Firm foundations: the effectiveness of an educational psychologist developed intervention targeting early numeracy skills

This study evaluates the efficacy of a mathematics intervention devised by Essex Educational Psychology Service (EPS), UK. The intervention was designed to develop understanding and skills across four key domains within arithmetical development, by applying the principles of errorless learning, distributed practice and teaching to mastery. A quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the success of the intervention in raising the level of arithmetical skills of lower achieving pupils up to National Curriculum Level 2. The results indicated that children engaging with the intervention made significantly more progress than children not engaging with the intervention, with ratio gains of 2.51 in arithmetical skills. In addition, gains were made in mathematical reasoning.     

The girl with the garden gloves: researching the affordances of sensual materialities in the school garden

ABSTRACT

This article uses vignettes and photographs taken from ethnographic research to reframe the methodological assumptions within school garden research. New theoretical perspectives are applied to previous empirical school garden research that provides deeper understandings of both the teaching and the learning of ecoliteracy in such material contexts. Actor Network Theory and Social Semiotics further highlight the affordance of school garden spaces. We make public the conversations of a small research group about a perceived ethnographic turn towards materiality, aesthetics and agency.     

Value-Added Assessment from Student Achievement Data: Opportunities and Hurdles CREATE NATIONAL EVALUATION INSTITUTE July 21, 2000

Let me share with you how honored I am to receive an award named after the late Dr. Jay Millman. In 1983, after completing the first of our research studies that began our continuing work in value-added, our report was sent by officials in the Tennessee Department of Education for review by Dr. Millman. It is no secret that many in the Department at the time were assuming that his anticipated critical review would put an end to such a preposterous idea—that student achievement data could be used as part of teacher evaluation. Days turned into weeks; each time that I would inquire of the Department as to when we would hear from the review, I was always told that they had not received it. One day I called Dr. Millman and explained my frustration of not hearing from the review and inquired as to when it might be available. He immediately interrupted and explained that he had sent the review several weeks previous to that day and that he would be glad to send me a copy of his remarks, obviously very angry that they had not been passed on to me. Upon receiving and reading his review, it became obvious why I had not received a copy from the Department. Even though he raised many important questions, his review was most objective and generally very positive. Later, he asked us to submit chapters to the book on student outcomes assessment models that he edited. In all of my interactions with Jay, I developed the utmost respect for this distinguished scholar, and I am glad that fate let our paths cross.     

Parenting Practices Among Low-income Parents/Guardians of Academically Successful Fifth Grade African American Children

Research investigating the relationship between parenting and academic achievement has provided conflicting results, particularly for low-income, culturally-diverse parents. Using resilience theory, the researchers conducted a case study with five low-income African American mothers. Findings suggest that educators can benefit from partnering with African American parents.     

Kinematics, coordination, variability, and biological noise in the prone flutter kick at different levels of a "learn-to-swim" programme

The purpose of this study was to establish the characteristics of the movement patterns common to flutter kicking of skilled swimmers and to determine how the movement patterns of swimmers at different levels of a "learn-to-swim" programme differ from those of skilled swimmers. Also, the nature of the skill afforded the opportunity to investigate learning of a cyclical multi-joint task from a motor control perspective. The underwater motion of nine children representing three levels of a "learn-to-swim" programme and 10 skilled swimmers were video-recorded while performing nine cycles of prone flutter kicking. Kinematics including joint angular motion and coordination of joint actions were calculated. Fourier analysis was applied to determine the frequency composition of the vertical undulations of the hip, knee, and ankle and to calculate the velocity of the body wave travelling caudally from hip to ankle. Fourier analysis also enabled investigation of biological noise, as distinct from variability. The results indicated the desired joint angles and coordination towards which learners could be guided. An index based on the ratio of hip - knee and knee - ankle body wave velocities showed that the inter-joint coordination of most learners was not appropriate for effective flutter kicking. There was strong evidence to suggest that skilled performance in flutter kicking is characterized by sequencing of joint actions to produce a single sinusoidal body wave moving caudally with not decreasing and preferably increasing velocity, low biological noise, and small variability.     

The kinematic differences between skill levels in the squash forehand drive,volley and drop strokes

ABSTRACT

Knowledge of the kinematic differences that separate highly skilled and less-skilled squash players could assist the progression of talent development. This study compared trunk, upper-limb and racket kinematics between two groups of nine highly skilled and less-skilled male athletes for forehand drive, volley and drop strokes. A 15-camera motion analysis system recorded three-dimensional trajectories, with five shots analysed per participant per stroke. The highly skilled group had significantly (p < 0.05) larger forearm pronation/supination range-of-motion and wrist extension angles at impact than the less-skilled. The less-skilled group had a significantly more “open” racket face and slower racket velocities at impact than the highly skilled. Rates of shoulder internal rotation, forearm pronation, elbow extension and wrist flexion at impact were greater in the drive stroke than in the other strokes. The position of the racket at impact in the volley was significantly more anterior to the shoulder than in the other strokes, with a smaller trunk rotation angular velocity. Players used less shoulder internal/external rotation, forearm pronation/supination, elbow and wrist flexion/extension ranges-of-motions and angular velocities at impact in the drop stroke than in the other strokes. These findings provide useful insights into the technical differences that separate highly skilled from less-skilled players and provide a kinematic distinction between stroke types.     

Clay-Based Modeling in the Anatomist's Toolkit: A Systematic Review

Anatomical education has suffered from reduced teaching time and poor availability of staff and resources over the past thirty years. Clay-based modeling (CBM) is an alternative technique for teaching anatomy that can improve student knowledge and experience. This systematic review aimed to summarize and appraise the quality of the literature describing the uses, advantages, and limitations of CBM compared to alternative methods of teaching human gross anatomy to students or qualified healthcare professionals. A systematic search of Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases was conducted, and the Medical Education Research Quality Instrument (MERSQI) was used to assess study quality. Out of the 829 studies identified, 12 papers met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for this review. The studies were of high quality, with a mean MERSQI score of 11.50/18. Clay-based modeling can be used to teach all gross anatomical regions, and 11 studies demonstrated a significant improvement in short-term knowledge gain in students who used CBM in comparison to other methods of learning anatomy. Eight studies that included subjective assessment showed that CBM is rated highly. However, some studies showed that students viewed CBM as juvenile and experienced difficulty making the models. Additionally, there is no evidence to suggest that CBM improves long-term knowledge. Clay-based modeling is an effective learning method for human gross anatomy and should be incorporated into the anatomists' toolkit. In the future, more randomized controlled studies with transparent study designs investigating the long-term impact of CBM are needed.     

Reliability and Preliminary Use of a Rubric to Assess Pre-Kindergarten Teachers’ Video Uses

The presence and use of new technologies in early childhood settings are rapidly increasing. One technology tool used in early childhood settings is monthly DVD classroom newsletters, yet there is a lack of assessments to support pre-kindergarten teachers’ uses of such DVD newsletter technology—in general and in specific. The present study helps to fill this gap by developing and testing a revised rubric to evaluate the quality of monthly DVD classroom newsletters. Results indicate that the revised Monthly DVD Classroom Newsletter-Rubric exhibited good overall reliability. We suggest that the use of a rubric to assess pre-kindergarten teacher-created monthly DVD classroom newsletters supports teachers’ decision making about technology uses and professional development.     

Efficacy of Supplemental Phonics-Based Instruction for Low-Skilled First Graders: How Language Minority Status and Pretest Characteristics Moderate Treatment Response

We examined the efficacy of 20 weeks of individual supplemental phonics-based instruction for language minority (LM) and non-LM first graders. Students were designated LM if the primary home language was not English (otherwise non-LM). Those performing in the bottom half of their classroom LM/non-LM group in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Treatment included alphabetics, decoding, and oral reading practice. Results showed that treatment students (n?=?93) outperformed controls (n?=?94) on 5 of the 6 posttests; however, LM students exhibited lower treatment response on passage reading fluency. Pretest word reading did not moderate treatment response, and LM students with greater baseline vocabulary showed greater treatment response on posttest word reading and spelling.