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The effect of economic shocks on human capital is theoretically ambiguous due to opposing income and substitution effects. Using child-level information on schooling, child labor, and cognitive development, we investigate the effect of cocoa price fluctuations on human capital production in Ghana. We demonstrate that the timing of the price shock matters. For school-aged children, the substitution effect dominates: a price boom decreases schooling and increases child labor. An increase of 1 standard deviation in the current-year real producer price of cocoa significantly decreases current school attendance by 8.6 percentage points and the likelihood of being in the correct grade in the following year by 5.5 percentage points. For preschool-aged children, however, the income effect dominates: early-life and in utero booms in the real producer price of cocoa significantly increase Raven/IQ scores and grade attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Increasingly, school systems are forming improvement networks and using continuous improvement (CI) to realize more ambitious and equitable instruction. Yet networks reside in environments that place formidable demands on school leaders and house multiple, and sometimes contradictory, beliefs about educational goals and practices. Leveraging a framework derived from institutional logics, we investigate how three elementary school principals drew on competing theories, frames, and narratives to interpret and enact CI routines as part of a school turnaround network. Research Methods/Approach: Drawing on data from individual and focus-group interviews from a 3-year research project, we conducted a comparative case-study analysis to understand how three school leaders led CI efforts intended to improve mathematics instruction and student learning. Our qualitative findings emerge from multiple cycles of interview coding to describe how school leaders drew on different theories, frames, and narratives to enact CI. Findings: Despite access to common tools and routines, each principal identified markedly different types of educational problems and enacted substantively different solutions. The variable approaches corresponded to divergent "field-level logics" defined by fundamentally different beliefs about teaching and learning, as well as alternative ways of managing the demands of accountability, academic rigor, and community needs. Implications: A shared instructional infrastructure and networked improvement approach can help align CI efforts in large districts, but for district-based improvement networks to support coherent and sustainable advances to teaching and learning, leaders must cultivate a shared approach to managing the myriad demands of contemporary educational environments that often feature multiple and competing institutional logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report results of a randomized controlled trial in which parents of final-year primary school students were encouraged to open a mobile phone–based bank account. Being offered access to the account induced a 5–6 percentage point increase in the probability of transitioning to high school, or a nearly 40% increase among compliers. This impact is driven in part by changes in financial behavior—parents save and/or borrow more and accumulate resources consistent with the observed increase in enrollment. Behavioral attention constraints do not appear to bind, as reminder text messages had no discernible impacts on financial behavior or enrollment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How should parents be mobilized for education in Africa? We implemented a large-scale field experiment in Angolan primary schools, including three treatments: an information campaign at home, simple parents' meetings at school, and a combination of both. Our measures of parental mobilization include beneficial practices at home, contacts with teachers, and participation in school institutions. We find that the information increased parents' involvement at home but had no impact on engagement at school, while the meetings had the opposite effects. After mobilizing parents, only the combined treatment improved management practices and facilities in schools, teachers' attitudes, and parents' satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study tested changes in modern/contemporary art valuation among students ages 6–15. Participants rated abstract paintings and conceptual works (and two control categories—traditional Western figurative paintings and everyday objects) on the dimensions of liking and art classification. As we hypothesized, modern/contemporary art was valued lower than traditional paintings. In addition, conceptual works were assessed lower than everyday objects. The relationship between the students' age and the evaluation of contemporary art depended on the genre. Liking and art classification of conceptual works decreased linearly with increasing age. In turn, the relationship between the students' age and abstract paintings' ratings (on both dimensions) was curvilinear because in younger students, ratings increased with age, and in older students, they decreased. Summing up, considered modern/contemporary art genres pose a challenge to students who, without special preparation, do not appreciate their value, even in the older grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the effect of the Rwandan genocide on children born after the genocide using commune variation in genocide intensity and child work and schooling in the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey. We instrument for killings with the commune's distance to the Ugandan border. Doubling killings per capita increases the probability of a child working by 3.35 percentage points and decreases the probability of a child attending school by 3.68 percentage points. Our results suggest a long-term impact of the genocide likely to affect Rwanda's development into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides increasing knowledge, there is another potential mechanism at work when information is delivered to a treatment group: increasing the salience of existing knowledge. We use data from a randomized controlled trial of a health information campaign to explore the relative importance of this additional mechanism in a real-world environment. The health information campaign addressed the benefits of wearing eyeglasses and provided information meant to address the common misconceptions that contribute to low adoption rates of eyeglasses. In total, our study sample included 931 students with poor vision (mostly myopia), their parents, and their homeroom teachers in 84 primary schools in rural China. We find that the health information campaign was able to successfully increase student ownership and wearing of eyeglasses, relative to a control group. We demonstrate that the campaign had a larger impact when levels of preexisting information among certain subgroups of participants—namely, parents of students—were higher while we simultaneously provided new information to others. This suggests that the interaction between directed attention (i.e., salience) and baseline knowledge is important. We do not, however, find similar increases among teachers or the students themselves and additionally find no impacts on academic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing popularity of private secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the return. In this paper, I estimate a private school learning premium in Tanzania, using administrative exam records for 635,000 students. I compare secondary school students with their primary school classmates who achieved the same primary school exam scores and control for peer effects and unobserved ability. On average, private schools improve exam scores by 0.54 of a standard deviation in 2 years. A regression discontinuity design suggests that the effect is causal, and subject-specific estimates are all positive but higher for mathematics relative to Kiswahili and English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the benefits of a schoolwide reading aloud activity for elementary school children in rural areas. A qualitative study was conducted to elicit the perspectives of the participants in the Read Aloud for You program implemented in a school in Taiwan. A combination of interviews, focus groups, and observation were used to study communication and interaction between study participants, including children, caregivers, the headmaster, schoolteachers, and nonprofit organization staff. Data gathered were analyzed and interpreted, using symbolic interactionism as an analytic tool. Results revealed benefits associated with two library-related symbols, that is, books and communities. The results suggest that school libraries can play an important role in addressing inequality. Following the results of this study, it is argued that further studies on this topic are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public library storytimes are recognized as early literacy environments for young children and research has demonstrated their early literacy impact for children who attend. While storytimes hold on to their identity as early literacy environments, storytime providers have moved beyond early literacy by placing a broader focus on school readiness skills. In working to understand the knowledge and skills that constitute school readiness, researchers found that early math skills are the strongest predictor for later school achievement. Therefore, to support school readiness effectively, storytime providers should focus on supporting early math skills in their storytimes through play-based methods. This study was designed to provide insight into the early math environment provided by public library storytimes. The results reveal that storytimes are providing a play-based, early math environment in which children are exhibiting early math behaviors, suggesting that storytimes are supporting early learning more broadly and helping to prepare children for school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multiple-case study probes the social-emotional well-being of elementary and middle-grade students labeled as English learners who were enrolled in different bilingual program models in the midwestern United States. Using ecological systems theory, this qualitative study probes students' social-emotional well-being across schools and within different bilingual program models, seeking to determine the structures and practices that nurture positive facets or perpetuate negative facets of student well-being. Findings indicate that interactions with peers and adults in schools influence students' social-emotional well-being, with program-model variations, community demographics, and societal discourse shaping these in-school experiences, relationships, and sentiments. Implications center on critical consideration of bilingual program-model implementation to prepare teachers, promote schoolwide integration, prioritize home languages, and nurture inclusive communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes through six brief stories or illustrative examples the impact of Patricia Carini's work on the practice of two maestras bilingües at a large urban school in the Southwest. Carini supported the school's community for several years in apprenticing descriptive inquiry, as they developed a stance of attending to children and families with care. The authors connect Carini's vision of "human capacity widely distributed" with María Lugones's ideas of "Playfulness, 'World'-Traveling, and Loving Perception" and "Purity, Impurity, and Separation," as well as lessons from Robin Wall Kimmerer's work. These descriptive stories draw attention to a perspective of teaching as intellectual/philosophical and practical work. In addition, the authors contend that by taking a flexible, responsive descriptive stance, teaching can become civic, ethical, and critical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this welcome to part three of the symposium honoring Pat Carini, we focus on some of the history that Pat played a part in, describing her wide and deep influence on so many. This story begins in a small school in Vermont. From founding the Prospect School to growing the Archive of Children's Work and the descriptive inquiry processes and organizing and leading institutes and conferences for educators, we trace her influence and mentorship within larger organizations, teacher education programs, schools and inquiry groups, and also through her writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effects of a compulsory schooling reform on child labor in Turkey, which extended the duration of schooling from 5 to 8 years while substantially improving the schooling infrastructure. We employ three rounds of child labor surveys with a very rich set of outcomes. The reform reduces child labor by 4.6 percentage points (24%) for 12- to 17-year-olds. For girls, the probability of spending long hours on household chores also reduces. We find that school enrollment and child labor are highly substitutable in rural areas but not as much in urban areas. In addition, the policy effect is stronger for low-income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I The Young Crusaders i , though focused on the classical Civil Rights Movement period, provides chronologically earlier accounts of Black children and youth activism and concludes with reflections on contemporary youth advocacy and political engagement. As Franklin argues, Black children and youth and their activism fundamentally changed the Civil Rights Movement. In I The Young Crusaders i , Franklin links what is occurring across time and space by addressing multiple lines of inquiry including activism in the movement, school desegregation, and demands for quality education. [Extracted from the article]

This paper analyzes the impact of technology use on student math learning using experimental data from Brazil. The technology is a software tool designed for elementary school students to learn and practice arithmetic. Contrary to most interventions in which computer-aided instruction extends the school day, students played the game during class time for about 2 months. First, second, and third graders who used the software increased their score on a math test by 0.56σ in the short term (just after the intervention) and by 0.17σ in the medium term (1 year after the end of the intervention). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies examining seasonal variation in academic skills for children have focused on learning loss or stagnation during the summer, particularly for students from low-income or minoritized racial and ethnic backgrounds. In this study, we expand the literature to focus on another student population that may be susceptible to summer learning loss: children with disabilities. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (ECLS-K:2011), we examined changes in the academic skills of children with disabilities—defined in terms of having an individualized education plan or receiving special education services—relative to peers without disabilities during the school year and summer months. Results indicate that inequality in learning rates between both groups tends to widen more during the early school years, particularly in kindergarten, than summer. One policy implication of the findings is schools may need to focus more on kindergarten transition for children with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is some evidence that access to schooling reduces fertility along the intensive margin in developing countries, but the transmission channels are not well understood; most education interventions impact financial costs, access, and school quality. We isolate the specific effect of child school fees on maternal fertility by studying a 1997 schooling reform in Uganda, in which the government abolished elementary school fees for up to four children per household. Families with more school-aged children were required to pay fees for the additional ones. We demonstrate that eligibility limits reduced births: women with more than four children in 1997 were 4.2 percentage points less likely to give birth to an additional child in the subsequent 2 years. We provide evidence that this result is driven by universal primary education eligibility limits, not by other factors associated with the policy or other secular changes. Fertility effects are persistent over time and survive the lifting of the eligibility limit in 2003. The policy is also associated with a temporary reduction in the desired fertility, with mothers preferring to have four children or fewer during the policy period than before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patricia Carini valued children's own play and work—writing, drawing, sculpting, building—as a critical mode of meaning-making and learning. Modern education often places little emphasis on such play and work: standards-based programs and projects absorb every moment of the school day, often requiring even more time than is available. Yet allowing children to play with the curriculum engages them without anxiety, gives them ownership, and calls forth serious endeavor—inviting students with a wide variety of interests, proclivities, challenges, and gifts. When teachers stop to observe and describe this play, they can use the insights gained to strengthen their practice and extend what is taught and learned, often beyond what the standards require. This article offers three brief stories from the public school practice of a teacher who did her teacher education at Prospect, collaborated with others through Summer Institutes, and worked with Pat throughout her graduate work. The stories reveal a practice rooted in a valuing of children and their capacities that honor Pat's legacy, her values and the ways these shaped educational practice at the Prospect School. It explicates how understanding the phenomenological philosophy underlying the descriptive processes gives observational knowledge a trustable place in daily decisions. The article ends with examining the challenges of giving children ownership of their work in today's classrooms as well as ways it can create openings for adults and children throughout a school. Most importantly it holds the importance of each child's belief in their own place in today's schools as the core to joyful expression and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Does the rising share of Latino students in US schools help to integrate previously White campuses or exacerbate racial and economic segregation over time? This article details trends in the segregation of Latino children enrolled in elementary schools, 2000–2015, then examines how evolving patterns differ among the nation's school districts. Research Methods: We compiled enrollment data from schools, merging census data on the demographic and economic attributes of residents inside the boundaries of each district. Changes in the interaction and entropy measures of segregation are reported, illuminating levels of Latino segregation between districts and among schools within districts. Findings: Latino children were less likely to attend elementary schools with White peers in 2015 relative to 2000, stemming in part from growing Latino enrollments. The isolation of Latino children within certain schools inside districts did not change on average. Local variation in segregation levels is associated with the income of residents within districts, along with their nativity and home language. Just 13% of the nation's districts enroll sufficient counts of Latino and White children to advance integration among constituent schools. Implications: Rising Latino enrollment in once lily-white schools does advance racial integration. But many Latino children enter increasingly segregated school districts in which poor students are isolated from middle-class peers. In the absence of interdistrict integration efforts, little progress to integrate Latino children will be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global trends of fertility decline, population aging, and rural out-migration are creating pressures to consolidate school systems, with the rationale that economies of scale will enable higher-quality education to be delivered in an efficient manner, despite longer travel distances for students. Yet few studies have considered the implications of system consolidation for educational access and inequality outside of the context of developed countries. We estimate the impact of educational infrastructure consolidation on educational attainment, using the case of China's rural primary school closure policies in the early 2000s. We use data from a large household survey covering 728 villages in seven provinces and exploit variation in villages' year of school closure and children's ages at closure to identify the causal impact of school closure. For girls exposed to closure during their primary school ages, we find an average decrease of 0.60 years of schooling by 2011, when children's mean age was 17 years old. Negative effects strengthen with time since closure. For boys, there is no corresponding significant effect. Different effects by gender may be related to greater sensitivity of girls' enrollment to distance and greater responsiveness of boys' enrollment to quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this essay is to propose a manifesto of young children's rights in the early childhood classroom based on Vivian Paley's many formal classroom investigations into children's thinking, learning, and social emotional development. Analysis establishes, first, Paley's license to speak for young children by positioning her in the only role to which she lays claim—schoolteacher. The distinguishing characteristic of Paley's teaching and writing, her psychological orientation towards children and teaching, is considered next as the foundation for her work in children's fantasy play, storytelling, and story acting. A focus on the social life of the classroom follows next, notably around the issue of differences among children and the sanctioned exclusion of some from play, friendship, and even teacher attention. Finally, the proposed manifesto encapsulates six rights of young children in school, from the curricular to the psychological, as a manifesto emblematic of Paley's belief in teaching as a moral act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the literacy activities and achievements of primarygrade children participating in summer reading clubs (SRC) and determine whether participation in SRC impacted primary-grade children's literacy activities and achievements. To address these research aims, 90 second- and third-grade children were randomly assigned to either a treatment (Marathon) or control (Sprint) group. Children and their caregivers completed questionnaires on children's literacy activities, and children's achievements were measured using direct assessment of their decoding and reading comprehension skills. Results of this study suggested that primary-grade children who elect to participate in SRC engage in frequent literacy activities and are average decoders and comprehenders. Participation in SRC does not seem to impact children's literacy activities or achievements. However, by the end of the summer, all children made significant gains in reading comprehension. Implications including how to increase the effectiveness of SRC are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national conversation about the importance of social-emotional competencies, such as prosocial behaviors, responsible decision-making, and problem-solving, has increased greatly in the last 2 decades. There is, however, less robust evidence for social and emotional learning programs' impact on social and emotional outcomes when implemented in low-income, minority populations. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based, universal program targeting social-emotional skills in late elementary school (grades 3–5) in a low-income, urban, minority population. Data were collected from 930 students over five waves. Growth curve analyses revealed evidence of favorable program effects on positive youth development, emotional health, self-esteem, problem behaviors, health behaviors, environmental climate, and academics. The study provides evidence for universal school-based interventions in low-income, urban, minority contexts in elementary school grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored elementary teachers' strategies for promoting learning for their students experiencing adversity and trauma. Recent data suggest that nearly half of all elementary school students in the United States have experienced at least one potentially traumatic event, which may have significant and negative consequences in the classroom. However, teachers are not routinely taught trauma-informed practices. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 10 elementary teachers. Thematic analysis revealed six themes: teachers prioritize relationships with and between students; allocate time to teach self-regulation and social skills; provide and advocate for academic, social, and emotional supports; practice cultural humility and responsiveness; strive to ally with parents; and engage in ongoing learning and reflection. Teachers also described tensions they experience while engaging in this work. Implications for educator professional development and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : Staff intervention is critical for the prevention of peer victimization in school settings. However, the likelihood that staff will intervene may depend on the form of victimization to which students are exposed. We examined the likelihood of certified (e.g., teachers, school social workers) and noncertified (e.g., paraprofessionals, teachers' aides, custodial staff) elementary school staff intervention with students targeted by different forms of peer victimization. Method : A sample of 155 certified and noncertified staff from six elementary schools responded to items assessing their perceptions of seriousness, pro-victim attitudes, self-efficacy to intervene, and intervention likelihood in response to a series of vignettes that included verbal, relational, physical, and cyber incidents of victimization. Results : We identified several differences by form. Notably, staff perceived physical victimization as more serious than the other forms but indicated less self-efficacy to intervene with cyber victimization than with physical or relational victimization. Additionally, whereas self-efficacy was a significant predictor of intervention for each form of victimization, perceptions and attitudes were not significant predictors of verbal victimization but were for all other forms. Conclusions : Results suggest important differences in how staff perceive and address different forms of victimization. Implications for staff training efforts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the discourses produced, circulated, and enregistered by administrators, teachers, and parents around and about "good food" at an elite elementary school in New York City. The larger research goal was to understand how privileged school children are socialized into elite foodways (how to identify, procure, and consume food) and elite forms of food talk (the codes and registers used around and about food) that contribute to the social field within which they develop the cultural capital needed to succeed as privileged worker-consumers in the neoliberal, late-capitalist world their parents are building. Here the analytic focus is on the intertextuality and indexical stance-taking of adults at the school and how these contribute to the sedimentation of elite signs and values and their imbrication into a moral economy of food and language in this privileged setting. The negotiation of contradictory messaging holds some hope for the roles these children may play as late capitalism unravels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 1999, we show that parental beliefs about a child's cognitive skill relative to children of the same age are distorted by a child's cognitive skill relative to children in the same school. Parents of children attending schools with low (high) average skills tend to believe their child is higher (lower) in the overall skill distribution than they actually are. Teacher evaluations of child skill also exhibit local distortions, providing a channel through which parental biases might arise. Finally, we relate parental beliefs and investment, providing insight on how local distortions may impact the skill distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1998, the Canadian province of Quebec introduced a $5 per day before- and after-school care program targeting primary school children. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, we employ a difference-in-differences analysis to study the effects of after-school care on child care arrangements and child development. Our results show an increase in the use of after-school care by 6–10 percentage points, mainly replacing self-care and care provided by a sibling. We also find an increase in indirect aggression, a deterioration in reading and writing skills, and a decrease in the incidence of the child getting injured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of informal microfinance groups (self-help groups, or SHGs) on children's education and work in rural India. In 2002, 24 eligible villages were randomly selected for opening SHGs, and 12 others were randomly selected as a control group. Households were surveyed three times over a 5-year period, allowing for the study of medium-term outcomes. We find a robust and strong increase in secondary school enrollment rates over time, with intention-to-treat estimates of about 40%. This effect stems from a quicker grade progression, leading to lower dropout rates between primary and secondary school. Contrary to usual presumptions, we find no decrease in overall child labor (but a reorientation toward part-time domestic work) and no direct role of credit. By contrast, we show that social interactions within SHGs are very important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Little is known about which aspects of after-school programs bolster the developmental milestones required for children to thrive intellectually, socially, and academically. To help close this gap, we examined the effects of an El Sistema-inspired (ESI) after-school music education program to identify the intervention's social, educational, and developmental health outcomes. Method: The ESI after-school program was provided to 93 fifth-grade students in a racially and ethnically diverse, low-income elementary school in Ann Arbor, MI, over 4 years. We assessed program effects with a mixed-methods design that included preprogram and postprogram participant surveys, interviews with music instructors and the school principal, and parent and participant focus groups. Results: From pretest to posttest, we found significant changes in students' perception of their music-making ability and in their connection to other students. Participants also noted an enhanced sense of school pride and broader community recognition. Conclusions: Findings suggest that providing after-school music education in racially and ethnically diverse low-income communities may be an effective strategy for enhancing personal agency, strengthening school connections, and fostering school pride in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists no unified measurement framework that encompasses and integrates schooling and learning deficits—arguably the two most important education challenges in most developing countries. This article offers a methodology that fills this gap. Using the notions of age-appropriate grade, actual grade, and effective grade for a school-age child, we develop an integrated framework offering a range of schooling, learning, and education deprivation measures that also build in distributional considerations. The article illustrates the value added of the measurement framework for education policy and evaluation with an application to data for India and Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed method study analyzes rural migrant children's academic experiences in two Shanghai public schools when 2012 PISA scores were administered. It contributes empirical evidence on how hukou status shapes educational inequality in contemporary China. Since rural migrants are ineligible for the high-stakes test for Shanghai's senior secondary admission, teachers diverted resources towards urban children at the expense of rural migrants, regardless of academic potential. Such "successful" teaching practices to maximize ranking motivated excessive resource provision to the detriment of urban youth's development. This article argues that it is only possible to understand these patterns through an inequality theory that explicitly considers the diminished integrity of teaching in high-stakes testing contexts. The framework explains educational injustices when the moral assumption of "good" teaching to benefit a child is no longer valid, with implications on the growing global emphasis on high-stakes testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Separating students into homogeneous groups is a common instructional practice used by elementary teachers during reading instruction. Although researchers have been studying the effects of homogeneous grouping for many decades, there is little consensus on whether grouping is an effective or equitable instructional practice. The central challenge in estimating the effects of grouping is determining an appropriate comparison case for homogeneously grouped students. Using data from the 2010 cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, this study uses student fixed effects to compare the reading growth of students who have different grouping experiences during reading instruction over their first 3 years of schooling. This study finds that, on average, homogeneously grouped students have slightly higher reading growth than students who are not grouped but also finds that this association between homogeneous grouping and reading growth depends on students' reading group placement and initial reading skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined teachers' spontaneous low-level comprehension questions in script-supported informational read alouds, with a secondary analysis on the relationship between low- and high-level comprehension questions. Participants came from a predetermined subsample of 34 teachers and 824 third-grade students. Results revealed notable variation in the type and function of low-level questions, with some offering support for high-level questions or content learning. Although the predominance of low-level questioning patterns continues to be a challenge in many elementary classrooms, this study's findings suggest some low-level questions play important, complementary functions in text discussions, particularly with informational text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents evidence on the role of social environment for the formation of prosociality. We show that socioeconomic status (SES) as well as intensity of mother-child interaction and mothers' prosocial attitudes are related to elementary school children's prosociality. We also present evidence on a randomly assigned variation of the social environment, providing children with a mentor for 1 year. Our data reveal a significant and persistent increase in prosociality in the treatment relative to the control group. Moreover, enriching the social environment closes the prosociality gap between low- and high-SES children. A mediation analysis suggests that prosociality develops in response to prosocial role models and intense social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the influence of instructional leadership on teachers' reports of the use of differentiated instruction in their schools and to investigate whether higher levels of differentiated instruction positively predicted student achievement. We collected teacher survey data from a sample of 95 high-poverty, rural elementary schools in Michigan and student achievement data from the state's standardized assessments. Comparing a series of means-as-outcomes models, our findings indicated that instructional leadership was positively and significantly related to teachers' reports of differentiated instructional practices regardless of school demographics and prior student achievement. Further, using multilevel structural equation modeling we found that differentiated instruction was a positive and significant predictor of student achievement. These findings are consistent with the conceptual understanding that leaders can influence schoolwide instructional practices associated with improved student achievement. We discuss significant implications of the findings for researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the cover: A teacher and students at the Whittier Primary School of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia, ca. 1899. Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC, under the digital ID ds 10504, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ds.10504. [Extracted from the article]

The article present a study of children's time use in two communities in Mwanza, Tanzania, representing either end of a local rural-urban gradient. Topics include consistent with embodied capital theory (ECT), town residence compared with village residence was associated with increased schooling at the expense of time allocation to children's work and girls more readily combined domestic chores with school attendance, which led to unexpectedly high female school enrollment in this population.

This research explores upper elementary students’ motivation to read fiction and nonfiction. Using expectancy-value theory, the researchers developed separate surveys to measure motivation to read fiction and nonfiction. Researchers administered surveys to 1,104 upper elementary students (grades 3–6) in multiple locations across the United States and found the instruments to be psychometrically sound. Results corroborate previous research demonstrating students’ declining motivation to read across grade levels; in particular, students’ value for reading was declining. This research also corroborates previous research findings that girls are more motivated than boys to read fiction. Researchers found insignificant gender differences between girls’ and boys’ motivations to read nonfiction, indicating a need to further investigate students’ motivation to read nonfiction. Implications for classroom application of survey results and the need to enhance students’ value for reading are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This content analysis research examined how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and issues are represented in elementary-level trade books. The data pool included every LGBTQ-based trade book with intended audiences of primary (grades K–2) and intermediate (grades 3–5) elementary students. Trade books were analyzed by a range of both open and axial coding questions. Findings included main characters’ demography, sexuality, stage of sexual identity development, and various ancillary elements, such as connection to the LGBTQ community, relationship with religion, interactions with non-LGBTQ individuals, and the challenges and contested terrain that LGBTQ individuals must traverse. Examination of the intended audience added nuance to findings. There appeared to be no clear relationship between books’ dates of publication and patterns of representation of LGBTQ individuals and themes. This research contributes to previous scholarship that explored LGBTQ-based fiction for secondary students and close readings of primary-level trade books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent gains in increasing access, an estimated 58 million children worldwide are still out of school. Abolishing school fees has increased enrollment rates in several countries where enrollments were low and fees were high. However, such policies may be less effective, or even have negative consequences, when supply-side responses are weak. This article evaluates the impacts of a tuition waiver program in Haiti, which provided public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on not charging tuition. We conclude that a school's participation in the program results in more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios. The program also reduces grade repetition and the share of overage students. While the increase in students does not directly equate to a reduction in the number of children out of school, it does demonstrate strong demand from families for the program and a correspondingly strong supply response from the nonpublic sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the impact of working while in school on learning outcomes through the use of a unique micropanel data set of the standardized test scores of Brazilian students. The potential endogeneity of school performance and child work is addressed through the use of fixed-effects estimators. A negative effect of working on learning outcomes in both math and Portuguese is found. The effects of child work range from 5% to 13% of a standard deviation decline in test score, which represents a loss of about one-quarter to three-fifths of an average year of learning. Robustness checks confirm the main conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the affordances of informational texts to serve as model texts for teaching text structure to elementary school children. Content analysis of a random sampling of children's informational texts from top publishers was conducted on text structure organization and on the inclusion of text features as signals of text structure. Our findings showed three limitations to the affordances present in informational texts currently available for elementary school children. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intervention experiment served to evaluate the efficacy of highly guided discovery learning of relations underlying add-1 and doubles combination families and to compare the impact of such instruction with minimally guided instruction. After a pretest, 78 first graders were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: highly guided add-1, highly guided doubles, or minimally guided add-1 and doubles practice-only. Each highly guided intervention served as an active control for the other. The practice-only intervention served to control for the effects of extra practice. For both the add-1 and the doubles strategies, the highly guided intervention, but not the practice-only control, was more successful (as indicated by effect size) than the active control in promoting meaningful transfer to unpracticed but related combinations. The highly guided doubles intervention, but not the highly guided add-1 intervention, produced greater transfer than the minimally guided practice-only intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Prospect School in North Bennington, Vermont where various collections like slides, photographs and films by children are kept. Topics discussed include creation of a reference edition of the Prospect Archives; curator Beth Alberty suggesting to organize collections by children rather than theme; and relationship between descriptive process and schools.

Despite extensive commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, little is known about how students think of its daily recitation. This study asked 88 Native American high school students about their experiences with classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Aware that they had the right to refrain from participating, most students (84%) indicated that they did not recite the Pledge of Allegiance. A considerable portion (43%) said that the recitation made little impression on them; others were split between those who had patriotic thoughts toward the United States and those for whom the Pledge of Allegiance evoked their conflicted identities and relationships, as Native Americans, to the United States. This study concludes that recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance possesses educational value. Its enactment, perhaps particularly with some students reciting and others not reciting, prompts students' thinking about self-identity, national identity, and civic values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the professional development offered to school teachers centers on quantifiable aspects of teaching and learning that correlate to external inspection processes. Insufficient attention is given to the student-teacher relationship and the dynamics contained within; in more "challenging" schools, this is central to the progress of students. Current models of reflective practice offer little in considering the emotional impact of teaching and learning on all parties involved. Training in psychoanalytic observation allows classroom teachers to consider both personality development and the psychodynamics of the institution itself in greater detail, allowing them an alternate focus through which to practice reflectively and creating a more containing learning environment for both their students and themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descriptive Review, as developed by Patricia Carini and colleagues at the Prospect Center, is a process of deep observation and documentation that has proven to be an invaluable tool for teachers interested in gaining a more holistic view of their students and their work. In this article, a teacher educator and three classroom teachers share their experiences starting and participating in a Descriptive Review group with colleagues. The introduction provides background on the evolution of both the Prospect Descriptive Review process and the Washington Teachers Inquiry Group. In the second section, a first-grade teacher explains how the Descriptive Review process helped to bridge the gap between theory and practice during her first year of teaching; in the third section, a second-grade teacher describes how preparing for a review of a child is as useful and informative as the presentation process itself; in the fourth section, a kindergarten teacher illustrates for readers how her experience with the Descriptive Review process informs her classroom practice and her relationships with students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the classwide efficacy of INSIGHTS, a universal social-emotional learning intervention for early elementary grades, on observed teacher practices and student behaviors. Twenty-two elementary schools (87% free/reduced lunch) were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or an attention-control condition. Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms (n =120) were observed in the fall prior to the intervention and in the spring following the intervention. Multilevel random effects regression models showed an INSIGHTS main effect on observed teacher practices of emotional support from fall to spring. This effect was magnified in first grade. First-grade INSIGHTS classrooms also had higher teacher practices of classroom organization and lower classwide off-task behaviors over the school year compared to first-grade attention-control classrooms. Kindergarten INSIGHTS classrooms improved classwide student engagement from fall to spring compared to kindergarten attention-control classrooms. Grade-level variations are discussed along with implications for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]