Action Imitation at 1½ Years Is Better Than Pointing Gesture in Predicting Late Development of Language Production at 3 Years of Age

This study examined whether poor pointing gestures and imitative actions at 18 months of age uniquely predicted late language production at 36 months, beyond the role of poor language at 18 months of age. Data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were utilized. Maternal reports of the children's nonverbal skills and language were gathered for 42,517 children aged 18 months and for 28,107 of the same children at 36 months. Panel analysis of latent variables revealed that imitative actions, language comprehension, and language production uniquely contributed to predicting late development of language production, while pointing gestures did not. It is suggested that the results can be explained by underlying symbolic representational skills at 18 months.     

School placement and classroom participation among children with disabilities in primary school in Norway: a longitudinal study

The purpose of this paper is to address changes in school placement and classroom participation with respect to children with disabilities of primary school age in Norway, as well as examining the factors which explain variation in school placement and classroom participation. School placement refers to whether children with disabilities attend regular school, while classroom participation refers to time spent in regular classrooms at regular schools. The analysis is based on longitudinal data drawn from surveys undertaken in 2003 and 2006, of parents of children with disabilities. Present findings suggest there are no major changes in school placement during primary school years, which is contrary to earlier findings. However, the amount of time children with disability are absent from regular classes does increase significantly as the children become older. Size of municipality population, type of disability and degree of impairment are the main factors which have an impact on school placement. In addition to these, the amount of special education also has an impact on classroom participation. There are small changes in mechanisms that lead children out of both regular schools and classrooms, during their primary school years. However, some of the identified factors strengthen in importance as the children become older. The apparent policy change for older children, from special school placement to an “out of class” practice, is discussed. It could be seen as regular schools’ adaptation to the tension between the prevailing ideology of inclusion and schools’ maintenance of existing practice.     

The three-tiered support system and the special education teachers’ role in Swedish-speaking schools in Finland

ABSTRACT

In 2010, new amendments regarding special education were made to the Finnish Basic Education Act (642/2010), and they were officially adopted in 2011. The three-tiered support system that was introduced can be considered the Finnish approach to moving education toward a more inclusive system since it emphasises all teachers’ responsibility to deliver support within the regular educational setting, representing a new feature in the policy documents. This has brought about new expectations for special education teachers’ (SETs’) roles. Our research aims to contribute to knowledge about the implementation of the three-tiered support system and SETs’ roles in Swedish-speaking schools in Finland. The data were collected using a questionnaire (N = 158). The results indicate that the SETs have an important role in the three-tiered support system, both as those with the knowledge and those who share this knowledge. The SETs’ role is more evident when it comes to pupils receiving support on the second and third tiers. Although inclusive values are emphasised in the policy documents, the SETs still use most of their time teaching pupils in educational settings that are often relatively segregated (individual or small-group teaching), and for example, co-teaching seems to be a less frequent approach to collaboration.     

Prediction of learning and comprehension when adolescents read multiple texts: the roles of word-level processing, strategic approach, and reading motivation

Sixty-five Norwegian 10th graders used the software Read&Answer 2.0 (Vidal-Abarca et al., 2011) to read five different texts presenting conflicting views on the controversial scientific issue of sun exposure and health. Participants were administered a multiple-choice topic-knowledge measure before and after reading, a word recognition task, and a reading motivation inventory that included two dimensions: Science reading self-efficacy, focusing on readers’ beliefs about their capabilities to comprehend what they read in science, and science reading task value, focusing on readers’ beliefs about how important, useful, and interesting it is to comprehend science texts. In addition, strategic reading pattern was assessed in terms of the degree of non-linear reading behavior. Multiple regression analysis showed that word recognition skills strongly predicted learning from the texts, as assessed by participants’ increase in topic knowledge. However, when multiple-text comprehension indicated by performance on open-ended short-essay questions was the dependent variable, not only word recognition but also strategic reading pattern and science reading self-efficacy emerged as unique predictors when topic knowledge was controlled for. Science reading task value was not related to performance. This study provides new evidence that new literacy competencies needed in a knowledge society, such as synthesizing or integrating across multiple conflicting sources of information, still largely involve word-level, strategic, and motivational processes that may profitably be targeted through systematic instruction.     

Measuring the Ways Significant Persons Influence Attitudes Towards Science and Mathematics

Young people's attitudes towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are subject to interpersonal influence of significant persons—defined as those who influence a person's attitudes. This article presents the development of an instrument designed to measure different modes of significant persons’ influence on attitudes towards STEM. The questionnaire used in the pilot study was compiled based on Woelfel and Haller's theoretical perspectives on interpersonal influence, Nauta and Kokaly's instrument Influence of Others on Academic and Career Decisions Scale, and focus group interviews with Norwegian adolescents in an STEM mentoring programme. Drawing on Rasch analyses of data material from the 114 participants in the pilot study, the final instrument—Significant Person Influence on Attitudes towards STEM (SPIAS)—is presented. Based on results from the piloting and development of SPIAS, a conceptual discussion of significant persons and the ways they influence attitudes towards STEM is given, and it is suggested that SPIAS may be used in the process of evaluating and improving interventions aimed at changing adolescents’ attitudes towards STEM.     

On Developing Content‐oriented Theories Taking Biological Evolution as an Example

Both in Europe and the United States there is a growing interest in design research. One example is the design and validation of topic‐oriented teaching–learning sequences. This research may be said to have two objectives. One is to design and test “useful products”, such as teachers’ guides and study material for students, which may be put into practice in various ways. The second is to contribute to the development of educational science; for example, understanding conditions for learning of given topics under regular classroom conditions. This article concerns the latter objective and deals with the development of content‐oriented theories stating conditions that promote learning with long‐term understanding of given topics. We present one such theory, concerning evolution by natural selection, and describe the arguments and evidence that underlie the theory, which we regard as a well‐founded hypothesis. Some methodological problems associated with testing this type of theory are discussed, as well as the role of content‐oriented theories in strengthening science education research as an autonomous specialization within educational science.     

Southeast Alabama Network: Improving Education,School Management and Teacher Training through Telecommunications

Abstract

In small language communities, radio, books and the press are regarded as the carriers of the national culture. Television, however, is considered as something coming from outside, threatening the local culture and identity. In two of the world's smallest small language communities ‐‐ Greenland and the Faroe Islands ‐ television was introduced very late (in 1969 and 1979 respectively) and has had an appreciable effect on the media structure and culture. Regarding the author's studies of the introduction of television (in Greenland in 1971) and in the Faroe Islands in 1979‐80) and the social premises, the question is discussed of whether television has had a dominant effect (maybe even a destructive one) and what more general media‐political experiences can be derived which are common for small language communities.     

OPPOSISJON VED HANS‐JÖRGEN GJESSINGS DOKTORDISPUTAS

Den 17/3 1959 forsvarte Hans‐Jørgen Gjessing sin avhandling, En studie av lesemodenhet ved skolegangens begynnelse, Oslo 1958, for den filosofiske doktorgrad ved Universitetet i Oslo. Den oppnevnte komite besto av professor Wilhelm Sjöstrand, Uppsala (1. opponent), professor Johs. Sandven, Oslo (2. opponent) og professor Sigurd Nørstebø, Trondheim. Doktorandens selvvalte forelesningsemne var Den diagnosogene teori om stammingens årsaker, og det oppgitte forelesningsemne var Metodeproblemer ved utforskningen av anv‐ og miljøfaktorenes innvirkning på den individuelle variasjonen.     

Number of Judges when Scaling Attitude Items

Sjödahl, L. 1974. Number of Judges when Scaling Attitude Items. Scand. J. educ. Res. 18, 183‐197. When constructing attitude scales for measuring patient‐centering among student nurses the author has carried out a series of studies of the method of attitude scale formation. The article presents one of several methodological studies published by the same author in Ped. psyk. problem (nr. 184). Scale values, interquartile range, interval position and the selection of items for the final scale are studied as dependent variables when varying the size of the judging group. The results show that correlations between series of scale values from judging groups of varying sizes can be very high but that we can still get quite a different selection of items for the final scale, depending upon which judging group we use in the scaling procedure. The stability of the interval placements of the statements is shown to vary with the intervals along the scale.     

Grading Standards,Student Ability and Errors in College Admission

Grades are important for admission of students in most higher education programs. Analyzing admission and student performance data at a major Norwegian business school, we find that the grading practice of teachers at regional colleges sending students to the school is affected by the average performance of the students being graded. Teachers at colleges recruiting good students from upper secondary school tend to be strict in their grading practice, while teachers at colleges recruiting less good students tend to follow a lenient practice. This has implications for the interpretation of grades and hence for optimal admission procedures. We develop a methodology to assess the consequences of differential grading standards. Approximately 10% of the students in our data are admitted at the expense of more competent students. We demonstrate costs for the school admitting the wrong students and in particular for the rejected students.