多层混合法研究设计:挑战与优势

与目前运用单一方法的研究相比,多层混合法研究作为一种重要的研究范式,其研究结果可能因更严谨可靠而对政策和实践产生更大的影响。运用多层混合法不仅需要提升研究者的技术能力,还需要转变他们的思维方式。对大多数研究者来说,这可能是一个极大的挑战。当然,这并不是说所有的研究都应该寻求对他人的直接影响;相反,研究的目的各有不同。尽管如此,不同研究领域的研究者一致认为,教师课堂内外赖以生存的社会环境的生态具有不可预测性。对一项在英格兰实施的研究项目进行剖析,探讨多层混合法在教育研究中的应用,发现与单视角的量化研究、元分析或者纯质性研究相比,多层混合法可能提供更微妙的、更细颗粒度的、更严谨可信的、基于循证的领导力研究,从而更为全面地揭示校长如何通过领导力角色、领导行为实现并且保持学校的可持续发展。     

The Development of Advanced Theory of Mind in Middle Childhood: A Longitudinal Study From Age 5 to 10 Years

This 5-year longitudinal study investigated advanced theory-of-mind (AToM) development in 161 German 5- to 10-year-olds (89 females, 72 males). Core aspects of AToM developed nonlinearly, with children reaching a milestone at the age of 7 years, around when they attained the conceptual insight that mental states can be recursive. In late elementary school, a multicomponent battery was used. Performance on many aspects of AToM was predicted by information-processing skills (intelligence and language at 6 years), but not by the age when children acquired the basic conceptual insight; only some naturalistic, social-interpretative tasks were correlated with children’s age at acquisition. This study documents significant developmental progressions in middle-childhood AToM and suggests that different mechanisms may underlie diverse aspects of social cognition.     

The promise of curriculum in the post-Covid world: Eclecticism,deliberation, and a return to the practical and the prophetic

PROSPECTS - This article focuses on the possibilities through which curriculum on the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic might contribute more proactively to future social and political crises...     

On Building Bridges: Cultural Agnosia,HipHopEd, and Urban Education

Abstract

In this article, the author describes a lens for engaging in research and practice in urban education rooted in deep cultural understandings of the concept of building bridges and the impact of cultural agnosia.     

Data‐Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District

In 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, a metropolitan school system in the southern United States embarked on a unique mission to improve the quality of its public prekindergarten programs through a partnership with a group of developmental researchers in an iterative, data‐based venture. Data on 407 children in Year 1 and 433 in Year 2 (who were enrolled in 26 classrooms and extensively observed) are presented from the first 2 years of the ongoing partnership. All children were 4 years of age. Variability in classroom practices, measured empirically, and variability in child outcomes provided the means to examine the relations between children's gains in academic and social‐emotional areas and major areas of classroom practices. Lessons learned, the eight identified significant practices, implications, and next steps in the partnership are addressed.     

The influence of personality factors,value appraisals,and control appraisals on cognitive test anxiety

Cognitive test anxiety is a considerable barrier to academic success. The control value theory of achievement emotions suggests emotions within academic situations—including test‐anxious responses—follow from control and value appraisals. Furthermore, the control value theory suggests a multitude of individual‐level factors that influence appraisals. However, few investigations have explored the interactive influence of enduring personality traits and control and value appraisals on the experience of cognitive test anxiety. The current study was designed to explore the relationship among openness to experience, neuroticism, conscientiousness, control and value appraisals, and cognitive test anxiety. Participants (N = 481) completed the Big Five Inventory, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale‐Short Form. Using exploratory structural equation modeling, we demonstrated that value and control appraisals were important predictors of cognitive test anxiety. Furthermore, results indicated that openness to experience was a positive predictor of value appraisals. Finally, results indicated that higher levels of control appraisals were associated with higher levels of conscientiousness and openness to experience and lower levels of neuroticism. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the determinants of cognitive test anxiety and have implications for efforts designed to identify test‐anxious students.     

Matthew effects in writing productivity during second grade

The primary aims of this study were twofold: (a) to describe average change in the written narrative performance of second grade students from the fall and spring of the school year and (b) examine patterns of individual growth to test for Matthew effects. Participants included 299 children in second grade. Microstructural measures were derived from students’ written narratives including: number of different words (NDW), total number of words (TNW), and accuracy of spelling and grammar. Significant increases in NDW, TNW, and spelling accuracy were evidenced from fall to spring. Students averaged 55 total words in the fall and averaged 69 words in the spring, with a statistically significant increase of 14 words t(299)?=?8.4, p?<?.0001). The variance in TNW from fall to spring increased from Var?=?791 to Var?=?1005, which was a significant increase and the correlation of initial Fall TNW and growth in TNW was also significant (r?=?0.39). Additionally, results from a two-level hierarchical linear model with students nested within teachers indicated that initial level of TNW predicted the change in TNW from fall to spring, with higher levels of initial TNW being related to larger gains in TNW. Significant predictors of Matthew effects included teacher or classroom and free/reduced lunch eligibility. Written personal narrative measures are sensitive to developmental change across a school year. Evidence of Matthew effects in lexical productivity suggests additional support may be warranted to ameliorate gaps in writing achievement.