The conceptual change approach to improving teaching and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme

This paper reports a study ofthe effectiveness of an innovative approach tostaff development, the conceptual changeapproach, which attempts to change teachers'frameworks for conceptualising teaching andlearning. The evaluation investigated theprogramme at three levels: the impact on theconceptions of teaching of the participants,the resultant impact on teaching practices, andthe consequential effect on student learning.Encouraging results were obtained. Theprogramme brought about detectable conceptualchange or conceptual development in two-thirdsof the sample group. Subsequently, all the`changed' teachers received better ratings ontheir teaching practices from their students inthe following academic year while none of thosewho did not change their conceptions showedsimilar gains in student rating scores. Aresultant positive impact on their students'studying approaches was observed for half ofthe teachers who changed their conceptions.     

Ratings by Counselors Without Teaching Experience And Their Principals Regarding Performance of Guidance Functions

This study compared principal and self ratings of performance of guidance functions for practicing counselors who did not have teaching experience. The sample consisted of 43 counselors and their principals from throughout the United States. The ratings indicate better-than-average initial counselor acceptance by administrators, teachers, students, and parents with the degree of acceptance being greater after they had counseled for a while. Principal and self ratings differed significantly on initial acceptance by students and present acceptance by other counselors. Ratings of acceptance by both school psychologists and social workers were below average. There was no significant difference in counselor and principal ratings of counselor understanding of various school procedures and policies or of their ability to perform basic guidance activities. A majority of the principals who had worked with the counselors with non-teaching backgrounds indicated they would recommend the hiring of such a person to their school board.     

Comparison of deficits in cognitive and motor skills among children with dyslexia

There is a growing body of evidence that children with dyslexia have problems not just in reading but in a range of skills including several unrelated to reading. In an attempt to compare the severity and incidence of deficits across these varied domains, children with dyslexia (mean ages 8, 12, and 16 years), and control groups of normally achieving children matched for IQ and for age or reading age, were tested on a range of primitive (basic) skills. The children with dyslexia performed significantly worse than the same-age controls on most tasks, and significantly worse even than the reading-age controls on phoneme segmentation, picture naming speed, word tachistoscopic word recognition, speeded bead threading and some balance tasks. The overall performance of the children with dyslexia is interpreted as showing less complete automatization than normal.     

Effects of Web-based Support for the Construction of Competence Maps

Educationalists experience difficulties with the construction of competence maps that describe final attainment levels of educational programs. Web-based support was developed with three supportive aids: A construction kit, a phenomenarium, and an information bank. Each supportive aid was expected to improve perceived process and product quality as well as learning. In a full factorial experiment, 266 educational science students constructed a competence map, whether or not supported by different combinations of the three supportive aids. The availability of the construction kit and the phenomenarium had positive effects on perceived process quality and learning. Furthermore, if there was no phenomenarium with example materials, the absence of the construction kit greatly diminished experienced support (i.e., one aspect of process quality); if a phenomenarium was present, the availability of the construction kit had relatively little effect on perceived support. In general, this study indicates that well-designed Web-based support helps to construct competence maps. in final form: 2 February 2006     

DEVELOPING PARENT‐PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIPS IN A POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Opportunities are increasing for students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to attend postsecondary education programs located at college campuses around the nation. Students who attend postsecondary education programs experience numerous positive outcomes, including independent living skills and expanded social networks. However, although parent‐professional partnerships could significantly enhance long‐term outcomes such as competitive employment and independent living, there is a paucity of information about the nature of these partnerships in postsecondary settings. The purpose of this expository article is to describe how staff from a midwestern postsecondary education program facilitate parent‐professional partnerships through parent involvement and support.     

Measuring the relationship between two questionnaires: appropriate definitions of intuitive understandings

A number of recent articles have claimed strong relationships—i.e., very high ‘proportions of shared variance’—between pairs of teaching and learning questionnaires. These claims have been the subject of debate and it has emerged that the proportion of shared variance is defined as the complement of Wilks’ lambda. The present article argues that this is not an appropriate measure for the data being analyzed. First some intuitive understandings of the situation are developed. A case study finds that the (Wilks‐based) proportion of shared variance between two questionnaires is 79%, but that the first questionnaire explains only 27% of the variance in the second and the second explains only 40% of the variance in the first. The technical literature is then considered and alternatives to the complement of Wilks’ lambda are recommended as measures of the relationship between two sets of variables.     

What Teachers Think

The present study examined Further Education Teachers’ opinions on the introduction of a formal appraisal system into their colleges. Data were obtained from two sources: (a) a one‐day workshop (N = 72), and (b) a survey questionnaire (N = 60). Findings showed that generally teachers did not welcome a formal appraisal system but felt that any system should offer encouragement and help to improve performance in the classroom, though most felt that time and money would need to be spent to enable Colleges to do the job properly.     

A View on the Current Situation in Russian Education

This paper reflects the current state in Russian education which has a strong correlation with the socio-economic crisis. The responsibilities for education are held partially by the state and partly by other social institutions and as a whole, all of them form the system of education. There is a rather wide set of laws, decree statements, and rules about education in Russia, but they currently are far removed from practical realization. The situation with financing educators, schools, and universities is very critical at present in Russia. The idea of differentiation and democratization in School Reform has had both positive and negative effects. To rescue the Russian system of education from a crisis, a strong state policy in education and a strong system of implementation are required. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multigrade teaching: towards an international research and policy agenda

Despite its prevalence in many educational systems, multigrade teaching remains invisible. In the global effort to achieve education for all in the post-Dakar decade the needs of multigrade teachers, classes and schools must be addressed. The paper (i) explores the meaning of the term multigrade teaching in developing and industrialised countries and identifies a range of conditions under which it arises; (ii) synthesises knowledge of the practice of and research on multigrade teaching; and (iii) proposes an international agenda for future research on and dissemination of policy and practice. The agenda underlines the need for context-specific questions and comparisons, more awareness of the prevalence and challenges of multigrade teaching, more research on the practices and training needs of multigrade teaching and the exploration of synergies between teachers, curriculum, assessment and classroom organisation. It is suggested that knowledge of multigrade teaching strategies is needed by all teachers and not simply those in classes designated as ‘multigrade’.