DATA‐DRIVEN DELIVERY OF IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORTS IN A MULTI‐TIERED FRAMEWORK: A PILOT STUDY

For multi‐tiered systems of support, such as Response‐to‐Intervention and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, to effectively impact student outcomes, interventions delivered across the tiers must be implemented as planned (i.e., with adequate treatment integrity). However, research suggests that most school personnel struggle to deliver interventions with treatment integrity, which negatively impacts the potential effectiveness of these interventions. Numerous strategies to support treatment integrity have been developed, but no guidance has been provided regarding how to efficiently and effectively use them. The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot evaluation of these strategies delivered through a Multi‐Tiered Implementation Supports framework; that is, proactive, feasible treatment integrity strategies were initially delivered to all implementers and based on their responsiveness, increasingly intensive implementation supports were provided as needed. Results suggest that (a) all teachers responded to these supports, but response magnitude was different across teachers and supports; (b) higher levels of treatment integrity generally were associated with fewer disruptive behaviors; and (c) the duration of these support strategies increased across tiers. Future directions for research and implications for the feasible provision of implementation support in schools are described.     

Educating Sentiment: Hume's Contribution to the Philosophy of the Curriculum Regarding the Teaching of Art

From the perspective of art education, the worst‐case philosophical scenario is the hedonist‐subjectivist account of art. If we measure art by the pleasure we gain from it, it may seem senseless to attempt teaching the reception of art. David Hume's ‘Of the Standard of Taste’ provides an argument for the art‐education enthusiast, explaining that—even on a subjectivist account—art education crystallises our own preferences. While I refer to a historical debate and provide a close reading of an 18^th‐century essay, my goal is to offer a philosophical solution to an ongoing dilemma; I use Hume's essay to ground the justification of art education.     

Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’

As well as maintaining the central role of literature, the new Australian Curriculum: English emphasises the multimodal nature of literacy and requires students in primary and secondary schools to develop explicit knowledge about visual and verbal grammar as a resource for text interpretation and text creation. This study investigated the use of visual grammatics in interpreting picture books by students across Years Four, Five, Seven and Ten following an intensive professional learning programme undertaken by their teachers. A proposed framework describes variation in students' interpretive stance from tactical to diegetic to semiotic. Levels of student semiotic understanding are differentiated and differences between students' oral and written interpretations are discussed in relation the need for explicit teaching of written interpretive responses to multimodal literary texts, drawing on an articulated visual and verbal grammatics appropriate to the teaching of English in primary and secondary schools.     

Globalization versus the Universal Role of the University

The history of the Salzburg Seminar is evoked, particularly its tradition of accommodating scholars from diverse backgrounds and of enabling them to interact fruitfully together. Next, the perceived disruptiveness of globalization is cited but with the suggestion that the universalism implied in it dovetails nicely with the traditional universalism of the university. In fact, the university is situated to contribute to the humanization of globalization while profiting greatly from its many positive aspects, particularly the major role to be played by the information technologies. The latter combined with skilled academic governance and the universal role of the university will give rise to a ''win‐win'' situation.     

Motivation for Educational Attainment in Grade 9 Predicts High School Completion

The Motivation for Educational Attainment (MEA) questionnaire, developed to assess facets related to early adolescents’ motivation to complete high school, has a bifactor structure with a large general factor and three smaller orthogonal specific factors (teacher expectations, peer aspirations, value of education). This prospective validity study investigated the utility of each factor in predicting high school dropout or completion of a general education development (GED) certificate versus completion of a high school degree. Participants were 474 (55.1% male) ethnically diverse students who were originally recruited into a larger longitudinal study in Grade 1 on the basis of academic risk. Fourteen years later, 373 had obtained a high school diploma, 15 had obtained a GED, and 86 had dropped out of high school. During their first year of Grade 9, participants were administered the MEA. Using multinomial logistic regression with high school graduation as the reference outcome and controlling for Grade 9 letter grades, reading and math test scores, gender, and ethnic/racial group status, scores on the latent general factor and the latent peer aspirations factor predicted high school dropout versus high school graduation status. Neither the general factor nor any of the three specific factors predicted GED completion versus high school graduation. Ethnicity, but not gender, moderated the associations between scores on the general factor and high school graduation versus dropout.     

Novel Approaches to Examine Passage,Student, and Question Effects on Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is influenced by sources of variance associated with the reader and the task. To gain insight into the complex interplay of multiple sources of influence, we employed crossed random‐effects item response models. These models allowed us to simultaneously examine the degree to which variables related to the type of passage and student characteristics influenced students’ (n = 94; mean age = 11.97 years) performance on two indicators of reading comprehension: different types of comprehension questions and passage fluency. We found that variables related to word recognition, language, and executive function were influential across various types of passages and comprehension questions and also predicted a reader's passage fluency. Further, an exploratory analysis of two‐way interaction effects was conducted. Results suggest that understanding the relative influence of passage, question, and student variables has implications for identifying struggling readers and designing interventions to address their individual needs.     

Rethinking Nature and Nurture in Education

This paper evaluates how our understanding of natural talent affects questions of educational justice. We argue that education debates currently suffer from a naïve understanding of ‘nature versus nurture’ and present a more rigorous approach that allows us to see what is required for fair treatment of students. As it stands, there is controversy over the extent to which a student's achievements are a result of their natural talent, as opposed to the quality of their education. For those on the nature side of the debate, students who are performing poorly just are not cut out for academic life, and redoubling efforts at furthering their education is both a waste of resources for society and pointless torture for the student. For those on the nurture side, failing students are a sign of a failing education system. To make progress on educational justice, we must move away from attempts to simply assign proportional influence to natural talent and education, respectively, and instead look at the broader landscape of individual reactions to a range of educational environments.