Predicting Middle School Profiles of Algebra Performance Using Fraction Knowledge

Fraction knowledge and algebraic skill are closely linked. Algebra is a gatekeeper for advanced courses (Booth & Newton, 2012; Brown & Quinn, 2007). This study uses the person-centered approach of latent profile analysis to examine individual differences in middle schoolers’ (N = 350) algebra performance at the end of the year (EOY). The relative importance of a range of fraction skills is considered in predicting the likelihood of displaying a particular profile of EOY algebra knowledge, measured by feature knowledge, equation encoding, equation solving, and word-problem skills. Notably, fraction number line estimation did not predict algebra performance on any of the four measures. Fraction arithmetic at the beginning of the year is most predictive of displaying the highest performing EOY algebra profile.     

Global citizenship education through curriculum-as-relations

PROSPECTS - The Covid-19 pandemic was a reminder of the importance of increasing connectivity amidst the accelerated rate of changes and disruptive events of our era. The need and the rationale for...     

Urban Teachers’ Perspectives of Strengths and Needs: The Promise of Teacher Responsive Professional Development

The Urban Review - This study examines urban high school teachers’ perceptions (N?=?50) of their strengths and needs in supporting diverse students in their classrooms....     

Voting for Change: an International Study of Students’ Willingness to Support Measures to Ameliorate Climate Change

Research in Science Education - Voting for various pro-environmental governmental policies is an indirect, but potentially effective, action that citizens can take to reduce global warming (GW) and...     

An alternative model of special education teacher education socialization

The process of organizational socialization sheds light on the difficulty of a university program to effectively socialize its special education teacher candidates into believing and acting on theories of inclusion for students with disabilities in public schools. In general, people are socialized by prior experiences, then the university, then the workplace. In this case, the workplace socialization exists prior to participation in the university setting and in conjunction with it potentially complicating traditional university socialization. This study explores how prospective special education teachers in a moderate/severe special education teacher credential program adopt, adapt, and redefine the concept of inclusion. An analysis of their use of the term “inclusion” in semi-structured interviews draws attention to the degree to which they have or have not been socialized into believing and acting on inclusion at their schools.     

Race/ethnicity and the start of child care: A multi-level analysis of factors influencing first child care experiences

Early childhood education and care experiences play an important role in children's development and school readiness with, in general, sustained exposure to high quality, center-based care leading to positive outcomes. Hispanic parents have been shown to be less likely than others to place their children in center-based care, particularly when children are very young—a pattern that contrasts African American parents’ tendency for earlier use of center-based care. This paper examines child care choice from a contextual perspective. Using a multi-level modeling approach, we consider ethnicity and race, at the individual and neighborhood levels, in relation to the age at which children first participate in non-parental care and the type of care they first experience. Using data from the ECLS-K, the 1990 Census and other contextual sources, we demonstrate that Hispanic parents’ later use of care is explainable by economic and work participation factors at the family level, while neighborhood proportion of Hispanic individuals is associated with delayed entry into child care. In contrast, the observed early use of care among African American families persists after accounting for economic and work factors, and appears independent of differences in neighborhood context. Limitations and implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Teacher professional identity as multidimensional: mapping its components and examining their associations with general pedagogical beliefs

Research on teachers’ professional identity integrates many constructs that are treated independently in most cases. This study described the associations between components of teacher professional identity and their association with teachers’ general pedagogical beliefs. Secondary teachers (n = 236) completed a survey about several components of their identity (self-efficacy beliefs, motivation to become a teacher, affective commitment and perceived type of expertise) and general pedagogical beliefs (constructivist and direct transmission). Multidimensional scaling revealed that the components could be mapped on two dimensions: form of motivation and degree of subject specificity. The resulting map revealed four meaningful groups of components. Furthermore, whereas direct transmission general pedagogical beliefs were found to be strongly tied to an identity grounded in the subject taught, constructivist beliefs were independent of identity components. This study provides new insight into the structure of teacher professional identity and its relevance for teaching.     

Structural Zeros and Their Implications With Log‐Linear Bivariate Presmoothing Under the Internal‐Anchor Design

In equating, when common items are internal and scoring is conducted in terms of the number of correct items, some pairs of total scores (X) and common‐item scores (V) can never be observed in a bivariate distribution of X and V; these pairs are called structural zeros. This simulation study examines how equating results compare for different approaches to handling structural zeros. The study considers four approaches: the no‐smoothing, unique‐common, total‐common, and adjusted total‐common approaches. This study led to four main findings: (1) the total‐common approach generally had the worst results; (2) for relatively small effect sizes, the unique‐common approach generally had the smallest overall error; (3) for relatively large effect sizes, the adjusted total‐common approach generally had the smallest overall error; and, (4) if sole interest focuses on reducing bias only, the adjusted total‐common approach was generally preferable. These results suggest that, when common items are internal and log‐linear bivariate presmoothing is performed, structural zeros should be maintained, even if there is some loss in the moment preservation property.