Helping secondary schools to be more inclusive of Year 7 pupils with SEN

The authors, all District Senior Educational Psychologists (DSEPs), were asked by a Principal Education Officer to design and implement a funded project to support inclusion in the county. This action research project aimed to help secondary schools be more inclusive of their Year 7 pupils with special educational needs. Inclusion issues were identified using pupils’ responses to questionnaires based on the Index for Inclusion materials. Schools then formulated interventions to suit their particular needs. The impact of the interventions was evaluated one year later. Positive results are reported in terms of responses from the pupils with SEN.     

Language development and literacy skills in late-talking toddlers with and without familial risk for dyslexia

The relationship between late-talkers' language development and reading and spelling outcomes was examined in children with and without familial risk for dyslexia. The late-talking subgroups were defined using parent- and test-based assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary and grammar at 2 and 2.5 years as intake criteria. The language skills of late talkers and the remainders of these two groups were assessed at 3.5, 5, and 5.5 years. Reading/spelling outcomes were compared at the end of the second grade. Late-talking toddlers of the at-risk group who had both poor receptive and expressive skills performed less well than all other groups on language measurements at 5.5 years. In contrast, the control group's late talkers with an expressive delay reached the language level of their age-mates already by 3.5 years, and maintained their age-appropriate position two years later. The most significant differences in the reading skills were found between the at-risk children with receptive and expressive delay and the remainder of the controls. Age-appropriate early language skills did not, however, ensure norm-level fluent reading in the at-risk group. The remainder of the at-risk group performed at a significantly lower level than did the remainder of the controls, both on the oral reading and spelling tasks.     

Disciplinary knowledge of K-3 teachers and their knowledge calibration in the domain of early literacy

Recently, investigators have begun to pay increasing attention to the role of teachers’ domain-specific knowledge in the area of reading, and its implications for both classroom practice and student learning. The aims of the present study were to assess kindergarten to third grade teachers’ actual and perceived reading related subject matter knowledge, and to investigate the extent to which teachers calibrate their reading related subject matter knowledge by examining relationships between actual and perceived knowledge. Results indicated that while teachers demonstrated limited knowledge of children’s literature, phoneme awareness, and phonics, the majority of these same teachers evaluated their knowledge levels quite positively. Teachers demonstrated some ability to calibrate their own knowledge levels in the area of children’s literature, yet they were poorly calibrated in the domains of phoneme awareness and phonics. These findings suggest that teachers tend to overestimate their reading related subject matter knowledge, and are often unaware of what they know and do not know. Implications for the design of teacher education at both the preservice and inservice levels are discussed. Note: This research was funded through the National Science Foundation IERI 00-74 Initiative to Anne E. Cunningham, University of California, Berkeley. acunning@uclink.berkeley.edu     

Classroom environments: an experiential analysis of the pupil–teacher visual interaction in Uruguay

We argue that the traditional physical environment is commonly taken for granted and that little consideration has been given to how this affects pupil–teacher interactions. This article presents evidence that certain physical environments do not allow equal visual interaction and, as a result, we derive a set of basic guiding principles that could contribute to the improvement of classroom design. Discussions about research on the design of classroom spaces and the methods to evaluate them articulate the rationale for this study. We seek to accomplish this by focusing on two fundamental variables of the face-to-face communication process: visual and distance. They are discussed in the context of four classroom case studies. The method is based on a hybrid approach composed of first-hand video-photographic records, isovist analysis and proxemic information regarding distances. The conclusions suggest that the proportion and spatial configuration of a classroom have a substantial impact on the number of pupils receiving high-quality visual interaction with the teacher. Finally, the importance of integrating experiential analysis in the architectural design process to ensure the quality and equality of the interaction among the protagonists of the teaching and learning process is highlighted.     

Using a Multilevel Assessment Scheme in Reforming Science Methods Courses

The development of new courses is strengthened by assessment and a response to the assessment. Two new science methods courses for elementary and secondary preservice teachers were developed, fostered by the Great Salt Lake Project. The preservice teachers designed and performed research projects that they then converted into inquiry-based teaching units. The professors applied a 3-layer assessment scheme to evaluate the courses and the preservice teachers based on changes in student attitudes, student-generated curricula, and internal course evaluations. Each type of assessment effectively informed the reform process, and strengths and weaknesses of the courses were revealed. Strengths of the courses included students learning to see science as a process and comprehending inquiry as a pedagogical approach. Weaknesses observed included a lack of understanding in three areas: the role of assessment, the need to address cultural issues, and the significance of scientific literacy.     

We read,we write: reconsidering reading–writing relationships in primary school children

The extent to which children's reading experiences influence their writing production is not well understood. It is imperative that the connections between these literacy practices are elucidated in order to inform the development of stimulating curricula and to support children's development. This paper presents new data and key findings from a project investigating relationships between children's free choice reading and volitional writing in Key Stage 2 (9–10 years). The data were collected in two primary schools in northern England, using mixed methods. Quantitative data were collected using an online reading survey taken by 170 children, and qualitative data were provided through independent writing journals maintained by 38 participants. Through analysis of the data using a multiliteracies approach, we demonstrate that the writing that children choose to do is influenced by the texts they encounter as readers in terms of content, text type and linguistic style. The child readers in this project encountered texts in different media and created texts in a range of genres. By examining a sample of children's written texts from the data set, we show that children's interactions and transactions with texts as readers and writers are complex and multiple. Children creatively work across media, and in doing so the boundaries of traditional text genres and styles are redeveloped and redesigned. These findings highlight the importance of providing children with opportunities to freely choose and create texts and recognising the wide variety of text experiences that children bring to their classroom learning.     

Longitudinal Relations among Maternal Self-Efficacy,Maternal Warmth,and Early Adolescents’ Prosocial Behavior

SYNOPSIS

Objective. This article examined two-wave longitudinal paths among maternal self-efficacy, maternal warmth, and early adolescents’ prosocial behavior. Design . Participants were 194 Italian mother/child dyads from 9–13 years at the first assessment and 12–15 years at the second assessment. Using a two-wave longitudinal design, the present study tested cross-lagged paths among maternal self-efficacy, warmth, and early adolescents’ prosocial behavior controlling for the stability of these variables and their concurrent associations. Results . Maternal warmth mediated the link between maternal self-efficacy and adolescents’ prosocial behavior, and bi-directional effects between maternal self-efficacy and maternal warmth were found. Conclusions . These findings support a parent-driven model in the promotion of prosocial behaviors across early adolescence and a general need to consider simultaneously parental cognitions (maternal self-efficacy) and actions (maternal warmth) in explaining adolescents’ prosocial behaviors. Implications for parenting program interventions are discussed.     

Preschool inclusion in the United States: a review of research from an ecological systems perspective

Using an ecological systems conceptual framework proposed by Bronfenbrenner, research on the inclusion of preschool children with disabilities in programs with typically developing children was reviewed. Drawing mainly from studies conducted in the United States, research on child characteristics (biosystem), classroom practices (microsystem), family perspectives (mesosystem), social policy (exosystem), culture (macrosystem), and changes in variables across time (chronosystem) is described. Positive developmental and behavioral outcomes occur for children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings, although as a group, children with disabilities are not as socially integrated as their typically developing peers. Parent attitudes are generally positive although they voice some concerns about inclusion. Several social policy issues within the U.S. system (e.g., enforcement of standards, fiscal issues) serve as barriers to and facilitators of implementation of preschool inclusion, and cultural variables shape the nature of inclusive classrooms as well as family access to inclusive settings.     

Seeing for ourselves: when teachers make documentary films. Rebel Goulash and Over the Rainbow

To begin … a moral tale for anthropologists, a fantasy in which an anthropological cinema exists—not documentaries about ‘anthropological’ subjects but films designated by anthropologists to communicate anthropological insights. It is a well‐articulated genre distinct from the conceptual limitations of realist documentary and broadcast journalism. It borrows conventions and techniques from the whole of cinema—fiction, documentary, animation and experimental … this fantasy is more like science fiction than anything else. It is not remotely close to being realized. But it is an ideal worth pursuing (Ruby, 2000 Ruby J 2000 Picturing culture: explorations of film and anthropology (Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press)  [Google Scholar], pp. 1–2).