"Bridging the Gap": The Effects of the Success For All Program on Elementary School Reading Achievement as a Function of Student Ethnicity and Ability Level

This study examined the effects on reading achievement of the Success For All (SFA) program for minority and nonminority students attending elementary school in a small midwestern city. SFA uses a research-based kindergarten program, beginning and intermediate reading programs in Grades 1–3, one-to-one tutoring for low achievers, family support, and other elements. Findings from a comparison between two SFA schools and two matched control schools showed that on individually-administered reading tests, minority (African American) students in the SFA schools performed comparably to their nonminority counterparts at the four schools while significantly outperforming control school minority students. Although overall program effects were not significant, SFA was also effective for the subsample consisting of the lowest-25% achieving students. Longitudinal results over four years showed stable benefits for the lowest-achievers, but some decline in overall program effects relative to the first two years.     

Parents’ goals for and perceptions of alphabet books

This study examined parents’ goals for reading ABC books with their children and their perceptions of page features. Factor analysis of a questionnaire answered by 225 parents of junior and senior kindergarten students revealed four goals for reading alphabet books. In order of importance as rated by parents the goals were: Learning to Read, Enjoyment and Bonding, Learning from Books, and Soothing the Child. Maternal education, number of ABC books owned, and ABC book reading frequency were related to parents’ goals. When viewing ABC pages, parents rated pages with little text, simple illustrations, and letter sound-word consistency as more appropriate for fulfilling purposes related to learning to decode than pages with a lot of text, complex illustrations, and letter sound-word violations. These perceptions are congruent with previous research and experts’ advice. However, parents rated pages with more complex illustrations as more appropriate for enjoyment, potentially putting books with complex illustrations at cross purposes with the previous goals.     

The effect of schools on school leavers’ university participation

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the role that schools have in determining whether school leavers participate in higher education or not. It examines the association between schools and university participation using a unique dataset of 3 cohorts of all young people leaving maintained schools in Wales. School “effects” are identified, even after controlling for individual-level factors, such as their prior attainment, socioeconomic circumstances, ethnicity, and special educational needs. Schools appear to have a particular “effect” on the likelihood that a young person enters an elite university. However, the findings suggest the concept of a school “effect” on higher education participation is not straightforward – schools appear to have different levels of effectiveness depending on the gender of the young people and the nature of their higher education participation. These findings are considered within the policy contexts of school effectiveness and widening access to higher education.     

Classroom Discourse as a Tool to Enhance Formative Assessment and Practise in Science

This study details an innovative approach to coordinating and enhancing multiple levels of assessment and discursive feedback around an existing multi‐media curricular environment called Astronomy Village^®. As part of a broader design‐based research programme, the study analysed small group interactions in feedback activities across two design cycles. The goal of this analysis is to develop an understanding of the ways that a situative approach to assessment and practise supports learning. Findings demonstrate ways that student and teacher engagement in collaborative activities support and constrain meaningful understanding, which we consider in terms of a trajectory of participation in and across conversations and written assessments, as well as individual learning gains on formal classroom examinations and standards‐oriented external tests. Analyses of complementary formulations of domain concepts—discourse practises and assessment performance—suggest that participation in social forms of scientific engagement supports both learning and subsequent performance in more formal contexts. We suggest design principles for integrating the formative functions of discursive feedback with the summative functions of traditional assessment, through participation in different forms of science discourse(s).     

Fostering Data Literacy Through Preservice Teacher Inquiry in English Language Arts

Data literate educators can generate questions about learning in their classes; collect and analyze classroom data to answer them; and develop inferences and explanations. Two elements may promote data literacy: (a) breadth of classroom-based data collection and (b) depth of analysis. We examined these in inquiries conducted by 80 preservice teachers of secondary English in diverse classrooms over a 6-year period. Analyzing products, processes, and self-reports, we found inquiries evidenced a range in breadth of data collection and depth of analysis. Qualitative themes and two cases illustrate data analysis processes and challenges of pattern finding, initially crude analyses in striving for depth, and the need for data literacy mentoring.     

Contextualizing critical action research: lessons from urban educators

An assumption that knowledge arises from research outcomes has been expanded in recent years to include the possibility that knowledge may also be created from the process of engaging in research. Action research (AR) is particularly well suited to such knowledge development. This article offers a brief overview of knowledge in AR as well as the origins and purpose of participatory AR, and discusses selected contributions to knowledge development published in Educational Action Research. The author augments the literature with personal learning developed in a research partnership between adults and adolescents. Relational knowledge development was understood through addressing concepts of building trust, being treated like a human being and mental health promotion. Reflective knowledge was built through reflections on the meaning of participating as co‐researchers.     

Comparing student learning experiences of in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback: strategies for formative assessment

This study compares students’ experiences of two types of criteria-based assessment: in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback, in an assessment design combining the two feedback channels. The main aim is to use students’ responses to shed light on how feedback strategies for formative assessment can be optimised. Following action research methodology, the study discusses key categories of student responses from three sources: reflective texts, a questionnaire, and interviews. Results show that different functions were attributed to the two feedback channels: in-text commentary to lower-order concerns related to language proficiency, and rubric-articulated feedback to higher-order concerns related to an overview of writing achievement. We argue that the different functions have the potential of creating a sufficiently balanced assessment design with the possibility of serving both short-term and continuous learning goals. On the other hand, some students found it difficult to navigate between the two feedback channels. The article therefore ends with a ‘lessons learned’ section where we list possible ways in which the current assessment design can be improved for optimal use of the synergy effects emanating from a combination of in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback for formative purposes.     

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE 37th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR JEWISH EDUCATION

Although paired study (hevruta) has been a part of Jewish learning and an essential aspect of rabbinic education for centuries, over the past decade it has become an increasingly formalized vehicle in the training of rabbis in non-Orthodox seminaries. Little research has focused on its organization and process and what role it plays within the context of rabbinic education. This study seeks to investigate the practice of hevruta as it has developed in the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Methodologically, the study makes use primarily of standardized long interviews. The results of this study indicate that while hevruta shares many characteristics of cooperative learning in higher education, it remains a distinct Jewish learning strategy.