Teaching social studies to learning disabled high school students: effects of a hypertext study guide

This study investigated the effectiveness of a computer-based study guide using hypertext software to increase textbook comprehension among four learning disabled students enrolled in a remedial high school social studies class. The program provided four levels of instructional cues that matched students to their highest level of independent interaction with a textbook passage, based on item-to-item responses to computer-generated questions. Using alternative forms of a 45-item multiple-choice test, a pre-test/post-test design was arranged, with a retention test given after a 30-day period. Fifteen questions were designated as control items by placing them in the 45-item tests but not in the computer treatment. The computer program consisted of three separate lessons administered across consecutive class sessions, with each followed by a written 15-item multiple choice test containing 10 computer questions and 5 control items. Results indicated a significant gain for pupils on computer items from pre-test to post-test and from pre-test to retention test, while no significant change occurred on control items across measures. A single-case analysis revealed a consistent relationship between gain scores on computer items, reading time on computer, and the number of instructional cues required by students. Two types of non-linear pathways that teacher might consider when constructing study guides are discussed.     

Multilevel issues in research using students’ perceptions of learning environments: The case of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction

The design of learning environment studies investigating students’ perceptions often is multilevel in nature. This multilevel nature of studies can appear in the object of research (for example, teacher behaviour towards the individual student or towards the class), the level of perception (personalised perceptions or group perceptions) and the sampling of data (usually clustered: students are sampled with their classmates, classes are sampled with other classes taught by the same teacher, etc.). In the present study, the impact of decisions about level is studied using students’ perceptions of the teacher–student relationship as assessed with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Data were gathered in one school (59 classes of 29 teachers) with two versions of this questionnaire: a personalised version and a class version. For reasons of comparison, additional data on the class version were analysed from 44,415 students from 1,913 teachers in 207 schools. Results from multilevel and single-level analyses of the class and personal versions of the QTI indicated that multilevel analyses are to be preferred over single-level analyses and that different conceptual structures could apply depending on the object of study and the level of perception.

Interplay of formative assessment and instructional quality—interactive effects on students’ mathematics achievement

Formative assessment is considered to be a promising teaching practice for promoting teaching and learning processes. The implementation of teaching practices into instruction involves intervening with a learning environment that is characterised by certain features of instructional quality. Our study aims to contribute to the understanding of formative assessment by analysing the interplay between a formative assessment intervention and aspects of general instructional quality. In a quasi-experimental study design, 15 teachers participated in a control group (n = 361 students) and 20 teachers in the intervention classes (n = 498 students) implemented a curriculum-embedded formative assessment tool in their ninth-grade mathematics classes. No effects were found for the intervention on the assessed aspects of general instructional quality (process-oriented instruction, teacher–student relationship, effective use of instructional time). However, multilevel regression analyses revealed an interaction effect between the intervention and process-orientation and the effective use of instruction time. Our findings suggest that implementing formative assessment tools do not seem to suffice regarding changes in general instructional quality, but that an intervention with detailed material and guidelines can counterbalance effects of instructional quality, fostering students’ achievement in classes with lower degrees of process orientation and a less effective use of instructional time.     

High-Ability Grouping: Benefits for Gifted Students’ Achievement Development Without Costs in Academic Self-Concept

Effects of full-time ability grouping on students’ academic self-concept (ASC) and mathematics achievement were investigated in the first 3 years of secondary school (four waves of measurement; students’ average age at first wave: 10.5 years). Students were primarily from middle and upper class families living in southern Germany. The study sample comprised 148 (60% male) students from 14 gifted classes and 148 (57% male) students from 25 regular classes (matched by propensity score matching). Data analyses involved multilevel and latent growth curve analyses. Findings revealed no evidence for contrast effects of class-average achievement or assimilation effects of class type on students’ ASC. ASC remained stable over time. Students in gifted classes showed higher achievement gains than students in regular classes.     

An Examination of Text Complexity as Characterized by Readability and Cohesion

To better understand dimensions of text complexity and their effect on the comprehension of adolescents, 103 high school seniors were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Each group read versions of the same 2 informational passages and answered comprehension test items targeting factual recall and inferences of causal content. Group A passages had a challenging readability level and high cohesion; Group B passages had an easier readability and low cohesion; Group C passages had a challenging readability level and low cohesion; and Group D passages had an easier readability and high cohesion. Students in Group D significantly outperformed students in Group C (g = 0.78). Although the effect sizes of comparisons among all groups ranged from g = 0.13 to 0.73, no other comparisons were statistically significant. Results indicate that adolescents’ reading comprehension is dually influenced by a text's readability and cohesion. Implications for matching readers to instructional text are discussed.     

The Effect of Training in Test Item Writing on Test Performance of Junior High Students

High stakes testing, a phenomena born out of intense accountability across the United States, produces instructional settings that marginalize both curriculum and instruction. Teachers and other school personnel have minimized instruction to drill and practice in an effort to raise standardized and criterion referenced test scores. This study presents an alternative to current practice that engages students in learning and increases their awareness of the internal aspects of standardized tests. The Test Item Construction Model (TICM) guides students through the process of studying test item stems and subsequently creating items using a 12 week process of incrementing from understanding to creating test items. Students grew in their understanding of the test item stems and the generation of these. An ANOVA did not yield significant differences between random groups of trained and untrained test writers. However, students in the experimental group demonstrated gains in understanding of test items.     

Profiles of Classroom Practices in U.S. Public Schools

In this research, we consider how the instructional strategies of public school teachers interact with the achievement levels of their students. Slightly more than 1,000 teachers in schools broadly representative of public schools in the USA responded to a school climate survey. Of this number, data from 426 teachers were subjected to Rasch scaling analysis, resulting in profiles of classroom instructional activities interrelated to the skill levels of students. Analyses revealed interesting "uncommonalities" in instructional emphasis, in number as well as kind. Instruction in low achieving classrooms generally was less coordinated than in classes of average achieving students. Instructional strategies and lesson focus in classes of high achieving students were linked in ways that resulted in more continuity and greater productivity.     

Tracking instructional quality across secondary mathematics and English Language Arts classes

Teachers have the largest school-based influence on student learning, yet there is little research on how instructional practice is systematically distributed within tracking systems. We examine whether teaching practice varies significantly across track levels and, if so, which aspects of instructional practice differ systematically. Using multilevel modeling, we find that teachers of low track classrooms provided significantly less emotional support, organizational support, and instructional support to students in their classes than did teachers of high track classrooms. Mathematics classes were also observed to have higher quality instructional support for both content understanding and analysis and problem solving than English classes. We develop cases illustrating how small but significant differences in instructional quality are associated with substantially diverging lived experiences for students in high and low track classes.     

Impact of a Technology-Mediated Reading Intervention on Adolescents' Reading Comprehension

In this experimental study we examined the effects of a technology-mediated, multicomponent reading comprehension intervention, Comprehension Circuit Training (CCT), for middle school students, the majority of whom were struggling readers. The study was conducted in three schools, involving three teachers and 228 students. Using a within-teacher design, middle school teachers' reading classes were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) or business as usual (n = 7) conditions. In the CCT condition, students received, on average, 39 lessons of video-modeled instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction during reading intervention classes. Results of multilevel structural equation models indicated statistically significant effects favoring the CCT condition on three measures: reading comprehension latent variable (ES = 0.14), proximal vocabulary (ES = 0.43), and silent reading efficiency (ES = 0.28). Subgroup analyses indicated that students with lower entry-level reading comprehension tended to benefit more from the CCT intervention in reading comprehension, silent reading efficiency, and state test scores.     

Consistency of Teaching Approach and Student Achievement: An Empirical Test

This article describes the results of a study into the relations between school, teacher, class, and student characteristics in Dutch elementary schools. Central to the study were the socio-ethnic background of the students, socio-ethnic class composition, language and math test results, teaching approach, and consistency of teaching approach within the school. The major question was whether student achievement levels vary according to the consistency of the teaching approach after controlling for socio-ethnic background at both the individual and class levels. The sample consisted of 7,410 grade 8 students and in total 1,714 teachers from 567 schools. The results of multilevel analyses showed consistency of teaching approach to be of no relevance to achievement levels. The most important factor appeared to be the socio-ethnic background of the students. Ethnic minority students perform less well than native Dutch working-class students, who in turn perform less well than the other students studied. In addition, students in classes with a relatively high number of so-called disadvantaged students perform less well independent of their individual socio-ethnic background.     

Interaction of learner characteristics with learning from three models of the periodic table

This study was designed to explore the effects on learning of: (1) structural modifications to the periodic table, (2) the location of a periodic table within instructional materials, and (3) the presence of a two-page schema showing relationships between the topics explained in the written materials and the periodic table. One hundred and sixty high school students were randomly assigned to one of eight treatments. A 28-item posttest (KR –; 21 = 0.72), consisting of multiple choice and constructed answer items, was designed to measure subjects' ability to use their periodic tables to obtain factual information and to solve qualitative chemistry problems. Regression analyses using the multiple choice portion of the posttest as a dependent variable and table type as an independent variable revealed that for subjects with minimal experience with the periodic table, those who received the table with added visual data performed significantly better than subjects who received either of the other two tables (df 3,93; F = 2.72; p < 0.05). For subjects familiar with the periodic table, significant vocabulary X table (df 3,49; F = 3.22; p < 0.05) and vocabulary X location (df 1,49; F = 4.46; p < 0.05) interactions were detected. Subjects high in verbal comprehension tended to take advantage of the modified tables, while those low in verbal comprehension processed the traditional table with less information most effectively. These latter students also benefited more from having the periodic table alongside their written materials.     

Student performance and attitudes using personalized mathematics instruction

This study investigated the effects of personalized instruction on the achievement and attitudes of Taiwanese students on two-step mathematics word problems. A total of 136 fourth-graders in a Taiwanese public school participated in the study. Subjects initially completed a Student Survey on which they chose their favorite foods, sports, stores, classmates, and other selections. The most popular items were then used to create personalized math word problems for the pretest, personalized instructional program, and posttest. Subjects were blocked by ability based on their pretest scores and were randomly assigned within ability levels to either a personalized or nonpersonalized version of the print-based instructional program. After finishing the program, subjects completed a student attitude survey and the posttest. A repeated-measures univariate analysis of variance revealed that subjects in the personalized treatment made significantly greater pretest-to-posttest gains than those in the nonpersonalized treatment. Subjects also performed significantly better on the personalized pretest and posttest problems than on the nonpersonalized problems. Personalized subjects and higher-ability students both had significantly more positive attitudes toward the instructional program than did their nonpersonalized and lower-ability counterparts. This research was conducted while he was a doctoral student at Arizona State University.     

Effects of peer versus computer‐assisted drill on mathematics response rates

This study investigated the functional relationship between student accurate response levels and two mathematics drill procedures using a BCBC across participant's single case research design (in this case, “B” represents peer drill and “C” represents computer drill). Each of four elementary school students was randomly assigned to one of two dyads and presented addition flashcards under a computerized drill condition and a peer‐mediated drill condition. In both conditions, students were drilled for 3 minutes on addition facts with immediate feedback (i.e., “Correct” or “Not correct”). Results suggested that the two somewhat older students showed higher levels of accurate responding in the computer condition, while the two younger students showed higher levels of accurate responding in the peer‐tutoring condition. Discussion focuses on potential hypotheses for performance discrepancies across dyads, importance of matching instructional conditions with idiosyncratic variables, and implications for practice and future research. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 637–646, 2005.     

Creativity and school grades: A case from Poland

The goal of this study was to describe the relationship between the creative abilities and the school grades of high school students in Poland. Almost six hundred (N = 589) students from 34 high schools from all over Poland participated in the study. Their creative abilities were measured by using the Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), and the school results were measured by GPA. Students’ intelligence level (as measured by the Raven's Progressive Matrices) and their gender were controlled. The analyses were based on OLS regressions as well as on multilevel models controlling for grouping students into classes. It was shown that creative abilities are not correlated with students’ GPA, yet the multilevel control of grouping students into classes demonstrated interesting and potentially important differences. In some schools, the relations were positive, strong and statistically significant, while in others they were non-existent or negative. The role of creative abilities for GPA was greater in larger schools and in schools located in big cities. We discuss the possible reasons for and consequences of our findings.     

Obtaining secondary students’ perceptions of instructional quality: Two-level structure and measurement invariance

Students' perceptions of instructional quality have become an important information source for teachers' professional development. This requires knowledge of the structure of these perceptions, their validity, and generalizability. To this end, we conducted a study with 15,005 German 512 grade students from 690 classrooms in three different school types and three different grade levels. Assuming three basic dimensions of instructional quality with 7 facets, we investigated the factorial structure of students' perceptions with two-level confirmatory factor analyses as well as their generalizability with two-level measurement invariance analyses. Our results confirmed the postulated factorial structure and strict invariance across subject groups, school types, and grade levels. We confirmed the same structure in teachers' assessments of their instructional quality that were positively correlated with the students' assessments. As such, these findings shed light on the structure, validity, and generalizability of students’ perceptions of instructional quality.     

Developing a shared cluster construct of instructional leadership in TALIS

In the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), instructional leadership is measured by the self-reports of principals on three items only. When this measure is investigated together with teacher satisfaction with current work environment, no significant associations were found in the Nordic countries participating in the TALIS 2013 round. This paper argues that a potential reason for this might be the severely underrepresented construct of instructional leadership. As an alternative approach, teacher data from the same study are used to establish two important dimensions of instructional leadership at the school level: 1) managing the instructional program and 2) developing the school learning climate. Applying multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM), we establish two shared cluster constructs at the school level and observe significant modest relationships between these constructs and teacher job satisfaction with current work environment. The paper brings to our attention the different approaches for interpreting, exploring, and making sense of instructional leadership in international large-scale studies, such as TALIS, from the joint perspective of teachers.     

Teachers’ beliefs, instructional behaviors, and students’ engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures

This study investigated the relations between teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and students’ self-reported engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures. Participants were the biology, geography, and German teachers of 46 classes (Grades 5-8) and their students. Teachers’ instructional behaviors and students’ engagement in learning from texts with instructional pictures were assessed by means of student ratings. Teachers’ beliefs about using texts with instructional pictures in their teaching were assessed by a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that the more teachers believed that students should be taught clear strategies on how to learn from texts with instructional pictures the more engagement was reported by their students. A multilevel mediation model showed that the association between teachers’ beliefs and students’ self-reported engagement was mediated by teachers’ perceived instructional behavior.     

Full-day kindergarten and student literacy growth: Does a lengthened school day make a difference?

In the context of a quasi-experimental research design, literacy data obtained on students were examined to assess relationships between kindergarten program model (full- vs. half-day) and student literacy outcomes. Application of multilevel modeling techniques to the time series data collected from kindergarteners in economically disadvantaged school contexts in a large southwestern school district revealed that students exposed to a full day of instruction had greater literacy growth than their peers in half-day classrooms. Further examination of the program model results revealed that the relative efficacy of full-day kindergarten tended to be greater in smaller class size environments. These results, if replicated, suggest that full-day kindergarten initiatives targeted toward students from disadvantaged backgrounds may be more successful when implemented in classrooms with relatively small student enrollments. Implications for instructional policy and practice are discussed.     

Relationships between the use of test results and US students’ academic performance

In this study, we examined relationships between the use of test results and US students’ math, reading, and science performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. Based on a literature review, we hypothesized that the 16 items in the PISA school questionnaire, which are related to the use of test results, can be categorized according to 4 factors. We validated this hypothesized factor structure using a confirmatory factor analysis and then obtained composite scores for each factor. As revealed by a multilevel analysis, when student and school demographic variables were controlled for, using test results to hold schools accountable to authority and the public was significantly positively related to students’ performance across all 3 subjects. No statistically significant relationship, however, was detected between students’ performance and the following uses of test scores: informing parents of their children’s performance, providing information for instructional purposes, and evaluating teachers and principals.