The Simple View of Reading: Is It Valid for Different Types of Alphabetic Orthographies?

We present a meta-analysis to test the validity of the Simple View of Reading Gough & Tunmer (Remedial and Special Education, 7:6–10, 1986) for beginner readers of English and other, more transparent, orthographies. Our meta-analytic approach established that the relative influence of decoding and linguistic comprehension on reading comprehension is different for readers of different types of orthography during the course of early reading development. Furthermore, we identified key differences in the relations among different measures of decoding and reading comprehension between readers of English and other more transparent orthographies. We discuss the implications for reading instruction and the diagnosis of reading difficulties, as well as our theoretical understanding of how component skills influence reading comprehension level.     

HLM Behind the Curtain: Unveiling Decisions Behind the Use and Interpretation of HLM in Higher Education Research

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) has become increasingly popular in the higher education literature, but there is significant variability in the current approaches to the conducting and reporting of HLM. The field currently lacks a general consensus around important issues such as the number of levels of analysis that are important to include and how much variance should be accounted for at each level in order for the HLM analysis to have practical significance (Dedrick et al., Rev Educ Res 79:69–102, 2009). The purpose of this research is to explore the use of a 3-level HLM model, appropriate contextualizing of results of HLM, and the interpretation of HLM results that resonates with practice. We used an example of a 3-level model from the National Study of Living Learning Programs to highlight the practical issues that arise in the interpretation of HLM within a higher education context.     

Statistical reform: Evidence‐based practice,meta‐analyses,and single subject designs

Evidence‐based practice approaches to interventions has come of age and promises to provide a new standard of excellence for school psychologists. This article describes several definitions of evidence‐based practice and the problems associated with traditional statistical analyses that rely on rejection of the null hypothesis for the establishment of invention effectiveness. Meta‐analysis as an approach to ascertain EBPs is reviewed along with the inherent difficulties associated with single subject design research such as autocorrelations. Four meta‐analytic approaches are reviewed which include Percentage of Nonoverlapping Data points (PND), the Busk and Serlin: Assumption models, ITSACORR, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). HLM is offered as the most promising approach for the analysis for single subject designs. Monte Carlo simulations are modeled with varying degrees of autocorrelations, differing numbers of data points, and simulated effects sizes to show that HLM is an acceptable approach for controlling the risk of Type I errors. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 483–493, 2007.     

Technology-enhanced mathematics instruction: A second-order meta-analysis of 30 years of research

It is important to assess the cumulative effects of technology on student achievement captured in the last 30 years of technologyenhanced mathematics instruction. Synthesizing the thousands of articles and gray literature on this subject is necessary but would require a considerable commitment of academic resources. A second-order metaanalysis or meta-analysis of meta-analyses is an alternative that is reasonable and effective. Thus, a second-order meta-analysis of 19 prior meta-analyses with minimum overlap between primary studies was conducted. The results represent 663 primary studies (approximately 141,733 participants) and 1,263 effect sizes. The random effects' mean effect size of .38 was statistically significantly different from zero. The results provide a historical and contextualized summary of 30 years of meta-analytic research, which supports meta-analytic thinking and better interpretation of future effect sizes. Results indicate that technology function and study quality are major contributors to effect size variation. Specifically, computation enhancement technologies were most effective, while studies that examine combinations of enhancements were least effective. Implications for technology-enhanced mathematics instruction and meta-analytic research are provided.     

Linking Life and Literature in Early Childhood Settings

Using an example of a toddler’s developing understanding of an apple, this article illustrates how children integrate all elements in their interpersonal and built environments to support their emerging literacy skills. Otto (2007) and others provide evidence from emergent literacy research that documents observations and exploration by infants, toddlers, and young children and suggest that the ways in which children participate in early literature-related activities influence the knowledge they construct. Twenty-two children’s books—including five for apple discoverers—are recommended and reviewed.     

If We Teach Them, They Can Learn: Young Students Views of Nature of Science During an Informal Science Education Program

There have been substantial reform efforts in science education to improve students’ understandings of science and its processes and provide continual support for students becoming scientifically literate (AAAS, Benchmarks for science literacy, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993; NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996; NSTA, NSTA position statement: The nature of science, , 2000). Despite previous research, it is still unclear whether young children are actually developmentally ready to conceptualize the ideas that are recommended in the reforms (Akerson and Volrich, J Res Sci Teach 43:377–394, 2006). The purpose of this study was to explore how explicit-reflective instruction could improve young students’ understanding of NOS. During an informal education setting, the authors taught NOS aspects using explicit-reflective instruction. Overall the students participating in the program improved their understanding of the target aspects of NOS through use of explicit reflective instruction. However, the levels of improvement varied across different aspects. Students improved the most in their understanding of the tentative nature of science and the roles of observation in scientific work, although there was still some confusion regarding the distinction between observation and inference. More work needs to be done exploring these specific topics and the role explicit reflective practice can play in identifying the particular problems students have in distinguishing these constructs.     

What Does Distributed Cognition Tell Us about Student Learning of Science?

This paper reports multi-layered analyses of student learning in a science classroom using the theoretical lens of Distributed Cognition (Hollan et al. 1999; Hutchins 1995). Building on the insights generated from previous research employing Distributed Cognition, the particular focus of this study has been placed on the “public space of interaction” (Alac and Hutchins 2004, p. 639) that includes both participants’ interaction with each other and their interaction with artefacts in their environment. In this paper, a lesson from an Australian science classroom was examined in detail, in which a class of grade-seven students were investigating the scientific theme of gravity by designing pendulums. The video-stimulated post-lesson interviews with both the teacher and the student groups offered complementary accounts (Clarke 2001a) that assisted the interpretation of the classroom data. The findings of this study provide supporting evidence to demonstrate the capacity of Distributed Cognition for advancing our understanding of the nature of learning in science classrooms.     

Danish and Finnish PISA results in a comparative, qualitative perspective: How can the stable and distinct differences between the Danish and Finnish PISA results be explained?

The research project presented in this article was designed to provide a better understanding of the stable and significant differences in the PISA results between two otherwise very similar Nordic welfare states, Denmark and Finland. In the PISA studies, Finnish students repeatedly achieve the highest Nordic (and partly worldwide) scores in e.g. reading, science and math, while Danish students score lower. Even though Denmark has one of the world’s most expensive educational systems, the OECD ranks the Finnish school system as the world’s best both in terms of quality and equity (OECD 2004). The basic research question is why these differences continue to persist. The case study methodology was mainly inspired by Kirsti Klette’s classroom research (Klette 2003) which involves both interviews and observations. Thus, the overall design could be labeled mixed methods (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie Educational Researcher, 33(7): 14-26, 2004). Five regular public schools in each country were sampled for the comparative classroom studies. The basic theoretical approaches follow Hundeide’s theory of pedagogical communication and relations (2003) and Csikszentmihalyi’s flow-theory (1992). Both this study and statistical studies (S?rensen 2008) show that the difference in the Danish and Finnish PISA results mainly consists in the relatively better score by the lowest scoring 25% of the Finnish pupils compared to the lowest scoring Danish quartile. The results of this study point to a number of possible classroom related reasons why the Finnish school system can produce a better outcome for the lowest scoring quartile of pupils. These reasons are presented and discussed in the article. The study underlines the need to focus more on good classroom management in Denmark—and recommends further international, comparative research in order better to understand the huge differences shown in large scale international programmes such as PISA, PIRLS and TIMMS. The study also reveal the need for more knowledge about inclusive classroom practices, the use of teacher assistants and free, healthy school meals for all pupils.     

The Big-fish–little-pond-effect Stands Up to Critical Scrutiny: Implications for Theory, Methodology, and Future Research

The big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts (ASCs) when attending schools where the average ability levels of classmates is high, and higher ASCs when attending schools where the school-average ability is low. BFLPE findings are remarkably robust, generalizing over a wide variety of different individual student and contextual level characteristics, settings, countries, long-term follow-ups, and research designs. Because of the importance of ASC in predicting future achievement, coursework selection, and educational attainment, the results have important implications for the way in which schools are organized (e.g., tracking, ability grouping, academically selective schools, and gifted education programs). In response to Dai and Rinn (Educ. Psychol. Rev., 2008), we summarize the theoretical model underlying the BFLPE, minimal conditions for testing the BFLPE, support for its robust generalizability, its relation to social comparison theory, and recent research extending previous implications, demonstrating that the BFLPE stands up to scrutiny. Quotations (associated page numbers) to the Dai and Rinn (2008) article are based on a prepublication version of the article available to the authors of this article that may have changed during the final preparation for publication. The authors would also like to express thanks to David Dai and Anne Rinn for their encouragement and assistance to us in preparation of our article, whilst still acknowledging that they might not agree will all the views expressed here.     

An Innovative Course Featuring Action Research Integrated with Unifying Science Themes

In this article, we describe an innovative capstone course for preservice K-8 teachers integrating action research and a unifying theme in science (AAAS in Science for all Americans. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989; NRC in National science education standards. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996). The goals of the capstone course are to increase student knowledge of the unifying theme, improve written communication skills, and introduce students to educational research. We provide evidence that each of these goals is met. Student growth in theme knowledge is demonstrated through concept maps, questionnaires, and previously reported assessments. Improved writing ability is demonstrated using the spelling and grammar checking feature of Microsoft Word. The analysis of action research reports demonstrates that students are able to connect their action research project results to previous research.     

Executive Function and Reading Comprehension: A Meta-Analytic Review

This article presents a meta-analytic review of the relation between executive function and reading comprehension. Results (N = 6,673) supported a moderate positive association between executive function and reading comprehension (r = .36). Moderator analyses suggested that correlations between executive function and reading comprehension did not vary systematically by age range, type of executive function measure used, type of reading comprehension measure used, or whether the study was a dissertation or a published article but did vary by type of executive function examined in the studies. Studies linking specific executive functions with reading comprehension are then reviewed. The article concludes by discussing implications for a theoretical model of reading comprehension as well as for future research.     

If We Teach Them, They Can Learn: Young Students Views of Nature of Science Aspects to Early Elementary Students During an Informal Science Education Program

There have been substantial reform efforts in science education to improve students’ understandings of science and its processes and provide continual support for students becoming scientifically literate (American Association for the Advancement of Science in Benchmarks for science literacy, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993; National Research Council in Mathematics and science education around the world, National Academy Press, Washington DC, 1996; National Science Teachers Association in NSTA position statement 2000). Despite previous research, it is still unclear whether young children are actually developmentally ready to conceptualize the ideas that are recommended in the reforms (Akerson V, Volrich M (2006) Journal of Research and Science Teaching, 43, 377–394). The purpose of this study was to explore how explicit-reflective instruction could improve young students’ understanding of NOS. During an informal education setting, the authors taught NOS aspects using explicit-reflective instruction. Overall the students participating in the program improved their understanding of the target aspects of NOS through use of explicit reflective instruction. However, the levels of improvement varied across different aspects. Students improved the most in their understanding of the tentative nature of science and the roles of observation in scientific work, although there was still some confusion regarding the distinction between observation and inference. More work needs to be done exploring these specific topics and the role explicit reflective practice can play in identifying the particular problems students have in distinguishing these constructs.     

Holocaust education in Jewish schools in Israel: Goals, dilemmas, challenges

Research has shown the Holocaust to be the primary component of Jewish identity (Farago in Yahadut Zmanenu 5:259–285, 1989; Gross in Influence of the trip to Poland within the framework of the Ministry of Education on the working through of the Holocaust. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, 2000; Herman in Jewish identity: A socio-psychological perspective, Sage, Beverly Hills, 1977; Levy et al. in Beliefs, observations and social interaction among Israeli Jews. Louis Guttman Israel Institute of Applied Social Research (Hebrew), Jerusalem, 1993; Ofer in Jews in Israel: Contemporary social and cultural patterns. Brandeis University Press, Hanover and London, pp. 394–417, 2004a) and to contribute significantly to Jewish Israelis’ sense of belonging to the Jewish people. Though the Holocaust is a central event in Jewish history, Holocaust education is mandatory in the state education system in Israel, and some research has investigated the impact of this education, the field has not been conceptualized systematically (Blatman in Bishvilei haZikaron 7:15–16, 1995; Feldman in Bishvilei haZikaron 7:8–11, 1995; Ofer in Jewish Educ 10:87–108, 2004b; Schatzker in Int J Polit Educ 5(1): 75–82, 1982). This article attempts to organize the existing knowledge on the subject through a meta-analysis of the foundations and basic premises of Holocaust education in Israel, using the most important literature in the area. It first suggests a conceptual framework, organizing by period the changing attitudes toward the Holocaust in general and Holocaust education in particular. It then describes Holocaust education over the years, and finally analyzes the goals of Holocaust education, along with its major dilemmas and challenges.     

Teaching Environmental Education through PBL: Evaluation of a Teaching Intervention Program

If our chosen aim in science education is to be inclusive and to improve students’ learning achievements, then we must identify teaching methodologies that are appropriate for teaching and learning specific knowledge. Karagiorgi and Symeo (2005) remind us that instructional designers are thus challenged to translate the philosophy of constructivism into current practice. Thus, research in science education must focus on evaluating intervention programs which ensure the effective construction of knowledge and development of competencies. The present study reports the elaboration, application and evaluation of a problem-based learning (PBL) program with the aim of examining its effectiveness with students learning Environmental Education. Prior research on both PBL and Environmental Education (EE) was conducted within the context of science education so as to elaborate and construct the intervention program. Findings from these studies indicated both the PBL methodology and EE as helpful for teachers and students. PBL methodology has been adopted in this study since it is logically incorporated in a constructivism philosophy application (Hendry et al. 1999) and it was expected that this approach would assist students towards achieving a specific set of competencies (Engel 1997). On the other hand, EE has evolved at a rapid pace within many countries in the new millennium (Hart 2007), unlike any other educational area. However, many authors still appear to believe that schools are failing to prepare students adequately in EE (Walsche 2008; Winter 2007). The following section describes the research that was conducted in both areas so as to devise the intervention program.     

Protest Reconsidered: Identifying Democratic and Civic Engagement Learning Outcomes

Using a case study approach, the authors examine the democratic and civic engagement learning outcomes of a campus protest. The conceptual framework is built on the ideas outlined in Learning Reconsidered (Keeling 2004) and modeled in its pragmatic follow-up, Learning Reconsidered 2 (Keeling 2006). Results suggest student and campus administrator actions during a campus protest support democratic aims, student development, and digital age democracy. Recommendations for campus educators are included. This study extends previous discussion on activism’s journey from detrimental to developmental (Astin 1999; Chambers & Phelps 1993; Hamrick 1998; Hunter 1988) by mapping the learning environment through the interaction of protestor and university and by incorporating new forms of activism. J. Patrick Biddix  received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with specialization in Higher Education from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He is currently Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Research Methodology in the Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology at Valdosta State University. His primary research interests include college student uses of technology outside the classroom, career pathways in student affairs, and research methodology. Patricia A. Somers  received her Ph.D. in Educational Administration with specialization in Higher Education from the University of New Orleans. She is currently an Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary research interests include college access, student persistence, student development theory, and two-year colleges. Joseph L. Polman  received his Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Technology in the Division of Teaching and Learning at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. His primary research interests include inquiry-based learning involving computers and the Internet as tools, viewed from a sociocultural perspective.     

On negotiating White science: a call for cultural relevance and critical reflexivity

This article is a response to Randy Yerrick and Joseph Johnson’s article “Negotiating White Science in Rural Black America: A Case for Navigating the Landscape of Teacher Knowledge Domains”. They write about research conducted by Yerrick in which videos of his teaching practice as a White educator in a predominately Black rural classroom were examined. Their analysis is framed through Shulman’s (1986) work on “domains of teacher knowledge” and Ladson-Billings’ (1999) critical race theory (CRT). Although we appreciate a framework that attends to issues of power, such as CRT, we see a heavier emphasis on Shulman’s work in their analysis. We argue that a culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) framework has the potential to provide a more nuanced analysis of what occurred in Yerrick’s classroom from a critical lens. Thus we examine Yerrick and Johnson’s work through the five main CRP components (as defined by Brown-Jeffy and Cooper 2011) and ultimately argue that science educators who want to promote equity in their classrooms should engage in continuous critical reflexivity, aid students in claiming voice, and encourage students to become not only producers of scientific knowledge but also users and critics of such knowledge.     

Testing the Intervention Effect in Single-Case Experiments: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

This article reports on a Monte Carlo simulation study, evaluating two approaches for testing the intervention effect in replicated randomized AB designs: two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and using the additive method to combine randomization test p values (RTcombiP). Four factors were manipulated: mean intervention effect, number of cases included in a study, number of measurement occasions for each case, and between-case variance. Under the simulated conditions, Type I error rate was under control at the nominal 5% level for both HLM and RTcombiP. Furthermore, for both procedures, a larger number of combined cases resulted in higher statistical power, with many realistic conditions reaching statistical power of 80% or higher. Smaller values for the between-case variance resulted in higher power for HLM. A larger number of data points resulted in higher power for RTcombiP.