Der Zusammenhang des Migrantenanteils in Schulen mit der Lesekompetenz: Differenzierte Analysen der erweiterten Migrantenstichprobe von PISA 2003

Zusammenfassung  Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Frage empirisch nachgegangen, ob in Schulen der Anteil von Jugendlichen, deren Familien aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion oder aus der Türkei zugewandert sind, einen eigenst?ndigen Effekt auf die individuelle Lesekompetenz hat. Die zugrunde liegende Datenbasis bildet eine Teilstichprobe von 14.169 Jugendlichen aus der erweiterten Stichprobe von PISA-E 2003. Die mehrebenenanalytischen Auswertungen zeigen, dass der Anteil von Jugendlichen, deren Familien aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion stammen, unter Kontrolle einer Vielzahl von Individual- und Kompositionsmerkmalen keinen eigenst?ndigen Effekt auf die Lesekompetenz hat. Im Gegensatz dazu findet sich für den Anteil von Jugendlichen türkischer Herkunft ein signifikant negativer Zusammenhang mit der Leseleistung. Mit einem Leistungsnachteil von 22 Punkten auf der PISA-Skala ist der Effekt in Schulen, in denen der Anteil dieser Herkunftsgruppe an der Schülerschaft gr?βer als 40 Prozent ist, besonders ausgepr?gt. Die Annahme, dass der Effekt des Migrantenanteils auf die Leseleistung überwiegend über die Herkunftssprache der Jugendlichen vermittelt wird, lie? sich nicht best?tigen. ■ Anm.: Summary und Keywords wurden von Dr. Orr geliefert, müssen also nicht noch einmal überprüft werden! ■     

Utilization of design principles for hybrid learning configurations by interprofessional design teams

Educational design research yields design knowledge, often in the form of design principles or guidelines that provide the rationale or ‘know-why’ for the design of educational interventions. As such, design principles can be utilized by designers in contexts other than the research context in which they were generated. Although research has shown that quality support is important for design success, less is known about processes that promote utilization of design principles as the rationale for instructional design. In this study we therefore explored an intervention for promoting the utilization of a set of research-based design principles in educational practice. This intervention aimed to promote utilization through enhancing perceived usefulness of the design principles by design teams in various contexts. The set of design principles that was utilized by the design teams in this study underpins the design of so-called hybrid learning configurations that are situated at the interface between school and workplace. The intervention was developed from the perspective of boundary crossing theory and was conducted with four different design teams. It was evaluated by way of a questionnaire and a dialogue with members of the design teams. This boundary crossing intervention appeared to bring about the desired outcomes. Most of the design team members considered the set of design principles useful in several different ways and they expected that utilization of the principles would lead to an improved learning configuration.     

The use of ICT devices by older people with a special focus on their type and respondents’ age: A Czech case study

The recent demographic trends show a rapid increase of aging population, especially in developed countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for the opportunities of maintaining the quality of life of this aging population. One of the solutions seems to be the use of information and communication technology (ICT) devices, which can promote autonomy of older people by facilitating the execution of many routine activities such as shopping or communication. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of ICT devices among older people in the Czech Republic with respect to their type and respondents’ age. The methods include a questionnaire survey, as well as statistical processing of data collection. The results indicate that present seniors are becoming more digitally literate, especially in the use of mobile phones. However, the use of the technological devices then dramatically drops at the age of 75 years. In addition, the results indicate that future research should focus on the use of mobile phones, respectively smartphones, and its effectiveness on the improvement of quality of life of older generation groups.     

Interplay of formative assessment and instructional quality—interactive effects on students’ mathematics achievement

Formative assessment is considered to be a promising teaching practice for promoting teaching and learning processes. The implementation of teaching practices into instruction involves intervening with a learning environment that is characterised by certain features of instructional quality. Our study aims to contribute to the understanding of formative assessment by analysing the interplay between a formative assessment intervention and aspects of general instructional quality. In a quasi-experimental study design, 15 teachers participated in a control group (n = 361 students) and 20 teachers in the intervention classes (n = 498 students) implemented a curriculum-embedded formative assessment tool in their ninth-grade mathematics classes. No effects were found for the intervention on the assessed aspects of general instructional quality (process-oriented instruction, teacher–student relationship, effective use of instructional time). However, multilevel regression analyses revealed an interaction effect between the intervention and process-orientation and the effective use of instruction time. Our findings suggest that implementing formative assessment tools do not seem to suffice regarding changes in general instructional quality, but that an intervention with detailed material and guidelines can counterbalance effects of instructional quality, fostering students’ achievement in classes with lower degrees of process orientation and a less effective use of instructional time.     

Effects of the New Public Management (NPM) and Austerity in European Public and Academic Libraries

The changing information landscape calls for a new leadership, new competences, and new approaches to library services. In today’s information age, information literate citizens must be able to assess the reliability of information, making information literacy instruction an important task for libraries. In this paper, five researchers present data from interviews they carried out with library leaders from Germany, Romania, Finland, UK, and Norway. The experiences of the library leaders were different, reflecting varying levels of economic austerity, and how closely each country adheres to New Public Management (NPM)-theory and practice. However, they also show how NPM and reduced budgets can lead to a greater and better cooperation.     

Assessing teachers’ multicultural and egalitarian beliefs: The Teacher Cultural Beliefs Scale

The article describes the newly developed Teacher Cultural Beliefs Scale (TCBS). The TCBS assesses multicultural and egalitarian beliefs about diversity, both of which reflect favorable attitudes toward immigrant students, but differ with regard to how cultural diversity is believed to be best accommodated in schools. Results from a first study with 433 beginning teachers supported the two-factor structure and the measurement invariance of the scale. Results from a second study with 340 teacher candidates and educational science students showed that proponents of multiculturalism and egalitarianism shared a motivation to control prejudiced reactions, but that they differed in their views on acculturation, prejudices, and authoritarianism.     

Eco-School in kindergartens: the effects,interpretation, and implementation of a pilot program

This study presents an analysis of a Czech pilot project in implementing the Eco-School program in kindergartens. The evaluation applied a mixed design that included pre/post testing of children using picture-based questionnaires, and interviews with the teachers responsible for conducting the program. The findings revealed a significant increase in the pro-environmental attitudes of the children (N = 419) between the pre-test and the post-test. The results of the qualitative part showed a broad spectrum of the ways in which the program was interpreted by the teachers (N = 16): while some teachers interpreted the program in a highly instrumental way, others interpreted it as emancipatory. Their different ways of interpreting the program led the teachers to different models of distribution of power between the adults and the children. Some of the teachers made the effort to establish a democratic participation of the children in setting the program agenda, but others manipulated the children to obtain their agreement with pre-selected activities. Although the study did not find any evidence that the instrumental implementation of the program would be less effective in promoting children’s attitude change, it showed differences in the interpretation of the merit of the program among the teachers.     

How To Get In?‐‐A Comparative Overview of Access to Higher Education

In many countries, the transition from “elite” to “mass” higher education has provided a strong stimulus for putting access high on the political agenda. The accessibility of nine western European countries is explored on the basis of the concepts of selectivity and affordability. The nine countries concerned display a degree of variation in terms of relative selectivity, ranging from those with strong entrance selection procedures, such as Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, to countries with an open system, such as Austria, Belgium (Flanders), and The Netherlands. In addition, there is a good deal of variation in the extent to which students can afford to attend higher education. In countries in which student support is predominantly given directly to the students through grants and loans, they are in a better position to meet their costs than in countries in which students are mainly subsidized with public support through their families     

The integration of biodiversity education in the initial education of primary school teachers: four comparative case studies from Europe

In this article, we present results from an international research study on biodiversity education in pre‐service education of primary school teachers. The study was carried out between 2004–2006 in four teacher education institutions in Cyprus, England, Switzerland and Germany. We used document analyses and in‐depth interviews with 27 teacher educators and 22 student teachers to examine the integration of biodiversity into the pre‐service teacher education programmes, and the student teachers’ satisfaction with their respective education. In all teacher education institutions, aspects of biodiversity education were integrated mostly in the natural science modules which provided students at least with some information on the scientific aspects of biodiversity. Few modules included aspects of the controversial nature of biodiversity conservation in relation to economics, ethics, social and political concerns, and methodological approaches on how to deal with this. In the institutions in Cyprus, England and Germany the teaching focus was content‐oriented, whereas in Switzerland a situated method‐oriented approach was used. The student teachers in Switzerland felt more confident to teach about biodiversity in school. All interviewees thought it necessary to prepare primary school student teachers on how to address biodiversity in schools, and strategies on how best to achieve this are critically discussed.