The construct and predictive validity of a dynamic assessment of young children learning to read: implications for RTI frameworks

The purpose of this study was to examine the construct and predictive validity of a dynamic assessment (DA) of decoding learning. Students (N = 318) were assessed in the fall of first grade on an array of instruments that were given in hopes of forecasting responsiveness to reading instruction. These instruments included DA as well as one-point-in-time (static) measures of early alphabetic knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonemic awareness, oral vocabulary, listening comprehension, attentive behavior, and hyperactive or impulsive behavior. An IQ test was administered in spring of second grade. Measures of reading outcomes administered in spring of first grade were accuracy and fluency of word identification skills and reading comprehension. Factor analysis using principal axis factor extraction indicated that DA loaded on a first factor that also included language abilities and IQ, which the authors refer to as the "language, IQ, and DA" factor. It was relatively distinct from two additional factors: (a) "speeded alphabetic knowledge and RAN" and (b) "task-oriented behavior." A three-level (children nested within classroom; classrooms nested within school) random intercept model with fixed effects predictors suggested that DA differed from word attack in predicting future reading skill and that DA was a significant predictor of responsiveness to instruction, contributing unique variance to end-of-first-grade word identification and reading comprehension beyond that explained by other well-established predictors of reading development.     

The Articulated Learning: An Approach to Guided Reflection and Assessment

The value of reflection on experience to enhance learning has been advanced for decades; however, it remains difficult to apply in practice. This paper describes a reflection model that pushes students beyond superficial interpretations of complex issues and facilitates academic mastery, personal growth, civic engagement, critical thinking, and the meaningful demonstration of learning. Although developed in a service-learning program, its general features can support reflection on a range of experiences. It is accessible to both students and instructors, regardless of discipline; and it generates written products that can be used for formative and summative assessment of student learning.     

Developing teacher assessment skills: The impact of the dynamic approach to teacher professional development

This study investigates the extent to which the Dynamic Approach (DA) to Teacher Professional Development (TPD) can help teachers develop their assessment skills and through that contribute to the improvement of student learning outcomes. To achieve this aim, a multi-treatment group randomisation study was conducted to compare the impact of the DA with the impact of the Competency-Based Approach (CBA) on developing assessment skills and promoting student learning outcomes. Assessment skills of 178 teachers and achievement of their students (n = 2358) were measured before and after the intervention. The DA had greater impact on teacher assessment skills and student learning outcomes than the CBA. Differential effects were also identified since differences in the impact of each approach were only identified for teachers who were situated at higher stages of assessment skills. Implications of findings for research, policy and practice are drawn.     

Learning contexts for young children in Chile: process quality assessment in preschool centres

ITERS (Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale), ECERS (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale) and SACERS (School Age Care Environment Rating Scale) are used to measure process quality. The psychometric characteristics of the three scales are established, and high reliability and adequate validity are observed. The global quality process for the classrooms under study is less than good; process quality based on the direct interaction of adults with children in the classroom is better when compared with quality related to the experiences that children have with learning materials, equipment and space. The associations between child development outcomes and childcare quality are examined. Vocabulary, social development and adaptive behaviour show a strong and positive association with ECERS. Hierarchical regression analyses show that preschool quality has a significant and persistent effect in the variation of child outcomes (5%). These effects are maintained three years later, when children are in primary school (8%).     

High-Quality Preschool: The Socioeconomic Composition of Preschool Classrooms and Children's Learning

Research Findings: As policymakers expand access to preschool, the sociodemographic composition of preschool classrooms will become increasingly important. These efforts may create programs that increase the concentration of children from low-income families or, alternatively, foster the creation of socioeconomically diverse preschool classrooms. What effect the creation of such contexts would have on very young children remains unclear. Using multilevel methods and data on 2,966 children in 704 prekindergarten classrooms, this study explores the relationship between socioeconomic classroom composition and children's social and cognitive development. The results indicate positive associations between the mean socioeconomic status (SES) of the class and children's receptive language, expressive language, and mathematics learning, regardless of children's own sociodemographic backgrounds and the characteristics of their classrooms. However, the analyses indicate no association between the development of social competence and class mean SES. Practice or Policy: The links between classroom SES and language and mathematics development were comparable in size to those associated with instructional quality and even children's own SES. Neither structural nor instructional characteristics of prekindergarten classrooms explained these relationships, suggesting the possibility of direct peer effects. The findings indicate that the composition of children's classrooms should be considered an important aspect of preschool quality.     

The teaching of mathematics to young children using a problem solving approach

It is the purpose of this article to report upon the early stages of a research project in Mathematical Education, currently in progress at the Polytechnic of the South Bank, London. The project, supported by funds from the Social Science Research Council, is entitled, The Skills and Procedures of Mathematical Problem Solving in pupils of 9–13 years (S.P.M.P.S.) The article explores the background to the need for such a project, both from a mathematical and from a pedagogic point of view.     

学前融合课程评价的有效方法:课程性评估

作为学前融合课程有效的评估方法 ,课程性评估是将课程目标作为教学评估的标准 ,并以此标准评估儿童能力水平和进步情况。课程性评估有非常明确的目标 ,根据不同课程模式可以分为发展里程碑模式、功能 /适应性模式、相互作用模式。通过它独特的关联系统实施评估 ,并根据现实性、公平性、会聚性和敏感性这四个标准保证评估的效果。文章就国内外有关学前融合课程中的课程性评估的研究现状作一综述 ,以作为我国学前融合课程设置中的理论依据。     

The Implementation of Peer Assessment: An action research approach

This paper examines the process of implementing peer assessment in higher education. In order to discover the aspects by which the method could be utilised to its full potential, it has been tried out among diverse types of students using an action research approach. The paper depicts the way the method was introduced and portrays students' reactions. It demonstrates the contribution of previous exposure to peer assessment, of a good preparation process and of student involvement in criteria setting to building up student confidence in using the method. It further shows how student involvement in establishing the assessment criteria contributes to their learning process. Based on the results of the action research, the paper recommends introducing peer assessment into the curriculum gradually and in a consistent way while involving students in the process of criteria setting and making the method relevant to student learning and future careers.     

多媒体视听说实验室自主学习研究与探讨

学习者在视听说实验室自主学习的过程中,学习效率低、质量差是因为经常受到一些问题的困扰。学习者应该从学习和了解设备功能入手,熟悉和掌握软、硬件使用方法,树立自信心,培养良好学习习惯,正确运用学习策略,注重效率。教师对自主学习的支持不容忽略,学习资源问题亦应该引起重视。     

从关于学习的评价到为了学习的评价

为了学习的评价近些年来在评价研究和实践中日益被广泛接受。本文介绍了为了学习的评价的基本概念、应用为了学习的评价的主要策略和原则,并将其与关于学习的评价进行了比较。通过将剑桥评价和CTB的两个为了学习的评价的产品作为例证,作者建议专业化考试机构应该在关于学习的评价之外推进为了学习的评价以服务于教育。     

两种学前教育评价新方案的对比——多彩光谱评价方案与作品取样系统

本文基于对评价功能问题的思考,介绍了两种新出现的以发挥评价发展和促进功能为基本出发点的学前教育评价方案,即多彩光谱评价方案和米歇尔的作品取样系统评价方案,并对每种评价方案产生的理论基础、具体内容以及优缺点进行了分析,以揭示它们之间的异同及其对当前我国学前教育评价的启示.     

Early Numeracy Assessment: The Development of the Preschool Early Numeracy Scales

Research Findings: The focus of this study was to construct and validate 12 brief early numeracy assessment tasks that measure the skills and concepts identified as key to early mathematics development by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2006 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2006). Curriculum focal points for prekindergarten through Grade 8 mathematics. Reston, VA: Author. [Google Scholar]) and the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008 National Mathematics Advisory Panel. (2008). Foundations for success: The final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. [Google Scholar])—as well as critical developmental precursors to later mathematics skills noted in the Common Core State Standards (2010 Common Core State Standards. (2010). Common Core State Standards: Preparing America’s students for college and career. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ [Google Scholar]). Participants were 393 preschool children ages 3 to 5 years old. Measure development and validation occurred through 3 analytic phases designed to ensure that the measures were brief, reliable, and valid. These measures were 1-to-1 counting, cardinality, counting subsets, subitizing, number comparison, set comparison, number order, numeral identification, set-to-numerals, story problems, number combinations, and verbal counting. Practice or Policy: Teachers have extensive demands on their time, yet they are tasked with ensuring that all students’ academic needs are met. To identify individual instructional needs and measure progress, they need to be able to efficiently assess children’s numeracy skills. The measures developed in this study not only are reliable and exhibit evidence of validity but also are easy to use and can be utilized for measuring the effects of targeted instruction on individual numeracy skills.     

Approaches to Learning across Cultures: The role of assessment

In the context of a broader research study on the intercultural understanding of teachers in Australia, Japan and Thailand, this paper focuses on approaches to learning and the role of assessment in shaping such approaches. Popular contrasts portray Asian learners as compliant and favouring rote memorisation and Western learners as independent and favouring deep, conceptual learning. Yet Asian students frequently outperform their Western counterparts in competitive tests purported to measure higher cognitive skills. Biggs and his associates have challenged the stereotypical view of Asian students as rote learners as a Western misperception. But data from the present cross-cultural study suggest it is more than a Western misperception, being shared by teachers in Japan and Thailand. With this background, this paper then explores the role of assessment through an analysis of examination papers in the three countries at the high stakes, year 12 level. This analysis of the ways in which knowledge and comprehension are assessed identifies different practices across cultures but not ones corresponding to the rhetoric on contrasting approaches to learning. Rather it concludes that assessment tasks classified superficially as comprehension can be approached through memorisation and conversely, those often classified as memorisation can require careful reading, thought and interpretation, while drawing from an extensive knowledge base. A shared understanding of the nature of assessment tasks in different cultures thus has the potential to dissolve the demarcation of culturally embedded learning styles and to enhance deep learning grounded in specialist knowledge for scholars, be they students or teachers, in all cultures.     

Learning in the visual arts and the worldviews of young children

This paper reports a research study into the effects of rich, sustained visual arts instruction on 103 inner city 9‐year‐olds in two major US cities. We use the lenses of social learning theory, theories of motivation and self‐efficacy, and recent research on artistic thinking to investigate the programs' effects on children's self‐beliefs and creative thinking. The study enlisted a pre–post measure, treatment‐comparison group design along with structured observations of participant and comparison group classrooms. The arts students made significant comparative gains on a self‐efficacy scale and on an ‘originality’ subscale of a standard creativity test. These effects are attributed to children's engagement in art and to the social organization of instruction including reinforcing peer and student–adult relationships. Relationships between self‐efficacy beliefs and tendencies to think originally are explored.