Data‐Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District

In 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, a metropolitan school system in the southern United States embarked on a unique mission to improve the quality of its public prekindergarten programs through a partnership with a group of developmental researchers in an iterative, data‐based venture. Data on 407 children in Year 1 and 433 in Year 2 (who were enrolled in 26 classrooms and extensively observed) are presented from the first 2 years of the ongoing partnership. All children were 4 years of age. Variability in classroom practices, measured empirically, and variability in child outcomes provided the means to examine the relations between children's gains in academic and social‐emotional areas and major areas of classroom practices. Lessons learned, the eight identified significant practices, implications, and next steps in the partnership are addressed.     

Building Better Bridges: Toward a Transdisciplinary Science Communication

ABSTRACT

In this article the authors envision a more durable and portable model of scholarship on public engagement with science through partnerships between rhetoricians of science and quantitative social scientists. The authors consider a number of barriers and limitations that make such partnerships difficult, with an eye toward discovering ways that researchers may overcome them. The authors conclude by articulating guidelines for reciprocal transdisciplinary work as well as specific recommended practices for such collaborations.     

An examination of alternate assessment durations when assessing multiple‐skill computational fluency: The generalizability and dependability of curriculum‐based outcomes within the context of educational decisions

The current study extended previous research on curriculum‐based measurement in mathematics (M‐CBM) assessments. The purpose was to examine the generalizability and dependability of multiple‐skill M‐CBM computation assessments across various assessment durations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 minutes). Results of generalizability and dependability studies (N = 104 students) suggest that relative interindividual decisions can rely on the results from 1‐minute administrations for low‐stakes decisions and the results of 4‐minute administrations for high‐stakes decisions. Moreover, absolute intraindividual decisions can rely on the results from 4‐minute administrations for low‐stakes decisions and 13‐minute administrations for high‐stakes decisions. The implications and limitations of these results are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 615–622, 2005.     

Activity Theory,Mediated Action and Literacy: Assessing how children make meaning in multiple modes

The paper reports a study into children's literacy in Bangladesh. It presents reading and writing profiles of a stratified random sample of ten year-old children. The paper argues that while these profiles might be a valuable source of information for the Government of Bangladesh as well as for the international donor community, especially in that they provide diagnostic information of children's literacy development, they do not portray fully the potential of children as meaning-makers. A small number of children from those who performed poorly in assessments of reading and writing were subjected to a further study in which they participated in a 'designing and making' activity. Here, the multiple modes through which children communicated meaning and understanding became the focus of the assessment. This means that we did not look solely at the linguistic mode but focused also on 'mediated action' as a mode through which meaning is made. Thus the potential of children to represent meaning and to create and shape 'new' texts through collaborative engagement with each other, as well as with the material and linguistic resources being used in the activity, became the prime focus of assessment. The paper shows that children who performed poorly on tests of reading and writing were potentially creative meaning-makers when other modes of representation like action and speech were considered. The paper concludes that large-scale studies of children's literacy are necessary and will continue to provide important sources of information for governments attempting to alleviate poverty and create equitable access to education and other social services. On the other hand, data obtained in this fashion mask the potential of children as creative meaning-makers. The study reported here shows that teacher-based assessment, expanded to recognise modes of meaning-making other than language, can be a vital, additional source of information for those interested in children as learners.     

Boxing clever: using shoeboxes to support home–school knowledge exchange

A key tenet of the Home–School Knowledge Exchange Project is that children's learning will be enhanced if the knowledge and experience that are to be found both at home and in school can be brought together. In this paper we explore ways of connecting home and school to support literacy learning at Key Stage 1, focusing on the home‐to‐school direction. We discuss how shoeboxes, filled with children's artefacts, can support a range of literacy‐related activities in school. It is suggested that the extensive diversity of knowledge and interests reflected in the chosen objects presents teachers with an invaluable opportunity to personalise children's literacy learning.     

The GlobalEd Project: Gender differences in a problem-based learning environment of international negotiations

The GlobalEd Project employs a technology richenvironment for high school students who wishto participate in a simulation of internationalrelations and negotiation. A simulationconsists of negotiations on a variety ofinternational policy issues conducted bystudents from 10–15 schools through anInternet-based interface. This study reportsthe findings of 234 high school participants'changes in academic and technologyself-efficacy skills, as well as knowledge,attitudes and behaviors related to academicpreparation and performance, the use ofeducational technology, and associated outcomesfrom participating in a simulation ofinternational relations. The results arediscussed in terms of the current literature onself-efficacy and gender differences incognitive process.     

Influence of Playback Techniques on Counselor Preformance

Study was made of training impact of different electronic playback techniques on ratings of student counselor performance. Thirty-two upperclass university females were randomly divided into four playback treatment groups: (a) audio-video, (b) audio, (c) video, and (d) no playback received. Four underclass university females served as trained clients. All student counselors interviewed two different trained clients in two 20-minute sessions separated by a playback treatment period. All sessions were recorded by television cameras. Trained judges rated the second interview using the Counselor Evaluation Inventory, Nonverbal Behavior Scale, and Audio-Visual Counseling Scale. Two-way analysis of variance was used to compare scores on criterion instruments. Results indicated no judged differences among the playback treatment groups, nor could discriminant rankings be made among the various playback methods. Several explanations are discussed as to limited influence of playback media on early interview performance.