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Small group social skills training (SST) is recommended to improve the social behavior and peer relations of rejected children, but child responses vary. This study explored variation in intervention experiences that emerged in a large study of a school-based SST program for peer-rejected children and associations with program outcomes. One hundred and seven peer-rejected elementary students (60% White, 15% Black, 22% Latinx, 3% Multi-racial, and 65% male) were identified by classroom sociometrics and randomly assigned to a year-long small group SST program. Normative classmates served as partners. Among the peer-rejected targets of the intervention, those with relatively better pretreatment social skills received more SST sessions and were more positively engaged, whereas those with fewer social skills and more behavior problems experienced more negative peer responses during SST sessions and less collateral support from teachers and parents. Hierarchical regressions (controlling for pretreatment scores) revealed attenuated intervention benefits for children who received more negative peer responses during SST and less parent and teacher support. The findings suggest that, within a sample of peer-rejected children, those with more severe skill deficits and elevated behavior problems at pretreatment have lower-quality SST experiences that reduce intervention benefits, even when normative classmates serve as peer partners. These issues warrant careful attention in future SST intervention design and research.

Developmental research suggests that peer rejection has negative spillover effects which strain parent-child relationships and parent attitudes toward the child's school. This study tested whether a school-based social skill training program could reverse these effects and improve parent-child closeness and parent attitudes toward the school. Participants included 217 children who were rejected by peers (57% White, 17% Black, 20% Latinx, 5% multiracial; 68% male; M[subscript age] = 8.1 years old) identified with sociometric social preference scores and randomized to intervention or control groups. Parents rated parent-child closeness and parent attitudes toward school at the start and end of the intervention year. Multilevel path analyses indicated that intervention improved parent-child closeness and, for children in the older grade levels only, enhanced parent attitudes toward the school. Additional analyses revealed that intervention effects on parent-child closeness were direct whereas effects on attitudes toward school were mediated by intervention-related increases in teacher support and peer liking. Implications for intervention design and future research are discussed.

A latent profile analysis was applied to explore heterogeneity in the social and classroom behaviors of 224 peer-rejected elementary school students (56% White, 68% male, Grades 1-4, M age = 8.1 years). Profile indicators included teacher ratings of social skills and problem behaviors on the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) and peer nominations of prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn behavior. Four profiles emerged. Two profiles where characterized by elevated externalizing problems by peer and teacher report, one with multiple co-occurring difficulties (multiproblem, 21% of the sample) and one characterized primarily by aggression (domineering, 32% of the sample). Another profile was characterized by deficits in social skills and viewed by teachers as internalizing and disruptive (internalizing-dysregulated, 26% of the sample.) The final profile was nondistinct on teacher ratings but defined by low rates of prosocial behavior by peers (teacher preferred, 21% of the sample.) Group comparisons revealed that students in the multiproblem and internalizing-dysregulated profile classes had lower-quality relationships with teachers and more academic difficulties than students in the other two profile classes. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for identifying peer-rejected students for Tier 2 interventions and tailoring those interventions to enhance impact. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED622111.]

Background: Childcare programs serving preschool children are generally of poorer quality than publicly-funded preschools both in terms of their classroom processes and structural features. Research on childcare programs has typically collapsed them into a single group, yet these programs vary greatly in neighborhood disadvantage and organization as they are managed by for-profit chains, non-profit community organizations, faith-based organizations, or individual owners. Little is known about variations in childcare program quality and what factors are associated with quality. Objective: The current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) with classroom process, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage indicators to identify patterns of quality and neighborhood disadvantage within a diverse sample of childcare programs serving preschool children. Methods: Classroom processes (instructional support, emotional support, classroom management, positive discipline) and structural features (teacher age, experience, education, and satisfaction) data was collected from preschool teachers (N = 127) from 76 childcare programs. Neighborhood disadvantage (median income; rates of unemployment, single parents, and education) was measured using census tract data. Results: LPA indicated two profiles of childcare programs with high-quality classroom processes and two with poorer processes. Both of the high-quality profiles were in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and the two low-quality profiles were in more affluent neighborhoods. Subsequent analyses suggested quality covaried with management type with the lowest quality centers often run by for-profit chains. Conclusions: Connections between classroom processes, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage are complex making it extremely challenging for parents to identify high-quality care for their children.

SARS-CoV-2 originated in horseshoe bats and probably reached humans through an unidentified intermediary host (1). The virus is aerosolized and highly transmissible among humans; new variants have arisen and spread [...]

IntroductionFibrinogen is a complex molecule comprised of two sets of Aα, Bβ, and γ chains. Fibrinogen deficiencies can lead to the development of bleeding or thromboembolic events. The objective of this study was to perform DNA sequence analysis of patients with clinical fibrinogen abnormalities, and to perform genotype-phenotype correlations.Materials and methodsDNA from 31 patients was sequenced to evaluate disease-causing mutations in the three fibrinogen genes: FGA,FGB, and FGG. Clinical data were extracted from medical records or from consultation with referring hematologists. Fibrinogen antigen and functional (Clauss method) assays, as well as reptilase time (RT) and thrombin time (TT) were obtained for each patient. Molecular modeling was used to simulate the functional impact of specific missense variants on the overall protein structure.ResultsSeventeen mutations, including six novel mutations, were identified in the three fibrinogen genes. There was little correlation between genotype and phenotype. Molecular modeling predicted a substantial conformational change for a novel variant, FGG p.Ala289Asp, leading to a more rigid molecule in a region critical for polymerization and alignment of the fibrin monomers. This mutation is associated with both bleeding and clotting in the two affected individuals.ConclusionsRobust genotype-phenotype correlations are difficult to establish for fibrinogen disorders. Molecular modeling might represent a valuable tool for understanding the function of certain missense fibrinogen mutations but those should be followed by functional studies. It is likely that genetic and environmental modifiers account for the incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity that characterize fibrinogen disorders.

For more than a century, teachers in Tennessee's Loudon County School District have come together before the start of the school year for a professional development day. For the first time this year, professional learning in the district will be based at each individual school -- a result of the district's use of a new rubric, which states that professional learning should relate to the goals of learning communities, be supported by an administrator, and be useful to teachers in their classrooms. Principals were introduced to the rubric during an administrator academy over the summer. This article describes how Loudon County and Shelby County school districts in Tennessee and Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut worked to build a professional learning system that is coherent and relevant to teachers, meaning that the learning is useful, timely, and related to their practice in the classroom.

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Susana Velasco always thought she designed lessons for her kindergarten students to help them meet the academic standards for their grade. But now she feels better equipped to adapt instruction to meet the needs of all the children in her class--a skill she has developed through her school's participation in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC). LDC gives teachers templates and tools that support students in doing more challenging work aligned to the Common Core. But the process is also a growing experience for teachers as they work with colleagues to refine the lessons and tasks to ensure they are asking students the right questions. Learning more about how LDC impacts teachers' practice is one of the goals of a five-year, $12 million Investing in Innovation (i3) "validation" grant from the U.S. Department of Education. LDC is providing coaching, summer institutes, and online training to groups of teachers in 12 Los Angeles Unified School District schools, including Florence Avenue. Another 15 New York City schools are also participating this year, but the numbers of schools will expand substantially over the course of the grant.

To evaluate the benefits of the Fast Track Friendship Group program implemented as a stand-alone school-based intervention on the social cognitions, social behavior, peer and teacher relationships of peer-rejected students. Over four successive years, 224 peer-rejected elementary students (57% White, 17% Black, 20% Latinx, 5% multiracial; 68% male; grades 1–4; Mage = 8.1 years old) were identified using peer sociometric nominations and randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 110) or a treatment-as-usual control group (n = 114). Four school districts serving economically-disadvantaged urban and rural communities participated. Intervention involved weekly small group social skills training with classmate partners, with sessions tailored to address individual child needs. Consultation meetings held at the start and mid-point of intervention were designed to help teachers and parents support the generalization of targeted skills. Multi-level linear models, with children nested within schools (controlling for demographics and baseline scores) documented improvements in social-cognitive skills (direct assessments of emotion recognition and competent social problem-solving), social behavior (teacher ratings of social skills and externalizing behavior), and interpersonal relationships (peer sociometric nominations of peer acceptance and friendships, teacher-rated student-teacher closeness). Significant effects were generally small (ds =.19–.36) but consistent across child sex, grade level, and behavioral characteristics. The intervention proved feasible for high-fidelity implementation in school settings and produced significant improvements in the social adjustment of peer-rejected children, validating the approach as a school-based Tier 2 intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snapshots of two Colorado districts in the Redesign PD Community of Practice: Denver Public Schools' professional learning partners help subject-matter experts and others provide educators with a high-quality learning experience. In Jefferson County, Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning guide educators to make teacher professional learning as useful as possible.