Understanding the Formation, Functions, and Challenges of Grassroots Leadership Teams

This study examined the nature, characteristics, and challenges of grassroots leadership teams and the role of these factors in promoting cognitive complexity in order to provide insight into collective forms of bottom-up change. The study is framed by the literature on leadership teams. Using interviews from a case study conducted at five higher education campuses, we explored two types of leadership teams (sense-making and problem-solving) across different initiatives. The results from this study extend the literature on bottom-up change, leadership, and grassroots teams.     

A new look at the professional training of secondary school mathematics teachers

Typical patterns followed in American colleges and universities in the preparation of mathematics teachers are inadequate for at least four reasons: some mathematics courses are perceived by students as irrelevant, the preparation is often not in step with societal changes, little attention is given to developing a solid understanding of mathematics content which is particularly important for secondary teachers, and insufficient emphasis is placed on the big ideas and unifying themes which pervade all of mathematics. This article discusses the reasons for these shortcomings and suggests a possible remedy involving the design of a program based on the intersection of certain needs of a secondary teacher and certain mathematics courses studied by prospective teachers.     

Negative instances and the acquisition of the mathematical concepts of commutativity and associativity

The effects of negative instances in the acquisition of the mathematical concepts of commutativity and associativity were examined. Two treatment levels for commutativity (positive instances or positive and negative instances) and the same treatment levels for associativity were crossed to form a 2 × 2 factorial design with 21 subjects per cell. Subjects were undergraduate elementary education majors. Criterion variables were number of correct responses, stimulus intervals, and postfeedback intervals. Results supported the contention that negative instances enhance concept acquisition but also appear to require more time during treatments. No evidence for a transfer effect for negative instances from one concept to another was found.     

Learning disabilities in minority adolescents

Summary Seventy “predelinquent” disadvantaged seventh-grade students and 30 controls were compared on fifteen variables. It was found that the experimental group was significantly behind the controls in reading, grade-point-average, IQ test scores (verbal and nonverbal), as well as on measures of visual-motor and auditory perceptual functioning. It appears that the experimental youngsters display a syndrome usually considered to evidence specific learning disabilities. However, in this type of population it is difficult to separate the effects of environmentally determined deficits from inherent deficits. Therefore, it was not possible to estimate the incidence of true specific learning disabilities. On the other hand, it was suggested that regardless of the etiology of the deficits, these children could profit from the same types of educational opportunities as have been found well-suited to aid children with learning disabilities.     

A group randomized controlled trial evaluating parent involvement in whole-school actions to reduce bullying

Parents can significantly affect children's peer relationships, including their involvement in bullying. The authors developed and evaluated ways to enhance parents’ knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and skills related to parent–child communication about bullying. The 3-year Friendly Schools Friendly Families whole-school intervention included a family component, which provided training and resources to support school teams to engage families in awareness-raising and skill-building activities. Over 3,200 parents of the Grade 2, 4, and 6 cohorts were recruited. For the Grade 2 and 4 cohorts at both 10 and 22 months postintervention, the family component increased parents’ self-efficacy to talk about bullying with their children and their frequency of doing so. Grade 4 parents reported more provictim attitudes at 22 months. No differences were found for the Grade 6 cohort. These data suggest a whole-school capacity-building intervention in early and middle childhood can improve the likelihood and frequency of positive parent–child communication about bullying.