CBM maze-scores as indicators of reading level and growth for seventh-grade students

The technical adequacy of CBM maze-scores as indicators of reading level and growth for seventh-grade secondary-school students was examined. Participants were 452 Dutch students who completed weekly maze measures over a period of 23 weeks. Criterion measures were school level, dyslexia status, scores and growth on a standardized reading test. Results supported the technical adequacy of maze scores as indicators of reading level and growth. Alternate-form reliability coefficients were significant and intermediate to high. Mean maze scores showed significant increase over time, students’ growth trajectories differed, and students’ initial performance levels (intercepts) and growth rates (slopes) were not correlated. Maze reading level and growth were related to reading level and/or growth on criterion measures. A nonlinear model provided a better fit for the data than a linear model. Implications for use of CBM maze-scores for data-based decision-making are discussed.     

The Impact of Pre‐school Children's Intelligence and Adjustment on their Parents’ Long‐term Educational Expectations

The present study set out to examine the role played by preschool children's intellectual and behavioural characteristics in their parents’ expectations for school performance. Preschool children who were expected by their parents to attend university were compared with those who were expected to leave school at the earliest opportunity. Children whose parents had lower expectations came from lower social classes and tended to be boys. The two groups differed in a number of other ways. The high expectations group tended to be more intelligent and less overactive. When the associations between expectations, sex and SES were controlled for, these differences persisted. The findings show that there is already an association between high educational expectations and educational advantage before children enter school. Educationalists should be cautious when developing policy on the basis of the assumption that the reported association between parental expectations and school achievement reflects the impact of expectations rather than the persistence of early acquired competence.     

Homework: a cross-cultural examination

Cultural differences in the amount of time spent on homework and in beliefs and attitudes about homework were investigated through interviews with more than 3,500 elementary school children, their mothers, and their teachers. The children lived in 5 cities: Beijing, Chicago, Minneapolis, Sendai (Japan), and Taipei. Chinese children were assigned more homework and spent more time on homework than Japanese children, who in turn were assigned more and spent more time on homework than American children. Chinese children also received more help from family members with their homework than American and Japanese children. Chinese children were found to have more positive attitudes about homework than American children; Japanese children's attitudes were between those of the Chinese and American children. Relations between amount of time spent on homework by children, amount of time parents spent assisting their children with homework, and children's achievement were also explored. The views of both parents and teachers about the value of homework are discussed.     

Is There a Role for Executive Functions in the Development of Mathematics Ability?

ABSTRACT— This article examines the role of working memory, attention shifting, and inhibitory control executive cognitive functions in the development of mathematics knowledge and ability in children. It suggests that an examination of the executive cognitive demand of mathematical thinking can complement procedural and conceptual knowledge-based approaches to understanding the ways in which children become proficient in mathematics. Task analysis indicates that executive cognitive functions likely operate in concert with procedural and conceptual knowledge and in some instances might act as a unique influence on mathematics problem-solving ability. It is concluded that consideration of the executive cognitive demand of mathematics can contribute to research on best practices in mathematics education.     

Broadcasting and Telecommunications

Arthur Hezlet's Electronics and Sea Power (New York: Stein & Day, 1975—$15.00)

W.M. Dalton's The Story of Radio (London: Adam Hilger Ltd., 1975—about $9.00 for each of three volumes)

Anita Klever's Women in Television (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975—$5.95)

Donald L. Guimary's Citizen's GrouRs and Broadcasting (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1975—$14.00)

John Blair & Co.'s Statistical-Trends in Broadcasting 1975: 11th Edition (New York: John Blair & Co., 1975—$2.50, paper)

Natan Katzman's Public Television Program Content: 1974 (Washington: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1975—price not given, paper)

James W. Brown (ed.) Educational Media Yearbook: 1975-76 (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1975—$21.95)

Alan Bermingham et al. The Small TV Studio: Equipment and Facilities (New York: Hastings House, 1975—$7.95, paper)

John H. Barwick and Stewart Kranz's Profiles in Video: Who's Using Television and How (White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industries Publications, 1975— $27.50)     

Media Production

Mitchell V. Charnley and Blair Charnley, Reporting (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979—$9.95, paper)

Jerry McGuire's How to Write, Direct & Produce Effective Business Films and Documentaries (Blue Ridge Sunimit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1978—$14.95)

David W. Samuelson's Motion Picture Camera & Lighting Equipment: Choice & Technique (London and New York: Focal Press, 1977 (but not released in the US until February 1979)

David W. Samuelson's Motion Picture Camera Techniques (New York: Focal Press/Hastings House, 1978—$8.95, paper)

H. William Bockhus, Jr.'s Advertising Graphics (London: Collier Macmillan/New York: Macmillan, 1979—price not given, paper)

Stuart W. Hyde's Television and Radio Announcing (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979-415.95)

Robert McLeish, The Technique of Radio Production (London and New York: Focal Press, 1979—$18.95)

David Lachenbruch's Videocassette Recorders: The Complete Home Guide (New York: Everest House, 1979—$6.95, paper)

Charles Bensinger, The Video Guide (Video-Info Publications, P.O. Box 1507, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93102—$14.95, paper)

Deirdre Boyle, ed. Expanding Media (Phoenix, Ar.: Oryx Press, 1977—$13.95)

Dan Poynter's The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Parachusting Publications, P.O. Box 4232, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93103—$14.95/9.95)     

Learning and design with online real-time collaboration

This paper explores the use of emerging Cloud technologies that support real-time online collaboration. It considers the extent to which these technologies can be leveraged to develop complex skillsets supporting interaction between multiple learners in online spaces. In a pilot study that closely examines how groups of learners translate two kinds of collaborative writing tasks, the paper critically investigates some of the positive individual- and group-based strategies that embody effective, genuine online collaboration. Taking into consideration the relationship between the elements of task design, learning experiences and the learning environment, the paper addresses need to come to a fuller understanding of how learners interact in real time and use this understanding to inform future designs in e-learning.     

THE RACIAL STRESS OF MEMBERSHIP: DEVELOPMENT OF THE FACULTY INVENTORY OF RACIALIZED EXPERIENCES IN SCHOOLS

Research on the experience of faculty of color in predominately White independent schools (PWIS) is limited. This study explored faculty of varying racial backgrounds and their initiation of, interactions with, and stress reactions to racial conflicts within the school settings using an online survey. Several measures were developed according to the Racial/Ethnic Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (recast) model and administered to 339 faculty participants. Using factor analytic and correlational analyses, results from the highly reliable measures found that Black faculty show significantly less trust in schools to manage racial conflict, lower sense of school membership, greater racial stress, and more racial socialization than their White counterparts do. With reliable and valid measures on the racialized experiences of faculty in PWIS, future research can ask better questions on how much racial politics influence diversity initiatives, including faculty and student recruitment and retention, supportive racial and intellectual climate, and organizational mission and professional development. Implications for the development of racially relevant measures in schools are discussed.     

Role of Significant Life Experiences in Building Environmental Knowledge and Behavior Among Middle School Students

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.