Judgement-based performance measures of literacy for students with additional needs: seeing students through the eyes of experienced special education teachers

This article describes the development of judgement-based performance measures to support the instruction of students with additional learning needs. The focus of the research was the design of assessment materials and protocols to help teachers recognise and respond to students’ proficiency in foundational literacy skills. It drew on the expertise of special education teachers to provide all teachers with an evidence framework against which to observe their students’ learning. The assessment materials were trialled in 53 schools and used to monitor literacy learning for 547 students, who ranged in age from 3 to 18 years and represented children and young people with a wide diversity and severity of disabilities. The article reports a new approach to judgement-based performance measurement which directs teachers’ observations to meaningful shifts and transformations in foundational literacy skills for students with additional needs.     

Exploring Teachers’ Meta-Cognitive Skills in Mathematics Classes in Selected Rural Primary Schools in Eastern Cape,South Africa

Undoubtedly the acquisition of mathematical skills for problem solving is critically important in today’s sophisticated technological world. There is growing evidence that meta-cognition application is an important component of academic success in general and impacts on mathematical achievement in particular. Teachers’ application of meta-cognition therefore directs and reflects their teaching-practice behaviour which influences their learners’ learning with understanding in problem-solving. The purpose of the study reported on in this article was to explore teachers’ available meta-cognitive skills in class with the intention of supporting learners’ development of mathematics in problem-solving in some selected rural primary schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The participants were three teachers purposefully selected from three primary schools. Interviews were conducted with the three teachers and three lessons were observed. The interviews, as an extension of observation, focused on the teachers’ knowledge or understanding of available meta-cognitive skills and how they used these skills in helping their learners’ development of mathematics problem-solving. The findings included a detailed exploration of the teachers’ acquisition and use of specific metacognitive skills, either consciously or unconsciously, during teaching and learning processes in order to develop their mathematics learners’ meta-cognitive skills as well as in solving mathematical problems. The results of the observation showed that there was evidence of teachers applying meta-cognitive skills unconsciously in assisting their learners in problemsolving in class. The interviews confirmed this evidence of available meta-cognitive skills which the teachers usually applied in assisting their learners in problem-solving in class. Recommendations have been made regarding teachers’ methods of teaching to improve the development of such skills in the lives of their mathematics learners through problemsolving.     

“It is complicated!”: Practices and challenges of generic skills assessment in Vietnamese universities

Contributing to a lack of studies related to generic skills (GS) assessment, especially in non-Western university contexts, this article reports a study that explored practices and challenges of assessing students’ GS in the Business Administration programmes in six Vietnamese universities. Content analysis of interviews with 41 teachers of skills subjects and specialised subjects revealed that teachers were organising different formative and summative GS-assessment activities. Unfortunately, the analysis indicated that their GS-assessment practices were fragmented across subjects in the curriculum. Teachers’ beliefs regarding their roles in the university, teachers’ expertise and several contextual factors were found to influence their assessment practices. The article argues that leadership should be exercised more effectively in order to remove obstacles and engage teachers with assessing GS, which will yield washback effect on students’ learning of these skills.     

An analysis of the effects of in‐service teacher training on Turkish preschool teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion

Any implementation of an inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators’ attitudes. In Turkey, many teachers who educate preschool children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and who have not received in‐service teacher training (INSET) are observed to have negative attitudes towards their SEN students. The aim of this article is to examine differences between the attitudes of preschool teachers before and after an INSET course. Sixty‐six preschool teachers were selected for this study which had a single group pre–post‐test design. The teachers’ opinions and attitudes relating to mainstreaming SEN students in regular educational environments were assessed using the ‘Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming’ scale. The data indicate that these teachers were affected by the INSET programme in such a way that their attitudes towards the inclusion of SEN students became more positive.     

Insights into teacher learning about pedagogy from an international group of teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities

This article examines teacher professional learning about pedagogy for teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities within broader teacher education and pedagogical frameworks for this group of learners. The article presents and discusses findings from a USA–England research project, involving classroom observations and interviews with nine teachers of students with severe intellectual disabilities from four specialist public school settings, intended to explore teachers’ pedagogical decision-making and learning. The theoretical lens of situated learning and the conceptual lens of evidence-based practice are used to contextualise and examine the teachers’ views about the what, how and when they learn about pedagogical approaches and strategies. Teachers emphasised the situated and interactional nature of their learning, particularly highlighting the personal responses of students and their relationship with these students. They use this knowledge and understanding to adapt evidence-based strategies and programmes and inform their pedagogical decisions. This affords the concepts of ‘situated generalization’ and ‘practice based evidence’ an influential role in how teachers engage in the process of pedagogical decision-making. An implication for teacher educators is the need to support teachers in making connections of new pedagogical understandings and skills with the individual learning profiles and responses of their students with severe intellectual disabilities.     

How to Care about the students' emotions and attitudes and promote their full development

<正>According to the new course standards,The final goal of the language education is to promote all the students’full development.While giving English lessons,teachers should not just train their integrating skills but also care much for their feelings.In that case,students can be helped to build healthy and full peisonalities and good qualities.Both.teachers and students must try to create an active atmosphere in which they respect     

Student teachers’ development of a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills

The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of student teachers participating in an introductory course, designed to stimulate the development of a positive attitude towards research and to stimulate the development of research knowledge and skills by second-year student teachers of an institute of primary teacher education. A questionnaire (N = 81) was used to measure the students’ attitude and perceptions of the development of their attitude towards research, their perceived development of research knowledge and skills and what parts of the introductory course they perceived to be responsible for these developments. According to the students’ perceptions, the introductory course contributed to the development of both a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills. The students indicated that examples from practice, authentic learning tasks and working in pairs or groups contributed most to the development of their attitude, knowledge and skills.     

The Education of Students with Immigrant Background in Iceland: Parents’ and Teachers’ Voices

In recent years Icelandic schools have seen an increase in students with immigrant background. These changes require schools and teachers to respond to the educational needs these students may have. The aim of this article is to examine these changes by looking at the experience of teachers and parents of immigrant students regarding their education. As part of this qualitative research, 38 teachers were interviewed in focus groups with a view to the challenges and experiences of teaching immigrant students. Ten parents were also interviewed individually about their experiences of Icelandic schools and their children’s education. The findings revealed that teachers are unsupported in their quest for understanding and managing multicultural education and that the Icelandic school system challenges foreign parents’ understanding of school as a traditional place for learning. It is suggested that addressing the lack of collaboration and discussion between both parties on students’ needs and parents’ expectations could improve the education of immigrant students.     

Implementing the mandate: the limitations of benchmark tests

As mandated by No Child Left Behind, schools must find ways to improve test scores. How do benchmark tests fare as a means of informing teachers in order to raise achievement for low-income students? This study of English language arts instruction at a low-income high school investigates the administration’s use of standardized benchmark assessments over 3 years. The socioeconomic conditions for students where teachers were implementing this reform had deleterious effects. The study found that teachers had difficulty getting students up to grade level in an under-resourced program, especially with hundreds of skills represented in the standards. The teachers viewed the benchmark tests as an interruption to their classroom instruction and as an inadequate means of measuring their students’ progress. Ultimately, even the administration found the tests an inadequate assessment for their purposes.     

Child Behavior Problems,Teacher Executive Functions,and Teacher Stress in Head Start Classrooms

Research Findings: The current article explores the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of child behavior problems and preschool teacher job stress, as well as the possibility that teachers’ executive functions moderate this relationship. Data came from 69 preschool teachers in 31 early childhood classrooms in 4 Head Start centers and were collected using Web-based surveys and Web-based direct assessment tasks. Multilevel models revealed that higher levels of teachers’ perceptions of child behavior problems were associated with higher levels of teacher job stress and that higher teacher executive function skills were related to lower job stress. However, findings did not yield evidence for teacher executive functions as a statistical moderator. Practice or Policy: Many early childhood teachers do not receive sufficient training for handling children's challenging behaviors. Child behavior problems increase a teacher's workload and consequently may contribute to feelings of stress. However, teachers’ executive function abilities may enable them to use effective, cognitive-based behavior management and instructional strategies during interactions with students, which may reduce stress. Providing teachers with training on managing challenging behaviors and enhancing executive functions may reduce their stress and facilitate their use of effective classroom practices, which is important for children's school readiness skills and teachers’ health.     

Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies

Due to the rapid advancements of information and communication technologies (ICTs), educational researchers argue that multimodal and new literacies should become common practices in schools. As new ICTs emerge and evolve, students need the new literacies skills and practices to successfully participate fully in the civic life of a global community. Are teachers prepared to integrate ICTs in the classroom to develop students’ new literacies skills? The purpose of this study is to suggest a new literacies framework that guides ICTs integration and supports scientific inquiry, as well as investigate middle school teachers’ confidence to practice new literacies in science classrooms. The study adopted mixed-methodology design, surveyed 32 middle school science teachers’ ICTs and new literacies skills, and randomly observed 15 teachers’ new literacies practices in the classrooms. The results revealed that even though teachers have high confidence in using ICTs, the meaningful technology integration and new literacies practices were scarcely observed in their classroom practices.     

实施聋校沟通与交往课程的研究

聋校课程的实施必须遵循聋生身心发展规律,增设具有聋教育特点的课程,其中沟通与交往课是新课程的一大亮点,在沟通与交往课程的设计中根据聋生的特殊需要选择适合他们的方法帮助他们掌握多元化的沟通交往技能与方式,促进聋生沟通与交往能力的发展。     

The architecture of peer assessment: do academically successful students make good teammates in design assignments?

This paper considers the relationship between architecture and construction management students’ overall academic abilities (as measured by Weighted Average Marks [WAMs]), their peer ratings for contributions to team design assignments (as measured by an online Self-and-Peer-Assessment [SAPA] tool), and their specific abilities as building designers (as measured by grades in individual design assignments). The research was conducted to determine whether a student’s prior academic achievements might indicate how well they will work in teams. The research demonstrates a statistically significant relationship between WAMs and SAPA ratings indicating that academically successful students more often than not make good teammates. However, the study also highlights that when peers are assessing contributions to teamwork they are assessing skills and qualities in their teammates other than overall academic ability or the ability to design well. Whilst this study is largely located within the field of design, the findings are relevant to any group work where teachers aim to design assessment that unravels group and individual contribution.     

创设情境教学法在应用文教学中的应用

应用写作能力是高职高专学生必须掌握的实践技能之一,《应用文写作》课程教学应本着由浅入深、循序渐进的教学原则,理论联系实际,加强基础性写作训练,增强学生的学习兴趣,并以学生为主体、采用创设情境进行引导的教学方法,以提高教学效果。     

独立学院师范生教师职业技能训练的问题及策略

作为近几年发展起来的一种新型本科院校,独立学院有其自身的发展定位和办学特色。注重应用型人才培养的目标定位要求其师范教育专业培养的学生必须成为基本功过硬、岗位适应性较强的中小学准教师,现代社会对专业化教师的迫切需求以及独立学院学生知识结构的特点也决定了必须注重对师范生进行教师职业技能训练。文章试图揭示独立学院师范教育专业在对学生进行教师职业技能训练时存在的问题,并提出相关改进策略,以促进我国高校师范教育专业的发展。     

The prevention of emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools: Teachers’ suggestions

Teachers are highly concerned about students with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EBD). Lately, much emphasis has been given to the field of prevention in schools, through the Competence‐Enhancement Perspective. Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) provide the necessary skills to be acquired by students. The current study explored Greek in‐service teachers’ perceptions of the most important cognitive, emotional and social skills students should possess, in order to prevent the occurrence of EBD. It was found that teachers emphasised the importance of emotional skills. The study acknowledges teachers’ significant role in children’s social and emotional learning and advocates their involvement in the design of skills programmes for EBD pupils.     

A closer look at social skills and school performance: students’ peer relations skills and assertion skills as predictors for their written and oral performances

Students’ individual learning is supposed to be based on cognitive and social processes. Therefore, students’ social skills are assumed to play an important role for school performance. This study set out to investigate the links between students’ peer relations skills and assertion skills and their grades for written performances and oral performances. In the middle of the school year, 94 ninth-grade students of a German secondary school reported on their peer relations skills and assertion skills. Additionally, at this point of measurement, students’ initial school performance in German and mathematics was measured by standardized academic achievement tests. In these two subjects, students’ grades in in-class tests and for oral participation were collected during the following 5 months. These grades were given by the students’ respective subject teachers. Path analysis revealed that students’ peer relations skills were positively associated with their grades in in-class tests, but they were not linked to their grades for oral participation. In contrast, students’ assertion skills were positively related to their grades for oral participation, whereas no correlation was found between students’ assertion skills and their grades in in-class tests. These results are discussed with respect to the role of peer relations skills and assertion skills for students’ academic learning and the fostering of these skills in the classroom.     

The bi-polar professional self of aspiring teachers: Mission and power

The aim of this article is to map and organize the expectations of aspiring teachers in the final stage of training into a coherent conceptual framework. A theoretical model, termed The teacher's bi-polar professional self (TBPS) model, was developed and data assembled to provide corroborating empirical evidence. The research design was based on Facet theory, to define observations and analyze the results. A questionnaire was administered to 156 students from a national teacher training college in Israel. It was found that teaching trainees’ expectations could be mapped schematically as two opposing poles with an intermediate zone: one pole is termed the “altruistic aspirations” pole, pertaining to expectations regarding the realization of values such as relating to students as individuals and providing them with one-on-one instruction, help and friendly support. The opposing pole is the “narcissistic needs” (or self-serving altruism) pole, which relates to hopes of getting respect and power, and of significantly effecting the students’ future. Between the poles lies an intermediate zone, which harbors the teacher's hopes of acquiring and possessing the necessary educational and teaching knowledge and skills that will facilitate the fulfillment of the expectations encapsulated by the two poles.     

In Early Education, Why Teach Handwriting Before Keyboarding?

Legible written communication is essential for students to share knowledge (Rogers and Case-Smith 2002). If students lack proficiency in written communication, their composition skills will suffer, which can affect their self-esteem and grades. Whether or not this proficiency is in handwriting or keyboarding is a question worthy of discussion. In this article the authors define motor learning, examine the overlapping principles of motor learning in handwriting and keyboarding skill development, and discuss the need for fluency. The principles of motor learning indicate that handwriting precedes keyboarding when comparing skills and time needed to gain competency. Also discussed are correlations between handwriting and keyboarding skills and the impact of teacher attitudes toward each. As occupational therapists, the authors’ recommendations are based on the review of literature and evidence their combined with their extensive experience as school-based occupational therapists. Using a school-based consultative model of occupational therapy at the continuing education or university educational level can facilitate the sharing of this knowledge with early childhood education teachers.     

What starts to happen to assessment when teachers learn about their children’s informal learning?

Classroom assessment practices are greatly influenced by national and local policies on assessment. Typically, these include accountability requirements for schools to evidence and report their students’ learning in the form of specific learning outcomes, calibrated against national benchmark standards of achievement and progression. An implication for teachers is that their understanding of children’s learning is influenced by an official curriculum that is more likely to be weighted towards particular policy priorities, and desired learning outcomes. This means the knowledge, skills and understanding that children develop outside school are less likely to be included in classroom assessment measures or judgments about desirable progress and achievement. This article explores what happens to teachers’ thinking when they learn about their children’s informal learning outside school and begin to relate to learners in a different way. The findings reported here from a New Zealand three-year longitudinal study identified possibilities for teachers to assess expanded conceptions of children’s learning within the classroom, even though the pressures of assessment against National Standards were ever present. We argue that teachers engaging with knowledge of their students’ informal learning act as a catalyst to rethink and re-conceptualise learning more broadly. Incorporating a strong student voice component in assessment, together with a focus on ipsative assessment, enables teachers to mitigate some of the unintended educational consequences of assessment accountability policies and practices.