Learning environment, attitudes and conceptual development associated with innovative strategies in middle-school mathematics

This study of middle-school students in California focused on the effectiveness of using innovative teaching strategies for enhancing the classroom environment, students’ attitudes and conceptual development. A sample of 661 students from 22 classrooms in four inner city schools completed modified forms of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire and Test of Mathematics Related Attitudes (TOMRA). Data analyses supported the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity and the ability to distinguish between different classes for these questionnaires when used with middle-school mathematics students in California. The effectiveness of the innovative instructional strategy was evaluated in terms of classroom environment and attitudes to mathematics for the whole sample, as well as for mathematics achievement for a subgroup of 101 students. A comparison of an experimental group which experienced the innovative strategy with a control group supported the efficacy of the innovative teaching methods in terms of learning environment, attitudes and mathematics concept development. Also associations were found between perceptions of classroom learning environment and students’ attitudes to mathematics and conceptual development.     

SCHOOL‐WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS AND SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

This investigation employed a participatory action research method involving school psychology consultants and educators to design and evaluate the impact of school‐wide positive behavioral interventions and supports in a self‐contained school serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The traditional practices of a universal system, including teaching and acknowledging expected behaviors and responding to disruptive behaviors, were adapted to better accommodate the needs of a more challenging student population. In addition, system‐wide practices, including various teaming and professional development strategies, were instituted to promote sustainability. Results, after implementation of Tier 1, showed reductions in the frequency of discipline referrals and the number of emergency safety interventions, with a sustained impact across the next 3 years. Limitations included the lack of experimental control in evaluating the intervention. Discussion includes recommendations for an expanded role for school psychologists in promoting evidence‐based practices for high‐risk student populations.     

The Real-Time Case Method: Description and Analysis of the First Implementation

This article describes the first implementation of the Real-time Case Method (RTCM)—a new instructional practice that makes use of various technologies to create a new type of case study. Data obtained from five instructors at four business schools in the U.S. and Canada were analyzed using analytic induction. Analysis suggests RTCM was successfully implemented at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, in traditional face-to-face as well as online learning environments, with students of varying levels of experience and backgrounds, and by instructors with differing professional backgrounds and teaching styles. The instructors were highly satisfied with the method. They observed that students were engaged by RTCM, that it motivated them to work harder and longer on assignments, and that it allowed them to have experiences that were qualitatively different from those available from textbooks and traditional cases.     

Negative caregiver strategies and psychopathology in urban,African-American young adults

OBJECTIVE: There were three aims: (1). assess the prevalence of reported exposure to negative caregiver strategies in a community-based African-American population, (2). examine the sources of variation in caregiver parenting strategies, including demographic variables and child characteristics, (3). investigate whether mental disorders in young adulthood may differ based on reported degree of exposure to negative strategies. METHOD: The participants were 1197 African-Americans involved in a 1999-2001 young adult follow-up (age M=19.6, SD=.6) of an evaluation of school-based interventions in the Baltimore, MD metropolitan area. Measures included teacher-report of child aggression in first grade, parent-report of demographic variables in first and sixth grade, and young adult self-report of symptomatology, suicidal behaviors, and childhood caregiver discipline strategies. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of the sample reported some use of physical discipline by caregivers. Lower family income and younger caregiver age, as well as teacher reports of child aggression, were related to reports of caregiver's high use of negative strategies. In addition, young adults who reported a high rate of negative caregiver strategies had a significantly increased risk for psychopathology and were over twice as likely to have experienced a history of suicidal ideation than those reporting low exposure.CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the importance of examining variation in this population, with the poorest and the youngest using negative parenting strategies more frequently. In addition, the present study replicated previous findings of the link between negative caregiver discipline strategies and psychopathology. This association appears robust across diverse populations. The implications for preventive interventions are discussed.     

Primary school headteacher recruitment and selection in England: the processes and the problematic aspects

ABSTRACT

Appointing a headteacher in England is important but under-researched, hence the study reported here. We interviewed and surveyed chairs of governing boards that had recently undertaken the appointment process. Governing bodies follow broadly similar recruitment and selection processes, which have a number of problematic aspects: the unique nature of the context; the complexity of the processes; ensuring adequate recruitment; the processes are demanding, resource intensive, a considerable responsibility and difficult to organise especially when there are internal candidates; the skills required are specialised; engaging external expertise can be beneficial, but not without challenges; and the chair’s involvement is typically substantial.     

Science Laboratory Classroom Environments at Schools and Universities: A Cross‐National Study∗

ABSTRACT

Because already existing classroom environment scales are unsuitable for science laboratory classes, a new instrument was developed and validated in a Class form (student's perceptions of the class as a whole) and a new Personal form (student's perceptions of his/her own role within the class). The instrument was cross‐nationally field tested with 5,447 students in 269 classes in six countries, and cross‐validated with 1,594 students in 92 classes in Australia. Each scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, and factorial validity, and differentiated between the perceptions of students in different classes. Use of the new instrument revealed that: science laboratory classes are dominated by closed‐ended activities; Class form means consistently were more favorable than Personal form means; associations existed between attitudinal outcomes and laboratory environment; and the Class and Personal form each accounted for unique variance in student attitudes.     

Effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of classroom environment, attitudes and achievement among secondary science students

No previous research has employed learning environments criteria in evaluating the effectiveness of the system of teacher certification sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Because the litmus test of any professional development effort is the extent of the changes in teaching behaviours in participating teachers’ classrooms, our study drew on the field of learning environments in evaluating the effectiveness of National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in terms of their students’ perceptions of their classroom environments. A sample of 443 students in 21 Grade 8 and 10 science classes taught by NBC teachers in South Florida was compared with a matched group of 484 students in 17 classes taught by non-NBC teachers in terms of classroom environment (as assessed by the What Is Happening In this Class?) and students’ attitudes and achievement. Statistically significant differences (with small to medium effect sizes ranging from 0.14 to 0.35 standard deviations) were found in favour of NBC teachers for numerous classroom and environment scales (Teacher Support, Involvement, Task Orientation, Investigation and Cooperation) and for student attitudes.     

The New Books

Harold Mendelsohn and Irving Crespi la Polls, Television, and the New Politics (Chandler, price unknown)

Kurt Borchardt:'s Structure and Performance of the U.S. Communications Industry (Division of Research of the Harvard Business School, Soldier Field, Boston, Mass. 02163, $6.00)

Caleb Gattegno's Towards a Visual Culture (London: Outerbridge and Dienstfrey with U.S. distribution by E.P. Dutton, price unknown)

Melvin L. DeFleur's Theories of Mass Communication has just been re-issued in a revised edition (McKay, $2.95 in paperback)

Barry Cole's new compilation Television (Free Press, both hardcover and paperback editions, price unknown)

George W. Linden's Reflections on the Screen (Wadsworth, $7.50)

John Lidstone and Don McIntosh's Children as Film Makers (Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., $7.95)

Pauline Keel, Going Steady (Atlantic-Little Brawn, $6.95)

Douglas O. Hughes' Perspectives on Pornography (St. Martin's $5.95)

Mitoji Nishimoto's The DeveloRpent of Educational Broadcastin in Japan (Sophia University in Tokyo and Charles Tuttle, Rutland Vt. and Tokyo; $12.50)

Robert T. Holt and John E. Turner, The Methodology of Comparative Research (Free Press, $8.95)

William Braden's The Age of Aquarius (Quadrangle Books, $7.95)

Carl G. Herzog zu Mecklenburg's Jazz Bibliography: Jazz Books from 1919 to 1968 (Strasbourg: Editions P.M. Heitz, $8.00)     

Rating Offensive Words in Three Television Program Contexts

Renewed attention to the use of expletives on television has been spurred by several recent high-profile on-air incidents. This study investigates which words television viewers find most offensive in varying contexts: broadcast TV, cable, and premium channels. Results show significant differences in perceived offensiveness of words depending on the context in which words are heard. Male and female respondents, liberals and conservatives, and religious and nonreligious respondents also differ in their perceptions of the offensiveness of words spoken in prime time.