A National Survey of Assessment Instruments Taught by Counselor Educators

This study reports results of a questionnaire of 210 counselor educators regarding assessment instruments covered in their assessment courses. Instruments are ranked on how extensively they are covered, and comparisons of coverage are made by assessment category (e.g., educational, clinical) and by instructor and program characteristic (e.g., Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP] vs. non‐CACREP). Suggestions regarding which assessment techniques to cover in a basic counselor education testing and assessment course are made.     

Associations between classroom quality and children's vocabulary and executive function skills in an urban public prekindergarten program

Despite evidence that high-quality preschool programs have substantial, long-lasting impacts on young children's developmental outcomes, associations between preschool quality measures and children's cognitive outcomes within preschool programs are generally small or null. Using data from a large urban prekindergarten program, we examined associations between children's receptive vocabulary and executive function skills and several indicators of classroom quality. Ours is the first such study within a program that has been shown to have small-to-large causal impacts on children's language, literacy, mathematics, executive function, and emotional development outcomes. Consistent with prior literature, we found small or null associations between quality predictors and children's outcomes and we found that some of these relationships were curvilinear. Findings are discussed in light of several hypotheses in the literature regarding the general pattern of small or null associations, including the psychometrics of commonly used quality measures and possible range restriction of quality indicators.     

Exploring the Complexities of Children’s Inquiries in Science: Knowledge Production Through Participatory Practices

Beginning with the assumption that young children are capable of producing unprecedented knowledges about science phenomena, this paper explores the complexities of children’s inquiries within open-ended investigations. I ask two central questions: (1) how can we (teachers, researchers, and children themselves) use and build upon children’s explorations in science in practice? and (2) what pedagogical approaches can position children as experts on their experiences to facilitate children’s sense of ownership in the process of learning science? Six vignettes from a Kindergarten classroom are analyzed to elaborate the central claim of this work, which is that when children are engaged in collaborative open-ended activities, science emerges from their interactions. Open-ended structures allowed for teachers and children to facilitate further investigations collaboratively, and participatory structures mediated children’s representations and explanations of their investigations. Evidence of children’s interactions is used to illustrate the complexities of children’s explorations, and pedagogical approaches that create the spaces for children to create knowledge are highlighted.     

Investigating Teachers’ Skills in Interpreting Evidence of Student Learning

This study measured and explored the relationships among elementary mathematics teachers’ skill in (a) determining what an item measures, (b) analyzing student work, (c) providing targeted feedback, and (d) determining next instructional steps. Twenty-three elementary mathematics teachers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: analyzing items and student responses without rubrics, analyzing items and student responses with rubrics, or analyzing items and student responses with rubrics after watching a professional development program on providing feedback to students. Findings show there is a moderate to strong relationship between teachers’ abilities to analyze student responses to infer what a student knows and can do and their abilities to take action based on that information through either providing the student feedback or making appropriate instructional adaptations. Findings show it was relatively more difficult for teachers to provide feedback that was likely to move students forward in their learning than it was for them to analyze a student's response or to determine next instructional steps. No teacher skill differences associated with the different treatment conditions were found.     

Undergraduate Research Methods: Does Size Matter? A Look at the Attitudes and Outcomes of Students in a Hybrid Class Format versus a Traditional Class Format

The goal of this study is to understand if there are any variations regarding student engagement and course outcomes based on the course format. A new course format was introduced in fall of 2006 that involves a hybrid approach (large lecture with small recitations) with a higher level of student enrollment than traditional research methods courses. During the same time frame, the discipline maintained its traditional research methods courses as well. A survey was administered to all students enrolled in research methods regardless of course format in fall 2006 and spring 2007. Student responses are discussed, including information concerning the preparation, design, cost and benefits of offering a hybrid research methods course format.     

The Conflict Within the Role: A Longitudinal Study of Preschool Student Teachers' Developing Competence In and Attitudes Towards Science Teaching in Relation to Developing a Professional Role

The aim of this exploratory, longitudinal study was to describe an overall picture of how perceptions of the teacher role and attitudes toward science and science teaching develop and interact during preschool teacher education, and how this in turn influences behavior when students are engaged in teaching science. Sixty-five students enrolled in a preschool teacher education program at a Swedish university were followed throughout their teacher education. The study used a phenomenographic approach within a theoretical framework of sociocultural and situated learning perspective. Questionnaires with open and closed questions were combined with interviews. The results show that in spite of growing competence and confidence, many of the students still found science activities to be awkward in preschool, mainly due to a wish to protect the children from school culture. The results have implications for teacher education and the preschool community, showing a need to problematize the purpose of teaching science in preschool and the meaning of pedagogical content knowledge in this context.