Blocking Them in to Free Them to Act: Using Writing Frames to Shape Boys' Responses to Literature in the Secondary School

This article focuses on the use of writing frames in a secondary school in order to raise the achievement of boys in GCSE English Literature. It discusses the inadequacies of some earlier frames before outlining a new departmental approach. Examples of boys' work are analysed to show what a difference the frame made. Some consideration of other factors in raising achievement and of the impact on both female and gifted students is also given.     

Does academic self-concept drive academic achievement?

Gaps in GCSE attainment have long been the concern of policy makers, academics, and social commentators, largely due to the importance of these exams for setting children on their future academic and career pathways. In the past a wide range of factors relating to the pupils, their families, and their schools have been found to account for differences in GCSE attainment. In this paper we examine the role of pupils’ beliefs in their own academic ability (academic self-concept). Using Next Steps data, we examine whether pupils with higher academic self-concept do better or worse in their GCSEs than pupils with lower academic self-concept. Results show that on average, controlling for other characteristics, having high academic self-concept increases GCSE scores by four grades. When we compare academic self-concept to measured achievement we find that both high and low attainers have higher probabilities of achieving five A*–C GCSEs and higher GCSE point scores on average if they have high academic self-concept than similarly able students who have lower academic self-concept.     

Date of birth and achievement in GCSE and GCE A‐level

General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations are taken by almost all pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at age 16 years. General Certificate of Education Advanced level (GCE A‐level) examinations are normally taken by relatively able students at age 18. The effect of month of birth on attainment in these public examinations is investigated through a database which brings together the 1991 GCSE results and the 1993 GCE A‐level results of all candidates born between September 1974 and August 1975. Older pupils perform best at GCSE but not at GCE A‐level. Selection effects on entry to A‐level courses appear to explain why this is the case.     

Test anxiety and GCSE performance: the effect of gender and socio‐economic background

Despite a well established body of international literature describing the effect of test anxiety on student performance in a range of assessments, there has been little work conducted on samples of students from the UK. The purpose of this exploratory study is two‐fold. First, to establish the relationship between test anxiety and assessment performance in a group of students in their final year of compulsory secondary schooling, in the politicised educational context of the UK. Second, to establish if this relationship is moderated by gender and socio‐economic background. Data were gathered on trait test anxiety, GSCE examination performance in Mathematics, English Language and Science, gender and socio‐economic background from 557 mixed ability Year 11 students drawn from three secondary schools in the UK. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to establish the moderating influence of gender and socio‐economic background. Results suggest a small, but significant inverse relationship between test anxiety scores and mean examination performance and that the cognitive component of test anxiety accounts for 7% of variance in examination performance. A differential test anxiety–assessment performance relationship was reported for socio‐economic background but not gender. Although the data reported for the test anxiety–assessment performance relationship are similar to those reported in numerous other studies, it is hypothesised that contextualised features associated with secondary education in the UK, particularly efforts to raise attainment, may have influenced these results.     

2012英国教师标准改革述评

2012年9月,英国教育部即将实施新的《教师标准》,以替代2007年开始实施的《教师职业标准》和英格兰教师协会2007年修订的《注册教师行为实践准则》两套教师标准。本文详尽地分析和对比了新旧标准的异同,并在结合英国教师教育新近改革的大背景下,对此次改革进行评述和展望。     

What is the nature of the achievement gap,why does it persist and are government goals sufficient to create social justice in the education system?

The ‘achievement gap’ – the term typically used to refer to differences in pupil attainment associated with social class, ethnicity and gender – remains an enduring obstacle to government goals of creating a socially just society. This article explores the nature of the achievement gap and some of the mechanisms that serve to perpetuate disadvantage in education systems providing a context in which to consider the appropriateness of government policies aimed at addressing the gap. Accessing predominantly English research but also consulting studies conducted in other education systems including the US and elsewhere in the UK, we argue that in contrast to its noble rhetoric, government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality.     

Self-esteem and academic achievement: a comparative study of adolescent students in England and the United States

Utilizing mixed methodology, this paper investigates the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement for young adolescents within two Western cultural contexts: the United States and England. Quantitative and qualitative data from 86 North American and 86 British adolescents were utilized to examine the links between self-esteem and academic achievement from the beginning to the end of their academic year during their 11th–12th year of age. For both samples, quantitative results demonstrated that fall self-esteem was related to multiple indicators of later year academic achievement. While country differences emerge by the end of the year, math appears to have a consistent relationship with self-esteem in both country contexts. Qualitative analyses found some support for British students’ self-perceptions as more accurately reflecting their academic experience than the students from the United States.     

浅析商业银行目标管理的偏差性

在讲授商业银行经营管理学科时,商业银行的目标管理是首要的环节。正确理解当前商业银行的管理目标,有针对性地分析当前金融企业普通存在的目标市场定位不准、目标管理不到位从而导致金融产品竞争力匮宪法等问题,是商业银行目标经营管理的核心,纠正目标管理的偏差,提高电大金融本科学生对商业银行经营管理的理解能力。     

The roles of perceived parental expectation and criticism in adolescents’ multidimensional perfectionism and achievement goals

Perfectionism consists of personal predispositions and attitudes toward performance. Although there is some disagreement in the field regarding how to best define and measure perfectionism, most studies have supported a distinction between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. The current study examines a model in which students’ perceptions of parents’ standards and criticism are proposed as antecedents of multidimensional perfectionism, which in turn are hypothesised to be associated with types of academic achievement goal orientations. The sample consisted of 256 high school students who completed questionnaires assessing adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, perceptions of their parents and personal achievement goals. Structural equation modelling supported the hypotheses suggesting that high parental standards are positively associated with the adaptive perfectionist characteristic of self-organised perception, which in turn are associated with a mastery goal orientation. Parental criticism predicted the maladaptive perfectionist characteristic of concern over mistakes, which in turn was found associated with a performance-avoidance goal orientation.     

实用试卷成绩统计分析

在教学管理过程中，对试卷成绩统计分析庞大的工作量在一定程度上制约了此项工作开展的广度和深度，基于此，借助于MS Excel数据分析工具，介绍了一种简单易行的试卷成绩统计分析方法。     

未确知有理数统计方法在体育评价中的应用

应用未确知有理数统计方法在评价体育运动技术成绩时给出了评价的可靠程度.用此方法的优点是:(1)评价结果不仅定量化,而且整体刻画能力强;(2)评价结果是个未确知有理数,能比较大小.这样的排序比用“均值法”排序主观成份少,客观成份多.     

Doom to the Red-eyed Nyungghns from the Planet Glarg: Boys as Writers of Narrative

This paper argues that it's a mistake to aim for equality of performance in English. Boys and girls are differently literate, and need to play to their greatest strengths as well as widen their repertoire. If boys are to perform better, teachers need to guide them away from replicating restricted narrative models. Within narrative writing, however, they can learn much from a skills approach to writing - despite nature, culture or zomboid aliens.     

乐清市柳市镇基准地价更新成果分析

在分析乐清市柳市镇基准地价更新的必要性的基础上,概述了本轮基准地价的内涵、基准条件和表达方式,从分用途基准地价水平、与上一轮基准地价的对比、与乐清市市域内其它城镇基准地价水平的对比、工业用地基准地价水平与工业用地最低价的衔接四个方面进行了本轮基准地价更新成果分析,柳市镇采用＂分用途定级,以价定级＂的技术路线,对该区域基准地价进行了更新.     

Models and messengers of resilience: a theoretical model of college students’ resilience,regulatory strategy use,and academic achievement

We tested a theoretical model of college students’ ratings of messengers of resilience and models of resilience, students’ own perceived resilience, regulatory strategy use and achievement. A total of 116 undergraduates participated in this study. The results of a path analysis indicated that ratings of models of resilience had a direct effect on students’ perceived resilience and that perceived resilience directly influenced regulatory strategy use (i.e. effort regulation, self-regulation and time management), which influenced academic achievement (as measured by grade point average). The implications of our findings are further discussed, along with avenues for future research.