Transnational Mothers and School Related Decisions

The Urban Review - This article addresses the question of how transnational Mexican mothers negotiate and participate in the educational trajectories of children in the United States and in Mexico....     

Developing Understanding of the Nature of Science Within a Professional Development Program for Inservice Elementary Teachers: Project Nature of Elementary Science Teaching

Establishing literacy in science is often linked to building knowledge about the Nature of Science (NOS). This paper describes and evaluates an inservice program designed to build elementary teachers’ understanding of NOS and an awareness of how NOS impacts science classroom instruction. Data sources consisted of surveys, action research plan documentation and classroom observations. Program participants tended to demonstrate some gains in understanding more about NOS and they linked positive experiences in the program to the explicit and activity-based NOS instruction provided. Yet, participation in the professional development project might not have been equally beneficial for all teachers. The understanding of NOS may have been restricted to certain NOS aspects, and the demonstration of the participants’ understanding of NOS may have been short-lived with a somewhat limited impact on sustainable, long-term NOS-based classroom instruction. Implications for designing NOS related professional development programs and suggestions for improvements to further develop teacher understanding of NOS are discussed.     

The Cognitive and Behavioral Characteristics of Children With Low Working Memory

This study explored the cognitive and behavioral profiles of children with working memory impairments. In an initial screening of 3,189 five- to eleven-year-olds, 308 were identified as having very low working memory scores. Cognitive skills (IQ, vocabulary, reading, and math), classroom behavior, and self-esteem were assessed. The majority of the children struggled in the learning measures and verbal ability. They also obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems/inattentive symptoms and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These data provide rich new information on the cognitive and behavioral profiles that characterize children with low working memory.     

A qualitative study of student responses to body painting

One hundred and thirty‐three preclinical medical students participated in 24 focus groups over the period 2007–2009 at Durham University. Focus groups were conducted to ascertain whether or not medical students found body painting anatomical structures to be an educationally beneficial learning activity. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Five principal themes emerged: (1) body painting as a fun learning activity, (2) body painting promoting retention of knowledge, (3) factors contributing to the memorability of body painting, (4) removal from comfort zone, and (5) the impact of body painting on students' future clinical practice. Students perceive body painting to be a fun learning activity, which aids their retention of the anatomical knowledge acquired during the session. Sensory factors, such as visual stimuli, especially color, and the tactile nature of the activity, promote recall. Students' preference for painting a peer or being painted is often dependent upon their learning style, but there are educational benefits for both roles. The moderate amounts of undressing involved encouraging students to consider issues surrounding body image; this informs their attitudes towards future patients. Body painting is a useful adjunct to traditional anatomy and clinical skills teaching. The fun element involved in the delivery of this teaching defuses the often formal academic context, which in turn promotes a positive learning environment. Anat Sci Educ 3:33–38, 2010. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

The demand for fee-paying secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland

Ireland’s fee-paying schools consistently rank highly in Ireland’s secondary school league tables. Evidence also notes that the alumni of fee-paying schools represent a large proportion of those in leadership positions in business, politics and the legal professions. This paper examines the factors that affect the decision of Irish households to enrol their children in fee-paying secondary schools in Ireland. The paper uses Irish Household Budget Survey data that cover three waves from the period 2004–2016. We examine the head of household’s education, occupation, income, marital status, the location of the household and temporal factors on the school choice decision. The main results indicate that fee-paying students are more likely to come from higher income, better educated and Dublin located households. This research highlights the significant driver that affluence may have in determining secondary school enrolment in Ireland. This self-selected affluent group effect may explain the performance disparities between fee-paying and non-fee-paying schools. The results enlighten any discussion around whether or not the Government should consider a transition to a fee-paying market or eliminate fee-paying schools altogether.     

From the editor's desk

The scarcity of racially and culturally diverse teachers remains a major issue in education nationally, particularly given projections which indicate that the representation of minority teachers is declining while the number of minority students is increasing¹. The number of minority teachers in gifted programs, however, has received little attention in the literature. Accordingly, this article provides data on the under‐representation of Black and other minority teachers in education, explores personal and professional barriers to their representation, and provides recommendations for the recruitment and retention of minority teachers in gifted education. Owing to the limited information available on minority teachers in gifted education, the authors reason by analogy in order to draw implications from the general education literature and apply them to gifted education. Similarly, since the majority of research and writing have focused on Black teachers, we use Black teachers more often as a case in point, and draw implications for other teachers of color.     

Looking Back on Lessons Learned: Gifted Adults Reflect on Their Experiences in Advanced Classes

The purpose of this study was to learn about gifted adults' experiences in advanced classes and attitudes about advanced classes or gifted programs for their children. Participants were 88 adults (33 men and 55 women) who have been participating in a longitudinal study of academically talented individuals since their high-school graduation in 1988. Participants responded to open-ended questions via mailed surveys. Eighty-five percent of participants described their academic experiences in advanced classes as positive, whereas slightly fewer participants (59%) described their interpersonal experiences in advanced classes as positive. Seventy-five percent of participants with children described signs of giftedness in their children, and 88% of participants indicated that they would support advanced placement for their children if it were recommended by the school. Implications of the findings were discussed and directions for future research were provided.