“We've Got to Keep Meeting Like This”: A Pilot Study Comparing Academic Performance in Shifting-Membership Cooperative Groups Versus Stable-Membership Cooperative Groups in an Introductory-Level Lab

This study examined possible ways to increase student engagement in small sections of a large, introductory-level, required university course. Research shows that cooperative group learning boosts achievement through fostering better interpersonal relationships between students. Cooperative group learning is an evidence-based instructional practice engaging students in active learning. The present study investigated whether cooperative groups with sustained-membership functioned more effectively for boosting performance than shifting-membership cooperative groups. Findings indicated that the amount of class time spent in groups influenced the impact of shifting or sustained-membership. A significant difference in performance was found for sustained-group students when group activities were used the majority of the time during recitation.     

The inherent impact of nonpromoted students on reading scores in a big city elementary school

Using data from a single urban elementary school, it is argued that (1) retaining low achieving students affects standardized reading scores in the subsequent year, and (2) that a failure to identify spurious gains can divert the change process in nonproductive or even dysfunctional directions.     

Are we looking through the same lens? Principal recruitment and selection

This article reports a study designed to identify the factors that both hiring bodies and applicants believe are most important when making decisions about principal selection, appointment and acceptance. Based on a quantitative study involving the four main groups of players in the principal selection process, we confirmed a four-factor structure. In order of importance the four factors were, Generic Managerial Skills, Communication and Presentation Skills, Experience and Credence, and Religious Affiliation and External Connection. The fourth factor is rarely mentioned in the literature. The findings indicate a shift in the role expectation of principals from educational leaders to administrative managers. Findings also challenge the use of interviews as the sole principal selection mechanism.     

You’re doing what? Students’ experiences of advice from a New Zealand university

This case study explores student perceptions and experiences of advising at a New Zealand university. It considers the implications arising from the students’ responses and also investigates the influence of students’ demographic characteristics on perceptions of advice. Both first‐ (n = 191) and final‐ (n = 171) year cohorts of students were surveyed to determine why they chose particular courses, what advice they received and how aware they were of various support services. Although students were happy overall with the advice received, many had little or no expectations of the type of advice they should be receiving. The main sources of advice were the University enrolment pack, family and University School’s Liaison Officers. Academic advisers were less well used as a source of advice, even during later years of study. Advisers need to be educated about particular advising issues related to first‐generation students, part‐time students and international students. Many students had a career path in mind so it is important to provide holistic developmental academic advice that includes future career options.     

Reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the DELES

The primary aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a Turkish version of the Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) in post-secondary distance education. The second aim was to investigate empirically the conceptualisation of the distance education learning environment as a singular latent construct, within a second-order factorial structure that consists of six first-order factors. The DELES is a 34-item instrument for assessing social-psychological perceptions among distance education students. The tested hypotheses concerned key antecedents and consequences of the factorial structure of DELES in the Turkish context using confirmatory factor analyses. Principal component analysis of the Turkish data revealed six main factors of interest, which corresponded to the hypothesised constructs in the original DELES. The data suggested good reliability and validity for the Turkish DELES (DELES-TR) relative to the original version. Further, second-order analyses were conducted with two complementary samples to demonstrate the validity of six dimensions of the DELES-TR and their contributions to an overall factorial structure of social-psychological learning environment in distance education. Initial support for the second-order factorial validity of DELES-TR was found. Results indicate that a dimensional model of DELES-TR with the six first-order factors provided a superior fit to the data than first-order DELES-TR with six factors. Additionally, an investigation was conducted regarding associations between the DELES-TR’s psychosocial scales and a student satisfaction scale. This study is unique in its focus on the learning environment in distance education in the Turkish setting.     

中国地方政府绩效评估信息来源的现状——基于德尔菲法的研究

绩效信息是政府绩效评估的关键因素。应用德尔菲法,通过对8类利益相关者感知绩效信息来源和8类部门或文件等非感知绩效信息来源使用情况的专家调查,研究了中国地方政府绩效评估中信息来源的现状。研究发现政治家是目前使用最为广泛的绩效信息来源,而来自于政府系统外部的感知绩效信息在目前使用相对较少。从总体上来看,目前非感知绩效信息来源在政府绩效评估中居于主体地位。     

Is dyslexia a form of specific language impairment? a comparison of dyslexic and language impaired children as adolescents

Two groups of adolescents with a childhood history of language impairment were compared with a group of developmentally dyslexic young people of the same age and nonverbal ability. The study also included two comparison groups of typically developing children, one of the same age as those in the clinical groups, and a younger comparison group of similar reading level to the dyslexic students. Tests of spoken and written language skills revealed that the adolescents with dyslexia were indistinguishable from those with resolved language impairments on spoken language tasks, and both groups performed at age-expected levels. However, both dyslexic readers and those with resolved specific language impairments showed deficits in phonological awareness. On written language tasks, a different pattern of performance was apparent. In reading and spelling, adolescents with dyslexia performed only as well as those with persistent oral language impairments and younger controls. However, their reading comprehension was better. The theoretical and educational implications of these findings are discussed.