Behavior Regulation and Early Math and Vocabulary Knowledge in German Preschool Children

Research Findings: Behavior regulation, including paying attention, remembering instructions, and controlling action, contributes to children's successful adaptation to and functioning in preschool and school settings. This study examined the development of behavior regulation in early childhood and its potential contribution to individual differences in children's early knowledge (mathematics and vocabulary). Sixty German preschool children were administered a direct observational measure of behavior regulation, the Head-to-Toes Task, and a standardized test to assess early mathematics and vocabulary. Results revealed significant gains in behavior regulation between of 3 and 4 years of age. Moreover, early gender differences were found, with girls outperforming boys at age 4. Behavior regulation was significantly related to performance on the academic tasks, but the pathways to math and vocabulary knowledge differed. Practice or Policy: Discussion focuses on the role of behavior regulation in early academic achievement.     

The Validity of Narratives for Understanding Children’s Perceptions of the Teacher–Child Relationship for Preschoolers Who Display Elevated Disruptive Behaviors

The links between a positive teacher-child relationship and young children’s academic and social-emotional development have been well established, particularly for children with disruptive behaviors. However, less is known about children’s views of the teacher-child relationship and how these representations relate to other established measures. Using a sample of 157 preschoolers with elevated disruptive behaviors, the current study assessed preschoolers’ representations of the teacher-child relationship by adapting a narrative procedure and a coding scheme from the parent-child attachment literature. Children’s representations as assessed through their narratives were internally consistent and were modestly associated with established measures of the teacher-child relationship. Offering additional support of validity, children’s representations had implications for their engagement in tasks, such that children with more negative and less emotionally positive representations were more dependent on positive interactions with their teachers to remain oriented to tasks. Results add support to the importance of positive teacher-child interactions for children with behavioral difficulties and highlight the benefit of using representational measures to understand children’s views of the teacher-child relationship.     

STEM Career Changers’ Transformation into Science Teachers

This study examines the transformation (professional growth) of career-changing women scientists who decided to become teachers. Drawing upon Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, we tracked their transformation for 3 years. Our findings revealed multiple identities, disorientation, a perceived sense of meaninglessness, loss and eventual regain in confidence, gain in pedagogical knowledge and skill, and changed perceptions of the social roles of science teachers and scientists. Driven by personal choice or need (financial, intellectual), such transformations were achieved through active pursuit of meaning in one’s work, critical assessment of assumptions, planning, and trying on the unfamiliar role of a science teacher. It is argued that such transition entails complex changes in thinking about science teaching and identifying oneself as a science teacher.     

COMPARING METHODS OF IDENTIFYING REINFORCING STIMULI IN SCHOOL CONSULTATION

Reinforcement-based interventions, the most frequently used treatments for school-age children, rely on accurately identifying stimuli that will serve to reinforce appropriate classroom behavior. Research has consistently demonstrated that the results from a forced-choice pairing procedure are the best predictors of reinforcing stimuli. Interestingly, systematic evaluation of potential reinforcers is rarely implemented in the school consultation setting. Considering the importance of the reinforcer on reinforcement-based interventions, and the literature focusing on the significance of the selection procedure on accurately identifying a reinforcer, this is concerning. The purpose of these two studies was to examine the effectiveness of identifying reinforcing stimuli for students in the consultation setting using two different methods: stimulus forced-choice and asking the teacher to identify potential reinforcers. The effectiveness of the selected stimuli as reinforcers was studied on two student outcomes: academic production and on-task behavior. The results of the two studies suggested that the reinforcers selected using a forced-choice procedure were more effective than the reinforcers selected from a teacher-identification procedure. Further, results indicated that although stimuli derived from both reinforcer assessment methods were useful at increasing rates of desired behavior, stimuli derived from the forced-choice reinforcer assessment were more consistently effective.     

Ethnic DIF in Reading Tests With Mixed Item Formats

This article presents a study of ethnic Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade reading items on a state criterion-referenced achievement test. The tests, administered 1997 to 2001, were composed of multiple-choice and constructed-response items. Item performance by focal groups (i.e., students from Asian/Pacific Island, Black/African American, Native American, and Latino/Hispanic origins) were compared with the performance of White students using simultaneous item bias and Rasch procedures. Flagged multiple-choice items generally favored White students, whereas flagged constructed-response items generally favored students from Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, and Latino/Hispanic origins. Content analysis of flagged reading items showed that positively and negatively flagged items typically measured inference, interpretation, or analysis of text in multiple-choice and constructed-response formats. Items that were not flagged for DIF generally measured very easy reading skills (e.g., literal comprehension) and reading skills that require higher level thinking (e.g., developing interpretations across texts and analyzing graphic elements).     

“Life prepared me well for succeeding”: The Enactment of Community Cultural Wealth,Experiential Capital,and Transfer Student Capital by First-Generation Engineering Transfer Students

ABSTRACT

Community colleges have long been recognized as pivotal institutions for broadening educational opportunity for a variety of marginalized populations, including first-generation students. These institutions are also an important starting point for students desiring to eventually earn a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics discipline. Our qualitative study explores the experiences of 15 first-generation community college transfer students majoring in engineering. We use the theory of community cultural wealth and the concepts of experiential capital and transfer student capital as lenses for analyzing and interpreting our semistructured interview data and for formulating recommendations to improve the transfer experiences and educational outcomes of this population. This sample of students enacted several types of community cultural wealth and experiential capital when navigating the engineering transfer pathway and in their engineering studies. They were less likely to enact the elements of transfer student capital, however. Instead, our results indicate that the participants attribute their successful transitions to their self-motivation and initiative associated with community cultural wealth and experiential capital, rather than institutional interventions associated with transfer student capital. We conclude with recommendations for strengthening institutional programs directed at first-generation engineering transfer students.     

Technology Integration for Students with Disabilities: Empirically Based Recommendations for Faculty

In 3 empirical studies we examined the computer technology needs and concerns of close to 800 college and university students with various disabilities. Findings indicate that the overwhelming majority of these students used computers, but that almost half needed some type of adaptation to use computers effectively. Data provided by the students and by a small sample of professors underscore the importance of universal design in a variety of areas: courseware development, electronic teaching and learning materials, and campus information technology infrastructure. Sex and age of students were only minimally related to attitudes toward computers or their use in our samples. Key findings summarize the problems faced by students with different disabilities as well as the computer related adaptations that are seen as helpful. These are used to formulate concrete, practical recommendations for faculty to help them ensure full access to their courses.     

Perspectives on gender and sexual diversity (GSD)-inclusive education: comparisons between gay/lesbian/bisexual and straight educators

This paper presents findings from a national study on the beliefs and practices of K-12 educators regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues in schools. Over 3400 Canadian educators participated in the study, which took the form of a bilingual (English/French) online survey. Respondents answered questions about their values regarding human rights and LGBTQ-inclusive education, their practices in the classroom, experiences with homophobic and transphobic harassment, and perceptions of support for LGBTQ-inclusive practices. Results indicate that there is a high level of in-principle support for LGBTQ-inclusive education (84.9%); however, actual practice is much lower (61.8%) and there are significant differences in the perspectives and experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual identified educators compared with their straight colleagues in terms of curriculum integration and bullying interventions. Findings offer important insights for teacher preparation, curriculum development, and law and policy implementation and reform.     

Making a point of difference: the glocalised ecology of the International Baccalaureate Diploma in Australian schools

The International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) is an independent, globally available curriculum currently enjoying rapid uptake in government systems as an alternative curriculum. This paper explores the logic of its consumption in three case study schools across different states of Australia, and the relational ‘points of difference’ it creates in each local context and its curricular market. The analysis uses a typology of goods to describe the nature and dynamics of the IBD's glocalised ecology in each site. The conclusion argues that the success of the IBD as a curricular alternative risks eroding its appeal as a positional good.