Facilitating participation in assessments and the general curriculum: level of symbolic communication classification for students with significant cognitive disabilities

This study empirically evaluated a classification schema based on symbolic communication level use with students with significant cognitive disabilities. Ninety‐five teachers of students with significant disabilities rated students’ level of performance on 10 academic tasks. Cluster analysis suggested a range of two to four clusters solutions. Support was found for three clusters: symbolic (abstract), early symbolic (concrete), and pre‐symbolic/awareness. The potential application of the classification system to planning general curriculum access and setting achievement expectations are discussed.     

The Relationship of Teachers' Instructional Decisions and Beliefs about Alternate Assessments to Student Achievement

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers' instructional decisions and beliefs about AA-AAS have on the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. A survey of nearly 400 teachers across three states provided evidence of teachers' beliefs, as well as their instructional planning processes for students. Students' learning characteristics were also identified. Survey responses were analyzed in conjunction with students' 2010–2011 scores on their statewide AA-AAS. The results indicated that students with presymbolic communication systems had a lower likelihood of achieving proficiency in English language arts/reading and math than students with abstract symbolic communication. Students with concrete symbolic communication systems had lesser odds of proficiency in ELA/reading but not in math. Teachers who agreed that AA-AAS had an impact on instruction tended to have students with higher achievement proficiency. However, more negative views of the validity of AA-AAS scores were associated with greater odds of proficiency.     

Here today,gone tomorrow? Revisiting the stability of teachers' achievement goals

Teachers' achievement goals are typically considered to be stable characteristics although there are arguments for both stability and instability. Empirical investigations regarding the stability of teachers' achievement goals are rare. In this study, we investigated the stability of teachers' achievement goals (i.e., learning, performance approach, performance avoidance, and work avoidance goals) using generalizability theory. The sample comprised 166 German mathematics teachers in academic-track secondary schools who completed self-report questionnaires three times over the course of one school year. The ratio of stable to unstable aspects of teachers' achievement goals varied between 2:1 and 4:1. The number of measurement points needed for a reliable measure of the trait aspects of achievement goals varied between one and three. The results underline the importance of advancing research on teachers' achievement goals both theoretically and methodologically.     

农业科技论文英文摘要写作分析

随着国际交流的日益发展,科技论文越来越多地参与国际学术交流,从而使得英文摘要受到越来越高的关注。本文运用语言学的相关理论,通过对25篇农业科技论文英文摘要的内容形式和语言规范进行现状分析,并提供一些建议,希望对农业科技论文英文摘要的写作有所帮助。     

Teachers' classroom assessment practices and fourth-graders' reading literacy achievements: An international study

This study, through multilevel analyses of the data of four English-speaking nations (i.e., Canada, England, New Zealand and the United States) from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2001 database, investigated the relationship between teachers' uses of various types of classroom assessments and their fourth-graders' reading literacy achievement, reading self-concept, and attitudes toward reading. The results showed varied outcomes associated with teachers' uses of different types of assessments (multiple-choice items, short-answer and paragraph writing, and oral communication) across countries and across aspects of student reading achievement. Implication of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students II: Postproject effects on science achievement

A one-year lag was found between the effect of an intervention intended to promote formal operational thinking in students initially 11 or 12 years of age and the appearance of substantial science achievement in the experimental groups. A one-year lag was also reported on cognitive development: Whereas at the end of the two-year intervention the experimental groups were up to 0.9σ ahead of the control groups, one year later the differential on Piagetian measures had disappeared, but the experimentals now showed better science achievement of even greater magnitude. Although the control groups showed normal distribution both on science achievement and cognitive development, the experimental groups showed bi- or trimodal distribution. Between one-half and one-quarter of the students involved in the experiment in different groups showed effects of the order of 2σ both on cognitive development and science achievement; some students appeared unaffected (compared with the controls), and others demonstrated modest effects on science achievement. An age/gender interaction is reported: the most substantial effects were found in boys initially aged 12+ and girls initially 11+. The only group to show no effects was boys initially aged 11+. It is suggested that the intervention methods may have favored the abstract analytical learning style as described by Cohen 1986.     

The Quality and Impact of Relationships between Elementary School Students and Teachers

The purpose of the present study was to begin to examine, from the expectancy-value framework, several cognitive and motivational variables believed to affect the development of the student/teacher relationship and, in turn, classroom success. Guided by the expectancy-value framework, three student variables are viewed as essential in guiding the success of the student/teacher relationship: (1) their social self-concept beliefs, (2) the value they place on developing a positive relationship with their primary teacher, and (3) their nonverbal communication skills. Eighty-two fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in the study. Variation in the students' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their primary teacher and their classroom achievement were examined. In general, results suggest students develop schemas, their social self-concept beliefs, about their relationships with teachers that are consistent with their nonverbal communication skills. Furthermore, results suggest that for both positive perceptions of the relationship and academic achievement, valuing the relationship with the primary teacher may compensate for nonverbal difficulties.     

Fun with Computers and GNVQ: Performing to Criteria and the Confidence to Improvise

This article examines the development and assessment of communication skills at GNVQ. It does this by reflecting on a project using multi-media technology to deliver communication skills to ESOL students. The author argues that current models of communication skills in GNVQ can be narrow and limiting and suggests that stimulating imaginative uses of language is more constructive in raising student confidence and achievement.     

汉语会话中末尾标记语的语用功能分析

话语标记语是会话分析和语用学研究的一个新兴课题。其中，末尾标记语是言语交际中一种常见的话语现象，就其在交际中的功能而言，它们的出现往往涉及较多语言之外的因素，如语用、认知等因素，较少涉及语义和语法的制约。本文以汉语会话中的语料为基础，从语用的角度出发，对话语中末尾标记的语用功能进行分析，并重点讨论它们对话语的理解的引导和制约作用。     

Write this way: examining teachers’ supportive strategies to facilitate children’s early writing in preschool

Reading and Writing - Writing is essential for communication in literate societies, and its successful acquisition and development is central to academic achievement. Beginning in early childhood,...     

麦克卢汉悖论

在现代传播学发展的历史上，麦克卢汉无疑是最富特色的理论家，这不仅是因为他的理论引起了广泛的争，更主要的在于他的理论完全打破了我们对于大众传播媒介原有的观念，为我们开拓出新的思维空间，也说这正是他引起公众关注的原因。当然，于他观念表述上的抽象，在理解上产生出极大的难度。本试图在这方面做出尝试，追寻他抽象背后的体系。     

论传媒对改革开放的特殊作用

大众传媒的发展对改革开放起着至关重要的作用,大众传媒的良性发展有利于形成推进改革的良好的舆论环境,传播先进的思想,激发思想解放,维护政治稳定,捍卫改革开放取得的优秀成果。未来传媒的力量会不断壮大,对改革开放的推动作用也会不断地增强,必须积极应对。     

学校发展规划的制定、实施与评价

学校发展规划制定的目的是科学定位学校发展目标,提炼和形成学校办学特色,建设和形成学校文化。学校发展规划制定的基本框架包括:分析学校办学传统与现状,明确学校发展的共同愿景,突出学校发展规划的重点,保障学校发展规划的实施。学校发展规划的实施与评价应注重学校规划目标实施的达成度,学校在实施规划中的创新与发展,学校在发展过程中对社会的影响和经验辐射情况,学校下一阶段可持续发展的新规划的制定。     

Exemplifying a Continuum of Collaborative Engagement: Raising Literacy Achievement of At-Risk Students in New Zealand

This article reports different ways researchers work with stakeholders in national projects targeted at raising achievement of students. Specifically, New Zealand has a persistent high performance–low equity profile in international tests, with indigenous Māori students and immigrants from the Pacific Islands most at risk of underachievement and of leaving school without qualifications. Policy has aimed to address this issue largely through provision of high-quality professional development to enhance effectiveness of practice. The notion of a continuum of collaboration is proposed; examples are presented that are positioned at different points in terms of the ideal of coconstructed, evidence-based judgments and decisions. The examples represent models or ways of working and the analysis captures both the varied nature of the interface that researchers have with policy makers, ministry officials, deliverers of professional development, and schools, and the affordances and tensions that accompany each model. Student achievement outcomes are identified.     

Building bridges to student learning: Perceptions of the learning environment,engagement, and learning outcomes among Chinese undergraduates

The study examined the relationships among students’ perceptions of the learning environment, prior academic achievement, engagement, and learning outcomes (cumulative university GPA, generic skills development, and learning satisfaction) with a sample of 2,616 seniors from a full-time research-oriented university in Mainland China. The results supported a model which showed that students’ perceptions of the learning environment and prior academic achievement had direct effects on learning outcomes, and indirect effects via their engagement. The effects, however, varied depending on the type of the outcome in question: (1) Student engagement mediated the relationship between course experience and generic skills development, (2) cocurricular experience positively predicted learning satisfaction, (3) first semester GPA positively predicted cumulative university GPA, and (4) National College Entrance Examination scores did not correlate with any other factor. A major proportion of the variance in the three types of learning outcomes was accounted for by the model, showing its effectiveness in predicting university students’ learning. Implications for improving undergraduate education in China are provided.     

Effects of teacher professional learning activities on student achievement growth

The authors examined the effects of six types of teacher professional learning activities on student achievement growth over 4 years using statewide longitudinal survey data collected from 467 middle school mathematics teachers in 91 schools merged with 11,192 middle school students' mathematics scores in a standardized assessment in Missouri. The data showed that teacher-centered collaborative activities to learn about mathematics teaching and learning (teacher collaboration and informal communication) seem to be more effective in improving student mathematics achievement than learning activities that do not necessarily involve such teacher-centered collaborative opportunities (professional development programs, university courses, individual learning activities). Teacher-driven research activities through professional conference presentation and participation were also found to be associated with student achievement growth in mathematics. The districts and schools may benefit from investing their professional development funds and resources in facilitating teacher-centered collaborative and research-based learning activities in order to improve student learning.     

The effect of manipulatives on mathematics achievement across different learning styles

The current study investigates the influence of manipulatives used in combination with traditional approaches to mathematics education and how varying amounts of time spent on manipulative use influence student achievement across different learning styles. Three learning environments were created that incorporated varying proportions of traditional teaching approaches and manipulative methods. In one of the learning environments, the teacher used strictly lecture- and exercise-based teaching activities, which are more conducive to abstract learning. Abstract learners showed higher academic performance compared with concrete learners in the environment where only traditional methods were used. For the other two environments, which utilised varying combinations of manipulative tools and traditional methods, the differences in the mathematics achievement levels among students of varying learning styles were not statistically significant. The study also showed that concrete learners demonstrated higher performance in mathematics when manipulatives were used than did their counterparts in the environment where only abstract activities were used; however, in the third learning environment, increasing the amount of manipulative use did not provide an extra benefit to concrete learners.     

新闻传播模式与报道理念变革探究

新闻传播长期受我国传统思维方式影响,显现出整体观念、长官意识、中庸保守、抽象模糊的报道理念与传播模式。由计划经济向市场经济转型后,社会的巨大变迁促使新闻传播进行积极变革,这种变革主要表现为：在报道模式上由综合的整体观向具体的分析观转换;在思想观念上由长官强者意识向平民受众意识转移;在内容取向上由中庸保守向客观真实转变;在新闻表达上由抽象笼统的概述向形象细致的描述转向。     

Truancy in Europe: Does the type of educational system matter?

Truancy is known to: Hamper academic achievement, predict a range of school-related problems and cause early school leaving. Hence, the development and implementation of measures to tackle truancy are considered as important strategies to prevent early school leaving in Europe. Despite this, there is almost no comparative research which studies variation in truancy rates. This article relies on PISA 2012 data from 24 European countries to empirically answer two questions: (1) To what degree do truancy rates vary cross-nationally? and (2) Do these differences in truancy rates relate to characteristics of the educational system? We found that between-country truancy rates varied more than differences in early school leaving. Moreover, even after taking into account control variables such as economic development and youth unemployment rates, the ways in which educational systems select and group pupils are closely related to truancy rates.