child variable influencing the frequency of positive teacher touch was whether the child expressed affection to caregivers. Children named as challenging by teachers received far more negative-punishing touch than those named as easy. Children identified as having a painful touch history (physical or sexual abuse; deprivation of affection) similarly received a greater frequency of negative-punishing touch than children in general. The findings were discussed in terms of the need for teacher-parent education on the developmental significance of touch and for an increase in positive touch in early childhood programs.

The growing number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) warrants better understanding of how clinicians and families work together following a child's diagnosis. Individuals with ASD share pronounced differences in communication and styles of social interaction along with the presence of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests when compared with people who are neurotypical (NT). Separately, or combined, these differences account for a significant degree of challenging behavior among children with ASD. Challenging behavior can often interfere with a child's participation in learning experiences at home and at school and may lead to placements in more restrictive educational settings, or a lower quality of life at home. This study examined the extent to which parental involvement in their child's behavioral support planning and the utilization of social support networks influenced parental well-being, levels of advocacy, and satisfaction with service providers. Thirty parents of young children with ASD between two and eleven years old (n= 30) were surveyed using the Collaborative Behavioral Support Parent Questionnaire (CBSPQ), a 30-item, 7 point Likert type scale. Social support was found to be positively related parental well-being. Additionally, there was a correlation between collaborative behavioral support and the degree to which parents advocated for themselves and their child. Parents who worked closely with their child's treatment team were also more satisfied with services for their children. Follow-up interviews with a subset of the broader sample enlarged understanding of these relationships.

Information integration theory (IIT) is a cognitive psychology theory that is primarily concerned with understanding rater judgments and deriving quantitative values from rater expertise. Since standard setting is a process by which subject matter experts are asked to make expert judgment about test content, it is an ideal context for the application of information integration theory. Information integration theory (IIT) was proposed by Norman H. Anderson, a cognitive psychologist. It is a cognitive theory that is primarily concerned with how an individual integrates information from two or more stimuli to derive a quantitative value. The theory focuses on evaluating the unobservable psychological processes involved in making complex judgments. IIT is developed around four interlocking psychological concepts: stimulus integration, stimulus valuation, cognitive algebra, and functional measurement (Anderson, 1981). The current study evaluates how IIT performs in an actual operational standard workshop across three different exams: HP storage solutions, Excelsior College nursing exam and the Trends for International Math and Science (TIMSS) exam. Each exam has cut scores set using both the modified Angoff method and the IIT method. Cut scores are evaluated based on Kane's (2001) framework for evaluating the validity of a cut score by evaluating procedural, internal and external sources of validity evidence. The procedural validity for both methods was relatively comparable. Both methods took approximately about the same amount of time to complete. Raters for both methods felt comfortable with the rating systems and expressed confidence in their ratings. Internal validity evidence was evaluated through the calculation of reliability coefficients. The inter-rater reliabilities for both methods were similar. However, the IIT method provided data to calculate intra-rater reliability as well. Finally, external validity evidence was collected on the TIMSS exam by comparing cut score classifications based on the Angoff and IIT methods to other performance criteria such as teacher expectations of the student. In each case, the IIT method was either equal or outperformed the Angoff method. Overall, the current study emphasizes the potential benefits IIT could produce by incorporating the theory into standard setting practice. It provided industry standard procedural, internal and external validity data as well provided additional information to evaluate raters. The study concludes that IIT should be investigated in future research as a potential improvement to current standard setting methods.

This study investigates the effects of peer coaching, a peer-mediated intervention package, on the positive social behaviors of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A single-subject, ABAB design is used with 3 elementary-aged students in grades 3 and 5. Following a baseline period, peer coaching activities are introduced, which involve daily social goal setting, the coach providing feedback, and both students rating the performance of the focus student in order to earn a weekly reward. The students are supervised by an adult during a weekly meeting. A return to baseline phase follows the first peer coaching phase. The final phase of the study includes a re-introduction of the peer coaching activities. Results suggest that the peer coaching package led to improvements in positive social behaviors during recess for 2 out of 3 students. Contributions to current literature are discussed and implications for future studies are provided.

The purpose of this study was to recognize and validate dual exceptionalities and to give voice to an underachieving gifted adolescent with an Attention Deficit Disorder regarding what has worked and not worked for him in traditional school settings. The importance of this study resonates in the voice of a tenth grade, Caucasian male student; a student for whom learning and intellectual challenge is a driving force, but who has been unable to “achieve” in a traditional school setting. This study is vital in that twice exceptional learners are at great risk of underachieving in traditional school settings. In the context of this study, underachievement was viewed as a phenomenon (Schultz, 2002), not a label. It is a verb, not to be confused with the noun. The term should not be used to describe who someone is (underachiever), but rather what someone does (underachieves). Data gathered in this study were analyzed using a constant comparative method of data analysis, which was applied to interviews and classroom observations in an effort to identify categories and themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1994). Data collected from the student interview, classroom observations, document analysis, and adult interviews were triangulated in an effort to uncover patterns and practices that have contributed to or helped to ameliorate the phenomenon of underachievement in a gifted student identified with ADD. Results of this study indicate that schools underachieve their twice exceptional learners (Schultz, 2002) by failing to recognize the asynchronous tension with which these students live; by not creating life-giving relationships with twice exceptional learners that are based on trust and respect; by not implementing classroom practices that are predicated on constructivist learning theory; by denying them access to intellectual peers; and by failing to instill hope.

This short-term longitudinal study investigated changes in newborn infant behavior over the first month of life and changes in mothers' mental representations of their infants and of themselves as parents, during the first month postpartum. There is evidence to suggest that maternal representations and newborn infants' behavior play an important role in the evolving infant-mother relationship, and that a newborn infants' developmental progress is dependent upon the quality of that relationship. While there is some research on neonatal behavioral development in Puerto Rican infants, there are no data on the development of maternal representations in Puerto Rican mothers. The study's sample consisted of 20 newborn infants and their mothers. Infants were examined on the Clinical Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (CLNBAS)(Nugent, 2001), during the first 48 hours of life and at one month postpartum. Mothers' representations were examined using the Maternal Representation Questionnaire (MRQ)(Stern & Stern-Brushwieler, 1999). This is the first study to use the CLNBAS and the MRQ for data collection during the first month. Results showed that newborn infant behavioral patterns of Puerto Rican infants changed in a positive direction during the first month postpartum. More specifically, significant positive developmental changes in the areas of autonomic, motor, and social interactions were found, while there were no changes in state organization, as measured by the CLNBAS. Results also revealed that mental representations of Puerto Rican mothers were positive and stable during the first month postpartum. Puerto Rican mothers' mental representations during the first month barely changed, were very positive, and also consistent with the positive newborn developmental changes as assessed by the CLNBAS during the first month of their infant's life. Mothers' knowledge of their infants' capacities increased over the course of the first month and they felt they became more effective and comfortable in their role as new mothers. Mothers also reported feeling well supported by family and friends during their transition to motherhood. In summary, this study contributes to the understanding of newborn behavioral changes and maternal representations early in the development of the mother-infant relationship in the context of Puerto Rican families.

The purpose of this study, a formative program evaluation, was to provide an overview of treatment integrity rates, attitudes, and assessment methods within a specialized school for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study utilized a partnership model whereby the evaluators worked collaboratively with primary stakeholders (school administrators) to determine areas of focus for the evaluation. The program evaluation was conducted between August 2009 and August 2010, spanning one school year. The evaluation participants were the school’s teachers. The evaluation was based on an exploratory case study design and included both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data consisted of direct observations of treatment adherence to behavior plans in classrooms, teacher knowledge of treatment content assessed in quizzes, and observations of teacher engagement with students at recess. Qualitative data consisted of teacher surveys and focus groups. The evaluation yielded an in-depth assessment of treatment integrity within the school; an intervention to define and enhance teacher engagement during recess was also developed and implemented.

Building upon previous emergent literacy research, this descriptive and correlational longitudinal study investigated the relationship between parent-child storybook reading and children's early literacy skill development. A new, reliable videotaping system was used as was a measurement tool sensitive to the growth of children's early literacy skills, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS). Twenty-five parent-child dyads volunteered for phase one; all children were 3 to 5 years old. Eighteen of the original 25 children participated in a follow-up study a year later. Most families were Caucasian, English-speaking, and interested in literacy activities. Dyads were videotaped reading storybooks and their interactions were coded. Six video categories became predictor variables: Parent Q, A, D, L (Parent questions, answers, discusses content of book, or discusses book as it relates to life of parent or child); Child Q, A, D, L; Child reads or is prompted to read, Off-task events, Total events; and Words read per minute. Other predictor variables included Minutes per week of Parent and Parent-child reading (derived from a parent interview) and children's scores from the Early Screening Profiles (ESP) Cognitive/Language Profile subtest of the American Guidance Service (AGS). These variables were correlated with dependent variables obtained by administering three DIBELS tests to the children: Onset Recognition Fluency (ORF) and Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), used in both phases, and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), used only in follow-up. Only children 5 and older were administered the age-sensitive PSF probes. From follow-up scores, slope data were generated measuring progress in the three skill areas. A number of the video predictor variables correlated at .32 (a small effect size) or above with the children's concurrent LNF scores. The children's ESP cognitive and language scores also correlated at .32 or above with several of the children's concurrent or subsequent DIBELS scores. Description and discussion of the direct observation system and parent interview are included, with suggestions for refinements. The ESP and DIBELS are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.