The great debate: Then and now

In discussing Jeanne Chall’s chapter, “Are Reading Methods Changing Again?” (this volume), I compare today’s situation with that of 30 years ago as recounted by Chall in Learning to Read: The Great Debate (1967).     

Informed consent,gatekeepers and go‐betweens: negotiating consent in child and youth‐orientated institutions

Gaining informed consent from research participants is widely regarded as central to ethical research practice. This article reports on research which sought to identify contemporary practice in this area amongst researchers working in fields where research participants are often constructed as vulnerable within the research process, and where their potential involvement tends to be mediated by institutional gatekeepers. Drawing on telephone interview and focus group data, the article focuses specifically on the experiences of researchers working with children and young people. It highlights the tensions experienced by many researchers between a personal commitment to an ethical framework which seeks to prioritise the agency and competency of children and young people, and the conditions imposed upon them by working within institutional settings where these principles may be undermined. This research suggests that the consent practices of child‐ and youth‐orientated institutions, however much frowned upon, tend to go largely unchallenged by researchers, to the detriment of the rights of children and young people to opt in and out of research on their own behalf.     

Scientific Playworlds: a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings

Research in Science Education - Eminent scientists, like Einstein, worked with theoretical contradiction, thought experiments, mental models and visualisation—all characteristics of...     

Using an Online Survey Tool to Enhance Teaching

This study examines the factorial validity, factorial invariance across gender, and construct validity of a Swedish version of the Self-Presentation in Exercise Questionnaire (SPEQ; Conroy, Motl, &; Hall, 2000). The a priori two-factor 14-item, 11-item, and 9-item models fail to reach acceptable levels of fit in a calibration sample. A modified 8-item model demonstrates acceptable fit and loose and partial cross-validity on a second independent sample. The factorial structure is invariant across gender. Men depict higher latent mean scores on both SPEQ factors of Impression Motivation and Impression Construction. Different patterns for men and women in the relation between SPEQ factors and exercise identity, social physique anxiety, and exercise participation are detected. Psychometric weaknesses in reliability and content validity from a cultural equivalence perspective are discussed.     

Increasing Girls’ STEM Engagement in Early Childhood: Conditions Created by the Conceptual PlayWorld Model

Research in Science Education - As societal needs change and STEM solutions are offered, an increasing concern for the participation of girls in STEM has emerged. Research has consistently shown...     

The accountability era in US teacher education: looking back,looking forward

Abstract

In keeping with the theme of the 40th anniversary issue of EJTE, this article looks back and forward at US teacher education accountability. It argues that “holding teacher education accountable” has been the major approach to reforming teacher education in the US for the last two decades, assuming that enhanced teacher education quality depends on vigilant public evaluation and monitoring of outcomes related to teacher education institutions, programs, and teacher candidates. This article looks back at the “era of accountability” by examining five policy, political, and professional developments that contributed to its emergence and strong hold on US teacher education. Looking forward to the future of teacher education accountability in the US, the article argues that we need a new approach – democratic accountability in teacher education – which is based on intelligent professional responsibility for students’ learning including democratic knowledge and skills, strong equity, and genuine collaboration with multiple stakeholders.     

The relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's resiliency and adjustment

The unique relations of effortful control and impulsivity to resiliency and adjustment were examined when children were 4.5 to 8 years old, and 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs and children's attentional persistence was observed. In concurrent structural equation models, effortful control and impulsivity uniquely and directly predicted resiliency and externalizing problems and indirectly predicted internalizing problems (through resiliency). Teacher-reported anger moderated the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to externalizing problems. In the longitudinal model, all relations held at T2 except for the path from impulsivity to externalizing problems. Evidence of bidirectional effects also was obtained. The results indicate that effortful control and impulsivity are distinct constructs with some unique prediction of resiliency and adjustment.