Using Propensity Scores for Estimating Causal Effects: A Study in the Development of Moral Reasoning

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the use of propensity scores for creating comparison groups, partially controlling for pretreatment course selection bias, and estimating the treatment effects of selected courses on the development of moral reasoning in undergraduate students. Specifically, we used a sample of convenience for comparing differences in moral reasoning development scores among students enrolled in intergroup dialogue, service learning, psychology and philosophy courses with those of an introductory sociology course. Adopting a propensity score approach included reviewing the empirical literature for its guidance in substantiating the reasons for including pretreatment variables (i.e., pretreatment course-taking behaviors, race, sex, political identification, need for cognition, major, age, pretreatment moral reasoning scores) in our analysis, measuring these variables, and reducing them into a single composite propensity score for each student in our analytic sample. This score then served as the basis for creating a new comparison group and for allowing us to estimate unbiased (or less biased) course-related treatment effects on moral reasoning development. Implications for higher education researchers are discussed.

Lasting Leadership: A Study of High Leadership Capacity Schools

This report is about a study of high leadership capacity schools and those in the process of becoming such a school. Schools were selected for participation in the study based on the leadership capacity characteristics they possessed and evidence of improved and sustained student performance, professional cultures, and shared leadership dynamics. Analysis of the data examines the features, underlying factors, relationships, and patterns that contribute to leadership capacity for lasting school improvement. Ultimately, this is a story of educational leadership.     

Building Validity Evidence for Scores on a State-Wide Alternate Assessment: A Contrasting Groups, Multimethod Approach

The relationships between ratings on the Idaho Alternate Assessment (IAA) for 116 students with significant disabilities and corresponding ratings for the same students on two norm-referenced teacher rating scales were examined to gain evidence about the validity of resulting IAA scores. To contextualize these findings, another group of 54 students who had disabilities, but were not officially eligible for the alternate assessment also was assessed. Evidence to support the validity of the inferences about IAA scores was mixed, yet promising. Specifically, the relationship among the reading, language arts, and mathematics achievement level ratings on the IAA and the concurrent scores on the ACES-Academic Skills scales for the eligible students varied across grade clusters, but in general were moderate. These findings provided evidence that IAA scales measure skills indicative of the state's content standards. This point was further reinforced by moderate to high correlations between the IAA and Idaho State Achievement Test (ISAT) for the not eligible students. Additional evidence concerning the valid use of the IAA was provided by logistic regression results that the scores do an excellent job of differentiating students who were eligible from those not eligible to participate in an alternate assessment. The collective evidence for the validity of the IAA scores suggests it is a promising assessment for NCLB accountability of students with significant disabilities. The methods of establishing this evidence have the potential to advance validation efforts of other states' alternate assessments.     

高中学业水平考试评价标准体系研究——以北京市为例

考试评价研究的科学、全面发展,对促进基础教育的均衡发展、减轻学生负担、提高教育教学质量都将产生重要影响。本文以设计和构建高中学业水平考试的评价标准为切入点,建立试卷评价量表,使评价过程标准化以及评价结果可量化,并展示了试卷定性评价与定量数据分析结果,形成试卷质量评价报告的过程,同时为开展个性化的学生诊断评价提供了参考依据。对高中学业水平考试评价标准体系的研究,可以解决招生考试评价标准不足的问题,以期促进新一轮考试招生制度改革顺利实施。     

高中课堂演示型多媒体课件评价指标体系研究

建立科学、系统、有效的课堂演示型多媒体课件评价指标体系,可为设计开发者诊断出多媒体课件存在的问题及广大用户选择多媒体课件提供重要依据,对大范围推广使用合格和优秀的多媒体课件,以及进一步改进和提高多媒体课件质量具有现实意义。     

试论网络时代的高校思想政治教育

网络技术的迅猛发展在给高校思想政治教育带来好处的同时,也带来一些不利的影响,高校德育工作者必须抓住机遇,应对挑战,将高校思想政治教育与网络技术的发展有机结合起来,努力探索高校思想政治教育的新途径。     

非英语专业四级高分者与低分者学习策略差异研究

通过问卷调查的形式,以非英语专业学生四级高分者与低分者为对象,对两者英语学习策略的差异及其与大学英语四级成绩的相关性进行了调查研究,利用SPSS12.0软件对统计数据进行了分析,独立样本t检验结果表明,两者在6种学习策略的使用方面有统计上的显著性差异;相关分析结果表明,两者学习策略与四级成绩有不同程度的相关性.     

新课程背景下对高中英语教师的培训初探——对宜宾市高中英语教师的调查分析

目前,我国基础教育课程已经经历了八次改革。在推行新课程改革的过程中,教师的地位和作用不能忽视。本文根据基础教育课程改革和高中英语新课程标准的要求,对宜宾市高中英语教师关注的热点以及其所在中学改革的现状和难点进行了抽样调查,分析得出目前教师们急需培训的几个方面,以帮助师范院校对高中教师进行更有针对性的师资培训,推进基础教育课程改革更顺利地进行。     

Factors Affecting Students' Acceptance of Tablet PCs: A Study in Italian High Schools

To maximize the advantages of the tablet personal computer (TPC) at school, this technology needs to be accepted by students as new tool for learning. With reference to the Technology Acceptance Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the aims of this study were (a) to analyze factors influencing high school students' acceptance of TPCs and (b) to detect any difference in this influence considering the frequency of TPC use, students' gender, and school grade. Two hundred and ninety-six students from six high schools in the Milan area participated in the study. Data were collected using an online survey. The results showed that empowerment in learning, perceived usefulness, and support conditions affect learning use, and empowerment in learning and affect influence communicative use of TPCs. The implications of these results are discussed. (Keywords: tablets, acceptance, digital technologies, high school, path analysis)     

A Study of Student Disciplinarian Practices in Two Georgia High Schools

Abstract

In thin study pupil control Ideology was conceptualized along: a continuum ranging from “custodialism” at one “extreme to “humanism” at the other. Hypotheses were deduced from a conceptual framework which emphasized the saliency of client control in organizations with unselected clients. Data for student teachers (N = 282) were collected from students who completed their student teaching experience during the 1065-06 school year at Oklahoma State University; the instruments were administered and completed in group meetings both before and after student teaching. It was hypothesized that student teachers would be significantly more custodial in their pupil control Ideology after the student teaching experience than before; separate tests of the hypothesis were made at both the elementary and secondary levels. Ail hypotheses tested were confirmed at a level of significance beyond the .001 level.     

中学语文诵读教学浅论

诵读教学是我国经久不衰的语文传统教学法,在素质教育的今天,仍然具有深远的历史意义和深刻的现实意义.因此,中学语文开展诵读教学十分必要.应从诵读的技巧方法、诵读兴趣、诵读时理解作品遣词造句的妙处、注意作品的风格、理解作品思想感情、展开联想等六个方面进行教学实践,以取得理想的诵读效果.     

遵义市中学生体育学习掌握程度研究

运用文献法、问卷调查法等,对遵义市十三个县市区80所中学学生体育学习掌握程度现状进行了调查和分析。结果表明：目前遵义市中学生体育课学习掌握程度不高。主要体现在学生学习积极性不高;学校对体育课的重视程度不够;体育教师的整体素质不高,体育教师的工作热情不够;体育经费不足且地区差异显著;体育场地、器材严重短缺;课外体育活动质量不高。为了提高遵义市中学体育教学质量,针对存在的问题提出了相应对策和措施。     

高中物理教师素质结构研究

教师是教育思想与教学内容的组织者、实施者与创造者,是进行素质教育的关键因素,本文结合基础教育及物理教学改革和发展的趋势以及素质教育的要求,提出了高中物理教师应具备的素质结构是良好的职业理想、先进的教育观念、合理的知识结构、创造性的能力结构以及健康的身体心理素质。     

Building a Reading Culture in a Singapore School: Identifying Spaces for Change Through a Socio-spatial Approach

Research tells us that reading is correlated to academic achievement but how do we motivate students to read? How can schools build reading cultures? Through the case study of a government secondary school in Singapore, I examine how attention to the invisible network of resources that support reading can provide insight into students’ resources for reading, both at home and in school. Additionally, I explain, through the mapping of the school library as a reading space, how a socio-spatial approach that maps the physical, social and affective spaces of the library can provide a framework for strategic and focused action to cultivate a school’s reading culture.     

The Influence of Teacher Expectations about Twice-Exceptional Students on the Use of High Quality Gifted Curriculum: A Case Study Approach

Twice-exceptional students show evidence of high academic performance or potential and also have a disability that impedes their ability to learn. Twice-exceptional students remain under-represented in gifted programs, and some researchers attribute such under-representation to the negative beliefs and low expectations about twice-exceptional students held by teachers. While researchers have begun to investigate the curricular models and instructional strategies that are effective for twice-exceptional students, little research addresses how teacher beliefs and expectations about student ability are reflected in the ways teachers implement such models and strategies for twice-exceptional students in gifted classrooms. Even less research addresses gifted students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. We used a case study of a third-grade teacher using a structured, model-based language arts curriculum to better understand how her expectations about a gifted student with an emotional disability influenced her instructional choices. Using observational and interview data, the case study approach allowed the researchers to personalize the experiences of this teacher and provided a context in which to examine the subtleties of teacher expectations when teaching a gifted student with an emotional disability. Implications for educational practice, particularly the need for comprehensive school-based support systems for students with emotional disabilities, are discussed.     

藏区中学双语教学现状、问题及对策研究——以Z县藏族中学为例

以Z县藏族中学为例讨论了藏区中学双语教学的发展状况,深刻分析了藏区中学双语教学在目前存在的问题,并就如何推行双语教学提出了加大宣传力度、调整课程设置、科学编制教材、长远规划教学理论等有效对策。     

高中英语课堂话语中的教师提问研究(英文)

教师提问是课堂话语中非常普遍的活动,也是发起课堂互动的一种最常见形式。基于Sinclair和Coulthard提出的IRF课堂交互模式及对2位高中教师4堂英语课堂的观察和分析,该文总结了高中英语课堂教师提问存在的问题:所提问题类型单一;回答问题的机会分配不均;缺乏等待时间和不恰当的回馈与评价,并提出一些建设性的解决措施,以促进学生的批判性思维和在课堂互动中创造更多、更丰富的协商机会。     

巧借它山之石--谈高中美术欣赏教学中的知识迁移

章论述了怎样在美术教学中有意识地迁移音乐、学、政治、历史、自然学科和生活阅历等相关知识，丰富课堂内容，以优化高中美术欣赏课效果，提出了高中美术欣赏保的教师应是：“艺术家 教育 学”型人才。