text:
A study to evaluate the performance of black South African urban infants on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III
Maxeke Academic Hospital and Department of Paediatrics,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
V Rademeyer
Background. A suitable tool is needed to assess child development in South Africa (SA). Using Western normed tools presents difficulties.
Aim. To determine whether the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (Bayley-III) can be used on black African urban infants in SA.
Method. One hundred and twenty-two black African infants in Gauteng, SA, were assessed using the Bayley-III.
Results. Overall the SA mean score was 103.4, which is statistically significantly higher (p=0.0007) than the mean of 100 for the USA. For subtests, the mean score was 99.7 for the cognitive, 106.8 for the language and 103.5 for the motor subtests as opposed to 100 for the USA.
Conclusion. The results of this study showed that SA scores were statistically significantly higher than the US norms. Clinically, however, the difference is small when one considers the variability of development.
Recommendation. The Bayley-III is a
suitable tool for use on the black urban African population in
Gauteng, SA.
S Afr J CH 2013;7(2):54-59.
South Africa (SA) needs a suitable tool to evaluate child development. No standardised tools designed to assess infant development in the SA population are available as yet. Well-known standardised tests designed in First-World countries are often used, but results may be invalid when these are used on populations they were not designed for. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley), a tool designed and normed in the USA and considered to be the gold standard in infant assessment,1 needs to be evaluated for validity in the SA population. The revised and updated 3rd edition was published in 2006, and no studies have been done on its use on populations other than in the USA. The US and SA populations are very different and therefore may perform differently on the test.
Infants may need to be developmentally assessed to detect abnormalities and initiate early intervention. There are many forms of developmental assessment, and careful consideration is necessary to determine which type of test is suitable. For most of the population, screening tools are used to detect infants at risk of developmental delay. For high-risk cases, such as premature infants, more detailed assessment over a longer period is necessary, as problems become evident over time. For this purpose, standardised assessment tools are ideal.2 The present study focused on this type of tool for assessing development. Standardised tests are psychometric tools designed to measure an individual's developmental status and compare it with what would be expected of that individual at their specific age. Individual results are compared with a norm. These tests are structured to be performed in a standard manner with a qualified examiner who administers the test according to a strict protocol. This ensures objectivity and allows the test to be used on large populations by multiple examiners.2 The process of standardising tools, known as standardisation, involves testing a large number of individuals with the test that was designed for them. They are known as the normative sample. An individual's score can be compared with this standardised score. These scores are age-adjusted and follow a normal distribution, with a prescribed mean and standard deviation (SD). Standardised tests are subject to stringent analysis of their psychometric properties during development. They are assessed for representativeness, reliability and validity. The better a tool's psychometric properties, the more valid, reliable and accurate are the conclusions that can be drawn about a particular child's develop-ment.2 Examples of standardised tests that can be used to assess child development are the Griffiths Mental Scales, the Bayley, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, the Batelle Inventory, the Developmental Assessment of Young Children, the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Denver Developmental Screening Test and the Miller Function and Participation Scales. All these have different advantages and disadvantages, and choosing the appropriate tool is imperative as it allows for early identification and treatment of problems arising in childhood.2
SA is a developing country facing many challenges that have been identified as potentially affecting child development. These include unemployment, poverty and disease, particularly tuberculosis and HIV disease.3 , 4 There is therefore a need for assessment (routine screening or detailed assessment as necessary) and suitable tools to ensure that SA children reach their full potential.
Assessing the development of infants is complicated by the normal variations in age at which specific milestones are achieved, as well as the impact of a variety of influences on development.5 , 6 A child's development can be affected by individual characteristics such as genetic make-up, personality or gender.7-9 It can also be influenced by physical and social environmental circumstances,7 including quality of stimulation, geographical location, poverty, nutrition, infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV, exposure to violence and exposure to contaminated water and toxins.8 Nutritional deficiencies identified as detrimental risk factors for development include iodine and iron deficiencies and especially growth stunting.5 , 8-15
Standardised tools are time consuming and costly, but they provide objective, valid and reliable information on a child's developmental level in comparison with his or her peers. These tests are based on the population of the country of origin of the test. and may not be appropriate for use on all populations.6 , 16-18 Because of the many factors affecting development, different populations may have different rates of development. This is an important consideration when tools are used for populations they were not designed for, as this may invalidate results.16-18
The Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 1st edition (Bayley-I) and 2nd edition (Bayley-II), are well-known standardised tools with adequate psychometric properties and have been widely used for research and clinical purposes.1 They are known as the gold standard of infant assessment1 and are reliable, valid tools used to assess infants' mental and motor development from 0 to 42 months of age.19 , 20 The Bayley-I and Bayley-II, released in 1969 and 1993, respectively, have been followed by the updated Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (Bayley-III).21 Since previous research showed that SA infants perform better than US infants on the Bayley-I,6 , 16 we felt that similar differences in the updated version are likely and that a similar study on the Bayley-III is necessary.
The main aim of this study was to use the Bayley-III to
evaluate the performance of a cohort of black urban African
infants in SA, to determine whether it is a suitable tool for
use on this population. Other objectives were to determine
whether gender affects performance on the Bayley-III, and
whether height, weight or head circumference have any
correlation with infant scores.
The revised Bayley-III was used to assess the performance of
122 black African infants in several urban clinics in Gauteng,
SA. The clinics are located in Yeoville, Bezuidenhout Valley and
Johannesburg City Centre and are predominantly attended by black
urban Africans. The following groups made up the total of 122:31
infants in the 3-month group (14 female and 17 male), 30 in the
6-month group (14 female and 16 male), 31 in the 9-month group
(16 female and 15 male) and 30 in the 12-month group (16 female
and 14 male). In total 60 were female and 62 male. Most infants
were brought to the clinics by their mothers, a close relative
or a caregiver for routine well-baby healthcare, in particular
immunisation, and all appeared to be in good health. Ethical
clearance was obtained before commencement of the study, and
informed consent was obtained from the parents or the adult
accompanying the child before assessment of each child. The
sample chosen was a convenience sample of children who were
available and fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
Inclusion criteria
Participating infants had to be 3, 6, 9 and 12 months old, or within 16 days of that age, and to appear clinically normal. Only black African infants born in SA were assessed. Infants whose parents were from other African countries were included if the infant had been born in SA.
Infants were assessed according to their age and corresponding start points on the Bayley-III. The Bayley-III assessed cognitive, language and motor abilities and took 30 - 60 minutes to adminster. Height, weight and head circumference was also measured and recorded.
SA scores were compared with US norms. Scores were compared across age groups, subtests and genders. Height, weight and head circumference measures were converted into Z-scores and correlated with test scores. The comparison of SA scores and Bayley III norms was done using Student's t-test. Testing was done at the 0.05 level of significance. Infants scoring one or more SDs below or above the norms were considered to be significantly delayed or advanced. One-sample Student's t-tests were done to compare mean cognitive, language and motor composite scores in the study sample with the US norms. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done to assess mean cognitive/language/motor composite score differences across age groups, and two-way ANOVA to assess cognitive, language and motor composite scores by age group and by gender (gender was included as a variable since, by chance, almost equal numbers of males and females were included in the sample; it was not an objective initially intended to be included in the study).
Anthropometric measures were converted into Z-scores for age. A correlation
coefficient (Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient)
was calculated to see whether there were any correlations
between the Z-scores
and cognitive, language and motor subtest scores. This was
done to determine whether anthropometric parameters influenced
scores on the Bayley-III. The t-test
was used to determine whether the correlation coefficient
differed significantly from zero.
Overall US versus SA scores
Mean (±SD) composite scores for the USA were 100±15. The mean composite score for the SA sample was 103.4 (p=0.0007). Overall, the score for the SA sample was therefore statistically significantly higher than those for the USA (Table 1).
SA scores according to subtests
Composite score means for the SA sample (N=122)
were 99.7 for cognitive, 106.8 for language and 103.5 for motor
(includes fine and gross motor skills) (Table 1).
Differences between age groups
Younger age groups (2 - 7 months) tended to have higher scores
than older age groups (6 - 12 months). This is just an overall
observation and is not statistically proven.
Differences in subtest scores within age groups
At 3 months. Motor scores were significantly higher than cognitive scores (p=0.007). Motor scores were not significantly different from language scores (p=0.1285). Language scores were not significantly different from cognitive scores (p=0.248).
At 6 months. Language scores were significantly higher than cognitive scores (p<0.001). Motor scores were significantly higher than cognitive scores (p=0.022). Language scores were significantly higher than motor scores (p=0.002).
At 9 months. Language scores were significantly higher than cognitive scores (p<0.001). Motor scores (p<0.001) did not differ significantly from cognitive scores (p=0.776). Language scores were significantly higher than motor scores (p<0.001).
At 12 months. Cognitive, language and motor scores were not significantly different (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Cognitive, language and motor composite scores according to age groups.
Subtest scores
We will now look at each subtest individually, noting: (i) how the mean scores in the subtest compared with the mean US scores; (ii) how age groups differed in performance on each subtest; and (iii) gender differences in scores within age groups.
Subtest scores: Cognitive composite scores
1. For the total sample (N=122), the mean cognitive composite score did not differ significantly (p=0.82) from the US norm of 100 (Table 1).
2. In a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), age groups did not differ significantly (p=0.82) with regard to mean cognitive scores (Fig. 1).
3. Since gender can be expected to play a role, a two-way ANOVA was done with the factors age group and gender. Also included was the interaction term for gender by age group. Again age groups did not differ significantly (p=0.77), and neither did gender categories (p=0.83). However, there was a significant interaction (p=0.05); in particular, boys and girls behaved differently at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. This interaction was probably the reason why age groups could not be determined as significantly different in the pooled sample. In other words, at 3, 6 and 12 months boys' and girls' scores were so different that they would have affected the mean scores to such an extent as to make them very similar across age groups (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Cognitive composite scores over age, by gender.
Subtest scores: Language composite scores
1. For the total sample (N=122), the mean language composite score was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the US norm of 100 (Table 1).
2. Age groups differed significantly (p<0.001) with regard to mean composite language scores in the one-way ANOVA. In particular, scores at 6 months were significantly higher than at 3 months (p=0.014) and 12 months (p<0.001), but only marginally significantly higher than the scores at 9 months (p=0.097) (Fig. 1).
3. Again the groups differed significantly (p<0.001) in the two-way ANOVA, while gender categories were marginally significantly different (p=0.06). For language scores, females therefore had marginally significantly higher scores overall than males. Furthermore, a significant interaction was noted (p=0.029); in particular, boys and girls behaved differently at 9 months. Girls tended to have higher scores than boys at 9 months (Fig. 3).
Subtest scores: Motor composite scores
1. For the total sample (N=122), the mean composite motor score was statistically significantly higher (p=0.003) than the US norm of 100 (Table 1).
2. In a one-way ANOVA, age groups differed significantly (p<0.001) with regard to motor composite scores. In particular, statistically significant differences were found between the 3-month-old group (which had higher scores) and the 9-month-old group (p=0.001), and between the 3-month-old group (higher) and the 12-month-old group (p=0.007). A marginally significant difference was found between the 6-month-old group (higher) and the 9-month-old group (p=0.053) (Fig. 1).
3. Again in a two-way ANOVA age groups differed significantly (p<0.001), but gender categories did not (p=0.69). However, for individual age groups a significant interaction between males and females (p<0.001) existed; in other words they behaved differently. At 6 months females had higher scores than males, while at 12 months males had higher scores than females (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Motor composite scores over age, by gender.
Height, weight and head circumference
Height, weight and head circumference did not significantly
affect infant scores on the Bayley-III.
The USA is a developed country, so its population may have an
advantage when compared with that of SA, a developing country.
Since the two populations differ culturally, geographically,
ethnically and socio-economically, their performances on tests
can be expected to differ, as these factors are known to
influence development. Furthermore, previous studies have found
that black African infants scored higher than US infants on the
Bayley-I, so much so that the creation of local norms was
Richter and Griesel found SA infants' scores to be much
higher than US scores on the Bayley-I. This necessitated the
creation of local norms for black SA infants to assist
with interpretation of Bayley-I results.16 Aina and
Morakinyo found that Nigerian infants scored higher on the
Bayley-I than the USA norms.17 Both studies were done on a
different version of the Bayley scales to that used in the
present study, so it is difficult to compare the two. The
findings of both these studies are replicated in the present
study, using the more recent Bayley-III.
Overall US v. SA scores
Overall, when combining all subgroups (cognitive, language and motor), SA scores were significantly higher, with a mean of 103.4 (p=0007) compared with the US mean of 100. These results indicate that typically developing black African urban infants in Gauteng from the study sample, aged between 2 and 13 months, perform better than American infants on the Bayley-III, supporting previous claims of African infant developmental precocity. However, although the SA sample scored significantly higher than the US norms, clinically the difference is small when one considers the variability of development. Developmental milestones can be reached within windows of time, which can vary considerably. Although the study population tends to have average (90 - 109), high average (110 - 119) and superior (120 - 129) scores, especially for the language and motor subtests, these can still be considered normal. Children scoring 1 SD (85) below the mean in more than one subtest or 2 SD (70) below the mean in one subtest will still be considered delayed and require intervention in keeping with Bayley-III recommendations. This applies to both the US and SA groups.
Although we would have expected the US sample to be advantaged and perhaps have higher scores, they did not. The SA and US scores may have differed as a result of differences between characteristics of the two samples. The SA sample consisted of 122 black African infants living in an urban area of SA. The US sample was a stratified sample of 1 700 children and included a clinical sample. Mean scores for the US standardisation sample were 100, with an SD of 15.22 This applied to language, cognitive and motor scores. Of the children's scores, 58% fell within the range 85 - 115, 98% within the range 70 - 130, and all within the range 55 - 145.
The US sample included a clinical group (10% of the normative sample), i.e. their normative sample included infants with clinical syndromes or diagnoses. These infants would have scored very low on the Bayley-III, and this would have lowered the mean values for the sample. Our study sample comprised only healthy infants, which may be the reason why the sample mean scores were higher than the US norms. The Bayley-III norms also included infants from 36 weeks' GA, whereas in the present study infants were included from 37 weeks' GA. Another reason for the differences may be variations in developmental rates of the two populations.22
SA scores according to subtests
When looking at subgroups, cognitive mean scores (2 - 13
months) for SA did not differ significantly from the US norms.
The mean language composite score (2 - 13 months) was 106.8 and
the mean motor composite score (2 - 13 months) was 103.5. These
were statistically significantly higher than the US norm of 100
(Table 1), especially from 2 to 10 months. These differences may
be due to differences between the US sample and the study
sample; however, this does not explain why cognitive scores were
not affected, as infants with syndromes would be expected to
have lower cognitive scores as well as lower language and motor
scores, as language and cognition are closely related.
Developmental theories describe the need for a combination of
brain maturation and environmental shaping.23 It may
be that in the study sample, caregivers encourage language and
motor abilities more than cognitive abilities in the early
months. Regional differences in brain growth may also explain
differences in performance of the subtests, as may different
rates of development across populations.
Differences between age groups
In the present study, the trend was for younger age groups (2 -
7 months) to achieve higher scores than older age groups (7 - 13
months). Aina and Morakinyo found the lower age groups (2, 4 and
8 months) to have the highest scores overall. Scores for the
older age groups (10 - 30 months) tended to be slightly lower.17 It is
possible that younger age groups are not expected to do as much
as older age groups. Their scores would therefore appear better
if the test was not sensitive enough in the younger age groups,
or if developmental delay is less obvious early on when less is
expected of a child.
Differences in subtest scores within age groups
When comparing scores within age groups, only the 12-month-old age group had similar subtest mean scores (Fig. 1). All the other age groups had large differences in scores, with language or motor scores being higher than other scores. This may be due to variations in rates of cognitive, language and motor development in children aged under 12 months, who then reach a point at 12 months where they are equally competent in all areas. This implies that timing and order of milestone achievement may not be as important as that certain milestones should be achieved within a specified time period. Again, the test may not be sensitive enough for testing motor or language skills from ages 2 - 7 months, or perhaps the study sample develop their language and motor skills earlier than the US sample.
When comparing across the age groups, at 3 months motor scores
were the highest scoring subtest. This could mean that in our
population motor development is more rapid in the first 3
months, or that the test is not sensitive enough to detect motor
development at this age. At 6 months language was the highest
scoring subtest. Language skills may be particularly well
developed at this age as a result of factors affecting
development such as culture and caregiving practices. At 9
months language was the highest scoring subtest. Again language
skills may be advanced in this population at this time. At 12
months subtest scores were similar. This may indicate that
although motor and language development in the study sample are
faster in the early months, by 12 months they have slowed to
reach levels similar to those of the US sample. Cognitive
scores, however, appear to develop at a steadier rate than
language or motor scores. The differences between the age groups
may therefore be due to a lack of sensitivity in the test, or
the sample population having varying rates of development in the
early months.
Subtest scores: Cognitive composite scores
1. The present study only assessed children up to 12 months, but cognitive skill scores were not higher than the norms. In Richter and Griesel's study, infants' mental index scores (the equivalent of cognitive and language composite scores combined) were higher than US norms from 3 to 15 months and not from 18 to 30 months.16 Aina and Morakinyo's study scores were higher than US norms for ages 2 - 10 months and not for 12 - 30 months.17
The above discrepancies may be because cognitive scores are a separate score in the Bayley-III, i.e. there are 3 scores: cognitive, language and motor, whereas in the Bayley-I and Bayley-II language is included in the mental index score. Language skills may therefore form the basis of the increased mental index scores in the latter two studies. Language scores may be higher because infants under 12 months have less language development and again the test may not be sensitive enough to assess language skills adequately from 0 to 12 months, or these infants may have advanced language skills at this age.
2. Since age groups did not differ with regard to mean cognitive scores, the Bayley-III can be used for urban SA black infants in Gauteng at 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. However, the lack of differences between groups may have been due to the large differences between male and female scores, which can be seen in each age group (Fig. 2). This lack of differences between groups should therefore be interpreted with caution. If such large differences between males and females had not existed, the age groups may have differed significantly. In the Bayley-III norms production, although equal numbers of males and females were included, they were not assessed for differences, so we do not know whether similar differences existed between males and females in the Bayley-III norms sample. Testing of older children may reveal larger differences in cognitive development. Further, since developmental theories suggest that brain maturation and environmental shaping are necessary for development, cognitive development may differ more in older children, who have had more time to absorb the impact of environmental influences. Children aged under 12 months may simply be developing according to their innate brain maturation, and environmental influences may be less important.
3. When male scores were compared with female scores it was
noted that overall no significant differences existed in
cognitive scores, but that at 3, 6 and 12 months there were
large differences in the way males and females behaved. Fig. 2
shows that females have higher scores at 6 months, while males
have higher scores at 3 and 12 months. A previous study found
that girls performed better than boys on the mental scales
(cognitive composite scores) of the Bayley-I.13 This
contradicts the results of the present study; however, again
mental scales included language in the Bayley-I and II, but were
separate in the Bayley-III. It may therefore have been the
girls' language performance that pushed their mental scale
scores above those of the boys. Further, the sample size in each
subgroup in the present study is small. Larger numbers need to
be assessed to increase the statistical power of these results,
and further research is necessary. Despite these inconsistencies
in results, it is clear that gender differences in development
may exist. By 18 or 24 months males and females may have
achieved the same milestones but at different rates. It may not
be as important when a milestone is achieved as that it simply
is achieved within a specified time period.
Subtest scores: Language composite scores
1. The SA study sample achieved higher language scores than the US norms between 2 and 10 months, implying that SA infants have advanced language skills at this age. Alternatively, the assessment may not be sensitive enough to assess language between 2 and 10 months. These results are similar to those of Richter et al., who found that infants' mental index scores (which include language) were significantly higher in SA children from 2 to 10 months, and not from 18 to 30 months.6 In Richter et al.'s study it may have been above-average language skills that elevated their mental index scores. If this was so, the cognitive part of the mental index scores may have been in the average range, as it was in the present study sample. Mental index scores of infants in Aina and Morakinyo's study were higher than US norms from 2 to 10 months and not from 12 to 30 months.17 Again this may have been due to the Nigerian children's language skills. The above two studies had similar results to the present study. The reason may be that different populations have different rates of development in the earlier months.
2. Age groups differed significantly, infants at 6 and 9 months having the highest language scores. SA infants' language scores can therefore be expected to be above average in the first 2 - 10 months of life.
3. For language scores, we found a marginally statistically significant difference between male and female scores overall, with females having higher scores than males. This was particularly evident at 6 months and at 9 months. However, at 12 months girls were found to perform much the same as boys on language scales. Overall girls perform better than boys on the language subtest, which may reflect different rates of development in language skills between boys and girls in the first year. However, again the sample size being compared in each subgroup is small. Larger numbers need to be assessed to increase the statistical power of these results. Anatomical differences in the brain, genetic and hormonal differences and the role of the X chromosome have been proposed to explain gender differences in language and cognition.24 , 25 Girls are at a slight advantage compared with boys when it comes to early language acquisition, but these differences disappear as children get older.25
Subtest scores: Motor composite scores
1. SA infants achieved significantly higher mean motor scores than the US norms. This is similar to Richter and Griesel's finding that infants aged 2 - 10 months scored significantly higher than the US norms.16 In the present study it was found that scores were significantly higher than the US norms between 2 and 7 months. However, infants in the present study achieved slightly lower motor scores than the US norms at 9 months. Motor scores for the infants in Aina and Morakinyo's study were higher than US norms at all ages except 10 and 30 months.17 This differs from the present study, where motor scores were higher at all ages except 9 and 12 months. It must be remembered that the abovementioned studies were done using the Bayley-I, while the present study used the Bayley-III. These tests are different, so care must be taken when comparing them. However, the above findings are similar to those of the present study. To conclude, motor scores in all three studies were higher than the US norms. They therefore support the theory of precocity of motor development in black infants. Development follows a sequence, but the timing of this sequence can be influenced by ethnic or cultural factors. Black African babies are said to be more advanced than US and European babies in sitting, walking and running. For example, Ugandan babies walk at an average of 10 months, US babies at 12 months and French babies at 15 months. Some cultures encourage early development and others do not.23
2. Of all the age groups, the 3-month-old group had the highest scores for motor development (Fig. 1). This correlates with Aina and Morakinyo's17 and Richter et al.'s6 studies, both of which found that the younger age groups did better than the older groups. Richter et al. found that SA infants did better on the motor scale from 2 to 10 months, and that thereafter until 30 months the scores were very similar to the US norms.6 Aina and Morakinyo found that their Nigerian subjects scored above the norms, particularly in the lower age groups from 2 to 8 months.17 The fact that motor scores were high at 3 months may be due to a lack of sensitivity of the test at the younger ages or to differences in rates of development across populations, with SA urban black infants having advanced motor skills.
3. At 12 months males had significantly higher scores than females, while at 6 months females had significantly higher scores than males. This may be due to different rates of development in males and females. However, it must be noted again that the sample size being compared in each subgroup is small in number. Larger numbers need to be assessed to increase the statistical power of these results. In contrast, Richter et al. found no significant differences between male and female scores on the mental and motor scales of the Bayley-I. In their formulation of norms they therefore did not create separate norms for males and females.6 In their study of the Bayley-I, Lima et al. found no effect of infant gender on motor scores.13 As yet there are no studies comparing male and female performance on the Bayley-III.
The above results show that in our sample differences on the
Bayley-III exist in subtest scores, between age groups, and in
gender performance. Language and motor scores were the most
different from the US norms and could reflect different rates of
development. Anthropometric indicators such as height, weight
and head circumference had no significant association with
scores on the test, indicating that growth had no effect on
development in this population. This may be because the sample
was a healthy one, and stronger correlations may be found in
samples where children are stunted or underweight.
Black African infants in the present study sample performed
better on the Bayley-III than US norms. Although statistically
the SA sample scored significantly higher than the US norms,
clinically the difference is small when one considers the
variability of development. The Bayley-III is therefore a valid
test to use on black urban infants aged 2 - 13 months in
Gauteng, SA. Further research on the Bayley-III is needed to
assess a larger, more diverse group (e.g. a stratified sample),
including all age groups for which the Bayley-III caters (0 - 42
months), as well as all population groups in SA. Gender
differences in scores for specific subtests were found, but were
small and require further research. Height, weight and head
circumference had no effect on Bayley-III scores in the study
Professor P Becker (statistician).
1. Harris SR, Megens AM, Backman CL, Hayes VE. Stability of the Bayley II Scales of Infant Development in a sample of low-riHsk and high-risk infants. Dev Med Child Neurol 2005;47(12):820-823. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS0012162205001738]
2. Johnson S, Marlow N. Developmental screen or developmental testing? Early Hum Dev 2006;82(3):173-183. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.earlhumdev.2006.01.008]
3. Saloojee H, Pettifor JM. International child health: 10 years of democracy in South Africa, the challenges facing children today. Current Paediatrics 2005;15(5):429-436. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cupe.2005.06.012]
4. Chopra M, Lawn JE, Sanders D, et al. Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals for South Africa: Challenges and priorities. Lancet 2009;374(9694):1023-1031. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2809%2961122-3]
5. Pivik RT, Dykman RA, Jing H, Gilchrist JM, Badger TM. The influence of infant diet on early developmental changes in processing human voice speech stimuli: ERP variations in breast and milk formula-fed infants at 3 and 6 months after birth. Dev Neuropsychol 2007;31(3):279-335. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F87565640701228880]
6. Richter LM, Griesel RD, Rose C. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development – a South African standardization. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy 1992;May:14-25.
7. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. Assessment of sex differences and heterogeneity in motor milestone attainment among populations in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study. Acta Paediatr Suppl 2006;95,suppl 450:66-75. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2006.tb02377.x]
8. Grantham-McGregor S, Cheung YB, Cueto S, et al., and the International Child Development Steering Group. Child development in developing countries 1. Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. Lancet 2007;369(9555):60-70. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2807%2960032-4]
9. Walker SP, Wachs TD, Meeks Gardner J, et al., and the International Child Development Steering Group. Child development in developing countries 2. Child development: Risk factors for adverse outcomes in developing countries. Lancet 2007;369(9556):145-157. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2807%2960076-2]
10. Gale CR, O'Callaghan FJ, Godfrey KM, Law CM, Martyn CN. Critical periods of brain growth and cognitive function in children. Brain 2004;127(2):321-329. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1093%2Fbrain%2Fawh034]
11. Ivanovic DM, Leiva BP, Perez HT, et al. Head size and intelligence, learning, nutritional status and brain development. Neuropsychologia 2004;42(8):1118-1131. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.11.022]
12. Kuklina EV, Ramakrishnan U, Stein AD, Barnhart HH, Martorell R. Growth and diet quality are associated with the attainment of walking in rural Guatemalan infants. J Nutr 2004;134(12):3296-3300.
13. Lima MC, Eickmann SH, Lima ACV, et al. Determinants of mental and motor development at 12 months in a low income population: A cohort study in northeast Brazil. Acta Paediatr 2004;93(7):969-975. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1651-2227.2004.tb18257.x]
14. Sacker A, Quigley MA, Kelly YJ. Breastfeeding and developmental delay: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. Pediatrics 2006;118(3):e628-e689. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1542%2Fpeds.2005-3141]
15. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. Relationship between physical growth and motor development in the WHO Child Growth Standards. Acta Paediatr 2006;95,suppl 450:96-101. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1651-2227.2006.tb02380.x]
16. Richter LM, Griesel RD. Bayley Scales of Infant Development – norms for interpreting the performance of black South African infants. Pretoria: University of South Africa, 1988.
17. Aina OF, Morakinyo O. Normative data on mental and motor development in Nigerian children. West Afr J Med 2005;24(2):151-156. [http://dx.doi.org/10.4314%2Fwajm.v24i2.28187]
18. Westera JJ, Houtzager BA, Overdiek B, van Wassenaer AG. Applying Dutch and US versions of the BSID-II in Dutch children born preterm leads to different outcomes. Dev Med Child Neurol 2008;50(6):445-449. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1469-8749.2008.02067.x]
19. Gauthier SM, Bauer CR, Messinger DS, Closius J. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development II: Where to start? Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics 1999;20(2):75-79. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2F00004703-199904000-00001]
20. Campos D, Santos D, Goncalves V, et al. Agreement between scales for screening and diagnosis of motor development at 6 months. J Pediatr (Rio J) 2006;82(6):470-474. [http://dx.doi.org/10.2223%2FJPED.1567]
21. Harcourt Assessment 2007. Bayley-III Technical Report 2. Factors contributing to differences between Bayley-III and BSID-II scores. http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/85553691-1039-4964-8C1C-6F1E9506BE31/0/BayleyIII_TechReport2.pdf (accessed 5 May 2013).
22. Bayley N. Technical Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. 3rd ed. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation, 2006.
23. Papalia D, Feldman R, Olds S. A Child's World: Infancy through Adolescence. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009:145-206.
24. Galsworthy MJ, Dionne G, Dale PS, Plomin R. Sex differences in early verbal and non-verbal cognitive development. Dev Sci 2000;3(2):206-215. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-7687.00114]
25. Wallentin M. Putative sex differences in verbal abilities and language cortex: A critical review. Brain Lang 2009;108(3):175-183. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2008.07.001]
Article Views
Full text views: 8461


text:
I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man, but drivers under a certain age (not exclusively, of course) nowadays all-too often exhibit utter cluelessness when trying to parallel park. Sometimes, I just stand and stare in amazement as they try repeatedly to head into a parking spot. When did they stop teaching (or testing) this rather basic driving skill anyway?
42 Comments
Tell me about it. As you write, Richmond, VA has announced that parking more than a foot from the curb is going to be a ticketable offense. You should hear the screaming going on! Expecting people to actually get within an inch or two of the curb, how Communist can you get?
Ah, but there's something just a little unique about that picture: This is apparently a one-way street, and the offender is parked on the left hand side. My office overlooks a similar street, and for the most part it's the left side parkers who have the most difficulty with parallel parking. I think it has something to do with having difficulty translating the normal spatial difference between your noggin and the curb to the opposite side.
Then again, maybe not.
Parallel parking was in my Driver's Ed test; but I probably haven't done it 15 years, everything is angle parking around here. I'll admit I would hate to get a pass/fail test in a tight space today.
Going back as far as at least 1982 (when I first got my license), this has not been part of the Virginia behind-the-wheel test. In the mid-80s, it was part of the Ohio driving test (you had to park between orange cones, which is harder than parking between cars, but they were generously spaced).
Self-parking cars may soon make this skill obsolete. I self-parked a new Taurus on a test drive a few years ago, and it worked astoundingly well. Once cars have electric steering and a backup camera (as they all will soon), self parking is just software. It will be standard equipment on most cars before you know it.
Wasn't on my test in 1998. I would guess the rise of Malls and huge parking lots made parallel parking less important from the 1980's on. All I had to do was prove I could back up in a straight line for about 50 feet. Weird.
I also had to parallel park for my driver's test – did it in my dad's '79 Datsun 510 – manual steering and brakes.
I taught my son how to parallel park last year in his hand-me down 99 Camry – right in front of the house – put out some plastic garbage pails – the appropriate distance apart – and had him practice it until he got it right – after awhile he wouldn't roll the window done for my advice!
I read a old blog of yours. It sounded to me you are a well educated man. I need some help on locating some car parts. I have a Peugeot 404 from 1962. I wondered if you could give me any leads to finding these parts. Thanks Corey
I managed it for my drivers test as well. Manual trans, no power steering.
I think parallel parking has been replaced by text messaging proficiency standards. Or maybe I'm just feeling too cynical today.
Thanks, Paul. I have been surching eBay and google for about two years on and off. I'll work on my parking job. Lol Have a good day.
It wasn't part of the Texas drivers test in 2005 when I got my license, that's only because there was no driving test. In Texas if you get a high enough overal score on your in-car training you only have to take the theory test, but I did have to do parallel parking at least once during training. That said, in the eight years I've been driving I've never once actually needed to parallel park, and I wouldn't be surprised if I never do. That, combined with the fact that my car is longer than most PERPENDICULAR parking spaces, means that it isn't a skill I plan to master any time soon.
Driving inside a government ship repair facility definitely increased my parallel parking skills, as well as generally making my way through tight quarters in any of a variety of different assigned vehicles, from 12-passenger vans to Daihatsu kei pickups. One is likely to have to thread one's way among and around pallet loads of practically anything, air compressors, other vehicles, portal cranes, railroad cars, temporary shelters, guard shacks, bollards, gangplanks, and other such impediments. One also learns when to say the hell with it, park at the head of the pier, and walk, or park on the next pier over and cross the caisson. I will admit to one small mishap; on graveyard shift I was backing around next to a stack of 1-inch steel plates and one of them cut into the corner of Moby Dodge's cab right behind my head. It took some hammering back at the shop to restore proper operation of the driver's door, and the next time the truck went in for maintenance they filled the cab corner with probably a whole can of bondo and spot-painted it.
Well, I took my driver's test in 2000 and they were still requiring that you know how to parallel park.
I failed that part of my driving test but over 10 years of living in a city setting has taught me everything that I need to know about parallel parking. It's like second nature now!
Makes me laugh watching clowns try to parrallel park I was taught to do that for my 1973 test now days people are so stupid theyre teaching cars to park themselves.
What BS! At least in urban areas, given the ever increasing lack of parking drivers of all ages are likely much better at parallel parking on average.
If this photo was taken back in the 70s when all you old fogies were in your prime, there would probably be only a single other car on the road… maybe a horse drawn carriage or two. THAT makes parking easier.
We had no garage or driveway where I grew up on the west end of St. Louis. If you didn't learn parallel parking, you couldn't park. Spaces were at a premium, too, and you often had to be an expert to work your car into the few tiny openings that sometimes were available. Of course, it seems modern car design doesn't make much of an allowance for parallel parking, which often requires (in tighter spaces), the light tap on the bumpers of the cars in front of and behind you as you try to squeeze in. Now, you'd probably crack a headlight or bumper on your or another's vehicle.
How does one get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice. Line up with front cars' side view mirror and turn your 1.5 times towards the curb. When looking out your side view watch to see the rear bumper move on top of the curb and cut the wheel. You're in.
Chicago testing (in the late '60s) did parallel parking (which I flunked), but the suburban testing stations never bothered. The town I learned to drive in had little need for parallel, so it took a while to get used to it. I still hate it with the big Silverado…
In my UK test we didn't have to parallel park, but we did have to reverse around a corner, at a reasonable distance from the kerb, which is pretty difficult as well.
I spent three years driving around East London, and learned to be pretty good at parallel parking – there wasn't a choice. Here in New Zealand the parking skllls are pretty laughable.
It wasn't on my test in 2001 but I made damn sure I knew how to do it.
I'm not even 30 yet but I sound like a grumpy old man when I see people who can't parallel park. It's not that difficult.
But then again, I'm atypical. I often drive 40-50+ year old vehicles with manual transmission and steering as well.
I can parallel park like a boss! After 25 tears of being a landscaper (I now sell Fords), I learned to parallel park my rig, pick-up truck AND a 18 foot tandem trailer. And yes, properly. Not only that I can back that thing out of a driveway, down the street, and around the corner. Not bragging, but I can if necessary. I always say, "If you can't back it, don't pull it."
On another note, I tried Ford's "Active Park Assist"; didn't think I'd like it, but it is THE BOMB! It picked out, and then parked a 16 foot Fusion into a 20 foot spot, all I did was watch the back-up camera (not necessary), listen to the back-up sensors (necessary), and brake. A little off the curb, but so were the other cars. Amazing.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You will find
information on Franchise Opportunities for sale
Regardless if you are looking for a serious home based business opportunity or a more conventional business such as a fitness center franchise or a restaurant franchise, we are here to assist you.
Search hundreds of franchise opportunities and businesses for sale with our franchise directory, Latest Additions, or check out our Top Franchises section.
Request information for franchise opportunities that interest you.


text:
Active citizenship in Hungary (2010)
A short summary of this project is available here.
21. century competencies
Problémák és megoldások című rövidfilm-sorozatunk hamarosan megtekinthető szakmai oldalainkon. A filmek a "Tudományos Mecenatúra Pályázat" keretében valósultak meg.
New book on Creative Partnership Hungary
A new bilingual (Hungarian and English) book has been published about Creative Partnership program in Pécs in June 2018. Special feature of the book that it presents the work of the artists cooperating with the teachers in the classroom. We recommend it to everyone with love!
4th Central European Higher Education Cooperation (CEHEC) Conference
Judit Lannert presented the main results of our research on internationalization of Hungarian higher education. The presentation is available of the official site of the event.
"The International Conference on the Fostering and Development of Talent"
Our research centre was represented by Szilvia Németh, Managing director at "The International Conference on the Fostering and Development of Talent" in Bratislava. She was a member of the panel of "Art and Creativity" where the Creative Partnerships programme in Hungary was highlighted.
Facts and Figures on Hungarian Public Education 2014
This is the first edition of Public Education in Hungary: Facts and Figures published by T-Tudok. This publication attempts to summarize basic statistical data on public education for those who want to have a first glimps of the state of the system of public education in Hungary.
A collection of case studies within the project "Training Requirements and Key Skills for Artists and Creative Practitioners to Work in Participatory Settings has been established.
|1035 Budapest, Vihar utca 18. telefon: +36 20 263 3107, email@example.com


text: When Technologies Mean Business, Participation Means Advantage. The schedule for Business Technology Summit has been announced. The theme of this year's summit is Riding the Workhorse IT Hockey Stick, featuring a convergence of four co-located tracks that have been identified as the power team for Workhorse IT -- SOA & Web Services, SaaS/PaaS, Enterprise Content Management and Virtualisation. View the complete schedule here http://www.btsummit.com/summitSchedule.html. Gain Strategic, Technical and Business Insights at BT Summit 2008, Bangalore Edition: * Dr. Chris Harding of The Open Group will present straight from the source a deep dive workshop on Using TOGAF for SOA. * Alan Pelz-Sharpe will put ECM and SOA through the SWOT Grind, speak about Email Archiving and Discovery, and lead a workshop on Selecting the Best ECM System. * Peter Coffee will show you how to Code In the Cloud as well as lead a deep dive workshop on Enterprise Readiness for the Cloud * Dr. Matjaz Juric, CEO of the SOA Competency Center, will conduct a hands-on workshop on BPMN to BPEL Modeling Business Processes for SOA and three focused sessions on SOA Architectural Patterns, SOA and BPM, and Designing Reusable Service Interfaces * Dr. Robert Marcus, Author of the Global Grid, will present the State of the Union - SOA Standards and lead a deep dive workshop on Future Distributed Computing Architectures and the Role of SOA * Nitin Borwankar will show you How to Find the Silver Lining in Cloud Services and lead a deep dive workshop on Affordable Data Analytics and Data Warehousing Business Technology Summit is your chance to refresh, pick up new tips and techniques, and network with your peers to find solutions to the most pressing business technology issues today.The four technology tracks at the summit offer complimentary synergistic for a robust IT infrastructure that you cannot afford to ignore in your quest for business technology success. REGISTER NOW FOR AS LOW AS INR 2999/-: http://www.btsummit.com/registration.html [img size=292]http://www.mcpressonline.com/images/fbfiles/images/btsummit_logo.jpg[/img]


text:
Customers hate being sold to.
Customers hate being sold to. They don't mind getting expert help when they want to buy something. But much of the time they are not ready to buy, and one of the most irritating things is to have a salesperson try to get them to buy when they aren't ready. Unfortunately too many people in marketing and sales positions don't seem to understand this, and proceed to irritate their potential customers. They don't realize that there is a far better way to sell. That is what this blog post is all about.
When I started my first company, I had no business or sales training of any kind. As you'd expect for any founder/CEO, I was put into many selling situations. I developed a gut feel for how to interact with prospects that seemed to work surprisingly well. When I watched other sales people, I noticed that they jumped into a sales pitch far earlier than I would have done, and sold much harder than I felt was appropriate. My gut instinct told me that the recipient of these sales pitches felt both uncomfortable and mistrustful. Furthermore, when I read about how you were supposed to go about closing deals, I was surprised, as I wasn't using any of those deal closing techniques, yet was able to close deals reasonably easily.
It was only later on in life that I realized what I was doing to succeed, and why it worked so well.
Building a relationship and trust
The mistake I observed was that too many marketers and sales people want to jump right into selling.
The problem with this approach is that it ignored the importance of trust in the sales process. I was doing something different:
- First building a relationship
- Then building trust
The result of this was that usually the customer would start asking me for my opinion on what they should purchase. As soon as that happened I had won the hard battle, and was well on my way to winning the customer. All this had happened without any hard selling.
This changed the whole dynamic from uphill selling to advisory/consulting soft-selling. To my mind this seemed a whole lot more successful way to go about things.
How did I do this?
- I would start by learning something about them. Ideally I would do this by researching them before I made the visit or phone call. However there were many times where I wasn't given the time to do that. In those situations, I would start with a few questions an rely on knowledge that I had gained from talking to similar customers.
- Then I would work hard to find a way to add some value to their business life. Typically this meant bringing them some new insights, but it could be in other ways.
- I was looking for ways to get the customer asking me questions about things that could help them or their business. When that happened, I took it as a key sign that I was starting to succeed.
In several situations, I figured out ways to start the creation of trust before I even met with the person. To do this, I could do one of two things:
- Send them something of high value that proved that my company knew things that would be useful to them. An example I can give you of this was when we founded International Software in Europe (later changed the name to Corporate Software). International Software produced this great book every six months that was a review of all the PC software on the market. At the time we did this, the market was very early, and customers didn't know what software to use for things like word processing, IBM mainframe terminal emulation, project management, creating slide presentations, etc.. The Guide educated them about what was available and helped them to choose what was best for their needs. This was high value. By sending them the Guide in advance of the meeting, we found that our acceptance rate for taking meetings jumped from around 20% to over 85%. And when we arrived for the meeting, there was already a high level of belief/trust that we could help them.
- I could use information that I had gathered about them from my research, and process that in my product to produce some output that was both personalized for them, and showed them something of value.
Adding Value is often best done in an orthogonal way
Many times the way I added value was not directly associated with the product I was going to try to sell them later on
For example, I might pick a much higher level topic of some mega-trend that was affecting their business segment, and discuss how other companies in their segment were tackling that issue. The value would be the insights into their peers or competitors.
However the nearer your topic is the better. For example, you could build a relationship and trust with a customer by playing golf with them, but when it comes time for them to select a sophisticated software package, they may not trust your opinion in that particular field. So it is better to build a relationship and trust in a way which sets you up as a person to trust for advice about their business.
Positioning as an Expert
I also had another technique that worked well: positioning myself as an expert. I would make sure that I studied to develop some expertise in an area that was interesting or important to them. Then, we would create a forum where this could be delivered as a presentation. The greater the audience size the more powerful the effect. Once I became established as an expert in the buyers mind, they viewed me as a natural person to turn to get business advice.
A key rule
There is a key rule that I instinctively stuck to: my presentations religiously avoided any reference to my company or product. In my view that would destroy the credibility, and turn this into yet another sales pitch.
Think back on your own experiences: how many times have you been at a conference that you paid money to attend, and were turned off by a presenter who couldn't resist using their presentation to pitch their product. It continues to surprise to me how many marketers ruin great opportunities by ignoring this rule. They simply can't resist the temptation. They apparently lack the understanding of how trust is built, and how it can be translated into a very powerful selling tool.
A Pre-Internet Example
In one situation where we didn't have the expertise we wanted internally, we hired the Nolan Norton management consulting group to develop a presentation for us. This was back around 1987, in the early days of Novell networks. (In case you are wondering why I am using such old examples, and not referring to modern post-Internet situations, wait for the next section where that will become clear.) This presentation predicted how computers would go from individual disconnected machines, to connected workgroups, to company-wide networks, and then eventually to the stage where all companies would be connected together. (This happened to be a very prescient indicator of the Internet.) It talked about how each stage would transform their business.
The presentation was highly visionary, and also educational. We trained our salesforce on how to give the presentation, and in the process transformed them into thought leaders and "experts" who were worth listening to. They were no longer "salespeople to be avoided". If the customer bought the premise of the presentation, they would likely turn to us for help implementing networks, and the software layer on top for communications and collaboration.
How to build a trusted relationship in the on-line world?
One of the most interesting mega-trends taking place today is the shift from face-to-face business interactions to on-line. This kind of on-line self-service is great for the customer as they can get the information they want, when they want, with no waiting, sales people, and annoying interactive voice response menus, etc. It's also great for vendors as it's far cheaper to let customers serve themselves on-line than with human touch.
The web also gave us a bunch of powerful new tools to engage customers (Blogs, Social Media, Videos, Webinars, Forums, Chat, etc. It also gave us the power to personalize individual experiences based on a customer's interests.
The downside of this is that your customer is in charge of where they spend their time, and if you don't engage them quickly, they will simply leave your site. The key to that engagement is the same as it was in the face-to-face selling situations that I have been describing above: build a trusted relationship.
How the right nurturing leads to a Trusted Relationship
The smart marketers have figured out that they can build a trusted relationship on-line. The way they go about doing this is simple:
- Find out as much as possible about your visitors
- Provide them with Value
- Track their progress through the buying cycle, and vary the content and approach accordingly
Lets look at the first two elements of this:
Find out as much as possible about them
- What you want to learn:
- Their stage of the buying cycle
- Their specific pain point (if your product addresses more than one)
- Their vertical industry
- Their job title
- Etc
Often this can be gleaned without asking questions, simply by watching how they navigate your web site. What landing pages brought them to your site? Did they follow navigation options for specific verticals on your home page? etc.
Providing Value On-Line
So far we have only talked about how to offer value in a the physical world. Moving to the on-line world actually makes things a lot easier as the work you create can be viewed by millions of visitors without additional effort. This means you can afford to invest a lot more time in creating great content.
Traditional content: Blogs, Videos, Webinars, etc.
The key to using this kind of content to create a trusted relationship is to eliminate all forms of sales pitches, and to take a strong view that only content that adds value to your customer's life will be used. This can be done in many ways:
- Provide them with Insights that they didn't know before
- Educate them
- Entertain them
- Use data. Provide them with data that is interesting. e.g. survey results that show what are other customers like them doing in some area of interest.
- Use other recognized experts to help provide
- Provide them with Best Practices in their industry and/or job function
- Review content, products, in a way that is useful to them
- Figure out ways to make them more successful in their job
- etc.
Non-traditional Content
This is a great way to add value, and is often not considered simply because it is a little outside the content box:
- Free Software. (e.g. Jboss's free Open Source version, HubSpot's WebSite Grader, DropBox's free edition.) This is actually one of the most powerful techniques available. It uses the power of your engineering team to build things of value to your customers. Many times marketers don't think this way as they are constraining their thinking to being inside the marketing box. Think outside the box. (Important note: free trials don't count as value to the customer. They are just another selling tool.)
- Benchmark them against their competitors
- Offer Free Consulting
- Etc.
This is an area that is ripe for great creativity. I would love my readers that have interesting stories to tell to add these as comments at the bottom.
The more you know about each individual visitor the greater the value you can provide.
Step 1: Customer Segmentation
A simple way to start doing personalization is to group (segment) your customers according to the information you learned about them, and create content that is specific to each segment. The more you segment, the more likely you are to be creating content that they will grab their attention. For example: content that is specific to their vertical market can use the right terminology to describe the pain points, how your product works to solve those, and how their business benefits as a result. Another form of segmentation is to use their job function to write content that is specific to the issues that they face in their work environment. Both of these approaches are far more compelling than a generic bland email message that at first glance look can look like yet another piece of spam.
Another segmentation approach is to use what you know about the specific pain that led them to your site. You might have a product that can address several pain points. As an example, if you are an HR SaaS provider, you might have people coming to you to solve one of these pain points: Hiring, Performance Reviews, Vacation tracking, Time tracking, etc. Often times you will know this from how they found you. i.e. which Search terms did they use, or which banner ad did they respond to? Creating content that is specific to their needs is going to be far more valuable to them than taking their time describing features that they don't immediately care about.
Step 2: High Value Personalized Content
The highest value personalized content that I have seen can be created in the following situation: You have some way to find out data about your customer from information that is freely available on the Internet (or that they are willing to provide to you). For example, you might be able to observe how your customer is going about hiring, advertising, using social media, investing, marketing, etc. simply by looking at things they are doing on-line. If your product is able to take that information and generate a personalized report on what they could do better, that can be very powerful. If they are early in the buying cycle, you will want to consider re-running that report on a monthly basis and automatically emailing it to them. The fact that it is personalized to them will make them pay attention.
If you can't find this information freely on the web, ask them if they would be willing to give you that information so that you can provide them with personalized reports. This kind of request has a high chance of success provided that you are able to assure them of confidentiality.
How this applies to Inbound Marketing
A big part of Inbound marketing is about using content to drive traffic. However it is not always clear how to create the best kind of content. The key recommendations that I would make are:
- Figure out how to add value to your customers in your content.
- Don't be tempted into using your blog, or other content, to carry sales messages. They have the opposite effect that you are looking for, and damage your relationship building.
You may still need a way to communicate product related news to your customers. If that is the case, consider separating your blog into two entities:
- Use one blog for your company and product updates
- Create another blog for expert value-added content – i.e. for trusted relationship building
Never use the second blog for anything other than adding value to your customers. Aim to become a trusted expert. Recognize that any form of selling destroys your credibility as a trusted expert.
Virality and Social Media
Social Media like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ have made it increasingly easy to share great content. Not surprisingly the articles that get shared the most are not those containing sales pitches, but are those that contain value such as insights, expert opinions, vision, and educational content. This can add a powerful amplifier to your efforts.
There is still an important role for Sales
By writing this article, I don't mean to imply that you don't need a sales organization. It simply implies that there may be a more effective way to start a sales process. However the real purpose of this post is to get a discussion going around how companies can make their on-line marketing efforts more effective. This approach does not work in all situations. Where it would work less well is in low price point, short duration, transactional sales. In those situations the customer may be just looking for the quickest way to purchase something and get on with their lives. I will talk more about that in an upcoming blog post.
In today's world where the Internet has shifted the balance of power into the buyers hands, it is critical to understand how to delight potential buyers, and win their trust before promoting your product.
The answer: build a trusted relationship with your potential buyers.
- Get to know your customers so you can understand what they would consider to be of high value
- Define your strategy for adding value that you believe will lead to becoming a trusted adviser
- Create communications channels (e.g. blog, etc.) that avoid selling, and deliver on your strategy.
- Consider hiring content creators to create the material. Evaluate domain experts,
- Never wreck the power of those communications by adding in any kind of sales messaging
- Leverage social media to broaden the audience for your content.
- Continue to nurture the relationship over time with high value communications
- Try to get the customer curious to the point where they start asking you questions about how you can help them with their business problems. At that point you have started to win a trusted relationship. The sale will become easy – they will ask you for your advice on what to purchase, and will follow the advice without reluctance
- Be careful to retain that trust by only recommending your product when it is a good fit for their situation.
If you do this correctly, you might just find that they spread the word virally about the value you are providing.
Above all, remember that your customers hate being sold to!
Credits: I'd like to thank Mark Roberge, the VP of Sales at HubSpot for contributing two important thoughts to this post. Mark explained one part of this process that I had not yet been able to put into words: the importance of getting the customer to start asking questions. Mark also highlighted the ability of his sales team to use the Internet to research their leads prior to making their first phone call, using information that was publicly visible on their website, blogs, tweets, etc.


text:
The grounding of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner over safety concerns has cost All Nippon Airways some $15 million in lost revenue, and if prolonged will have a significant impact on its business, the Japanese airline said Thursday.
ANA, the world's biggest Dreamliner operator with a third of the 50 aircraft delivered so far, said it would seek compensation from Boeing (BA) once the full extent of the damage is clear. But the carrier said its priority was to establish the cause of the problems and return the 787 to service.
The global Dreamliner fleet was grounded earlier this month due to battery fires and electrical problems. Boeing said Wednesday it did not expect a "significant financial impact" this year, but acknowledged that could change once the cause of the problems and details of the fix are known.
ANA has been forced to cancel 459 flights so far this month, at a cost of ¥1.4 billion in lost revenue, it said in a statement. It is unclear when its 17 Dreamliners will be in the air again.
Related: Boeing keeps building Dreamliners it can't fly
The aircraft is at the heart of the airline's strategy and if it remains out of action for a year or more, the impact will be significant, ANA executive vice president Kiyoshi Tonomoto said at a news conference, adding he didn't expect the problems would last so long.
"ANA is making the utmost effort to regain confidence in the safety of 787 and return it to operation by cooperating with U.S. and Japanese authorities and the aircraft maker," Tonomoto said.
ANA is Japan's biggest airline by passenger numbers. It operates about 1,000 flights a day with a fleet of 233 aircraft and is part of the Star Alliance international network.
Related: Airbus CEO says A350 on track
The Dreamliner grounding will not affect its forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, ANA said, after posting net profit of ¥52.2 billion for the first nine months, up almost 56% on the same period the previous year.
ANA also reported a sharp fall in demand on passenger routes between China and Japan due to the impact of anti-Japanese demonstrations sparked by a dispute between the two countries over control of the Senkaku islands -- or Diayou, as they're known in China.
Sales of Japanese cars in China plummeted last fall due to an unofficial boycott.
-- CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this article


text:
Sign up with your email address to receive the latest updates straight in your inbox.
34 comments:
Love your bicycle theme tablescape, Linda! I've had a newspaper bicycle in mind to make sometime this fall - if I ever get around to it. You're so thoughtful to take care of your neighbor's dog. Seems like she would want Rosie with her for company at the cottage. She's a very lucky pooch! And I hope Boris makes a full recovery. He's such a beautiful dog!ReplyDelete
Thank you Gail. We love fur babies and they are always welcome here. The newspaper bicycle sounds cute.ReplyDelete
I love the bicycle theme too. The is the cutest yellow bike I have seen. The dogs are so lucky to have someone to care for them and for someone like you to help a neighbor help.ReplyDelete
Linda, the bicycle pieces are so sweet on your table. I adore the blue and white stripped tablecloth. I have an obsession with tablecloths and I must look for this one. You are so nice to help your neighbor. I hope she is doing okay. And that sweet dog of hers is so cute. I do hope the other beautiful white dog is recovering and will be okay. Have a nice weekend. ♥ReplyDelete
Just wrote a long response and it disappeared! :/ Will have to return...ReplyDelete
Hello Linda I love your tablescape for two are so cute I will check for you in here for the nipkin ringsReplyDelete
You know tha it one of my favor store the plate are beautiful .
I hope Boris makes full recovery I have one of my Boxes in recovery from cancer on stomach they remove 71/2 or her stomach and she lost so much weight now they put her and special diat for her gain weight back is been 3 month yesterday she has her check out she is ok her blood is fine the only problems is
Her liver encimas are to high level she need more nutrition and proteins my Lala is ben true lot .
Linda you are so nice to care for your neighbor dog God bless you.
Hi Linda! Your bicycle theme tablescape is so cute! I love those plates and the napkins are perfect. It's nice to see a summery table at your place, since it's still summertime!! Love your centerpiece, too.ReplyDelete
The pups are so lucky to have you caring for them!
I have a couple of cyclist friends who would just LOVE that table scape!ReplyDelete
Linda, this is a wonderful table setting, you found lovely items for the table :O)ReplyDelete
How kind of you, to take care for Rosie, while her lady needs a few days away ...
and, for Boris I will send my prayers and hope, he will get well soon from this surgery!
You are such a wonderful Lady!
sending Love and hugs and blessings,
Claudia xo
Hi Linda,ReplyDelete
Your table is so cute...........just love the bicycle theme. The striped tablecloth was perfect,
and love the cobalt accents.............
Hope this finds you doing well hon,
Blessings, Nellie
Good morning Linda! YOU have so many themes to your table settings! And you have the most impressive collection of props and goodies to make these themes POP with beauty. Enjoy your day, and I hope this beautiful dog enjoys a peaceful, healing process. HUGS!ReplyDelete
Such a charming theme! The table is beautiful, Linda ♥ReplyDelete
Love the plates etc..and how sweet of you to dogsit:)ReplyDelete
I love the bicycle napkins plates perfect for the end of summer.. Hoping the rescue dog will be ok. Happy weekend with love JaniceReplyDelete
Love the kicky decor. Your pictures are beautiful. Hope all goes well with the dog's surgery. My father had his lung removed in 1978 and he lived until 1994, so surgery can work a miracle.ReplyDelete
Linda, your bicycle theme is the cutest! I've always admired all of those goodies for setting tables but haven't bought them that much. I think I need to change my ways because you always have the most amazing and inviting table settings.ReplyDelete
Prayers for those precious dogs and your sweet neighbor too.
Linda, your bicycle theme is the cutest! I've always admired all of those goodies for setting tables but haven't bought them that much. I think I need to change my ways because you always have the most amazing and inviting table settings.ReplyDelete
Prayers for those precious dogs and your sweet neighbor too.
Well first I want to say that is so sweet that you guys are taking care of your neighbor's dog while she takes some time for herself. Prayers for Boris and a smooth recovery.ReplyDelete
Love this bicycle dishes- how cute are those! The napkins are a cute pickup to them too. With the striped tablecloth and bicycles this feels very French to me!!
I'm sorry about your friends hubby. I will pray for her doggie and your table is lovely. Very romantic. Great theme to sit around and dream too.ReplyDelete
So nice of you to dog sit! The bicycle table for 2 is adorable! You might have luck finding bicycles for napkin rings in the doll house dept of Hobby Lobby or Michaels, I found a cute metal one I used for a wreath...ReplyDelete
This is a really cute tablescape!ReplyDelete
Love, love, LOVE this tablescape. I may have to stalk ebay for those darling napkin holders. I hope you have a wonderful week!ReplyDelete
What a sweet tablescape! A young couple we know are getting married this next weekend and as shower gift the bride's father got them a yellow bicycle built for two - it is the cutest! Nice of you to watch over your friends dog Rosie and joining in with prayers for Boris. Those pets of ours are truly family.ReplyDelete
Summer is still going strong here in Seattle.ReplyDelete
Love your bicycle napkins and table setting.
The dogs are lucky pups to have you as a friend, and
bless the dear one may he grow stronger everyday.
Prayers for your neighbor may she find peace.
Linda & Astro
Several months ago I had the lucky of walking in a Thrift store and what did I find but the bicycle napkin rings. My junking buddy was disappointed that she didn't find them first. Now I am on the look out for plates like yours!!!
Your table setting is whimsical and lovely, Linda! I love the bicycle theme. And Rosie looks like a whole lot of fun. She seems like she's smiling! I hope Boris is doing better.ReplyDelete
Lots of love to you, dear friend! oxxo
Linda, love the bike-themed tablesetting and the striped tablecloth! So kind of you to dog sit for your neighbor!ReplyDelete
I love everything about this charming table. I want to do a table with a similar theme, it may be awhile before I get it posted. Thanks to all of you that take in and care for rescue dogs. Hope they are all doing well. So nice of you to include them in your post.ReplyDelete
Your bicycles are adorable. They always make me think of France, flower shops, and childhood. Thank you for sharing at our very first Monday Social.
Lucky dogs to have you giving them TLC. Your table is adorable. I've never shopped for glassware at Dollar Tree, but I will now!ReplyDelete
Everything looks so cute together. I love finding things on Etsy and now you have me wondering about those glasses from the Dollar store! Love everything! Have you ever read the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt? I think you would really like the books. He has a shelter for rescue dogs in the books...and in real life too I think! Hugs!ReplyDelete
Oh what cute pups. Sorry to hear about your friend. I hope she is having a nice get away. I love your table. So cute and fun. And Fallishly Fabulous!ReplyDelete
I'd love you to come over and link at The Fabulous Fall Party! The party is all about Fall. Link any post new or old.
The party goes all the way til Oct. 30. You can link any day. (the link changes every Wed. night) Come over and party over here:
Happy Fall!
What a cute table setting. I've never seen bicycle plates before. Those are cute.ReplyDelete
Rosie such a sweet looking dog. Hope Boris did well in his surgery. I love my fur babies.
Thanks for sharing this kind of information with us. I am so happy to read your blog. It's so informative. Please share more and more in here with us. Thanks once again. buy lgd 4033 sarmsReplyDelete
All rights reserved. Our graphics, images and text are all subject to copyright protection.


text:
Sooo my identity got stolen this weekend.
And believe me, the irony was not lost on me that this happened right after I revealed my identity on this blog.
And after spending countless hours on-hold on the phone with various credit card companies and banks and computer troubleshooters, and online accounts, I was…emotionally exhausted, to say the least.
I was feeling utterly defeated.
And as someone who habitually doesn't carry cash, I literally had 12 dollars to my name this weekend, with all my credit cards stopped and my bank account put on hold.
Thankfully, by the time you're reading this, my new cards should have arrived, but let's just say I learned the value of a dollar this weekend for sure.
I learned that real fast.
And I was texting with my mom, and she said something that really made me think.
She said, that when you're trying to do God's will, that road blocks and obstacles will often find their way into the mix.
And, I don't want to get all…weird on here. But I do think there's something to that.
Whether it comes in the form of sleepless nights, flat tires, days where nothing goes right, or even identity theft, sometimes you can feel as though the world is working against you.
So what's a girl to do? Abandon ship? Succumb to defeat? Accept that what I'm trying to do is just not in the cards for me?
No way. That's what the world wants you to do.
And you know what that also means? It means that what you're trying to do is important.
It matters.
I know we've all heard it a thousand and one times, but we've been given a guidebook, and wearing the Armor of God (Ephesians 6) really addresses this head on.
"Stand firm then, and take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows."
I'm going to be honest, I don't really like thinking about this kind of stuff. Truly.
In fact, I will be sleeping with the light on tonight…
But there is nothing more powerful than God. And faith is exactly that: our shield. Our protection. Our defense.
When we know Who we belong to, there is nothing to fear. No road block or obstacle too big.
But we've got to be ready for the opposition. We've got to realize that as soon as we step out in faith, and try to be His hands and feet to the world, there's going to be road blocks that pop up.
But living from a place of strength in Him – prepared and ready to stand our ground, an obstacle will be simply that: something that we overcome.
Sure, getting my identity stolen sucked. Royally. And I'm still having to deal with the repercussions. But there are worse things in life.
And I'm not going to let this derail my mission to share His light and love with people.
I will stand firm in faith. I will wear the belt of truth – knowing that God is in control.
Because you can steal my legal identity, but you cannot steal my identity in Christ.
That's written on my heart. And that's a password-protected area that no hacker can infiltrate.


text:
About 2 miles of beach in the resort community of Makena reopened at noon after lifeguards and firefighters surveying the ocean found no sign of sharks in the area, Maui County officials said.
The woman, who was about 20 years old, was snorkeling at Palauea Beach when the attack occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday. The water was choppy and visibility was limited at the time.
Bystanders on shore heard the woman scream, put her on a kayak and brought her to land, said Lee Mainaga, fire services chief at the Maui Fire Department. Her right arm was severed below the shoulder, he said. The limb wasn't recovered.
The woman was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition. A spokeswoman there said Thursday that the hospital had no further information to release.
It wasn't clear what type of shark bit the woman. Witnesses interviewed didn't see the animal, said Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
"We will try to speak to the victim when she is cleared to speak with us," Ward said.
There have been six shark attacks in Hawaii this year through the end of July, including three on Maui, according to a state database. There were 11 shark attacks in the state in 2012.
The last time anyone in Hawaii died from a shark attack was in 2004, when a tiger shark bit Willis McInnis in the leg while he was surfing 100 yards off Maui. McInnis suffered severe blood loss and died on the shore despite rescue efforts by beachgoers, police and paramedics. The last fatal attack before that was in 1992.
State officials say fatal attacks in Hawaii are unusual considering how many people are in the state's waters.
Tiger sharks are the species most often blamed for attacks, but it's not known why they sometimes bite humans. They may be trying to figure out whether a person could be prey.
To protect against attacks, authorities recommend swimming, snorkeling and surfing with other people. They also say people should avoid the water at dawn and dusk, as this is when some shark species move inshore to eat.


text:
The PSAde is a vodka Aperol refresher with rounds of tangerine, blood orange, and cucumber muddled in for the brightest freshest flavor.
The Flighty Floridita Daiquiri was inspired by the by the signature drink of the Floridita Restaurant-Bar in Havana, Cuba. A tangy rum cocktail, slightly sweet, with a hint of flower and cherry, this drink has been a favorite for almost 75 yrs. Ernest Hemingway was so fond of it, he came up with his own version, as does Miss Flighty in this episode of COTF.
Miss Flighty offers up her Bloody Mary Mix recipe, chock full of savory flavor, and easy to make at home. Horseradish, garlic powder, cilantro, celery salt, hot sauce, chilies, lime make up this fiery blend is more than a hangover remedy, its a meal!
An intriguing flavorful home made infused Bloody Mary Vodka that is simple to make at home. The recipe uses an assortment of herbs and spices, such as Ancho Chilies for their rich smokiness, garlic, cilantro, lemongrass, coriander, juniper berries, and bay leafs combine to make a "pepper" vodka that in contrast to most commercial varieties that are simply hot, it can also be enjoyed on its own as a shot for the adventurous drinker.
Site Design by: Press75.com


text:
Island luxury in Kakaako
The rich hues and swirls of koa wood in the kitchen and living room of this just listed two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Kakaako may be what initially catch your eye, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the upgrades that were installed since 2011. Click here for details.
Located in the mauka tower of One Waterfront Towers, the 1,470-square-foot unit has a seemingly endless list of extras. The owners, who are selling to move into a larger place, enjoy renovating their living spaces and pay extra attention to the details.
Aside from the koa wood kitchen cabinets and living room entertainment center, some of the upgrades include travertine flooring, stainless steel appliances, custom lighting, solar window tinting and blinds, and my favorite – black-out shades in both bedrooms.
The master bath boasts elegant touches such as mother-of-pearl tile on the back wall and a deep soaking tub with a waterfall faucet. In the guest bathroom, there's a striking turquoise-and-gold hand-blown glass vessel sink signed by the artist.
Plus it's perched on the 36th floor, where you can take in the ocean views on the 155-square-foot lanai.
Also during the renovations, two new central A/C units and vents were installed, so you won't have to worry about any upcoming mechanical repairs.
Fuzz factor: Happy tails! Pets are allowed, you'll need to check on specifics.
Amenities are ones you'd expect from a luxury condo — a recreation deck, an exercise room, a pool and a tennis court to name a few.
The price includes two covered parking stalls in a secure garage; there's ample parking for guests.
If you'd like to see it for yourself, there will be a broker's open house (it will be open to the public) tomorrow from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. It will not be open on Sunday.
Money talk: $895,000 fee simple
Contact: Sachiyo Braden, Sachi Hawaii Pacific Century Properties, 808-596-8801, firstname.lastname@example.com;
Carol & Kay Nitta, Sachi Hawaii Pacific Century Properties, 808-450-0697, email@example.com


text:
Buying a Home
CREA upgrades home sales forecast for 2019 to show 1.2 per cent improvement
OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association is upgrading its forecast for 2019 home sales, which are now expected to show a slight improvement compared with last year.
The association said home sales are projected to edge up 1.2 per cent from last year to 463,000 units in 2019 compared with its previous forecast of a decline of 1.6 per cent this year.
The updated outlook came as CREA reported home sales in May were up 6.7 per cent compared with a year ago, the largest year-over-year increase since 2016.
On a month-over-month basis, sales in May through the Multiple Listing Service were up 1.9 per cent.
"Defying the gloom-and-doomers, the Canadian housing market is gradually regaining strength, powered by falling long-term interest rates and the fastest population gains in a generation," Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter wrote in a report.
The improvement in sales was driven by the Greater Toronto Area, which accounted for close to half of the overall increase.
"That rebound in sales has brought the GTA market back into better balance, and has helped lift prices at a moderate pace," Porter wrote.
The national average price for a home sold in May was close to $508,000, up 1.8 per cent from a year ago. Excluding the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto Area, two of the country's most expensive markets, the average price was just under $397,000.
Home sales softened last year in the wake of new mortgage stress test rules and a rise in mortgage rates.
However, sales have improved in recent months as mortgage rates have trended lower and the economy shows signs of rebounding after the weakness at the end of 2018 and the start of 2019.
TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi said that markets have also had additional time to adjust to federal and provincial policy measures, which weighed significantly on activity last year.
"Moving forward, we look for sales to trend higher, lifted by a rising population, a more stable rate environment and supportive federal measures," Sondhi wrote in a report.
CREA also pointed to several changes in the federal budget this year to help potential buyers.
The spring budget raised the maximum individual RRSP withdrawal limit under the home buyers' plan and announced plans for a new shared equity program to help first time buyers.
However, CREA said the overall level of home sales is expected to remain below where it was in recent years and noted that the outlook for 2019 is below the 10-year average and well short of the record set in 2016, when almost 540,000 homes were sold.
Regionally, the association said New Brunswick is expected to see sales rise 10.6 per cent this year, while Quebec is forecast to climb 7.7 per cent. Ontario is expected to gain 3.9 per cent.
Home sales in British Columbia are expected to drop 13.3 per cent this year, while Alberta is forecast to fall 0.9 per cent.
The national average price is forecast to edge down 0.6 per cent to around $485,000 this year following a 4.1 per cent drop in 2018.
In 2020, CREA predicted home sales will rise 4.4 per cent to 483,200, while the national average price is forecast to edge up by 0.9 per cent to around $490,000 next year.
The Canadian Press
Leave a Reply
Connect with us Facebook
Fixed Vs Variable Rate Mortgages: Decoding The Differences To Make Your Best Decision
Heat Up Your Home's Value: 5 Summer DIY Projects to Prepare for a Stellar Sale
Bank of Canada Holds Benchmark Rate!
S&P/TSX composite down more than 100 points, U.S. markets also trade lower
Despite FTX crisis, it's not the end for the crypto sector, says industry insider
Recent Posts
- Fixed Vs Variable Rate Mortgages: Decoding The Differences To Make Your Best Decision
- Heat Up Your Home's Value: 5 Summer DIY Projects to Prepare for a Stellar Sale
- Bank of Canada Holds Benchmark Rate!
- S&P/TSX composite down more than 100 points, U.S. markets also trade lower
- Despite FTX crisis, it's not the end for the crypto sector, says industry insider
Contact Us
Buying a Home4 years ago
3 Simple Rules to follow to ensure credit doesn't stop you from buying a home!
Credit5 years ago
What Happens to My HELOC When I Sell My Home?
5 Mortgage Secrets6 years ago
Buying a Home5 years ago
6 Reasons to get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Early
Business4 years ago
Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver real estate boards urge suspension of open houses
Business4 years ago
Buffett says economy is slowing amid virus fears
5 Mortgage Secrets6 years ago
THE PENALTY COVER UP Mortgage Secret 3 of 5
Buying a Home5 years ago
5 Steps to a Guaranteed Mortgage Approval


text: Reality introduces us to the extraordinary mystical tradition that lies right at the roots of western culture. This is the true story of Parmenides, Empedocles, and those like them: spiritual guides and experts in other states of consciousness, healers and interpreters of dreams, prophets and magicians who laid the foundation for the world we now live in. Reality documents the excruciating process that led to their work and teaching being distorted, covered over, forgotten. And most importantly, it presents these original teachings in all their immediacy and power-revealing their ability, just as vibrant now as at the dawn of the western world, to awaken us to what reality truly is.


text:
Paying for college can be daunting, but federal tax rules provide some relief. With enhancements from the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, you may benefit from one or more of these six tax provisions:
1. Section 529 Plans, available from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, encourage families to set aside savings for future education expenses. Most states set contribution limits at $300,000 or more. Generally, the investment grows without current taxes and distributions to pay for most college expenses — including tuition, fees, books, supplies, equipment, and room and board for full-time students — are completely tax-free.
You can choose a 529 plan from any state, and although college-savers often choose to save in the plan of their home state, you might be better off establishing a plan elsewhere. Still, more than half of the states offer state tax deductions or credits for Section 529 plan contributions by residents. That could be a compelling reason to stay home when choosing a plan.
2. The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) became a permanent tax break when the PATH Act became law in December 2015. The maximum annual credit is $2,500. You can get separate credits for each qualified student in your family. For example, if you have three kids in school this year, your maximum credit is $7,500. Also, under another recent tax law change, you now can claim the AOTC for up to four years of school for each child, up from two years previously.
However, the AOTC phases out between $80,000 and $90,000 of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for single filers and $160,000 to $180,000 for joint filers. Once you exceed the upper limit, you can't claim the AOTC.
3. The Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) also is a permanent part of the tax code, but the maximum credit of $2,000 applies per taxpayer rather than per student. So even if you have three kids in school at the same time, the maximum credit is still $2,000.
And eligibility for the LLC also phases out, at levels lower than the AOTC. The range in 2016 is between $55,000 and $65,000 of MAGI for single filers and from $111,000 to $131,000 for joint filers.
4. Tuition deductions also permit some parents to claim deductions for tuition and related fees paid to colleges and universities. This tax provision, extended through 2016 by the PATH Act, provides a deduction of either $4,000 or $2,000, depending on MAGI. For single filers, the $4,000 deduction is available for a MAGI up to $65,000 and $2,000 between $65,000 and $80,000. Joint filers can deduct $4,000 for a MAGI up to $130,000 and $2,000 if a MAGI is between $130,000 and $160,000. Above those limits you don't get a deduction. Taxpayers may claim either higher education credit—the AOTC or the LLC—or the tuition deduction, but not more than one of these three tax breaks.
5. Student loan interest deductions allow you to deduct the annual interest you pay on a student loan, up to a maximum of $2,500. This deduction applies only to the taxpayer who's actually repaying the loan. And the deduction for student loan interest is phased out based between $65,800 and $80,000 of MAGI for single filers and between $130,000 and $160,000 of MAGI for joint filers.
6. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (CESAs) allow annual contributions of up to $2,000. This is on the low side, especially when compared to Section 529 plans that let you make six-figure contributions. And the ability to put money into a CESA in the first place is phased out between $95,000 and $115,000 of MAGI for single filers and between $190,000 and $220,000 of MAGI for joint filers. But if you qualify, these accounts, too, shield you from current taxes on earnings and you can withdraw money tax-free to pay for tuition and fees, room and board, uniforms, transportation, books and supplies, academic tutoring, and computers.
One bonus with a CESA: those who qualify to contribute to the accounts can use the money to cover costs from kindergarten through 12th grade as well as for college.
These tax breaks may offer parents help in saving for the high cost of higher education. We can help you sort through your options and navigate the arcane rules to find the best path in your situation.