The Effects of the Preschool Inclusion Program on Teacher Outcomes in Turkey

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a teacher training program on teacher outcomes. The teachers’ knowledge and attitudes regarding inclusion, classroom management strategies, and their relationships with children both with and without disabilities were evaluated using self-report instruments. In addition, their classroom behaviors were evaluated by independent observers. The teacher education program included a variety of topics related to inclusion and effective strategies for inclusive classrooms. The data were collected prior to the education, after the completion of the program, and 6 months afterwards. The results indicated that the teacher program seemed to have moderate-to-large effects on all teacher outcomes, but the changes in their classroom behaviors were minimal.     

Comparison of two test methods for VIS: paper-pencil test and CAT*

This paper examines listening comprehension skills of visually impaired students (VIS) using computerised adaptive testing (CAT) and reader-assisted paper-pencil testing (raPPT) and student views about them. Explanatory mixed method design was used in this study. Sample is comprised of 51 VIS, in 7th and 8th grades. 9 of these students were interviewed for determining student views about tests. Results indicated that scores obtained from CAT are significantly lower than scores obtained from raPPT. Additionally, a positive and high correlation was found between scores of CAT and raPPT. This result suggests that similar ability estimations were made by CAT and raPPT. Another finding is CAT made more reliable predictions, and was completed in shorter duration using fewer items. In qualitative part, student views were gathered through interviews and content analysis revealed three themes as technical features, test features, and psychological effects. In general, students reported positive views about CAT. VIS prefer CAT due to its listening/control options, shorter test durations, clarity of reading, and fairness of test, elimination of dependency to reader. Study provides implications for test developers and test-users to consider CAT as a multi-accommodation for VIS through its advantages.     

Erratum to: Dragons,Ladybugs, and Softballs: Girls’ STEM Engagement with Human-Centered Robotics

Journal of Science Education and Technology -     

Promoting Formative Assessment in Online Teaching and Learning

Using effective assessment techniques can improve an instructor’s understanding of student needs and support learner-centered classrooms. Evaluating student learning takes on a new meaning in online classroom environment where students and instructors do not share physical proximity. According to Garrison (2011), the assessment strategies used to determine student learning send “a very strong signal as to what is important and how they should approach learning” (p. 14). This paper describes formative assessment techniques used by two instructors in their respective online courses at the graduate level. The authors give suggestions in designing assessment activities to improve online teaching and learning by making use of student learning data.     

Book Reviews

World Gates to Academia: ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION: VOLUME I by Frank Bowles. New York: United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the International Association of Universities, Paris. 1963. 212 pp.

“It is Our Duty to Find Ourselves”: EDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC GOOD by Edith Green and Walter P. Reuther. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1964. 67 pp. $2.50.     

Empirical Research on Ethnic Minority Students: 1995–2009

Ethnic minority disproportionality has been a topic of extensive discussion and research for many years. In 1997, Artiles, Trent, and Kuan conducted a seminal review of the special education research literature to identify how often researchers report and disaggregate data in ways that would support conclusions about specific ethnic minority groups. These authors found alarmingly low rates of publication on identifiable minority groups. The purpose of this review is to replicate the work of Artiles et al. and extend this literature analysis to the subsequent 15‐year period (1995–2009). We found increases in the proportion of articles reporting ethnic minority information 15 years following the Artiles et al. publication. Discussion focuses on the gap in our knowledge of evidence‐based practices for ethnic minority students in special education.     

Component processes of early reading, spelling, and narrative writing skills in Turkish: a longitudinal study

The study examined: (a) the role of phonological, grammatical, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) skills in reading and spelling development; and (b) the component processes of early narrative writing skills. Fifty-seven Turkish-speaking children were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 2. RAN was the most powerful longitudinal predictor of reading speed and its effect was evident even when previous reading skills were taken into account. Broadly, the phonological and grammatical skills made reliable contributions to spelling performance but their effects were completely mediated by previous spelling skills. Different aspects of the narrative writing skills were related to different processing skills. While handwriting speed predicted writing fluency, spelling accuracy predicted spelling error rate. Vocabulary and working memory were the only reliable longitudinal predictors of the quality of composition content. The overall model, however, failed to explain any reliable variance in the structural quality of the compositions.     

Assessing online learning and teaching: Adapting the minute Paper

Conclusion Online journals provided an essential way for the instructor to check student progress and understanding and to improve teaching and learning. Online learning requires the reconstruction of student and instructor roles, relations and practices. Instructors need to be aware of strategies and techniques they can use for improved communication and formative assessment of teaching and learning. Through adequate adaptation of the Minute Paper format or other classroom assessment techniques in online classrooms, instructors can benefit from ongoing assessment of student learning and their practices.     

Correlates of early reading comprehension skills: a componential analysis

This study had three main aims. First, we examined to what extent listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammatical skills and verbal short-term memory (VSTM) assessed prior to formal reading instruction explained individual differences in early reading comprehension levels. Second, we examined to what extent the three common component skills, namely vocabulary, grammar and VSTM explained the relationship between kindergarten listening comprehension and early reading comprehension levels. Third, we examined the relative contributions of word-reading and listening comprehension skills to early reading comprehension in Turkish. For this purpose, 56 Turkish-speaking children were followed from kindergarten (mean age?=?67.7?months) into Grade 2 (mean age?=?90.6?months). The relative role of kindergarten listening comprehension, vocabulary, VSTM and grammatical skills in later reading comprehension tended to vary across time, and they partly explained the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Finally, as anticipated, listening comprehension, rather than word-reading , was found to play a more powerful role in children’s reading comprehension levels even during the early primary grades. These results contradicted those reported in English and can be explained by the rapid development of accurate word-reading skills due to the consistency of the grapheme–phoneme relationships of the Turkish orthography.