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This study investigated relationships among home reading practices, shared book reading (SBR) behaviors, and child literacy outcomes in young children with cochlear implants in Baltimore, Maryland. Parents (N =18) completed a home reading questionnaire and recorded themselves reading books with their children at home. Shared book reading sessions were coded for interactive reading behaviors. Children's early language skills and literacy skills were also assessed. We explored variability in these behaviors with regard to demographic characteristics and type of book; these exploratory analyses revealed that parents used more literacy teaching techniques when reading the wordless picture book and that parent interaction and engagement and literacy teaching techniques were more frequent with younger children than with older children. While many families frequently used interactive reading behaviors, our analysis did not find significant relationships between the parent behaviors and children's literacy scores. However, there was an interaction between the amount of reading and cochlear implant experience such that more cochlear implant experience was associated with better reading outcomes only for the group of children who received more reading time. In a sample of young children with cochlear implants, reading time, cochlear implant experience, and child language skills were better predictors of reading outcomes than parents' frequency of SBR behaviors alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, most children became vulnerable to potential learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, empirical evidence on households as vulnerability factor to children's potential learning loss in Ghana does not exist to guide policy decisions and scholarly discourse. Through a national household survey underpinned by a disaster risk reduction framework, this paper examines the vulnerability of Ghanaian school children to perceived learning loss during the COVID-9 pandemic school closures. The findings of this study indicate that household efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the risk of potential learning loss among school children varied disproportionately across wealth quintiles and geographic locations. It is, however, revealing that about 29% of households in the richest wealth quintiles did not take deliberate actions to mitigate the risk of potential learning loss among their children. Against these revealing findings, we conclude that households' decisions to support their children's learning during the pandemic-induced school closures may not be based on economic reasons alone. Consistent with this finding, we recommend the exploration of additional factors and dynamics of understanding potential and perceived learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined whether the extent to which students perceived their teachers provided positive support influenced associations between teachers' emotional intelligence and social emotional learning (SEL) beliefs and multiple dimensions of students' other-oriented cognitions (i.e., perspective taking empathetic concern, and prosocial motivations and goals). Forty-three fifth-grade and sixth-grade teachers from 12 Greek elementary schools and 353 students (192 boys) were participants. The majority of students were White and of Greek nationality. Teachers' emotional intelligence was associated positively with students' empathic concern and prosocial goals. However, the association between teachers' emotional intelligence was related negatively to students' perspective taking skills, but only when students reported receiving less positive support from their teachers. Conversely, when students reported high levels of positive teacher support, teachers' comfort with SEL teaching practices was related positively to students' prosocial goals. Findings also highlighted differences in Greek teachers' emotional intelligence and comfort with and commitment to SEL teaching practices as compared to those reported in other countries. Additionally, girls rated themselves as higher in empathetic concern than did boys. Implications for teacher training and professional development that support teachers and students' SEL are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health concerns in youth, with rates of these internalizing problems continuing to rise. Universal school-based interventions have shown promising results in improving poor mental health outcomes; however, more research is needed across different cultural contexts. This study is part of an ongoing evaluation of A Lust for Life Schools Programme, a universal process-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for Irish primary school children. This study investigated the efficacy of the program through a cluster randomized controlled trial. Nine schools were randomly allocated to the intervention or control groups. Four hundred and seventy participants completed measures at three timepoints (baseline, post-intervention, and 6-week follow-up) assessing internalizing problems, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (primary outcomes) and avoidance, problem-solving, seeking social support, academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and emotional self-efficacy (secondary outcomes). Although participants reported that they were mostly satisfied with the intervention, results revealed that the intervention did not have a significant effect on the outcome variables compared to the control group. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study's purpose was to examine the effects of the concrete-representational-abstract integrated (CRA-I) sequence on the performance of students who struggled with rational number concepts. Three students in southeastern U.S. fifth grade class participated in the study. The CRA-I intervention was grounded in the principles of explicit instruction and showed rational number concepts related to fractions and decimals using fraction blocks, number lines, base 10 blocks, and coins. Students learned about unit fractions, fraction magnitude, fraction equivalence, addition of fractions with unlike denominators, equivalent decimals, and notation of fractions as decimals. The researchers used a multiple probe across behaviors design and demonstrated a functional relation between CRA-I and three behaviors: decreased fraction estimation error, accuracy in adding fractions with unlike denominators, and accuracy writing fractions as decimals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used triannual reading curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency data from 11,834 U.S. students in Grades 2 and 3 enrolled in an evidence-based Tier 2 reading intervention program (Reading Corps) to investigate the extent to which family involvement in the intervention might buffer against a negative effect of lower intervention dosage. The relation between family involvement in Reading Corps and growth in oral reading fluency was stronger when students spent fewer hours in tutoring, suggesting that family involvement in tiered reading intervention can compensate for receiving less intervention dosage. There was noticeable variation in this effect across tutors, suggestive of tutor-level heterogeneity of this relation. The relation between sending family engagement materials to families and the materials that are returned to tutors also substantially varied across tutors. We discuss findings in terms practical significance for school-based academic intervention systems. We highlight limitations and opportunities for future directions as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acadience Reading Diagnostic: Comprehension, Fluency, and Oral Language Assessment (CFOL) is an individually administered diagnostic assessment published by Acadience Learning for students in kindergarten through sixth grades. The measure purportedly provides diagnostic information in story coherence/text structure, listening and reading comprehension, vocabulary and oral language, and fluency with expository and narrative texts. The skills assessed with the CFOL are designed to provide information about skills related to students' comprehension difficulties so educators can better target comprehension interventions to support students' specific learning needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child and family routines were significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders, leaving individuals isolated from school, work, and peer networks. This work examines how social support from family/friends and systems was connected to associations between parental stress and child behavior problems. Data was collected between January and March of 2021 from 195 parents of children in elementary school who were primarily in remote learning due to the pandemic. Hierarchical linear regression models indicated that younger child age and child gender were associated with parental stress in step 1; only child age remained significant when child behavior problems were added. Support from family, but not external systems, attenuated associations between child characteristics and behavior on parental stress, though child behavior problems remained consistent with parental stress even when support was present. Exploring parental stressors and investing in support networks may protect children and families from immediate and ongoing challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although existing research describes how teacher candidates (TCs) have incorporated translanguaging pedagogies through practice-based assignments, little research closely examines how TCs engage in discursive shifts, or moment-to-moment linguistic decisions, in translanguaging pedagogies during literacy instruction in their field placement internships. Drawing on a larger study that utilized practitioner inquiry with an ethnographic approach, we analyzed TCs' literacy instruction for their discursive shifts in which TCs and elementary students 1) engaged in translanguaging 2) spoke about named languages 3) attempted to draw upon multilingual students' cultural and linguistic knowledges. Our analyses of TCs' discursive shifts during translanguaging read-alouds showed that TCs employed more or less effective and affirming discursive shifts to position multilingual students as linguistic experts. TCs also employed certain discursive shifts that gave multilingual students more opportunities to share cultural and linguistic knowledge unknown to the TCs and peers than others. Lastly, TCs engaged in discursive shifts that provided multilingual students space to advocate for their linguistic, cultural and textual rights. We conclude by discussing the findings and sharing implications on developing effective and affirming uses of translanguaging pedagogies in literacy instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for professional development (PD) are the key for teachers to improve their skills in a variety of areas and situations, including, but not limited to, technology in the classroom, positive behavior management strategies, effective collaboration, and making instructional accommodations for students with disabilities. These areas of PD are especially important for special education teachers. However, opportunities to access PD may vary greatly, especially for special educators who work in rural locations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to survey special education teachers serving rural or non-rural (i.e., suburban or urban) communities in the U.S. state of Nebraska about their unique PD experiences. Results indicated that special educators in rural areas often use their regional service agency to access PD opportunities and perceive those experiences positively. Suggestions for improving PD include providing relevant content during training and allocating resources to increase PD attendance. Recommendations for improvements are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by the social ecological model, which asserts that health behaviors and beliefs are the result of multiple levels of influence, we examined factors related to parents' support for in-school COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Using data from a survey of 567 parents/caregivers of public elementary and middle school students in eight Maryland counties, we employed regression models to examine relationships between parent-, child-, family-, school-, and community-level factors and acceptability of mitigation strategies. Acceptance of COVID-19 mitigation strategies was positively correlated with child- and family-level factors, including child racial identity (parents of Black children were more accepting than those of White children, odds ratio [ OR ]: 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.5, 4.1]), parent receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine (OR : 2.4, 95% CI = [1.5, 3.7]), and parent Democrat or Independent political affiliation (compared with Republican affiliation, OR : 4.2, 95% CI = [2.6, 6.7]; OR : 2.2, 95%CI = [1.3, 3.8], respectively). Acceptance was also positively associated with parents' perceptions of their school's mitigation approach, including higher school mitigation score, indicating more intensive mitigation policies (OR : 1.1, 95% CI = [1.0, 1.1]), better school communication about COVID-19 (OR : 1.7, 95% CI = [1.4, 1.9]) and better school capacity to address COVID-19 (OR : 1.9, 95% CI = [1.5, 2.4]). Community-level factors were not associated with acceptance. Child- and parent-level factors identified suggest potential groups for messaging regarding mitigation strategies. School-level factors may play an important role in parents' acceptance of in-school mitigation strategies. Schools' capacity to address public health threats may offer an underappreciated and modifiable setting for disseminating and reinforcing public health guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, investigators examined the effects of an instructional reading package consisting of shared reading and systematic instruction (e.g., task analysis, system of least prompts, visual supports, and native language support) in a small group setting on percentage of correct consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words for three elementary participants with extensive support needs who also were multilingual learners. A multiple probe design across word sets with replication across participants resulted in a functional relation between the percentage of correct CVC words acquired and the instructional package. In addition, there were positive changes in exploratory (secondary) dependent variables that included components of reading (i.e., phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and generalization) as demonstrated through pre-posttest assessments. Social validity measures for parents, students, and paraprofessionals also revealed positive pre-post changes. Limitations and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional communication training (FCT) provides an efficient means for reducing a variety of challenging behaviors while increasing social communication. After establishing a functional communication response (FCR), interventionists may need to design a program to thin the schedule of reinforcement to provide more durable effects and maintenance in the natural environment. Hanley et al. provided one means for thinning schedules that involved the systematic introduction of extinction (or denial trials) following a process of delaying reinforcement. This study evaluates a southeastern U.S. classroom application of this thinning process with three elementary age students who engaged in a variety of aggression, self-injury, disruption, and crying. The results indicate positive effects of the FCT program with systematic introduction of denial trials once the participants demonstrated proficiency with the FCR. In addition, data for two participants show prolonged effects post-intervention. Results are discussed in terms of extending Hanley et al. and how these procedures can be used within typical school-based settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of, and relationship between, bullying and malocclusion in schoolchildren aged 10–14 years in the South East of the UK. Design: Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting: Sixteen primary and secondary schools in South East of the UK. Participants: Schoolchildren aged 10–14 years who were consented to participate. Methods: The prevalence and nature of bullying were measured using a questionnaire. Traits of malocclusion and the need for orthodontic treatment were assessed by clinical examination and determined by the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) Dental Health (DHC) and Aesthetic components (AC). Results: Complete data were collected for 698 participants. The number defined as being bullied was 68 (9.7%). There was no difference in the prevalence of bullying between gender, ethnicity or age. Higher rates of bullying were reported in mixed sex schools (P = 0.03). Participants with an increased overjet (P = 0.02) and/or a greater need for treatment, as measured by IOTN DHC (P = 0.01) and AC (P = 0.01), reported higher rates of bullying. While there was no difference in the overall prevalence of bullying between genders, boys were more likely than girls to experience physical bullying (P <0.001) and being called names (P = 0.03) Conclusion: A significant relationship was evident between being bullied and certain traits of malocclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of bullying among schoolchildren and to study the correlation between bullying and a specific type of malocclusion, self-esteem, oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), the need for orthodontic treatment and socioeconomic status. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Low, middle and high socioeconomic group schools in the same educational district in Cairo, Egypt. Participants: A total of 324 Egyptian schoolchildren aged 11–14 years. Methods: Validated questionnaires were used to assess self-reported bullying frequency and intensity, self-esteem and OHRQoL. The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) was used to assess the orthodontic treatment need and the participants' occlusion was classified according to the British Standard Incisors (BSI) classification. Results: Bullying was found to be prevalent in 61.7% of the sample. Regression analysis revealed that participants with a Class II division 1 incisor relationship had the highest odds ratio (OR) for predicting bullying (OR = 1.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.38–2.15). Being bullied was significantly associated with lower self-esteem (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.13–0.78), worse OHRQoL (OR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.95–3.15) and a high need for orthodontic treatment, as determined by the IOTN Dental Health Component score (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.05–1.95) and IOTN Aesthetic Component score (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.12–1.88). Moreover, participants in high and middle socioeconomic groups had a lower OR for predicting bullying than those in the low socioeconomic group (OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.13–0.54). Conclusion: The bullying prevalence among Egyptian schoolchildren aged 11–14 years was very high. The prevalence of bullying was higher in schoolchildren with higher orthodontic treatment need and Class II division 1 incisor relationship. Bullying was correlated to poor self-esteem as well as poor OHRQoL. In addition, low socioeconomic status was found to be a potential predictor for bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple parent request unveiled a startling revelation: The principal of Bridgforth Elementary School segregated students by race. Her attempt to establish a culturally responsive framework was met with an Office of Civil Rights (OCR) complaint of racial discrimination. This case will examine the principal's rationale for creating the framework, the parental complaint, the school community response, and two evidence-based options for increasing student outcomes for African American students and other ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This integrative literature review examined how assistive technology (AT) can help students with visual impairment (VI) in middle primary and secondary schools (aged 11–18 years) engage in learning Mathematics. To collate the relevant findings across studies, an integrative literature review approach was employed and supported by an evidence-based synthesis method. Automatic search phrases were used to find research articles related to the topic in the Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, and Springer Link databases. A total of 628 articles were identified during the initial search of which only 11 were included after putting them under rigorous selection criteria. In addition, a mixed-method appraisal technique (MMAT) was used to examine the methodological quality of the papers that were included. The synthesis result came up with three overarching themes: the availability of AT to support learning mathematics, the usability of AT in mathematics classes, and the role of AT in the inclusion of visually impaired students. The findings based on the results of the 11 academic articles published from 2007 to 2021 revealed that effective engagement of students with VIs in Mathematics instruction is achieved by providing students with VI equitable access to the swiftly evolving AT, addressing issues related to affordability, testing the usability and appropriateness of existing AT and enhancing accessibility of AT for all by breaking the social stigma against students with VI in using AT. It is concluded that easily affordable and accessible assistive technologies with multiple non-visual display formats that enable students with VI to access mathematical symbols, notations, expressions, and tactual contents should be in place to actively engage students with VI in learning mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading disorders, including reading comprehension disorders, are among the most common referrals for evaluation in schools. If that evaluation involves individually administered tests of reading, the examiner is faced with selecting at least one reading comprehension subtest that is inherently associated with specific task demands, such as a cloze procedure or a story retell procedure. This study explored the correlates of performance of these two types of reading comprehension measures in lower grades (i.e., grades 1–5) and upper grades (i.e., grades 6–12). Results revealed a moderate correlation between these two tasks and evidence that students with reading disorders may perform poorer on cloze reading comprehension measures than story retell measures in both grade groupings. Regression analyses revealed that variance in each reading comprehension task is associated with a unique grouping of predictor variables that are associated with the Big Five of Reading and short-term/working memory. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the evaluation of students with suspected disabilities and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) have been successfully employed on numerous occasions to obtain vital data-driven insights. In this article we further substantiate the success story of GAMs, demonstrating their flexibility by focusing on three relevant pandemic-related issues. First, we examine the interdepency among infections in different age groups, concentrating on school children. In this context, we derive the setting under which parameter estimates are independent of the (unknown) case-detection ratio, which plays an important role in COVID-19 surveillance data. Second, we model the incidence of hospitalizations, for which data is only available with a temporal delay. We illustrate how correcting for this reporting delay through a nowcasting procedure can be naturally incorporated into the GAM framework as an offset term. Third, we propose a multinomial model for the weekly occupancy of intensive care units (ICU), where we distinguish between the number of COVID-19 patients, other patients and vacant beds. With these three examples, we aim to showcase the practical and 'off-the-shelf' applicability of GAMs to gain new insights from real-world data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole number computations are a critical skill that serves as a foundation upon which higher-order concepts in mathematics are taught to children. To facilitate their instruction, educators often use multiple representations to support a child's cognition. Representations with physical manipulatives are widely studied through a graduated instructional sequence featuring concrete, representational, and abstract stages of learning. In contrast, research on representational sequences featuring virtual manipulatives is less robust. Thus, this study evaluated an instructional strategy with virtual manipulatives, static representational drawings, and abstract algorithms to teach multiplication to three U.S. elementary students with mathematics difficulty. A functional relation was established via a single-subject multiple probe design between the treatment and students' accuracy performance. Baseline-corrected Tau estimates confirmed a medium effect size for all three students, while student performance on measures assessing the number of errors committed and the duration of sessions also returned favorable findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student's motivation towards physical education (PE) classes is a key factor for increasing physical activity (PA) levels in children. In order to increase motivation in PE, new teaching techniques are needed, such as gamification. This study examines the potential influence of gamification in PE classes on motivation-related variables such as basic psychological needs (BPNs) and positive behaviours in primary school students, considering the perceptions of students and teachers. A total of nine teachers and 506 primary students participated in this study: 250 from a gamified group and 256 from a control group. The students filled in the BPNs in the Classroom Scale in order to measure three BPNs (autonomy, competence and relatedness). In addition, the perceptions, feelings, and behaviours of the students and teachers were analysed and classified through drawings, teacher's diaries, and focus groups. An improvement in the three BPNs, namely autonomy (p < 0.001), competence (p < 0.001) and relatedness (p < 0.001), was observed for the gamified group compared to the control group. The qualitative findings showed a perceived increase in student motivation, participation, and cooperation behaviours. Students also reported values such as respect, and rejection of contempt and harassment. In short, gamification was associated with an increase in all BPNs and positive behaviours in primary school students in gamified PE classes compared to non-gamified classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated how autistic traits modulate peer interactions using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. Across three experiments, we tested the effect of copresence, joint activity, and a tangible goal during cooperative interactions on interbrain coherence (IBC) in school-aged children between 9 and 11 years old. Twenty-three dyads of children watched a video alone or together in Experiment 1, engaged in joint or self-paced book reading in Experiment 2, and pretended to play a Jenga game or played for real in Experiment 3. We found that all three formats of social interactions increased IBC in the frontotemporoparietal networks, which have been reported to support social interaction. Further, our results revealed the shared and unique interbrain connections that were predictive of the lower and higher parent-reported autism-spectrum quotient scores, which indicated child autistic traits. Results from a convergence of three experiments provide the first evidence to date that IBC is modulated by child autistic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood wellbeing is essential for positive outcomes in adulthood, as is academic attainment. Schools play a pivotal role in laying the foundations for children to live well. However, research investigating the relationship between wellbeing and attainment has relied on conceptualisations of wellbeing that are too broad (i.e. overall and domain-general wellbeing) or samples spanning large age ranges (thereby overlooking developmental differences). Additionally, the role of mindset, a potentially co-occurring psychological state of both wellbeing and attainment, has been neglected. This study therefore investigated the wellbeing-attainment relationship in 942 children aged 9–11 (447 male, M age = 10.5; 495 female, M age = 10.6) across 17 schools in England (UK). Structural equation models distinguished between overall wellbeing, life satisfaction, and eudaimonia, examining associations of each with children's attainment on standardised tests, accounting for mindsets, achievement goals, and sociodemographic factors. Results indicated lower life satisfaction was significantly associated with higher attainment on average, and in English and Mathematics, while eudaimonia was not significantly related to attainment. Overall wellbeing was negatively associated with Mathematics attainment only. A growth mindset was positively associated, while a fixed mindset was negatively associated, with wellbeing. In turn, a growth mindset was significantly positively associated, while a fixed mindset was negatively associated, with attainment. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paraprofessionals play a significant role in the education system. However, they often need more training on specific instructional strategies to use with the students they work with. In this study, we trained two paraprofessionals working in a self-contained U.S. elementary classroom for students with high-intensity behavioral support needs. Each paraprofessional used constant time delay to support students' learning to read grade-level sight and science words. Paraprofessionals also gathered maintenance and generalization sessions data using individualized social stories created by the classroom teacher. Not only did the four student participants meet mastery of their personalized word sets but paraprofessionals also implemented all phases with high fidelity. We discuss limitations, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between teachers' reports of classroom adversity, a measure of classroom hardship, and student problem behavior in a sample of students with or at risk of emotional/behavioral disorders. We also examined the extent to which this relation varied as a function of multiple domains of classroom quality. A series of multiple regression models, adjusting for the nesting of students within classrooms, were conducted. Models revealed a significant effect of the interaction between classroom adversity and classroom emotional support on teachers' reports of student problem behaviors. This effect indicated that in low-adversity classrooms, teachers differed in their reports of students' problem behaviors depending on their level of emotional support. In high-adversity classrooms, however, teachers' reports of students' problem behaviors were relatively similar regardless of their level of emotional support. Findings suggest classroom adversity is likely an important contextual factor to consider when examining student outcomes and that teacher emotional support may mitigate the influence of classroom adversity. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gamification research and practice have gained popularity, but there is a lack of experimental and field evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific design elements and their use contexts especially in developing countries. Aim: This research aimed to measure the effect of gamifying digital learning environments and compare the effects of badges and leaderboards on the development of cognitive and achievement motivation of elementary school students. Method: A gamified environment focused on the circulatory system and employing interactive storytelling was developed. It was tested through an in-field experiment at an elementary school in Egypt. The research sample was of 30 students in the 5th grade, divided into two equal experimental groups (badges - leaderboard). Results: The results indicated an increase in cognitive and achievement motivation among students in both experimental groups. However, there were no significant differences in the effects of badges and leaderboards on the cognitive and achievement motivations of the participants in the two experimental groups. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the effects of gamification are more likely due to the holistic design and novelty, rather than the specific use of a specific game element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationships between word reading and rapid automatized naming (RAN) for objects and letters in Arabic-speaking children with and without dyslexia to determine potential modulating effects of color on naming by comparing children's performance on color and black–white RAN plates. Participants were 114 Arabic-speaking third graders who were tested for word and pseudoword reading accuracy, word reading fluency, rapid automatic naming, and letter scanning and searching abilities. Comparative analyses showed that while children with dyslexia did not differ from controls on the RAN object color task, they did show slower average naming speeds than the controls on the black–white version of the objects task. Similarly, the children with dyslexia showed slower average naming speeds than controls on both the color and black–white versions of the RAN letters task. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses showed that word reading accuracy, word reading fluency and pseudoword reading were significantly predicted by RAN black-white objects and RAN letters both versions after controlling for Age, IQ and visual search. Furthermore, group predicted the interference in letter RAN but not in object RAN. Findings of the current study have implications for the positive impact of color on object-naming tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has affected both the private and public lives of people worldwide. Countries have chosen different strategies to reduce the spread of infection, including school closures and distance learning. This study aimed to describe school nurses' perceptions about the wellbeing of students during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden. Interviews in five focus groups and one individual were conducted with 17 school nurses in Sweden. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. According to the school nurses' perceptions, students were concerned about spreading infection, becoming infected themselves, their academic performances, and longing for socialization. The change in the school situation involved a slower pace and less anxiety for some students, more or less physical activity, and an increase in screen time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a violence-prevention education program using empathy (VPEP-E) on elementary school students. This quasi-experimental design examined fifth-grade students' (a) empathy level, (b) perception of violence, and (c) permissive and negligent attitudes toward violence, using a pre- and post-test design. A total of 101 students participated: the experimental group (n = 48) received eight sessions of VPEP-E, whereas the control group (n = 53) received violence prevention education through classroom lectures. Significant differences were observed between the groups' empathy level (t = 6.81, p <.001), perception of violence (t = 2.79, p =.006), and permissive and negligent attitudes toward violence (t = -2.21, p =.030; t = -2.02, p =.046). Thus, a school-based VPEP-E may help elementary school students. Long-term studies evaluating behavioral changes from VPEP-E implementation are needed for establishing the effects on violent behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study uses data from the 2019 China Institute for Educational Finance Research-Household Survey to investigate expenditure on children's education in China. Design/Approach/Methods: Using descriptive and regression analysis, this study analyzes the level and structure of household expenditure on children's education, the associated disparities, and household financial burden. Findings: The average household expenditure on regular full-time education nationwide was RMB 8,139 per child, accounting for 10.8% of total household expenditure. On average, 24.4% and 15.5% of elementary and high school students participated in out-of-school subject- and interest-oriented tutoring in AY 2018–2019, respectively. On an average, it costs a household approximately RMB 233,000 to educate a child from preschool to the undergraduate level. The total investments in regular full-time education nationwide were estimated to be RMB 6.2 billion—6.87% of the national Gross Domestic product. Moreover, based on an overview of various statistics on school funding, this study found that several years of public investments in compulsory education and rural schools have significantly reduced the disparities in school funding among income groups. Originality/Value: This research is the first report giving a comprehensive picture of household expenditures on education nationwide in China. It provides empirical evidence for exploring policy tools to realize the balanced development of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to develop an Academic School Climate Scale measuring students' perceptions of the learning environments at their schools. With a pilot sample of 1,265 students and validation sample of 14,773 students in Grades 4–12 in schools across the U.S., results of EFA and CFA supported a bifactor model with a general factor and three subscales: High Standards, Teacher Support of Student Learning, and Peer Support of Learning. We found scalar invariance by gender and race, and metric invariance by grade band. Correlations of the Academic School Climate Scale with open classroom climate and school climate indicated concurrent validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has consistently shown that difficulties in facial emotion recognition (FER) are associated with peer problems and internalizing symptoms during middle childhood. However, no longitudinal research has investigated the direction of effects, that is, how these constructs influence each other across time. In this preregistered three-wave panel study, we tested the directional effects between FER, peer problems, and internalizing symptoms among Finnish school-aged children (n = 3,607; M age = 8.20, SD age = 0.86; 51% female). The results of random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that a low FER accuracy and high biases toward happiness and sadness correlated with higher levels of peer problems and internalizing symptoms at the between-person level. However, we found no evidence of directional effects at the within-person level. Overall, our findings suggest that these constructs might be associated because of shared underlying causes, rather than mutually influencing one another in middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine-year old Eliza is a student at Meadows Elementary School where she receives special education services for her diagnosis of Emotional Disturbance. Her teachers are working together to try to bring Eliza back into the classroom after weeks of time spent in the office with no contact with her peers. Mr. Jimenez and Ms. Landon are collaborating to incorporate trauma-informed practices into their classrooms in an attempt to address the absence of secure attachments and feelings of safety in Eliza's life, as well as her inability to control her emotional responses. Creating a trauma-informed classroom benefits everyone but especially students with disabilities who have experienced trauma. In this paper we discuss the need for trauma-informed practices and strategies for making classroom environments more trauma-informed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examines reciprocal mentoring in a community-based program (CBP) serving immigrant Latino families with school-aged children. University student volunteers shared technological and college knowledge and grew in leadership skills. Simultaneously, they gained familial and cultural support and belonging from program families. The CBP fostered all forms of community cultural wealth capital. Study findings can inform educational leaders seeking to develop mutually beneficial partnerships between education institutions and community organizations to support student success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in school stress among adolescents are a growing concern. Although perfectionism and parental expectations have an important role in school stress, their joint influence has not been evaluated nor have analyses taken a multidimensional perspective of school stress into consideration. The aims of this study were to analyze the role of self-oriented perfectionism and parental expectations in school stress, and to explore their potential moderation effect in the associations between school stress and health complaints in adolescence. Sample consisted of 4,768 secondary-school students (52.1% girls; M = 13.74) aged 11 to 17 years (M = 13.74) from 54 high schools in Andalusia (Spain), and school stress was measured using ASQ-S questionnaire. Results show that high self-oriented perfectionism and parental expectations were significantly associated with higher levels of school stress. In addition, the three variables school stress, self-oriented perfectionism and parental expectations were significantly associated with health complaints, and self-oriented perfectionism moderated the relationship between stress of school-leisure conflict and health complaints. These findings should be taken into consideration for future research and the development of interventions aimed at reducing school stress among adolescent students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational robots represent a unique form of teacher presence. Exploring how the communication features of robot instructors affect student learning experience could contribute to the advancement of educational robots. This study examined the impact of speech rate, voice type, and emotional tone of robots on students' cognitive load, attitudes toward robot-assisted teaching, and learning performance. We recruited 477 Chinese primary school students assigned to either the speech rate, voice type, or emotional tone experiment. The results indicate that speech rate significantly influenced students' cognitive load, with the medium speed condition resulting in higher germane load compared to both fast and slow speed conditions. Moreover, students had a lower preference for adult male voices over adult female, boy, or girl voices. However, voice type did not significantly impact attitudes toward robot-assisted teaching or learning outcomes. Emotional tone did not affect students' cognitive load, attitudes, or learning performance. These findings provide valuable insights for instructors and designers when configuring the communication features of educational robots in classroom environments. Additionally, students generally prioritized the intelligence of the robot over its communication features, and they did not perceive the teaching content as difficult in all experiments. This study has methodological and practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Location of schools is one of the most important factors for encouraging active school transportation. The study identifies a gap that children lose a considerable amount of time in their school trips. The reason behind this is also identified: the ignorance of the population's preferences while planning for this infrastructure. Location of schools in Kharagpur city is evaluated in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Global Moran's I test and hot spot cluster analysis provided the existing spatial distribution of schools. Desire line maps are prepared to note the distances children are traveling for schools. Parents' preference patterns are comprehended in the SERVQUAL framework. Cluster analysis is performed to identify the different categories of parents with respect to their preference patterns. These categories are profiled with their demographic characteristics using logit model. Next, multinomial logit model is used to ascertain the type of schools selected by the parents of each identified category. The framework developed to assess the expectations and perceptions of parents from schools will help the school providers understand the satisfaction level of their users. Schools of different categories will be able to customize their serviceability. If preference is included in the location planning of schools, it will encourage children for active school transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender stereotypes are often an unconscious notion, which can unjustly confine individuals' pathways to that of those deemed acceptable in society. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore whether such ideals are shown by primary school students' and their teachers. Results showed that gender stereotypes were present, with both students and teachers expressing this. Students indicated that all six professions explored had large stereotypes. Teachers were largely in agreement, noting that although they felt able to challenge such ideals, many of them had no formal training throughout their teaching program. The results offer a rationale for more initial teacher training programs to explore the effects of gender stereotypes, preparing teachers to challenge these early on while children are developing their long-term beliefs, to avoid unjust bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lately, several key experts have proposed that well-being and flourishing ought to be the ultimate aim of education. To make this aspiration into reality, we need (1) a shared normative vision, (2) a shared understanding of key features of flourishing, and (3) shared flagship indicators to assess flourishing. Normatively, while the aim of education indeed ought to be the lifelong flourishing of the students, promoting it requires recognizing potential trade-offs between students' current well-being and lifelong flourishing as well as each student's individualistic flourishing and the capability of the society to promote the flourishing of all. Flourishing itself involves the following three dimensions: subjectively experienced well-being, psychological functioning, and certain foundational capacities and virtues through which human potential is realized. We need consensus around these elements and their lead indicators to transform the abstract aspiration into a trackable target pursued through evidence-based practices by education systems around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial thinking permeates much of our lives and is an asset when solving problems involving well-structured visual information or imagining solutions in physical or digital space. However, an estimated three million US school children have spatial talents that go unrecognized because of the tools commonly used for identification of academic talent. For decades, educational and psychological research has explored the range of spatial thinking skills that are demanded by many career fields, including science, engineering, and mathematics. Spatial thinking has been found to be particularly important to early mathematical thinking. In this article, we explore what spatial thinking entails, where it is important in the curriculum, and how we can begin to develop spatial literacy and identify spatial talents in our K-12 classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extremely hot or humid days are anticipated to continue, occur more often, and intensify over time. School-age children are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. The primary acute health effects of heat on children can range from heat exhaustion to heatstroke. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the impact some acute heat-related illnesses have on school-age children's health and to provide school nurses with information on the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses as well as prevention tips to share with parents and school administrators. This is the fifth article in a series meant to inform school nurses about illnesses linked to the climate and provide them with the tools they need to safeguard children' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a languaging perspective, this paper considers how kindergarten students and their teacher are relationally and intellectually responsive to one another in authoring conversations by constructing a sense of copresence. Copresence is defined by Goffman (1966) as being "uniquely accessible, available, and subject to one another" (p. 22). In this paper, I make Goffman's construct visible by showing how students and their teacher discursively align with each other. Microethnographic discourse analyses of sharing time events in writing workshop reveal that copresence is performed as playfulness, empathy, and disagreement. Implications include using the construct of copresence to assess the relation between the performance of authoring and the social life of the classroom as well as drawing upon the dialogic, improvisational nature of copresence as a point of pedagogical leverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intends to examine the reading process in Chinese of two young heritage language learners through the use of retrospective miscue analysis (RMA). Retrospective miscue analysis involves both the author and the reader in reflectively discussing the reader's oral reading miscues—responses that differ from the actual text. This study confirms the notion that reading is an active sense-making process where the graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cues as well as translanguaging skills function interdependently to assist heritage language readers with meaning construction. Strategies of sampling, predicting, substituting, and correcting are also evident in their reading. These active but "invisible" reading behaviors are not available through asking comprehension questions. Instead, they are obtained from the reflective conversations between the researcher and the students. Retrospective miscue analysis helps readers gain a deeper understanding of the reading process and enhances their metacognitive skills. This study also includes language and reading behaviors that are unique to Chinese heritage language learners as well as implications for parents and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with neurodevelopmental diagnoses often experience discrimination from their peers at school. This may result from a lack of understanding, and intolerance of differences in their thinking, communication and social interactions. Learning About Neurodiversity at School (LEANS) is a teaching programme designed to educate primary school children about the concept of neurodiversity. The LEANS programme was created by a neurodiverse team, using participatory methods. In the current study, we evaluated whether the wider neurodiverse community endorsed the planned design generated by our participatory approach. Respondents (n = 111) rated their support for key elements of the planned LEANS content, via an online survey. Participants were majority neurodivergent (70%), 98% of whom reported moderate-to-high familiarity with neurodiversity concepts. Over 90% of respondents expressed support for the planned content presented, and 73% of respondents endorsed the draft neurodiversity definition provided. A small number of respondents provided open-ended comments giving further detail on their views. Overall, the LEANS programme plan received a high level of support from this independent, neurodiversity-aware sample – demonstrating the potential of small-group participatory methods to generate wider community support. The completed resource is now available as a free online download. Children with diagnoses such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and so on often experience bullying at school. This group can be described as neurodivergent, meaning they think and process information differently from most people. Previous research suggests that increasing people's knowledge can be an effective way to reduce stigma and bullying. Therefore, we decided to create a primary school resource to teach about neurodiversity – the concept that all humans vary in how our brains work. Working with educators, our research team – which included neurodivergent people – developed plans for a teaching programme called Learning About Neurodiversity at School (LEANS). Next, we wanted to know whether these plans, developed by our small neurodiverse team, would be endorsed by the wider community. To find out, we conducted an online feedback survey about our plans for the resource. We analysed feedback from 111 people who participated. Most of them identified as neurodivergent (70%) and reported being familiar with neurodiversity (98%), meaning they could provide an informed opinion on our plans. Over 90% of people expressed support for the planned programme content described in the survey, and 73% of them approved our intended definition of the resource's core concept, neurodiversity. From these results, we concluded that there was a high level of support for the planned LEANS programme content across those from the wider community who completed the survey. Consequently, we continued developing the LEANS programme in line with the initial plans from our neurodiverse team. The completed resource is now available as a free download. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Expectancy-Value model has been extensively used to understand students' achievement motivation. However, recent studies propose the inclusion of cost as a separate construct from values, leading to the development of the Expectancy-Value-Cost model. This study aimed to adapt Kosovich et al.'s (The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 5–6, 2015) instrument for assessing achievement motivation in science and math among Spanish-speaking students aged 9–12. The psychometric evaluation encompassed examining validity, reliability, and measurement invariance for gender. The findings support the applicability of the expectancy-value-cost model in elementary school students, providing a valid and reliable tool for assessing achievement motivation in the science and math domain. However, the findings for the measurement invariance for gender are less conclusive and warrant future psychometric evaluations. This study opens avenues for future research on achievement motivation in Spanish-speaking contexts and populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When 13-year-old Teruichi Nakayama, my grandfather, came to San Francisco from Osaka in 1906, he was assured of an education in a public school by an 1894 treaty between the United States and Japan that gave the latter most-favored-nation status. In 1906, racist mobs forced a decision by the school board to assign 41 school aged Japanese children, including him, to a segregated school for Asian children in violation of the pact. In 1907, he escaped street violence to work as a migrant laborer on inland farms. Settling in the state's Central Coast, he started a confectionary, the family business he knew from his childhood in Japan. He eked enough money to raise a family with a wife arranged for him in the traditional manner by a go-between in Japan. The school board action opened a diplomatic rift between the 2 countries that never resolved and ended in war in 1941. Just days ahead of the imprisonment of Japanese living in California in 1942, he and his family fled to Colorado, a sanctuary state where he reestablished the confectionery. He faced every misapprehension of the current immigration crisis: racism, unfair labor competition, the impossibility of assimilation, and suspicion of a fifth column. Now 5 generations later, none of the fearful predictions when he first arrived came true. His legacy proves immigration as an essential rejuvenating force in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anchored in an ethnographic fieldwork in rural Ethiopia, involving 66 children (12–18 years old) and 17 church scholars, this article looks at how a traditional school of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church nurtures sentiments of patriotism and national pride in Yekolo temari (children in the school). The findings revealed a multitude of pedagogical approaches that the church school employed. The school system also provided the students with ample cultural resources that enhance their national pride and patriotic feeling. This research has practical implications and contributes to the literature on national identity (re)construction, specifically on ways of cultivating patriotism and national pride among schoolchildren. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]