Increasing the quality of educational intervention research

Reasons for concern about the quality of quantitative, experimental research in education are reviewed. These include internal and external validity errors, questionable design and analyses practices, and incomplete or misleading discussions of findings. More positively, the concerns can be addressed by individual investigators, and the larger profession could improve the quality of educational intervention research through shifts in publication practices.     

Competencies for distance education professionals

The purpose of this study was to identify the roles and competencies of distance education professionals within the United States and Canada. A population of 103 distance education experts was identified, and their perceptions regarding this information were sought in a modified two-round Delphi process. The results of the study include a competency model for distance education. It illustrates the final top ten competencies and eleven roles which were identified by the study. In addition, a supplemental table outlining outputs and competencies by individual role was developed. The top ten competencies portray the dual importance of both communication and technical skills in distance education. These ten competencies are: (1) Interpersonal Communication, (2) Planning Skills, (3) Collaboration/Teamwork Skills, (4) English Proficiency, (5) Writing Skills, (6) Organizational Skills, (7) Feedback Skills, (8) Knowledge of Distance Education Field, (9) Basic Technology Knowledge, and (10) Technology Access Knowledge. The resulting competency model will be useful in serving as a research foundation for development training and certification programs for distance education professionals. She is also Editor of the International Review section of this journal.     

Measurement and modelling: sequential use of analytical techniques in a study of risk-taking in decision-making by school principals

This paper investigates reasoned risk-taking in decision-making by school principals using a methodology that combines sequential use of psychometric and traditional measurement techniques. Risk-taking is defined as when decisions are made that are not compliant with the regulatory framework, the primary governance mechanism for public schools in Western Australia. This creates a dilemma for principals who need to be able to respond to the locally identified needs within a school, and simultaneously comply with all State and Commonwealth departmental requirements. A theoretical model was developed and data collected through the survey of a stratified random sample of principals in 253 Western Australian government schools. Rasch measurement was used to create a measurement scale. The hypotheses were tested used partial least squares structural equation modelling. This analysis provides evidence of the effect of governance structures, characteristics of schools and principals that influence decision-making in schools.     

Student access of online feedback is modified by the availability of assessment marks,gender and academic performance

We used educational data mining to quantify student access of online feedback files and explore the underlying drivers of feedback file access in a learning management system (LMS). We collated LMS access logs for 32 individual pieces of assessment representing 1462 feedback files for 484 students (males = 45%, females = 55%) that originated across three undergraduate years, from 20 different degree pathways. Over a third of assessment feedback files (38%, 553 files) were never accessed by students. When students could obtain their assessment mark without opening the associated feedback file, 42% of feedback files were not accessed by students (513 of 1224 files). When assessment marks were integrated into the feedback file (and not reported within the LMS), the proportion of unopened feedback dropped significantly to only 17% of files (40 of 238 files). We uncovered strong gender-specific differences in how students accessed feedback within the LMS that were dependent upon academic performance and the integration of marks within the feedback file. Poorly performing males were less likely to access feedback; however, integrating marks into the feedback files meant that males were over 27 times more likely to access the feedback file. In contrast, females exhibited a much weaker and more variable response to marks being reported within feedback files. Assessments with deadlines earlier in the semester were also viewed more often than those later in the semester.     

Two-Year Impact of a Mindfulness-Based Program on Preschoolers’ Self-Regulation and Academic Performance

Research Findings: Students experienced a mindfulness program designed to enhance their self-regulation in prekindergarten and kindergarten. At the end of the 1st year of the program, these students showed improvements in teacher-reported executive function skills, specifically related to working memory and planning and organizing, whereas students in a business as usual control group showed a decline in these areas. No difference between the groups’ receptive vocabulary was found in prekindergarten. At the end of kindergarten, the mindfulness group had higher vocabulary and reading scores than the business as usual group. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that mindfulness practices may be a promising technique that teachers can use in early childhood settings to enhance preschoolers’ executive functioning, with academic benefits emerging in the kindergarten year.     

春之梦幻

When Hank took Robin into his arms for the Texas two-step, a thrill ran through her. As a well-known country tune played and she let him lead her, she knew she was terribly attracted to the rugged man with thick black hair and kind blue eyes. But that didn't mat-     

Before Student Teaching: How Undergraduate Students in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs Describe Their Early Classroom-Based Experience

Classroom-based experiences, alternatively known as practica, are an integral component of undergraduate teacher preparation programs, which provide students essential opportunities to apply knowledge in practice. Though much is known about student teaching, much less is known about students’ earlier classroom-based experiences. This qualitative study explores how early childhood care and education students describe their early classroom-based experience. Thirty-four students enrolled in a teacher preparation program participated in interviews, submitted journals, and responded to survey questions about their early classroom-based experience. Results are presented in terms of how students talk about their experiences—belonging or not belonging in the classroom—and what students talk about when discussing their experiences, including communication, support, freedom, new learning, and “the children.” These themes are discussed in terms of students’ experiences in the classroom and implications for undergraduate teacher preparation in early childhood education.     

Exposing ideology within university policies: a critical discourse analysis of faculty hiring,promotion and remuneration practices

Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), this paper exposes the neoliberal ideology of the knowledge-based economy embedded within university policies, specifically those that regulate faculty hiring, promotion, and remuneration in two national contexts: Turkey and Mexico. The paper follows four stages of CDA: (1) focus upon a social wrong in its language aspect; (2) identify obstacles to addressing the social wrong; (3) consider whether the social order in a sense ‘needs’ the social wrong; and (4) identify possible ways past the obstacles. The analysis demonstrates that the global, marketized climate of higher education has impacted Turkish and Mexican universities to such a degree that they have become increasingly corporate in their practices of management. The resulting effect is the creation of a performance culture that robs faculty of their professionalism. This paper uncovers this disadvantaged positioning of faculty and posits modest proposals for change.     

Peer coach during field experiences: cultivating teacher candidates’ peer feedback and reflective practices

ABSTRACT

Designing field embedded experiences for teacher candidates poses a unique challenge for large teacher education programs. Field experiences must include working with students, enhanced pedagogical coaching, and interaction within a professional community. Coursework coupled with field work should engage teacher candidates in a process of planning, implementing, analyzing and reflecting, and then modifying future teaching as evidence of reflective practice. Skilled coaching by the university based teacher educator or classroom mentor is one avenue for teaching novice educators how to analyze their classroom experiences. However, in large teacher education programs the ratio of candidates to UBTEs can make adequate coaching impossible. Thus, peer coaching can provide a feasible option for UBTE coaching. The purpose of this article is to describe the peer coaching experiences of teacher candidates and their university based teacher educators during junior level clinical block courses focused on developmentally appropriate practices for students in grades 1-3. Presented are a discussion of reflective practice, a rationale for peer coaching, and the application of peer coaching within three early childhood and elementary courses. Recommendations and challenges of peer coaching in a clinical pre-service teacher education program and implications for further studies are explored in the closing.     

How Diversity Approaches Affect Ethnic Minority and Majority Adolescents: Teacher–Student Relationship Trajectories and School Outcomes

This study aimed to relate school diversity approaches to continuity and change in teacher–student relationships, comparing Belgian-majority (N = 1,875, M_age = 14.56) and Turkish and Moroccan-minority adolescents (N = 1,445, M_age = 15.07). Latent-Growth-Mixture-Models of student-reported teacher support and rejection over 3 years revealed three trajectories per group: normative-positive (high support, low rejection) and decreasing-negative (moderate support, high-decreasing rejection) for both groups, increasing-negative (moderate support, low-increasing rejection) for minority, moderate-positive (moderate support, low rejection) for majority youth. Trajectories differed between age groups. Student and teacher perceptions of equality and multiculturalism afforded, and assimilationism threatened, normative-positive trajectories for minority youth. Diversity approaches had less impact on majority trajectories. Normative-positive trajectories were related to improved school outcomes; they were less likely, but more beneficial for minority than majority youth.