Motivational interviewing as a positive response to high‐school bullying

Intervention approaches to bullying are largely preventive in nature, and even these have been shown to be ineffective, if not iatrogenic, with adolescents. Responses to bullying are limited to traditional punitive approaches or “no‐blame” approaches aiming to restore the relationship between the targeted students. Neither of these approaches may effectively engage the perpetrator of bullying at a motivational level, and we propose motivational interviewing (MI) as a means of promoting meaningful behavioral change among youths who bully. We provide a narrative review of MI and map its core features onto the extant literature on self‐reported motivations for bullying, highlighting the ways that MI fits with bullying and could serve as a potent solution that could be deployed by school psychologists and other student support staff members. Qualitative preliminary feedback and initial competency in MI from trained practitioners are presented as preliminary data from a cluster‐randomized control trial, documenting school staff perspectives on the integration of MI into their approach to bullying with recommendations for integrating MI into school settings.     

Mission Impossible? What States With Large Percentages of Rural Schools Tell Us About Federal School Improvement Grants

This article summarizes findings and lessons learned about implementing school improvement grant (SIG) initiatives in rural areas of the United States. The study examines state-level survey data based on the proportion of rural schools receiving SIG funds in the fall of 2010 in each state. In addition, the authors summarize related findings from rural-focused state and district case study work. The state survey showed that, regardless of the proportion of rural SIG schools, participating state officials (N = 46) reported providing similar supports to districts, such as technical assistance and increased monitoring and data review. However, fewer states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools believed these supports were important for improving schools. Among states with larger proportions of rural SIG schools, significantly fewer reported that replacing principals through SIG was key to improving student achievement. The case study data confirmed and elaborated on the survey findings.     

Service Learning as a Pedagogy of Whiteness

In this article we employ whiteness as a conceptual framework to contextualize how faculty develop and implement, and consequently how students experience, service learning. A vignette that illustrates the pervasiveness of whiteness in service learning is followed by an analysis that details how whiteness frames the teaching and learning in this service learning experience. Through this example and analysis, we seek to increase instructors’ capacity and confidence to interrupt the patterns and privileges of whiteness that too often are normalized in service learning.     

The fidelity of formative assessment implementation: issues of breadth and quality

The paper examines the breadth and quality of formative assessment implementation of 202 mathematics and science teachers who participated in a two-year, school-based professional development programme that focused on formative assessment. Results are triangulated using three sources of data: baseline and end-of-Year 2 data from an annual survey, logs that were completed daily at six two-week time points and reflections on formative assessment techniques that the teachers wrote weekly during the log collection periods. The data indicate that while teachers made significant improvements in some areas, certain aspects of formative assessment are less emphasised and there are some patterns around quality of implementation that suggest more targeted professional development is warranted.     

Maternal Support of Children’s Math Learning in Associations Between Family Income and Math School Readiness

This study examined maternal support of children’s math learning at 36 months (n = 140) as a mediator of the association between early childhood family income and children’s counting and calculation skills at 4½ and 6–7 years. Family income was associated with this measure of children’s math school readiness, but the association was almost entirely indirect and mediated by observed maternal support of children’s numerical skills at 36 months. Maternal support of children’s spatial concept and general learning (cognitive stimulation and sensitivity) were not significant mediators of this association. Results suggest that income-based gaps in counting and calculation skills at school entry may be due in part to the constraints that low family income places on early numerical learning support.     

Turning old problems into new problems: the role of young citizens in improving accountability in education in Malawi and Kenya

Accountability is increasingly recognised as the key mediating variable that encourages service providers to deliver efficient and effective local services. In the context of education, accountability strategies do not always explicitly consider young citizens as the primary users of education services. In this paper, a client approach to accountability is compared to a citizenship approach. Drawing on community scorecard and social audit research in Malawi and Kenya, the author explores whether education services are more responsive and accountable when young people access information and exercise their voice. The paper outlines a refreshed ‘accountability framework’ for education, placing young citizens at the centre, and argues that a citizenship-led approach in education governance is likely to be more realistic and effective than a ‘client power’ approach. This article makes an important contribution to the development community’s understanding of what constitutes an effective approach for promoting more transparent and responsive education governance.     

Teaching citizenship in the faith school: qualitative evidence from separate schools in Northern Ireland

The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers teach and students learn about citizenship education in two faith-based schools in Northern Ireland. The data show that participants in the Catholic school were confident in their own identity; teachers encouraged active engagement with contentious, conflict-related debates and students displayed empathy with other racial and religious groups. In the Protestant school, teachers avoided any reference to identity and conflict and students seemed to have limited knowledge of these issues. The findings emphasise the extent to which separate schools embody the cultural norms prevalent within each of the communities that they serve and reveal the influence which these norms have for teaching and learning about citizenship.     

Studying Social Development and Learning Disabilities is Not for the Faint‐Hearted: Comments on the Risk/Resilience Framework

Studying social dimensions of learning disabilities is not for the faint‐hearted, in light of the multiple and interactive characteristics of these students and their social/cultural environments. Given the allure of the risk/resilience lens to make sense of these complexities, it would be easy to embrace these concepts too hastily. Four questions seem particularly important: What do we mean by risk and resilience factors? How do we characterize learning disabilities as risk factors?“At risk” for what? How should this framework guide intervention efforts? Rigorous thinking about these issues may enhance the promise of risk/resilience models for future research on social development.