Issues relating to curriculum,policy and gender raised by national and international surveys of achievement in mathematics

Scottish schools have provided performance data for five international surveys of attainment in mathematics since 1990. Performance measured against national targets and progression over time and between age‐stages have been monitored nationally, on a regular basis, for 20 years, within the Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) (Scotland). The 1994 AAP mathematics survey findings facilitated interpretation of the age 9 and 13 TIMSS results for Scotland. Both studies were influential in formulation of national policies to improve learning and teaching of mathematics, at ages 5–14. Research available to support policies recommended in 1997 is examined. Concerns about validity and reliability of findings from international studies are discussed in the context of a collaboration undertaken between Scotland and France in 1994. It is concluded that simplistic comparisons ignore important cultural and curricular differences. Outcomes of more recent national and international surveys are reported and performance findings from 1988–2000 that relate to gender are reviewed.     

Prenatal parenthood

In this article, we discuss the intuitive knowledge mothers have of their unborn baby. We propose a shift in focus from caregivers' merely providing information to first listening to pregnant mothers as they share their intuitive knowledge of their baby. This approach enables mothers and fathers or partners to know they are already parents to their unborn baby and empowers them to get in touch with their baby's presence and who he or she is during pregnancy. This intuitive knowledge may be a protective behavior that will enable mothers to keep babies safe during pregnancy.     

A Qualitative Examination of the Challenges, Resources, and Strategies for Serving Children Learning English in Head Start

The dramatic growth in the number of children learning English as a second language in our country has led to a corresponding increase in the need to understand how teachers and schools can effectively teach children who are learning English as a second language. Many teachers report not feeling prepared to meet the needs of these children (National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher preparation and professional development: 2000. , 2002). The current study used focus group interviews to examine how Head Start teachers in one program addressed the special learning needs of children learning English in their classrooms. Key challenges involved communicating with children and their families in their home language. Teachers used other staff, parents, and children in the classroom to interpret. Strategies involved visual aids, pictures, gestures, and a welcoming classroom environment. Resources used by teachers were professional development and language skills of other staff. However, available resources were often underutilized and limited for teachers to use in meeting the challenges the teachers faced in the classroom. Suggestions are presented for overcoming the challenges and limited resources encountered by teachers, such as changes in preservice and inservice training opportunities, and second language learning opportunities for teachers. Further implications for training and research are discussed.     

Video diaries: a tool to investigate sustainability-related learning in threshold spaces

This paper takes as a case study an undergraduate field class from a UK university to rural Uganda. It describes and evaluates the use of video diaries as a tool for investigating the process of transformative learning in the context of education for sustainability. The applicability of threshold concept theory to this learning is investigated. Results show the video diary technique to be much more successful in capturing the development of student learning than written diaries. Despite some practical difficulties, rich data were generated. Analysis demonstrated that learning met three of the five criteria for threshold concepts: the learning was transformative, integrative and troublesome. Further research could test whether the learning in this case study met the threshold concept criterion of irreversibility. Further elaboration of the theoretical relationship between threshold concepts, transformative learning and education for sustainability is also needed. It is concluded that the video diary method is potentially transferable to other educational research contexts and may be particularly suitable for researching learning in threshold spaces.     

Skills for Independence for Children with Cerebral Palsy: a comparative longitudinal study

Thirty‐six children with cerebral palsy, aged 3.5 to 4.5 years were compared on their skills for independence. Of the 36 boys and girls, 19 children were enrolled in a Conductive Education Program in Birmingham and 17 were enrolled in British special education programs in the Greater Manchester area. Skills for independence were measured with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales via teachers’ responses, once a year on three occasions. Parents were interviewed using the Developmental Profile 2, once a year on three occasions. The results of two‐way ANOVA with one repeated measure on both teachers’ and parents’ responses indicate that there was no significant difference between the two groups in their skills for independence. However, both groups performed significantly better as they were getting older. Despite the strong emphasis on independence in Conductive Education, the children's level of independence was no different from their counterparts. Thus, the claim for the effectiveness of Conductive Education is not supported by the study.     

Higher education's new playbook: Learning Reconsidered

The rules that dictate educational practice on most campuses were written prior to the invention of movable type and long before scientists fully understood learning as an integrated and context‐specific process. Jane Fried summarizes two documents that may well replace the tired old playbooks of yore.