Examining teachers’ perceptions of K‐11 students’ 21st century skills and student performance

This study examined the relationship of teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills (i.e., persistence, curiosity, externalizing and internalizing affect, and cognition) via the Human Behavior Rating Scale: Brief (HBRS: Brief; Eaves & Woods‐Groves, 2011) with student performance. Midwestern K‐11 teachers (n = 96) rated students (n = 1,689) via the HBRS: Brief and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). Students’ academic (i.e., standardized tests) and behavioral (i.e., office discipline referrals [ODRs] and absences) performance was compared with HBRS: Brief ratings. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that teachers’ ratings of students’ 21st century skills were related to the following: (a) Persistence with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and absences; (b) curiosity with SDQ emotional symptoms; (c) externalizing affect with SDQ conduct problems, academic performance, and ODRs; (d) internalizing affect with SDQ emotional symptoms and academic performance, and (e) cognition with academics.     

On identity, diversity, and educational change

In this article, I discuss two areas of Andy Hargreaves’ scholarship, teachers’ identity and biography and the three periods of educational change spanning the 1960s to 1990s, that have influenced my work as a teacher educator and researcher. I describe research projects, including self-studies, in which I have examined the influence of teachers’ identities and biographies on their beliefs and practices of responding to student diversity. I also explore how the topic of teachers’ identity and biography are integrated into the courses I teach. Additionally, I describe how I have related the three periods of educational change—a period of optimism and innovation, a period of complexity and contradiction, and a period of marketization and standardization, along with the monocultural restoration—to corresponding policies and practices of responding to student diversity in the US and Ontario, Canada. Finally, I discuss a current project in which Andy and I are exploring core issues related to educational leadership and diversity.     

Modern Mimicry and YouTube: How Technology Has Influenced Pedagogy and Performance of Poetry Interpretation Within Competitive Forensics

Plato's mimetic theory proposes art is an imitative representation of nature. Mimesis and imitation have a long history of rhetorical significance. This article investigates the potential impact increased technology might have upon the mimetic nature of the interpretation of poetry within modern forensics performances. Technological advances have made millions of performances available immediately. This vast increase in performance accessibility has created serious implications for repetition and impersonation within the genre of interpretation. As YouTube has made poetry performances visibly and audibly accessible to the masses, literal mimetic performances are quickly taking shape. This article utilizes a classical rhetorical framework upon modern-day technological advancements in an attempt to articulate significant educational benefits and limitations technology has had on mimetic performances for students, coaches, and judges.     

Parents' views on sexual debut among pre-teen children in Washington, DC

OBJECTIVE: Present US parents' perceptions about factors leading to early intercourse and strategies for overcoming them. METHODS: Conducted analysis of eight focus groups with 78 male and female African-American and Hispanic caregivers of fifth-graders and sixth-graders (ages 10-12). RESULTS: Participants gave the following primary reasons for early sexual activity: lack of structured activities, adult supervision, and communication; and influence of peers, society, and media. They suggested strategies targeting these reasons, and the need for parents, schools, and the community to work together. CONCLUSION: Incorporating parents' perspectives would help tailor interventions to the needs of the target population and increase parental support.     

Does intensity matter? Preschoolers’ print knowledge development within a classroom-based intervention

The present study examined the extent to which two dimensions of intervention intensity, (dose frequency and dose) of a 30-week print-referencing intervention related to the print knowledge development of 367 randomly selected children from 55 preschool classrooms. Dose frequency refers to the number of intervention sessions implemented per week; teachers were randomly assigned to either the high-dose frequency condition (four intervention sessions per week) or the low-dose frequency condition (two intervention sessions per week). Dose refers to number of print-referencing teaching strategies used per intervention session and was a naturally varying variable across classrooms. Structural models of children's spring print knowledge showed a significant interaction of dose and dose frequency in relation to children's outcomes. Follow-up analyses showed that the benefit of providing four versus two print-referencing sessions per week disappeared when teachers were providing a relatively intense number teaching strategies within sessions (i.e., the dose was high). Considered differently, findings also show that increasing the number of print referencing teaching strategies within a session (i.e., the dose) related positively to children's print knowledge development, but only when the weekly number of intervention sessions were low (i.e., two intervention sessions weekly). Overall, findings show that there is a benefit to increasing the dose or dose frequency of the print referencing intervention, but increasing both aspects of intervention intensity appeared to have a diminishing benefit to children's learning. Findings empirically support the multi-dimensional nature of intervention intensity and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Study of Self: The Self as Designer in Online Teacher Education

In this article we describe our engagement in self-study as part of an examination of design-based research for education. We focus on graduate-level online teacher education as an example of how self-study provided a means of examining deeply our teaching and our roles as teacher and designer in the learning environment. We posit that online learning environments are particularly well suited for self-study to enhance design perspectives because the interactions between teacher and students are informed by personal context and mediated by technological tools. The graduate students in our courses were teacher leaders in literacy or mathematics who were learning how to support professional development for other teachers. Throughout our self-study research we found ourselves drawing upon our previous design research experiences, which aided our ability to engage in self-study: We were part of the classroom system, focusing on our roles within the teaching and learning process as designers of the online learning environment. Three key design principles resulted from our self-study process: focusing on systems of learning and teaching, designing pedagogical tools and products, and using iterative processes. Engaging in self-study enhanced our understanding and implementation of synchronous online instruction, particularly regarding our use of technological tools to enhance student learning and support learning communities.     

Rethinking resources and hybridity

This review explores Alfred Schademan??s ??What does playing cards have to do with science? A resource-rich view of African American young men?? by examining how he uses two key concepts??hybridity and resources??to propose an approach to science education that counters enduring deficit notions associated with this population. Our response to Schademan??s work expands upon his definition of hybridity and its purpose in the science classroom and highlights the tensions inherent in the appropriation of student resources in classroom spaces. This conversation points also to the need for research analyses and pedagogical approaches that simultaneously valorize student resources, allow student opportunities to learn the dominant codes, and provide teacher and student opportunities to transform them. Carol Lee??s notion of ??cultural modeling?? is discussed as a possible framing device to facilitate this kind of research.     

Exploring Sources of Individual Differences in Children's Interest in Science

Efforts have been made to promote children's interest in science, but little is known about how children's interest in science relates to other characteristics, such as science‐specific curiosity, domain‐general epistemic curiosity, and verbal intelligence. The current study examines how these factors relate to individual differences in children's self‐reported interest in science topics. Children 7‐ to 10‐years‐old (n = 91) rated their interest in science and non‐science topics and completed measures of science‐specific curiosity, domain‐general epistemic curiosity, and verbal intelligence. An additional 94 7‐ to 10‐year‐olds rated their interest in science and non‐science topics and completed the science‐specific curiosity measure. The results suggest that individual differences in children's science interest relate most strongly to scientific curiosity, and specifically to the drive to seek out information and new experiences.     

Getting Ready for School: An Examination of Early Childhood Educators’ Belief Systems

This study examines early childhood educators’ beliefs about what children need prior to before entering kindergarten. Focus group interviews were conducted with early childhood educators from three learning settings: public center-based programs, private center-based programs, and family child care centers. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Across program types, educators said that three levels should be addressed to help prepare a child for school: child, home, and teacher. The child must be physically and emotionally ready to engage with others and participate in learning opportunities, acquire basic skills, such as letter recognition, and have reasoning skills that enable the child to problem-solve. At the home level, emotionally preparing the child for the transition and creating a home environment that promotes learning were reported as key to getting children for school. Teacher relationships with parents also emerged as important school readiness factor. Differences across program types are discussed.