A Self-Regulated Learning Approach to Teaching Educational Psychology

In this paper, we describe an undergraduate educational psychology course that utilizes self-regulated learning as the organizing principle. The course aims to facilitate students' development in self-regulated learning and to promote students' understanding of how to embed instruction for self-regulated learning strategies into classroom teaching. In the first section of the paper, we develop the rationale for this position and identify underlying assumptions we believe should guide the development and implementation of such a program. In the second section of the paper, we demonstrate how we have incorporated these assumptions in a basic educational psychology course.     

The Inclusion of Informal Environments in Science Teacher Preparation

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Improving content area reading comprehension of Spanish speaking English learners in Grades 4 and 5 using web-based text structure instruction

Reading and comprehending content area texts is important for academic and professional success as well as life skills necessary to maintain good health and quality lifestyle. Spanish speaking English language learners have shown poor performance on high-stakes assessments in reading comprehension. The number of Spanish speaking English learners (ELs) in our schools continues to increase at a fast pace, and therefore it is imperative that we address their reading comprehension needs swiftly and effectively. The text structure strategy has shown positive results on comprehension outcomes in many research studies with students at Grades 2, 4, 5, and 7. This study is the first implementation of instruction about the text structure strategy expressly designed to accommodate the linguistic and comprehension needs of Spanish speaking ELs in Grades 4 and 5. Strategy instruction on the web for English learners (SWELL) was designed to deliver instruction about the text structure strategy to Spanish speaker English learners. A randomized controlled study with pre and post-tests was conducted with 14 classrooms at fourth-grade and 17 classrooms at fifth-grade in high poverty schools where over 85% of students were Spanish speaking bilinguals or ELs. Analysis of data using multi-level models show moderate to large-effects favoring the students in the SWELL classrooms over the business as usual control classrooms on important measures such as a standardized reading comprehension test and main idea and cloze tasks. This research has practical implications for the use of web-based tools to provide high-quality and supportive instruction to improve Spanish speaking ELs reading comprehension skills.     

Communicating data to schools

The article explores the communication of data to schools by researchers and evaluators. The stance is taken that the research process is one in which the participants are involved in a mutually supportive enterprise in which the relationship should be viewed as co-operation between professional colleagues, i.e., a relationship in which perceived status is minimised but one in which different knowledge and expertise exists on both sides. It is argued that the obtaining of data at school sites requires the researcher to provide data to their sources. Careful consideration needs to be given by researchers to the process and methods of communication of data to school communities. Issues addressed include audience, terminology, prose and other forms of presentation. A case is made for the researcher to become involved in dialogue to enhance the “meaning-making” of practitioners and themselves. The article concludes with a set of guidelines for researchers.     

Assessment of Teacher Reactions to a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation System: A Pilot Study*

This article reports on teachers' reactions to a pilot implementation of a new standards-based teacher evaluation system in a medium-sized Midwestern school district. The system, based on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996), was intended to serve as the foundation for a new knowledge and skill pay plan for teachers. Teacher reactions were measured using both interview and survey methods. Teachers' overall favorableness toward the system, as measured by the survey, was correlated with acceptance of the teaching standards, perception of the evaluation process as fair and the evaluator as capable and objective, and perception that the evaluation system had a positive impact on their teaching. In interviews, teachers perceived both positive and negative aspects of the system, and for many these more or less balanced each other. While most teachers accepted the evaluation standards and the need for an evaluation system, many also perceived that the system added too much to teachers' workloads and did not provide enough feedback. Based on these results several changes were made in the evaluation system prior to full implementation. The results are discussed with reference to previous research and the Personnel Evaluation Standards.     

Bullying and the Unique Socioemotional Needs of Gifted and Talented Early Adolescents: Veteran Teacher Perspectives and Practices

Much is written at the elementary school level concerning bullying and the socioemotional needs of gifted and talented (GT) students; however, in the last 10 years, little qualitative research exists concerning the early adolescent GT age group. In the social environment of classroom life, early and current research indicates that many of these students experience neurotic perfectionism, overexciteabilities (OEs), developmental asynchrony, and bullying. The formation of autonomous classes (GT-only classes) has afforded some hope concerning the amelioration of such problems; nevertheless, in this study, detailed evidence of classroom bullying in the form of social ostracism and teasing has been found with this GT age group. If left unchecked, psychological autopsies have shown these students suffering emotional difficulties and even committing suicide as a result of school and classroom torment. With such potential for classroom bullying problems, few studies address what veteran teachers of early adolescent GT students do to keep students psychologically safe. Within the social milieu of classroom life, and in comparison to research standards, this study explores three efficacious teacher perspectives and practices.