The Power of Purposeful Play in Primary Grades: Adjusting Pedagogy for Children’s Needs and Academic Gains

2020 ◽  
Vol 201 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karyn A. Allee-Herndon ◽  
Sherron Killingsworth Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Developmental Outcomes ◽  
Primary Grades ◽  
Educational Expectations ◽  
Toxic Stress ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Academic Gains ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
American Children ◽  
To Come

The amount of intentional, instructional, purposeful play has decreased in primary grades, and didactic, test-driven instruction has increased. Emerging neuroscientific evidence is beginning to highlight the significant effects the toxic stress from poverty has on developing brains. Almost half of American children can be considered to come from low-income to high-poverty households. Purposeful play may be the best solution to help ensure an equal and equitable educational playing field. This reflection establishes a research-based rationale for a more play-based pedagogy in primary grades and posits how striking balance between purposeful play and rigorous educational expectations is key to better developmental outcomes.

Successful leadership in a rural, high-poverty school: the case of County Line Middle School

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans W. Klar ◽  
Curtis A. Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Leadership Strategies ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Purpose – In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices and beliefs were adapted to increase student achievement in this rural, high-poverty school in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach – After purposefully selecting this school, the authors adapted interview protocols, questionnaires, and analysis frameworks from the International Successful School Principalship Project to develop a multi-perspective case study of principal leadership practices at the school. Findings – The findings illustrate the practices which led to students at this school, previously the lowest-performing in the district, achieving significantly higher on state standardized tests, getting along “like a family,” and regularly participating in service learning activities and charity events. A particularly interesting finding was how the principal confronted the school's negative self-image and adapted common leadership practices to implement a school-wide reform that suited its unique context. Research limitations/implications – While the findings of the study explicate the specific ways the principal adapted leadership strategies to enhance student learning, this study also highlights the need to understand how principals become familiar with their community's needs, cultures, norms, and values, and exercise leadership in accordance with them. Practical implications – The case offers an example of the need for context-responsive leadership in schools. In particular, it illustrates how this principal enacted leadership strategies that successfully negotiated what Woods (2006) referred to as the changing politics of the rural. To realize this success, the principal utilized his understanding of this low income, rural community to guide his leadership practices. Critically, part of this understanding included the ways the community was connected to and isolated from dominant sub-urban and urban societies, and how to build enthusiasm and capacity through appeals to local values. Originality/value – While it is widely acknowledged that school leaders need to consider their school and community contexts when making leadership decisions, less research has focussed on understanding how this can be achieved. This case provides rich examples of how this was accomplished in a rural, high-poverty middle school.

Coining Compounds and Derivations - A Crosslinguistic Elicitation Study of Word-Formation Abilities of Preschool Children and Adults in Polish and English

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Haman ◽  
Andrea Zevenbergen ◽  
Melissa Andrus ◽  
Marta Chmielewska
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Native Language ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Elicitation Study ◽  
American Children ◽  
To Come

Coining Compounds and Derivations - A Crosslinguistic Elicitation Study of Word-Formation Abilities of Preschool Children and Adults in Polish and English This paper examines word-formation abilities in coining compounds and derivatives in preschool children and adult speakers of two languages (English and Polish) differing in overall word-formation productivity and in favoring of particular word-formation patterns (compounding vs. derivation). An elicitation picture naming task was designed to assess these abilities across a range of word-formation categories. Adult speakers demonstrated well-developed word-formation skills in patterns both typical and non-typical for their native language. In contrast with adult results, preschool children predominantly coined innovations conforming to the general pattern of their language: Polish children favoring derivation and American children favoring compounding. The results show that although children are improving their wordformation skills during the preschool years, they need much more experience to come to the mature proficiency in using the variety of word-formation patterns available in their language.

Making Books Affordable

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Lea Shaver
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Country Music ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Childhood Experience ◽  
For Profit ◽  
American Children ◽  
Imagination Library

This chapter talks about country music star Dolly Parton, who is also a poet at heart. She is an avid reader, with an extensive book collection. As a child growing up in Appalachia, however, Dolly experienced book hunger first-hand. It explains how Dolly's own childhood experience motivated her to found the Imagination Library as a way to ensure that all children could experience the joy of book ownership. The chapter also discusses other organizations like First Book that reinvents the traditional book supply chain. Rather than relying on for-profit bookstores as an intermediary, First Book and Imagination Library have innovated alternative, more cost-effective systems to deliver books to children from low-income backgrounds. Through a combination of charitable dollars and cost savings, innovative nonprofits are bringing books to millions of American children who otherwise could not afford them.

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