Primary teachers as readers

In the context of the continued pressure and politicisation of the teaching of reading in England, the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) sought to ascertain patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally. The project, undertaken in 11 Local Authorities in England, explored 1200 primary teachers' personal reading habits and preferences, investigated their knowledge of children's literature, and documented their reported use of texts in the classroom through a questionnaire. In addition, it sought to establish the extent of the teachers' involvement with and use of local area/school library services. This paper reports on the findings with reference to the teachers' personal reading, the frequency of this reading and the sources they use to select their reading material. It also considers the teachers' favourite childhood texts and the books they identified as highly significant to them, as well as their perceptions of the importance of literature. Connections are made to the data gathered about their knowledge of children's literature, and how primary teachers decide which literature to work with in the classroom.     

Associations Between Reading Skills,Interest in Reading,and Teaching Practices in First Grade

This study examined associations between classroom-level reading fluency, comprehension, interest in reading, and teaching practices. Participants were 466 children from 21 classrooms. Reading fluency and interest were assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1, reading comprehension at the end of Grade 1. Teaching practices were observed with the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM). Teachers were more likely to use teacher-directed methods in classrooms where children had poorer initial reading fluency. In classrooms with mostly child-centered methods, children showed better reading fluency, comprehension, and higher interest, whereas in classrooms with predominately teacher-directed practices, children had lower reading comprehension at the end of Grade 1. Findings highlight the need for teacher education programs to incorporate discussions about the benefits and disadvantages of different teaching methods.     

The role of teacher-related factors in mathematics skills between children attending Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking schools

This study examined the extent to which teaching practices and teaching experience predict mathematics skills of children’s in the third through fifth grade by focusing on three cognitive components: (1) knowing facts and procedures, (2) applying this knowledge and (3) using reasoning. This study was longitudinal. The data was collected from 1810 students and 90 teachers attending Estonian- and Russian-speaking schools. The students’ were tested twice, at the beginning of the third and at the beginning of the fifth grade. The teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their teaching practices. The results revealed that teachers from Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking schools’ classrooms differed in their use of teaching practices and teaching experience. Teachers in Russian-speaking schools were slightly more experienced, and they reported using more teacher-centred practices compared to teachers in Estonian-speaking schools. The study showed different effects on the outcomes of the children attending classrooms where the study language was Estonian and Russian in solving arithmetic word problems when accounting for the teachers’ use of different learner-centred teaching practices in the classroom.     

Rethinking inequalities between deindustrialisation,schools and educational research in Geelong

Inequalities have historically been conceptualised and empirically explored with primary reference to the human. Both measurements of educational inequalities through the production of data about students, teachers and schools, and ethnographic explorations of inequalities in the spoken accounts of human actors in schools can elide affective histories and material geologies of the earth that entwine with societal inequalities, and political questions of the relation between particular human bodies and the earth. In this article, we question: What might it do to rethink the concept of educational inequalities beyond human relations, from within a specific geographical territory? We seek to rethink inequalities including but exceeding these human relations; we argue that inequalities between humans, and between humans and the more-than-human, are materially generated and perpetuated. We offer three theoretical trajectories that consider the affective, spatial and material dimensions of inequality to rethink the relations between inequality, deindustrialisation and schooling. Educational research is implicated in the (re)production of inequalities, as well as having the potential to be part of the production of more equitable relations.     

Rethinking literacy: communication,representation and text

In this article I want to consider shifts in the use of the word ‘literacy’ and the implications for classroom work with texts, particularly the implications of the rapid and radical emergence of new relationships between different modes of representation and communication ( Kress, 2003; Raney, 1996; Unsworth, 2001 ). My concern is to argue that any approach to classroom literacy needs not only to recognise the new forms of text which children meet every day but to give multimodal texts a firm place in the curriculum. Further, if the text experience of young learners about these new combinations of modes of representation are to be realised in the classroom, then we need a framework for describing those texts. An approach which takes account of the rhetoric of design may be a way forward.     

A school‐based violence prevention model for at‐risk eighth grade youth

This study examined the effectiveness of a school and community‐based violence prevention program for at‐risk eighth‐grade students in three public schools in Florida. School officials matched intervention students with community‐based mentors in an employment setting to allow targeted youth to explore careers and receive one‐on‐one intervention from an adult mentor. Intervention students were compared to a control group of students not receiving mentorship services. This study used MANOVA and t‐test analyses to examine six outcomes measured: (1) unexcused absences; (2) number of in‐school suspensions; (3) number of days of in‐school suspensions; (4) number of out‐of‐school suspensions; (5) number of days of out‐of‐school suspensions; and (6) total number of infractions committed on school property. The findings suggested that mentored students, as compared to control group students, had significant reductions in total number and days of suspensions, days of sanction, and infractions committed on school property. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 403–416, 2003.     

Assessing basic competencies: A practical methodology

Following the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, many developing countries are making efforts to achieve basic education for all by the year 2000. However, when it comes to measuring educational progress, there are few methodologies that can overcome the many problems and controversies in this area. This paper describes a serviceable methodology for measuring basic education (competencies in reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as selected life skills), which has proven to be simple, inexpensive and rapid. This approach, termed the Assessment of Basic Competencies (ABC), has been tested in Bangladesh on 2,100 children between the ages of 11 and 12. The results are discussed here. This methodology may be of use to education programme managers in other developing countries.

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Zusammenfassung Nach der Weltkonferenz über Bildung für Alle 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand, bemühen sich viele Entwicklungsländer um eine Grundbildung für alle bis zum Jahr 2000. Wenn man jedoch die Methoden zur Bemessung der Leistungen der Schüler betrachtet, gibt es nur wenige Methodologien, die die zahlreichen Probleme und Kontroversen auf diesem Gebiet bewältigen können. Dieser Artikel beschreibt eine praktische Methodologie zur Bewertung der Grundbildung (Lese- und Schreibfähigkeiten, arithmetische Fähigkeiten sowie ausgewählte zum Leben notwendige Fahigkeiten), die sich als einfach, preiswert und schnell erwiesen hat. Dieser Ansatz wurde in Bangladesh an 2.100 Kindern zwischen 11 und 12 Jahren getestet. Das Ergebnis wird in diesem Artikel erortert. Diese Methodologie könnte Bildungsprogrammleitern in anderen Entwicklungsländern von Nutzen sein.

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Résumé En réponse au Congrès Mondial sur l'Education pour Tous qui a eu lieu en 1990 à Jomtien, Thaïlande, de nombreux pays en voie de développement multiplient leurs efforts pour réaliser l'éducation de base de tous d'ici l'an 2000. Quand il s'agit pourtant d'évaluer le progrès pédagogique, rares sont les méthodologies pouvant faire face aux nombreux problèmes et controverses existant dans ce domaine. Cet article décrit une méthode efficace pour évaluer l'éducation de base (compétences en écriture, lecture et arithmétique de même que certaines aptitudes à la vie pratique), qui s'est révélée simple, économique et rapide. Ce procédé, appelé Evaluation des Compétences de Base (ABC — Assessment of Basic Competencies), a fait l'objet d'un essai au Bangladesh auprès de 2100 enfants entre 11 et 12 ans, dont les résultats sont discutés ici. Cette méthode pourrait être intéressante aux organisateurs de programmes d'éducation dans d'autres pays en développement.