Analysis of lexical quality and its relation to writing quality for 4th grade,primary school students in Chile

Few studies have addressed vocabulary quality in developing writing skill in Spanish. Even less addressed it within the Chilean educational system. The specific objective of this study was to characterize, using a comprehensive set of indicators, the quality of the vocabulary produced by Chilean 4th grade students. Based on a national writing survey, a sample of 2056 texts written by 685 students was collected (narrative, persuasive, and informative texts). Current literature defines lexical quality as a composite of diverse factors that, while distinct, are interrelated. To represent the properties of the vocabulary, a set of indicators were selected: (a) lexical diversity; (b) lexical sophistication; and (c) lexical density. Using multilevel modeling (students and schools as levels 1 and 2) to explain a global writing score we found that diversity was a significant determinant for narrative and persuasive texts, density was a significant determinant for the three genres and sophistication was a significant determinant for narrative and expository text. In addition, indicators related to gender and socioeconomic conditions were only significant determinants of narrative stories. The parts of speech most often used also varied according to the purpose of each text. In all genres, words had a short extension and were very sensitive to the input presented in the stimuli. These results imply a significant challenge to this education system: how to promote the development of vocabulary in all children in order to support language learning.     

‘La Maîtresse dit que je suis lent’: Représentation de l'école française dans le discours d'élèves immigrés

Résumé Les difficultés scolaires éprouvées par les élèves immigrés ont été généralement étudiées en mettant l'accent sur leurs carences ou sur les stratégies d'adaptation dont ils se servent. Le travail qu'on présente ici vise à renverser cette optique — en inserant cette problématique dans le cadre théorique de la Transculturation, et en étudiant la façon dont ces élèves perçoivent l'institution scolaire.Une étude de l'énonciation porte sur 101 entretiens dans la langue d'origine, avec des sujets hispanophones et lusitanophones, garçons et filles, âgés de 10 à 17 dans.Sur la base d'une analyse statistique informatisée on a établi des indices visant à saisir (a) les rapports chercheur/sujet dans l'entretien; (b) les liens qui rattachent l'individu à son groupe (moi — nous); (c) sa perception de l'autre; et (d) la façon dont il se situe par rapport à son expérience (assumée ou subie, actant ou acté). Des mots-clé illustrent et soulignent les difficultés éprouvées par ces sujets et par l'institution scolaire pour appréhender les normes temporelles comme un modelage culturel et en saisir leur relativité.

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The difficulties of immigrant children at school have generally been studied with the emphasis either on their deficiencies or on the schemes which they devise to enable them to adapt. The study which is presented here, however, aims at a radically different approach by viewing the problem within the theoretical framework of transculturation and by examining the way in which the pupils themselves perceive the French school system.A study is made of the outcome of 101 interviews which were conducted in their mother tongue with Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking boys and girls aged between 10 and 17 years old.On the basis of statistical analysis by computer, indices were formulated with the intention of establishing (a) the relationship between the researcher and the subject during the interview; (b) the links between the subject as an individual and his/her peer-group (me — us); (c) his/her perception of others; and (d) the way in which he/she relates to his/her experience (as something to be positively accepted — or to be suffered; active or passive). Keywords illustrate and underline the difficulties encountered both by pupils and by the school to grasp the idea of time norms as a cultural shaping and to perceive how relative they are.

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Zusammenfassung Die schulischen Schwierigkeiten von Einwandererkindern sind allgemein entweder mit Schwerpunkt auf ihren Unzulänglichkeiten oder auf den von ihnen gewählten Anpassungsstrategien untersucht worden. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung jedoch wird ein radikal anderer Ansatz beabsichtigt, indem das Problem innerhalb eines theoretischen Bezugsrahmens der Transkulturation betrachtet und indem die Art und Weise geprüft wird, die die Schüler selbst dem französischen Schulsystem gegenüber empfinden.Die Studie wurde aufgrund von 101 Interviews von in ihrer Muttersprache spanisch- und portugiesisch-sprechenden Jungen und Mädchen im Alter von 10 bis 17 Jahren erstellt.Auf der Grundlage statistischer computergestützter Analyse, wurden Indices mit der Absicht formuliert, folgendes nachzuweisen: (a) die Beziehung zwischen dem wissenschaftlichen Befrager und dem Befragten während des Interviews; (b) die Verbindungen zwischen dem Befragten als einem Individuum zu seiner/ihrer Gruppe von Gleichaltrigen (ich — uns); (c) seine/ihre Wahrnehmung der Anderen; und (d) die Art und Weise auf der er/sie sich in Beziehung zu seiner/ihrer Erfahrung sieht (als etwas, das als positiv erleb wird, oder an dem man leitet; aktiv oder passiv). Schlüsselworte veranschaulichen und unterstreichen die Schwierigkeiten, auf die sowohl die Schüler als auch die Schule stossen, um die Vorstellung der Zeitnormen als Kulturform zu begreifen, und um ihre Relativität zu empfinden.

     

Good practices for transforming education

This text is a guide to the reading and interpretation of the good practices that are developing in the countries participating in this project and elsewhere. A systematic approach to the factors making up a good practice has enabled us to share our analyses in a more structured manner and to reflect on their potential for learning and change, their peculiarities and regular features, as well as their sustainability outside certain particular contexts and specific forms of support. What can we learn from these good practices? Can they influence educational policies on both the administrative and pedagogical levels? Can they become strong points in strategies aimed at improving school life and pupils’ results? Under what conditions? These are some of the questions that guide this text on good practices. The analysis of the answers to these questions has enabled us to identify a number of minimal conditions that are necessary for a good practice to have some effect on education policies. Moreover, it opened up new lines of questioning which can be pursued.     

Evaluating student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system

This paper characterizes and evaluates the student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system. It describes the supply and demand sides of the system by looking at the numerus clausus across areas of study and institutions, institutions’ degree of diversity, and performance and adjustment indicators based on students’ revealed preferences. Performance indicators quantify the adequacy between demand and supply, across institutions and fields of study, and gauge the performance of public higher education institutions in the competition for candidates. Adjustment indicators allow us to predict the potential impact of changes in higher education regulations on student allocation and its stability. According to these indicators, such changes could result in an expansion for some institutions and fields of study, whereas other institutions might face a reduction.

An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students' understandings of scientific inquiry: Establishing a baseline

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65–83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.     

Mathematics learning and assessment using MathE platform: A case study

Education and Information Technologies - Universities are encouraging the implementation of innovative methodologies and teaching strategies to develop an interactive and appealing educational...     

Exploring the participation and agency of students with special education needs in a Macau-Chinese secondary school

The research explores the perceptions of five secondary school students with special education needs (SEN) about their participation in learning, group membership, and agency within an inclusive school in Macau SAR. This goal is achieved by using students' voices documented in open-ended interviews and is underpinned by the conceptual framework of heutagogy. The aim is to shed light on students' perceptions on school effectiveness in supporting their needs through successful participation and agentic possibilities. Findings showed that students were more prone to social rejection and being isolated or bullied than their peers. They were struggling to feel included or participate, their needs were only partially being met, and they had few opportunities to exert influence on their educational trajectories. Recommendations are provided to assist educators and schools in enhancing students with SEN to connect to the learning process and community, with the provision of appropriate learning adjustments and more active approaches to ensure their acceptance by mainstream students, including the formation of coaching peers to assist in developing social and academic skills under teacher's scaffolding practices. This study highlights the contribution of the heutagogical perspective to advance research on the participation and agency of students with SEN in mainstream schools.