Recent research into the abilities of children beginning school is powerfully influencing government policy and the provision of early childhood education in Canada. The Early Child Development (ECD) Mapping project, undertaken by the Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is one such body of research. The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is designed to gather information about developmental outcomes of children’s prior-to-school experiences at the time of starting kindergarten (the first year of school). The EDI is administered by kindergarten teachers at the level of individual children, with outcomes reported at the population level. However, many kindergarten teachers in Alberta do not have formal training or qualifications in early childhood development. This project therefore sought to identify the discourses of early childhood development that kindergarten teachers in Alberta, Canada, employ in administering the EDI. The project employed Discourse Analysis, operationalised within broader socio-cultural theoretical understandings of teacher knowledge, to analyse interview and focus group material collected from teachers from several school settings in Alberta. The main finding was that the understandings teachers applied in administering the EDI conformed to a traditional developmentalist discourse, employing concepts such as ‘appropriate’, ‘typical’, and ‘normal ranges’ of development. It is argued that the teachers encountered these discourses when administering other tests designed to identify atypical outcomes and therefore attract program funding. However, these discourses were also held in tension with discourses of school readiness as well as other concepts drawn from curriculum models encountered during professional development activities. The study concludes that there is a need for careful consideration of the discourses teachers access to inform their practice when administering the EDI in order to ensure the validity of the EDI as a baseline against which subsequent population level outcomes can be assessed.

The understanding of early childhood development that Alberta kindergarten teachers bring to their work when administering the early development instrument (EDI)

This article posits that analyses of (cyber)bullying among digitally connected young people need to explore the interdependences, intersections and cON/FFlation of bullying in ONline and OFFline sp...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14733285.2020.1784850

(Cyber)Bullying in schools – when bullying stretches across cON/FFlating spaces

Background
Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are more likely to exhibit behaviour difficulties than their typically developing peers.

Aim
The aim of this study was to identify specific risk factors that influence variability in behaviour difficulties among individuals with SEND.

Sample
The study sample comprised 4,228 students with SEND, aged 5–15, drawn from 305 primary and secondary schools across England.

Method
Explanatory variables were measured at the individual and school levels at baseline, along with a teacher-reported measure of behaviour difficulties (assessed at baseline and at 18-month follow-up).

Results
Hierarchical linear modelling of data revealed that differences between schools accounted for between 13% (secondary) and 15.4% (primary) of the total variance in the development of students’ behaviour difficulties, with the remainder attributable to individual differences. Statistically significant risk markers for these problems across both phases of education were being male, eligibility for free school meals, being identified as a bully, and lower academic achievement. Additional risk markers specific to each phase of education at the individual and school levels are also acknowledged.

Conclusion
Behaviour difficulties are affected by risks across multiple ecological levels. Addressing any one of these potential influences is therefore likely to contribute to the reduction in the problems displayed.

/pdf/risk-factors-in-the-development-of-behaviour-difficulties-4pfj8wr3b2.pdf

Risk factors in the development of behaviour difficulties among students with special educational needs and disabilities: A multilevel analysis.

Background and aimsChildren with Language Disorders (LDs) can exhibit increased levels of social withdrawal, aggression and problems managing social conflicts. The reasons underlying this pattern o...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/23969415211005307

What is the nature of peer interactions in children with language disorders? A qualitative study of parent and practitioner views:

Abstract Emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) frequently occur in young autistic children. Discrepancies between parents and other informants are common but can lead to uncertainty in formulation, diagnosis and care planning. This study aimed to explore child and informant characteristics are associated with reported child EBPs across settings. Participants were 83 4–8-year-old autistic children and their parents and teachers in the Autism Spectrum Treatment and Resilience (ASTAR) study. Questionnaires of child EBPs were completed by parents and teachers, and self-reported parenting stress and wellbeing measures were obtained. An observation of parent–child/researcher-child interaction was also completed. Parents reported more EBPs than teachers and parent-teacher agreement was low, particularly for emotional problems. Greater parenting stress and being verbal was associated with more parent- but not teacher-reported EBPs. More observed behaviors that challenge were displayed by minimally verbal children. More parenting stress could be associated with the presence of more EBPs in the home; alternatively, parenting stress may confound reports. It is essential for assessments of EBPs in autistic children to take a multi-informant approach. Better understanding of the associations between informant characteristics and informant discrepancies of EBPs is needed. 

/pdf/parent-teacher-and-observational-reports-of-emotional-and-11orull9.pdf

Parent, Teacher and Observational Reports of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Young Autistic Children

A child’s feelings and behaviours are influenced by temperament, culture, relationships, health, tiredness, family circumstances, experiences of early childhood care and education and a range of other factors. Almost all children show difficulties in managing their feelings and behaviour at times, particularly during certain stages of development. Because of this complexity, it can be difficult to determine whether a child’s behaviour or feelings may need further assessment.

Geoff Lindsay

Papers

Emotional and Behavioural Problems