Evaluating the Effectiveness of the National Literacy Strategy: Identifying indicators of success

In 1998, the Government introduced the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) in all primary schools in England in a bid to raise literacy standards. The first cohort of primary schools in the northern Local Education Authority ( n = 19) implemented the project in January 1997, the second cohort ( n = 20) began in September 1997. Each cohort consisted of three different year groups (Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6). The aim of this project was to focus upon exam results from these schools and thereby identify possible predictors of success (e.g. socio-economic status, age of pupils, teaching and learning style). We looked at differences within and between each cohort. We also carried out in-depth case studies of three northern schools. Each case-study involved interviews with key staff. The wider implications of the findings for the implementation of the NLS and for the training needs of teachers are considered.     

Book Reviews

Scholarly Publishing Practice 3: Academic Journals Publishers' Policies and Practices in Online Publishing , 3rd edition John Cox, John Cox Associates Ltd. Laura Cox, Frontline Global Marketing Services Ltd. Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, 2008, 108 pp. ISBN 978 0 907341 39 0, pbk, £60/$115/€80 (ALPSP members) ISBN 978 0 907341 40 6, e‐book, free to ALPSP members; print plus e‐book, £115/$225/€150 (non‐members)     

English and Mathematics Teachers' Attitudes to Integration

An attitude questionnaire completed by 102 teachers of English and mathematics on the integration of students with special education needs in the mainstream classroom indicated no significant differences in attitude between the two groups. Differences, however, were discernible when teacher training in special educational needs was considered; a situation which has implications for further study and for the inservice and initial training of teachers.     

Positions and rewards: The allocation of resources within a science-based entrepreneurial firm

We study the link between resource allocation and employee publication in the open science in a quantitative case study of one science-based, entrepreneurial firm. We bridge the literature on incentives with that on authority structures to argue that a positive relationship between rewards and productivity will be strongest for individuals in positions of scientific leadership within the firm. In a novel dataset, we find that prolific publishers receive greater year-end bonuses and are allocated additional direct reports, but this relationship only holds for individuals in scientific leadership roles. These results contribute to our understanding of resource allocation processes and reward structures in science-based firms.     

Gambling with Nonsense: Play and the Secondary English Classroom

Dominant and common-sense contemporary conceptions of practice tend to frame the emotional volatility of the classroom – most commonly explored in discussions about student behaviour – as a fundamental obstacle to teaching and learning. The ‘outstanding’ classroom is both orderly and, paradoxically perhaps, characterised by its passionate, and vocal, student engagement. In this piece I draw on D.W. Winnicott’s writing about play and aggression, exploring his ideas in the context of my work with two classes as a secondary English teacher at an inner-city comprehensive; doing so, I attempt to reframe both my own and my students’ affectively charged experience of the classroom as valuable rather than problematic. I posit certain moments of playfulness as a kind of pedagogical patience: less an evasion of, or a disruption to, the business of the curriculum, and more a route to meaningful engagement with it.     

Welcome and exclusion: an analysis of The Australian newspaper’s coverage of international students

For countries such as Australia exporting education is recognised as an important contributor to the nation’s economy. The embodiment of this export industry in Australia is the presence of international students in tertiary institutions across the country. Despite their considerable contribution to social, political, cultural and economic life, there have been recent examples of violence, exploitation and discrimination against international students in Australia. To understand how international students are both welcomed and excluded from Australian life, we use critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyse news reports published in an Australian national newspaper from 2009 to 2011. Following van Dijk (Ideology: a multidisciplinary approach, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 1998) we view newspapers as ideological institutions that mobilise discursive power to polarise public opinion to support their ideological agenda(s). In the case of international students we use CDA to show how media discourses construct international students in ways that commodify their participation in higher education and marginalise them as the excluded ‘other’ in Australian society. Our conceptual and analytical approach has broader implications for national higher education policy and international student experience by exposing the social inequalities that accompany globalised international education.     

Sign language Web pages

The WORLD WIDE WEB has changed the way people interact. It has also become an important equalizer of information access for many social sectors. However, for many people, including some sign language users, Web accessing can be difficult. For some, it not only presents another barrier to overcome but has left them without cultural equality. The present article describes a system that allows sign language-only Web pages to be created and linked through a video-based technique called sign-linking. In two studies, 14 Deaf participants examined two iterations of signlinked Web pages to gauge the usability and learnability of a signing Web page interface. The first study indicated that signing Web pages were usable by sign language users but that some interface features required improvement. The second study showed increased usability for those features; users consequently couldnavigate sign language information with ease and pleasure.     

Scaffolding Mathematics Remediation for Academically At-Risk Students Following Developmental Education Reform in Florida

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how educational scaffolding may explain changing patterns of student success in mathematics in the era of developmental education (DE or remediation) reform in Florida College System (FCS) institutions. Specifically, we apply the concept of scaffolding to underprepared FCS students who are at risk of dropping out or failing gateway courses (the first credit-bearing college-level class in a course sequence) because they lack the academic skills necessary to succeed in college-level coursework, particularly in mathematics. We present data from focus groups conducted at 10 FCS institutions, suggesting that a reduction of scaffolding in math remediation occurred in the areas of course sequencing, instruction, and coordination with academic support services following state-level policy changes. In light of these findings, we offer a discussion of practical recommendations for college administrators related to academic advising, instructional strategies in DE courses, coordination between developmental and college-level instructors, student success courses, and the integration of DE instruction with academic support. We also suggest directions for continued research on the effects of policy changes in the FCS and DE reform efforts across the country.