Lisa Abrams

Improving Interactions Between Teachers and Young Children with Problem Behavior: A Strengths-Based Approach

Young children who exhibit problem behavior are at-risk for a host of negative developmental outcomes. Early intervention at multiple ecological levels is crucial to interrupt what can be a detrimental transactional cycle between children and their caregivers, including their teachers. In this article we promote a strengths-based approach to improving teacher-child interactions, which may serve as a protective factor for children with early-onset problem behavior in early childhood classrooms. Specifically, we describe how increases in targeted teacher behaviors can foster the desirable behavior of young children by capitalizing on skills the children already possess while enhancing those skills necessary for social competence and pre-academic success.

Teachers' Instructional Use of Summative Student Assessment Data

This study examines the extent to which classroom teachers self-report using summative assessment data in formative ways to shape instruction. A Web-based survey was administered to elementary, middle, and high school teachers in a large, suburban school district in central Virginia. Teachers reported administering a variety of summative assessments with varying frequency, and analyzing data at the aggregate level, most often using central tendency statistics. Useful methods for disaggregating data by content standards or student subgroups were not as frequently reported. Regardless of the methods of data analysis, a majority of teachers reported using assessment results to evaluate their instructional practice and make adjustments to support student learning. The results suggest, however, that teachers engaged in a cursory analysis of student performance fairly regularly but conduct more in-depth analyses less often. The study raises questions about how teachers can effectively use summative data for instructional purposes.

Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the BEST in CLASS Adherence and Competence Scale

The measurement of treatment integrity is critical to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of evidence-based programs (EBPs) designed to improve the developmental outcomes of young children at risk of emotional/behavioral disorders. Unfortunately, the science of treatment integrity measurement lags behind the development and evaluation of EBP for young, high-risk children. This article describes the development and preliminary psychometric properties of the BEST in CLASS Adherence and Competence Scale (BiCACS), designed to measure the adherence and competence of delivery of the BEST in CLASS prevention program. Independent observers coded videotaped (n = 116) and live (n = 289) observations of teachers delivering the BEST in CLASS program. The BiCACS showed good interrater reliability and analyses provided some support for the validity of the measure. Implications for future research and integrity measurement work are discussed.

An Initial Evaluation of the Teacher-Child Interaction Direct Observation System: Measuring Teacher-Child Interaction Behaviors in Classroom Settings.

Children who engage in chronic problem behavior can present challenges for their early childhood teachers, and are more likely to develop negative relationships with these and other adults with whom they interact. Unfortunately, children who develop negative relationships with their teachers early in their school careers are more likely to have later academic and behavioral problems than children who have positive, supportive relationships. The salience of interactions between teachers and young children highlights the need for interventions that target building positive teacher–child interactions and increase the likelihood that these interactions are developmentally appropriate and supportive of children’s emotional and behavioral growth, as well as assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The purpose of this article is to describe the Teacher–Child Interaction Direct Observation System (TCIDOS), an observation system designed to capture teacher and child behaviors during classroom interactions to evaluate the effectiveness of a classroom-based intervention targeting improvements in teacher–child interaction patterns. Following a description of our conceptual framework and the development of the TCIDOS, we discuss preliminary reliability findings and future research directions as well as challenges inherent to collecting direct observational data in classroom settings.

A Review of “High-Stakes Testing and the Decline of Teaching and Learning: The Real Crisis in Education”

A s part of a series focused on contemporary issues in education, David Hursh critiques current education reforms, specifically test-based accountability policies, within the context of neoliberal discourse. Hursh’s work offers a compelling in-depth philosophical analysis of high-stakes testing policy different from the traditional stance of policy implementation. His text is dense and richly constructed with personal reflections, discussions of the historical foundation and evolution of schooling and teaching, and an evidenced-based emergence of the impact of neoliberal policies on education. The predominantly philosophical work is theoretically grounded through the use of specific cases and examples of neoliberal policies at work in New York, Texas, Chicago, and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Numerous empirical studies have examined the impact of high-stakes testing on those most directly affected by test-based accountability policies—school administrators, teachers and their instructional practice, and students and student-level outcomes. Although these investigations provide insight into the influence of high-stakes testing on programs, individuals, or groups, few studies are situated within a larger philosophical and policy context. Hursh convincingly connects the philosophical neoliberal foundation of current education policy with the practical implications operating in classrooms and argues these “regressive reforms” have undermined educational progress emerging from increased understanding of how students learn and how innovative approaches in public schools can successfully educate the most disadvantaged students. At the center of neoliberal philosophy are tenets designed to promote the individual, markets, privatization, and efficiency. Current education reforms and most specifically the No Child Left Behind legislation were designed in part to promote world-class standards to ensure that America can successfully compete within the global marketplace. Hursh illustrates how this rhetoric embodies neoliberal thinking—in which standardized testing regulates education by serving as a quality index, charter schools offer competitive alternatives to public schooling, and reform legislation incorporates sanctions that result in increased privatization of public education. At the onset of the text, Hursh describes how his experiences as a student and background as a teacher in progressive schools have shaped his thinking about the purpose of education, and says that schools should “support community welfare and the public good over corporate profit” (p. 122). Similar to how John Dewey advocated that education should prepare students for democratic citizenship in opposition to the established doctrine of the social efficiency movement where schools were used to prepare children to become productive workers, Hursh challenges neoliberal politics and calls educators to action to create a “new social movement” to “combat the rise of markets and privatization in all of our social policies” (p. 143) in an effort to return to principles of democratic education. The logic and reasoning of Hursh’s argument are sound and well-documented. However, additional discussion of the empirical research and literature on the implications of highstakes testing for teaching, learning, and schooling more generally could be used to frame the specific discussion of high-stakes testing in New York and Texas in a national context resulting in more compelling conclusions about the widespread implications of test-based accountability initiatives. In addition, drawing on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing jointly developed by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education would bolster arguments related to the fallibility of using single test scores for high-stakes decisions and to serve multiple purposes. Although Hursh touches on the potential of performance-based formative assessment as a more useful alternative to summative, high-stakes tests, other avenues that could further strengthen the contradictions inherent in neoliberal education policy include further exploration of the disconnect between education policy at the federal and state levels and what is known about best instructional practice particularly in the areas of professional collaboration, inquiry-based instruction, and the culture of schools most associated with student academic success. Hursh concludes by describing the failures and contradictions of neoliberal policy. He cautions the reader and challenges educators that without efforts to combat the neoliberal policy dominance, schools and society will be profoundly transformed in ways opposed to the ideals of a democratic education.

A Review of “Researching with Children & Young People: Research Design, Methods and Analysis”

T isdall, Davis, and Gallagher uniquely blend theoretical and practical insights into conducting research and evaluation activities involving children while explaining how this type of research differs from research with adults. As stated in the preface of Researching with Children & Young People, the content of the text resulted from the authors’ own pedagogical efforts to enhance graduate students’ advanced knowledge and skills in researching children. Although informative and accessible, the text is also personal. The authors recount their own theoretical or ethical dilemmas and the practical responses they implemented in their research involving children. As a result, the text provides readers with thorough descriptions of key components of the research processes which are supplemented with the authors’ research experiences in the form of examples and “top tip(s),” suggested activities, as well as in-depth case studies illustrating how ethical and methodological concepts are enacted in practice. Especially notable is the early emphasis on ethics in Chapter 2. The authors trace the research process and highlight the mechanisms or ethical practices that are especially relevant to each step from selecting the research focus to the dissemination of findings. Particular attention is paid to parental consent, anonymity, and confidentiality as well as to considerations associated with the teacher/adult–child power relationship. The discussion of ethics in Chapter 2 provides a strong foundation on which the remainder of the text is based; ethical considerations and practices are not treated as a standalone topic but rather are reinforced in the remaining chapters. In Chapter 3, the authors describe steps researchers can take if classroom teachers want to stay in the room during data collection and how their presence or interactions with children could potentially compromise confidentiality. They provide readers with suggestions for how to “mitigate the inequality of adult–child relationships” (p. 75). For example, researchers may want to consider providing children with ways to control a personal interview such as using a “stop” card or post-it notes to direct the questioning or presenting child participants with an object they can touch if they do not want to answer a particular question (p. 75). These types of examples are characteristic of the practical suggestions afforded to readers throughout the text. Issues of ethics undergird Chapters 4 and 5 as well, by highlighting the ethical and philosophical considerations associated with including children in the research process (Chapter 4) and the ethical expectations to provide participants with feedback and use of passive and active strategies to disseminate study findings (Chapter 5). Different case studies (n = 11) offer another unique aspect of the text and provide examples of different studies involving children. These case studies are succinct and each includes a description of a summary of the research, aims and objectives, methods of data collection, ethical issues, a discussion of how the methods would be different if adults were participants rather than children; how the researcher(s) handled sensitive issues, differences between the children in the study, and methods of analysis, as well as the funding agency; and directions for how to obtain more information about the study. The case studies provide readers with keen insights into the design and implementation of studies that involved different approaches to research design, data-collection methods, ethical considerations, and practical and applied methods utilized to conduct the studies. References to the case studies appear in each chapter, in an effort to direct readers to explore how concepts translate into practice in greater detail. For example, readers are directed to a particular case study to illustrate how consent was obtained and revisited at different stages of the research process and to others to highlight different approaches to data collection or analysis. Although graduate students comprise the primary audience of the text, seasoned researchers will also appreciate it. For researchers especially interested in considering a range of data collection approaches to use with children, Chapter 3 and the discussion of creative and qualitative methods are quite useful. For instance, the authors reference the use of “mapping exercises, child-led tours and photography, roleplay exercises, drawing, completing charts and diagrams, collage, etc.” or “diaries, story-writing and spider diagrams” with older children (p. 71). In addition, to the wide array of suggested data collection methods, the authors point to the use of multiple data-collection methods or recording strategies in combination. They suggest that