Disciplinary Literacies and Learning to Read for Understanding: A Conceptual Framework for Disciplinary Literacy

This article presents a framework and methodology for designing learning goals targeted at what students need to know and be able to do in order to attain high levels of literacy and achievement in three disciplinary areas—literature, science, and history. For each discipline, a team of researchers, teachers, and specialists in that discipline engaged in conceptual meta-analysis of theory and research on the reading, reasoning, and inquiry practices exhibited by disciplinary experts as contrasted with novices. Each team identified discipline-specific clusters of types of knowledge. Across teams, the clusters for each discipline were grouped into 5 higher order categories of core constructs: (a) epistemology; (b) inquiry practices/strategies of reasoning; (c) overarching concepts, themes, and frameworks; (d) forms of information representation/types of texts; and (e) discourse and language structures. The substance of the clusters gave rise to discipline-specific goals and tasks involved in reading across multiple texts, as well as reading, reasoning, and argumentation practices tailored to discipline-specific criteria for evidence-based knowledge claims. The framework of constructs and processes provides a valuable tool for researchers and classroom teachers' (re)conceptualizations of literacy and argumentation learning goals in their specific disciplines.     

Mild head injury as a source of developmental disabilities.

The hospital-reported incidence of mild head injury among children indicates a prevalence of 2% to 3% in high-school-aged adolescents (14 to 18 years). Yet, our survey of 616 high school adolescents suggests that light and mild head injury (not necessarily leading to hospital admission) is almost 10 times this level. Despite the common notion that such injury is generally benign, we found significant relationships in our sample between reported head injury and hyperactivity, stuttering, mixed handedness, and dislike of mathematics.     

Images of the family: on interviewing young children about their social concepts

The empirical study explores children's perceptions of the family and family membership. 300 four‐, six‐ and eight‐year‐old children were interviewed with a semi‐structured ‘Family Concept Interview’. Interview strategies and research findings are presented and discussed. Establishing field entry rituals and determining appropriate modes and levels of discourse are important factors for creating an interview situation in which children are continuously attentive and motivated. Findings indicate that children do have a generalised and complex image of the family. The majority construct relatively large families with two or more children; over half the children include grandparents (father and mother)’, but one‐parent‐households are also accepted as ‘a family’, regardless of the child's own family situation. ‘Common residence’ is an important but not a necessary criterion for family membership. The findings show significant age differences concerning some aspects of children's family concepts.     

Comparison of individual factors in school psychology graduate students: Why do students pursue a degree in school psychology?

The purpose of this study was to investigate what factors influenced students to enter the field of school psychology. Although numerous studies have documented the thoughts and perspectives of practitioners regarding why they have chosen to become school psychologists, attempts to recruit and retain an adequate number of school psychology practitioners and researchers have shown limited success. A national sample of 307 school psychology graduate students responded to a survey designed to measure issues related to the current state of professional practice, the influence of parental education, and professional organization recruitment. Results indicated that working with children and personal experiences within the school system were highly related to participant's decisions to become school psychologists. In addition, doctoral level and nondoctoral level students present similar reasons for entering the field. This research is discussed in terms of its implications for future research and the current shortage of school psychology practitioners and faculty. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 865–872, 2007.     

Contemporary Scientists and their Interactions with Non-Scientists: Alternative Companion Stories for School Curricula

Research in Science Education - Students learn more than science knowledge in a science classroom; they also acquire important messages about the purposes and contexts of science. Roberts (2011)...     

Public school size and Hispanic student achievement in Texas: a 5-year analysis

In this study, the researchers examined 5 years of Texas statewide data concerning elementary school size and Hispanic student performance on three state-mandated assessments in reading, mathematics, and writing. For each year of data analyzed here, student data from more than 1,200 elementary schools. After collapsing elementary schools into three sizes (i.e., very small <400 students; small 400–799 students; and large 800–1,199 students), multivariate statistical procedures revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in Hispanic student performance in reading, mathematics, and writing across all 5 years of data analyzed. In almost every analysis, Hispanic students in large elementary schools outperformed Hispanic students in very small elementary schools in reading, mathematics, and in writing. As such, our findings are in disagreement with other studies. Implications are discussed.     

Unfolding Case‐Based Practicum Curriculum Infusing Crisis,Trauma, and Disaster Preparation

The authors evaluated an unfolding case‐based approach to a practicum in counseling course infusing crisis, trauma, and disaster preparation for changes in students’ crisis self‐efficacy across a semester. The course, informed by constructivist‐developmental pedagogy and centered on the unfolding case, resulted in significant increases in students’ crisis self‐efficacy.     

Exploiting the Links between Theory and Practice: Developing Students' Cross-cultural Understanding through an International Study Tour to China

This paper describes and critiques a study tour to China of undergraduate and postgraduate business students in a large business faculty in a university with an emerging focus on internationalisation through building links with global business and industry. The study tour was designed to fit with the emerging trend towards internationalisation of business education wherein universities perceive themselves as being international universities based in one city rather than city-based universities who have international students. The literature on the difficulties of cross-cultural understanding and adjustment when business people sojourn to other countries is well documented. Yet, the same difficulties being encountered by students on short-term cultural immersion tours are yet to be adequately documented. This paper serves to address this gap in the literature by examining the experiences of 50 Australian and international students when confronted with a three week immersion into China's business, cultural and social practices. The paper explores the contributions of the study tour to academic understanding of globalisation.     

UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER/UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES: TOWARD A CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE ABOUT "PRINCIPLES' IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

The recent federal interest in advancing "scientifically based research," along with the National Research Council's 2002 report Scientific Research in Education ( SRE ), have provided space and impetus for a more general dialogue across discourse boundaries within the field of educational research. The goal of this article is to develop and illustrate principles for an educative dialogue across research discourses. I have turned to Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics and the critical dialogue that surrounds it to seek guidance about how we might better understand one another's perspectives and learn more about ourselves through the encounter. To illustrate these principles, I consider the dialogue between SRE authors and critics that was published in Educational Researcher shortly after the release of the report. I focus in particular on one of the many issues about which misunderstandings seem to arise — the nature, status, and role of generalizations — and point to some instructive challenges that each of the articles seems to raise for the others. Finally, I propose what I argue is a more prudent aspiration for general principles in educational research: developing the principles through which open critique and debate across differences might occur and through which sound decisions about particular programs for research might be made.