Two-stage screening for math problem-solving difficulty using dynamic assessment of algebraic learning

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of a dynamic assessment (DA) of algebraic learning in predicting third graders' development of mathematics word-problem difficulty. In the fall, 122 third-grade students were assessed on a test of math word-problem skill and DA of algebraic learning. In the spring, they were assessed on word-problem performance. Logistic regression was conducted to contrast two models. One relied exclusively on the fall test of math word-problem skill to predict word-problem difficulty on the spring outcome (less than the 25th percentile). The second model relied on a combination of the fall test of math word-problem skill and the fall DA to predict the same outcome. Holding sensitivity at 87.5%, the universal screener alone resulted in a high proportion of false positives, which was practically reduced when DA was included in the prediction model. Findings are discussed in terms of a two-stage process for screening students within a responsiveness-to-intervention prevention model.     

Performativity,well‐being,social class and citizenship in English schools

A range of initiatives to promote well‐being and empowerment have been introduced into English schools. These ostensibly support the citizenship curriculum that seeks to foster a more active and engaged populace. Whilst children are being encouraged to view their own well‐being as a personal project (and as a badge of successful citizenship), this process is being undermined by an informal curriculum of citizenship, embedded within the culture of performativity, that is promoting a climate of misrecognition within schools. This form of “symbolic violence” (that affects working‐class families disproportionately) is encroaching into the private sphere, traditionally a potential refuge providing opportunities for the development of forms of well‐being that were not dependent on institutional endorsement. It is suggested that some of the counter‐hegemonic values developed in the face of marginalisation might usefully inform issues of citizenship and well‐being in schools in ways that would encourage genuinely empowered forms of citizenship.     

Effects of continuing professional development on urban elementary students' knowledge

This study supports the important role teacher training programs can play in increasing physical education knowledge. In this project, teachers were able to increase students' understanding of critical physical activity/fitness knowledge through physical education instruction, without changing the physical education contact time. This link to student needs as well as the school's overall mission is a promising one for students and schools alike.     

Are Elementary Preservice Teachers Floating or Sinking in Their Understanding of Buoyancy?

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - This research study investigated conceptions about buoyancy held by 55 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in a science methods...     

Copyright’s fair use doctrine and digital data

The digitization of works renders them not only easy to copy and distribute. It makes them easy to transform from one medium to another. Many of the same fair use questions posed by the copying or use of computer programs recur when other kinds of digital data are copied or manipulated. There are some situations in which digital copying would almost certainly be permitted as fair use, and some in which fair use defenses would be futile. This article was adapted from a column that first appeared inACM Communications. Published by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery.     

Gaining access to everyday life information seeking

The discursive viewpoint adopted by many researchers who study everyday life information seeking allows for a shift in focus away from the individual as a unit of analysis toward a more general understanding of the broader cultural conditions within which individuals operate. However, the data employed by such researchers often consist of the testimony or observed actions of individuals. This paradox provides a point from which to reflect on the process of gaining access or entry to everyday life information seekers as research participants. This article presents the authors’ reflections on their experiences of conducting separate library and information science studies of three diverse populations: pregnant women, members of a self-help support group, and preschool children. The article’s premise is that theory and research practice are intertwined and that attending to issues of gaining access is essential for the development of both. Access is an emergent process dependent on the characteristics of the researcher, the participants, and the research context.     

Higher education curriculum orientations and the implications for institutional curriculum change

This research is based on an empirical study exploring how academics make curriculum decisions and their perceptions of the influences that shape their decisions. Interviews were held with 20 academics from diverse disciplines, who were both research active and committed to teaching. The higher education curriculum was conceptualised as a field of decision-making shaped by academics’ beliefs about educational and contextual influences. The study identified five distinctive curriculum orientations representing coherent patterns of curriculum decisions aligned with academics’ beliefs about educational purposes. Case studies are presented to elucidate each of the curriculum orientations. Curriculum orientations were also found to shape academics’ responses to educational change. The following higher education change drivers are explored: graduate employability and the skills agenda, teaching–research relationships, changing understandings about teaching and learning, educational technologies and flexible delivery. The findings suggest implications for institutional curriculum change initiatives and academic development programmes.