“Mind the gap”: cultural revitalisation and educational change

The success or failure of a school reform can be measured by whether the reform has become an accepted, effective, and sustainable part of the school's culture. For example, as the National Middle School Association (2003 National Middle School Association. 2003. Research and resources in support of “This we Believe”, Westerville, OH: Author.  [Google Scholar]) argued, “new programs must become integral to the school culture” (p. 11) before a school can call itself a “middle” school. But how can a school monitor its progress, and at what point can a school claim that a new reform or new programme has become part of its culture? Wallace's revitalisation theory (1956), Hall and Hord's Processural Structure (1986) and Hall, Wallace, and Dossett's Concerns-Based Adoption Model (1973) are used to describe the cultural revitalisation taking place with the introduction of middle schooling into Australia and specifically within 3 Queensland middle schools. Results have highlighted gaps and tension points that need to be resolved before any widespread cultural transformation can be claimed.     

Training Advanced Writing Skills: The Case for Deliberate Practice

The development of advanced writing skills has been neglected in schools of the United States, with even some college graduates lacking the level of ability required in the workplace (National Commission on Writing, 2003 National Commission on Writing. April 2003. The neglected “R”: The need for a writing revolution April, Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http://www.writingcommission.org/prod_downloads/writingcom/neglectedr.pdf [Google Scholar], 2004 National Commission on Writing. September 2004. Writing: A ticket to work… or a ticket out: A survey of business leaders September, Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http://www.writingcommission.org/prod_downloads/writingcom/writing-ticket-to-work.pdf [Google Scholar]). The core problem, we argue, is an insufficient degree of appropriate task practice distributed throughout the secondary and higher education curriculum. We draw on the power law of skill acquisition, the role of deliberate practice in expert performance, and the uniquely intensive demands that advanced written composition place on working memory to make this case. A major impediment to assigning enough writing tasks is the time and effort involved in grading papers to provide feedback. We close by considering possible solutions to the grading problem.     

Early College Awareness as an Enrollment Management Strategy

The Institute of Medicine and The Educated Citizen and Public Health Initiative suggest that an understanding of public health is a core component of an educated public and is necessary to develop social responsibility (Association of American Colleges and Universities [AAC&;U], 2011 Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&;U) . ( 2011 ). The educated citizen and public health . Retrieved from http://www.aacu.org/public_health/  [Google Scholar]; National Research Council, 2003 National Research Council . ( 2003 ). Who will keep the public healthy? Educating public health professionals for the 21 st century (Consensus report). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.  [Google Scholar]). To respond to this call, the University of New Hampshire collaborated with faculty from the New Hampshire Community College System to introduce the public health field through a course called Global Public Health Issues. This article will discuss the development, implementation, and evaluation of a public health course between a two-year and four-year college. It will also discuss the potential for such a partnership and public health course to encourage life-long learning and a commitment to social responsibility, allow for new course/major/minor development in public health, enable faculty to expand their expertise, broaden the attractiveness of two-year colleges, and introduce a vocation-based student population to the value of public health and the public health workforce.     

Writing Experiences of Community College Students with Self-Reported Writing Anxieties and Linguistic Insecurity: A Perspective for College Counselors

This explanatory case study researched the writing experiences of 11 community college students who differed subculturally and who were all part of the African diasporic community. The theoretical perspectives used for this study were Arthur Chickering's (1969 Chickering , A. ( 1969 ). Education and identity , (2nd ed.) . San Francisco , CA : John Wiley & Sons . [Google Scholar]) classical concept of academic competence and community dialect theory (Baxter & Holland, 2007 Baxter , M. , & Holland , R. (2007). Addressing the needs of students who use a nonstandard dialect. Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal , 1(3), 145–153. [Google Scholar]). Academic competence is a stage in college that explores how students learn acquired skills for educational attainment. Community dialect theory argues that African American dialect writers have a low-to-some awareness of how their dialect differs from standard English in the area of subject-verb agreement. Two research questions guided this inquiry: (a) How does Black English influence writing anxiety in academic settings? (b) Why should college counselors have a strategy to assist students who express fears of enrolling in remedial English? A mixed method strategy was used to gather the data. This strategy consisted of a qualitative interview, and two educational tests. The study found that most of the students had a low awareness of how their dialect differed from standard English. Furthermore, Black English directly induced writing anxiety in academic settings for this group of community college students. Their writing anxieties and insecurities were detected by the words and situational experiences these students related during the interviews. In addition, college counselors should have an intervention strategy in place for this population of students to reduce the gap between academic competence and students of African descent who are dialect writers with writing anxieties and linguistic insecurities in academic settings.     

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.     

Educating ‘the new Norwegian we’: an examination of national and cosmopolitan education policy discourses in the context of extremism and Islamophobia

Across Europe there are growing concerns about Islamophobia and far-right and anti-democratic movements. Until Anders Behring Breivik’s July 2011 attacks in which 77 died, Norway’s vulnerability was not perceived as great as that of other jurisdictions. Breivik declared his abhorrence of multiculturalism but also drew the world’s attention to intolerance and xenophobia in Europe, increasingly directed towards Muslims. In response, Prime Minister Stoltenberg spoke widely of ‘the new Norwegian we’, cautioning against exclusionary discourses and underlining that minorities are an equal part of Norwegian society. This paper examines education policy in the context both of extreme right political activity and national and international debates about nationalism and cosmopolitanism, considering ways in which policy supports an inclusive notion of nationhood, and ways in which it promotes an exclusive model of national identity. Drawing on framing questions from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s 1995 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (1995). National case studies final guidelines. Amsterdam: IEA. [Google Scholar] civic education study, relating to national identity and social cohesion, it examines how programmes address social cohesion, human rights, cultural diversity, and conceptualise minorities. It assesses the effectiveness of cross-curricular approaches to contribute to justice and equality and challenge racism in a multicultural society, proposing an inclusive model of education for cosmopolitan citizenship, which incorporates diversity.     

Revisiting “The Master's Tools”: Challenging Common Sense in Cross-Cultural Teacher Education

Although school climate has been thought to be especially important for racial minority and poor students (Booker, 2006 Booker, K. C. 2006. School belonging and the African American adolescent: What do we know and where should we go?. The High School Journal, 89(4): 1–7. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Haynes, Emmons, &; Ben-Avie, 1997 Haynes, N. M., Emmons, C. and Ben-Avie, M. 1997. School climate as a factor in student adjustment and achievement. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 8(3): 321–329. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), little research has explored the significance of racial climate for these students. Furthermore, research in the area has tended to treat race, socioeconomic class, and gender separately, ignoring the ways in which they interact. Using quantitative survey data from 842 African American and white middle school students, this study examined the associations of race, class, and gender with school racial climate perceptions. Results indicated students’ perceptions of racial climate differed by race, class, and gender. African American, poor, and female students perceived the racial climate in more negative terms than their white, non-poor, and male counterparts, respectively. Results also indicated joint associations between race and class and climate perceptions. Non-poor, African American students perceived a more negative racial climate than did non-poor Whites. There was limited support for a race and gender interaction. African American females tended to perceive less racial fairness in school than African American males. We discuss the conceptual and methodological tradeoffs of examining students’ school racial climate perceptions from a perspective that considers race, class, and gender jointly.     

The conflicts and contradictions of working in a mass higher education system

Education must be a force for opportunity and social justice, not for the entrenchment of privilege. We must make certain that the opportunities that higher education brings are available to all those who have the potential to benefit from them, regardless of their background (DfES, 2003 Department for Education and Skills. 2003. The Future of Higher Education, London: The Stationery Office. Cm 5735 [Google Scholar] : 67).

We will continue to widen participation in higher education and encourage students of all backgrounds with academic potential to go to university (Queen’s Speech, 15 November 2006).     

An evaluative case study of the dilemmas experienced in designing a self‐assessment strategy for Community Nursing students

The Dearing Report’s (1997 Dearing, R. 1997. Higher education in the learning society: report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. (Chair) [Google Scholar]) radical proposals challenged lecturers in higher education to develop innovative assessment strategies. This paper explores the dilemmas experienced by one teaching team in designing and implementing a student self‐assessment strategy within a community nursing degree programme. The paper reviews the impact on students’ sense of autonomy and critical thinking skills. In addition, it considers, in depth, the risks associated with developing and implementing a strategy involving self‐assessment. Drawing on a range of sources it examines the drivers for the initiative, the response from the range of stakeholders involved and the impact on the student experience. The academic team found that developing such a creative initiative is time consuming, provokes anxiety and requires extensive negotiation and collaboration between academic and practice colleagues. However, the adoption of a self‐assessment initiative has a significant effect on students’ critical thinking skills and warrants the effort.     

Measurement Issues in the Alignment of Standards and Assessments

Abstract

This study examined the impact of rater agreement on decisions concerning the alignment between the Golden State Examination in High School Mathematics (California Department of Education, 2001a Academic Senate of the California State University. 1997. Statement on competencies in mathematics expected of entering college students Sacramento, CA: Author.  [Google Scholar]) and the University of California (UC) Statement on Competencies in Mathematics Expected of Entering College Students (Academic Senate of the California State University, 1997 Academic Senate of the California State University. 1997. Statement on competencies in mathematics expected of entering college students Sacramento, CA: Author.  [Google Scholar]). The UC faculty and high school mathematics teachers (N = 20) rated the mathematics items of the Golden State Examination relative to the expectations identified in the UC competency statement, identifying item features related to content and dimensionality. Raters assigned values for a primary topic, a secondary topic, item/topic centrality, and depth of knowledge. Agreement within these criteria was the basis of the assessment of alignment. Results showed considerable variability in judgments across raters and different pictures of alignment depending on the particular subset of raters providing the ratings. A few differences emerged between rater types.     

For Love of the Word: English Teaching,Affect and Writing1

Research in the UK, USA and Australia confirms that secondary English practising and pre‐service teachers are typically characterised as great readers. Indeed the subject position of English teacher entails a ‘love’ of reading (Peel, R., Patterson, A. & Gerlach (Eds), 2000 Peel, R. 2000. “Beliefs about ‘English’, in England,”. In Questions of English: Ethics, Aesthetics, Rhetoric and the Formation of the Subject in England, Australia and the United States, Edited by: Peel, R, Patterson, A and Gerlach. 116–188. London: Routledge/Falmer.  [Google Scholar]). However there is no corollary with writing. Few English teachers are simultaneously ‘writers’ in any sustained, pleasurable or publicly successful ways. This paper examines data gathered from pre‐service secondary English teachers and from experienced teachers who are also writers about their own writing practices and experiences and looks at the relationship between these issues of affect and pedagogy. Embodied and positive affects—characterised as ‘love’, ‘passion’ and ‘immersion’ in writing—are prominent features of the stories told by accomplished writers. Love of ‘the word’, including a love of reading, and a productive tension between form and freedom, are further threads in the discursive textures of their stories of coming to writing.     

Theoretically Based Pedagogical Strategies Leading to Deep Learning in Asynchronous Online Gerontology Courses

Online learning has enjoyed increasing popularity in gerontology. This paper presents instructional strategies grounded in Fink's (2003 Fink , L. D. ( 2003 ). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses . San Francisco : Jossey Bass . [Google Scholar]) theory of significant learning designed for the completely asynchronous online gerontology classroom. It links these components with the development of mastery learning goals and provides specific guidelines for incorporating these principles into each aspect of the online classroom such as the syllabus and presentation areas (class announcements, lectures, conferences, study groups). Strategies for cultivating connection to promote learning and retention in the online classroom and directions for future research on these pedagogical strategies are proposed.     

Animal Research on Campus: Reflections on My Experience in the Field

In this essay, I discuss my experience as a member of my university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Using Blum’s (2016 Blum, S. (2016). “I love learning, I hate school”: An anthropology of college. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [Google Scholar]) model of experiential learning (or “learning in the wild”), I reflect on the connected processes of reading, thinking, seeing, hearing, smelling, talking, and listening that were the basis for my education about the use of animals for research on university campuses. In conclusion, I suggest that faculty members, staff members, and students have an obligation to understand, and work to change, the lives of the animals who exist among us.     

INTRODUCTION: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES AFFECTING PRE- AND POSTRETIREMENT AMONG COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY FACULTY

ABSTRACT

The aging of college and university faculties mirrors general demographic trends in the United States (Administration on Aging, 2003 Administration on Aging . ( 2003 ). A profile of older Americans . Retrieved August 25, 2004 from www.aoa.gov/prof/statistics/profile/2003/2003profile  [Google Scholar]). It also presents unique issues and challenges that reflect the work and retirement patterns of professors and the nature of academe itself (TIAA-CREF Institute, 2004 TIAA-CREF Institute . ( 2004 , Spring ). Recruitment, retention, and retirement: Institute's conference focuses on higher education's three Rs . Quarterly , 4 – 7 . [Google Scholar]). There have been major economic and policy changes of the past decade, including the uncapping or elimination of the mandatory retirement age for professors, the erosion of financial support for many public institutions of higher education, the use of more part-time and contract faculty, and the soaring costs of health care. These have all impacted college and university faculty and the institutions that they serve. This theme issue addresses the impact of some of those trends, and offers possible solutions to the complex issues that they raise.     

An Exploration of Pre-Service Teachers' Experiences in Outdoor ‘Places’ and Intentions for Teaching in the Outdoors

This study explores pre-service teachers' past interactions with ‘place’ in outdoor settings and how these experiences contribute to their current perceptions of the importance of taking their own students into the outdoors. Specifically, the researchers were interested in investigating if current pre-service teachers are part of the ‘nature-deficit disorder' generation described by Louv in his book, Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder (2005 Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books. [Google Scholar]), as a generation of children growing up without direct experiences in nature. Study participants included 148 undergraduate pre-service elementary teachers enrolled in science teaching methods instructional courses at an urban college in the Northeastern United States and two suburban universities in the Southeastern United States. Participants wrote essay responses after reading Louv's Last Child in the Woods in which they were asked to relate the reading to their own past experiences and their ideas about elementary science education. Results indicate that a large majority of participants (97%) describe significant youth experiences in the outdoors, view nature as important in varying ways (89.9%), and express a desire to expose their own students to the outdoors (65.5%). Key findings are illustrated with direct quotations from the pre-service teachers' essay responses, as they write vividly of their interactions in outdoor places, referred to as ‘place meanings'. Implications are presented for teacher educators working with pre-service teachers to build upon their outdoor experiences and prepare them for implementing nature-based instruction.     

A Critical Challenge: The Engagement and Assessment of Contingent,Part-Time Adjunct Faculty Professors in United States Community Colleges

In 2011, according to a National Center for Education Statistics report, part-time instructional staff in all higher education institutions exceeded full-time faculty members for the first time, accounting for 50% of all instructional staff (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012 National Center for Education Statistics . ( 2012 ). IPEDS, Digest of education statistics, Winter 2011–12, human resources component, fall staff section: Table 286 [data file]. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_286.asp  [Google Scholar]). The same report indicates part-time faculty in community colleges exceeds 70% of instructional staff. Perhaps more alarming are the numbers of contingent instructional staff—faculty without long-term employment commitments. According to this measure, nearly 70% of faculty members in all areas of higher education have little-to-no job stability (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2013 American Association of University Professors (AAUP) . ( 2013 ). Background facts on contingent faculty. Retrieved from http://www.aaup.org/issues/contingency/background-facts  [Google Scholar]; Schuster & Finklestein, 2006 Schuster , J. H. , & Finklestein , M. J. ( 2006 ). The American faculty: The restructuring of academic work and careers . Baltimore , MD : The Johns Hopkins University Press . [Google Scholar]). However, limited research exists on the working experiences of this major subpopulation of United States professors.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of part-time contingent community college faculty regarding the assessment processes their institutions implemented. Through interviews, researchers gathered data identifying what 20 part-time contingent faculty professors reported regarding teaching conditions and institutional assessment procedures. Participant interviews revealed two major themes centered on a lack of institutional engagement and meaningful assessment policies or procedures.     

Strategies for using feedback students bring to higher education

This article explores strategies for acting on feedback that students bring to their higher education, by exploring student perceptions on the guidance they received from their teachers in school or college. Whilst assessment issues have been the subject of a range of research studies, it is the contention of this article that little research has been undertaken to identify the strategies that students possess for ‘using’ feedback. This small‐scale research study was stimulated by M.R. Weaver’s 2006 Weaver, M.R. 2006. Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written response. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3): 379–394. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar] finding that only a quarter of students had received guidance on how to use feedback prior to university. This exploration identifies the guidance for using feedback that 350 students in Humanities brought to their degree course. Analysis of responses revealed the strategies that students had been introduced to, identifying nine indigenous categories. Whilst almost 40% of these students indicated they had received guidance for using feedback, scrutiny of responses showed that many of these students confused ‘actual feedback’ with ‘guidance on how to use’ feedback. The implications of such starting positions for students and staff are considered: questioning the adequacy of such a foundation for students to be able to make effective use of the feedback they will receive in their degree course, and finally suggesting initiatives by which staff could enable students to get more out of feedback.