The Role of Scientist Mentors on Teachers’ Perceptions of the Community of Science During a Summer Research Experience

This study focuses on the mentor relationships between science teachers and their scientist mentors in a summer Research Experience for Teachers program at a United States national laboratory facility. Using mixed methods, the authors surveyed and interviewed (semi-structured) the eleven participating teachers before and after the program. The authors also observed the teachers with their mentors each week. During these observations, three different types of mentoring relationships were observed. The authors highlight these through case studies of three teachers, each of whom experienced one of the three relationships. These case studies include their pre and post survey and interview data as well as classroom observations following the program. The results show that the mentoring relationship positively influences teachers?? views of scientific inquiry. The participating teachers felt a sense of membership in the science community as a result of the mentoring they received from their scientists and/or other members of their research group (i.e. graduate students, post doctorates). The three cases demonstrate that teachers felt a higher sense of ownership when they were ??discovering?? information that was new to their scientist or ??translating?? their work. All three types of mentoring relationships improved teachers?? understanding of scientific inquiry, which can translate into the classroom.     

The impact of an intervention on children's reading and spelling ability in low-income schools in India

The aim of this study using a quasi-experimental design was to investigate whether utilising synthetic phonics in schools catering for low-income families in India would increase reading and spelling attainment in English. Over 500 children in 20 schools took part in the 6-month programme. Just over half of the children experienced lessons organised around the synthetic phonics materials, whilst the other children continued with their normal English lessons. The findings show that there were statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the improvements of the children in their test scores in reading and spelling.     

The relative quality and cost-effectiveness of private and public schools for low-income families: a case study in a developing country

The “mushrooming” of private schools for low-income families has been widely noted in the literature; however, very little is known about the quality of these schools. This research explored the relative quality of private unaided (recognised and unrecognised) and government schools in low-income areas of Hyderabad, India. A preliminary census to locate unrecognised private schools – not on official lists – was conducted. Data were collected on achievement and background variables for 3,910 pupils from a stratified random sample of schools. Using multilevel modelling shows that pupils in private unrecognised and recognised schools, when controlled for age, pupil's IQ, and class average IQ, achieve higher scores in mathematics and English than equivalent pupils in government schools. There is no significant difference between private and government schools in pupil achievement in Urdu. The achievement advantage for private schools did not arise because of greater resources available, at least in terms of per pupil teacher salaries.     

Inquiry-based learning: reconciling the personal with the public in a democratic and archaeological pedagogy

When the National Literacy Strategy was introduced into English primary schools it aimed, among other things, to raise standards of reading and, in so doing, to improve children's ability to use textual sources to enhance their wider learning and enjoyment. We propose that success in achieving these is likely to be affected by the way in which school resources are allocated between staffing and learning resources, in particular books and other text-based media. Consequently, this article investigates school policies towards book provision. Using evidence from inspections of 6150 primary schools, questionnaire returns from head teachers in 540 primary schools and individual interviews with primary teachers, we argue that book provision is a significant factor in the success of a literacy strategy. The findings also indicate, more widely, that appropriate decisions on the allocation of school resources are an important component of curriculum policy.     

A Factor Analysis of Epps Scales,Ability, and Achievement Measures

Data from 169 high school students were rotated by means of an oblique factor rotation so that from a 27x 27 variance-covariance matrix six factors were obtained. These factors were labeled: intellectual introversion, dependence, superego strength, ego-strength, independent orientation, and verbal aggression. The results suggested that the factors of intellectual introversion, dependence, superego strength, and ego-strength had concurrent validity. It was concluded that a factor analysis of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS), though questionable mathematically due to the fact that the EPPS is an ipsative measure, extracted psychologically relevant dimensions. The findings also suggested that introverted, socially controlled, mathematically apt students were not competing successfully with verbal, high ego-strength students in high school academic work.     

X ECUMENICAL EDUCATION FOR SECOND GRADERS

Its roots are in the experience of World War II. The burgeoning military establishment and associated industries fuel it. Anti‐Communism provides the climate which nurtures it. “It” is a “new American militarism.” General Shoup, a hero of the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, who rose to become Commandant of the United States Marine Corps for four years until his retirement in December, 1963, doesn't like it. He has written this essay in collaboration with another retired Marine officer, Colonel James A. Donovan.

     

Private schools and the millennium development goal of universal primary education: a census and comparative survey in Hyderabad,India

Development literature suggests that private schools serving the poor are not part of the solution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education. The study conducted a census and survey of schools in notified slums of Hyderabad, India, to contribute to the sparse literature on the nature and extent of private schools for the poor. Of 918 schools found, 60% were found to be private unaided (PUA), enrolling about 65% of total enrolment. On a range of indicators, including pupil–teacher ratio, teaching activity, teacher absenteeism, and classroom and school inputs such as blackboards, desks, chairs, toilets and drinking water, PUA (including unrecognised) schools were found to be superior to government schools. Objections to a role for private schools in meeting the MDG target are explored and challenged.     

Uniform teacher certification in the South

Evaluation and Improvement of Teaching. By Charles W. Knudsen. Doubleday Doran &; Co.

Arithmetic for Everyday Life. By Robert Anderson, Teachers College, West Chester, Pa., and Shelton Phelps, George Peabody College for Teachers. Silver, Burdett &;Co.

Problems of the Teaching Personnel. By Dennis H. Cooke. Longmans, Green &; Co.

Intelligence—Its Manifestations and Measurement. By Paul L. Boynton, 1933. D. Appleton and Company. Pp. xi + 466.

Significant Contemporary Stories. Edited by Edith R. Mirrielees. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1929. Pp. 376.

Stongs for the School Year for Junior and Senior High Schools. Compiled by George S. Dare. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1931. Pp. xvi + 191.

The Psychology of School Music Teaching. By James L. Mursell and Mabelleb Glenn. New York: Silver, Burdett and Company, 1931. Pp. v + 378.

The Courts and the Public Schools. By Newton Edwards. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1933. Pp. xvi + 591.

A Gestalt Completion Test. By Roy F. Street. New York City: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1931. Pp. in + 65.

College and Reference Library Yearbook. American Library Association, Chicago: American Library Association, 1931.

Public School Finance. By Homer P. Rainey. New York: The Century Co, 1929. Pp. xix + 385. (Century education series.)

Beyond the School. By Frank A. Rexford, Cham.es M. Smith, Sarah Lansuburg Seixin, and Paul F. Frabbito. New York: Henry Holt and Company 1933. Pp. xx + 409.

The Administration of Public High Schools Through Their Personnel. By Georgs A. Rice, Clinton C. Conrad, Paul Fleming. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933. Pp. x + 723.

Everyday Problems in Classroom Management. By Edwin J. Brown. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1933. Pp. xv + 306.

Modern Solid Geometry. By John R. Clark and Arthur S. Otis. New York: World Book Company, 1932. Pp. xx + 171.

Junior Mathematics for Today—Book One. By William Betz. New York: Ginn and Company, 1933. Pp. x + 406.