Pedagogy or politics?: cyclical trends in literacy and numeracy in Ireland and beyond

In 1999, the primary curriculum was published in Ireland, with emphases on ‘breadth and balance’, recognition of the role of language and the arts and commitment to each child's potential and holistic development. In 2011, the Irish government published a strategy aimed to improve standards of literacy and numeracy among children and young people in Ireland, ‘Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011–2020’. The approaches to address concerns over literacy and numeracy in Irish schools, taken by the Strategy, require deconstruction, and in this paper, we argue that the focus on literacy and numeracy to the exclusion of other educational objectives in Ireland at present threatens the holistic ethos of the curriculum. We challenge those involved in education in Ireland to ensure that pedagogical rather than political concerns motivate our strategies and policies.     

A survey of K-12 teachers’ utilization of social networks as a professional resource

Teachers are increasingly using social networks, including social media and other Internet applications, to look for educational resources. This study shares results from a survey examining patterns of social network application use among K-12 teachers in the United States. A sample of 154 teachers (18 males, 136 females) in the United States answered questions about their use of social network applications, their comfort with Web 2.0, and their use of empirically-based resources from social networks. Results provide a user update on factors that predict overall engagement with social networks, which included comfort and trust in using social networks, as well as higher age. We also explored the most popular applications used by teachers and the most popular reasons for their use. Finally, we implemented a new survey methodology to gauge responses about empirically-based posts on social networks and discuss results in the context of balancing free resources with high-quality pedagogical information.     

Strategy instruction in writing for adult literacy learners

This study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction in writing with adult literacy learners. Three middle-aged African-American adults participating in adult education with the goal of passing the GED received tutoring in a strategy for planning, writing, and revising persuasive essays along with self-regulation strategies. The study used a multiple-baseline design across participants with multiple probes. All the adults made consistent gains from baseline to posttest in the quality and organization of their essays. Mean gains in overall quality from baseline to posttest for the three students were 2.7, 1.9, and 1.7 on a 7-point scale. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) was 100% for text structure organization and 89% for quality. The results demonstrate that strategy instruction, which has had positive effects with school-age students, has potential for adult literacy learners as well.     

Whose feedback? A multilevel analysis of student completion of end-of-term teaching evaluations

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is now common practice across higher education, with the results used for both course improvement and quality assurance purposes. While much research has examined the validity of SETs for measuring teaching quality, few studies have investigated the factors that influence student participation in the SET process. This study aimed to address this deficit through the analysis of an SET respondent pool at a large Canadian research-intensive university. The findings were largely consistent with available research (showing influence of student gender, age, specialisation area and final grade on SET completion). However, the study also identified additional influential course-specific factors such as term of study, course year level and course type as statistically significant. Collectively, such findings point to substantively significant patterns of bias in the characteristics of the respondent pool. Further research is needed to specify and quantify the impact (if any) on SET scores. We conclude, however, by recommending that such bias does not invalidate SET implementation, but instead should be embraced and reported within standard institutional practice, allowing better understanding of feedback received, and driving future efforts at recruiting student respondents.     

Investigation of guided school tours,student learning,and science reform recommendations at a museum of natural history

A study of docent‐led guided school tours at a museum of natural history was investigated. Researchers engaged in naturalistic inquiry to describe how natural history content was conveyed to students and what students gained from this model of touring. They also investigated how the content and pedagogy within the guided tour complemented recommendations from formal science standards documents and informal learning literature. About 30 visiting school groups in Grades 2–8 were observed. Teachers (n = 30) and select students (n = 85) were interviewed. Researchers found that tours were organized in a didactic way that conflicted with science education reform documents and research related to learning within informal contexts. Students' responses to interview questions indicated high satisfaction with the tours but low levels of science learning. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 200–218, 2003     

Teaching Students with Moderate Intellectual Disability Who Are Emergent Readers to Comprehend Passages of Text

A modified system of least intrusive prompting was used to teach middle school students with moderate intellectual disability who were emergent readers to comprehend short passages of text. Text passages were summaries of the chapters of age-appropriate novels rewritten for a beginning reading level. Time delay was used to teach the participants to pair WH words to their definition. A modified system of least intrusive prompting was used to teach strategies for answering comprehension questions. All participants improved the number of correct responses for both rules definitions and comprehension responses from baseline to intervention. Additionally, probes collected during the session prior to the introduction of a new book indicated comprehension skills generalized to new untaught books.     

Break for Physical Activity: Incorporating Classroom-Based Physical Activity Breaks into Preschools

Engaging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is essential to lifelong health and wellness. Physical activity behaviors established in early childhood relate to physical activity behaviors in later years. However, research has shown that children are adopting more sedentary behaviors. Incorporating structured and planned physical activity breaks into classroom transition times is an inexpensive and effective technique to increase children’s physical activity during school hours. However, this approach has not been studied in preschool settings. The purpose of this paper is to provide a simple, cost-effective method that incorporates structured physical activity into the preschool curriculum through classroom based physical activity breaks. Results of a case study along with an overview of the implementation of physical activity breaks are discussed.     

What’s in a right? Two variations for interpreting the right to education

The end of the Cold War ushered in a paradigmatic shift in international development discourse whereby a human rights-based approach to development was generated. This shift has stimulated the pegging of international development policy to the objectives of the human rights regime. However, in attempting to unify development and human rights perspectives, policy-makers have overlooked an imperative component of these realities, namely that proponents of the human rights agenda and social developmentalists differ in their conceptions of “education”. Thus, while both perspectives seek universal primary education (UPE), their ideas about what that education should consist of vary. This paper does not argue for the use of one definition, nor does it conclude that the two are incompatible. Rather, the author contends that it is paramount that these two definitions are recognised for their unique approaches to education, in order for policies to be most effective. The value in the human rights-based approach to development is its ability to utilise both human rights and development perspectives to create a more comprehensive approach to poverty reduction and economic growth. By incorporating both definitions of “education” into policy agendas, both the process and product of education will be emphasised, in turn improving the effectiveness and outcome of all efforts to achieve UPE.     

The Transition to Kindergarten: Predicting Socio-Behavioral Outcomes for Children With and Without Disabilities

The transition to kindergarten is regarded as a critical early childhood developmental milestone with important implications for later school outcomes. Little prior research has focused on predictors of socio-behavioral kindergarten outcomes using longitudinal research designs. Further, few studies have examined kindergarten transition using samples of children both with and without disabilities. The goal of the current study was to explore predictors of socio-behavioral kindergarten outcomes in children with and without developmental disabilities over time. Data collection involved parent, preschool teacher, and kindergarten teacher reports of child behavior and involvement in kindergarten transition practices across three time points during transition. Results of hierarchical linear regression analyses demonstrated that preschool child behavioral variables (i.e., adaptive and problem behavior) were stronger predictors of kindergarten outcomes relative to caregiver concerns and involvement in transition preparation. Best practices in kindergarten transition programming for children with and without disabilities are discussed.