All Validities are Not Created Equal: Determinants of Variation in SAT Validity Across Schools

Previous research has demonstrated that cognitive test validities are generalizable and predictive of academic performance across situations. However, even after accounting for statistical artifacts (e.g., sampling error, range restriction, criterion reliability), substantial variability often remains around estimates of cognitive test–performance relationships suggesting the presence of additional moderators. In the present study, we examine the sources of institutional variation in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) validity across a sample of 110 institutions. Institutional characteristics moderated the size of SAT validities, such that more selective schools and schools that emphasize traditional assessment techniques (i.e., school records, standardized tests) showed higher SAT validities while schools that were larger and where students demonstrated more financial need, schools that emphasized the usage of alternative assessment techniques (i.e., essays, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities), and schools that enrolled higher percentages of historically disadvantaged minority students generally exhibited lower SAT validities. Future directions in the understanding of situational influences on SAT–grade point average validities are discussed.     

Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers’ Print References During Shared Read Alouds: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Abstract

This large-scale, experimental study aimed to (a) describe the extent to which teachers of preschool children at risk for reading difficulties make references to print during whole-class, shared-book read alouds and (b) empirically test the extent to which participation in professional development influences teachers’ frequency of references to print during shared read alouds across the academic year. Eighty-five preschool teachers working in targeted-enrollment preschool programs were randomly assigned to receive professional development aimed at increasing their use of print referencing or to a comparison condition involving alternative training; all teachers implemented a shared read aloud program in their classrooms. Implementation was documented via twice-monthly videotaping of shared read aloud sessions. Videos were coded for the frequency of print references and analyzed using latent growth curves. Despite considerable variability in teachers’ use of print referencing, findings showed sustained, meaningful changes in teachers’ use of print referencing with results favoring those who experienced the experimental professional development. Implications concerning effective professional development for supporting preschool children's emergent literacy skills are discussed.     

Name Writing: A Window into the Emergent Literacy Skills of Young Children

This article discusses the potential significance of name writing skills in addressing many important questions about the development of early literacy skills. Young children are inherently interested in producing their own names in print. Furthermore, young children appear to construct their understandings of name writing skills in a predictable, sequential pattern. Questions raised include whether the development of name writing skills mirrors the development of other important cognitive skills, the potential of name writing skills to offer insight as to how young children learn important literacy concepts, the use of name writing as a developmental indicator for children that may be at risk for reading difficulties, and the potential for structured activities using name writing to facilitate the development of emergent literacy skills.     

Emergent literacy activities in the final preschool year in the German federal states of Bavaria and Hesse

Emergent literacy activities are considered to be important for promoting children’s emergent literacy skills. However, little research exists, especially in Germany, regarding how often such activities occur and in what context. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of emergent literacy activities occurring in the final preschool year, and their dependence on structural characteristics. Ninety-six children (mean age = 5.9) from 50 preschools in two German federal states were observed in their final preschool year. Results show that emergent literacy activities relating to print materials play a minor role, whereas activities involving oral language play a major role, compared with other activities in children’s preschool experience. Results also indicate a significant link between child-related, family and distal characteristics (i.e. geographic location and federal state affiliation) and the frequency of emergent literacy activities.     

New media,evolving multimodal literacy practices and the potential impact of increased use of the visual mode in the urban environment on young children's learning

This article looks at the way in which the changing visual environment affects education at two levels: in communication patterns and research methodologies. The research considers differences in the variance and quantity of types of visual media and their relationship to the written mode in the urban landscapes of Tokyo and London, using Google Street View to make comparisons. It reflects on the parallels this might have in the ways in which children encounter text in the environment. The data were analysed using Visual Content Analysis and colour coding. It found the Tokyo sample to have a higher density and diversity of visual media types at a wider range of heights. Visual and written communication also appear to be confined to more separately definable spaces with more equal weighting in the use of written and visual modes. Particularly, within the context of early childhood education it is hoped these findings will increase knowledge concerning young children's exposure to the visual mode, initiate wider discourse around this less researched mode's role within new multimodal communication practices and that the methodology furthers understanding of the potential of new media in image‐based research.     

Environmental Education in the United States: A Survey of Preservice Teacher Education Programs

Abstract

The status of the environmental education component of preservice teacher education programs is unknown nationally. This study surveyed 715 institutions of teacher education using a mail questionnaire. The response rate was approximately 63%. The results indicate that most schools have few requirements related to environmental education, and in the majority of schools environmental education is not institutionalized.     

The National Environmental Literacy Project: A Baseline Study of Middle Grade Students in the United States

The authors discuss environmental literacy in the United States and present a brief summary of the results of a major national study designed to attain a baseline measure of environmental literacy among middle school students in the United States The authors include events that led up to the study and desctibe future directions for environmental literacy assessment.     

Fostering communities of teachers as learners: disciplinary perspectives

Education research in learning and teaching has alternated historically between periods in which subject matter disciplines were used as the organizing framework for investigation and implementation, and other periods in which the content areas nearly disappeared in favour of a quest for generic principles of instruction that could transcend disciplinary boundaries. There are few examinations of how these factors interact in the context of specific classroom‐ and pedagogy‐centred school reform. The papers that follow in this issue of JCS examine this issue through the lens of the pedagogic reform, ‘Fostering a Community of Learners’. This introduction outlines the key characteristics of this reform and describes the main issues in subsequent examinations of teachers learning to implement ‘Fostering a Community of Learners’ in science, social studies, English language arts, and mathematics.     

A Survey of Virginia Public School Principals on the State of Environmental Education

ABSTRACT:

The National Survey of Evaluation Methods and Results in Resident Outdoor Education Programs (1981–82) identified methods used by administrators to evaluate outdoor education programs. 144 surveys were returned (41%), and 171 evaluation instruments were submitted. Most programs evaluate by a combination of methods; 45% use subjective methods, 12% objective, and 36% both. Major uses of evaluations are for improvement pnd planning. Over 100 questions needing research were submitted. Evaluations most frequently assess overall satisfactions with the program, operational aspects, and students' attitudes. A model of the evaluation development process is included.     

Emergent Environmental Literacy in the Nonnarrative Compositions of Kindergarten Children

This article shows how links between science and literacy offer kindergarten children the opportunity to create and express their individual understandings about environmental change through emergent environmental literacy. This article reports on one of the science experiences in a kindergarten classroom in which the children explored the phenomenon of environmental change. The kindergarten science program can help children learn how scientists look at the world; young children can express these concepts through nonnarrative compositions. The article concludes with suggestions for teaching practice in the kindergarten science program.     

Environmental literacy components and their promotion by institutions of higher education: an Israeli case study

The recognition of the key role and moral responsibility of higher education institutions (HEIs) in cultivating the environmental literacy (EL) of their students is growing globally. The current research examined the contribution of HEIs to their students’ EL by focusing on an Israeli college as a case-study. A survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1147 students from all departments in four phases of their academic studies. A moderate level of EL was found. The college’s green agenda attracted more pre-environmentally literate students, but its contribution to the development of students’ EL throughout the learning years was minor. Variation in pro-environmental behavior was better explained by students’ environmental values and attitudes than by their environmental knowledge. It seems that a combination of knowledge, values, and attitudes is needed in order to instill EL among students in HEIs. Commitment to environmental education must be translated into effective contents (what) and ways of teaching and learning (how) EL, which should be adapted to the varied populations of HEIs’ students in the various faculties and departments. Some recommendations are detailed.     

Environmental Problems,Causes, and Solutions: An Open Question

In a national evaluation of environmental literacy in Israel, (Negev, Sagy, Garb, Salzberg, & Tal, 2008 Negev, M., Sagy, G., Garb, Y., Salzberg, A. and Tal, A. 2008. Evaluating the environmental literacy of Israeli elementary and high school students. Journal of Environmental Education, 39(2): 3–20. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the authors included both multiple choice questions and open questions. In this article the authors describe the qualitative analysis of the answers to an open question regarding a local environmental problem. Most participants specified solid waste, open spaces, or air pollution as the main issues. The perceived solutions were generally at the governmental level, including planning, infrastructure, legislation, and enforcement. The authors describe relations in these responses between the problems, their causes and solutions, and between the quality of these answers and the general environmental literacy of the participants. The authors end with a discussion of the special contributions and potential of open-ended questions for environmental education research.     

Myths of Environmental Education

Abstract

A review of environmental education literature reveals a paucity of constructivist-based research. To support the case for this approach, the author reviews theoretical aspects of science education research of this type. It first situates different approaches to educational research in relation to different epistemologies and then reviews constructs used in constructivist science education research. Issues associated with the adoption of this epistemology—topics deemed worthy of research, importance given to the learner's pre-instructional knowledge, and perspectives on learning and understanding—are considered. The article concludes with proposals for constructivist research in environmental education across the educational commonplaces.     

Writing and writers: the perceptions of young children and their parents

Over the past three decades early writing research has focused on the processes involved as children learn to write. There is now a powerful evidence base to show that children’s earliest discoveries about written language are learned through active engagement with their social and cultural worlds. In addition, the idea of writing development as an emergent process is well established. The study reported in this paper adopted case study methodology combined with an age-appropriate data collection technique in order to explore children’s perceptions of themselves as writers. A focused task using a hand puppet called Baby Bear was used to elicit children’s perceptions. The children’s parents were interviewed to elicit their perceptions of their children as writers. This small-scale exploratory study found that the children had clear perceptions about themselves as writers. There were important links between parents’ perceptions of their children as writers and the ethos for writing they created in the home. It was found that, overall, more positive parental perceptions were linked with more attention to the meaning of children’s writing. It is concluded that early years settings could usefully identify and compare children’s and parents’ perceptions of writing in order to enhance children’s writing development.     

Role of Significant Life Experiences in Building Environmental Knowledge and Behavior Among Middle School Students

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.     

The Book of the Film: Enhancing Print Literacy at KS 3

This article concerns the ways in which moving image media enable secondary school students to improve their print literacy standards. It examines productive ways of using moving image media with literary texts to support and enhance the literacy skills of students. It contends that informed use of media enhances students' abilities in critically evaluating, consuming and producing texts and that engaging with print and media texts develops the literacy practices of students.     

Reading Across Mediums: Effects of Reading Digital and Print Texts on Comprehension and Calibration

This study explored differences that might exist in comprehension when students read digital and print texts. Ninety undergraduates read both digital and print versions of newspaper articles and book excerpts on topics of childhood ailments. Prior to reading texts in counterbalanced order, topic knowledge was assessed and students were asked to state medium preferences. After reading, students were asked to judge under which medium they comprehended best. Results demonstrated a clear preference for digital texts, and students typically predicted better comprehension when reading digitally. However, performance was not consistent with students' preferences and outcome predictions. While there were no differences across mediums when students identified the main idea of the text, students recalled key points linked to the main idea and other relevant information better when engaged with print. No differences in reading outcomes or calibration were found for newspaper or book excerpts.     

Transforming Environmental Knowledge Into Behavior: The Mediating Role of Environmental Emotions

The present study was based on the premise that environmental knowledge can drive environmental behavior only if it arouses environmental emotions. Using a structural equations modeling approach, we tested the direct, as well as the indirect (mediated) effects of knowledge on behavior and assessed the mediating role of environmental emotions. We found that knowledge is an important but distal variable, whose significant effect is fully mediated by emotions. The high explanatory power and good fit indices of the model supported and validated the important role of emotions in the learning process.     

Development of a Metric to Test Group Differences in Ecological Knowledge as One Component of Environmental Literacy

Abstract

Environmental literacy has been defined in numerous ways and attempts have been made to measure how environmentally literate people are. Many attempts to measure literacy have instead measured people's knowledge about pollution and their attitudes toward the environment. According to many environmental education experts, knowledge and attitudes are important components of environmental literacy, especially if the goal of environmental education is to change behavior. However, the experts also indicate that, to change an individual's behavior, knowledge about the environment must be associated with environmental sensitivity, personal beliefs, and decisionmaking and problem-solving skills. The research presented in this article contributes to environmental literacy research by offering a tested, valid survey instrument to measure ecological knowledge—one component of environmental literacy. In this article, we provide an example of how this instrument can be applied by comparing knowledge levels among diverse groups of Ohio citizens.     

A Randomized Trial Study of a Preschool Literacy Curriculum: The Importance of Implementation

Abstract

In this 1-year experimental study of 254 students across 27 high-poverty preschool classrooms in an urban setting in the northeast, use of a technology-based prekindergarten literacy curriculum in addition to the district curriculum was compared with the use of the district curriculum alone. Results indicated no main effects for the experimental curriculum. Following the initial analyses, fidelity of implementation in the experimental classrooms was examined and results indicated that children in classrooms rated as having high fidelity of implementation significantly outperformed low-implementing classrooms on two important phonological awareness measures. This trend favoring high-implementing classrooms was also evident on measures of letter-name knowledge, and beginning sounds. These findings suggest that program implementation may be a significant variable when examining the potential effects of literacy curricula on learning outcomes for young at-risk children.