The necessity of the alphabetic principle to phonemic awareness instruction

This investigation examined the extent to whichcurricular choice and incorporation of phonemicawareness (PA) into the kindergarten curriculumaffects growth in kindergarten literacy skillsand first-grade reading and spelling outcomesin 114 classrooms in 32 Title 1 schools for4,872 children (85% African American). Literacy curricula were described as havingmore or less teacher choice and more or less PAand were implemented with ongoing professionaldevelopment. Observations of curriculumfidelities and ratings of student behavior werealso obtained. Alphabetic instruction withoutPA was not as effective as alphabeticinstruction with PA. However, effectiveinstruction in PA and alphabetic codingappeared to be as much a consequence of ongoingprofessional development as it was a functionof prescribed PA activities. Results providelarge-scale classroom support for findings onPA reported by the National Reading Panel[(2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-basedassessment of the scientific research literature onreading and its implications for reading instruction.Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health andHuman Development].     

Exceeding expectations: scaffolding agentic engagement through assessment as learning

Background: The active involvement of learners as critical, reflective and capable agents in the learning process is a core aim in contemporary education policy in Australia, and is regarded as a significant factor for academic success. However, within the relevant literature, the issue of positioning students as agents in the learning process has not been fully examined and needs further exploration.

Purpose: This study aims to explore ways in which aspects of self-regulated learning theory may be integrated with the concept of agentic engagement into classroom practice. Specifically, the study seeks to scaffold students’ self-assessment capabilities and self-efficacy by using a formative assessment-as-learning process. The research examines how scaffolded planning, as part of the forethought phase in the Assessment as Learning (AaL) process, influences self-regulation and student agency in the learning process.

Sample: 126 students from school years two, four and six (student age groups 7, 9 and 11 years), and 7 teachers at an independent (co-educational, non-religious) primary school in the Northern Territory, Australia, participated in the study.

Design and methods: Conducted as a one-setting, cross-sectional practitioner research study, the data sources included students’ planning templates, writing samples, interviews with students and teachers and email correspondence with teachers. The data were analysed for emerging themes and interpreted from a framework of social cognitive theory.

Findings: In this study, students were given the opportunity and support to exercise agentic engagement. Findings suggested that, in particular, students who were identified by their teachers as low-achieving and/or with poor motivation, were perceived by the teachers as exceededing expectations by demonstrating relatively greater motivation, persistence, effort and pride in their work than would be the case usually.

Conclusions: The findings from this formative AaL study suggest that AaL has the potential to help scaffold primary students’ development of assessment capabilities.     

Remediating Computational Deficits at Third Grade: A Randomized Field Trial

The major purposes of this study were to assess the efficacy of tutoring to remediate 3rd-grade computational deficits and to explore whether remediation is differentially efficacious depending on whether students experience mathematics difficulty alone or concomitantly with reading difficulty. At 2 sites, 127 students were stratified on mathematics difficulty status and randomly assigned to 4 conditions: word recognition (control) tutoring or 1 of 3 computation tutoring conditions: fact retrieval, procedural computation and computational estimation, and combined (fact retrieval + procedural computation and computational estimation). Results revealed that fact retrieval tutoring enhanced fact retrieval skill, and procedural computation and computational estimation tutoring (whether in isolation or combined with fact retrieval tutoring) enhanced computational estimation skill. Remediation was not differentially efficacious as a function of students' mathematics difficulty status.     

All-male discussion forums for expectant fathers: evaluation of a model

This paper describes an all-male discussion forum for expectant fathers led by a male facilitator. The 617 participants completed an evaluation form and were unanimous in their agreement about the benefits of the forum, in particular the opportunity to discuss issues of importance to them with others in a similar situation. The results should encourage those developing antenatal education programs to be more inclusive of expectant fathers and to acknowledge their feelings, unique role, and contribution.     

Professionals' perceptions of the role of literacy in early intervention services

The purpose of the current study was to examine therapists' perceptions about literacy in early intervention services. Little effort has been devoted to the incorporation of literacy into therapy services for very young children with special needs. In an attempt to understand how therapy providers view the role of literacy in their services, 168 providers were surveyed. Responses were compared and in general, speech therapists and developmental therapists reported similar rates of use of books and rhymes and similar attitudes about the role of literacy in services. In contrast, occupational and physical therapists were often similar in their responses, yet, in most analyses, their responses were significantly different than the speech and developmental therapists'. This trend mirrors the existing literature that more attention has been devoted to encouraging the incorporation of literacy into speech services than other therapy services. Implications for these different practices and attitudes across disciplines are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Psychometric approaches to the identification of LD: IQ and achievement scores are not sufficient

Simulated data were used to demonstrate that groups formed by imposing cut-points based on either discrepancy or low-achievement definitions of learning disabilities (LD) are unstable over time. Similar problems were demonstrated in longitudinal data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, where 39% of the children designated as having LD in Grade 3 changed group placement with repeated testing in Grade 5. These results show that the practice of subdividing a normal distribution with arbitrary cut-points leads to instability in group membership. Approaches to the identification of children as having LD based solely on individual test scores not linked to specific behavioral criteria lead to invalid decisions about individual children. Low-achievement definitions are not a viable alternative to IQ-discrepancy definitions in the absence of other criteria, such as the traditional exclusions and response to quality intervention. If we accept the premise of multiple classes of low achievers, then we must develop identification systems that are valid and abandon systems whose only merits are their historical precedence and convenience.     

Effect of a global alteration of running technique on kinematics and economy

In this study, we examined the consequences of a global alteration in running technique on running kinematics and running economy in triathletes. Sixteen sub-elite triathletes were pre and post tested for running economy and running kinematics at 215 and 250 m.min-1. The members of the treatment group (n=8) were exposed to 12 weeks of instruction in the "pose method" of running, while the members of the control group (n=8) maintained their usual running technique. After the treatment period, the experimental group demonstrated a significant decrease in mean stride length (from 137.25+/-7.63 cm to 129.19+/-7.43 cm; P<0.05), a post-treatment difference in vertical oscillation compared with the control group (6.92+/-1.00 vs. 8.44+/-1.00 cm; P<0.05) and a mean increase in submaximal absolute oxygen cost (from 3.28+/-0.36 l.min-1 to 3.53+/-0.43 l.min-1; P<0.01). The control group exhibited no significant changes in either running kinematics or oxygen cost. The global change in running mechanics associated with 12 weeks of instruction in the pose method resulted in a decrease in stride length, a reduced vertical oscillation in comparison with the control group and a decrease of running economy in triathletes.     

Developing principles of physical education teacher education practice through self-study

Background: The articulation of specific principles of teacher education practice allows teacher educators to make explicit the beliefs, values, and actions that shape their practice. Engaging in processes to articulate the principles that guide practice is beneficial not only for teacher educators and their colleagues but also for students. There are, however, few examples of principles that guide physical education teacher educators' practices. Self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP) methodology offers one way of examining and articulating principles of practice. In this study, I make connections across several S-STEP research projects I have conducted individually and with colleagues, and share the principles that guide my practice with the physical education teacher education (PETE) community.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to articulate my principles of practice using S-STEP. Specifically, I ask: (a) How can the articulation of my principles of practice reflect broad understandings of PETE? and (b) How can sharing principles of practice encourage debate and discussion amongst members of the PETE community? To what extent do the principles articulated have resonance for others?

Participants and data collection: Six published self-studies as well as the raw data from those studies provided the data for this research. The raw data used in those studies consisted of self-generated data and data generated by others. Self-generated data consisted of written reflective journal entries gathered over five years and recorded audio conversations with two critical friends. Data generated by others consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with two cohorts of pre-service teacher candidates: one consisting of 10 pre-service primary generalist teachers the other of 9 pre-service physical education specialists. Three interviews were conducted with each participant. Exit slips (informal evaluations) were also gathered from the specialist cohort.

Data analysis: First, elements of the previously conducted self-studies were synthesised to identify general themes and outcomes that represented principles of practice. Second, in several instances, the raw data were revisited to verify and contextualise quotes and excerpts, and consider the extent to which the data captured the principles that were being articulated.

Findings: Three central principles were identified that shape my understanding of a pedagogy of PETE: (a) building community is the foundation of practice, (b) not just modelling – explaining and reflecting upon modelling, and (c) identity matters. Identifying these principles has enabled me to better enact social constructivist approaches to learning, make explicit my personal and professional knowledge to myself, students, and colleagues; find meaning in my practice, and; begin sharing my partial understanding of practice with others in the teacher education community to generate debate and discussion.

Conclusions: Self-study encourages teacher educators to share their knowledge so that it may be discussed, challenged, and critiqued to further collective understandings of teacher education practice. In this spirit, these principles are not offered as an exhaustive list of all that guides PETE practice, but as suggestive of possibilities that might reflect shared understandings of teacher education and thus have the potential to influence policy.     

The teaching of geometry present problems and future aims

Summary Some general observations are made on present problems in the teaching of geometry at pre-college level, and some aims for the future are suggested. These remarks are inevitably made against a background of British experience. Aids for the teaching of geometry are discussed; and two lines of development, perspective drawing and nomograms, are described as a school introduction to geometrical ideas which are important at college.