Learning contexts,black Cultural Ethos,and the science achievement of African American students in an urban middle school

As other countries vigorously promote rapid advancement in science, optimizing the participation of all students in the United States in science is imperative. This study focused on African American students and examined their science achievement in relation to Black Cultural Ethos (BCE), a construct rooted in psychology. Via qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a non‐random control group design, the study addressed three questions: (1) With respect to BCE, what characterizes the natural instructional contexts of two middle school science teachers? (2) What characterizes the achievement of African American students in contexts that incorporate BCE and contexts that do not? (3) What achievement patterns, if any, exist in BCE and non‐BCE instructional contexts? With regard to the natural contexts, the teachers did not incorporate BCE even when the opportunities were available to do so. Within these non‐BCE contexts, the group's mean scores on the study‐specific test that aligned with instruction decreased from pretest to posttest with approximately one‐third of the students' scores improving. When a context was altered with a moderate effect size of 0.47 to include BCE, the group's mean scores on the aforementioned test increased from pretest to posttest with two‐thirds of the students' scores improving. An illustration of the interplay between BCE and context and a consideration of the interplay as a mediating factor in research involving African American students encapsulate the significance and implications of the study's findings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 665–683, 2008     

THE EFFECT OF A SPECIAL CURRICULUM FOR DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN ON TEST-RETEST RELIABILITIES OF THREE STANDARDIZED INSTRUMENTS1

Test-retest (stability) reliability coefficients are, by their nature, affected by what has happened to the tested subjects during the period between testings. Similarly, changes in subjects' mean performance will reflect what happened to them in the interim period. In this regard, the relative values of stability coefficients for experimental and control groups are indicative of the relative degree to which an experimental program is able to change the rankings of the students on criteria measures at pre- and posttreatment times. Changes in students' rankings however do not necessarily affect the level of the group's average performance. This study examines the stability reliabilities of three standardized testing instruments used in the evaluation of a special (enriched) curriculum for young disadvantaged children and the changes in their average performance over a 2-year period. Magnitudes in test-retest reliability differences between treatment groups seem to parallel differences in mean scores. Using the stability reliability coefficients as indices, the program discussed in this report seemed to be most effective in producing change in the skills measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. However, significant differences in mean performance between the treatment groups indicates the effectiveness of the program not only in the skills measured by the PPVT but also in those areas measured by the Stanford Binet and the Columbia Mental Maturity Test.     

The effects of training on the development of the ability to control variables

Based on a criterion test 27 fifth and sixth grade students were selected who could not control variables. Three groups were formed. The control group received no training; a second group received training relying upon external reinforcement, and the third group, training designed to induce internal cognitive conflict. The groups receiving training did only slightly better than the control group on the posttest. On the retention test one month later, all three groups had almost identical scores. The mean combined retention test score was found to be significantly greater than the pretest score. The improvement of the control and conflict groups supports Smedslund's⁸ finding that external reinforcement may not always be necessary for behavioral changes to occur. A further analysis of test scores led to the classification of students according to Piaget's developmental stages. During the course of the study a significant number of students improved in their stage placement. Based on retention test performance nearly half of the students having a mean age 11.8 years could be classed in late formal operations with regard to their ability to control variables. Inhelder and Piaget¹² reported that this level was not normally reached until 14 or 15 years of age. In conclusion, the results support the possibility that while development of the ability to control variables can be accelerated by training at the fifth and sixth grade level some children are surprisingly unaffected regardless of whether the training is based on external reinforcement or cognitive conflict procedures.     

Using and updating local norms

The most useful kind of norms are local norms collected by a test interpreter on a population with which s/he is familiar. We present a rationale for the use of local norms and a procedure, illustrated with an example, for updating a norm group's test score mean and variance. It was concluded that test interpreters should build local norms to be used in conjunction with norms based on a national sample, since local norms can be more recent, relevant, and representative for local groups.     

Effects of Ritalin on Academic Achievement from First to Fifth Grade

This study was a continuation of the Alto and Frankenberger (1995) study that reported the effects of Ritalin on academic achievement from first to second grade. The objectives of the current study were to identify the long-term effects of Ritalin on cognitive ability and academic achievement. A retrospective/longitudinal design was utilised in the study with dependent measures being scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). The study included 13 experimental subjects who were identified with AD/HD and placed on Ritalin between first and second grade. For each experimental child, a contrast child without AD/HD was matched based on gender, Verbal IQ score, and family structure. Results of the study revealed that generally, the Ritalin group's cognitive and achievement scores were lower before medication and the groups tended to continue to diverge after medication was administered. Dosage levels for the children in the Ritalin group tended to be increased over time and few of the children in general education classes received supplementary educational programs.     

Development and Effectiveness of an Educational Card Game as Supplementary Material in Understanding Selected Topics in Biology

The complex concepts and vocabulary of biology classes discourage many students. In this study, a pretest–posttest model was used to test the effectiveness of an educational card game in reinforcing biological concepts in comparison with traditional teaching methods. The subjects of this study were two biology classes at Bulacan State University–Sarmiento Campus. Both classes received conventional instruction; however, the experimental group''s instruction was supplemented with the card game, while the control group''s instruction was reinforced with traditional exercises and assignments. The score increases from pretest to posttest showed that both methods effectively reinforced biological concepts, but a t test showed that the card game is more effective than traditional teaching methods. Additionally, students from the experimental group evaluated the card game using five criteria: goals, design, organization, playability, and usefulness. The students rated the material very satisfactory.     

Effects of Methylphenidate on Academic Achievement from First to Second Grade

The objectives of the current study were to identify the long‐term effects of Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on cognitive ability and academic achievement. A retrospective/longitudinal design was utilised in the study with dependent measures being scores from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The study included 17 experimental subjects who were identified with ADHD and placed on Methylphenidate between first and second grade. For each experimental child, a control child without ADHD was matched based on gender, Verbal IQ score, and family structure. Results of the study revealed that the Methylphenidate group's achievement was lower both before and after medication even after being matched on verbal abilities. The results also indicated that after receiving medication the Methylphenidate group's rate of learning was similar to the Control groups on Reading, Word Analysis, Listening, Vocabulary, and overall achievement. Finally, a positive relationship between dosage level and Listening subtest scores was observed while a negative relationship was obtained between dosage level and Vocabulary subtest scores.     

Placing Assessment Into the Hands of Young Children: A Study of Student-Generated Criteria and Self-Assessment

This study is an investigation by a teacher-researcher of first-grade and second-grade children's generation of assessment criteria for integrated projects and the children's self-assessments of those projects using a 5-point rating scale. The study also compares students' scores with the teacher's independent scores from the rating scales. The results indicated that the young students believed that the amount of work and cooperation that went into a project was as important, if not more important, than the actual product that resulted from their efforts. They further believed that process skills were ones on which they should be assessed individually and as a group. When students' scores were compared with teacher's independent scores on the self-assessment rating forms, it was found that either the majority of the scores were similar or that the teacher tended to rate the students higher than the students rated themselves. The study found that group evaluations of other groups did not yield reliable scores because students tended to let the negative behavior of a single student affect the group's score. The study also found that young children are quite capable of choosing their own assessment criteria and engaging in self-assessment.     

A Nonparametric Approach to Estimate Classification Accuracy and Consistency

When cut scores for classifications occur on the total score scale, popular methods for estimating classification accuracy (CA) and classification consistency (CC) require assumptions about a parametric form of the test scores or about a parametric response model, such as item response theory (IRT). This article develops an approach to estimate CA and CC nonparametrically by replacing the role of the parametric IRT model in Lee's classification indices with a modified version of Ramsay's kernel‐smoothed item response functions. The performance of the nonparametric CA and CC indices are tested in simulation studies in various conditions with different generating IRT models, test lengths, and ability distributions. The nonparametric approach to CA often outperforms Lee's method and Livingston and Lewis's method, showing robustness to nonnormality in the simulated ability. The nonparametric CC index performs similarly to Lee's method and outperforms Livingston and Lewis's method when the ability distributions are nonnormal.     

Does subsidized public health insurance for parents improve children's human capital and close achievement gaps?

Between 2009 and 2018, many states dramatically changed income eligibility limits for parental Medicaid. We examine whether increasing parental Medicaid eligibility had spillover benefits on children's development. We study the effects of state-level changes in parental income limits for Medicaid on 3rd through 8th grade mathematics and English-language arts (ELA) achievement using county-level administrative test score data. We find that a 50-percentage point increase in parental Medicaid income limits, roughly equal to the average state increase in eligibility over this period, is associated with a 1.5% reduction in the socioeconomic achievement gap for math and a 3% reduction in the white-black math achievement gap. Math test scores improved significantly following parental Medicaid eligibility expansions among black students residing in poorer counties, with little estimated change in test scores for black students in higher income counties. We find no effect in ELA achievement gaps or white-Hispanic test score gaps. Our findings suggest that means-tested policies that improve parental and family wellbeing have important spillover benefits to children's educational achievement and can help reduce inequities in children's human capital development.     

Improvements in interval time tracking and effects on reading achievement

This study examined the effect of improvements in timing/rhythmicity on students' reading achievement. 86 participants completed pre‐ and post‐test measures of reading achievement (i.e., Woodcock‐Johnson III, Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Test of Word Reading Efficiency, and Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency). Students in the experimental group completed a 4‐week intervention designed to improve their timing/rhythmicity by reducing the latency in their response to a synchronized metronome beat, referred to as a synchronized metronome tapping (SMT) intervention. The results from this non‐academic intervention indicate the experimental group's post‐test scores on select measures of reading were significantly higher than the non‐treatment control group's scores at the end of 4 weeks. This paper provides a brief overview of domain‐general cognitive abilities believed effected by SMT interventions and provides a preliminary hypothesis to explain how this non‐academic intervention can demonstrate a statistically significant effect on students' reading achievement scores. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 849–863, 2007.     

CONCEPTS OF CULTURE-FAIRNESS

Fairness of a test relates to fair use. One definition of fair use states that a common qualifying score may be used with two groups if the regression line based on one group does not systematically over- or under-predict criterion performance in the other. However, it is shown that when the two groups differ appreciably in mean test score, the above procedure, which is "fair" to individual members of the group scoring lower on the test, is "unfair" to the lower group as a whole in the sense that the proportion qualified on the test will be smaller, relative to the higher-scoring group, than the proportion that will reach any specified level of criterion performance. An alternate definition would specify that the qualifying scores on a test should be set at levels that will qualify applicants in the two groups in proportion to the fraction of the two groups reaching a specified level of criterion performance.     

Evaluating Change and Stability in Learning Style Scores: a methodological concern

Learning styles are purported to be relatively stable characteristics with some change or development expected. Some studies using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) have reported significant positive test‐retest correlations of LSI scores or nonsignificant repeated‐measures ANOVAs and concluded that learning styles are stable. This study examined stability and change on Kolb's revised Learning Style Inventory (LSI‐1985) using 152 participants at two points in time separated by about 10 weeks. A variety of statistics were used to evaluate stability and change in LSI‐1985 scores for the four subscales and two dimensions and the four learning styles. The use of test‐retest correlations, differences between means and other methods emphasising group effects were criticised. It was recommended that researchers also analyse and report the stability and change of style categories directly, not just score changes. These comments are also applicable to other learning style measures such as the Learning Style Questionnaire.     

ADOLESCENTS' COMPREHENSION AND CONTENT AREA EDUCATION STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS: BENEFITS FROM ONE-ON-ONE TUTORING

In this research study the authors analyzed the effectiveness of content-area education students tutoring adolescents and documented changes in the attitudes of the education students over time. Tutors tested the reading comprehension of both the students they tutored (treatment group) and students they did not (comparison group). The authors used a repeated measures ANOVA to evaluate the effects of the tutorial program on reading for the two groups. The dependent variable was pre- and post-reading scores as measured by the Bader Reading & Language Inventory for both groups. The main effect was significant for the tutored group. In addition, the authors utilized the “preservice teachers' perception/attitude survey” using a Likert scale to document changes in the attitudes of the education students toward implementing literacy strategies within their content areas. To test the effects of the semester-long experience, the authors employed a repeated measures ANOVA to determine significance between the pre/post means. The authors' findings revealed that the semester's experience had a significant impact on the tutors' attitude mean; however, no significant differences pre to post were found among the various content majors.     

The relationship between information-processing ability and notetaking

This study examined the relationship between lecture notetaking behaviors and academic ability and the relationship among lecture notetaking behaviors, information-processing ability, and more global measures of ability (i.e., GPA and ACT scores). Previous research had not investigated working-memory ability and specific notetaking behaviors. Four types of information were gathered from the 32 undergraduate students participating in this experiment: (a) score on a test of information-processing ability, (b) analyses of notes taken during a designated lecture, (c) score on a test pertaining to that lecture, and (d) score on a course exam covering several other lectures. In addition, GPA and ACT scores were drawn from each student's records. Results confirmed that amount of notetaking is related to academic achievement and established that ability to hold and manipulate prepositional knowledge in working memory is related to the number of words, complex propositions, and main ideas recorded in notes. In fact, stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that this information-processing ability was a more significant predictor of complex propositions and words recorded in notes than were global measures of ability such as GPA or ACT scores. This research is of practical importance because pedagogical activities may reduce cognitive strain associated with notetaking and because information-processing ability is, in part, controllable.     

Educational research for development—Contributions and challenges

Abstract

The study was designed to assess changes in farmers' knowledge of farmer seed production through schools (FSPSs) in Vietnam. A set of 25 questions covering five technical areas of the seed production process was used for pre and post knowledge testing at 12 FSPSs in the provinces Binh Dinh, Nam Dinh, Nghe An and Dong Thap. The main findings show an overall increase in farmer's knowledge scores after attending the FSPS. FSPS-farmers with low scores on the pre-field school test (ex-ante) scored much better on the post field school test. Gender had no effect on the test scores. Binh Dinh province had significantly higher mean scores on the post field (ex-post) school test compared to farmers in Nam Dinh, Nghe An and Dong Thap provinces. The increase in knowledge score is linked to the application of good practices learned in the field school as farmers who applied good quality seeds, low seed rates and the transplanting method showed a large increase in scores. The results of this study indicate that the tests provide insight into the knowledge gaps.     

The Use of Evaluation Criteria to Improve Academic Discussion in Cooperative Groups

Teachers remark that during Cooperative Learning (CL), the academic nature of the group discussions and the resulting group products can be disappointing. Often, this may be due to a lack of understanding on the students’ part on the elements that make up an exemplary product. This study examined whether clearly articulated evaluation criteria (EC's) would alter the nature of the group's discussion and subsequently improve students’ learning. The groups using the EC spent more time evaluating their products, discussing the content of their unit and task than students not using the evaluation criteria. The evaluative and task‐focused talk at the group level were modestly, yet significantly correlated with individual scores on an essay test following the unit. These findings suggest that the presence of clear and accessible criteria for evaluation can improve the academic nature of group discussions and individual learning gains. The findings provide a practical way to apply current assessment practices to classrooms using CL strategies.     

Changes in student populations and average test scores of Dutch primary schools

This article focuses on the relation between student population characteristics and average test scores per school in the final grade of primary education from a dynamic perspective. Aggregated data of over 5,000 Dutch primary schools covering a 6-year period were used to study the relation between changes in school populations and shifts in mean test scores. Path analysis findings indicate that changes in student populations bring about instant changes in school averages. However, the impact of these changes is strongly mitigated by the effects of school results in the past. This reveals long-lasting effects of student population characteristics via past performance and explains the relative stability in raw output measures over time to a considerable extent.     

Impact of instruction on learning disabled students' creative thinking

Forty-nine pupils from learning disabilities intermediate-level classrooms served as subjects in the study and were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as pretests and posttests. The Purdue Creative Training Program was used to stimulate the learning disabled experimental group's divergent thinking abilities for 14 weeks. Pupils in the learning disabled experimental group made significantly higher scores than did the comparison group on the creativity variables of the verbal subtest of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.