Longitudinal Stability of Phonological and Surface Subtypes of Developmental Dyslexia

Limited evidence supports the external validity of the distinction between developmental phonological and surface dyslexia. We previously identified children ages 8 to 13 meeting criteria for these subtypes (Peterson, Pennington, & Olson, 2013) and now report on their reading and related skills approximately 5 years later. Longitudinal stability of subtype membership was fair and appeared stronger for phonological than surface dyslexia. Phonological dyslexia was associated with a pronounced phonological awareness deficit, but subgroups otherwise had similar cognitive profiles. Subtype did not inform prognosis. Results provide modest evidence for the validity of the distinction, although not for its clinical utility.     

Exploring three White American teachers’ dispositional stances towards learning about racial,cultural, and linguistic diversity

This study, situated in the United States, is set in a context where large and growing numbers of children from non-dominant backgrounds populate American public schools while the vast majority of teachers teaching in US schools are White, monolingual women who may not have the requisite expertise to teach children from non-dominant backgrounds. This work focuses on the learning of three White teachers enrolled in a literacy course designed to foster teachers’ understandings of racial, linguistic, and cultural diversity. Results revealed that the three focus teachers, all members of a small online Book Club within the focus course, assumed different dispositional stances towards learning about diversity. Moreover, their overall dispositional stances shaped the ways they positioned themselves as learners in the course as well as what they learned in the course.     

Lines,roamers, and squares: Oh my! using floor robots to enhance Hispanic students’ understanding of programming

Teaching programming and coding skills in K-12 classrooms is becoming a part of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs across the United States. Often, these opportunities are available through extra-curricular activities such as Robotics club, math club, STEM club, etc. Increasing STEM opportunities for students who are English language learners, culturally and linguistically diverse learners, and/or students from underserved backgrounds is vital. In a pilot study prior to a larger, grant-funded study on the effects of metacognitive strategy instruction on elementary students’ academic performance, the principal investigator (PI) developed an activity with a corresponding assessment instrument. The PI initially incorporated floor-robots into an activity in two fifth grade science classrooms. Pre/post survey analysis provided encouraging results. To follow up on the initial results, the PI and co-principal investigators (co-PIs) introduced floor-robots into eight additional fourth and fifth grade science classrooms over an additional school year, as well as in an after-school setting, to determine how floor-robots might be used effectively to engage elementary students in STEM learning. The investigators introduced over 257 elementary students to three types of floor-robots, and this provided students with opportunities to have hands-on access to programming and coding robots for specific purposes. Of the 257 students who interacted with the floor-robots, approximately 103 were provided with pre/post surveys on Roamer®, one of the floor-robots. Additional data analysis provided surprising and encouraging results.     

Hello from the other side: museum educators’ perspectives on teaching the Holocaust

Museums often cite supporting teachers and schools as a goal, and museum educators frequently create resources or provide professional development for this audience, though the two entities have little contact. This qualitative study sought to examine the perspectives of museum educators at a regional Holocaust museum as they planned and presented two-week-long professional development workshops for educators. Pre-workshop and post-workshop interviews were conducted with three museum educators responsible for the workshops, which were also observed in their entirety. Findings indicate that all three museum educators believed the Holocaust to be difficult knowledge. However, each approached the topic in a different manner based on their personal experience and understanding of Holocaust education, resulting in three vastly different presentation styles. These varied presentations resulted in an uneven focus on content, with few concrete classroom connections. The article concludes by discussing implications for museum-initiated professional development and avenues for further research.