The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms

This study investigates the efficacy of an integrated science and literacy approach at the upper‐elementary level. Teachers in 94 fourth grade classrooms in one Southern state participated. Half of the teachers taught the treatment unit, an integrated science–literacy unit on light and energy designed using a curriculum model that engages students in reading text, writing notes and reports, conducting firsthand investigations, and frequent discussion of key concepts and processes to acquire inquiry skills and knowledge about science concepts, while the other half of the teachers taught a content‐comparable science‐only unit on light and energy (using materials provided by their districts) and provided their regular literacy instruction. Students in the treatment group made significantly greater gains on measures of science understanding, science vocabulary, and science writing. Students in both groups made comparable gains in science reading comprehension. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 631–658, 2012     

Resilience and coping: Implications for gifted children and youth at risk

The large body of literature on resilience and coping gives promise to finding specific ways in which teachers, counselors, and schools can enhance success among gifted and talented children and youth placed at risk. While high intelligence is not a requirement for resilient outcomes, cognitive ability appears to be a supporting factor, especially as it relates to problem solving and coping. To the extent that low‐income and culturally diverse children and youth have more experience overcoming adversity, they may possess a greater range of and flexibility in coping strategies that can be shared with others. This article summarizes findings from resilience literature relevant to the development of children and adolescents and derives specific strategies for enhancing outcomes for gifted children and youth most at risk for encountering adversity.     

Traditional tales

Rachel Theilheimer teaches early childhood education at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City. Josh R. Allen is a fifth-grader at Dows Lane Elementary School in Irvington, NY, where Rena I. R. Allen is in first grade.     

When I grow up: the relationship of science learning activation to STEM career preferences

This paper proposes three new measures of components STEM career preferences (affinity, certainty, and goal), and then explores which dimensions of science learning activation (fascination, values, competency belief, and scientific sensemaking) are predictive of STEM career preferences. Drawn from the ALES14 dataset, a sample of 2938 sixth and eighth grade middle-school students from 11 schools in two purposefully selected diverse areas (Western Pennsylvania & the Bay Area of California) was used for the analyses presented in this paper. These schools were chosen to represent socio-economic and ethnic diversity. Findings indicate that, overall, youth who are activated towards science learning are more likely to have affinity towards STEM careers, certainty about their future career goals, and have identified a specific STEM career goal. However, different dimensions of science learning activation are more strongly correlated with different aspects career preference across different STEM career foci (e.g. science, engineering, technology, health, etc.). Gender, age, minority status, and home resources also have explanatory power. While many results are consistent with prior research, there are also novel results that offer important fodder for future research. Critically, our strategy of measuring affinity towards the specific disciplines that make up STEM, measuring STEM and health career goals separately, and looking at career affinity and career goals separately, offers interesting results and underscores the value of disentangling the conceptual melting pot of what has previously been known as ‘career interest.’ Study findings also have implications for design of science learning opportunities for youth.     

Professional Culture and Professional Development in Jewish Schools: Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences

In this article, we report a study of professional culture and professional development in Jewish schools based on surveys of teachers and other staff and interviews with principals. We first introduce three key constructs: professional culture, professional development, and professional learning communities. We then describe research that has identified features of each that support teacher learning. With this background in mind, we compare the current realities in Jewish schools as gleaned through the survey with typical public schools and with the features of schools identified in the literature as supportive of teacher learning and collegiality. Finally, we suggest the next steps that might be taken to improve Jewish schools as settings in which teacher growth and learning flourish.     

Should eminence based on outstanding innovation be the goal of gifted education and talent development? Implications for policy and research

Systemic goals for gifted programs can take many forms. The authors place most program goals into a dichotomy — those that address the present academic needs of gifted students in schools and those designed to prepare future eminent path breakers and innovators. To clarify our arguments, we first define eminence and then offer examples from national mission statements that target gifted programs either to academic needs of advanced students or future needs of society. Although we support both goals, we promote the latter, even in light of the complications that we delineate. To demonstrate a model of eminence development that might be implemented more widely, we present a prototype program generated at the American Psychological Association. We close our argument with recommendations and implications for research and policy.     

Practices that support the transition to public preschool programs: Results from a National Survey

The number of children participating in public school preschool programs has steadily increased over the last two decades. While the use of specific practices to support the transition to kindergarten has received a great deal of attention, there are little data on the use of transition practices by public school preschool teachers to support children's entry into the public school preschool setting. This article presents findings from a national sample of 2434 public school preschool teachers on the use of 25 transition practices to support the transition of young children into public school preschool programs. The study represents a collaborative extension of the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Kindergarten Transition Survey [Pianta, R. C., Cox, M. J., Taylor, L., & Early, D. (1999). Kindergarten teachers’ practices related to the transition to school: Results of a national survey. Elementary School Journal, 100(1), 71–86]. Public school preschool teachers reported using an average of 12.81 of the 25 transition practices included in the survey, with a total of 12 of the 25 transition practices reportedly in use by 70% or more of teachers responding to the survey. Findings from this study indicate that three variables – training on the use of specific transition practices, classroom composition, and school context – were related to the use of transition practices by public school preschool teachers.     

Implementation and Evaluation of an Early Foreign Language Learning Project in Kindergarten

The purpose of present paper was twofold. Firstly, it aimed at outlining the rationale for and the process of introducing an English language learning intervention to kindergarten children in a playful and supportive environment. It focused on developing children’s oral skills through participating in creative child-appropriate activities and interacting in small groups. The intervention, extended in a period of an academic year, was coordinated in two phases; in the first, ‘warm-up’ phase, a visual approach was followed and in the second one, the basic phase of the intervention, 12 sessions of relevant topics were included, each one carried out in four steps. On the other hand, it aimed at investigating the degree to which ‘rule play’ could contribute to oral skills acquisition and vocabulary development. For this purpose, an effectiveness study was conducted which revealed the positive effects of the intervention on early foreign language learning.