The Essential Guide to Doing Research

Milagros Nores, Assistant Research Professor, National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (NJ, United States). Email: mnores@nieer.org Address: 57 US Highway 1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8554, United States.W. Steven Barnett, Board of Governors Professor and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (NJ, United States). Email: wbarnet@rci.rutgers.edu Address: 57 US Highway 1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8554, United States.This paper uses a meta-analysis to review the evidence on the benefits of early childhood interventions. The authors also analyze how the revealed effects are correlated with characteristics of the corrective measures and with the target audience.A total of 38 contrasts of 30 interventions in 23 countries were analyzed. The paper focuses on studies applying a quasi-experimental or random assignment. Studies were coded according to: the type of intervention (cash transfer, nutritional, educational or mixed); sample size; study design and duration; country; target group (infants, prekindergarten); subpopulations of interventions; and dosage of intervention. Cohen’s D effect sizes were calculated for four outcomes: cognitive gains; behavioral change; health gains; and amount of schooling.A moderate progress has been revealed in each of the outcomes. The benefits are sustained over time. Interventions that have an educational or mixed (educational and stimulation, or care) component evidenced the largest cognitive effects, as compared to cash infusions or nutrition-specific interventions. We find children from different context and countries receive substantial cognitive, behavioral, health and schooling benefits from early childhood interventions, unlike children whose development is not supported or promoted. Direct care and education appear to be the most efficient interventions, especially for development of cognitive skills in early childhood.DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2012-1-200-228

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Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions Across the World: (Under) Investing in the Very Young

SAGE handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research

國際身心障礙功能與健康分類（International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, ICF）簡介

Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioural Sciences, C. Teddlie, A. Tashakkori. Sage Publications, Los Angeles (2008), RRP: $AUD 81.00. ISBN: 9780761930129

.......................................................................................................................................................... ii Declaration on Plagiarism ............................................................................................................................... iv Declaration on research Ethics Clearance ........................................................................................................ v Dedication ...................................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... vii Table of contents ............................................................................................................................................ ix List of tables ................................................................................................................................................. xvi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... xvii Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... xviii 1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.

Catering for children with special education needs in the provision of early childhood development programme in Zimbabwe: towards a holistic and inclusive framework

Church run institutions face a host of challenges in their quest to execute their mandate. This study sought to analyse the challenges faced by church run institutions in Zimbabwe. The study investigates some critical challenges faced by church run teachers’ colleges in Zimbabwe. The study employed a manifold case study research design to allow for an in-depth study of phenomenon. Three church run teachers’ colleges were studied as they offer rich insights on the study under review. The research study used an interpretivist paradigm which is located in the qualitative approach. The interpretivist paradigm is concerned with understanding the world as it is from experiences of the informants. The paradigm was the most suitable for this study as it allowed for the researcher to use qualitative data collecting techniques such as interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. This study used a purposive sampling technique as it allowed selection of informants with rich experiences of (CRTCs), subsequently, three principals, three student representative councils, three Church Education Secretaries and three human resources (HR) officers were selected to participate in this study. The study showed that the interplay of following bodies namely education Boards, advisory councils, church main councils, the University of Zimbabwe and the Ministry responsible for tertiary institutions pose a potential challenge as managers of these church run institutions grapple with a seemingly a surmountable task to satisfy the needs and interests of each entity. The results also showed that the existing policies and procedures of both the responsible authority and the ministry pose a challenge as both entities have their own expectations which they would not want compromised. From the findings, there is a worrying factor with regards to recruitment of staff, as the church, whenever there is a vacancy especially for lecturers, they would naturally want to have somebody from within their system. The church would want their members to be given an opportunity above other competitors and that disturbs the way the institution is run because management will want the best qualified person. So, nepotism was identified as a big challenge for the institution that leads to another challenge of labour issues. The study concluded and recommended engagement of all stakeholders including the student body in the management of church-run teachers’ colleges.

Henry Chinhara

Papers

Catering for children with special education needs in the provision of early childhood development programme in Zimbabwe: towards a holistic and inclusive framework

An analysis of institutional management challenges faced by church-run institutions as a result of corporate governance