Editor’s Overview: A 20-Year Content Review of Research on the Topic of Developmental Mentoring Relationships Published in the Mentoring & Tutoring Journal

Abstract

Empirical work from both sides of the Atlantic has been developed which attempts to bring the generations together in the context of school‐based projects and curriculum development. Against this background this article will seek to explore the impact that older people can have in an educational setting and examine the mutual effect this has in developing and promoting intergenerational understanding. This action‐research study (for The Beth Johnson Foundation, Stoke‐on‐Trent) elicited the views and experiences of children, older mentors and teachers involved in an intergenerational mentoring scheme. The study reveals that there have been significant gains for the children, older mentors (people over 50) and teachers involved in the intergenerational mentoring scheme. This article reports only the concise summary findings from a selected representative mix of the data gathered for the original action research. Evidence suggests that the mentors have become a wise advisor and friend to identified individuals and groups of children in the class setting, and that old and young people enjoy and value working together in an educational environment for the mutual benefit of each other. The study concludes that this evaluation should act as a base‐line towards some extended research into the sustainability of older mentors working in schools, and the humanising effect this has at whole‐school level in terms of improving intergenerational perception and cooperation and developing ‘active citizenship’ in schools.     

Keeping the Focus on the Child: Supporting and Reporting on Teaching and Learning With a Classroom-Based Performance Assessment System

Abstract

This article describes the findings of studies conducted on a large-scale, classroom-based performance assessment of literacy for the early grades designed to provide information that is useful for reporting, as well as teaching. Technical studies found the assessment to be a promising instrument that is reliable and valid. Follow-up studies of the assessment's use point to its positive impact on teachers' practice and on school and district policies. The studies' findings suggest that classroom-based performance assessment can be a viable accountability, as well as instructional, tool, capturing a range of students' abilities in a range of formats, and that use of such an assessment has the potential to enhance teachers' knowledge about literacy and their abilities to effectively support students' learning.     

Nursing Shortage Generates Innovative Program Expansion

Responding to an impending health crisis due to a national nursing shortage, Montgomery County Community College increased nursing admissions by 50% and graduates by 51% through implementing a Continuous Nursing Program (CNP). Through implementing three 14-week semesters per year, the CNP uses an accelerated timeframe while maintaining a nonaccelerated program design.     

Empirical testing of a cognitive model to account for neuropsychological functioning underlying arithmetic problem solving

The efficacy of a cognitive-based arithmetic problem-solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) was tested using 989 students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive neuropsychological test battery information was used to predict composite arithmetic test performance as a means of examining the utility of this model. Results of this study offer support for Dinnel et al.'s (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) model in accounting for arithmetic performance under continuous visual stimulus conditions. However, these data indicate a more complex neuropsychological underpinning to arithmetic performance in both visual and aural stimulus conditions. The neuropsychological aspects of arithmetic problem solving were discussed in relationship to this cognitive-based model.     

The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Social Problems of Boys With Developmental Delays

Parents and teachers reported that 6- to 8-year-old boys with developmental delays were less able to regulate their emotions than nondelayed boys matched on chronological age. Compared to nondelayed boys, boys with developmental delays had more social problems, which persisted and increased over a 3-year period. Children's ability to regulate their emotions explained significant variance in their social problems after controlling for their developmental status. In addition, emotion regulation partially mediated the relationship between children's developmental status and their social problems. These results suggest that emotion regulation plays a significant role in the social problems of boys with developmental delays. Furthermore, increasing the emotional competence of these children may facilitate their peer relationships and, ultimately, their school adjustment.     

Science curriculum development in New Zealand a historical account

Summary Science education in New Zealand continues to have a strong research base and now development work has begun that is modelled on a view of how people learn and which is supported by the curriculum development of the wider Ministerial Review.     

African–American Mentoring Program (AAMP): addressing the cracks in the graduate education pipeline

In this conceptual article, we focus on mentoring as a strategy to mend the cracks in the education pipeline for African American graduate students. Our article highlights the African American Mentoring Program (AAMP) model and examines the unique methods it uses to support the retention and graduation of African American graduate students from a university and their transition to the workforce. AAMP operates from a Transitional Cultural Framework and strives to bridge the gap between the students’ culture and the culture of the university. AAMP’s uniqueness is harnessed in its deep roots in culture, history, collectivism, and inter-generational sharing of knowledge. We end with implications and recommendations for universities and future research.     

At-risk readers developing expertise in register switching: evidence from cohesion analysis

Register refers to the variety of language that is appropriate for a particular situational context. This study examines young children’s development of register switching expertise as they become independent readers. Participants were 17 first graders identified by their classroom teachers as at-risk readers and admitted into an early literacy intervention program called Reading Recovery. At both the beginning and end of Reading Recovery, each child was asked to share a story about a personally relevant topic in a face-to-face, conversational context and then dictate that same oral tale as an autonomous/written text intended for a reader audience. The 68 texts (34 oral and 34 written) were analysed for their use of register-appropriate cohesive linguistic choices. It was found that as these at-risk children grew from emergent to independent, strategic readers, they were concurrently developing skills in constructing written register texts by recontextualising the cohesion language patterns in their oral register texts. It is suggested that developing expertise in register switching may compose part of the process of learning to read and write. This finding is discussed in the light of relevant literacy and educational research.     

Construct validity of the learning behavior scale with an independent sample of students

In this study, the factor structure of the Learning Behavior Scale (LBS; McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 1999) was examined in an independent sample of 257 elementary school students. The LBS is a 29‐item, four‐factor scale on which teachers rate students' positive and negative learning behaviors. The results indicated that the internal consistency of the total LBS scores and the scores on two subscales (Competence Motivation and Attitude Toward Learning) were high enough for individual decision making, whereas the reliability estimates of scores on the Attention/Persistence and Strategy/Flexibility subscales were appropriate only for research or screening purposes. Factor analyses extracted factors similar to three of the factors on the LBS (Competence Motivation, Attitude Toward Learning, and Strategy/Flexibility), and suggested that the fourth factor (Attention/Persistence) may benefit from additional study. In general, the results indicate that the LBS may be a useful tool for examining students' learning behaviors. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.