Response‐to‐intervention in high‐risk preschools: Critical issues for implementation

This article summarizes the current knowledge of response‐to‐intervention (RTI) models in preschool settings, with an emphasis on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of our current research base. Particular attention is given to the unique challenges of high‐risk preschool settings. Presently, sufficient empirical support exists to begin establishing tiered intervention systems and building teacher capacity. Lacking, however, are valid and reliable assessment tools and insufficiently trained personnel to support a data‐based decision‐model within high‐risk preschools. We conclude that organizational development should focus on building teacher capacity, establishing high‐quality classroom instruction, and planning for sustainable programs, with adoption of a full RTI service delivery model serving as a long‐range aspirational goal. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

实践美学:过去、现在与未来

实践美学对当代中国美学做出了巨大的历史贡献,但却也受到来自美学界内外的各种挑战.反思实践美学的过去,把握实践美学的现在,展望实践美学的未来对于中国美学的建设是十分必要的.“过去”的实践美学,推动了新时期的思想解放运动,并为解决20世纪50、60年代“美学大讨论”时积存下来的美学问题找到了一条现实的出路.“现在”的实践美学是在“过去”实践美学基础上回应“后实践美学”的质疑而发展起来的新型理论形态,它适应了历史变迁过程中美学转型的时代需要,实现了美学观念的自我超越,保持了自身的理论活力.“未来”的实践美学应从哲学基础的超越、美学观念的整化、理论话语的融合和研究方法的创新四个方面有所突破,才能够绽放出生机勃勃的理论生命.     

科学教育：过去,现在和未来

一百年来,现实的吁求,政治经济问题的直接充当了我们科学教育的思维起点,以至从过去到现在一直都没有形成健全的民族科学教育理念,使科学意识并没有深入民族文化心理之中,未来的科学教育必须在充分反思教育与科学自身处境的基础上,协调科学教育与社会发展的关系,处理好科学与人文、科学文化与民族心理、心智训练与知识掌握、普及与提高、尊重科学与唯科学主义之间的紧张与冲突,以谋求自身乃至民族的健康发展。     

Imagining a future,living in the present and remembering the past

The remit for this short piece was to identify themes emerging from the articles in this edition by Julie McLeod, Duncan Waite and Eugenie Samier, to consider how these themes reflect on the current field, and to identify their ongoing relevance. Additionally, I was asked to consider the current challenges that the field is facing and what this means for research and journals such as this one. My short response is that our research has to matter. It has to matter to us as individuals so that what we do is worthwhile; it has to matter that we can provide rigorous research that is reliable so that it can inform policy makers and administrators; and it has to provide teachers and students with a greater understanding of why they are doing what they are being asked to do.     

Dreams,Strategies and Systems: Portraits of assessment past,present and future

Systems of testing and assessment are shaped in part by personalities and institutions who pursue research insights and technical innovations. Out of these they fashion 'dreams' which drive their efforts to improve these systems. This paper develops this perspective, whilst acknowledging that it overlaps with and complements analyses of assessment systems from social and cultural perspectives. Four different examples are considered. Two from past and current history are the growth, from an origin in IQ testing, of standardised multiple choice tests and the dream of raising standards by external testing. The other two, nascent with their influence yet to be determined, are the dream of improvement by formative assessment and the dream that recent developments in psychology can provide a basis for new and improved assessment practices.     

Becoming a teacher: Coordinating past,present, and future selves with perspectival understandings about teaching

A longitudinal study is presented of how students preparing to become teachers conceptualized teaching and developed their identities as teachers. Findings were that contextualized momentary switchings between student and teacher perspectives accompanied participants' understandings about teaching and their negotiation of the process of becoming a teacher. Dynamic processes involved in constructing conceptions of teaching and self-as-a-teacher unfolded across three semesters, culminating in a more professional identity at program's end. The study contributes to teacher preparation research by making connections among aspects of professional development and suggesting a model of learning to teach, grounded in participants' situated perspectives on teaching.     

Making history relevant to students by connecting past,present and future: a framework for research

History teaching usually focuses on understanding the past as an aim in itself. Research shows that many students don’t see the point of this and perceive history as not very useful. Yet history plays a major role in the orientation on present and future. If students fail to see this, the question arises whether this is due to a lack of explicit attention in history classes on the application of knowledge about the past to the present and the future. This article explores two questions: (1) If history is to be more relevant to students, what kind of objectives should play a central role in history teaching? (2) What kinds of teaching strategies align with these objectives in history teaching? The first question is answered by means of historical and educational theory. The second is answered by exploring a number of teaching strategies that have been described in the literature, as well as a small-scale experiment conducted by the authors. This article aims at providing a basis for developing meaningful history curricula as well as for research into educational strategies which can be deployed to teach students how to make connections between past, present and future.     

Large-scale academic achievement testing of deaf and hard-of-hearing students: past, present, and future

The first large-scale, nationwide academic achievement testing program using Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford) for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the United States started in 1969. Over the past three decades, the Stanford has served as a benchmark in the field of deaf education for assessing student academic achievement. However, the validity and reliability of using the Stanford for this special student population still require extensive scrutiny. Recent shifts in educational policy environment, which require that schools enable all children to achieve proficiency through accountability testing, warrants a close examination of the adequacy and relevance of the current large-scale testing of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This study has three objectives: (a) it will summarize the historical data over the last three decades to indicate trends in academic achievement for this special population, (b) it will analyze the current federal laws and regulations related to educational testing and special education, thereby identifying gaps between policy and practice in the field, especially identifying the limitations of current testing programs in assessing what deaf and hard-of-hearing students know, and (c) it will offer some insights and suggestions for future testing programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.     

Research-based interventions in the area of proof: the past,the present,and the future

The concept of proof has attracted considerable research attention over the pastdecades in part due to its indisputable importance to the discipline of mathematics and tostudents’ learning of mathematics. Yet, the teaching and learning of proof is an instructionallyarduous territory, with proof being recognized as a hard-to-teach and hard-to-learn concept atall levels of education. Prior research has examined, documented, and cast light on theprocesses underpinning different problems of classroom practice in the area of proof, buthas paid less emphasis on acting upon such problems to generate possible solutions throughresearch-based interventions in mathematics classrooms. In this Editorial, we first situate thecontributions in this Special Issue in a brief chronological account of scholarly work on research-based interventions in the area of proof, and we conclude with a proposal for somehigh-leverage directions for future research.     

Viewing the changing world of educational technology from a different perspective: Present realities,past lessons,and future possibilities

This review paper focuses on likely reasons for the rhetoric-reality gap in the use of educational information and communication technology. It is based on the assumption that the present challenges being experienced with educational ICT might be avoided in the future if we look at the current challenges from a different perspective, by revisiting past research to gain insights from the history of innovations in educational technology. Seven major lessons emerging from the review could inform future directions so that the future does not simply replicate the disappointing results achieved thus far. We argue that the vision for ICT has been unrealistically ambitious, and review reasons to justify this point of view. We suggest that setting more attainable goals, based on the actuality of educational contexts, might be a more pragmatic way to go in a future of constantly changing educational technology.     

Knowledge,judgement and the curriculum: on the past,present and future of the idea of the Practical

In 1970, Joseph Schwab published the first of four papers that argued for a turn to the idea of the Practical in curriculum research and practice. In this paper, I revisit Schwab’s original paper and explore the extent to which his case for the Practical is still relevant today. I first look at the past of the deliberative tradition in which Schwab’s argument is located. I argue that a more precise engagement with the work of Aristotle – particularly the distinction between making/production and doing, and between knowledge of the eternal and of the variable – can strengthen Schwab’s case and allow for a better understanding of the kind of knowledge and judgement needed in education. In relation to the present, I highlight three ways in which the current context has changed from when Schwab published his paper. These concern the strongly diminished space for teachers’ professional judgement; the rise of a call for evidence-based education; and the shift in curriculum studies away from practical questions. To (re)connect the field of curriculum studies and research with questions about the ‘doing’ of curriculum is, in my view, where a deliberative approach such as the one articulated by Schwab remains highly relevant.     

Responsiveness‐to‐Intervention: Definitions,Evidence, and Implications for the Learning Disabilities Construct

Longstanding concern about how learning disabilities (LD) are defined and identified, coupled with recent efforts in Washington, DC to eliminate IQ‐achievement discrepancy as an LD marker, have led to serious public discussion about alternative identification methods. The most popular of the alternatives is responsiveness‐to‐intervention (RTI), of which there are two basic versions: the “problem‐solving” model and the “standard‐protocol” approach. The authors describe both types, review empirical evidence bearing on their effectiveness and feasibility, and conclude that more needs to be understood before RTI may be viewed as a valid means of identifying students with LD.