An Expansion of the Trait-State-Occasion Model: Accounting for Shared Method Variance

This article examines 4 approaches for explaining shared method variance, each applied to a longitudinal trait–state–occasion (TSO) model. Many approaches have been developed to account for shared method variance in multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data. Some of these MTMM approaches (correlated method, orthogonal method, correlated method minus one, correlated uniqueness) were therefore borrowed in these analyses such that their effectiveness could be evaluated in conjunction with a TSO model. To this end, datasets were generated according to 4 different covariance matrices (each created according to specifications of a model built with 1 of the 4 approaches) and each model was crossed with each type of data. Whereas the correlated method and correlated method minus one approaches encountered many difficulties in convergence, fit, or parameter estimates, the correlated uniqueness and orthogonal method approaches proved to be quite versatile.     

Integrazione scholastica: on not having all of the answers – a response to Anastasiou,Kauffman and Di Nuovo

Because of its long commitment to inclusive/integrated education, Italy leads the world in educating the largest percentage of its students with disabilities in general education classes. It also boasts the fewest special classes and schools. Inclusion in Italy is based on a principle that disability is not a problem, but rather a positive force in the classroom. Focused on developing the competencies of each student, inclusion/integration shares a belief in the capacity for growth of all learners and an assumption that non-disabled and disabled peers, even those with the most significant learning needs, learn in mutually reinforcing and reciprocal ways. Integrazione scolastica is not, therefore, simply a moral or ethical project but has led to increased achievement for learners with and without disabilities. Yet, despite progressive laws and policies and a 30-year history of inclusive education, there remains a need to be hypervigilant to pressures to revert back to the status quo of segregated education. The problem is not a lack of a US-centric approach, as advocated by Anastasiou, Kaufman, and Di Nuovo (2015), which is increasingly out of step with international policy and deeply mired in racial inequalities and a overall lack of efficacy, but rather to find ways to recommit to fully inclusive practices in an era of increased diversity, diminished economic resources and increasing pressures of neoliberal reforms.     

Individual and group sensitivity to remedial reading program design: examining reading gains across three middle school reading projects

The purpose of this project was to examine group- and individual-level responses by struggling adolescents readers (6th–8th grades; N = 155) to three different modalities of the same reading program, Reading Achievement Multi-Component Program. The three modalities differ in the combination of reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, comprehension) that are taught and their organization. Latent change scores were used to examine changes in phonological decoding, fluency, and comprehension for each modality at the group level. In addition, individual students were classified as gainers versus non-gainers (a reading level increase of a year or more vs. less than 1 year) so that characteristics of gainers and differential sensitivity to instructional modality could be investigated. Findings from both group and individual analyses indicated that reading outcomes were related to modalities of reading instruction. Furthermore, differences in reading gains were seen between students who began treatment with higher reading scores than those with lower reading scores; dependent on modality of treatment. Results, examining group and individual analyses similarities and differences, and the effect the different modalities have on reading outcomes for older struggling readers will be discussed.     

The Effects of School Gardens on Children's Science Knowledge: A randomized controlled trial of low-income elementary schools

This randomized controlled trial or ‘true experiment' examines the effects of a school garden intervention on the science knowledge of elementary school children. Schools were randomly assigned to a group that received the garden intervention (n?=?25) or to a waitlist control group that received the garden intervention at the end of the study (n?=?24). The garden intervention consisted of both raised-bed garden kits and a series of 19 lessons. Schools, located in the US states of Arkansas, Iowa, Washington, and New York, were all low-income as defined by having 50% or more children qualifying for the federal school lunch program. Participants were students in second, fourth, and fifth grade (ages 6–12) at baseline (n?=?3,061). Science knowledge was measured using a 7-item questionnaire focused on nutritional science and plant science. The survey was administered at baseline (Fall 2011) and at three time points during the intervention (Spring 2012, Fall 2012, and Spring 2013). Garden intervention fidelity (GIF) captured the robustness or fidelity of the intervention delivered in each classroom based on both lessons delivered and garden activities. Analyses were conducted using general linear mixed models. Survey data indicated that among children in the garden intervention, science knowledge increased from baseline to follow-up more than among control group children. However, science knowledge scores were uniformly poor and gains were very modest. GIF, which takes into account the robustness of the intervention, revealed a dose–response relation with science knowledge: more robust or substantial intervention implementations corresponded to stronger treatment effects.     

Factors Affecting the Difficulty of Reading Comprehension Items for Successful and Unsuccessful Readers

This study assessed the contributions of various test features (passage variables, question types, and format variables) to reading comprehension performance for successful and unsuccessful readers. Items from a typical standardized reading comprehension test were analyzed according to 20 predictor test features. A three-stage conditional regression approach assessed the predictability of these features on item-difficulty scores for the two reader groups. Two features, location of response information and stem length, accounted for a significant amount of explained variance for both groups. Possible explanatory hypotheses are considered and implications are drawn for improved test design as well as for further research concerning interactions between assessment task features and reader performance.     

Motivating adults to learn mathematics in the workplace: a trade union approach

ABSTRACT

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore adults’ motivation to learn mathematics in the workplace and the role that the trade union education approach promoted in the United Kingdom plays in that motivation. The findings draw on data from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with adults learning mathematics, organised through their trade union representatives. Trade unions promote education which uses teaching and learning approaches based on collectivist and activist principles, which is different from mainstream education, so the research explores what might be learnt from this approach. The findings show that the trade union-led approach enables even long-held negative feelings towards mathematics to become positive. The research finds a strong link between supportive social networks, including Union Learning Representative, as well as positive social and emotional encounters in the classroom that develop adult learners’ confidence, increasing their motivation to both learn and use mathematics in their everyday lives. This change in feelings and motivation is termed an Affective Mathematical Journey. These findings, while taking place in a non-traditional context, nevertheless are relevant to practitioners working with adults in both traditional (school and college) and non-traditional (workplace and community) settings. There are also indications of the positive influence this learning has on the relationship between individual members and their trade union organisations.     

The experiences of parents of gifted African American children: A phenomenological study

This study documents the experiences of parents raising African American children who have been identified as gifted. There is a small but growing body of research exploring the experiences and issues of gifted African American children. Parents play the most significant role in a child's development; however, parents of gifted African American children are not currently represented in the literature. This study utilized semi‐structured interviews with the parent or parents from 12 families to explore their experiences of rearing their gifted African American children. Particular attention was addressed to issues surrounding their children's academic and social experiences, including interactions with school, family, and community. Implications are elucidated for individuals working with this population, and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Using Harry Potter to teach literacy: different approaches

The ubiquity of the Harry Potter phenomenon offers an opportunity to examine the different ways educators use popular books to teach reading. This study analyses a number of journal articles that address the Harry Potter novels as tools for the classroom. These articles show a great diversity of approaches. Government testing of discrete, assessable skills can dominate contemporary discussions of literacy, and the Harry Potter books are sometimes used to address these targets. Other educators use Harry Potter to teach children about multimedia technologies. Most often, educators who embrace the Harry Potter novels affirm the value of reading for pleasure. This view often also promotes reading as a route to the critical literacy goal of social inclusion and the psychological development of the child. Taken together, these uses of Harry Potter present a confused picture, with no clear agreement on what good reading is or how it should be taught.     

Perceptions of innovativeness and communication about innovations: A study of three types of service organizations

It was hypothesized that the three types of service organizations identified by Mills and Margulies (1980) would exhibit differences with respect to perceived “innovation communication” (communication about innovations that may precede and/or accompany diffusion‐adoption processes) as well as differences in perceived individual innovativeness and perceived organizational innovativeness. Three questionnaire instruments were completed by 131 employees from nine organizations: one bank, six advertising firms and three schools. These organizations represented the Mills‐Margulies types of maintenance‐interactive, task‐interactive and personal‐interactive, respectively. While most directional hypotheses received partial or no support, differences emerged across organization types for both perceived innovation communication activity and perceived organizational innovativeness.     

Water-filled training tubes increase core muscle activation and somatosensory control of balance during squat

This study examined trunk muscle activation, balance and proprioception while squatting with a water-filled training tube (WT) and a traditional barbell (BB), with either closed (CE) or open eyes (OE). Eighteen male elite Gaelic footballers performed an isometric squat under the following conditions: BB-OE, BB-CE, WT-OE and WT-CE. The activity of rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO) and multifidus (MF) was measured using electromyography, along with sway of the centre of pressure (CoP) using a force platform. Only the EO and the MF muscles exhibited an increased activity with WT (p < 0.01). In the medio-lateral direction both the velocity and range of the CoP increased significantly with WT (p < 0.01). Interestingly, the range of the CoP for the WT-CE condition was significantly lower than WT-OE (p < 0.05, d = 0.44), whilst the velocity of the CoP was marginally reduced (d = 0.29). WT elicited a greater level core muscle activation and created a greater challenge to postural stability when compared to a BB. It appears that WT does not benefit from vision but emphasises the somatosensory control of balance. The use of WT may be beneficial in those sports requiring development of somatosensory/proprioceptive contribution to balance control.