City competition for the creative class

This paper explores the conditions under which decentralization and fiscal competition lead to a policy of providing public amenities in order to attract highly productive labor. It provides a theoretical analysis which shows that the incentive to provide such amenities is particularly strong, if institutional restrictions prevent local governments from adjusting their tax structure. The empirical analysis considers the case of Germany, where public subsidies to local theaters are shown to exert a compensating earnings differential for highly educated labor. Taking account of the institutional setting, our empirical results suggest that local jurisdictions in Germany are subject to a substantial fiscal incentive to subsidize cultural activities.     

Gestaltungsmerkmale und Effekte ganztägiger Angebote im Grundschulbereich

Zusammenfassung Ganzt?gige schulische Angebote spielen in der aktuellen Debatte um eine Bildungsreform eine zentrale Rolle. Erwartungen an ihre erzieherischen und leistungsbezogenen Wirkungen werden hier zun?chst theoretisch auf dem Hintergrund der Schuleffektivit?tsforschung diskutiert. Empirisch werden — erstmals repr?sentativ für Deutschland — p?dagogische Angebote und Schülerleistungen an Grundschulen mit und ohne Ganztagsangebot verglichen. Basis ist eine Sekund?ranalyse von Daten der internationalen Grundschul-Leseuntersuchung IGLU in Verbindung mit einer nachtr?glichen Schulleiterbefragung. Schulen mit ganzt?gigen Angeboten verfügten demnach über ein breites Spektrum von p?dagogischen Ma?nahmen, wobei in Ganztagsschulen mit systematischem Konzept die kognitive F?rderung relativ stark gewichtet war. Effekte auf das Niveau des Leseverst?ndnisses oder dessen Zusammenhang mit der sozialen Herkunft fanden sich nicht.      

Implementing curriculum-embedded formative assessment in primary school science classrooms

The implementation of formative assessment strategies is challenging for teachers. We evaluated teachers’ implementation fidelity of a curriculum-embedded formative assessment programme for primary school science education, investigating both material-supported, direct application and subsequent transfer. Furthermore, the relationship between implementation fidelity and teacher variables was explored. N = 17 German primary school teachers participated in professional development on formative assessment, N = 11 teachers formed a control group. Teachers’ implementation fidelity was evaluated via classroom observations student ratings and an analysis of students’ workbooks, focusing on the frequency and quality of intended formative assessment elements (assessments, feedback and instructional adaptations). Regarding direct application, treatment group teachers’ implementation fidelity was high, with slight variations in quality. Regarding transfer, implementation fidelity was lower but teachers still implemented more formative assessment elements than the control group. Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and their evaluation of the formative assessment intervention were associated with implementation success.     

A Psychometric Framework for the Evaluation of Instructional Sensitivity

Although there is a common understanding of instructional sensitivity, it lacks a common operationalization. Various approaches have been proposed, some focusing on item responses, others on test scores. As approaches often do not produce consistent results, previous research has created the impression that approaches to instructional sensitivity are noticeably fragmented. To counter this impression, we present an item response theory–based framework that can help us to understand similarities and differences between existing approaches. Using empirical data for illustration, this article identifies three perspectives on instructional sensitivity: One perspective views instructional sensitivity as the capacity to detect differences in students' stages of learning across points of time. A second perspective treats instructional sensitivity as the capacity to detect differences between groups that have received different instruction. For a third perspective, the previous two are combined to consider differences between both time points and groups. We discuss linking sensitivity indices to measures of instruction.     

Interplay of formative assessment and instructional quality—interactive effects on students’ mathematics achievement

Formative assessment is considered to be a promising teaching practice for promoting teaching and learning processes. The implementation of teaching practices into instruction involves intervening with a learning environment that is characterised by certain features of instructional quality. Our study aims to contribute to the understanding of formative assessment by analysing the interplay between a formative assessment intervention and aspects of general instructional quality. In a quasi-experimental study design, 15 teachers participated in a control group (n = 361 students) and 20 teachers in the intervention classes (n = 498 students) implemented a curriculum-embedded formative assessment tool in their ninth-grade mathematics classes. No effects were found for the intervention on the assessed aspects of general instructional quality (process-oriented instruction, teacher–student relationship, effective use of instructional time). However, multilevel regression analyses revealed an interaction effect between the intervention and process-orientation and the effective use of instruction time. Our findings suggest that implementing formative assessment tools do not seem to suffice regarding changes in general instructional quality, but that an intervention with detailed material and guidelines can counterbalance effects of instructional quality, fostering students’ achievement in classes with lower degrees of process orientation and a less effective use of instructional time.     

Unterricht als Feld evidenzbasierter Bildungspraxis?

This paper sketches the debate on evidence-based educational practice focusing on teaching and instruction in schools. The authors review requirements that have to be fulfilled by educational research that aims to provide a basis for educational policy and practice. Specifically, they discuss the challenges that are associated with a notion of a sender-recipient relationship describing research and practice. Models for a stronger research-based connection with the field of educational practice are described. Subsequently, they show how the discourse on teaching and instruction that is prevalent in the educational sciences in Germany illuminates the inherent difficulties when teaching practice is expected to follow scientific evidence. The authors illustrate these two strands of the paper – communication between researchers and practitioners, and opinions about the constitution of ‘good’ teaching and instruction – by excerpts of interviews with researchers and teachers.     

The relative effectiveness of an inanimate stimulus and a live surrogate during imprinting in Japanese quail,Coturnix coturnix japonica

It has been demonstrated repeatedly that stimuli vary in their effectiveness in eliciting and maintaining imprinting. Agreement has not been reached, however, with regard to the ideal imprinting model for laboratory studies. This situation is in part a result of the inability to replicate precisely natural parameters in the laboratory. Thus laboratory results are often inconsistent with field research. In order to develop a more biologically appropriate imprinting stimulus, a live Japanese quail hen was conditioned to serve as an imprinting object. An imprinting study was then performed to assess the dimensions of effectiveness of the live model. Comparisons between the live model and a decoy yielded different patterns of imprinting in young Japanese quail.