Toward dynamic assessment of reading: applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks

This paper focuses on research that aimed to provide a theoretical–practical framework to link literacy assessment practice with learning theory. An experimental study was designed with reference to three theoretical axes: ‘metacognitive awareness’ theory, ‘schema’ theory and the Vygotskian ‘zone of proximal fevelopment’. The study tested the effect of using written metacognitive awareness guidance (MCAG) as a tool for activating and engaging learners’Habits of Mind while processing authentic reading assessment tasks taken from Israeli kits of assessment tasks (Guterman, 2000). The study on 300 Grade–4 pupils used three modalities: a control group, which received no treatment; a placebo group, which received content instructions (CI); and a treatment group, which was given written MCAG. The findings confirmed that applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks makes a difference in the learners’ level of performance and achievement on those tasks, and also increases learners’ chances of internalising the guidance components.     

Encouraging teacher development through embedding reflective practice in assessment

Learning to become a teacher is a developmental process, part of which is learning to become a reflective practitioner. The authors have implemented a structured approach to developing the habits of critical reflection, the purpose of which is to guide their university students (who are pre-service teachers) to progress through the stages of teacher development and to facilitate self-motivated professional growth. Their attempts to incorporate into these pre-service teachers' learning the ‘practice’ part of reflective practice have included the development of different kinds of practical and applied tasks. In turn, their attempts to incorporate the ‘reflective’ part of reflective practice have involved the embedding in assessment activities of different scaffolds for metacognitive reflection. Their innovative processes of embedding reflection in assessment have been guided by Dewey's and Schön's views of reflection, their own views of the teacher education process, and Brookfield's conception of ‘critical lenses’ which can be used as a scaffold to structure professional growth and development.     

Integrating written metacognitive awareness guidance as a ‘psychological tool’ to improve student performance

A study was designed to test the effect of using MetaCognitive Awareness Guidance (MCAG) as a vehicle for activating and engaging learners’ existing prior knowledge before they begin a reading assessment task. A total of 300 pupils (aged 9–10) studying in ten 4th grade classes in four different schools in Israel participated in the research. The major assumption of the study was confirmed: increasing learners’ metacognitive awareness by means of well-planned guidance, built on prior knowledge, facilitates their learning and improves outcomes on a reading assessment task. This paper focuses on the linkage between three components of learner performance, what we refer to as the ‘Assessment Triangle’: (1) achievement on reading assessment tasks; (2) performance on metacognitive awareness guidance; and (3) awareness of metacognitive reading strategies. The implications and the function of this revealed linkage will be discussed.     

‘I see what I see from the theory I have read.’ Student teachers learning through theory in practice

This article presents and discusses experiences from a research and development project where Norwegian student teachers were encouraged to bridge theory and practice by following a pupil’s learning processes over time, and to write papers based on empirical data and relevant subject theory. The evaluations of the project received high ratings from the student teachers, and an inductive analysis of the answers to open-ended questions revealed three key aspects behind its success: commuting between field practice and coursework, the authenticity of the tasks and future relevance for the teacher profession. These aspects are interpreted building upon Dewey’s concept educative experience. The findings are discussed in the light of the importance of understanding pupils’ knowledge, and the role of writing in inquiry-based learning processes. The project is also placed within an international discussion on the relationship between field practice and theoretical coursework as arenas for learning in teacher education.     

Teacher Assessment in the Inner City at Key Stage 1

This study examines the experience of national teacher assessment in a sample of inner‐city infant schools. In particular, it addresses the conduct of teacher assessment in the three core curriculum areas of English, mathematics and science, and modifications made for children with English as a second language and those with special educational needs. Two distinct approaches to teacher assessment emerged, with integration into classroom activities occurring in some cases, but frequently separate ‘bolt‐on’ activities being carried out. It is interesting to note that almost all the teachers used two or three standard assessment tasks instead of continuous teacher assessment to assess children’ s attainment. Teachers consistently saw time as a vital ingredient for meeting the needs of children with ‘additional educational needs’ in relation to teacher assessment. The findings are discussed in the context of recent policy developments and in terms of theoretical models of teachers’ approaches to assessment.     

Building strong reading muscles: ableist language in a teacher’s talk about reading

ABSTRACT

Elementary school teachers are expected to teach reading ‘inclusively’ to children with diverse learning needs. Yet, teachers face challenges in enacting inclusive practices that socially support children while academically engaging and challenging them. The purpose of this study was to examine the opportunities for engagement with reading produced through a teacher’s talk in one ‘inclusive’ fourth grade classroom’. The setting for the study was a pre-K-5 public school located in a high-poverty neighbourhood of a northeast city of the United States. This study combined ethnographic methods and D/discourse analysis to explore classroom talk about reading through a sociocultural lens. Findings indicated that the teacher’s talk, which was largely shaped by dominant cultural Discourses circulating through policy, curriculum and the school environment, sometimes promoted an ableist ideology through its focus on each individual’s independent development of ‘strength’ as a reader. Moments when ableist language about reading dominated during the Reading Workshop seemed to limit the possibilities for students’ participation in reading and ideas of what counted as successful reading. The findings suggest the need to engage K-12 students, teachers, and teacher candidates in critical conversations about issues related to reading and learning such as strength, struggle, purposes for reading, and assessment.     

Towards identifying dyslexia in Standard Indonesian: the development of a reading assessment battery

With its transparent orthography, Standard Indonesian is spoken by over 160 million inhabitants and is the primary language of instruction in education and the government in Indonesia. An assessment battery of reading and reading-related skills was developed as a starting point for the diagnosis of dyslexia in beginner learners. Founded on the International Dyslexia Association’s definition of dyslexia, the test battery comprises nine empirically motivated reading and reading-related tasks assessing word reading, pseudoword reading, arithmetic, rapid automatized naming, phoneme deletion, forward and backward digit span, verbal fluency, orthographic choice (spelling), and writing. The test was validated by computing the relationships between the outcomes on the reading-skills and reading-related measures by means of correlation and factor analyses. External variables, i.e., school grades and teacher ratings of the reading and learning abilities of individual students, were also utilized to provide evidence of its construct validity. Four variables were found to be significantly related with reading-skill measures: phonological awareness, rapid naming, spelling, and digit span. The current study on reading development in Standard Indonesian confirms findings from other languages with transparent orthographies and suggests a test battery including preliminary norm scores for screening and assessment of elementary school children learning to read Standard Indonesian.     

The Assessment of Student Teachers’ Academic and Professional Knowledge in School‐Based Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to scrutinize the assessment of teacher knowledge in a school‐based course at one Swedish pre‐service teacher education program. In a general education school‐based course, teacher educators visited the student teachers at their school placements and met them and their school mentors in student‐teaching conferences to assess their teacher knowledge. The findings primarily show that the assessment procedures are influenced by teacher educators’ organization of the school visits and conferences. Secondly, the organization of the school visits and conferences influences who the potential and actual assessors at the conferences can be and are. Thirdly, the assessed student teacher knowledge at the conferences is described as procedural knowledge in a knowledge‐in‐practice perspective, almost exclusively in the area of relational, emotional, and caring learning objectives and aspects of teaching activities. Fourthly, the findings show that propositional knowledge in a knowledge‐for‐practice perspective is hardly mentioned or assessed.     

教师支持对中学生阅读素养的影响:阅读投入、阅读兴趣的中介作用

为探讨阅读投入、阅读兴趣在教师支持与中学生阅读素养中的中介作用,研究采用阅读素养测验、阅读调查问卷与教师支持问卷对559名初中生进行调研,并运用结构方程模型进行数据建模分析.结果 发现:教师支持通过阅读投入和阅读兴趣的链式中介影响学生阅读素养.建议教师在阅读教学实践中要改革教学方法,从情感关怀、学习指导、能力指导等多方...     

Assessment for learning: Why assessment does not always support student teachers’ learning

Numerous studies have dealt with the importance of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education, arguing that AfL helps to promote students’ learning and supports them in becoming self-directed learners. The majority of the recent literature focuses mainly on the role of individual aspects of AfL. Less attention has been paid to the interrelation of different aspects of AfL. The current study argues that AfL combines authentic assessment tasks given to students, feedback from teacher educators, peer assessment and self-assessment. The aim of the current study is to understand student teachers’ experiences of AfL practices in higher education, focusing on the reasons why student teachers do not always find the practices supportive. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 student teachers and analysed them using an inductive content analysis method. The findings indicate that student teachers have had some experiences with individual aspects of AfL. A critical finding is that, when teacher educators continually dominate in the assessment process, summative assessment remains the principal way of assessing student teachers, thus hindering the supportive role of other AfL practices. The current study also finds that learning in higher education is still quite grade-centred, which affects student teachers’ learning.     

The impact of embedding multiple modes of representation within writing tasks on high school students’ chemistry understanding

This study investigated the impact on chemistry learning of the degree to which students embedded or integrated multiple modes of representation in end of unit writing-to-learn activities. A multi-case study approach utilizing quasi-experimental methodology involving intact high school chemistry classes taught by two different teachers was employed. Approximately half of the classes for each teacher were designated treatment classes and students in these classes participated in specific classroom activities designed to encourage the use of strategies to embed multiple modes within text in student writing. Control classes did not participate in these activities. All classes with the same teacher participated in identical end of unit writing tasks followed by identical end of unit assessments. Writing tasks and end of unit assessments were teacher designed and were therefore unique to each setting. Data from each teacher was initially analyzed independently to explore characteristics of student writing and student performance on end of unit assessments. This was followed by cross case analysis. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that for the first teacher (n = 70 students), treatment classes significantly outperformed control classes on two different measures of writing characteristics during a first unit of study, two measures of writing for the second unit, and three categories of end of unit instruction for the second unit. For the second teacher (n = 95), treatment classes outperformed control classes on two writing characteristics and three end of unit assessment categories during the only unit of study assessed. In addition, at both sites, significant positive correlations were found between all writing characteristic measurements and end of unit assessment performance. These results not only support the use of multimodal writing-to-learn tasks as a pedagogical tool to improve chemistry learning, but specifically suggest benefit when multiple modes are effectively linked within these tasks.     

Walking the tightrope with an e-portfolio: imbalance between support and autonomy hampers self-directed learning

Teacher coaching is essential to support self-directed learning, but requires a lot of time and energy. This mixed-methods study investigated the effects of using an e-portfolio with a self-coaching protocol and limited teacher coaching on the development of self-directed learning skills and motivation. With regard to self-directed learning, students’ overestimation of performance on learning tasks grew over time, while their ability to formulate points for improvement did not change significantly. With regard to motivation, students’ controlled (i.e. largely extrinsic) motivation increased while their autonomous (i.e. largely intrinsic) motivation decreased. Thematic analysis of interviews demonstrated students needed more support and feedback from their teacher. The use of suboptimal cues for performance assessment and an imperfect balance between autonomy and support hampered self-directed learning and motivation. We recommend providing just-in-time feedback about performance on learning tasks and giving students some autonomy over the choice of learning tasks, to enhance reflection and motivation.     

Exploring Teachers’ Personal Practical Knowledge through Narrative Inquiry——A Case Study on a College English Teacher

Teachers play an important role in the successful implementation of the current curriculum innovation and their personal practi cal knowledge is a decisive factor in their teaching and that teachers’ knowledge affects every aspect of the teaching act.This paper tries to explore teachers’ personal practical knowledge of a college English teacher and her reading class.It shows how to present her teaching contents,design teaching methods and activities in order to accomplish her teaching tasks and teaching goals.The study combines narrative analysis of the reading design with a process inquiry about teaching and learning.Hopefully,the findings would shed some light on teach ers’ professional development.     

Gifted learning disabled students

Abstract

Up to 30 per cent of gifted students display a learning disability, with 10 per cent reading at two or more years below their grade level. They are referred to as being ‐gifted learning disabled’ or as having the dual exceptionalities of giftedness and learning disabilities. For these students, their learning disability is more likely to be recognised and targeted in teaching than their gifted ability.

The present study reviews their learning characteristics and explains these in terms of an information processing model of learning. Nine characteristics are addressed: their superior general intellectual ability in at least some domains of knowledge, a global wholistic preference in thinking, a negative academic self‐concept, low resilience in learning, patterns in motivation to learn orientation, their use of metacognifion, their ability to show what they know, their uneven rates of development, their high standards and goals, and the quality of their interpersonal interactions.

The paper uses these characteristics to recommend a set of procedures for identifying these students. It examines the influence that a learning disability can have on the display of gifted knowledge and describes how dynamic assessment procedures can be used to obtain a more accurate diagnosis. It describes the two main types of general ability profiles that emerge. Procedures for assessing creativity and divergent thinking, a learning disability, aptitude in particular areas, an intrinsic motivation to learn, self‐concept, metacognition and self management of learning are discussed.

To his teachers, Adam was a conundrum. He was a very quick thinker, but not in the ways that would help him excel academically. He had excellent knowledge of a range of subjects but this didn't seem to help him achieve academic success. His answers to questions were unexpected, although, when analysed, creative. On excursions he could be relied on to see ways around obstacles that arose; his teachers valued his ‘native intelligence’ on these occasions. It was less valued in classroom contexts in which they were developing a topic with a group and Adam would interject with ideas and questions that were either ‘marginally relevant’ or ‘further down the track’. They wished he would put his energy more into improving his spelling and writing ability, that were extremely low, and bis recall of the times tables.

Ann, an eight year old, was also perplexing to her teachers. In class she was ‘off task’ and daydreamed a lot. She did not finish most tasks, frequently lost her place and made many careless errors. Her distractability meant that she was frequently disruptive. As a consequence, her level of academic achievement was low. Her teacher interpreted her inattention and impulsivity as a lack of interest in learning and her preference to avoid tasks. As well, however, her teacher noticed her comparatively high level reading ability and her advanced oral language capacity and had difficulty reconciling the two sets of observations.     

The self‐assessed portfolio: a case study

This paper reports on a successful attempt to use the portfolio as a sole assessment tool for an upper level language arts course at an English‐medium university in Lebanon. Over four consecutive years in the spring semester, the teacher/researcher devised a special syllabus based on the teaching/learning of text discourses and other language tasks emphasizing skills to improve the English language of the learners. Only students’ portfolios were used to evaluate students’ work. The learners, majoring in Education or English, worked on various language tasks. They presented and assessed their work according to rubrics. Learners had to self‐reflect on each task, have a one‐to‐one conference with the class teacher, and assign a letter grade to their work. Results indicated that though using only portfolios for assessment purposes was a rather difficult task, it was still more effective than traditional assessment. Working on self‐assessed portfolios actively engaged learners in the learning process.     

How Classroom Conversations Unfold: Exploring Teacher–Child Exchanges During Shared Book Reading

Research Findings: This study examined how teacher–child conversations unfold during shared book reading in Head Start classrooms as well as the relations between that talk and children’s vocabulary learning. Book reading experiences in 27 Head Start classrooms were videotaped and coded for teacher talk, child responses, teacher follow-up remarks, and teacher wait time; we also assessed children’s vocabulary learning. Findings indicated that Head Start teachers infrequently asked open prompts or provided book-related comments; the predominant tool used in shared reading was the closed prompt. Teachers generally accepted 1 answer per question, and children’s answers were nearly always correct. Wait time was rarely observed. Across the sample, more child talk was predictive of stronger child vocabulary learning. For children with low initial vocabulary skills, learning was also linked to more expository comments by teachers. Practice or Policy: Findings help to map out the sequence of instructional events that make up preschool classroom conversations and provide insight into potential levers for improvement.     

Space for performing teacher identity: through the lens of Kafka and Hegel

In this study, we argue that a teacher has a crucial role in leading students into collaborative inquiry‐learning practices. While many studies have given the impression that students are able to engage in inquiry processes on their own, the role of social practices and teacher guidance often remains unexplained. However, even when the pedagogical setting is organized toward collaboration and student‐driven inquiry, it does not mean that students will, as a matter of course, collaborate and take collective responsibility for their own learning. This research has been conducted by a teacher and researchers, and reports on the teacher’s impressions about organizing and promoting a computer‐supported collaborative inquiry process in her classroom of the fourth and fifth grade levels of a Finnish elementary school. The ‘Artifact Project’ was collaboratively designed together by the class teacher and researchers, but the teacher was responsible for implementing and adapting plans in practice. The aim of the ‘Artifact Project – the Past, the Present, and the Future’ – was to support students’ (n = 32) understanding of the diversity of artifacts. Students were asked to analyze artifacts within the cultural context, to study physical phenomena related to them, and to design future artifacts. A collaborative learning environment, Knowledge Forum, facilitated the activities. During the process, the teacher wrote weekly in a reflective project diary. The template of the diary guided the teacher to reflect on the issues that she considered important at the writing moment: the organizing practices, topic content and process stages; how the classroom community functioned; as well as the role of technology as a support for the process. The contents of the diary were analyzed with qualitative content analysis with the help of AtlasTi software. This study depicts an experienced teacher’s practices, her efforts to promote pupils’ cognitive responsibility for advancing their collaborative object‐oriented inquiry process themselves. Instead of trying to control all aspects of pupils’ learning, the teacher assumed the role of an organizer concerning collaborative progressive inquiry and designing activities. Organizing and supporting activities were based on a continuous following of the pupils’ states of process. Knowledge Forum structured the process and mediated activities, and rendered their objects visible and accessible to the whole learning collective. We suggest that in order to expand and scale up advanced inquiry practices, teachers’ usually invisible work in guiding and directing classroom practices has to be made visible and should be analyzed in detail.     

思辨与语言能力融合培养的《综合英语》课程形成性评价研究

在明确《综合英语》课程的教学目标是促进学生语言能力与思辨能力融合发展的基础上,构建本课程的形成性评价模式,包括设立目标与任务、制定与分享标准、引出与收集证据、评估与反馈、反思与调整。通过教学实践检验其有效性,并讨论影响有效性的因素。对课程反馈、反思日记、平时作业的定性与定量分析表明,该模式能有效促进学生的语言运用和思辨表达能力;主要影响因素包括:语言与思辨目标和标准的清晰界定;任务活动驱动课堂的有效互动和思辨对话;自评、互评、师评有效机制的建立以及反馈的及时性和针对性。     

Associations Among Teacher–Child Interactions,Teacher Curriculum Emphases,and Reading Skills in Grade 1

Research Findings: The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which the quality of teacher–child interactions and teachers’ self-reported curriculum emphases are related to children’s reading skill development during their 1st school year. To accomplish this, we assessed the reading skills of 1,029 Finnish children (M age = 85.77 months) twice during Grade 1, and the children’s teachers (n = 91) completed questionnaires concerning their literacy-related curriculum emphases. In addition, teacher–child interactions in terms of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were observed in 29 classrooms. The results of multilevel modeling showed that a high global quality of teacher–child interactions was positively associated with improved children’s reading skills at the end of Grade 1. In addition, a teacher emphasis on comprehension and production skills was related to better reading skills via teacher–child interactions. Domain-specific analyses revealed that emotional support and classroom organization in particular were related to better reading skills. Practice or Policy: The present study adds to previous research by showing that children had better reading skills at the end of their 1st school year in classrooms in which the teachers were warm, responsive, and sensitive to children’s needs and provided well-planned activities, clear rules, and expectations for behavior.     

Identifying pathways of teachers’ PCK development

This paper describes a method of analysing teacher growth in the context of science education. It focuses on the identification of pathways in the development of secondary school teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by the use of the interconnected model of teachers’ professional growth (IMTPG).The teachers (n = 12) participated in a one-year action research project focused on their individual concerns related to teaching science. The use of the IMTPG revealed that teachers use different pathways of learning to develop different aspects of their PCK. For each PCK component, three distinct pathways could be identified, two of which clearly were associated with professional growth. When examining these two pathways in detail, it was found that (1) teachers learned about new instructional strategies and assessment methods mostly through literature reviews and discussions with peers and (2) teachers who analyzed and reflected on student learning as it happened in their classrooms developed understandings that helped them to select and apply instructional strategies to further promote student learning. Both the analytical method as well as the identification of the different developmental pathways help to better understand teacher development in the context of classroom practices.