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A pretest-training-posttest design assessed whether training to improve spatial skills also improved mathematics performance in elementary-aged children. First grade students (mean age = 7 years, n = 134) and sixth grade students (mean age = 12 years, n = 124) completed training in 1 of 2 spatial skills--spatial visualization or form perception/VSWM--or in a nonspatial control condition that featured language arts training. Spatial training led to better overall mathematics performance in both grades, and the gains were significantly greater than for language arts training. The same effects were found regardless of spatial training type, or the type of mathematics tested. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED606395.]

We tested whether analogical training could help children learn a key principle of elementary engineering--namely, the use of a diagonal brace to stabilize a structure. The context for this learning was a construction activity at the Chicago Children's Museum, in which children and their families build a model skyscraper together. The results indicate that even a single brief analogical comparison can confer insight. The results also reveal conditions that support analogical learning.

This study examines the role of a particular kind of linguistic input--talk about the past and future, pretend, and explanations, that is, talk that is decontextualized--in the development of vocabulary, syntax, and narrative skill in typically developing (TD) children and children with pre- or perinatal brain injury (BI). Decontextualized talk has been shown to be particularly effective in predicting children's language skills, but it is not clear why. We first explored the nature of parent decontextualized talk and found it to be linguistically richer than contextualized talk in parents of both TD and BI children. We then found, again for both groups, that parent decontextualized talk at child age 30 months was a significant predictor of child vocabulary, syntax, and narrative performance at kindergarten, above and beyond the child's own early language skills, parent contextualized talk and demographic factors. Decontextualized talk played a larger role in predicting kindergarten syntax and narrative outcomes for children with lower syntax and narrative skill at age 30 months, and also a larger role in predicting kindergarten narrative outcomes for children with BI than for TD children. The difference between the 2 groups stemmed primarily from the fact that children with BI had lower narrative (but not vocabulary or syntax) scores than TD children. When the 2 groups were matched in terms of narrative skill at kindergarten, the impact that decontextualized talk had on narrative skill did not differ for children with BI and for TD children. Decontextualized talk is thus a strong predictor of later language skill for all children, but may be particularly potent for children at the lower-end of the distribution for language skill. The findings also suggest that variability in the language development of children with BI is influenced not only by the biological characteristics of their lesions, but also by the language input they receive.

Narrative skill in kindergarteners has been shown to be a reliable predictor of later reading comprehension and school achievement. However, we know little about how to scaffold children's narrative skill. Here we examine whether the quality of kindergarten children's narrative retellings depends on the kind of narrative elicitation they are given. We asked this question with respect to typically developing (TD) kindergarten children and children with pre- or perinatal unilateral brain injury (PL), a group that has been shown to have difficulty with narrative production. We compared children's skill in retelling stories originally presented to them in 4 different elicitation formats: (a) wordless cartoons, (b) stories told by a narrator through the auditory modality, (c) stories told by a narrator through the audiovisual modality without co-speech gestures, and (e) stories told by a narrator in the audiovisual modality with co-speech gestures. We found that children told better structured narratives in response to the audiovisual + gesture elicitation format than in response to the other 3 elicitation formats, consistent with findings that co-speech gestures can scaffold other aspects of language and memory. The audiovisual + gesture elicitation format was particularly beneficial for children who had the most difficulty telling a well-structured narrative, a group that included children with larger lesions associated with cerebrovascular infarcts.

Extant research has highlighted the importance of multiple characteristics of housing but has not comprehensively assessed a broad range of housing characteristics and their relative contributions to children's well-being. Using a representative, longitudinal sample of low-income children and adolescents from low-income urban neighborhoods (N = 2,437, ages 2-21 years) from the "Three-City Study", this study assessed housing quality, stability, type (i.e., ownership status and subsidy status), and cost simultaneously to delineate their unique associations with children's development. Hierarchical linear models found that poor housing quality was most consistently associated with children's and adolescents' development, including worse emotional and behavioral functioning and lower cognitive skills. These associations operated in part through mothers' psychological functioning. Residential instability showed mixed links with functioning, whereas housing cost and type were not consistently predictive. Results suggest that housing contexts are associated with functioning across the developmental span from early childhood through late adolescence, with some differences in patterns by child age.

This study assessed whether previous findings linking early maternal employment to lower cognitive and behavioral skills among middle-class and White children generalized to other groups. Using a representative sample of urban, low-income, predominantly African American and Hispanic families ("n" = 444), ordinary least squares regression and propensity score matching models assessed links between maternal employment in the 2 years after childbearing and children's functioning at age 7. Children whose mothers were employed early, particularly in their first 8 months, showed enhanced socioemotional functioning compared to peers whose mothers remained nonemployed. Protective associations emerged for both part-time and full-time employment, and were driven by African American children, with neutral effects for Hispanics. Informal home-based child care also heightened positive links. (Contains 5 tables.)

Research Findings: Using longitudinal survey data from the Welfare, Children, and Families Study: A Three-City Study ("n" = 135), this study examines how congruence in maternal and child care provider sensitivities contributes to young children's social, emotional, and academic outcomes among low-income minority families. Congruence groups were created based on levels of high and low maternal and child care provider sensitivity. Children with high maternal sensitivity and low child care provider sensitivity had lower scores on measures of social competence and applied problems compared to children with high maternal and child care provider sensitivity. Children with low maternal sensitivity but high child care provider sensitivity displayed higher emotional competence than children with low maternal and child care sensitivity, implying an important protective benefit of child care. Practice or Policy: Current state and federal policy climates, including recently awarded Early Learning Challenge grants focused on social and personal development and the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act, reflect an important emphasis on social and emotional learning. Given this, the findings from this study implicate the role of families and child care providers as important components in any policy or program focused on shaping children's early social and emotional outcomes.

Performing action has been found to have a greater impact on learning than observing action. Here we ask whether a particular type of action--the gestures that accompany talk--affect learning in a comparable way. We gave 158 6-year-old children instruction in a mental transformation task. Half the children were asked to produce a "Move" gesture relevant to the task; half were asked to produce a "Point" gesture. The children also observed the experimenter producing either a "Move" or "Point" gesture. Children who produced a "Move" gesture improved more than children who observed the "Move" gesture. Neither producing nor observing the "Point" gesture facilitated learning. Doing gesture promotes learning better than seeing gesture, as long as the gesture conveys information that could help solve the task. (Contains 5 footnotes, 1 table, and 2 figures.)

Prior studies indicate that children vary widely in their mathematical knowledge by the time they enter preschool and that this variation predicts levels of achievement in elementary school. In a longitudinal study of a diverse sample of 44 preschool children, we examined the extent to which their understanding of the cardinal meanings of the number words (e.g., knowing that the word "four" refers to sets with 4 items) is predicted by the "number talk" they hear from their primary caregiver in the early home environment. Results from 5 visits showed substantial variation in parents' number talk to children between the ages of 14 and 30 months. Moreover, this variation predicted children's knowledge of the cardinal meanings of number words at 46 months, even when socioeconomic status and other measures of parent and child talk were controlled. These findings suggest that encouraging parents to talk about number with their toddlers, and providing them with effective ways to do so, may positively impact children's school achievement. (Contains 2 footnotes, 4 tables, and 5 figures.)

The present study investigated the association of mothers' marriage and changes in young adolescents' cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes. Analyses employed longitudinal data from the "Three-City Study" to track maternal partnerships for 860 low-income adolescents (10-14 years-old in Wave 1) across a 16 month period. No short-term benefits or risks emerged for youth when mothers entered marriage, with few changes in family or maternal functioning linked with marriage formation as well. In contrast, adolescents in stably married families experienced improved academic, behavioral, and psychological well-being compared to youth in stable cohabiting or single-parent families. Stable marriage was similarly linked to improvements across multiple domains of home and mothers' functioning. These patterns were not moderated by the male partner's identity (biological father or stepfather). Results support the benefits of stable marriage on youth development, but suggest that policies supporting movements into new marriages may not result in improved adolescent or family functioning, at least in the short term. (Contains 5 tables.)

Previous studies have found that children have difficulty solving proportional reasoning problems involving discrete units until 10 to 12 years of age, but can solve parallel problems involving continuous quantities by 6 years of age. The present studies examine where children go wrong in processing proportions that involve discrete quantities. A computerized proportional equivalence choice task was administered to kindergartners through 4th-graders in Study 1, and to 1st- and 3rd-graders in Study 2. Both studies involved 4 between-subjects conditions that were formed by pairing continuous and discrete target proportions with continuous and discrete choice alternatives. In Study 1, target and choice alternatives were presented simultaneously; in Study 2, target and choice alternatives were presented sequentially. In both studies, children performed significantly worse when both the target and choice alternatives were represented with discrete quantities than when either or both of the proportions involved continuous quantities. Taken together, these findings indicate that children go astray on proportional reasoning problems involving discrete units only when a numerical match is possible, suggesting that their difficulty is due to an overextension of numerical equivalence concepts to proportional equivalence problems. (Contains 2 figures, 4 tables, and 2 footnotes.)

Increasing numbers of low-income children are receiving regular nonparental care, yet knowledge is limited regarding whether child care settings meet the needs of low-income children and their parents. Using a sample of low-income, predominantly African-American and Hispanic children and families from low-income neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio ("n" = 238), the present study provides a descriptive view of the child care experiences of children (ages 2-5) and families. Results indicate that most children attend Head Start centers, other centers, or relative care, provided either within or outside of the child's home. Head Start programs were rated higher in overall developmental quality than all other types of care. Though unregulated home care settings scored lower on ratings of developmental quality, such settings appeared to be the types in which mothers felt most comfortable, and that best met family needs.

Two experiments tested the ability of 4- and 8-year-old children to encode the extent of a target dowel and later discriminate between the target and a foil having a novel extent. By manipulating the heights of containers in which we presented the stimuli we tested whether children used the relation between the dowels and containers for encoding extent. We found that 8-year-olds encoded extent without relying on the relation between the target dowel and container but 4-year-olds only encoded the extent of the target dowel relative to the container. This early ability to encode extent relative to an aligned standard may serve as a perceptual basis for the developing ability to measure. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Background: Use of numerical and spatial language, also known as math talk, is critical to the development of foundational number and spatial skills in early childhood. However, caregivers and children of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to use less math talk than their higher-SES peers. Objective: The current efficacy study tested the hypothesis that quantity of math talk among low-SES caregivers and children is increased via a caregiver education curriculum aimed at improving caregivers' language input to children. Methods: Caregiver-child dyads (n = 37; children aged 17 to 36 months) participated in either the language input or a control intervention. Math talk (operationalized as number and spatial word tokens) was coded from video recordings of each dyad engaging in free play at three time points: baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up. Results: The language input curriculum significantly increased caregivers' amount of spatial talk and cildren's amount of number and spatial talk for up to 4 months after the intervention. Conclusions: A caregiver education intervention increased caregivers' use of math talk, which resulted in higher math talk usage by their children. Further verification is needed through an adequately powered longitudinal randomized controlled trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To establish a case‐adjusted hospital‐specific performance evaluation tool using machine learning methodology for cesarean delivery. Data Sources: Secondary data were collected from patients between January 1, 2015 and February 28, 2018 using a hospital's "Electronic Data Warehouse" database from Illinois, USA. Study Design: The machine learning methodology of optimal classification trees (OCTs) was used to predict cesarean delivery rate by physician group, thereby establishing the case‐adjusted benchmarking standards in comparison to the overall hospital cesarean delivery rate. Outcomes of specific patient populations of each participating practice were predicted, as if each were treated in the overall hospital environment. The resulting OCTs estimate physician group expected cesarean delivery outcomes, both aggregate and in specific clinical situations. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Twelve thousand eight hunderd and forty one singleton, vertex, term deliveries, cared for by practices with ≥50 births. Principal Findings: The overall rate of cesarean delivery was 18.6% (n = 2384), with a range of 13.3%–33.7% amongst 22 physician practices. An optimal decision tree was used to create a prediction model for the hospital overall, which defined 23 patient cohorts divided by 46 nodes. The model's performance for prediction of cesarean delivery is as follows: area under the curve 0.73, sensitivity 98.4%, specificity 16.1%, positive predictive value 83.7%, negative predictive value 70.6%. Comparisons with the overall hospital's specific‐case adjusted benchmark groups revealed that several groups outperformed the overall hospital benchmark, and some practice groups underperformed in comparison to the overall hospital benchmark. Conclusions: OCT benchmarking can assess physician practice‐specific case‐adjusted performance, both overall and clinical situation‐specific, and can serve as a valuable tool for hospital self‐assessment and quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Few studies present clinical management approaches and outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). We describe outcomes of a clinical management pathway for a large COVID‐19 outbreak in an urban SNF with predominantly racial minority (>90% black), medically complex, older residents. Design: Single‐center, retrospective, and observational cohort study (March 1, 2020–May 31, 2020). Setting and Participants: All subacute and long‐term care residents at an urban SNF between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020 (Chicago, IL). Intervention: A multicomponent management pathway was developed to manage a large COVID‐19 outbreak in an SNF. Measurements: Chart review was used to extract demographics, comorbidities, symptoms, lab results, and clinical outcomes over 12 weeks, which were summarized and compared between residents with and without COVID‐19. Results: A multicomponent clinical management pathway was used to care for residents with COVID‐19, which included frequent scheduled clinical and laboratory evaluation, use of intravenous fluids, supplemental oxygen, antibiotics when indicated, and goals‐of‐care discussions. Of the 204 residents, 172 (84.3%) tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 during the 3‐month period, with 50.5% symptomatic, 9.3% presymptomatic, and 24.5% asymptomatic, with a 30‐day mortality rate of 15.7%. Predominant symptoms were low‐grade fever >99 °F, anorexia, delirium, and fatigue. While in the facility, approximately one‐quarter of residents experienced hypernatremia [Na > 145 mEq/L] (24.5%), acute kidney injury [Cr > 0.03 mg/dL or 1.5× baseline] (29.7%), or leukopenia [WBC < 4.8 1000/mm3] (39.4%). Conclusion: We present the first available clinical strategy guiding the medical management of a COVID‐19 syndrome in an urban SNF, caring for largely black residents, which may lead to improved mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary care workforce is under-prepared to care for the growing older adult population. Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) is a continuing education intervention that connects subspecialists and community health care providers (HCPs) via videoconferencing technology for didactic and case-discussion sessions. Methods: We asked participants to complete 8 to 12 educational telementoring sessions. These sessions were conducted between February 2016 and October 2017. Pre/post surveys of self-efficacy and frequency of practice behaviors were collected from eligible participants. Results: 121 HCPs from multiple sites participated. Of these, 89 (non-trainee status) were eligible to complete surveys. Sixty-two participants (69.7%) completed pre/post surveys. Participants were queried regarding 15 geriatrics competencies. Self-efficacy significantly increased across all competencies after series participation (p < 0.05). Frequency of 8 out of 11 queried geriatrics-centered practice behaviors also increased significantly (p < 0.05). Discussion: ECHO-Chicago Geriatrics offers a novel strategy for improving community HCPs' geriatrics self-efficacy and frequency of geriatrics-centered practice behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey findings indicated the use of alcohol and drugs among prepubertal and teenage students, and the involvement of both groups in theft and valdalism. The view advanced was by the study that deficient socialization and inadequate parenting, as well as peer group pressures and psychogenic factors, influenced these behavioral problems. (Author/RD)

The Chicago Consensus Working Group provides multidisciplinary recommendations for the management of peritoneal surface malignancies of various causes. These guidelines are developed with input from leading experts including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, palliative care physicians, and pharmacists. These guidelines recognize and address the emerging need for increased awareness of the appropriate management of peritoneal surface disease. They are not intended to replace the quest for higher levels of evidence. This article serves as an introduction to this effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The rapid increase in demand for palliative care (PC) services has led to concerns regarding workforce shortages and threats to the resiliency of PC teams.Objectives: To describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a regional interdisciplinary training program in PC.Methods: Thirty nurse and physician fellows representing 22 health systems across the Chicago region participated in a two-year PC training program. The curriculum was delivered through multiple conferences, self-directed e-learning, and individualized mentoring by expert local faculty (mentors). Fellows shadowed mentors' clinical practices and received guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating a practice improvement project to address gaps in PC at their institutions.Results: Enduring, interdisciplinary relationships were built at all levels across health care organizations. Fellows made significant increases in knowledge and self-reported confidence in adult and pediatric PC and program development skills and frequency performing these skills. Fellows and mentors reported high satisfaction with the educational program.Conclusion: This interdisciplinary PC training model addressed local workforce issues by increasing the number of clinicians capable of providing PC. Unique features include individualized longitudinal mentoring, interdisciplinary education, on-site project implementation, and local network building. Future research will address the impact of the addition of social work and chaplain trainees to the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review findings from a four-year longitudinal study of language learning conducted on two samples: a sample of typically developing children whose parents vary substantially in socioeconomic status, and a sample of children with pre- or perinatal brain injury. This design enables us to study language development across a wide range of language learning environments and a wide range of language learners. We videotaped samples of children's and parents' speech and gestures during spontaneous interactions at home every four months, and then we transcribed and coded the tapes. We focused on two behaviors known to vary across individuals and environments—child gesture and parent speech—behaviors that have the potential to index, and perhaps even play a role in creating, differences across children in linguistic and other cognitive skills. Our observations have led to four hypotheses that have promise for the development of diagnostic tools and interventions to enhance language and cognitive development and brain plasticity after neonatal injury. One kind of hypothesis involves tools that could identify children who may be at risk for later language deficits. The other involves interventions that have the potential to promote language development. We present our four hypotheses as a summary of the findings from our study because there is scientific evidence behind them and because this evidence has the potential to be put to practical use in improving education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports a study which was conducted to evaluate the outcomes of autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) in Study of the Treatment of Articular Repair (STAR) patients with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD).The results revealed that patients with OCD of the knee had statistically significant pain reduction and functional improvement for up to 48 months after ACI. This indicates that ACI is a viable treatment option for complex and severe OCD lesions of the knee.

A Bayesian approach to geographic profiling methodology involves updating journey-to-crime probability estimates with probabilities based on the distribution of residences of other offenders who committed crimes in the same locations. Tests were conducted on serial offenders from Baltimore County and Chicago and six different methods using five different criteria were compared. The Bayesian method was more accurate than the existing journey-to-crime methods and was as accurate as the center of minimum distance, the current best method. Suggestions for improving the methodology further are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a successful pilot project in New York City that effectively reduced the number of transfers or replacements of children in family foster care through the placement of mental health clinicians onsite at two foster care agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern corn rootworm, Diabrotica barberi Smith & Lawrence (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an agricultural pest that ranges from the eastern Dakotas to Kansas and east to the Atlantic coast. The endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia has been detected in northern corn rootworm populations from east of the Mississippi River. Using the Wolbachia 16S rDNA, ftsZ and wsp genes a boundary was identified in central Illinois, between infected and uninfected populations with the infected populations found to the east of the boundary. Sequences of portions of the Wolbachia ftsZ and wsp genes have been obtained from four geographic locations of northern corn rootworm. Within infected northern corn rootworm populations, two strains have been detected. The 1,058-bp ftsZ sequences from northern corn rootworm indicate that both strains belong to the Wolbachia super-group A. NCR Type 1 Wolbachia was found from eastern Illinois to Pennsylvania. NCR Type 2 Wolbachia occurs in central Illinois. The ≈600-bp wsp sequences from the two strains are also dramatically different. Strain differences in restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of the Wolbachia-specific amplicons were used to determine the distribution of the strains. The boundary between these two strains of Wolbachia in native populations of northern corn rootworm correlates with a previously observed mitochondrial DNA genetic boundary in eastern Illinois, suggesting that the two Wolbachia strains are incompatible and little if any introgression occurs between the two infected populations. The results demonstrate that Wolbachia can influence the genetics of a major insect pest over a wide geographic area and that it may be driving reproductive isolation between populations of northern corn rootworm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Illinois mad Indiana, the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, circumvents crop rotation as a control measure by ovipositing in soybean (Glycine nuts L Merr.) fields and in other crops in rotation with corn (Zea maw L.). A means of distinguishing between rotation-resistant and wild-type behavioral phenotypes is the first step in determining the genetic basis of rotation resistance. The time between release into and departure from a bioassay arena was used as a measure of beetle activity to distinguish between behavioral phenotypes. Results from these assays indicate that D. v. virgifera females from regions where crop rotation is no longer effective axe more active than females from regions where rotation remains effective, The geographic source of the beetle population was a main significant effect in trims done in both 2004 and 2005. Behavioral differences were more easily observed in a cornfield rather than in the laboratory. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that a loss of fidelity to corn rather than any particular attractant is the cause of rotation resistance. Behavioral differences between populations of beetles in similar environments suggest that there is a genetic difference between rotation-resistant and wild-type D. virgifera, although no specific gene or genes have yet been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a random sample of African-American adolescent girls in impoverished urban neighborhoods in Chicago, we consider income-related predictors (poverty, financial strain, welfare receipt, and welfare exposure) of adolescents' job preparation and nonmarital childbearing risk. Maternal financial strain is the most consistent predictor, linked to poor school performance and greater sexual experience. Maternal welfare receipt predicts higher school grades in youth, but welfare exposure from broader social networks is related to lower grades and greater pregnancy experience. We discuss the implications for families as federal welfare reforms alter the income sources and financial situations of many poor families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the completion of 28 years of the journal "Law & Policy," and the changes in the journal during these years. Initially, the editorial control of the journal was with the University of Illinois, Chicago. Now, the journal is publishing more diverse articles, and many symposium issues are also included in the journal. Law & Policy is a scholarly journal, due to which its editors ensure that the articles published are of good quality.

The article presents the acceptance speeches of Arthur A. Levine and Cheryl Klein, recipients of the 2009 Mildred L. Batcheler Award for best translated book for "Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit," presented at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, July 13, 2009, in which they mentions that the book leads them to search stories that will transform their lives and give them strength and tells their amazing adventures with the book.