Examining the Impact and School‐Level Predictors of Impact Variability of an 8th Grade Reading Intervention on At‐Risk Students’ Reading Achievement

The purpose of the present article is to report on a large‐scale investigation of six school districts’ implementation of an initiative aimed at reducing dropout rates by improving reading achievement in the middle grades. Data for the Middle School Intervention Project (MSIP) were collected in 25 middle schools across the state of Oregon. We examined (a) the degree to which the schools improved reading achievement for struggling readers in 8th grade, and (b) whether we could account for school differences in the treatment effect through measured explicit and intensive intervention factors. At the end of 8th grade there was no evidence of significant or positive effects on the two primary reading outcome measures.     

Perceptions of instructional quality: impact on acceptance and use of an online learning environment

ABSTRACT

Given the growing use of online learning environments in higher education, it is important to further unravel how students’ use is influenced by their perceptions towards these learning environments. This study includes the perceived quality of the instructional design based on the First Principles of Instruction of Merrill and students’ acceptance based on the constructs perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the technology acceptance model (TAM). The aim of this study is twofold: a first aim is to investigate the influence of the perceived instructional quality on students’ acceptance and the second aim is to investigate the impact of students’ acceptance and the perceived instructional quality on the quantity (i.e. course activity) and quality (i.e. course performance) of use. In this study, a Moodle-based online learning environment for learning French as a foreign language was studied. Participants were 161 university students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicates that the perceived instructional quality has a significant positive influence on students’ acceptance. Furthermore, students’ perceived instructional quality has a positive influence on the quality, but not on the quantity of use, whereas students’ acceptance of the online learning environment has no impact on the use of the learning environment.     

School Environmental Education Programme Impacts upon Student and Family Learning: A case study analysis

This article uses a case study approach to explore the impact of two school environmental education programmes, from the perspective of participating students, their teachers and their parents. A total of 152 students (79 from primary schools and 73 from a secondary school), 3 teachers and 62 parents contributed their perceptions regarding the impact of the programmes. Each programme is described in detail and students' responses compared across the two programmes and across different class groups participating in each programme. It is concluded that both programmes were successful in engaging students in thinking and learning about environmental issues, although some programme features were more likely than others to lead to impacts beyond the bounds of the classroom. Recommendations are made regarding those features that need to be included in school environmental education programmes in order to maximise student and family learning outcomes.     

The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model for Longitudinal Dyadic Data: An Implementation in the SEM Framework

In dyadic research, the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) is widely used to model the effect of a predictor measured across dyad members on one’s own and one’s partner outcome. When such dyadic data are measured repeatedly over time, both the non-independence within couples and the non-independence over time need to be accounted for. In this paper, we present a longitudinal extension of the APIM, the L-APIM, that allows for both stable and time-varying sources of non-independence. Its implementation is readily available in multilevel software, such as proc mixed in SAS, but is lacking in the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. We tackle the computational challenges associated with its SEM-implementation and propose a user-friendly free application for the L-APIM, which can be found at http://fgisteli.shinyapps.io/Shiny_LDD. As an illustration, we explore the actor and partner effects of positive relationship feelings on next day’s intimacy using 3-week diary data of 66 heterosexual couples.     

Social Characteristics of Belgian Primary Teachers in the Twentieth Century

It is often claimed, both in the literature and by public opinion, that the status of teachers has declined sharply compared with the situation in the past. This article takes a more detailed look at the complex phenomenon of the ‘status’ of teachers. It does so on the basis of seven variables which ‘operatiohalise’ the process of social approval: the level of feminisation of the teaching corps, its social background, education, legal position and salary, the degree to which control has been obtained over the profession and its degree of social integration. Although a certain loss of prestige has undeniably occurred in comparison with other professions, it is evident that the status issue is not as clear cut as sometimes implied. In the first place, several contradictory trends were detected amongst the factors studied, indicating that the process of status acquisition and/or loss has not developed in a uniform manner. Moreover, statements concerning the relative status of this particular professional group always have to be related to other professions, regarding which the necessary basic data is not always present. It is evident, nonetheless, that the old (and not always very realistic) image of the ‘schoolmaster’ or ‘mistress’ with a ‘noble vocation’ to fulfil has faded nowadays, without the new ideal of the ‘education specialist’ yet establishing itself in the social context.     

Unraveling the culture of the mathematics classroom: A video-based study in sixth grade

Changing perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning resulted in a new generation of mathematics textbooks, stressing among others the importance of mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills and their application to real-life situations. The article reports a study that investigates to what extent the reform-based ideas underlying these mathematical textbooks impact the current teaching of mathematics. Two problem-solving lessons were videotaped in 10 sixth-grade classrooms and a coding scheme was developed to analyze these lessons with regard to three aspects of the classroom culture that are assumed to enhance students’ mathematical beliefs and problem-solving competencies: (1) the classroom norms that are established, (2) the instructional techniques and classroom organization forms, and (3) the set of tasks students are confronted with. Two instruments were administered to measure students’ beliefs about learning mathematical word problem solving, and to assess their problem-solving processes and skills. The results indicate that some reform-based aspects seemed to be easier to implement (e.g., a strong focus on heuristic skills, embedding tasks in a realistic context) than others (e.g., the use of group work, an explicit negotiation of appropriate social norms).