In this article, the author talks about the growing pattern of migration experiences for professional people and the impact these have on the well-being of the family as a whole and individual family members who reside outside their home countries for prescribed periods of time. It is easy to argue that the experiences of such families are far…

Parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often report higher levels of depression, anxiety, and mental health-related issues. The combination of stressors and family adjustment difficulties can cause distress which may develop into a crisis. Understanding crisis in the family is important to mental health practice since it can…

This study explores early francization models for a linguistic minority currently struggling to preserve its language. The French Acadians of New Brunswick, Canada, represent 30% of the province's total population, yet their numbers and their linguistic vitality are decreasing. New Brunswick has two public school systems: the English language…

It is sometimes a difficult journey receiving ethics approval for research involving vulnerable populations, research involving our own children, or innovative research methodologies such as autoethnography. This autoethnographical account is a story about one student who wanted to write a PhD dissertation in a very different way and also the…

Classmates can influence a student's academic achievement through immediate interactions (e.g., academic help, positive attitudes toward reading) or by sharing tangible or intangible family resources (books, stories of foreign travel). Multilevel analysis of 141,019 fourth-grade students' reading achievements in 33 countries showed that…

This report summarises Year 6 pupils' attainment in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) survey of 2016 in Northern Ireland and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is an international comparison study of reading at ages 9-10. PIRLS has a five-yearly cycle. Northern Ireland took part in PIRLS for the second time…

This summary accompanies the national report for Northern Ireland (Sizmur et al., 2017). It outlines the attainment of Year 6 pupils in Northern Ireland in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 survey and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is a study of reading at ages 9-10 and has a five-yearly cycle.…

Foster parents licensed in a central Canadian province were contacted by telephone and invited to participate in a survey that included the question "What are the challenges of fostering a child with the same values, beliefs, and traditions as you?" Participants sorted all responses to the question into concepts that were analyzed using…

What do young children do with the literacies they have learned at school? This article reexamines traditional notions of literacy by documenting a second grade child's literacy practices in school and out-of-school contexts. Data collected included field notes, interviews, observations of school and out-of-school literacy practices, and artefacts…

In this study, researchers gathered Canadian pre-service teachers' beliefs on the antecedents to bullying. Concept mapping (Kane & Trochim, 2007) was used to analyze the data. This study's findings identified pre-service teachers to have accurate beliefs, inaccurate beliefs, and a lack of knowledge about the antecedents to bullying. Concept…

The transformative power of dialogue has the potential to serve as a healthful alternative to unproductive strategies for problem-solving in many communication contexts (Ryan & Natalle, 2001). Sadly, educational contexts emerge as contexts in dire need of such communicative reconstruction, evidenced by the alarming increase in incidences of…

Although not inherent to the diagnosis, many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) display aggressive behavior. This study examined the experiences of families living with individuals with ASD who also demonstrate aggressive behaviors. Using a qualitative approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with parents of nine males with…

Does English proficiency affect participation in online discussion? This study polled 14 students from a postgraduate online course that require online discussion. The students are divided into groups according to their home language spoken and self-assessed English proficiency, and measure against their participation level in the required…

This paper presents a review of the literature relating to hard-to-reach families which has been published over the last 12 years in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The purpose of the review was twofold: to gain insights to understandings of the term "hard-to-reach" within these services--education, health and social--which might be…

Research has determined that dual language books have a positive effect on literacy achievement, motivation, and family involvement in children’s schooling. In this study we used quantitative methods to complement the largely qualitative extant research. We analyzed the early literacy skills of 105 kindergarten children (45 comparison, 60…