From in-service teacher development to school improvement: factors of learning transfer in teacher education

In-service teacher development programs are perceived as a common way to foster school improvement. Nevertheless, program evaluation to date ends with the assessment of acquired knowledge, skills, and motivation, frequently disregarding the actual learning transfer and its conditions. This study aimed to investigate how individual and situational factors interact and contribute to learning transfer in an in-service teacher development program. We tested a transfer model derived from human resources development research. One hundred and twenty-nine teachers aged 25–62 years (87% female), participating in an in-service development program, were surveyed three times during the program. Results of path analyses suggest that not only especially individual factors are critical for learning transfer in the context of school improvement, but also that program and environmental factors have important effects. They moderated the effects of the individual factors.     

Scaling and Sustaining Effective Early Childhood Programs Through School–Family–University Collaboration

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child–Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages 3 to 9. By increasing the dosage, coordination, and comprehensiveness of services, the program is expected to enhance the transition to school and promote more enduring effects on well‐being in multiple domains. We review and evaluate evidence from two longitudinal studies (Midwest CPC, 2012 to present; Chicago Longitudinal Study, 1983 to present) and four implementation examples of how the guiding principles of shared ownership, committed resources, and progress monitoring for improvement can promote effectiveness. The implementation system of partners and further expansion using “Pay for Success” financing shows the feasibility of scaling the program while continuing to improve effectiveness.     

Parental assessment of peer play: Development and validation of the parent version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the construct validity of the parent version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) and to compare it with the teacher version. PIPPS were collected on 297 urban Head Start children. The Parent PIPPS replicated the three-factor solution found with the teacher version, supporting the following constructs of peer play: Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection. Factor matching and canonical correlational analyses examining the relationship between the parent and teacher versions of the PIPPS revealed significant one-to-one matches between hypothesized like factors. Additionally, analyses of overlapping variance between versions indicated a significant degree of overlap. Implications of the findings for involvement of parents in the assessment process and research on the continuity and discontinuity between home and school environments for low-income, urban children were discussed.     

Organisational knowledge creation strategies: A conceptual framework

The main purposes of this article are to identify the dimensions of organisational knowledge creation strategies (EICE model: exploration, institutional entrepreneurship, combination, exploitation) and to clarify the relationship between the organisational knowledge creation strategies and its knowledge asset. For these purposes, guided by knowledge-based view and knowledge creation theory, we propose an EICE model and explore its effect on the knowledge asset. We further suggest the managerial implications and theoretical implications. The main managerial implication is that the knowledge creation strategies model may help manager to make effective strategies for knowledge creation within the organisation. The main contributions to organisation theory are extending Nonaka's knowledge creation theory to form a new strategic model for knowledge creation.     

Spoken language development in oral preschool children with permanent childhood deafness

This article documented spoken language outcomes for preschool children with hearing loss and examined the relationships between language abilities and characteristics of children such as degree of hearing loss, cognitive abilities, age at entry to early intervention, and parent involvement in children's intervention programs. Participants were evaluated using a combination of the Child Development Inventory, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Preschool Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals depending on their age at the time of assessment. Maternal education, cognitive ability, and family involvement were also measured. Over half of the children who participated in this study had poor language outcomes overall. No significant differences were found in language outcomes on any of the measures for children who were diagnosed early and those diagnosed later. Multiple regression analyses showed that family participation, degree of hearing loss, and cognitive ability significantly predicted language outcomes and together accounted for almost 60% of the variance in scores. This article highlights the importance of family participation in intervention programs to enable children to achieve optimal language outcomes. Further work may clarify the effects of early diagnosis on language outcomes for preschool children.     

Inquiry and Astronomy: Preservice Teachers’ Investigations of Celestial Motion

This study investigated the impact of an open inquiry experience on elementary science methods students’ understanding of celestial motion as well as the methods developed by students to answer their own research questions. Pre/post interviews and assessments were used to measure change in participants’ understanding (N = 18). A qualitative approach was used to describe the nature of each participant’s investigation through an analysis of their science journal and poster presentations. A comparison of participants’ inquiry projects with the change in their understanding revealed that while most participants improved in both their area of inquiry and beyond, elementary science methods students may need more guidance to reach a full scientific understanding across all aspects of celestial motion.