The quality of teachers’ interactive conversations with preschool children from low-income families during small-group and large-group activities

This study examined the quality of preschool teachers’ interactive conversations with three- and four-year-olds in two Head Start classrooms serving children from low-income families in the United States. Over a period of 20?weeks, 10 bi-weekly observations of conversations (totaling 15?h per classroom) were conducted in one small-group (Play Time) and two large-group (Breakfast Time and Circle Time) contexts. The teacher–child verbal interactions were transcribed and coded using the Teacher Interaction and Language Rating Scale (TILRS) to determine the frequency of responsive language strategies employed by the teachers across the three contexts. The two teachers applied Child-Centered Strategies and Interaction-Promoting Strategies the most during Circle Time, followed by Play Time, and the least during Breakfast Time. While it was observed that both teachers did talk to the children face to face frequently across contexts, they rarely used Language Modeling Strategies to engage them in cognitively challenging conversations. Implications for professional development are discussed.     

“My Questionnaire is Too Long!” The assessments of motivational-affective constructs with three-item and single-item measures

Because testing time in educational research is typically scarce, the use of long scales to assess motivational-affective constructs can be problematic. The goal of the present study was to scrutinize the psychometric properties of short scales (with three items) and single-item measures for two core motivational-affective constructs (i.e., academic anxiety and academic self-concept) by conducting systematic comparisons with corresponding long scales across school subjects and within different subject domains (i.e., mathematics, German, French). Statistical analyses were based on representative data from 3879 ninth-grade students. All short forms possessed satisfactory levels of reliability (range: .75–.89) and substantial correlations with the long scales (range: .88–.97); correlational patterns with educational student characteristics (e.g., achievement, school satisfaction, gender, academic track, and socioeconomic status) were comparable to those obtained with the corresponding long scales (all average differences in correlations below .07). The correlational patterns between all single-item measures and the external criteria were similar to those obtained with the corresponding long scales (all average differences in correlations below .08), yet the single-item measures demonstrated low to modest score reliabilities (estimated with the model-based omega coefficient; range: .22–.72) and correlations with full scales (range: .50–.88). When long scales are not applicable, short forms and perhaps even single-item measures may represent psychometrically sound alternatives for assessing academic anxiety and academic self-concept for educational research purposes.     

Towards a whole-school approach to the pastoral care module in a Postgraduate Certificate of Education programme: a South African experience

This study explores the potential of adopting a whole-school approach to the pastoral care module in a Postgraduate Certificate of Education Programme to ensure that all newly qualified teachers practice effective pastoral care in their classrooms and promote the learners’ academic engagement and performance. A non-experimental survey research design involving quantitative data was used. A group-administered questionnaire was used to collect the sampled student teachers’ (n?=?59) opinion on the competencies they obtain from the module. The student teachers ranked knowledge first, beliefs and values second and skills third. For the student teachers to perform their academic and pastoral roles constructively together in a challenged education system, it is recommended that, in the short term, a learning unit, which is grounded in Best’s needs-focused model of pastoral care, be included in the module; and, in the long term, given the context of the South African schooling system, the nurturer professional model of teacher education be implemented. This article reports the outcomes of a follow-up study of an earlier preliminary study.     

Entwicklungen und Auswirkungen der Schulprofilierung an allgemeinbildenden Schulen in ausgewählten europäischen Ländern und Implementationsperspektiven für Deutschland

Developments and consequences of school profiling in general-education schools in selected European countries and perspectives for implementation in Germany – The development of a school programme, e.g. by way of forming a profile in the field of music or sports, is part of everyday school life in many European state and private schools today and even statutory in some countries and states. This paper focuses on the background and the significance of this development in school politics but also on the potential and the challenges which come with the profile formation of schools on an individual as well as systemic basis. Furthermore, the author introduces and discusses examples for the profile formation of schools and classes by looking at concrete projects. After that, recommendations are given for school programme work in individual schools. The focus is especially on German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland.     

A turning‐point or a backward slide: the challenge facing the Swedish preschool today

Thirty years or more of striving for a coherent theme in the educational system from preschool to gymnasium might now be at an end. Millions of Swedish kronor have been spent on projects concerning cooperation between pre‐ and primary school. The curricula for preschool and the gymnasium are similar in structure, and they are connected with each other through the goals that children and students are expected to achieve. Teacher education has so far been one integrated programme with different orientations and specialities, and the basic knowledge that teachers require has been largely the same from early childhood education (ECE) to adult education. The political winds are, however, blowing in another direction. A question to ask is whether Sweden is changing its holistic and social‐pedagogical approach to ECE and teacher education towards a more traditional academic one. It is this change that will be discussed in this article, although one has to bear in mind that nothing is fixed and stable, so the article is a snapshot from an ongoing process.     

Design Patterns for Learning and Assessment: Facilitating the Introduction of a Complex Simulation-Based Learning Environment into a Community of Instructors

Simulation environments make it possible for science and engineering students to learn to interact with complex systems. Putting these capabilities to effective use for learning, and assessing learning, requires more than a simulation environment alone. It requires a conceptual framework for the knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking that are meant to be developed, in order to design activities that target these capabilities. The challenges of using simulation environments effectively are especially daunting in dispersed social systems. This article describes how these challenges were addressed in the context of the Cisco Networking Academies with a simulation tool for computer networks called Packet Tracer. The focus is on a conceptual support framework for instructors in over 9,000 institutions around the world for using Packet Tracer in instruction and assessment, by learning to create problem-solving scenarios that are at once tuned to the local needs of their students and consistent with the epistemic frame of “thinking like a network engineer.” We describe a layered framework of tools and interfaces above the network simulator that supports the use of Packet Tracer in the distributed community of instructors and students.     

There’s Elly,It Must be Tuesday: Discontinuity in Child Care Programs and Its Impact on the Development of Peer Relationships in Young Children

This study traces patterns of attendance, times of arrival and departure, and policies and practices surrounding enrollment and moving children from classroom to classroom in a child care center. It appears that children’s efforts to acquire competence in developing friendships with their peers not only depends on their own capacities, but is also affected by above-mentioned patterns and policies and practices, over which children have no control. For a period of 6 months, we follow the trajectory of Elly, a young 3-year old girl, who is enrolled mid-year, part-time, in Sunshine Child Development Center. She is placed in a classroom with two-and-a-half to three and-a-half year old children, several of whom also attend part-time. It takes Elly 6 months to develop a meaningful relationship with some of her peers, an important yet tenuous milestone because, according to center policy groups will be reconfigured over the summer. Thus, Elly and her new friends may be placed in different groups in the fall. This study also documents the important role of social pretend play in helping children to initiate and develop friendships, especially in the company of more competent peers. Importantly, the child care center’s policies and practices for transitioning children in and out of classrooms seem to be at odds with current research on attachment, continuity, and the development of peer relationships. Recommendations are made for creating environments where continuity of care and education for young children are a priority.     

Validity and reliability of tests determining performance-related components of wheelchair basketball

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of wheelchair basketball field tests. Nineteen wheelchair basketball players performed 10 test items twice to determine the reliability. The validity of the tests was assessed by relating the scores to the players' classification and competition standard, and rating of coach and player. Six field tests' test-retest showed good reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.80-0.97), while the pass-for-accuracy, free throws, lay-up and spot shot showed weak to moderate reliability (ICC = 0.26-0.67). Most tests showed moderate to good validity (r > 0.60). The results suggest that wheelchair basketball field tests are reliable and valid with the exception of the shooting and passing items, which should be interpreted carefully.