This paper presents an overall approach, statistical techniques, and a public-use database that can be used for understanding state welfare policies and measuring their relationship with key outcomes of interest, all while learning helpful statistical techniques. We use descriptive statistics and correlations to describe state policies. We find…

Research on minimal groups demonstrates that arbitrarily creating 2 groups leads to the development of in-group favoritism. Experiments using the minimal groups paradigm show students how easily in-group biases can be created simply by categorizing others. This article describes an in-class activity that demonstrates the power of categorization.…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997) requires identification of emotional disturbance by special education criteria. It also requires that emotional disturbance be distinguished from social maladjustment. In some cases, a thorough evaluation of the child's character pathology can aid in this determination. While methods such as…

Using grounded theory methodology, the experiences of 11 self-identified gay male college students were explored to understand how the environment contributed to the exploration and development of a gay identity. One central category (finding empowerment) and 5 integrative categories (self-acceptance, disclosure to others, environmental…

This article presents a five-tiered taxonomy that describes the nature of participation in, and learning through, asynchronous discussion. The taxonomy is framed by a constructivist view of asynchronous discussion. The five tiers of the taxonomy include the following: (a) passive participation, (b) developmental participation, (c) generative…

This study was designed to examine the links between parenting, children's perceptions of family relationships, and children's social behavior. Seventy-four children (M age = 6.01 years; 39 boys; 35 girls) and their parents took part in the study. Children completed relationship-oriented doll stories that were coded for coherence, prosocial…

Spring is the traditional time in Maplewood Elementary School Kindergarten when science instruction receives particular emphasis. It is also a time of promoting greater safety awareness as children increase their outdoor activities on the longer, warmer days. In May 2003, the authors planned to make a link between neuroscience and safety in a…

The ability of A level students to recognise and name common wild flowers was shown to be very poor. Trainee teachers performed little better and nearly a third of the practising A-level biology teachers tested were able to name only three or fewer wild flowers. Although opportunities exist at primary level for children to learn about the…

Changing perspectives for practice in stuttering therapy are informed by the changes in knowledge, social values, and belief systems of a society. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF; World Health Organization, 2001) has a sociological emphasis with a focus on the ability and functioning of the person, and…

An important problem for a language learner is identifying how properties of argument structure are realized morphosyntactically in the particular language they are learning. Speakers of some L1s overgeneralize the morphosyntactic reflexes of the movement of Theme objects in English to unaccusative intransitive verbs, using passive morphology in…

Given the scope of technology and the inherent difficulties of measuring such broad phenomena, this article explores two strategies for assessing technological literacy. One approach is drawn from a multiple measurement strategy often used to assess achievement, the test battery approach; the other is based on well-known interest inventories and…

This article describes several sessions of a larger case study that examined cognitive categories for library information in a group of children in kindergarten through grade 4. While the initial motivation for the project was pragmatic in nature, theoretical issues relating to people's cognitive categories for information are examined as well.…

This paper examines the differential response of two rural districts of England (Fenland and Waveney) to changes in council house provisioning in the 1980s. It is situated in a decade when major policy shifts in social housing policy were occurring at the national level with local governments devising new social housing strategies in response.…

Good early mathematics is broader and deeper than early practice on "school skills." High-quality mathematics should be a joy--not a pressure. It can emerge from children's play, their curiosity, and their natural ability to think. This article describes the areas of mathematics that young children can learn, and encourages elementary teachers to…

Multiple sources of influence impact the decisions about what and how teacher educators are expected to operate, including the innovations that are adopted. Some of those sources of influence (such as teacher certification boards) can demand that certain curricula be adopted, specific instructional procedures be utilized, and delineate the…