The transition from kindergarten to primary school,as experienced by teachers,parents and children in Hong Kong

This study investigates the transition from kindergarten to primary school through the experiences of the teachers, parents and children involved. Emphasis is given to the transitional activities participated in by the stakeholders and the effectiveness of these activities. These experiences of children's transition to school will inform further research into the design of effective transition programmes in the local context. The means of investigation in this study include questionnaires, semi‐structured interviews and observations. The results show that the teachers and parents generally believed that the children performed quite well academically, although the primary school teachers reported that they were average in discipline. The findings from both the questionnaires and the interviews show that most of the respondents agreed that strong connections between kindergarten, primary school and parents could facilitate a smoother transition to school. However, in reality, both kindergarten and primary school teachers showed ignorance of each other's teaching practices and curriculum.     

A social choice approach to expert consensus panels

This study uses recent theoretical work about group decision-making to assess the quality of decision-making by expert consensus panels. We specifically examine (1) when individual members of panels will divulge their private judgments about the decision to the panel, and (2) when the group judgment is superior to the judgment of individual panelists and will lead to better treatment for patients. We conclude that to maximize the chance of an accurate decision, panels should be made as large as possible, adopt the smallest supermajority rule, and attract members with the highest individual competencies. Furthermore, interdependence among panelists and the goal of reaching consensus can reduce the efficacy of these panels.     

Panel classification of self-reported exposure histories: a useful exposure index after a mass-casualty event

OBJECTIVE: Although rapid epidemiologic investigations of toxic exposures require estimates of individual exposure levels, objective measures of exposure are often unavailable. We investigated whether self-reported exposure histories, when reviewed and classified by a panel of raters, provided a useful exposure metric. METHODS: A panel reviewed exposure histories as reported by people who experienced a chlorine release. The panelists received no information about health-care requirements or specific health effects. To each exposure case, each panelist assigned one of five possible exposure severity ratings. When assigned ratings were not in initial agreement, the panelists discussed the case and assigned a consensus rating. Percent agreement and kappa statistics assessed agreement among panelists, Kendall's W measured agreement among panelists in their overall ordering of the exposure histories, and Spearman's rho compared the resultant rankings with individual health outcome. RESULTS: In 48% of the cases, the panelists' initial ratings agreed completely. Overall, initial ratings for a given case matched the consensus rating 69% to 89% of the time. Pair-wise comparisons revealed 85% to 95% agreement among panelists, with weighted kappa statistics between 0.69 and 0.83. In their overall ranking of the exposure histories, the panelists reached significant agreement (W = 0.90, p < 0.0001). Disagreement arose most frequently regarding probable chlorine concentration and duration of exposure. This disagreement was most common when panelists differentiated between adjacent categories of intermediate exposure. Panel-assigned exposure ratings significantly correlated with health outcome (Spearman's rho = 0.56; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Epidemiologists and public health practitioners can elicit and review self-reported exposure histories and assign exposure severity ratings that predict medical outcome. When objective markers of exposure are unavailable, panel-assigned exposure ratings may be useful for rapid epidemiologic investigations.     

Cytomegalovirus infection: an occupational hazard to kindergarten teachers working with children aged 2.5-6 years

The aims of the study were to evaluate the occupational risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in kindergarten teachers working with children aged 2.5-6 years, and to determine occupational risk factors within the occupation of kindergarten teaching. A cross-sectional seroprevalence study was conducted in 211 kindergarten teachers and 283 administrative workers. Relevant confounding factors were considered. Overall seropositivity rates ranged from 16.4% in childless women to 33.7% in women with one child or more. Raising own children was the major risk factor for CMV seropositivity: adjusted OR 2.25. Kindergarten teaching showed to have a significantly increased CMV seropositivity rate: adjusted OR 1.54. Among kindergarten teachers, washing hands at school, number and age of the pupils, and seniority had no significant influence on seropositivity. The results indicated an increased risk of CMV infection in kindergarten teachers and an insufficiency of hygienic measures to prevent seropositivity.     

Korean Teachers' Beliefs and Teaching Practices in Korean Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers in Korea. 54 child care teachers, 58 private kindergarten teachers and 45 public kindergarten teachers participated in this study. The Teacher Questionnaire was adapted for the Korean situation using both Korean and American early childhood education experts to determine cultural appropriateness of items (i.e., a back translation procedure) and grammatical accuracy. Results indicated that public kindergarten teachers had more academic preparation and teaching experiences than other teachers. Public kindergarten teachers reported implementing significantly more appropriate teaching practics and fewer inappropriate practices in their classrooms than other teachers. There was a trend for all teachers who reported nondirective teaching strategy beliefs to use fewer inappropriate teaching practices; however, child care teachers used more inappropriate teaching strategies than other teachers.     

What can we expect of clinical teachers? Establishing consensus on applicable skills,attitudes and practices

CONTEXT: Despite myriad advances in medical education, we have not yet established a universally accepted set of attributes we can reasonably expect from our teachers. METHODS: A modified Delphi technique established the skills, attitudes and practices thought to be core for clinical teachers within our region. We identified relevant statements from the literature. Individuals with significant involvement in undergraduate teaching acted as Delphi panelists. Four statement categories emerged: Preparing to Teach, Delivery of Teaching, Teacher Conduct and Supporting Activities. Two iterations of the Delphi round then took place. In the first round, panelists were asked to accept, reject or develop the statements identified from the literature. In the second round, they were asked to accept or reject modified statements. Throughout the exercise panelists were expected to differentiate between what could be expected from both those involved in clinical undergraduate education and those with a specialist educational remit. Agreement of > or = 80% was used to assign statements to basic or advanced categories. RESULTS: A total of 38 regional panelists participated in the Delphi process. After the 2 iterations, 27 statements were accepted at basic level, mostly in Teacher Conduct (11), and least in Supporting Activities (2). Overall, only 4 statements scored > 80% at advanced level. Many statements (25 of 56), were not clearly defined as either basic or advanced and failed to gain acceptance > 80% for either category. DISCUSSION: A useful set of attributes has been developed that can be applied to a majority of clinical teachers. There was less agreement than expected around higher level attributes. Further debate is invited.     

Teaching reading in the early years: exploring home and kindergarten relationships

This study investigated the relationship between home and kindergarten with regard to helping children with reading in Jordan. Interviews with parents of four‐ to five‐year‐old kindergarten students (n = 40) and their teachers (n = 20) were conducted. Results indicated that, although there was cooperation between parents and teachers, the role of teachers in encouraging parental involvement in their children's reading was quite limited. Results also indicated that teachers consider parental involvement as unhelpful since (1) they look at parents as unqualified persons to take a role in teaching reading, and (2) parents usually pressure teachers to employ inappropriate methods to teach children how to read. However, parents expressed their willingness to be involved when teachers give them the opportunity. Most parents think they need to know the appropriate methods to teach children how to read. This study identified the need for educating parents about kindergarten goals and appropriate activities.     

Delphi as a method to establish consensus for diagnostic criteria

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To achieve a consensus, among a panel of experts, on the best clinical criteria for the clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHODS: Experts rated the diagnostic importance of items from the clinical history and physical examination for CTS. The ratings were expressed on a 10-cm visual analog scale. The average and standard deviation of the scores for each item were returned to the panelists. The panel members evaluated the items a second time with knowledge of the group responses from the first round. The scores were standardized to minimize scaling variations and, after the second round, the items were ranked in order of importance assigned by the group. Cronbach's alpha was used as a measure of homogeneity for the rankings. Increasing homogeneity was considered to be an indication of consensus among the panelists. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha increased from 0.86 after the first round to 0.91 after the second iteration. Panelists who were relative outliers on the first round demonstrated a much higher correlation with the entire group after the second round. CONCLUSIONS: Delphi is an effective method of establishing consensus for certain clinical questions. Cronbach's alpha was a useful statistic for measuring the extent of consensus among the panel members. Delphi was chosen from the possible methods of group process because of its inherent feasibility. The absence of a need by the panelists to meet in person removed any constraint on the geographic location of the panel members. In addition, the anonymous nature of Delphi was thought to be a key factor in avoiding a result that might be skewed by one or more persuasive panelists. Both of these characteristics were felt to be particularly important to the topic on which consensus was sought, the clinical diagnostic criteria for CTS. This movement in the opinions of some of the panelists appeared to result from the feedback of information describing the group opinion.     

Development of a questionnaire to collect public health data for school entrants in London: Child Health Assessment at School Entry (CHASE) project

BACKGROUND: To develop a multiprofessional consensus about the relative contributions of the components of children's health and well-being and to develop a questionnaire that can be used to assess these in London's children. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with health, education and social services professionals were used to identify areas to include in the questionnaire. These ideas were used as the basis for a wider Delphi consultation, with 79 experts in the area of child health. Round 1 of the Delphi asked panelists to rate 54 items as to whether they should be included in the questionnaire or not. Responses were divided into four categories: item to be included measurement method agreed, item to be included measurement method not agreed, no consensus, or excluded. In round 2, consensus was sought for the categories where there was none following round 1. RESULTS: Themes identified by the interviews were: economic factors, ethnicity, environment, nutrition, hygiene and physical activity, growth, suffers from chronic/serious illness, development, disability and learning, accidents and hospital attendances, self-regulation, psychological well-being, significant life events. After Delphi round 1, items included, where quality measurement method was agreed, were: deprivation index (from postcode), child's ethnicity, temporary accommodation, care status, registered with general practitioner, dental visits, height, weight, special educational needs status, baseline educational assessment result, immunization status, visual and hearing function. Following round 2, items relating to chronic illness, mental health, physical functioning, general health, self-esteem, family cohesion and accident status were agreed for inclusion with a measurement method also agreed. The questionnaire was acceptable to parents. CONCLUSION: The validity, reliability and feasibility of this questionnaire must now be examined. This data set, if collected across London, would substantially increase the public health data available and allow trends in health to be monitored.     

302名幼儿教师工作压力结构调查

目的了解幼儿教师工作压力的结构与特点。方法自编幼儿教师工作压力问卷进行测查。结果对302人的调查结果进行主成分分析可以提取6个因子，分别为自我期望与工作条件、工资福利待遇、幼儿园组织氛围、社会地位与社会要求、幼儿与家长、工作负荷；并且不同群体幼儿教师在工作压力结构上存在着差异倾向。结论自编问卷提取的6个因子具有较好的信效度；幼儿教师工作压力在编制、职称、教龄和年龄方面差异有统计学意义。     

湖州市幼儿教师的应激和心理健康状况研究

目的探讨幼儿教师的应激和心理健康状况及其相互关系，为增进幼儿教师的心理健康提供依据。方法使用白编的幼儿教师应激事件量表和症状白评量表（SCL-90），分别测查湖州市幼儿教师424名的应激和心理健康状况，并对其相互关系进行相关分析。结果39．2％的幼儿教师体会到中等程度的应激，4．7％的幼儿教师体验到重度的应激，应激源中以幼儿、家长因素对幼儿教师造成的应激最大。幼儿教师的心理问题总检出率为10．38％；相对于40～49岁的幼儿教师，30和39岁以下的幼儿教师的心理健康状况较差；职称为小学一级的幼儿教师的心理健康水平最低。结论部分幼儿教师存在心理健康问题，应激是影响幼儿教师心理健康状况的重要因素。     

以德尔菲法构建专业学位护理硕士临床实践指导教师核心能力框架

目的：构建适合我国的临床实践指导教师核心能力框架,推动我国护理学专业学位研究生教育、提升带教质量、达到教学相长。方法：采用文献回顾法、深入访谈法初步确定指标体系,采用德尔菲法对备选指标进行2轮专家函询。结果：经过2轮函询后确定了一级指标6个、二级指标22个及三级指标60个。结论：初步建立的临床实践指导教师核心能力评价指标体系具有较高的科学性和可靠性。     

幼儿园和小学教师对游戏及其与教育课程联系认识的研究

目的通过调查和分析,幼儿园教师和小学教师对于游戏的认识是否存在差异,对于游戏和教育课程联系的认识是否存在差异。方法由幼儿园、小学园长和校长随机给本校在职第一线的教师分发问卷,并由教师独立进行填写,收集的调查问卷材料用SPSS 12.0进行分析。结果通过比较分析发现,幼儿园教师和小学教师,对于游戏的认识、幼儿园(小学)1日课程中游戏的安排,以及游戏与教育课程联系度等方面差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。基于幼儿园和小学是孩子成长和学习不同的阶段,显示的结果对从事幼儿教育和小学教育的教师的教育方法有较强的借鉴作用。结论对于游戏的认识、游戏与教育课程联系的重要性等方面的比较结果中显示,幼儿园教师比小学教师的认识程度要高,因此这就要求小学教师要加强对游戏的认识,正确的运用游戏教学法。所以无论是幼儿园教师还是小学教师,在平时的教学活动中,都应学会正确的运用游戏的手段,把游戏与教育内容有机的结合起来,并且根据学生的实际情况,巧妙的运用游戏,把游戏与语言的操练,重难点的突破,复习巩固有机地结合,实现玩中学,学中玩的统一,把游戏的价值真正体现在教育活动中。     

Patient-Centered Care for Women: Delphi Consensus on Evidence-Derived Recommendations

ObjectivePatient-centered care (PCC) could reduce gender inequities in quality of care. Little is known about how to implement patient-centered care for women (PCCW). We aimed to generate consensus recommendations for achieving PCCW.MethodsWe used a 2-round Delphi technique. Panelists included 21 women of varied age, ethnicity, education, and urban/rural residence; and 21 health professionals with PCC or women’s health expertise. Panelists rated recommendations, derived from prior research and organized by a 6-domain PCC framework, on a 7-point Likert scale in an online survey. We used summary statistics to report response frequencies and defined consensus as when ≥85% panelists chose 5 to 7.ResultsThe response rate was 100%. In round 1, women and professionals retained 46 (97.9%) and 42 (89.4%) of 47 initial recommendations, respectively. The round 2 survey included 6 recommendations for women and 5 recommendations for professionals (did not achieve consensus in round 1 or were newly suggested). In round 2, women retained 2 of 6 recommendations and professionals retained 3 of 5 recommendations. Overall, 49 recommendations were generated. Both groups agreed on 44 (94.0%) recommendations (13 retained by 100% of both women and clinicians): fostering patient-physician relationship (n = 11), exchanging information (n = 10), responding to emotions (n = 4), managing uncertainty (n = 5), making decisions (n = 8), and enabling patient self-management (n = 6).ConclusionThe recommendations represent the range of PCC domains, are based on evidence from primary research, and reflect high concordance between women and professional panelists. They can inform the development of policies, guidelines, programs, and performance measures that foster PCCW.     

A comparison of educators' and providers' rankings of the important competencies for day care professionals

The most important competencies for directors and teachers were identified from educators' and providers' rankings. Personal qualities and staff relations were important for directors, while promoting children's emotional development and the teacher's personal qualities were important for teachers. Educators and providers agreed more about the competencies important for teachers than for directors.The data analyzed in this paper were collected as part of the second author's master's thesis submitted to Colorado State University.     

Representations of the child's social behavior and attachment to the kindergarten teacher in their drawing

In the theoretical part of this paper, the author gives answers to the question of whether a real attachment relationship can exist between a child and a non-maternal caretaker. She introduces diagnostic meaning of children's drawings. The purpose of the study was to investigate how children's social behavior and their attachment to the kindergarten teachers (secure, anxious) are represented in their drawings entitled 'Myself in the kindergarten'. Ninety-five children (50.5% boys), ranging from 3 to 6 years of age, and their kindergarten teachers participated in the study. Teachers completed the questionnaire about children's social behavior—SV-O and types of attachment were determined on the basis of the evaluations the teachers gave on the revised version of the Attachment Q-set and the evaluation scale of the child's behavior toward pre-school teacher, the CBPT. The children received instructions to draw themselves in the kindergarten, their kindergarten teacher, a coeval, and a toy. As the drawing task was complete, the teachers carried out a structured interview with the child about his/her drawing. Differences in drawing signs were found to reflect children's social behavior and the quality of their relationship toward the kindergarten teacher. This paper also presents the limitations of the research, which should be considered in the interpretation of the obtained results.     

青岛市崂山区3~6岁幼儿龋齿患病情况调查

【目的】 探讨青岛市崂山区3～6岁幼儿龋齿患病情况。 【方法】 对辖区内所有托幼园所5 620名幼儿龋齿资料进行调查分析。 【结果】 3~6岁幼儿患龋率为27.7%,其中男童患龋率为26.9%,女童为28.2%,患龋率无性别差异;>5～6岁年龄组患龋率最高,为49.56%,各年龄组间患龋率有差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。 【结论】 预防龋齿要从幼儿抓起,预防儿童龋齿要从乳牙抓起,降低幼儿患龋率有待家长及幼师的配合和努力。     

Communication skills competencies: definitions and a teaching toolbox

BACKGROUND: Doctors' interpersonal and communication skills correlate with improved health care outcomes. International medical organisations require competency in communication skills. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) developed a toolbox for assessing this competency and 5 others, yet none initially for teaching these skills. PURPOSE AND METHODS: The original focus in the development of the ACGME competencies was evaluation. This paper represents a significant step toward defining methods for teaching communication skills competencies. A total of 16 medical education leaders from medical schools worldwide, participating in the 2003 Harvard Macy Institute Program for Physician Educators, worked together to: (1) further define the ACGME competency in interpersonal and communication skills; (2) delineate teaching strategies for each level of medical education; and (3) create a teaching toolbox to integrate communication skills competencies into medical curricula. Four subgroups defined subcompetencies, identified teaching strategies for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate medical training and brought their work to the larger group. The expanded communication competencies and teaching strategies were determined by a consensus of the larger group, presented to 80 Harvard Macy Scholars and Faculty for further discussion, then finalised by consensus. CONCLUSION: The teaching toolbox expands the ACGME core communication competencies, adds 20 subcompetencies and connects these competencies to teaching strategies at each level of medical training. It represents the collaboration and consensus of a diverse international group of medical education leaders in a variety of medical specialities and institutions, all involved in teaching communication skills. The toolbox is applicable globally across different settings and specialities, and is sensitive to different definitions of health care.     

Necessary school readiness skills for kindergarten success according to Jordanian teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine the necessity levels of children's school readiness skills held by Jordanian kindergarten teachers. The sample consisted of 347 teachers drawn from the public and private kindergarten education sectors. The school readiness data collection instrument included seven readiness domains with a total of 39 skills. Teachers evaluated the necessity level of each readiness skill for children to succeed in kindergarten. The results of this study indicated that teachers expected children to have average levels of readiness skills upon entering kindergarten. Among the domains, teachers expected the physical skills domain as the most necessary for kindergarten success, while the reading skills domain was perceived as the least necessary. Analysis also revealed significant differences between public and private kindergarten teachers in their level of expectations for school readiness skills.     

Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and intensions about the importance of teacher–child interactions

The experiences children have and the attachments they form early in life have a decisive, long-lasting impact on their later development and learning. The present study aims at exploring the continuum of the beliefs reported by Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers and how those beliefs relate to their intensions about the importance of teacher–child interactions. When examining how teaching beliefs influence the way in which teachers interact with children, it may be potentially important to assess teaching intensions as well. Though a vast amount of research has explored the association between teachers’ beliefs and practices, scarce research has examined the relationship between beliefs and intensions. This study is designed to examine Greek pre-service kindergarten teachers’ self-reported beliefs and intensions on aspects of early childhood educators–children interaction. Research results indicate that participants favour sensitive and appropriate caregiving in both their beliefs and intensions. Yet, data reveal that participants’ beliefs are more developmentally appropriate than are their intensions. Correlation analysis shows that pre-service kindergarten teachers’ beliefs do not correlate with their intension.