Class Size Effects on Fourth-Grade Mathematics Achievement: Evidence From TIMSS 2011

ABSTRACT

Class size reduction policies have been widely implemented around the world in recent years. However, findings about the effects of class size on student achievement have been mixed. This study examines class size effects on fourth-grade mathematics achievement in 14 European countries using data from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2011. We employ quasi-experimental methodology (i.e., instrumental variables and regression discontinuity) to facilitate causal inferences of class size effects. Although we find some evidence of class size effects in Romania and the Slovak Republic, overall there are no systematic patterns of class size effects across countries. The results indicate that in most European countries class size reduction may not improve mathematics achievement in fourth grade.     

Long-Term Effects of Strategic Reading Instruction in the Intermediate Elementary Grades

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a program that offered sustained strategic reading instruction on reading abilities of third and fourth graders. The study was conducted among 1,469 children from 40 schools in the Netherlands. Schools were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Multilevel analyses showed positive effects on knowledge of reading strategies after one year of intervention at the end of Grade 3. At the end of Grade 4, there were also positive intervention effects on reading comprehension. No significant interaction effects were determined for age, gender, SES, or ethnic/linguistic background. The intervention effects were also not dependent on the level of the student's nonverbal intelligence, vocabulary, or decoding skills.     

试析口哨在体育教学中的使用效果

体育教师在体育教学中正确适时地运用口哨 ,能有效地传达教学要求 ,帮助组织教学 ,丰富教学手段 ,提高教学效果。     

The Influence of Building Block Play on Mathematics Achievement and Logical and Divergent Thinking in Italian Primary School Mathematics Classes

In an experimental study to explain the effect of structured Building Block Play with LEGO? bricks on 6-year-old student mathematics achievement and in the areas of logical thinking, divergent thinking, nonverbal reasoning, and mental imagery, students in the experimental group scored significantly higher (p ≤ .05) in mathematics achievement and in the areas of divergent thinking, nonverbal reasoning abilities, and mental imagery.     

大学数学小班化教学改革实施的实证研究--以四川大学为例

通过实证研究、调查研究及比较研究法,对2011年以来四川大学大学数学课程教学班级、教师及学生人数、学生成绩等相关数据进行分析,发现教学班级数量不断增加,班级人数不断减少,但是距离30人的小班教学还有较大差距;大班、小班中学生成绩受课程及其难度的影响较大;师生对小班化教学的期望存在差异,“大班授课,小班研讨”的实施出现异化。建议正确认识适合中国国情、适合大学数学课程特点的小班化教学;加强高校教师教育,促进高校教师教学理念、教学方式方法转变;新进适量的教师,鼓励大学数学在职教师多上课,鼓励教授为本科生上课;有效推行“大班授课,小班研讨”,不断提升助教教学和管理能力。     

数学课中的目标定向对大学生的学习动机与学业成绩的影响

采用目标定向理论,以问卷调查的方法考察了数学课中的目标定向对大学生的学习动机和学业成绩的影响．     

The Use of ICT Tools in Mathematics: A Case-control Study of Best Practice in 9th Grade Classrooms

Results are reported from a study in which teachers' views of highly achieving ninth grade classes in Norway (KappAbel national competition winners) were compared with teachers' views of average achievement classes with regard to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and pedagogical practices. The main purpose of the study was to answer the following questions: What differential role does ICT play in the two kinds of classes as it relates to learning performance in mathematics, and how does the use of ICT relate to teachers' reported views and pedagogical practices? The key findings of the study are the following: First, KappAbel teachers were more likely to have studied math at universities whereas the control teachers were more likely to have studied at colleges. Second, KappAbel teachers were more likely to emphasize reasoning-oriented as compared with instrumental- or rule-oriented teaching of mathematics. Third, KappAbel teachers do perceive weaker general effects of ICT in relation to learning than control teachers; however subject specific ICT tools like spreadsheets are more used for purposes of exploration and research than in control classes. It is the teacher-guided student activity that makes the difference.     

The Power of the Test for Treatment Effects in Three-Level Cluster Randomized Designs

Abstract

Experiments that involve nested structures often assign entire groups (such as schools) to treatment conditions. Key aspects of the design of such experiments include knowledge of the intraclass correlation structure and the sample sizes necessary to achieve adequate power to detect the treatment effect. This study provides methods for computing power in three-level cluster randomized balanced designs (with two levels of nesting), where, for example, students are nested within classrooms and classrooms are nested within schools and schools are assigned to treatments. The power computations take into account nesting effects at the second (classroom) and at the third (school) level, sample size effects (e.g., number of schools, classrooms, and individuals), and covariate effects (e.g., pretreatment measures). The methods are applicable to quasi-experimental studies that examine group differences in an outcome.     

The Power of the Test for Treatment Effects in Three-Level Block Randomized Designs

Abstract

Experiments that involve nested structures may assign treatment conditions either to subgroups (such as classrooms) or individuals within subgroups (such as students). The design of such experiments requires knowledge of the intraclass correlation structure to compute the sample sizes necessary to achieve adequate power to detect the treatment effect. This study provides methods for computing power in three-level block randomized balanced designs (with two levels of nesting) where, for example, students are nested within classrooms and classrooms are nested within schools. The power computations take into account nesting effects at the second (classroom) and at the third (school) level, sample size effects (e.g., number of level-1, level-2, and level-3 units), and covariate effects (e.g., pretreatment measures). The methods are generalizable to quasi-experimental studies that examine group differences on an outcome.     

The Effects of Within-Class Ability Grouping on Academic Achievement in Early Elementary Years

Abstract

By incorporating two theoretical frameworks this study examines how school characteristics shape first-grade reading ability-grouping practices, and how this, in turn, affects students’ reading achievement. The author uses the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and applies the propensity-score method to examine whether first-grade ability grouping improves student achievement, whether ability grouping increases achievement inequalities, and whether its effects vary by student initial abilities and/or school contexts. Findings support an argument that ability grouping is an organizational response to problems of diversity in the student body. Schools that use ability grouping are likely to have heterogeneous ability compositions. They are also public, low-performing, low socioeconomic status, and high-minority schools. In these schools, ability grouping has no effects or negative effects, particularly for low-ability students. In contrast, ability grouping may improve achievement for all students in schools with advantageous characteristics, mostly private schools, and may reduce achievement inequalities, because low-ability students benefit the most from this practice.     

新中国成立初期研究生教育的历史变迁过程与特点探析(1949-1966)—以早期教育史研究班为个案

中华人民共和国成立至“文化大革命”前17年间,教育史研究班在全国范围内共举办了三届:1955年,苏联专家杰普莉茨卡娅在华东师范大学开办的首届教育史研究班,1956年,华东师范大学校长孟宪承指导的中国教育史研究班,1961年,北京师范大学创办的中国教育史研究班.这三届教育史研究班作为研究生教育探索历程中的生动案例,是新中国成立初期研究生教育探索历史的一个缩影.考察和分析早期教育史研究班的创办过程及其研究生培养的各个环节,不仅展现出新中国成立初期从学习苏联到逐渐探索适合我国国情的研究生教育历史变迁过程,而且呈现出该时期研究生教育从学习模仿到初步专业规范化的历史特点.     

优化高师钢琴授课形式的有效途径——谈“小班授课”形式的价值和作用

随着高等师范院校钢琴课改的不断深入,钢琴教学模式也随之出现多样化发展趋势,如个别课、小组课、集体课等多种教学模式。它们在钢琴教学中相互交叉、相互渗透,无疑会对高师钢琴教学带来较大的促进作用。但面对高师生源特点和教学条件,能否开发出能够在各种课型之间灵活转变并具有主体性特点的新课型,将成为影响高师钢琴教学的新途径,本文通过对几种授课形式的归纳、剖析和探索,积极倡导一种新的授课形式——“小班授课制”。     

初中数学课"分层合作教学"的基本模式和操作策略

“分层合作教学”是分层教学与合作学习在课堂教学中的有机结合，它以“展示目标 自主学习→合作解疑→小组竞练→巩固提高”为基本模式，以“学生动态分层、教学目标分层、划分小组、分层备课、分层教学、分层作业、分层考核、分层评价”为操作策略，它既能充分体现“不同的人在数学上得到不同的发展”的新课程理念，又能培养学生的合作意识、合作技能和管理能力。     

儿童早期学习品质的本质内涵、因素结构及学习效应

近年来儿童早期学习品质受到国内外学术界的广泛关注。对61个国内外实证研究及25份新修订政策文本的分析表明,学界对儿童学习品质最基本的理解是学习品质关注的是儿童如何学习,而不是儿童学到了什么,描述的是儿童在趋近学习的过程中和投入学习时表现出来的一系列行为、认知与态度倾向;就其构成因素来说,主动性、坚持性、专注力、好奇心、创新创造、灵活性是实证研究与政策文件共同反映的高频因素;学习品质与儿童的在园学习与入学准备显著相关,且能直接预测儿童未来不同阶段的学业成就;学习品质对儿童的同伴关系、社会能力的发展也有显著影响,并能显著降低行为问题与学业困难方面的风险;学习品质在儿童的学习与发展中起着重要的调节作用,如可以调节低质量学校教育或家庭贫困对儿童学习与发展的负面影响,可以降低个体行为问题对其学业成就的不利影响等。学习品质在儿童早期学习与毕生发展中都具有重要的奠基性作用,未来应进一步探索更为低龄儿童学习品质的因素结构及其发展规律,加强我国教育背景下学习品质对儿童学习效应的实证检验与纵向追踪,探索学习品质发展的个体差异及其增长轨迹,开展相关准实验研究以进一步明确学习品质与学习效应之间的关系。不仅要促进我国儿童早期教育实践领域高度重视和践行儿童学习品质的培养,而且应在宏观政策层面把儿童学习品质的发展纳入学前教育质量评价体系,建立儿童学习品质发展数据库,实施儿童学习品质发展监测。     

关于开封市中小学班主任培训工作成效的调查

为深入贯彻落实《教育部关于进一步加强中小学班主任工作的意见》,切实实施好中小学班主任培训计划,避免出现以往培训流于形式等问题,为后继的班主任培训提供经验和教训,为班主任培训专业化、制度化提供参考和依据,采用定量分析与定性分析相结合的方法,对参加培训前后的班主任进行对比性调查,以期得到培训的实效性结果和建设性意见。     

We can Achieve if We Receive: Examining the Effects of Out-of-School Time Activities on Black Student Achievement in Mathematics

Using policy discourse analysis, the author analyzed 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities over a five-year period to identify images of diversity and the problems and solutions represented in diversity action plans. Discourses of marketplace, excellence, managerialism, and democracy emerged and served to construct images of the diverse individual as a commodity, entrepreneur, and change agent. These findings suggest that the dominance of the marketplace discourse may situate the diverse individual as a resource to be exploited and inspire entrepreneurial endeavors rather than change-making activism. Diversity action plans in their current form may unintentionally undermine the achievement of their equity goals.     

The Effects of Class Size on Classroom Processes: 'It's a Bit Like a Treadmill – Working Hard and Getting Nowhere Fast!'

Despite current moves in the UK to limit class sizes for young children in school, there is still a disturbing lack of research evidence on the effect of class size differences on pupils' educational progress and experience. Past research has concentrated on the effects on outcomes such as pupils' school attainments in basic areas. Much less is known about classroom processes that might mediate any such effects, though such knowledge is more useful for practice and policy. Drawing on a current programme of research at the Institute of Education, University of London, this paper identifies five processes likely to be connected to class size: within class grouping practices, the nature and quality of teaching, pupil attention in class, pupil adjustment to school and effects on teachers' morale, stress and enthusiasm. Relevent research is reviewed, and in line with this research the paper concentrates on the primary school years.     

Development of motor-life-skills: variations in children at risk for motor difficulties from the toddler age to preschool age

This article explores variations in development of everyday motor-life-skills in 661 children (329 girls and 332 boys) in Norwegian kindergartens of ages 2:9 (T1) and 4:9 (T2) years:months. The particular focus is on children at risk for problems in motor development (the 10% weakest children in the sample). The methodological approach chosen is authentic assessment, applying the Early Years Movement Skills Checklist (EYMSC). All correlations between motor-life-skills at ages 2:9 and 4:9 are statistically significant (p < 0.01), varying between r = 0.26 to 0.38 for the four section scores of EYMSC (Self-help skills, Desk skills, General classroom skills and Recreational and playground skills) and r = 0.39 for the EYMSC total score. The group composition of children assumed to be at risk for motor difficulties changes considerably between ages 2:9 and 4:9. Approximately, two-thirds of the 10% weakest at T1 do not belong to the 10% weakest at T2. Logistic regression failed to identify children at risk at T1 being among the 10% weakest at T2. However, for two sections of EYMSC (Self-help skills; Recreational and Playground skills), it was possible to distinguish between stable and flux groups.