Julia B. Smith

Iron-Fortified vs Low-Iron Infant Formula: Developmental Outcome at 10 Years

OBJECTIVEnTo assess long-term developmental outcome in children who received iron-fortified or low-iron formula.nnnDESIGNnFollow-up at 10 years of a randomized controlled trial (1991-1994) of 2 levels of formula iron. Examiners were masked to group assignment.nnnSETTINGnUrban areas around Santiago, Chile.nnnPARTICIPANTSnThe original study enrolled healthy, full-term infants in community clinics; 835 completed the trial. At 10 years, 473 were assessed (56.6%).nnnINTERVENTIONnIron-fortified (mean, 12.7 mg/L) or low-iron (mean, 2.3 mg/L) formula from 6 to 12 months.nnnMAIN OUTCOME MEASURESnWe measured IQ, spatial memory, arithmetic achievement, visual-motor integration, visual perception, and motor functioning. We used covaried regression to compare iron-fortified and low-iron groups and considered hemoglobin level before randomization and sensitivity analyses to identify 6-month hemoglobin levels at which groups diverged in outcome.nnnRESULTSnCompared with the low-iron group, the iron-fortified group scored lower on every 10-year outcome (significant for spatial memory and visual-motor integration; suggestive for IQ, arithmetic achievement, visual perception, and motor coordination; 1.4-4.6 points lower; effect sizes, 0.13-0.21). Children with high 6-month hemoglobin levels (> 12.8 g/dL [to convert to grams per liter, multiply by 10]) showed poorer outcome on these measures if they received iron-fortified formula (10.7-19.3 points lower; large effect sizes, 0.85-1.36); those with low hemoglobin levels (< 10.5 g/dL) showed better outcome (2.6-4.5 points higher; small but significant effects, 0.22-0.36). High hemoglobin levels represented 5.5% of the sample (n = 26) and low hemoglobin levels represented 18.4% (n = 87).nnnCONCLUSIONnLong-term development may be adversely affected in infants with high hemoglobin levels who receive 12.7 mg/L of iron-fortified formula. Optimal amounts of iron in infant formula warrant further study.

Enrollments in High School Government Classes: Are We Short-Changing Both Citizenship and Political Science Training?

For 30 years political scientists largely ignored high school education in civics and government. There are two explanations for this neglect. First, the prevailing view was that students learned nothing from civics courses (Langton and Jennings 1968). Second, social scientists increasingly saw themselves as members of scientific disciplines, so whatever interest they had in precollege education was devoted to augmenting disciplinary knowledge (Haas 1977; Janowitz 1983, ch. 6).

Home Intervention Improves Cognitive and Social-Emotional Scores in Iron-Deficient Anemic Infants

BACKGROUND: Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is associated with alterations in infant behavior and development that may not be corrected with iron therapy. OBJECTIVE: To determine if a home-based intervention to foster child development improves behavior and development of infants with IDA. METHODS: Infants with IDA and nonanemic infants aged 6 and 12 months were treated with oral iron and randomly assigned to a year of surveillance or intervention. Infants in the surveillance group were visited weekly, and information on iron intake, feeding, and health were recorded. Infants in the intervention were visited weekly, and the home visits included an hour-long program to foster child development by providing support to the mother-infant relationship. The number of infants enrolled was 128 (66 who received intervention) and 149 (70 intervention) at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Psychologists who were unaware of iron status and intervention assignment assessed infants cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development (Bayley Scales) at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the year; 116 6-month-olds and 134 12-month-olds had at least 2 assessments. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze change over time. RESULTS: Infants with IDA, regardless of enrollment age, were rated as less positive in social-emotional behavior at baseline. There were significant interactions between iron status and intervention associated with change in cognitive performance and positive social-emotional behavior. Infants with IDA who received intervention had developmental trajectories comparable to those of nonanemic infants in the intervention and surveillance groups, but these infants did not catch up in social-emotional behavior. Infants with IDA who received surveillance showed less increase in cognitive scores and had declines in positive social-emotional ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Home-based intervention to foster child development improved cognitive and social-emotional scores in infants with IDA, but social-emotional differences remained between infants with IDA and those without IDA.

A Study of Higher Education Student Achievement Based on Transformative and Lifelong Learning Processes.

The advantages of transformative learning approaches in graduate education parallel the tenets of mentoring and lifelong learning. Under this theoretical framework, adult student achievement in leadership programming can be assessed as a developmental and individualized process. The mixed methods study presented here illustrates that it is possible to measure knowledge construction, disposition development and performance acquisition from the classroom to leadership practice through taxonomy use. The purpose of the study is to use a standards‐based taxonomy to understand the effectiveness of an educational leadership graduate degree program of two student subgroups. Based on transformative and lifelong learning theories that emphasize understanding student learning processes, students’ holistic achievement is examined in order to identify differences in student subgroup learning outcomes. The taxonomical approach used to evaluate student achievement in this study is helpful in gaining a phenomenological perspective of learning processes when evaluating the appropriateness of program design, teaching methodology and program content.

Relationship between the working alliance and social support on counseling outcome

The purpose of this study was to test the impact of two predictor variables, one representing extratherapeutic factors and one representing relationship factors, on outcome at a university counseling training clinic. A naturalistic design was used to collect session-by-session outcomes on 135 clients seen by 88 counselors. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test hypotheses about the effects of clients pretreatment social support (extratherapeutic factor) and working alliance (relationship factor) at session 3 on change over time. Results showed that higher rated alliances predicted greater change over the first 8 sessions. When clients reported poorer social supports, the therapeutic alliance was even more important in predicting a positive outcome. Limitations of the design and implications for further outcome studies are discussed.