Partnering through training and practice to achieve performance improvement

This article presents a partnership effort among managers, trainers, and employees to spring to life performance improvement using the performance templates (P‐T) approach. P‐T represents a process model as well as a method of training leading to performance improvement. Not only does it add to our repertoire of training and performance management methods, it assists trainers and managers to promote change, achieve flexibility in performance, and enhance the fluency of skill application with regard to critical performance events.     

Inferential talk during teacher–child interactions in small-group play

This study examined teachers’ questions and children's responses during a play-based activity implemented in small groups within preschool classrooms. The first aim of this study was to describe teachers’ questions in terms of four levels of abstraction (i.e., a continuum of literal to inferential questions) and children's responses to these questions. The second aim was to examine the relations between teachers’ questions and children's responses using sequential analyses, to include children's level of abstraction and mean length of utterance (MLU). Participants were 39 teachers and up to six children from their preschool classroom. We found that teachers’ questions made up an average of 25% of their talk to children during play, and were relatively balanced between literal and inferential questions. Furthermore, significant sequential associations were found between the level of abstraction of teachers’ questions and the level of abstraction of children's responses (e.g., teachers’ inferential questions tended to elicit children's inferential responses). Finally, we found that teachers’ inferential questions were not related to children's MLU; that is, teachers’ more abstract questions did not elicit longer utterances from children. These findings suggest that play is a valuable context in which teachers may promote children's use of inferential language.     

Computer conferencing: A new medium for investigating issues in gender and learning

Claims have been made that computer mediated communication (CMC) is a potentially highly participatory and democratic medium because it reduces the requirement to interrupt or wait your turn to speak. Such aspects of discussion have been shown to be relevant to differences in male and female participation in group discussions. In general, men have been found to take more turns and to speak longer than women in mixed sex groups. Men are also said to characteristically speak about things, take centre stage and give opinions. Women on the other hand are more likely to emphasis people rather than things, and to build and maintain relations in the way they talk. These two styles have been described as report talk of men and rapport talk of women.In this paper we describe some preliminary findings on the impact of using CMC and its effect on traditional gender participation differences. We look first at turn taking by men and women in computer conferences, and then how women in particular experience differences in the kind of contributions made to the conferences by men and women. Finally, we look at the actual contributions made by men and women and the extent they differ from each other.     

The Linguistic Mass/Count Distinction as an Indicator of Referent Categorization in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

This study examines the acquisition of the linguistic mass/count distinction in English by bilingual (Spanish-English) children. The goal of the study is to explore whether bilingual children, like their monolingual peers, can draw information from the linguistic context in which a new noun id presented to determine whether the new word refers to an object or a substance. Results indicate that at 7 years of age, even bilinguals who are strong in English do not yet draw such inferences. By 9 years of age, however, bilinguals who are strong in English have response patterns similar to those of their monolingual peers but bilinguals who have lower English abilities still lag behind their monolingual peers in drawing such inferences.     

Dichotomy in thinking,dilemma in actions: Researcher and teacher perspectives on a chemistry teaching practice

This article is a case study of the thinking and actions of Mr. Corrigan, an experienced high school chemistry teacher. We explored Corrigan's ideas on teaching science by conducting two types of interviews, and wrote a case summary for Corrigan to read that compared his ideas with our classroom observations. We described his practice as centering on structured classroom and laboratory time, and contrasted it with his emphasis on students' exploratory thinking in the interviews. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary revealed a set of tacit conceptions of teaching science centered on the necessity of having a highly organized classroom and laboratory to ensure students' content understanding and success on tests and in college. We felt Corrigan faced a dilemma in that he values both his control of learning activities and the students' learning through exploration. Corrigan was confident in his practice and did not see much of a dilemma, and felt he was attending to both aspects of his thinking in an adequate fashion. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary are presented as a commentary on our perspective of the relationship between his thinking and actions. Working with Corrigan revealed to us the complexity of characterizing a teacher's thinking and its relationship to actions, and the value of the insight researchers gain from discussing their conclusions with the teacher. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 239–254, 1997.     

Orthographic processing and visual sequential memory in unexpectedly poor spellers

Does unexpectedly poor spelling in adults result from inferior visual sequential memory? In one experiment, unexpectedly poor spellers performed significantly worse than better spellers in the immediate reproduction of sequences of visual symbols, but in a second experiment, the effect was not replicated. Poor spellers were also no worse at the immediate recognition of symbol sequences. Overall, the results indicate that inferior visual memory is not characteristic of unexpectedly poor spellers. However, they do have less efficient orthographic processing skill: they were significantly slower and more error prone than better spellers at classifying both regularly and strangely spelt words, as well as at detecting letter transpositions in long words. They can thus be considered as subtly worse word readers than better spellers. While the findings question the notion of unexpectedly poor spelling in relation to normal adults, they provide confirmation of the intimate relationship between reading and spelling processes.     

Classroom Process and Practices in Public Pre-K Programs: Describing and Predicting Educational Opportunities in the Early Learning Sector

Research Findings: The present study used data from 117 publicly funded preschool classrooms within a large, diverse, suburban county to describe teacher practices and child engagement along with classroom activity settings and children’s exposure to instructional content. Practice or Policy: Results from this investigation revealed that children spent the largest share of the day in teacher-directed whole-group instruction and in free play and very little time was spent in individual and small-group settings. Although a 3rd of the school day was dedicated to academic activities, there were few opportunities for socioemotional learning, and children spent roughly a 3rd of the school day in routines/transitions and meals. Few differences emerged in the classroom observations across school- and community-based programs; however, more educated and experienced teachers spent more time teaching and in teacher-directed instruction.     

More than chalkboards: classroom spaces and collaborative learning attitudes

Learning Environments Research - The well-known benefits of collaborative learning have prompted the development of active learning classrooms that are designed to facilitate peer interaction....     

Family disruption and academic functioning in urban,black youth

The purpose of this study was to examine from an ecological perspective the relationships between multiple levels of family disruption and children's academic functioning in a sample of 390 urban, Black adolescents at age 14. Subjects in this cohort have been followed longitudinally since before their birth. Data from previous assessments at birth and age 7 years allowed for control of important correlates in this analyses. Examination of this unique sample, using multisource data collection procedures, provides important information about the many family disruptions among urban, low‐income families and the effects of these disruptions on academic outcomes. Results revealed several consistent findings, the most notable of which is that, when parents were married, adolescents demonstrated significantly higher grades, mediated through paternal involvement. Of all variables studied, the role of fathers in the lives of these adolescents was the most influential on academic outcomes. In this unique sample, even variables such as involvement with child protective services were not significantly related to outcomes after important control variables were factored into analyses. Results of this study have important implications for future research and for prevention and intervention efforts in urban, at‐risk samples. Emphasis is made for work in the school context, particularly for school psychologists. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.