Prediction: A six-year follow-up

The prereading and reading performance of a group of 370 predominantly Hispanic, bilingual public school children was followed for six years. The aim of the study was to compare the factorial make-up and predictive validity of tests used in the current research with findings from a previous study. The early study had followed the children from the end of their kindergarten year until the end of second grade. For purposes of the present study a 13-test predictor battery was administered to the children at the beginning of their first-grade year. This battery included a number of measures used in the early study, among them a 5-test Screening Index developed in the course of that study. Records were obtained of the follow-up children’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade reading test scores. Factor analysis of the pool of 13 predictor tests showed a two-cluster battery structure. These clusters closely resembled two of the four factors defined in the early study. As used with the group of bilingual children, the Screening Index misclassified many of the failing readers, as well as others who went ahead to read at grade level. The Screening Index quite accurately identified, across grades, children who eventually read well. A number of predictor tests administered at beginning of first grade continued to show significant correlations with reading at all grade levels. The consistent contribution of the predictor tests with reading points to their continuing usefulness as a point of departure for assessing children’s readiness to read. The investigation was conducted by the staff of the de Hirsch-Robinson Reading Clinic, Department of Pediatric Psychiatry, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The work has been supported by generous grants from a number of private donors, among them The Beinecke Foundation, The Morgan Family Fund, The Lita Annenberg-Hazen Charitable Trust, Mr. Seymour Milstein of the Milstein Family Foundation, and Mrs. William Carey.     

Smithsonian Team Flickr: a library,archives, and museums collaboration in web 2.0 space

The Flickr Commons was created as a forum for institutions to share their rich photographic collections with the emerging Web 2.0 audience of Flickr; the Smithsonian Institution was the fourth member of the Commons. The Smithsonian effort was a direct collaborative effort of the libraries, archives, museums, and information technology staff that generated new pathways for collaboration between these units. As the world’s largest museum complex, these Smithsonian units serve as a microcosm for collaboration in the information age. The Flickr Commons project provided insights into how the knowledge, skills, and abilities of libraries, archives, and museums (LAM) can converge in the Web 2.0 environment to provide collection access to new, and in some cases unknown, audiences. Simultaneously, by putting “LAM” content into an environment that allows for direct interaction by these audiences, the knowledge of the content for holding institutions is enriched. By exposing Smithsonian content within the Flickr environment, the Institution is learning what content is desired by the Web 2.0 world, how to bring crowd-sourcing into professionally curated collections, and how to bring diverse institutional skills together in a collaborative project.     

E Pluribus Unum: Mohawk Indian Students’ Views Regarding the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance

This study examined 191 high school students’ willingness to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, their reasons for participating or not participating in saying the Pledge, and their thoughts about the Pledge during this daily school ritual. The study was conducted in a rural town next to the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation. The majority of the students chose not to recite the Pledge, and Mohawk students were less likely to recite the Pledge than their classmates.     

Understanding Instructor Immediacy,Credibility, and Facework Strategies Through a Qualitative Analysis of Written Instructor Feedback

Written feedback is an important but often overlooked aspect of an instructor’s training and responsibilities, even though it is central to student learning. We analyzed 3,071 written instructor comments on a single assignment from 95 sections to understand how immediacy, credibility, and facework are reflected in written feedback. In taking a heuristic approach to data analysis, we found two overarching themes: fostering goodwill and using context-specific feedback. These overlapping themes demonstrated various strategies of instructor immediacy, credibility, and facework that negotiated the instructor–student relationship in conjunction with course content and policies. Examining these themes allowed us to identify strengths and weaknesses in methods of instructor feedback that would not have been visible using traditional quantitative methods of assessment and have practical implications for the administration of our course.     

Academic risk and resilience for children and young people in Asia

Abstract

In studies of academic resilience, researchers seek to identify factors that protect against adverse effects caused by risk and stress, and which ultimately assist students to be academically successful. However, because relatively few studies are conducted in Asian settings, Western-based research may have limited application for policy and prevention in the Asian context. It is therefore important to expand the context and culture in which resilience research takes place. This paper highlights academic resilience factors among Asian students that are located in the multiple levels of the social ecology (including individual, peers, family and school). This is consistent with results from the Western context. However, it also reports on some differences in academic resilience factors that are found both within Asian countries and between Asian and Western countries. From these results, we might thus conclude that alongside pan-human factors, Asian students’ academic success can also be considered in part due to uniquely Asian attributes. This reaffirms the importance of considering culture and national context in studies of academic resilience. Taken as a whole, this collection of papers showcases multiple approaches to building academic resilience and empowering students and their educators and caregivers across the Asian region.     

Two Models of Educational Assessment: a response from initial teacher education: if the cap fits …

This paper is supportive of the judgemental model of assessment posited by Hager & Butler (1996) and is a twofold response. First, it examines the underpinning principles of assessment and testing theory on which their paper is based. Whilst the judgemental model of assessment is not based on the traditional notions of validity and reliability, as in classical test theory, it nevertheless does take account of and is built on appropriate conceptions of these two fundamental principles of any instrument of assessment. It is the concomitant and necessary shift in perceptions of these underlying principles that give support for Hager & Butler's justification for a judgemental model of assessment as that which is appropriate for the assessment of workplace performance. Second, it supports the application of the judgemental model to workplace performance by considering a pertinent area, that of a postgraduate certificate in initial teacher education.     

Why People Dual Screen Political Debates and Why It Matters for Democratic Engagement

Dual screening during televised election debates is a new domain in which political elites and journalists seek to influence audience attitudes and behavior. But to what extent do non-elite dual screeners seek to influence others, particularly their social media followers, social media users in general, and even politicians and journalists? And how does this behavior affect short- and longer-term engagement with election campaigns? Using unique, event-based, panel survey data from the main 2015 UK general election debate (Wave 1 = 2,351; Wave 2 = 1,168) we reveal the conditions under which people experience agency, empowerment, and engagement now that social media have reconfigured broadcast political television.