The NCTQ Selectivity Standard and Principal Evaluation of Teacher Preparation

Ratings published by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) require selectivity in admission to educator preparation programs. NCTQ provides a list of citations to support the selectivity standard termed “strong support.” A review of each citation in the list found little or no support for the standard. Original data was collected examining employment supervisor ratings of over 11,000 teachers’ preparation and analyzed for correlations and differences based on the selectivity standard. No significant differences were found between supervisor ratings of teachers who met or did not meet the NCTQ test standard and no significant correlations were found between the selectivity tests, grade point average, and principal ratings of teachers. These findings bring into question the listed selectivity standard and the rationale for its inclusion in NCTQ's public ranking process.     

The Imponderable Bloom: A Multimodal Social Semiotic Analysis of an Online Secondary English Course

The use of online learning and other software-powered technologies is on the rise in the United States, encouraged financially and politically by governmental and commercial entities. Specifically, online courses are gaining ground in K–12 public schools, schools which often purchase from third-party providers. After a decade in the New York City Department of Education as an English teacher and schools official responsible for a large-scale online learning programme, the author asks the question: How does the use of software-powered technologies like online learning affect the teaching of literature? In pursuit of this question, the author draws on concept from the field of software studies while adapting qualitative methods from multimodal studies to examine precisely how the nature of software (and the ideologies of those who create and sell it) are subtly influencing the teaching of literature.     

Kawaii Killers and Femme Fatales: A Textual Analysis of Female Characters Signifying Benevolent and Hostile Sexism in Video Games

ABSTRACT

Game developers potentially convey socio-cultural values about gender through design choices. This study interpreted the designs of 11 purposively selected female game characters, developed by studios located in the United States and Japan, through the lens of ambivalent sexism. This social psychological theory posits that sexism consists of hostile and benevolent attitudes about women. Two themes emerged across characterizations: bodies as objects, bodies as weapons and (in)dependence. Both consisted of empowering qualities paired with problematic beliefs about women. This analysis contributes to interdisciplinary literature by using an empirical perspective to interpret gender representations in video games.     

A professional development model to facilitate teacher adoption of interactive,immersive digital games for classroom learning

The benefits of using digital games in the curriculum are well documented in literature. Most teachers who use digital games use short-form drill-and-practice learning games rather than the kinds of games most students would choose to play in their free time. The use of more interactive, immersive digital games (IDGs) in classrooms tends to be sporadic, dependent upon the enthusiasm and ingenuity of individual teachers. Previous studies have indicated that many teachers have concerns about using digital games in classrooms and have difficulties knowing how to best use digital games. This qualitative study presents a professional development model for teachers that was inductively derived through analysing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 13 educators who have used digital games in the classroom. Implementing this model can help teachers develop attitudes and skills necessary to meaningfully use interactive, IDGs in their classrooms. Evidence suggests that a mentor should have a strong understanding of how to use digital games effectively in classrooms, work with small cohorts of teachers to collegially plan the use of digital games within a unit of class work, trial the unit of work with a small number of enthusiastic teachers, and then implement it with the remaining teachers. This approach is based on interviews with educators who have successfully mentored teachers in their schools to use interactive, IDGs in their classrooms. These educators encountered little resistance from their teaching colleagues. Their approach further supported teachers who were open to the possibilities of using digital games in their classrooms.     

Gender roles and the American academe: a case study of graduate student mothers

Studies have found that motherhood is significantly associated with attrition for female graduate students in the United States. Few, however, have examined this phenomenon from the point of view of current students. Utilizing data from 30 in‐depth interviews with student mothers from a number of academic fields, this study details both the structural environments and the socio‐cultural constructs that affect the women’s daily experiences. The data highlight the fact that the symbolic nature of both roles – mother and student – is often in conflict with the structural elements around which each role is performed. Student mothers confront this dilemma through a number of strategic practices including ‘maternal invisibility’, ‘academic invisibility’, luck, and reliance on the more traditional means of economic and emotional support that come from spouses and parents. In detailing these practices, the study offers both important clues about the factors that may contribute to attrition for graduate student mothers as well as suggestions for institutional improvement.     

Child abuse before Kempe: an historical literature review

This literature review traces the recognition of child abuse and ends where many texts begin with the publication of Henry Kempe's paper in 1962, where the term, "battered child syndrome," was used for the first time. Starting with the first known treatise in pediatrics, the review examines evidence produced throughout the centuries on the recognition of physical child abuse. Many of the references are medical and show how while the early physicians found it easy to accept that those caring for children might injure them, by the end of the 19th century, more obscure diagnoses were being sought to explain the lesions. However, even during the time some physicians were pursuing "scientific" etiologies, there are publications that demonstrate a continuing acknowledgment of the problem of child abuse. No review of this type can claim to be complete, and the author hopes others will be sufficiently interested to seek out further historical references.