Equity in education: Low priority in the school reform movement

The author argues that the educational reform movements are cyclical and that the present call for excellence can be seen in previous cycles. Noting the absence of a concern for equity in the many recent reports and studies, the author discusses the concepts of equity, equality, and excellence. Alternative reforms are proposed to enhance equity for minority and presently underachieving youth.     

Failure to obtain value enhancement by within-trial contrast in simultaneous and successive discriminations

The present research tested the generality of the “work ethic“ effect described by Clement, Feltus, Kaiser, and Zentall (2000). In Experiment 1, we trained 10 pigeons on a pair of either simultaneous or successive discriminations. One discrimination followed a high-effort requirement (20 pecks to the center key) and the other followed a low-effort requirement (1 peck). Contrary to Clement et al.’s results, we found that preferences between the S⁺ and S⁻ stimuli in transfer tests depended on the event that initiated the trial: Pigeons preferred the stimulus from the baseline discrimination whose initiating event was most dissimilar from that preceding the test trial. Preferences were similar but less extreme in the successive condition. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether test preferences depended on the amount of training. A total of 12 pigeons were trained on a pair of simultaneous discriminations, except that test sessions were scheduled after every three baseline sessions. Preferences increased across test sessions but were similar to those in Experiment 1. Together with Vasconcelos, Urcuioli, and Lionello-DeNolf (2007a), our study represents a second failure to replicate Clement et al.’s work ethic effect. The finding that preference depends on the event that initiates the test trial suggests that choice probes may not provide unambiguous assessments of stimulus value.     

Pupils’ Perceptions of Technology in the Secondary School Curriculum: a case study

This paper reports a study of pupils attitudes to Craft Design Technology (CDT), Technology (GCSE) and Technology A level in a Mid Glamorgan secondary school. Technology is regarded by the pupils as being intellectually demandng and having a high ‘employment value’. This seems to attract more able pupils (of both sexes) than would be the case for other CDT subject areas. Pupils perceive CDT: Technology to have the characteristics of Science subjects rather than those of Arts or Crafts. A significant proportion of female students in this case study are attracted to study A level Technology and investigations are continuing to identify the underlying reasons for this.     

Operationalizing and validating disciplinary literacy in secondary education

The goal of this study was to define the construct and establish the validity of disciplinary literacy, which has recently gained attention from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers in Common Core State Standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects [PDF]. Authors, Washington, DC, 2010). After defining disciplinary literacy in the four core disciplines of English language arts, science, history and social studies, and mathematics, scales were developed and administered to a snowball sample of professionals nationwide, with 857 respondents. The data showed evidence of disciplinary literacy as a multidimensional construct with three related factors: source literacy, analytic literacy, and expressive literacy. Based on EFA and CFA results, we can conclude that there are at least three types of literacy in operation among the four core disciplines. The three factors of literacy varied significantly by the four core disciplines of English/language arts (ELA), science, history and social studies, and mathematics, supporting the notion that each discipline uses literacy uniquely. This is the first study of its kind to attempt to define, quantify, and validate the construct of disciplinary literacy.