School-Level Environment and Student Outcomes in Mathematics

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between school-level environment and student outcomes. The study involved 620 teachers and 4645 students from 57 Australian secondary schools. Student outcome measures included mathematics achievement, career aspirations and students' attitudes and beliefs about success in mathematics. Teachers' perceptions of their school environment were measured using the School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ). Because previous research has shown that factors at the school level, such as environment, influence education at the classroom level, data regarding the instructional practices of teachers were included in the analysis in order to investigate this further. The results of these analyses show that various factors of the school-level environment were linked to improved student outcomes. Relationships were also found between teaching practices and student outcomes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Heroism and Volksgemeinschaft (ethnic community) in National Socialist education 1933–1945

Abstract

This article pursues the question of what the significance was of the discursive construction of heroism for the National Socialist indoctrination of children in the context of communication processes at school. In particular, it is about ideological-educational intentions pursued in the context of teaching early readers as well as about topical foci and ways of communication. This is analysed by the example of reading primers. Based on the category-guided qualitative topical analysis of a representative body of 113 reading primers, the presentation of heroes as well as the constructs of heroic behaviour is worked out.     

Diagrammatic representation and event memory in preschoolers

This study investigated the use of diagrammatic representation as an aid for recalling a past event for 30 4–5‐year‐olds in their preschool year prior to commencing primary school. The children were randomly placed into one of two groups: ‘talkers’ (verbal memory) or ‘drawers’ (diagrammatic memory). They were interviewed individually, both one day and one month after the event that involved making a much‐needed tool for a game at their preschool. Both interviews were conducted by a familiar adult through three different levels of engagement—neutral, verbal and visual. Results showed that a combination of drawing and specific questioning (‘verbal’ level of engagement) facilitated better recall of detail than either drawing or talking independently. No significant differences regarding accuracy of responses were found between the two groups.     

How graphic novels support reading comprehension strategy development in children

This qualitative case study explored the relationship between comprehension strategies and graphic novels in one Grade 4 classroom, utilising children as informants. The primary research questions related to children's applications of metacognitive reading comprehension strategies as well as the potential for graphic novels to support the students’ development as readers. Findings demonstrated that the children were able to apply two types of strategies to their reading of graphic novels: ‘keys’ that supported form‐specific comprehension strategies and ‘master keys’ that supported more general comprehension strategies that could be applied to other types of texts. Student preferences for graphic novels aligned with their preferences for reading narrative novels and non‐fiction, and did not align with preferences regarding comics or cartoons. Student preferences for reading graphic novels increased throughout the study. Fluent student responses to graphic novels through process drama were identified. Implications of the study involve the employment of graphic novels to support metacognitive strategies for reading and writing as well as to facilitate process drama.     

Validating a teaching survey which drives increased response rates in a unit survey

At Curtin University, student perceptions of teaching and learning are gathered and reported online through eVALUate, a system that includes separate unit and teaching surveys. This article reports the development and validation of one of those surveys, the eVALUate teaching survey, which was developed based on the research literature on excellent teaching and evaluation. Since its development in 2006, repeated statistical testing using progressively larger samples has shown that the survey is valid and reliable. Moreover, the way in which the teaching survey is deployed within eVALUate, appended to the unit survey, which provides crucial institutional data, has significantly increased university response rates. This validated instrument is used for self-reflection, professional development, and rewarding staff.     

Educational Broadcasting

Bernard Rubin's Media, Politics &;amp; Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977- $8.00/4.00)

Forrest P. Chisman's Attitude Psychology and the Study of Public Opinion (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977—$13.50)

Sidney Kraus, ed. The Great Debates: Kennedy vs. Nixon, 1960 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977—$17.50/5.95)

Jean Schwoebel, Newsroom Democracy: The Case for Independence of the Press (Monograph Series No. 2, Iowa Center for Communication Study, School of Journalism, Yniversity of Iowa, Iowa City 52242—$2.50, paper)

Rex Winsbury, New Technology and the Journalist (Thomson Foundation Editorial Study Centre, Thomson House, Cardiff, CF1 1WR, Great Britain-75p or about $1.25, paper)

Laura Longley Babb, ed. The Editorial Page (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1977 &;ndash;price not given, paper)

Bob Roberts, for telling us about Magazine Studies Quarterly (MSQ Ltd., Box 2054, Muncie, Indiana 47302—about $5.00 per year for four issues)

Morgan Harris and Patti Karp's How to Make News and Influence People (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1976—$7.95, with a paperback edition available, for which no price given)

Alice Payne Hackett and James Henry Burke's 80 Years of Best Sellers: 1895-1975 (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1977—$14.95)

Mort Walker's Backstage at the Strips (New York: A&;amp;W Publishers, Inc., 95 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016—$6.95, paper)

Peter Haining's Terror: A History of Horror Illustrations from Pulp Magazines (New York: A&;amp;W Publishers, 1977—$12.50/6.95)     

Compounding Confusion? When Illustrative Practical Work Falls Short of its Purpose—A Case Study

Illustrative practical work is commonly used in chemistry education to enrich students?? understandings of chemical phenomena. However, it is possible that such practical work may not serve to foster understanding but rather cause further confusion. This paper reports the struggles experienced by a group of senior (Year 12) secondary chemistry students as they sought to understand redox chemical concepts involved in the reactions occurring when steel wool is added to copper sulfate solution. The results showed that the students lacked the skills required to make accurate observations during the practical work. Nor were they able to link the observed phenomena with previously taught redox concepts. The paper also presents possible ways to overcome the difficulties encountered by students as they move between macroscopic and submicroscopic levels of representation of redox reactions.     

Training teachers for mainstreaming: An inservice model for developing behavior management skills

Abstract

One purpose in this study was to determine the percentage of subjects from a nationally representative sample of high school seniors who reported intentions to major in education and were actually majoring in education during a 2‐year follow‐up analysis. Results showed less than half the subjects were majoring in education. Moreover, subjects with the poorest high school academic proficiency scores were much less likely to be attending college or majoring in education. A second purpose of this study was to describe high school academic proficiency levels in mathematics, reading, and science among students majoring in education as compared to all other college majors. Results showed high school academic proficiency scores of secondary education majors faired better, overall, than the general 4‐year college population. Conversely, 4‐year college students in elementary and early childhood education were more apt to have left high school with some academic deficiencies, especially in the area of science among early childhood majors.