Combined fluency and cognitive strategies instruction improves mathematics achievement in early elementary school

One hundred and seventy-eight second grade students from two states (Georgia and Massachusetts) participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to either (1) a computer program designed to increase fluency in addition and subtraction, (2) a program designed to improve cognitive strategy use for addition and subtraction, (3) a program that combined the fluency and cognitive strategy instruction programs or (4) a control condition. The intervention consisted of 40 half-hour sessions (2 sessions per week for 20 weeks). Prior to the intervention, and immediately following the intervention, the participants were tested on fluency, cognitive strategy use, and mathematics achievement. ANCOVAs indicated that children in the combined fluency and cognitive strategy use condition significantly improved their mathematics achievement in comparison to the control group. When we examined the impact of the intervention as a function of gender, boys appeared to benefit from the intervention, but girls did not.     

新疆阿克苏地区农村金融可持续发展研究

分析了阿克苏地区农村金融体系可持续发展中存在的问题,进一步得出阿克苏地区农村金融体系改革的目标,并提出相应的政策措施以及对策建议。     

Antecedent and concurrent psychosocial skills that support high levels of achievement within talent domains

Motivation and emotional regulation are important for the sustained focused study and practice required for high levels of achievement and creative productivity in adulthood. Using the talent development model proposed by the authors as a framework, the authors discuss several important psychosocial skills based on the psychological research literature that are antecedent and concurrent to the types and level of motivation needed for transitions from ability to competence, competence to expertise, and beyond.     

GROWING AS TEACHER EDUCATORS: Learning New Professional Development Practices

This article examines the ways that, in Holocaust education in Jewish schools in Melbourne and New York at the beginning of the 21st century, knowledge of the Holocaust is transferred to students in chronological form. It begins by asking: What work do chronological narratives do within the Holocaust historical narratives offered within Jewish high school classrooms? In order to explore this question, examples from curricula and interviews with the teachers are explored. It is argued that while the use of chronological narratives within the high-school classroom to narrate historical events is not unique to the teaching of the Holocaust, the work which this narrative form does is particular to the negotiation of the traumatic aftermath of the Holocaust.     

Validity of the verbal immediacy scale

The development and use of the verbal immediacy scale (Gorham, 1988) are outlined and discussed. Data are presented which bring into question the validity of the measure. It is concluded that the scale may not be a valid operationalization of the immediacy construct as outlined by Mehrabian (1971) and, even if it is, it generates a response set such that the meaning of the responses obtained is unknown. The scale is not recommended for continued use in communication research prior to its reformulation and additional testing for validity.     

Teacher Professional Development in Congregational Settings 1

This article describes the impact of sustained professional development programs in two Jewish congregational schools. This research suggests that contrary to common assumptions, part-time teachers in Jewish congregational schools will invest time in professional development when it is of high quality, interactive and engaging and based at their school. These programs have significantly affected teacher collegiality, knowledge of pedagogy and Jewish content, and reflection about teachers' own teaching practices and practice of Judaism. The role of the educational leader is a salient feature of the program success.     

Investigating Prospective Jewish Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs About Torah: Implications for Teacher Education

Teaching the Torah in liberal settings demands a set of skills and a sophisticated knowledge of the Bible. It presupposes an open approach to the text that posits multiple interpretations, and demands close reading and explication of the text as in a literary-critical approach. In this article, the author describes the knowledge and beliefs of six different cohort groups of prospective Jewish educators regarding the authorship of the Torah and their understandings of two central narratives in the book of Genesis. She explores the tenacity of their early beliefs in the face of a variety of pedagogic interventions question and speculates about the nature of that tenacity.