Integration of school features into Taiwanese elementary school new English curriculum

Elementary school English activation curriculum, an additional two culture classes, has been implemented only in New Taipei City in Taiwan starting from 2010, so only a few studies focus on it. This is a case study of an English teacher's integration of a school's features into the activation curriculum in a rural elementary school. This study revealed students' positive attitude towards such curriculum, the students’ preference for the English teacher's use of a wide variety of activities and the implementation of alternative assessments; it also revealed the English teacher's expertise and pedagogical competence, developed in collaboration with other teachers.     

Math-gender stereotypes in elementary school children

A total of 247 American children between 6 and 10 years of age (126 girls and 121 boys) completed Implicit Association Tests and explicit self-report measures assessing the association of (a) me with male (gender identity), (b) male with math (math-gender stereotype), and (c) me with math (math self-concept). Two findings emerged. First, as early as second grade, the children demonstrated the American cultural stereotype that math is for boys on both implicit and explicit measures. Second, elementary school boys identified with math more strongly than did girls on both implicit and self-report measures. The findings suggest that the math-gender stereotype is acquired early and influences emerging math self-concepts prior to ages at which there are actual differences in math achievement.     

Off-task behavior in elementary school children

This paper reports results from a large-scale observational study investigating attention allocation during instructional activities in elementary school students (kindergarten through fourth-grade). In Study 1, 22 classrooms participated while a more diverse sample of 30 classrooms participated in Study 2. This work investigated temporal patterns in children's attention allocation by collecting observational data on children's on- and off-task behaviors at three different time points (i.e., beginning, middle, and end of the school year) [Study 1]. We also investigated whether patterns of attention allocation changed as a function of student characteristics (gender, grade-level, SES), teachers' instructional design choices (instructional format and duration of an instructional activity), and school type (private, parochial, public charter schools) [Studies 1 & 2]. Children's patterns of attention allocation fluctuated over the course of the school year. Female students were found to be more on-task compared to male students. On-task behavior tended to decline as the instructional duration increased. The lowest rates of on-task behavior were observed while children were engaged in whole-group instructional formats. An effect of school type was found with higher proportions of on-task behavior observed in parochial schools. However, the effect of grade-level was equivocal across studies. These findings can begin to form a foundation for the development of research-based guidelines for instructional design aimed to support engagement among students in elementary classrooms.     

Effects of a divorce group intervention for elementary school children

The study investigated the effectiveness of a primary prevention educational support group for children of divorce. Subjects were 60 children, ages 9–11, paired for sex and time since parental separation. Experimental subjects participated in eight weekly group sessions while their yoked controls attended regular classes. Subjects completed pre-and posttest measures of depression, anxiety, divorce information, and feelings about divorce. The group intervention resulted in significant decreases in depression, anxiety, and negative feelings about divorce. Experimental group scores increased significantly on divorce information. The study suggests that preventive group interventions can result in improved adjustment outcomes for children of divorce.     

Metacognitive knowledge in children at early elementary school

In metacognition research, many studies focused on metacognitive knowledge of preschoolers or children at the end of elementary school or secondary school, but investigations of children starting elementary school are quite limited. The present study, thus, took a closer look at children’s knowledge about mental processes and strategies in early elementary school aiming to extend findings on the respective age period. Therefore, at first, a new test that can be administered in group settings and that assesses a broad concept of children’s metacognitive knowledge in early elementary school was evaluated. Furthermore, analyses on the structure of metacognitive knowledge were carried out in cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses. In a longitudinal design, the new test instrument was administered to 870 children at the end of first grade and again one year later (N?=?720). Item Response models were used to evaluate the construct validity of the test. Test characteristics were checked based on different fit statistics, test fairness, and discriminant validity. In summary, the test exhibited good psychometric properties. Analyses on the dimensionality of the assessed metacognitive knowledge revealed that different strategies seemed to form rather distinct dimensions of metacognitive knowledge. However, these dimensions showed a rather homogeneous development from first to second grade. Impacts of the findings on theoretical considerations and on the theoretical understanding of metacognitive knowledge and further analyses with metacognitive competence data are discussed.     

Self-esteem and classroom behavior in elementary school children

While many investigators have examined the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement, and between behavior and achievement, there has been little research examining the relationship between self-esteem and classroom behavior. The present study investigated the relationship between self-esteem, using the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and classroom behavior, using the Classroom Behavior Rating Scale, with a sample of 54 elementary school children. Results indicate that a significant relationship exists between self-esteem and classroom behavior. The implications of this with regard to teachers' modification of student behaviors are discussed.     

Integrating physical activity data technologies into elementary school classrooms

This paper describes an iteration of a design-based research project that involved integrating commercial physical activity data (PAD) sensors, such as heart rate monitors and pedometers, as technologies that could be used in two fifth grade classrooms. By working in partnership with two participating teachers and seeking out immediate resources in the classrooms and elementary school site, we devised a set of technology-supported learning activities in which students pursued investigations related to the distances that they walk, the relationship between heights and footsteps taken, and variations in heart rates among twins and with adults. In addition, we assessed the students’ knowledge before and after the PAD technology supported learning intervention using both a written assessment and interviews. Results from the written assessments indicated that the newly designed activities indeed covered the intended content related to measures of center and averages. Results from the interviews suggested that students who participated in the unit designed to incorporate PAD technologies more reliably accessed knowledge related to measures of center and averages in scenario-based problems than their counterparts who followed a traditional unit. Practical lessons related to the use of this technology with elementary school children that were learned from this design activity are also summarized.     

Inquiry training and problem solving in elementary school children

An experiment designed to determine whether children can benefit from directed instruction in the strategies of problem solving.     

Proximate effects of a child sexual abuse prevention program in elementary school children

OBJECTIVE: The effects of the sexual child abuse prevention program ESPACE were evaluated by means of a Solomon-type design with first and third grade children. ESPACE is an adaptation of the American Child Assault Prevention Program (CAP). Possible side effects of the program were also examined. METHOD: A total of 133 children (64 first-graders and 69 third-graders) participated in the study. Children completed a knowledge questionnaire and a video vignette measure designed to evaluate preventive skills towards abusive and potentially abusive situations. A follow-up measure (2 months) was administered to verify whether knowledge and skills were maintained. RESULTS: Results indicated that children participating in the prevention program showed greater preventive knowledge and skills relative to children not participating. Follow-up data showed that knowledge gains were maintained while the preventive skill gains may attenuate. However, while global skill scores decreased between post-test and follow-up, children still showed greater preventive skills at follow-up than before the program. In terms of unanticipated side effects, results revealed that almost half of the parents noted positive reactions following children's participation in the ESPACE program. Furthermore, the majority of parents did not identify negative reactions in their children following their participation in the workshop. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the Quebec adaptation of the CAP program was effective in training children in abuse prevention concepts and skills.