Stimulation of Thinking Skills in High School Students
Author(s): Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga, Maria Luisa; Sanz de Acedo Baquedano, Maria Teresa; Oliver, Maria Soria
Source: Educational Studies, 2010, 36(3)
Abstract: The objective of this research was to examine the effects of the instruction method "thinking actively in an academic context (TAAC)" on thinking skills, creativity, self-regulation and academic achievement. The design was pre-test-intervention-post-test with control group. The sample included 46 participants (aged 16 to 18 years), 24 experimental and 22 controls. Before and after application of the method, six instruments were used to measure thinking skills and academic achievement. The method, divided into eight stages, was followed in each didactic unit during an academic course. The method allows teaching the thinking skills, the creativity and the self-regulation simultaneously with the syllabus content. The results showed that greater changes were obtained with the new method of instruction in all the dependent variables. Relevant scientific and educational implications are drawn from the study. (Contains 2 tables.)
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School Factors Explaining Achievement on Cognitive and Affective Outcomes: Establishing a Dynamic Model of Educational Effectiveness
Author(s): Creemers, Bert; Kyriakides, Leonidas
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2010, 54(3)
Abstract: The dynamic model of educational effectiveness defines school level factors associated with student outcomes. Emphasis is given to the two main aspects of policy, evaluation, and improvement in schools which affect quality of teaching and learning at both the level of teachers and students: a) teaching and b) school learning environment. Five measurement dimensions are used to define each factor: frequency, stage, focus, quality and differentiation. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study testing the validity of the dynamic model at the school level. The multidimensional approach to measure the school level factors was supported and most of the factors and their dimensions were found to be associated with student achievement in different learning outcomes. Implications for the development of the dynamic model and for educational practice are drawn. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)
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Searching for a "Pedagogy of Hope": Teacher Education and the Social Sciences
Author(s): Samuel and Michael
Source: Perspectives in Education, 2010, 28(1)
Abstract: I analyse module outlines within a particular school of social sciences located in a faculty of education, and uncover the evolving systems of teaching social sciences in a teacher education curriculum. The data are analysed through two theoretical lenses: firstly, through the lense of models of teacher education and professional development, and secondly, through the lense of multicultural and multi-disciplinary studies. The analysis reveals that a new language around social sciences is still in the early stages of development, drawing its main referencing from the official policy of the National Curriculum Statement. Unable to develop an independent new language, the social sciences in teacher education tend to capitulate to external dominant forces. There is little evidence of engaging with a critical discourse around the potential of teacher education, resulting in a perpetuation of an applied science notion of professional growth. The juxtaposing of existing disciplinary boundaries constitutes the character of the delivery of the social sciences. I point to a "pedagogy of hope" which focuses on the future rather than on the present status of marginalisation of the social sciences in a teacher education curriculum. The paper offers a way to develop a "Creole", a language and a discourse around the social sciences in general, for teacher education in particular.
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Validation of curriculum leaders' attitudes toward research scale
Author(s):Sammy King Fai Hui
Source: The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 2010, 19(2)
Abstract:A Chinese version of the Attitudes Toward Research scale was originally developed by Hui and Li (2005) in measuring the attitudes which Hong Kong curriculum leaders have toward action research. Apart from identifying the dimension of perceived ability for doing research (AB), the scale was meticulous in distinguishing between the two senses of the significance of research: a communal sense of the significance of research as a means for professional development (CS) and a pedagogical sense of the significance of research as a means to provide solutions for teaching and learning deficiencies (PS). With the assumption that an understanding of these attitudes helps to assess the development of curriculum reform in Hong Kong, the present study therefore aims to validate the scale with the original 2003/04 cohort of 209 curriculum leaders and a new 2008/09 cohort of 126 curriculum leaders. Following multidimensional scaling, structured scale reduction procedures and structural equation modeling, a 10-item 3-factor curriculum leaders' attitudes toward research (CL-ATR) model was resulted. The work reported here contributes to gaining an understanding of how to nurture research attitudes for curriculum development and school improvement.
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Does the Amount of Participation in Afterschool Programs Relate to Developmental Outcomes? A Review of the Literature
Author(s): Jodie L. Roth, Lizabeth M. Malone and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Source: American Journal of Community Psychology, 2010, 45(3-4)
Abstract:Contrary to the findings from previous reviews we found little support for the general notion that greater amounts of participation in afterschool programs was related to academic, behavioral, or socio-emotional outcomes. However, some relationships did emerge depending on how participation was conceptualized and measured, and the methodology used to assess the relationship between participation and outcomes. For example, some benefits occurred when participants with high levels of participation were compared to non-participants, not when they were compared to other program participants. Several suggestions are offered to improve future research on the relationship between aspects of participation and developmental outcomes.
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More Like Jazz Than Classical: Reciprocal Interactions Among Educational Researchers and Respondents
Author(s): L. Janelle Dance, Rochelle Gutiérrez, Mary Hermes
Source:Harvard Educational Review, 2010,80(3)
Abstract:In this article, educational scholars L. Janelle Dance, Rochelle Gutiérrez, and Mary Hermes share insights from their lived experience as qualitative researchers trying to work in collaboration with diverse populations. They refer to these insights as "improvisations on conventional qualitative methods," reminding readers that their methodological approaches have been more collaborative than unilateral, more fluid than unyielding, more like the reciprocal creativity of jazz than the directed orchestration of classical music. Calling on us to expand our previous conceptions of cultural intuition and reciprocity, these authors offer powerful examples of how their communities shaped their research processes.
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"No Backpacks" versus "Drugs and Murder":
The Promise and Complexity of Youth Civic Action
Author(s):Beth C. Rubin, Brian F. Hayes
Source:Harvard Educational Review, 2010,80(3)
Abstract:Although young people have diverse experiences with civic life, most civic education practices in classrooms fail to recognize this complexity. In this article, Beth C. Rubin and Brian F. Hayes describe the results of a year-long research project that incorporated a new approach to civic learning into public high school social studies classrooms. They explore how students' disparate experiences with civic life shape civic identity development in complex and challenging ways across two distinct contexts. They offer a fully elaborated conceptualization of civic learning in settings of "congruence" and "disjuncture" and describe how the practice of connecting students' lives and experiences to the curriculum through civic action research, while promising, can also create dilemmas for both students and educators.
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Supplemental Education Services Under No Child Left Behind
Who Signs Up, and What Do They Gain?
Author(s):Carolyn J. Heinrich, Robert H. Meyer, Greg Whitten
Source:Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2010. 32(2)
Abstract: Schools that have not made adequate yearly progress in increasing student academic achievement are required, under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to offer children in low-income families the opportunity to receive supplemental educational services (SES). In research conducted in Milwaukee Public Schools, the authors explore whether parents and students are aware of their eligibility and options for extra tutoring under NCLB, and who among eligible students registers for SES. Using the best information available to school districts, the authors estimate the effects of SES in increasing students’ reading and math achievement. Their nonexperimental estimates suggest no average effects of SES attendance on student achievement gains. They use qualitative research to explore possible explanations for the lack of observed effects.
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Principal Preferences and the Uneven Distribution of Principals Across Schools
Author(s):Susanna Loeb, Demetra Kalogrides, Eileen Lai Horng
Source: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2010. 32(2)
Abstract: The authors use longitudinal data from one large school district to investigate the distribution of principals across schools. They find that schools serving many low-income, non-White, and low-achieving students have principals who have less experience and less education and who attended less selective colleges. This distribution of principals is partially driven by the initial match of first-time principals to schools, and it is exacerbated by systematic attrition and transfer away from these schools. The authors supplement these data with surveys of principals and find that their stated preferences for school characteristics mirror observed distribution and transfer patterns: Principals prefer to work in easier-to-serve schools with favorable working conditions, which tend to be schools with fewer poor, minority, and low-achieving students.
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Implementing Literacy Coaching The Role of School Social Resources
Author(s):Lindsay Clare Matsumura, Helen E. Garnier, Lauren B. Resnick
Source: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2010. 32(2)
Abstract:This study investigates the influence of a school’s pre-existing social resources on the implementation of a comprehensive literacy-coaching program (Content-Focused Coaching [CFC]). Elementary schools were randomly assigned to receive a CFC-trained coach (n = 15 schools) or to continue with the literacy coaching resources that are standard for the district (n = 14 schools). Ninety-six fourth- and fifth-grade teachers participated in the study (n = 63 CFC and n = 33 comparison). Survey results indicate that teachers in the CFC schools participated more frequently in the coaching activities that emphasized planning and reflecting on instruction, enacting instruction, and building knowledge of the theories underlying effective reading comprehension instruction compared to teachers in the comparison schools. After 1 year, teachers strongly believed that CFC coaching helped improve their instructional practice. Principal leadership was the key resource supporting implementation of the program positively predicting greater teacher participation in coaching activities and perceived usefulness of these activities along with coaches’ training in the CFC program and less experienced teachers. Unexpectedly, a school’s pre-existing culture of teacher collaboration negatively predicted teachers’ coaching experiences. CFC coach interviews contribute to understanding the interactions of social resources within schools that facilitated or hindered program implementation. Implications for the design and implementation of effective instructional coaching policies in districts are discussed.
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