Assessing cohesion in children’s writing: Development of a checklist

Cohesion in writing is achieved through the use of linguistic devices that tie ideas together across a text, and is an important element in the development of coherent writing. Research shows that inter- and intra-developmental differences may appear in how children learn to use these devices, but cohesion is commonly overlooked in the evaluation and instruction of writing. In this study, we developed a checklist to assess cohesion in the writing of children in Grades 4–7, with the purpose of informing instructional practices. Following the procedure outlined by Crocker and Algina (1986), we developed and evaluated a checklist designed to assess the types of cohesive devices present in the writing of children. The checklist items showed fair to good discrimination between high and low scoring writers as demonstrated by a classical item analysis. We also found good interrater reliability, and evidence for discriminative validity. As internal consistency was weak, however, further research is needed to refine the instrument. Implications for the assessment of cohesion and future research are discussed.     

An Online Course to Prepare Preservice Teachers to Promote Movement Integration

Previous research has not explored the potential of distance learning to prepare preservice teachers (PCTs) for promoting children’s physical activity. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the perceptions and experiences of PCTs, inservice classroom teachers, university instructors, and elementary students who were involved in a semester-long distance delivery course that included a service-learning (SL) component with an emphasis on classroom movement integration (MI). Using a qualitative single case study design, interviews, observations, and artifacts (e.g. PCTs’ reflections and academic work) were thematically analyzed. Findings produced three themes including student-centered approach, benefit/importance of physical activity, and connect and reflect. These themes showed that participants’ perceptions and experiences support constructivist-guided SL using a distance delivery design. This study adds to the emerging research base on school-university partnerships to support schools in the implementation of comprehensive school physical activity programming.     

Factors that Affect Emergent Literacy Development When Engaging with Electronic Books

This article reviews extant literature with the purpose of identifying factors that affect the potential efficacy of electronic books to support literacy development during early childhood. Selection criteria include experimental, quasi-experimental, and observational studies from peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2013 with a target population of 3–7 year olds. Results established the following factors as relevant to potential literacy outcomes: interactive features, quality assessment, repetition, and adult interaction. Each factor is discussed in its relationship to literacy skills in order to identify optimal conditions for literacy growth. Findings in this review are pertinent to parents, educators, legislators, and software developers who are making software decisions that will impact early childhood students at home or in school. Future research and implications are considered.     

A comparison of student profiles based upon composite scale scores of the WISC-R

The purpose of this study was to investigate the similarity in the pattern of strengths and weaknesses between those students evaluated and placed in special education programs and those students evaluated and not placed in special education programs. The two groups were compared on the basis of 18 composite scale scores obtained from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The sample consisted of 585 students in grades 1–6 located in eastern Kentucky schools. A test for parallelism of the two profiles was conducted with a multiple-profile analysis using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results revealed that the two profiles were parallel. The authors concluded that the two groups have a similar pattern of relative strengths and weaknesses.     

Student understandings of natural selection

This paper examines the continuation of a study investigating senior secondary students' understanding of concepts in biology. In this study, year 11 student understandings of natural selection were examined by questionnaire using different question formats. The SOLO taxonomy of Biggs and Collis (1982) was used as the theoretical framework with which the quality of student learning was assessed. This paper puts forward the usefulness of the SOLO taxonomy in assessing student understanding in biology in general and in examining student understanding of the concept of natural selection in particular. The paper goes on to examine the implications of these results and raises issues which have applicability to criterion-based assessment in secondary science. Specializations: science and technology education, biology teacher education, applications of multimedia to science education     

Evaluating Intervention Effects in a Diagnostic Classification Model Framework

The evaluation of intervention effects is an important objective of educational research. One way to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention is to conduct an experiment that assigns individuals to control and treatment groups. In the context of pretest/posttest designed studies, this is referred to as a control‐group pretest/posttest design. The transition diagnostic classification model (TDCM) was recently developed to assess growth, defined as change in attribute mastery status over time, in a diagnostic classification model framework. The TDCM, however, does not model multiple groups, and therefore is not able to analyze data from a control‐group pretest/posttest designed experiment. In this study, we extend the TDCM to model multiple groups, thereby enabling the examination of group‐differential growth in attribute mastery and the evaluation of intervention effects. The utility of the multigroup TDCM is demonstrated in the evaluation of an innovative instructional method in mathematics education.     

OUTLIERS,CHEESE, AND RHIZOMES: VARIATIONS ON A THEME OF LIMITATION

All research has limitations, for example, from paradigm, concept, theory, tradition, and discipline. In this article Lynda Stone describes three exemplars that are variations on limitation and are “extraordinary” in that they change what constitutes future research in each domain. Malcolm Gladwell's present day study of outliers makes a statistical term into a sociological concept. Carlo Ginzburg's study of a sixteenth‐century miller who challenges Church doctrine initiates the field of microhistory. Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's philosophy of the rhizome offers a poststructuralist study of the doing of philosophy and the form of philosophical text. Although Gladwell's study is the only one specifically on the topic of outliers, the other two investigations are outliers as well. Overall the three studies demonstrate what can be revealed and learned when limitation is transgressed. This is an important lesson for educational research—wherein heretofore unimagined societal possibility and reform of education might result.     

There’s No Such Thing as a Scientific Controversy

We examine 81 rhetoric and technical communication studies of “scientific controversy.” Our praxiographic analysis reveals that “scientific controversy” is not one thing but three, each staged according to a radically different ontology; yet the literature continues to handle these ontologies the same and to privilege scientists’ demarcation claims in their analysis. We conclude the modifier scientific should be abandoned entirely in controversy studies and recommend an antilogical rather than dialectical approach to controversy.     

Assessing the social and affective outcomes of inclusion

The systematic assessment of the social and affective outcomes of inclusion has been lagging behind the assessment of academic outcomes. This is particularly problematic in view of research evidence supporting concerns about peer rejection and bullying. In this article, Norah Frederickson and Elizabeth Simmonds, of University College London, and Lynda Evans and Chris Soulsby, from Foxwood Special School, report their evaluation of the social and affective outcomes of a special- mainstream school inclusion initiative that places particular emphasis on peer preparation. Measures completed by pupils were used to assess peer group inclusion, social behaviour, bullying and feelings of belonging at school. Results showed that pupils who had transferred from special to mainstream schools experienced positive social outcomes and none experienced peer group rejection. However, results were less positive for mainstream pupils with special educational needs and the authors discuss possibilities for development. Trends in peer reports of bullying suggest that there is no room for complacency and that ongoing monitoring is required.