Beyond traditional school value-added models: a multilevel analysis of complex school effects in Chile

School value-added studies have largely demonstrated the effects of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the schools and the pupils on performance in standardised tests. Traditionally, these studies have assessed the variation coming only from the schools and the pupils. However, recent studies have shown that the analysis of academic performance could significantly benefit from additional complexity in the model structure, incorporating non-hierarchical and unexplored levels of variation. Using data on secondary students from the Chilean National Pupil Database (2004–2006), this study shows how the traditional value-added models fall short in addressing the complex phenomenon of academic performance, because they largely overestimate school effects. A 4-level contextualised value-added model for progress in Mathematics was implemented and shown to avoid the masking of classroom and locality effects found in the traditional models. We also analyse the effects of important structural factors in Chile such as family income and school type.     

Mapping inclusion of a child with autism in a mainstream kindergarten: how can we move towards more inclusive practices?

ABSTRACT

This study identify and reflect on barriers to inclusion that children with autism can meet in kindergarten. We use a single case study with participant- and video observation to map inclusion for a single 5-year-old boy with autism, in a mainstream kindergarten in Norway. Analysis identified three modes of inclusion; distance-keeping, maintaining proximity and interacting. The mapping procedure demonstrated that barriers to inclusion continue to operate. The extent of the child's participation seemed to relate to what he was doing and who he was with; overall, limited social inclusion amongst peers being achieved. Results indicated that predictable frameworks and teacher support increased participation. We discuss how participation for children with autism can be promoted. Our study points toward the need to extend current adaptations and support to children with autism within the educational settings, to enable a more inclusive practice.     

A comparative study of the effect of behavioral objectives on class performance and retention in physical science

This experiment was designed to assess the effects of behavioral objectives on class achievement and retention. Eight experimental classes received instruction in physical science with stated behavioral objectives and six control classes received the same instruction without knowledge of the objectives. The subject matter used in this ninth-grade investigation was the third unit of the program, Interaction of Matter and Energy. Behavioral objectives and their accompanying assessment tasks were written by the investigator for the subject matter areas of heat energy, light energy, and phases of matter. The experimental classes obtained higher mean scores than the control classes on both achievement and retention tests. The overall mean differences due to treatment was found to be significant at the 0.01 level of confidence. The results of the study support the thesis that providing classes and teachers with behavioral objectives prior to instruction can enhance the performance on achievement tests. Also, the data strongly suggest that behavioral objectives and their accompanying assessment tasks will cause a resistance to forgetting.     

Lifelong learning among older professionals: How competence strategies and perceptions of professional learning affect pastors’ participation

One of the challenges of keeping older employees up to date and ensuring their continued involvement in the workplace is to provide them with relevant learning opportunities. This article aims to understand the usefulness of the concept of LLL for a group of older employees (50+). This is done using interviews and a document study on the Church of Norway (CofN) to understand how the concept of LLL is interpreted and acted upon by employers and older pastors. We assume that changes occurring outside the Church provoke the need for new knowledge and new ways of working. We ask how these older professionals perceive their learning opportunities and try to ascertain how the concept of LLL is helping them to tackle the ongoing changes. The article adds to the research on the interplay between competence strategies of employers and attitudes of older employees in a well‐established profession. Results of our study show that new strategies open up for greater participation. However, older pastors’ greatest motivation for learning seems to be their ordination vows, which include a commitment to continued learning through personal studies. This influences the kind of activities in which they participate, their expectations concerning the recognition of their learning and their views on the Church as a learning organisation. We conclude that older pastors do benefit from LLL initiatives in the workplace, but they also benefit from belonging to a profession with a conscious commitment to learning.     

Finding Fruit on the Vines: Using Higher Education Research and Institutional Research to Guide Institutional Policies and Strategies

This is the first of two articles that examine the utility of higher education research to help guide campus-based interventions to enhance institutional effectiveness. This first article describes the organizational context and sequence of events, which set the stage for the interventions that were implemented at this public research university. It next delineates the interventions implemented in areas related to enrollment management. Finally, the first article describes the effects of these interventions. The second article, which follows immediately in this issue, outlines programmatic efforts undertaken to enhance the quality of the first-year experience for new students.     

Correlates of class attitude toward science

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of students, teachers, and learning environment variables to science attitude. Data were collected from fourth, seventh, and ninth grade students and their science teachers. Variables found to be consistently related to science attitude of classes at all grade levels were (a) sense of the importance of science, (b) student fatalism, (c) teacher quality, and (d) a host of learning environment variables. Implications for teaching practices and for future research were offered.     

New physics searches at the BESⅢ experiment

The standard model (SM) of particle physics,comprised of the unified electroweak and quantum chromodynamic theories,accurately explains almost all experimental ...     

Learning about students’ knowledge and thinking in science through large-scale quantitative studies

The main issue addressed in this article is that there is much to learn about students’ knowledge and thinking in science from largescale international quantitative studies beyond overall score measures. Response patterns on individual or groups of items can give valuable diagnostic insight into students’ conceptual understanding, but there is also a danger of drawing conclusions that may be too simple and nonvalid. We discuss how responses to multiple-choice items could be interpreted, and we also show how responses on constructed-response items can be systematised and analysed. Finally, we study, empirically, interactions between item characteristics and student responses. It is demonstrated that even small changes in the item wording and/or the item format may have a substantial influence on the response pattern. Therefore, we argue that interpretations of results from these kinds of studies should be based on a thorough analysis of the actual items used. We further argue that diagnostic information should be an integrated part of the international research aims of such large-scale studies. Examples of items and student responses presented are taken from The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).