What is individualized instruction?

Individualized instruction is aphylum rather than aspecies of approaches to teaching. Problems of definition, usage, and shifting point of view contribute to the increasingly indiscriminate use of the term. One way of analyzing the collection of individualized programs, practices, and materials is to sort outfamilies of approaches and to organize them into a simple classification system according to their distinguishing characteristics. The differentspecies within families can be more precisely described in profiles that outline the treatment given to each major element of instruction. The ideal implicit in the programs seems to be separate, appropriate instruction for each student, but the ideal program has yet to be developed.

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Résumé L'Instruction individualisée est unphylum plûtot qu'uneespèce d'approche à l'enseignement. Les problèmes de définition, d'usage, et de point de vue changeant contribuent au fait qu'on emploie ce terme de plus en plus sans discrimination. Une méthode d'analyser la collection des programmes et des matériaux individuels est de classer par catégories desfamilles d'approches selon leurs caractéristiques spécifiques. On peut décrire les divers genres dans les familles de façon plus précise en esquissant la méthode de traiter chaque élément d'instruction. II semble que l'idéal implicite des programmes est l'instruction séparée et propre à chaque étudiant, mais on n'a pas encore développé le programme idéal.

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This article is based on a monograph in preparation at Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University. It will appear in the seriesTheory and Research in Teaching, A. A. Bellack, general editor.     

Why are there proportionately more poor pupils enrolled in non-state schools in urban Kenya in spite of FPE policy?

One of the conundrums of free primary education (FPE) policy in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is the ‘mushrooming’ of fee-paying private schools. Several researchers have become interested in studying this phenomenon and have raised the question—does free primary education meet the needs of the poor? Emerging voices among this group of researchers suggest that the impact of FPE, particularly in meeting the educational needs of the poor may be over-stated in situations where the poor still utilize what is referred to as ‘private schools for the poor’. The concerns expressed by those voicing this point of view point to the question of why the poor choose fee-paying [low quality] private schools when there is, presumably a free state school? To respond to this question and to contribute to this debate, this paper adopts the excess demand and differentiated demand frameworks to analyse how slum (poor) and non-slum (non-poor) parents utilize education in Nairobi, Kenya following the implementation of free primary education policy in 2003. We conclude that the answer to the ‘mushrooming’ of private schools for the poor is ‘excess demand’. As to whether free primary education meets the needs of the poor, we argue that where supply does not match demand excess demand is likely to arise in the initial stages. We recommend that what is required is greater and possibly differentiated and better targeted investment in education whereby unequals are treated unequally in order for the Kenyan government not to under-invest in the education of the poor.     

Parenting stress, infant emotion regulation, maternal sensitivity, and the cognitive development of triplets: a model for parent and child influences in a unique ecology

To examine the development of triplets, 23 sets of triplets were matched with 23 sets of twins and 23 singletons (N=138). Maternal sensitivity was observed at newborn, 3, 6, and 12 months, and infants' cognitive and symbolic skills at 1 year. Triplets received lower maternal sensitivity across infancy and exhibited poorer cognitive competencies compared with singletons and twins. The most medically compromised triplet showed the lowest regulation, received lower maternal sensitivity, and demonstrated the weakest outcomes compared with siblings. Structural modeling charted three levels of influence on cognitive outcomes: direct, indirect, and contextual. The triplet ecology provides a context for assessing the relations among infant inborn dispositions, the rearing environment, and the role of exclusive parenting in development.     

Reflective analysis as a tool for task redesign: The case of prospective elementary teachers solving and posing fraction comparison problems

Mathematical task design has been a central focus of the mathematics education research community over the last few years. In this study, six university teacher educators from six different US institutions formed a community of practice to explore key aspects of task design (planning, implementing, reflecting, and modifying) in the context of comparing fractions using reasoning and sense-making. By presenting results of their implementation of two tasks with 63 prospective elementary teachers across three institutions and their reflective analysis of the implementation, the authors highlight the importance of collecting and analyzing data and reflecting on this analysis to inform the redesign of tasks. The authors also found that considering different types of tasks (problem solving vs. problem posing) helps illuminate different aspects of prospective elementary teachers' understanding, which can inform task redesign. Finally the authors contribute to the knowledge base on reasoning strategies for comparing fractions and prospective elementary teachers’ knowledge of these strategies.