Equity for English Learners: Evidence from Four Years of California’s Local Control Funding Formula

This study examined evidence of equity for English Learners-one of the three targeted student groups–in the early implementation of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) across data sets from seven studies. We used social justice inquiry methods and data integration analytic approaches that included purposeful sampling of districts’ Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), and data integration analyses of interviews with education leaders to examine how equity was advanced for English Learners. Our findings reveal that the quest for equity for English Learners is elusive and requires multilevel efforts to reverse the national, state, and local histories of unequal treatment, deficit orientations, socio-political dynamics, and legacies of unequal funding that still permeate many schools. Further advances in equity will require greater systemic coherence that sharpens the focus on educational outcomes for English Learners. California’s most recent policy shifts–including the passage of Proposition 58 and the English Learner Roadmap–show promise of systemic coherence and alignment to an assets-based approach for English Learners in the state and nation, as tangible evidence of equity in services and outcomes are still works in progress.     

The meaning-making affordances of composing print and digital graphic narratives

A classroom-based study with eight- and nine-year-old students included the participants having many opportunities to engage with multimodal print and digital texts, and various technological tools. The data presented in this article focus on one of the specific purposes of the research: to investigate students’ opinions of the affordances of designing print and digital graphic narratives. The content analysis of the students’ reflections about working with a software programme to compose a multimodal ensemble in the medium of comics revealed evidence of critical thinking as they analysed and critiqued the possibilities and constraints for meaning-making. The conclusion features a consideration of the importance of students and teachers developing metalevel knowledge about and a critical stance toward the meaning-making affordances of all texts and compositional tools and devices.     

Attributes of effective and efficient kindergarten reading intervention: an examination of instructional time and design specificity

A randomized experimental design with three levels of intervention was used to compare the effects of beginning reading interventions on early phonemic, decoding, and spelling outcomes of 96 kindergartners identified as at risk for reading difficulty. The three instructional interventions varied systematically along two dimensions--time and design of instruction specificity--and consisted of (a) 30 min with high design specificity (30/H), (b) 15 min with high design specificity plus 15 min of non-code-based instruction (15/H+15), and (c) a commercial comparison condition that reflected 30 min of moderate design specificity instruction (30/M). With the exception of the second 15 min of the 15/H+15 condition, all instruction focused on phonemic, alphabetic, and orthographic skills and strategies. Students were randomly assigned to one of the three interventions and received 108 thirty-minute sessions of small-group instruction as a supplement to their typical half-day kindergarten experience. Planned comparisons indicated findings of statistical and practical significance that varied according to measure and students' entry-level performance. The results are discussed in terms of the pedagogical precision needed to design and provide effective and efficient instruction for students who are most at risk.     

Case Studies in Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management Research & Practice -     

Programme evaluation toolbox: effective evaluation principles and considerations in career practice

In our ever-present age of accountability, career development professionals are increasingly called upon to document evidence-based outcomes and other metrics of programme effectiveness. In this article, we will review the key components of effective programme evaluation, including purposes and types of evaluation. Our review will span empirical and practical literature across disciplines and within guidance and counselling, specifically. We will review current evaluation models within an international context but focus predominantly on US based ones, along with articulating their shortfalls. Finally, we will present a potentially transformative advocacy-infused model of programme evaluation.     

Linguistic Differences with Bilingual Parents Who are Immigrants: Words for Dialoguing About Young Children

While partnerships including meaningful, two-way, parent–teacher dialogue about young children during early childhood program and school meetings are critical, linguistic differences between bilingual parents who are immigrants and early educators can impede communication and lead to inequitable services. In this article, we focus on one aspect of linguistic differences for educators and bilingual parents: English-language adjectives used by teachers to describe young children. We highlight aspects of adjectives, their uses, and cultural contexts to illustrate potential misunderstandings that may lead to not only miscommunication but also challenges to partnerships and equitable early childhood service provision. Subsequently, we present recommendations to foster meaningful dialogue and greater understanding between educators and bilingual parents who are immigrants when dialoguing about young children.     

Adults' prior exposure to print as a predictor of the legibility of text on paper and laptop computer

This study investigated the effects of variations in graphic elements that account for differences in speed and accuracy between reading text aloud from paper versus laptop computer. Variations in accurate reading-aloud performance are attributable to individual differences in the visual accessibility of information due to (1) the experimental manipulations of the independent variables, (2) the subjects' prior exposure to print within the culture, and (3) the educational attainment of the subject. A non-representative sample of 48 female survey interviewers (ages 38–72) were employed in the conduct of this study. Survey interviewers were selected because they gather information using laptop computers; the quality of the survey information collected may be directly associated with the legibility of computerized text on reader performance. Subjects completed a prior exposure to print questionnaire (Stanovich & West 1989) and a demographic data form (IDIQ). Repeated-measures analyses of variance were employed to examine individual differences in the speed and accuracy of reading-aloud performance for twenty-four conditions varying the levels of independent variables including: (1) Font (Times Roman, Helvetica, and Courier), (2) Justification (fully- justified versus left-justified), (3) Leading (single-spaced versus double-spaced), and (4) Mode of Presentation (paper versus laptop computer). Linear regression analyses found subjects' prior exposure to print significantly and positively related to predicting speed and miscue performance. The subjects' educational attainment significantly predicted miscue performance. Subjects' ages were not significantly related to performance. Results of this study inform computer programmers and designers who are responsible for developing standards and guidelines for legible computerized text for the effective access of accurate information.     

Identity construction in professional football: the case of Brøndby IF

Professional football clubs exist in a complex environment consisting of multiple stakeholders. When a club is unable to fulfil what is expected of it, its stakeholders are usually quick to express their dissatisfaction. This constant exposure to critical voices, and the fact that clubs are deeply dependent on their stakeholders, not least financially, makes identity construction a very important task. Perceiving identity as a social process in which self-expressions and external stakeholder images interact, the purpose of this study is to examine how the Danish football club, Brøndby IF, constructs its identity. The analysis shows how Brøndby to some extent chooses to ignore external perceptions of the club, which leads to further criticism. The study suggests how football directors should prioritize to construct a well-balanced identity that includes both internal and external perceptions of the club in order to stay attractive to stakeholders and secure future collaboration and funding.     

ECVET and ECTS credit equivalency in higher education – A bridge too far?

The implementation within Europe of a credit system for vocational education and training known as ECVET is a European Commission priority. The potential for permeability between the ECVET and European Credit Transfer and accumulation System (ECTS) was foreseen in the Recommendation to establish ECVET in 2009, while the Bruges Communique of 2010 called for the promotion of flexible links between vocational and higher education and increased coherence between ECVET and ECTS. To this end a significant number of EU-funded projects were undertaken to explore compatibility between ECVET and ECTS. This article reviews the findings of these projects and reflects on their success in terms of achieving this policy goal. These bridging projects identified several points of compatibility between the two credit systems and produced valuable tools and frameworks to facilitate such permeability. Achieving credit equivalency between ECVET and ECTS does not appear feasible, rather the evidence points to using a learning outcomes-based equivalency framework. However, this article calls into question the sustainability of these project results with regard to the lack of success in translating these findings into practice and the lack of co-ordinated efforts to implement these findings at a national or pan European level.