Using Learning Stories to Capture “Gifted” and “Hard Worker” Mindsets within a NYC Specialized High School for the Sciences

All science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators working in urban public school systems are expected to provide opportunities for students to develop foundational scientific literacy skills in mathematics and science learning. However, the demands on STEM educators teaching the “gifted” or “high-performing” students attending STEM-focused schools are much higher. Educators are expected to motivate, nurture, and propel the intrinsic or earned abilities these students possess. This article shares teaching- and learning-informed stories of a STEM educator (the author) and her students attending New York City Specialized High School for the Sciences. The goal is to document the complexities surrounding the notion of a gifted mindset: first from the author's own experiences as a female scientist and person of color and second from the narratives of the students. Teaching and learning within a prestigious public school for the sciences comes with many narratives of challenge and triumph. The learning stories of empowered students reveal that they desire opportunities in the STEM classroom for meaningful learning. Students who want to take ownership in their learning will find a way to appropriate meaningful learning, even in restrictive classrooms. Learning stories, as a theoretical framework and narrative assessment tool, are particularly useful in contextualizing the multi-dimensional aspects of being a STEM professional in education.     

Identifying High-Quality Preschool Programs: New Evidence on the Validity of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) in Relation to School Readiness Goals

Research Findings: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS-R) is widely used, often to evaluate whether preschool programs are of sufficient quality to improve children’s school readiness. We examined the validity of the measure for this purpose. Item response theory (IRT) analyses revealed that many items did not fit together to measure single dimensions, particularly when rated by consultants as indicating aspects of quality relevant for multiple domains of child development. IRT results also conflicted with the scale developers’ expectations in terms of whether markers that they attached to higher response categories represented higher quality empirically. When reanalyzed based on experts’ ratings, IRT results also showed that relatively few indicators captured the moderate to high range of quality. Practice or Policy: Our results suggest that policymakers should carefully consider whether measures designed for specific purposes are appropriate for other high-stakes uses. We encourage continued refinement of existing quality measures, development of new measures, and the accumulation of evidence for their various uses.     

Ideas,Institutions, and School Curricula: Explaining Variation Between England and France

This study raises the question of why the French secondary school history curricula introduced in the late 2000s prescribed more extensive coverage of plural histories than did secondary school history curricula for English schools introduced in the same time period. Both countries share similar societal diversity. To explain the variation in curricula content, I argue that one needs to supplement a focus on ideas with an institutionalist perspective. England and France have different institutional frameworks for curricula creation, with roots in the nineteenth century, when mass education began. The research shows that these unique national education institutional legacies are significant, and that institutional contexts matter in the diffusion of ideas.     

The National Network of Partnership Schools: How Research Influences Educational Practice

The National Network of Partnership Schools was initiated in 1996 to assist schools, districts, and states in developing comprehensive programs of school, family, and community partnership as part of their school improvement efforts. Members of the National Network are provided with tools and strategies to implement partnership activities that promote students' success. These tools and strategies are based on over 15 years of research conducted by Epstein and her colleagues at Johns Hopkins University. Through a discussion of the development of the National Network, this article illustrates how research can be used to inform and improve educational practice in schools, districts, and states. It does so by highlighting the center's research on family and community involvement conducted since 1987 with elementary, middle, and high schools; school districts; and state departments of education across the United States. This research generated the knowledge needed to establish the National Network of Partnership Schools, which presently works with over 1,100 schools, 130 districts, and 12 states to help them develop permanent and productive school, family, and community partnership programs.     

Effects of Supplemental Early Reading Intervention at 2-Year Follow Up: Reading Skill Growth Patterns and Predictors

This study examined the long-term growth of reading skills following 1 year of supplemental 1st-grade code-oriented intervention provided by paraeducators. A group of 79 1st graders with reading skills averaging in the lowest quartile received explicit alphabetic and decoding instruction and were assessed postintervention and at 1-year intervals through the end of 3rd grade. Growth model results indicate that students continued to benefit from 1st-grade intervention through the end of 3rd grade, with average performance near 50th percentile on decoding and reading fluency, near 40th percentile on word reading and comprehension, and near 30th percentile on spelling. Without exception, both receptive language and rapid automatized naming uniquely predicted 3rd-grade outcomes. Of the students remaining in study in fall of 2nd grade, a subgroup selected by their teachers received additional supplemental instruction. Students referred for added intervention continued to perform significantly lower than those more readily remediated with 1st-grade intervention alone.     

Caffeine and performance in clay target shooting

Abstract

Controversy surrounds the influence that caffeine has on accuracy and cognitive performance in precision activities such as shooting and archery. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of two doses of caffeine on shooting performance, reaction time, and target tracking times in the sport of clay target shooting. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design was undertaken by seven elite male shooters from the double-trap discipline. Three intervention trials (2 mg caffeine · kg^?1 body mass (BM); 4 mg caffeine · kg^?1 BM; placebo) were undertaken, in which shooters completed four rounds per trial of 50 targets per round. Performance accuracy (score) and digital video footage (for determination of reaction time and target tracking times) were gathered during competition. Data were analysed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. No differences in shooting accuracy, reaction time or target tracking times among the three intervention trials or across the four rounds within each intervention were observed (P > 0.05). The results indicate that ingestion of ≤4 mg caffeine · kg^?1 BM does not provide performance benefits to elite performers of clay target shooting in the double-trap discipline.     

Kinematic parameters contributing to the production of spin in elite finger spin bowling

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to identify the key kinematic parameters which contribute to higher spin rates in elite finger spin bowling. Kinematic data were collected for twenty-three elite male finger spin bowlers with thirty kinematic parameters calculated for each delivery. Stepwise linear regression and Pearson product moment correlations were used to identify kinematic parameters linked to spin rate. Pelvis orientation at front foot contact (r = 0.674, p < 0.001) and ball release (r = 0.676, p < 0.001) were found to be the biggest predictors of spin rate, with both individually predicting 43% of the observed variance in spin rate. Other kinematic parameters correlated with spin rate included: shoulder orientation at ball release (r = 0.462, p = 0.027), and pelvis-shoulder separation angle at front foot contact (r = 0.521, p = 0.011). The bowlers with the highest spin rates adopted a mid-way pelvis orientation angle, a larger pelvis-shoulder separation angle and a shoulder orientation short of side-on at front foot contact. The segments then rotated sequentially, starting with the pelvis and finishing with the pronation of the forearm. This knowledge can be translated to coaches to provide a better understanding of finger spin bowling technique.