Education Reform and School Climate

1. Education Reform and School Climate I. Early Interventions

2. Head Start • A federally funded program in the 1960’s targeted toward at-risk preschoolers. Designed to prevent generic, negative outcomes in adolescents and adulthood. • Short term: Better vocabulary, math and writing skills, and social skills than non-program disadvantaged kids. • Long-term: More likely to complete high school and college. Less likely to be arrested or charged with a crime (Ludwig & Phillips, 2007). • Cost effectiveness studies: Society can save 7.16 dollars of future costs for every dollar spent on prevention.

3. The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project • Often considered a variant of Head Start. •  Components • Emphasis on active learning. • Small class size. • Interface with children’s parents. • Like Head Start, curriculum extends beyond educational concerns.

4. Research Longitudinal study of 123, low-income, AA children three to four years-old. Initial data collection between 1962 and 1967. Random assignment to program or control group. The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project (cont)

9. Education Reform and School Climate II. School Violence

10. School Violence: Rates

12. School Violence: Causes(Eisenbraun, 2007) • Personal: high testosterone, low serotonin, gender, drug use, threats of violence, & bullying. • Family: Abuse or neglect, inconsistently observed limits, rigidity or over-control. • School: Poor school climate or fit, school size, policy responses to violence. • Social: poverty, discrimination, gun availability, media violence.

14. Violence in the media • What portion of young kids view intensely violent media images? • Dartmouth study in 2002.

15. Violence in the media (cont) • Is there a relation between heavy viewing and violence? • Merits of different designs: • Experimental: • Bandura and the Bobo dolls in the 1960s. • Boyatis et al., 1995.

16. Violence in the media (cont) • Longitudinal: • Eron, et al. (1972). • Huesmann et al. (2003) replication. • Meta-analyses. • Hearold (1986).

17. Violence in the Media—Conclusions • The magnitude of the effect of media on violent behavior depends on: • Audience characteristics (Grimes, et al. 2004). • Media attributes • Images that are more realistic, legitimized, and lack of emphasis on the pain and suffering the victim are seen stronger predictors of violent behavior.

18. School Violence Prevention. • Warning Signs (APA). • Positive Action (PA). • Flay & Alfred (2003).

19. Education Reform and School Climate III. Dropping Out

20. Dropping Out • See Handouts

21. Education Reform and School Climate IV. Prejudice in the Schools

22. The Contact Hypothesis (Cook, 1985). • Contact reduces negative attitudes under certain conditions. • Contact with diverse groups is associated with more favorable attitudes towards these groups (e.g., Molina and Wittig, 2006).

23. The Jigsaw Method • Is a cooperative learning technique developed in the 1970’s by Elliot Aaronson to reduce prejudice in the schools.  • Outcomes: