An unexpected relationship between failure and subsequent mathematics learning

135 high schoolSs were presented with one of three treatment programs: rule (R); rule, then discovery (RD); and discovery, then rule (DR). AllSs were tested on the training rules and on three transfer problems. No significant differences were found on the transfer problems, but the R and RDSs learned the training rules better than the DRSs (p<0.01). It was proposed that failure on the discovery task may have had an inhibiting effect on subsequent learning on the R program.The authors wish to thank the students who participated in the experiment, the members of a teachers' research seminar supported by a government grant to the Montgomery County Instructional Center, and particularly to Mr. Philip Beck and Mr. Philip O'Neil without whose help and cooperation the study could not have been conducted.     

Every child matters: Can educational psychology contribute to radical reform?

This is a time of radical change for all services working with children in the UK. For educational psychologists recent publications outlining government strategy have created an urgent need to consider future directions that go well beyond those discussed in the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE, 2000 Department for Education and Employment (DfEE). (2000) Educational psychology services (England): Current role, good practice and future directions London The Stationary Office  [Google Scholar]) report on educational psychology services. In this paper we suggest that decisions about strategic direction and developments in practice should be based on a shared set of values focused clearly on the rights of children and young people. In particular, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989 United Nations (1989) Convention on the rights of the child Retrieved 16th November 2003 from www.unhchr.ch./html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm.  [Google Scholar]) could provide the framework for a compact between the profession and children. This will require an evaluative focus within educational contexts that goes beyond school satisfaction surveys. Both schools and support professionals will need to demonstrate the achievement of improved outcomes for pupils. Difficult questions about the value added by educational psychologist involvement can no longer be evaded.     

Rural young people’s work/study priorities and aspirations: The influence of family social capital

The transition from school to secure work has become more difficult as young people bear the brunt of the restructuring of the Australian labour market. Young people raised in a rural community are over-represented in the most disadvantaged labour market group- those who have not participated in post-school training and who have experienced long periods of unemployment. Rural labour markets feature lower paid, less secure jobs than their urban counterparts. Education is a proven way of accessing the ‘better’ jobs offered by national labour markets. Why then do young people from disadvantaged rural areas not take up education and training opportunities to the same extent as their urban counterparts? The research discussed in this paper investigated ways in which family and school/community social capital influence young people’s work/study values and priorities with regard to post-school pathways. Family networks and information that are limited and concentrated in rural areas tend to be associated with a desire to find a job before completing school, preferably located near to home. Incomplete understanding and lack of trust of educational institutions and labour markets in urban centres based on local experience may be transmitted through advice of family and friends and influence young people toward current work rather than the longer term goal of post-compulsory education. The implications for regional and national programs of educational and community development are discussed.     

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     

Including young people with disabilities: Assessment challenges in higher education

Within a European context, facilitating the increased participation of marginalized groups within society has become a cornerstone of social policy. In higher education in Ireland this has generally involved the targeting for support of individuals representing groups traditionally excluded on the grounds of socio-economic status. More recently, people with disability have been included in this consideration. This approach has tended to focus on physical access issues and some technical supports. However, access is multi-faceted and must include a review of pedagogic practices, assistive provision (technological and personal), student’s engagement with their workload (e.g. recording) and evaluation procedures: achieving accreditation levels commensurate with ability. This small-scale Irish study examined the experiences of two groups of young people with physical disabilities and with dyslexia in two higher education institutions. It was apparent that for students with physical disabilities and with dyslexia, assessment practices were fraught with additional limitations. Assessment practices were mediated for these students through the physical environment, the backwash effect of assessment on curriculum, the availability and use of assistive technology, and through the attitudes of staff and students. It can be concluded that access issues within higher education have been inadequately conceptualized and as a result failed to address fundamental issues around assessment for students with physical disabilities and with dyslexia.     

Testing a Model of Program Curriculum Leadership

This study tests the curriculum leadership framework that Stark and Lattuca adapted from Quinn's model of management styles. Chairpersons of departments nominated as effective in curriculum planning answered a survey about their leadership activities and styles. Factor analysis partially supported the model. Activities that chairs reported did not correspond well, however, with leadership styles they chose as most effective.     

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.     

Faculty reflect on course planning

Faculty members' beliefs about educational purpose and the nature of their academic fields strongly influence how they plan introductory courses. Interviews with 89 faculty members teaching in diverse colleges and representing eight fields also identified faculty attention to student preparation, available textbooks, and locally important factors, but little attention to alternative instructional strategies during course planning. Based on the findings, the authors have developed a tentative general model of course design and related questions to guide future study.     

Testing to Destruction: A problem in a small state

This paper presents a review of assessment procedures in the small state of Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China under the 'one country two systems' policy. The situation of Macau is used as a critical case study of some questionable educational practices that can occur when testing runs without restraint. The paper presents quantitative and qualitative data from two empirical studies to argue that testing--largely, in this case, the testing of students' ability to repeat book knowledge and facts--if left unchecked, becomes part of a dependency culture, a hermetically sealed system in which curricula and testing mutually reinforce each other in producing a low-level, facts-driven curriculum, dangerously didactic pedagogy, rote learning, poor student motivation, and a powerful controlling mechanism on teachers and students. What is disturbing is that this is the very system which many participants in education in Macau seem to want.     

Guise and Guile: Children's Understanding of Narratives in Which the Purpose of Pretense Is Deception

This study examined children's understanding of pretense and deception in folktales in which a villam deceives his victim by pretending to be someone else. In Experiment 1, the 3-year-olds distinguished the real from the pretend persona, but neither understood the victim's false belief nor predicted that the villain would perpetrate the unwelcome act. In Experiment 2, revealing the villainous action facilitated 3-year-olds' predictions of this action during a retelling of the stories, but did not improve subjects' understanding of the victim's false belief. In Experiment 3, although the tasks were further refined to reduce the possibility of misinterpretation, 3-year-olds again did not follow the deception. The results are discussed in relation to 3-year-olds' difficulties with deceptive appearances and their understanding of acting-as-if in pretense.