The differential impact of academic self-regulatory methods on academic achievement among university students with and without learning disabilities

Although research on academic self-regulation has proliferated in recent years, no studies have investigated the question of whether the perceived usefulness and the use of standard self-regulated learning strategies and compensation strategies provide a differential prediction of academic achievement for university students with and without learning disabilities (LD). We developed and tested a model explaining interrelationships among self-regulatory variables and grade point average (GPA) using structural equation modeling and multiple group analysis for students with LD (n = 53) and without LD (n = 421). Data were gathered using a new instrument, the Learning Strategies and Study Skills survey. The results of this study indicate that students with LD differed significantly from students without LD in the relationships between their motivation for and use of standard self-regulated learning strategies and compensation strategies, which in turn provided a differential explanation of academic achievement for students with and without LD. These paths of influence and idiosyncrasies of academic self-regulation among students with LD were interpreted in terms of social cognitive theory, metacognitive theory, and research conducted in the LD field.     

The impact of a Framework‐aligned science professional development program on literacy and mathematics achievement of K‐3 students

This study investigates the effect of a Framework‐aligned professional development program at the PreK‐3 level. The NSF funded program integrated science with literacy and mathematics learning and provided teacher professional development, along with materials and programming for parents to encourage science investigations and discourse around science in the home. This quasi‐experimental study used a three‐level hierarchical linear model to compare the Renaissance STAR Early Literacy, Reading, and Mathematics scores from 2015 to 2016 of K‐3 students in treatment and control classrooms in a large Midwestern urban school district. The statistically significant results indicate that, on average, every year that a student has a program teacher adds 8.6 points to a student's spring STAR Early Literacy score, 17.0 points to a student's STAR Mathematics score, and 41.4 points to a student's STAR Reading score compared to control students. Implications for early elementary teacher education and policy are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1174–1196, 2017     

Child sexual and physical abuse among college students in Singapore and the United States

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore differences in rates and characteristics of child sexual and physical abuse experiences among women in Singapore and the US. METHOD: Participants (N=153) completed an anonymous questionnaire which assessed experiences of childhood sexual and physical abuse, abuse characteristics (e.g., victimization age, severity), and behavioral and subjective reactions to such experiences (e.g., labeling of experiences as abuse, psychological symptomatology). Exposure to other forms of traumatic life events was also assessed. RESULTS: In comparison to Singaporean women, US women were more likely to report a history of child sexual abuse, and to report experiencing more severe forms of sexual abuse. Women in Singapore were more likely than women in the US to report a history of child physical abuse, to report experiencing injury as a result of the abuse, and to disclose the abuse. Singaporean women with a history of child sexual abuse reported elevated psychological symptom levels relative to their nonabused peers and to US women with a history of child sexual abuse, even after controlling for exposure to other types of traumatic events. No significant differences in symptomatology with regard to child physical abuse were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Although preliminary in nature, the present findings are among the first to demonstrate differences in psychological adjustment between sexually abused and nonabused Asian women living in Asia. This study also provides some of the first support for cross-national differences in the psychological adjustment of child sexual abuse survivors.     

Teaching managing diversity via feminist theory

This paper explores a project to design and mount a unit on ‘managing diversity’. For its conceptual framework the unit draws on feminist theories of struggles for equity and social justice and the various policy approaches that workplace equality agents have correspondingly developed. Despite the emphasis on feminist theory, the paper makes no attempt to compare gender equity initiatives with strategies for managing diversity. Rather, some of the tensions are identified between the culturalist aims of the Managing Diversity movement and the redistributive goals that generated affirmative action and equal employment opportunities strategies; and it is suggested how an analysis of those tensions may promote increased student understanding of the topic. Secondly, it is assessed how a unit may juxtapose industrial relations and human resource management concepts to the benefit of curricula in both.In planning a new unit, moreover, it is not only the content which needs to be considered, but also the students' prior learning experience and the politics of persuading one's colleagues of the proposal's worth. Thus an account of these more pragmatic issues is integrated into the discussion.     

‘Capitalizing on sport’: sport,physical education and multiple capitals in Scottish independent schools

This paper draws on a research study into the existence and use of different forms of capital – including social, cultural and physical capital – in three independent schools in Scotland. We were interested in understanding how these forms of capital work to produce and reproduce advantage and privilege. Analysis is framed by a multiple capitals approach drawing on and developing the work of Putnam and especially Bourdieu. We suggest that sport plays a role with important effects for strong bonding and for the production of symbolic capital in the form of branding by each school.     

Extended analyses: Promoting mathematical inquiry with preservice mathematics teachers

This paper describes the implementation of extended analysis tasks (EATs) in a required mathematics course for prospective high school mathematics teachers, and investigates the mathematical discovery promoted through engagement with these tasks. Extended analysis tasks are designed to move students beyond the problem context to the underlying mathematical structure of the problem. The results of this study revealed that with careful implementation, these tasks were effective for generating powerful mathematical thinking in preservice mathematics teachers, improving their problem solving, and generally enhancing the habits-of-mind exhibited by successful mathematicians (Carlson & Bloom, 2005).     

Cocreation of Knowledge: Roles of Coresearchers in Research Teams

This paper provides insight into how school-based research teams and external researchers conceptualize and act in their roles as coresearchers. The observations and experiences of school-based and external research team members and lead researchers provided the data for this paper. All were Queensland-based educators involved in researching the effect of a three-year school revitalization process on improved school practice.