The effect of affective characterizations on the use of size and colour in drawings produced by children in the absence of a model

Previous studies have revealed that children increase the size of drawings of topics about which they feel positively and use their most preferred colours for colouring in these drawings, and decrease the size of drawings of topics about which they feel negatively and use their least preferred colours for colouring in these drawings. However, these previous findings have been obtained in studies employing drawing tasks where planning and production difficulties have been minimized by asking the children either to copy or to colour in an outline stimulus of a figure provided by the experimenter. The present experiment was designed to examine whether children also alter the use of size and colour in their drawings in response to emotional characterizations when they are not constrained by the presence of a model. In all 253 children aged between four and 11 years were asked to produce drawings of a neutrally, a positively and a negatively characterized topic (either a man, a dog or a tree). It was found that the children consistently increased the size of the positively characterized figures, did not consistently decrease the size of the negatively characterized figures, used their most preferred colours for the positive figures, and used their least preferred colours for the negative figures. These findings are discussed in relation to the operation of an appetitive‐defensive mechanism and pictorial conventions.     

Writing expository essays from social studies texts: a self-regulated strategy development study

Reading and Writing - This study examined the effectiveness of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) to improve students’ ability to write expository essays after reading social studies...     

Teacher evaluation in Illinois: school leaders’ perceptions and practices

The aim of the current study is to assess school leaders’ perceptions and practices in the context of a new policy that emphasizes teacher evaluation. The study draws from survey data of 606 K-12 school leaders in the USA in a state implementing a new teacher evaluation model under Race to the Top. Findings illustrate that school leaders spent significant time on teacher evaluation. Some felt this was a good investment of time (e.g., rich conversations with teachers), increasing the ability for evaluations to improve instruction. Most, however, perceived the time demands as a cost (e.g., spending longer hours on the job, delegating more tasks to others). School leaders felt very confident in their ability to conduct observations and provide feedback to teachers. The opposite was found for student achievement data. Administrators’ reported preparedness, confidence, and beliefs suggest that barriers exist to using student achievement data to evaluate teachers. Findings suggest that school leaders need resources to build capacity, particularly in accommodating the new time demands of teacher evaluation. Administrators could benefit from professional development that addresses the use and value of student achievement if this measure continues to be a substantial component in teacher evaluation models.     

Exploring Mathematics Teacher Educator Questioning as a Relational Practice: Acknowledging Imbalances

ABSTRACT

The desire to understand our questioning practices as relational led us to use collaborative self-study to construct images of our questioning practice within our mathematics teacher education practices. In a prior exploration of written feedback we had begun to consider how our practices supported relationships with preservice teachers. As a result, we began to consider ways we engaged preservice teachers during instruction and wondered how our questions supported or constrained growth of relationships. In this article we share ways our expectations for what we call balance in our questioning practices were disrupted. We describe three waves of inquiry that gave form to our exploration and resulted in awareness of the role and anticipation of imbalance in our questioning practice. Each new wave resulted from findings of the previous waves and pushed us back to the research literature and forward to new images of our questioning. We tell our story using one episode from our practice, images of that practice shared at the 2018 Castle Conference, and lenses that help us anticipate imbalance in our practice.     

Illuminating growth and struggles using mixed methods: Practice-based professional development and coaching for differentiating SRSD instruction in writing

In this mixed methods study, qualitative, quantitative, and single-case methods were combined to provide a comprehensive investigation of teacher and student outcomes following practice-based professional development (PBPD) for self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) in writing. Qualitative observations were used to determine outcomes among the three-fourth grade teachers involved, a nested quantitative model was used to analyze classwide student writing outcomes across 53 students in the three classes, and single case design was used to determine differential outcomes among randomly selected struggling and average writers in each class. PBPD was followed by coaching for differentiation based on student performance and fidelity as teachers taught their students strategies for writing timed imaginary stories (with self as main character), as required by the state writing test. Qualitative results indicated two teachers did not differentiate writing instruction without coaching; one teacher was unresponsive to coaching and did not differentiate instruction. Classwide analysis demonstrated significant growth in writing at the class level for students from baseline to posttesting. Single case design results indicated mixed outcomes among struggling and average writers and instances where instruction was not effective. Teachers indicated high social validity for PBPD and for SRSD; students indicated high social validity for SRSD. Results across the multiple methods illuminate growth and struggles often disguised in group data and are addressed to aid in understanding and enhancing PBPD as well as instruction in SRSD and other evidence-based practices. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Young children's interpretation of the task demands in a simple experimental situation: an example from drawings

This paper presents a very simple experiment on children's drawings to explore the reasons underlying children's contextual sensitivity. Five‐ and six‐year old children were asked to draw from a model on two consecutive tasks. The only difference between the two tasks was the model's orientation. A model cup was presented on one task with its handle visible (at the side) and on the other task with its handle hidden at the back. Previous research would predict that children of this age should show a tendency towards drawing a familiar model such as a cup in a stereotyped orientation (i.e. handle at the side), irrespective of whether or not the handle was visible. However, the results from the present study showed that the children's preparedness to draw the model as it appeared was influenced by the order of task presentation. The findings are discussed in terms of children's interpretation of the task demands which alters as a result of the contrast between the two tasks.     

Polyvictimization,Psychological Distress,and Trauma Symptoms in College Men and Women

This study examined the relationship between polyvictimization, psychological distress, and trauma symptoms in college men and women. Childhood victimization was common among participants. Regression analyses revealed that polyvictimization (i.e., high cumulative levels of victimization) is a better predictor of psychological distress and trauma symptoms than is any individual category of victimization (i.e., sexual, physical, peer/sibling, child maltreatment, witnessing/indirect, or property crime). Gender did not moderate the relation between victimization and distress and trauma symptoms. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

Drawings of Emotionally Characterised Figures by Children from Different Educational Backgrounds

Previous research has shown that children systematically alter the size and colour of their drawings in response to the emotional character of the figures which they draw. However, these findings have been demonstrated only with children receiving mainstream Western education. This experiment was designed to investigate whether children receiving a different kind of education also use scaling and colour differentially for depicting figures of contrasting emotional significance. 76 children, 44 children from mainstream schools (21 boys, 23 girls) and 32 children from Steiner schools (15 boys, 17 girls) were divided into two age groups, with 38 children in the younger age group (mean age 4 years 7 months) and 38 in the older age group (mean age 6 years 8 months). All children completed three drawings of differentially characterized human figures: a neutral, a happy, and a sad figure. Children from the mainstream schools drew larger figures overall, but educational background did not interact with the specific emotional character of the figures in producing these scaling changes. However, there were differences between the two educational groups in relation to the colours used for the negatively characterised figures. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to further understand the role of the educational system in mediating children's depictions of emotional character in their drawings.     

Benefits of computer‐assisted instruction for struggling readers in middle school

This study investigated the benefits of computer‐assisted instruction (CAI) for middle‐school students attending remedial reading classes. As a supplement to a strong language‐based reading curriculum, a CAI programme that works on strengthening phonics word identification skills was provided to students in the treatment group. These students were compared with control students taught by the same teacher but without CAI support. Students in the treatment group showed greater reading gains than control students. Group differences in gain scores were significant in the area of decoding skills. These results show that a skills‐based CAI programme can boost decoding for struggling readers in middle school.