Relationship between affect and achievement in science and mathematics in Malaysia and Singapore

Background : The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses the quality of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics among Grades 4 and 8 students across participating countries.

Purpose : This study explored the relationship between positive affect towards science and mathematics and achievement in science and mathematics among Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students.

Sample : In total, 4466 Malaysia students and 4599 Singaporean students from Grade 8 who participated in TIMSS 2007 were involved in this study.

Design and method : Students’ achievement scores on eight items in the survey instrument that were reported in TIMSS 2007 were used as the dependent variable in the analysis. Students’ scores on four items in the TIMSS 2007 survey instrument pertaining to students’ affect towards science and mathematics together with students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education were used as the independent variables.

Results : Positive affect towards science and mathematics indicated statistically significant predictive effects on achievement in the two subjects for both Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. There were statistically significant predictive effects on mathematics achievement for the students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education for both Malaysian and Singaporean students, with R ² = 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. However, only parental education showed statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement for both countries. For Singapore, language spoken at home also demonstrated statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement, whereas gender did not. For Malaysia, neither gender nor language spoken at home had statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement.

Conclusions : It is important for educators to consider implementing self-concept enhancement intervention programmes by incorporating ‘affect’ components of academic self-concept in order to develop students’ talents and promote academic excellence in science and mathematics.     

Keys to the Gate? Equal Sign Knowledge at Second Grade Predicts Fourth-Grade Algebra Competence

Algebraic competence is a major determinant of college access and career prospects, and equal sign knowledge is taken to be foundational to algebra knowledge. However, few studies have documented a causal effect of early equal sign knowledge on later algebra skill. This study assessed whether second-grade students’ equal sign knowledge prospectively predicts their fourth-grade algebra knowledge, when controlling for demographic and individual difference factors. Children (N = 177; M_age = 7.61) were assessed on a battery of tests in Grade 2 and on algebraic knowledge in Grade 4. Second-grade equal sign knowledge was a powerful predictor of these algebraic skills. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of foregrounding equal sign knowledge to promote effective pedagogy and educational equity.     

Development of Reading and Mathematics Skills in Early Adolescence: Do K-8 Public Schools Make a Difference?

Abstract

Educators and policymakers are paying increased attention to the academic outcomes of students in the middle grades (i.e., Grades 6–8). One reform proposed to improve outcomes for these students is to replace middle schools (with Grade 6–8, 7–8, or 7–9 configurations) with K-8 schools. This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of continuously attending a K-8 school, rather than transitioning from an elementary school to a middle school, on Grade 8 reading and mathematics achievement. Drawing on nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten 1998 cohort (N = 8,237), the study used propensity score stratification to control for observable selection bias. Findings indicated that K-8 schools produce small, significant effects for reading (effect size = 0.15 or approximately 6–8 months of schooling), but nonsignificant effects for mathematics. Results were robust to several alternative specifications, including accounting for nesting of children within schools and using different approaches for propensity score matching. Findings provide conditional support for K-8 schools, highlight the need for cost-effectiveness research on this topic, and raise questions about the specific mechanisms for K-8 schools’ advantages.     

The Better Beginnings, Better Futures project: findings from grade 3 to grade 9

Although comprehensive and ecological approaches to early childhood prevention are commonly advocated, there are few examples of long-term follow-up of such programs. In this monograph, we investigate the medium- and long-term effects of an ecological, community-based prevention project for primary school children and families living in three economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Ontario, Canada. The Better Beginnings, Better Futures (BBBF) project is one of the most ambitious Canadian research projects on the long-term impacts of early childhood prevention programming to date. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development informed program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Using a quasi-experimental design, the BBBF longitudinal research study involved 601 children and their families who participated in BBBF programs when children were between 4 and 8 years old and 358 children and their families from sociodemographically matched comparison communities. We collected extensive child, parent, family, and community outcome data when children were in Grade 3 (age 8–9), Grade 6 (age 11–12), and Grade 9 (age 14–15). The BBBF mandate was to develop programs that would positively impact all areas of child's development; our findings reflect this ecological approach. We found marked positive effects in social and school functioning domains in Grades 6 and 9 and evidence of fewer emotional and behavioral problems in school across the three grades. Parents from BBBF sites reported greater feelings of social support and more positive ratings of marital satisfaction and general family functioning, especially at the Grade 9 follow-up. Positive neighborhood-level effects were also evident. Economic analyses at Grade 9 showed BBBF participation was associated with government savings of $912 per child. These findings provide evidence that an affordable, ecological, community-based prevention program can promote long-term development of children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods and produce monetary benefits to government as soon as 7 years after program completion.     

UK initiatives to promote inclusion in higher education for students with disabilities

ABSTRACT

The inclusion in higher education of students with disabilities and learning difficulties has become a matter of concern within the past eight years. Recent Higher Education Funding Council initiatives to promote greater inclusion have had some success in improving access to higher education (HE) and raising awareness across the sector of the need to ensure full participation by students with disabilities in the learning environment once they enter the university. Hopes that the new UK disability rights legislation would help promote equality of access to HE were disappointed when it became apparent that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 excluded education from its main provisions. The only requirement affecting post‐compulsory education is that institutions publish a statement on their provision for students with disabilities and learning difficulties. These disability statements confer no legal rights and it appeared that they would have little impact on access to HE for disabled people. This paper reports the findings of a survey of the anticipated effects upon the higher education sector in England of the requirement to produce disability statements. There may be some positive effects not only upon the nature and form of information available, but also on the provision offered in the sector.     

CAS Applied in a Functional Perspective College Algebra Curriculum

Summary

Act in Algebra(ACT) is a functional perspective curriculum for college algebra that focuses on the use of realistic applications to motivate the acquisition of mathematical concepts through active student explorations. A computer algebra system (CAS) is used as an open-ended tool in the exploration of mathematics and the modeling of data. The goal of ACT is to improve student cognition, metacognition, and affect with respect to college algebra. A series of studies was conducted from the spring of 1994 to the spring of 1999 to determine the effects of the CAS in a functional perspective curriculum. This article provides an overview of the findings of those studies and discusses the implications of these findings for the teaching and learning of algebra.     

Transforming academia and theorizing spaces for Latinx in higher education: voces perdidas and voces de poder

Abstract

The concepts of voces perdias and voces de poder are used as a symbolic representations and reflections of oppression and power in academia. Seventy-four percent of scholarship across the world is published in English. The author argues the importance of publishing in Spanish as form of liberatory practice to provide a voice for Spanish-speaking communities who currently do not have access (to the power of academia and of information), and whose lived experiences are not acknowledged or captured in this medium, and who have by-and-large been marginalized and forgotten in research. In attempt to help improve our understandings of Latinos/as in society – and provide access, give a voice, and reflect on their lived experiences – we must publish in Spanish and teach about the voces perdidas that have been erased from the educational curriculum, and the voces de poder who have dominated and silenced the voces perdidas.     

Long-Term Effects of Strategic Reading Instruction in the Intermediate Elementary Grades

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a program that offered sustained strategic reading instruction on reading abilities of third and fourth graders. The study was conducted among 1,469 children from 40 schools in the Netherlands. Schools were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Multilevel analyses showed positive effects on knowledge of reading strategies after one year of intervention at the end of Grade 3. At the end of Grade 4, there were also positive intervention effects on reading comprehension. No significant interaction effects were determined for age, gender, SES, or ethnic/linguistic background. The intervention effects were also not dependent on the level of the student's nonverbal intelligence, vocabulary, or decoding skills.     

A Canonical Correlation Analysis ofBehavior Problems and School Achievementfor Different Grades,Sexes, and Races

Abstract

Using education survey data from 6,883 Grade 6 students in 148 schools and from 6,868 Grade 8 students in 92 schools in New Brunswick, Canada, the author applied student and school characteristics to explain differences among students and schools regarding students' sense of belonging to school. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that in Grades 6 and 8, discrepancies in students' sense of belonging were mainly within schools, rather than between schools. At the student level, sense of belonging in both grades was affected more by students' mental and physical conditions and less by their individual and family characteristics. Students' self-esteem was the single most important predictor of their sense of belonging, followed by their health status. At the school level, school climate (academic press or expectation in Grade 6 and disciplinary climate in Grade 8) was more important than school context in shaping students' sense of belonging.     

Teaching for All? Teach For America's Effects Across the Distribution of Student Achievement

ABSTRACT

This article examines the effect of Teach For America (TFA) on the distribution of student achievement in elementary school. It extends previous research by estimating quantile treatment effects (QTE) to examine how student achievement in TFA and non-TFA classrooms differs across the broader distribution of student achievement. It also updates prior distributional work on TFA by correcting for previously unidentified missing data and estimating unconditional rather than conditional QTE. Consistent with previous findings, results reveal a positive impact of TFA teachers across the distribution of math achievement. In reading, however, relative to veteran non-TFA teachers, students at the bottom of the reading distribution score worse in TFA classrooms, and students in the upper half of the distribution perform better.     

Long-Term Follow-Up of Spanish and English Interventions for First-Grade English Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems

Abstract

We provide data 3 to 4 years postintervention for four samples of English language learners from two sequential Grade 1 cohorts who received supplemental Grade 1 reading interventions in Spanish or English and for whom the language of instruction for intervention was matched with language of core reading instruction. Participants were 300 students at risk for reading difficulties who were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups; there were 186 students from the four samples assessed in both languages (Spanish, English) 3 or 4 years after intervention completion (Spring Grade 4 or 5). Findings from the Spanish study revealed few statistically significant differences in favor of intervention students on Spanish measures, although effect sizes generally favored this group (median d = +0.33). Findings from the English study also revealed few statistically significant differences in favor of intervention students, though again, effect sizes were positive (median d = +0.23). Transfer effects were generally small, though nearly all were positive. Although the effects were small, receipt of intervention in Grade 1 was associated with clinically significant gains in a variety of literacy-related domains 3 to 4 years after the termination of supplemental instruction.     

Exploring quality of life through an online international collaboration

ABSTRACT

In today’s classrooms, learning does not have to be bounded by physical space. By having access to a range of digital communication technologies, students and teachers can synchronously and asynchronously engage in authentic learning opportunities extending beyond the local community. They can be learning and interacting with others from around the world. This occurred with Grade 3 students from a school in Alberta, Canada, and Lima, Peru who investigated how their physical environments influence their quality of life. Over a seven-week period, the two groups engaged in synchronous and asynchronous activities in addressing this topic. A case study approach was used to research the project. Four key findings emerged from the data to inform teaching practice for designing and facilitating online international collaborative learning.     

The impacts of family treatment drug court on child welfare core outcomes: A meta-analysis

BackgroundSubstance abuse has been prevalent among caregivers involved in child welfare and is a major barrier to their achieving favorable outcomes. Family Treatment Drug Courts (FTDCs) have been viewed as one of the most promising interventions but research has reported mixed effects on child welfare outcomes. No meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the findings to reach a more generalizable conclusion.ObjectiveThe meta-analysis synthesized findings from existing evaluations to examine whether and to what extent FTDC participants achieved better reunification and safety outcomes than non-participants.Participants and SettingAmong 17 identified studies dated from 2004 to 2018, the pooled sample subjects in the intervention and comparison groups were 3402 and 3683 for the 16 studies on reunification outcomes, and 842 and 632 for the eight studies on child safety outcomes.MethodsWe first estimated the FTDCs’ pooled effects on child reunification and safety outcomes. Furthermore, we conducted a series of subgroup meta-analysis to compare FTDCs’ effects across study and program characteristics.ResultsSubjects participating in FTDCs were substantially more likely to achieve reunification (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.38, 2.22) without increasing the risk of subsequent foster care reentry or maltreatment re-report. Subgroup meta-analysis suggests factors such as research design, FTDC model, observation length, publication type and period may contribute to FTDCs’ disparities on reunification outcomes.ConclusionsThe synthesized findings strengthen evidence for the implementation and expansion of FTDCs for serving substance abusing caregivers in the child welfare system.     

Grades and Graduation: A Longitudinal Risk Perspective to Identify Student Dropouts

ABSTRACT

Studies of student risk of school dropout have shown that present predictors of at-risk status do not accurately identify a large percentage of students who eventually drop out. Through the analysis of the entire Grade 1–12 longitudinal cohort-based grading histories of the class of 2006 for two school districts in the United States, the author extends past longitudinal conceptions of dropout to a longitudinal risk perspective, using survival analysis, life tables, and discrete-time hazard modeling to appropriately account for student graduation, transfer, or dropout. The risk of dropout began in Grade 7, with the most hazardous years at Grades 8 and 11. A novel calculation of teacher-assigned grades, noncumulative GPA, is identified as a strong predictor of student dropout.     

An Independent-Study Laboratory using Self-Scoring Tests

ABSTRACT

The author sought to investigate the effects of inquiry-based science instruction on science achievement and interest in science of 5,120 adolescents from 85 schools in Qatar. Results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed the substantial positive effects of science teaching and learning with a focus on model or applications and interactive science teaching and learning on science achievement and interest in science. In contrast, science teaching and learning using student investigations and hands-on activities had substantial negative effects on science achievement in the context of other variables. Implications of the findings for educational policy and classroom practice are discussed.     

Literacy and disadvantage: learners' achievements in the early primary school years

Abstract

Worldwide, research shows that it is not easy to educate children from poor environments. Poor literacy achievement and poverty tend to go hand in hand. In developing countries, where education tends to be characterised by inequalities and disadvantage, there is a dire need to explore ways of boosting literacy levels in highpoverty schools. This article examines the effects of an out-of-school literacy enrichment programme on the literacy skills of Grades 1 and 4 learners at five disadvantaged schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal. A brief overview is given of the Family Literacy Project of which this study was a component, followed by the methodological details concerning the materials and procedures used in the assessment of the Grade 1 (Zulu) and Grade 4 (Zulu and English) learners' literacy skills. The learners' literacy performance is compared with those of learners who had not been in the programme. The findings indicate that greater exposure to literacy activities such as storybook reading in Zulu had a discernible impact on the learners' literacy accomplishments. The article concludes by identifying some educational implications that follow from the findings.     

Generalizing in the context of an early algebra intervention (La generalización en el contexto de una intervención algebraica temprana)

ABSTRACT

This study aims to understand the instructional interactions that foster students’ generalizing. By analysing video-recorded lessons from 13 different Grade 3 classrooms in which an early algebra intervention was implemented, activities related to generalizing and students’ generalizing activities were identified, and the nature of the relationships between these activities were explored. Namely, I consider the activities that potentially encourage students’ generalizing and the generalizing that students themselves do, and describe ways in which these activities interact. The findings have both practical and theoretical implications; in the former case, they provide insight into the design of instruction to foster generalizing, and in the latter case, they contribute to an ongoing conversation about students’ mathematics learning.     

A Review of “Constructing Identities in Online Communities of Practice: A Case Study of Online Learning”

ABSTRACT

This study addresses the issue of educational inadequacy and inequity for disadvantaged minority students. It estimates desired national standards and examines interrelated gaps in key school–teacher resources and mathematics achievement by linking national education data sets (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], Common Core of Data, and Schools and Staffing Survey). Although poor minority students’ chances to meet the national mathematics proficiency standard are undermined by the lack of their access to qualified teachers and adequate school funding, it turns out that the adequacy-based (absolute) gaps are much larger than the equity-based (relative) gaps. Meeting the NAEP Grade 8 mathematics proficiency standard requires substantial increases in per-pupil education spending (from $6,493 to $7,197 in year 2000 dollars) and in-field mathematics teaching rate (from 49% to 91%) across the nation. Research and policy implications are discussed.     

A Model for Assessing Higher Order Thinking in Statistics

ABSTRACT

As in other areas of the school curriculum, the teaching, learning and assessment of higher order thinking in statistics has become an issue for educators following the appearance of recent curriculum documents in many countries. These documents have included probability and statistics across all years of schooling and have stressed the importance of higher order thinking across all areas of the mathematics curriculum. This paper reports on a pilot project which applied the theoretical framework for cognitive development devised by Biggs and Collis to a higher order task in data handling in order to provide a model of student levels of response. The model will assist teachers, curriculum planners and other researchers interested in increasing levels of performance on more complex tasks. An interview protocol based on a set of 16 data cards was developed, trialed with Grade 6 and 9 students, and adapted for group work with two classes of Grade 6 students. The levels and types of cognitive functioning associated with the outcomes achieved by students completing the task in the two contexts will be discussed, as will the implications for classroom teaching and for further research.     

Adolescent egocentrism in a learning context

Abstract

Imaginary audience, personal fable, and over-estimation of responsibilities are typical characteristics of egocentric behaviour during adolescence. The aim of the research was to establish how these egocentric characteristics manifest themselves in a learning context. An empirical investigation was carried out involving 316 learners from Grade 8 to 12. A questionnaire was adapted to measure egocentrism in a learning context. Significant negative correlations were found between academic achievement and egocentrism in a learning context. It is possible that as much as 17% of the variance in academic achievement can be explained by the egocentric behaviour of adolescents. No gender differences could be established. From the results it can be concluded that Grade 12 learners are more inclined to egocentric behaviour in a learning context compared to learners in Grade 8 and 9.