Children Of Different Backgrounds Research Articles

Audit of the Southern DHB B4 School hearing screening referral process: is there unmet need?

The B4 School Check aims for early detection and appropriate management of hearing loss prior to school entry. In light of increasing awareness of inequitable health outcomes across a variety of measures in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly for Māori and Pasifika, we performed an audit of B4 School screening hearing related referrals. For the census year 2018, we examined the hearing screening data for age, gender, ethnicity, region and locality. For those children whose screening triggered a referral, the district health board (DHB) record was examined to assess whether a referral was received by the public audiology or otolaryngology head and neck surgery (ORLHNS) departments and if any appointment was subsequently attended. For Otago, but not Southland, there was a mismatch between census and screening programme estimates of the number of children eligible for screening. Māori and Pasifika children were significantly less likely to pass the screening tests (p<0.00001) compared to other ethnicities. Referral rates were not significantly different among ethnic groups, but Pasifika children were significantly less likely be assessed by an audiologist or otolaryngologist (p<0.004). Despite an equal distribution of screening and referral, significantly more Māori and Pasifika children will start primary school with potential hearing impairment compared to other ethnicities. While the Southern DHB B4 School hearing screening programme is equal in capturing children of different backgrounds, it demonstrates a greater prevalence of potential hearing impairment among Māori and Pasifika children when entering primary school. This raises the need to consider how to better provide ongoing care for these children.

Inequalities in childhood stunting: evidence from Sudan multiple indicator cluster surveys (2010\u20132014)

BackgroundLeaving no one behind has been an important marker of the Sustainable Development Goals. Closing the gap in malnutrition between children of different backgrounds aligns well with the tenet of this international agenda. To this end, high-quality evidence of the magnitude and trends of socioeconomic and geographic related existing inequalities in the childhood stunting among Sudanese children emanate from this study help for policy maker and planners to design and implement effective interventions to narrow down inequality.MethodsWe used the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) for our analysis of stunting inequality. Following standard equity analysis methods recommended by the WHO, we performed the disaggregated analysis of stunting across five equity stratifiers: Wealth, education, residence, sex, and sub-national regions. Then, we summarized stunting inequality through four measures of inequality: Difference, Ratio, Slope Index of Inequality (SII), and Relative Index of Inequality (RII). The point estimates of stunting were accompanied by 95% confidence intervals to measure the statistical significance of the findings.ResultsIn this study, the national average childhood stunting prevalence was increased by 4% from 2010 to 2014. The findings revealed stark inequalities in stunting in all the studied dimensions of inequality. Huge inequality has existed along the wealth quintiles. Simple difference measure for education was increased by four points and simple relative measure decreased by one point for economic status.ConclusionsSex, residence and, geographically related inequalities remain unchanged over time, while economic status and educational inequality had seen a change by some inequality measures over the same time period.

The Flemish Sign Language Diagnostic Instrument for Children up to Two Years Old: Adaptation of the ASL VCSL Checklist

The study focused on the adaptation and development of the first diagnostic instrument to assess the visual communication and Flemish Sign Language skills of deaf signing children (age ≤ 24 months). An adaptation of the standardized Visual Communication and Sign Language Check-list for Signing Children (VCSL; Simms et al., 2013) was followed by a pilot study with ten 24-month-old deaf children of different backgrounds who were divided into three cohorts: deaf children of deaf parents, deaf children of hearing parents with a signed input, and deaf children of hearing parents without a signed input. A high degree of agreement was noted between the milestones mastered by the three deaf children of deaf parents and the American Sign Language VCSL item sequence. Differences found between the three cohorts demonstrate the applicability of the Flemish Sign Language adaptation of the VCSL checklist.

Executive functioning in Spanish- and English-speaking Head Start preschoolers.

A growing percentage of low-income children in the United States come from Spanish-speaking homes and are dual language learners (DLLs). Recent research shows that bilingual children, compared to monolinguals, have enhanced executive functioning (EF), a set of foundational cognitive skills that predict higher social-emotional competence and academic achievement in preschool and beyond. Although this association has been found among children of different backgrounds, no study to date has assessed whether bilingual Latino preschoolers from low-income backgrounds have higher EF than their monolingual peers and their emerging bilingual peers, respectively. The current study assessed 303 predominantly Latino Head Start preschoolers (83.5% Latino and 13.5% African American) to examine this relationship. Using a language screener, three groups were formed (148 Spanish-English bilinguals, 83 English monolinguals, and 72 Spanish-dominant emerging bilinguals) and subsequently compared on a latent factor of EF. As predicted, results indicated that the bilingual group outperformed the monolingual English group on EF. Implications for the findings of the lack of EF differences between the Spanish-dominant emerging bilinguals and the other two groups are also discussed. This study advances our understanding of the intersection between language and cognitive development for young low-income Latino DLLs growing up in the United States and highlights bilingualism as a potential advantage in this population. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Eq_MwLRfQ.

Social Support as a Part of Quality of Life as Viewed by Minority Pupils

The paper contains both theory and research focused on the field of social support for ethnic minorities’ pupils Ukrainians and Vietnamese in comparison with the Czech population. The research characterizes the needs of children of different backgrounds in the new social and cultural environment, it studies the way in which children get acquainted with the new socio-cultural environment, it examines the principles of the ways in which national and ethnic minority groups adapt in the new environment, including school, and it focuses also on the conditions for effective instruction in ethnically diverse classrooms. In the empirical part of the research, form of which has been that of the survey, the following instruments were used: the Czech version of the modified questionnaire CASSS. In conclusion, the paper outlines the needs for further necessary work with children coming from different socio-cultural environment.

History and Super Diversity

The article looks at the perspectives on history amongst adolescent children of different backgrounds living in inner-cities in England and builds on previous research in this area. The current article presents exploratory research which focuses on the views of particular groups of adolescents, namely those from long established settled immigrant communities; those from more recently arrived migrant and immigrant communities; and those from white indigenous communities. An inclusive, perspectival and dynamic approach towards history education is outlined and the underlying view of knowledge and implications for pedagogy of this approach discussed alongside comparisons with other approaches towards the subject. The exploratory work and analysis is used to generate a research agenda through which history for a super diverse society can be developed. Although the research was conducted in the English context, the issues it raises are pertinent elsewhere.

‘No, living well does not mean being rich’: Diverse understandings of well-being among 11–13-year-old children in three Ethiopian communities

Participatory research into how people living in material poverty define and experience well-being and ill-being is increasingly common in developed and developing countries. Such research highlights the importance of experiential aspects, such as being respected and able to preserve one's dignity, and having meaningful choices. Nevertheless, these findings rarely cover children's experiences and are often not contextualized or triangulated with other data. The paper will extend this exploration using data from qualitative research with a sub-sample of children aged 11–13 in three urban and rural communities, drawn from Young Lives, a long-term international research project investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in four countries, including Ethiopia. Firstly, it addresses how understandings of a good life and what is needed to achieve one varies between communities and amongst children of different backgrounds living in those communities; for example, boys and girls and children from rich...

Children's right to be educated for tolerance: minority rights and inclusion

States do not make a genuine commitment to peace where children's right to be educated for tolerance is denied. Education for tolerance is considered a central aim of education, as set out in Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Hence, states are obliged under the convention to create conditions conducive to such an education. Such conditions undoubtedly include providing an opportunity in an educational setting for some level of interaction between children of different backgrounds (while still maintaining whatever educational programmes are deemed necessary for the preservation of the culture of various minority groups). To eliminate the opportunity for any level of educational integration between children from the dominant group and from various national minority groups or other identifiable groups (such as disabled and non-disabled children, citizen and immigrant or child refugee groups) is to infringe upon children's fundamental human right to free association. Such an assoc...

Children's Common Grounds: A Study of Intergroup Relations Among Children in Public Settings

This article discusses successful common grounds for children—public settings that enable the harmonious intermingling of children of different backgrounds, races, and ethnicities and that encourage their social interchange, play, educational development, and collaboration. Our study focused on three types of public space that tend to bring these children together: the public school, the park, and the neighborhood community center. The research employed a variety of methods to study the interaction of children 9 to 12 years of age. Field work took place at four sites in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the San Fernando Valley that enjoy a high level of intermixing and have a reputation for promoting diversity. Subjects in the research included children, teachers, and administrators. The article highlights the findings of the field work and concludes with a comparative analysis of the different settings and a discussion of the environmental and programmatic attributes that contribute to their success.

Temperament in Australian toddlers.

A revised validated version of the Toddler Temperament Scale (TTS) was used to develop normative data for temperament in Australian toddlers. Results confirm the accepted practice of dividing the group into younger and older toddlers, with normative data reported for those younger and older than 24 months. The TTS can be used above the normal cut-off age of 36 months. Care must be taken with interpretation of temperament scores, especially when comparing children of different backgrounds.