Metaphorical images of schooling: beliefs about teaching and learning among prospective teachers from the United States displaying different motivational profiles

This study focused on investigating the types of schooling beliefs (teaching and learning) expressed through metaphorical images by prospective teachers (PTs) from the United States. Participants (N = 215) rated 10 schooling metaphors illustrating the student–school–teacher relationships (i.e. Passenger–Bus–Driver; Student is a passenger, School is a bus and Teacher is a driver). Two main factors, a student-centred and a teacher-centred approach described the key schooling beliefs of PTs. Additionally, differences in PTs’ schooling beliefs across typologies/clusters of PTs were found. Further, qualitative data from interviews illustrated how each cluster specifically expressed their instructional views.     

The future of higher education in Ireland: a postcolonial perspective

The transformation that Irish higher education (HE) has undergone since the mid-2000s has been particularly rapid and unidirectional. Following the Global Financial Crisis, the Irish Government sought to take control of tertiary education in an attempt to shield the country from future economic shocks. This paper succinctly discusses the circumstances leading to the current policy position and what these changes have meant for Irish HE. A postulation that neoliberalism will inevitably deepen further within Irish HE will be explored through the lens of Postcolonial theory. In conclusion, I will show that the application of this theoretical stance may succeed in buffering many of the effects of neoliberalism to ensure ample space in HE for all subject areas and disciplines.     

A Pilot Study of a Self-Administered Parent Training Intervention for Building Preschoolers’ Social–Emotional Competence

Social–emotional skills are equally as crucial for school success as cognitive and academic skills (Webster-Stratton and Reid in Infants Young Child 17:96–113, 2004), yet many young children lack these skills (Lavigne et al. in J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 35:204–214, 1996). Therefore, it is essential to invest in the development of social–emotional competence at an early age—a task that necessitates active parent involvement (Webster-Stratton and Reid 2004). This pilot study explored the effectiveness, integrity, and acceptability of a self-administered parent training intervention [Devereux Early Childhood Assessment—Second Edition (DECA-P2) family guide (Mackrain and Cairone in Promoting resilience for now and forever: a family guide for supporting the social and emotional development of preschool children, 2nd edn. Kaplan Early Learning Company, Lewisville, 2013)] targeting the promotion of social–emotional competence in young children (N = 12). Pre- and post-test parent reports revealed that children’s social–emotional competence increased and behavior problems decreased following program completion. Parent ratings indicated the intervention was carried out as intended (i.e., integrity) and that it was helpful (i.e., acceptability). These exploratory findings suggest that this self-administered parent intervention shows promise as an alternative to face-to-face early childhood prevention services.     

Scaling and Sustaining Effective Early Childhood Programs Through School–Family–University Collaboration

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child–Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages 3 to 9. By increasing the dosage, coordination, and comprehensiveness of services, the program is expected to enhance the transition to school and promote more enduring effects on well‐being in multiple domains. We review and evaluate evidence from two longitudinal studies (Midwest CPC, 2012 to present; Chicago Longitudinal Study, 1983 to present) and four implementation examples of how the guiding principles of shared ownership, committed resources, and progress monitoring for improvement can promote effectiveness. The implementation system of partners and further expansion using “Pay for Success” financing shows the feasibility of scaling the program while continuing to improve effectiveness.     

Literacy Assessment and Student Diversity: An Australian case study

This article describes the reported practices in literacy assessment, recording, and reporting in 12 Australian schools characterised by populations of diverse learners. The findings indicate the problems and challenges teachers face in providing socially just and inclusive literacy assessment in heterogeneous classrooms. We make a number of suggestions related to enhancing assessment, recording, and reporting at the classroom level and argue for systemic support for teachers.     

Reading achievement, metacognition, reading self-concept and interest: A study of German students in grades 3 and 4

This study examined the reading achievement, metacognitive knowledge related to reading and memory, reading self-concept, and interest in reading of 140 German school students in Grades 3 and 4. The results indicated significant correlations between the metacognitive variables, motivational variables, and amongst metacognitive and motivational variables, as well as with reading achievement variables. The examination of good and poor readers showed significant differences in metacognitive knowledge of reading and memory, reading self-concept, interest in reading, and in teacher judgements of reading achievement between the groups. Differences between Grade 3 and 4 students were found in their word decoding skills, metacognitive knowledge about reading and memory, and teacher judgements of reading achievement. Results of the regression analysis indicated that reading achievement was predicted by grade level, word decoding, and teacher evaluations of reading achievement. The causal modelling indicated that motivation and metacognition affect reading comprehension in different ways. The findings are discussed in terms of future research and their educational implications.     

The Effects of Enrolling in Oversubscribed Prekindergarten Programs Through Third Grade

This study leverages naturally occurring lotteries for oversubscribed Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program sites between 2007 and 2011, for 3,182 children (M = 4.5 years old) to estimate the impacts of winning a first choice lottery and enrolling in Boston prekindergarten versus losing a first choice lottery and not enrolling on children’s enrollment and persistence in district schools, grade retention, special education placement, and third-grade test scores. There are large effects on enrollment and persistence, but no effects on other examined outcomes for this subsample. Importantly, children who competed for oversubscribed seats were not representative of all appliers and almost all control-group children attended center-based preschool. Findings contribute to the larger evidence base and raise important considerations for future prekindergarten lottery-based studies.     

Science notebooks as interactional spaces in a multilingual classroom: Not just ideas on paper

Past studies have explored the role of student science notebooks in supporting students' developing science understandings. Yet scant research has investigated science notebook use with students who are learning science in a language they are working to master. To explore how student science notebook use is co-constructed in interaction among students and teachers, this study examined plurilingual students' interactions with open-ended science notebooks during an inquiry science unit on condensation and evaporation. Grounded in theoretical views of the notebook as a semiotic social space, multimodal interaction analysis facilitated examination of the ways students drew upon the space afforded by the notebook as they constructed explanations of their understandings. Cross-group comparison of three focal groups led to multiple assertions regarding the use of science notebooks with plurilingual students. First, the notebook supported student-determined paths of resemiotization as students employed multiple communicative resources to express science understandings. Second, notebooks provided spaces for students to draw upon diverse language resources and as a bridge in time across multiple inquiry sessions. Third, representations in notebooks were leveraged by both students and teachers to access and deepen conceptual conversations. Lastly, students' interactions over time revealed multiple epistemological orientations in students' use of the notebook space. These findings point to the benefits of open-ended science notebooks use with plurilingual students, and a consideration of the ways they are used in interaction in science instruction.     

寻觅德国的牛津

达勒姆(Dahlem)不仅仅是一个传奇.在德国,几乎没有其他地方像柏林的这片土地那样,在科学史各个丰富的方面--包括令人质疑的方面--表现出如此强烈的活力.在马普学会历史档案馆馆长亨宁(Eckart Henning)的陪同下巡游他的“领地“,就如同在历史的时光中漫步,著名学者的创新精神始终伴随着我们的游程.……