Exploring the Developmental View of the Perceived Concerns of Pre‐service Teachers

The role of teacher educators is to provide schools with prospective teachers who recognise and are concerned for student needs. As pre‐service teachers progress through their training and develop skill and knowledge to assist in their chosen career, they must contend with concerns which relate to all the dimensions of teaching. The purpose of this study was to expand on the available knowledge about the changes in the patterns of concerns of teachers during the practicum experience. The Teacher Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ) was administered to 75 Bachelor of Education (Physical and Health Education) students before and after a 4 week practicum experience. Changes in the level of concern for self, task and impact were assessed by subjecting the scale scores collected to quantitative analysis including t‐tests and analyses of variance. The impact of the practicum, mastery of the teaching situation gained through progression from second to fourth year, together with gender differences, were analysed to detect group changes in patterns and absolute level of responses. Results of the study indicate a lowering of concerns in all scales. Variables of stage and gender had little impact on concerns, and recommendations for both the practicum and pre‐service training programmes are made to assist in addressing the concerns of pre‐service teachers.     

Age of Bilingual Exposure Is Related to the Contribution of Phonological and Semantic Knowledge to Successful Reading Development

Bilingual children's reading as a function of age of first bilingual language exposure (AoE) was examined. Bilingual (varied AoE) and monolingual children (N = 421) were compared in their English language and reading abilities (6–10 years) using phonological awareness, semantic knowledge, and reading tasks. Structural equation modeling was applied to determine how bilingual AoE predicts reading outcomes. Early exposed bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on phonological awareness and word reading. Phonology and semantic (vocabulary) knowledge differentially predicted reading depending on the bilingual experience and AoE. Understanding how bilingual experiences impact phonological awareness and semantic knowledge, and in turn, impact reading outcomes is relevant for our understanding of what language and reading skills are best to focus on, and when, to promote optimal reading success.     

An ‘at‐risk’ curriculum for ‘at‐risk’ students? Special educational needs and disability in the new Australian Curriculum

The number of students who are ‘at risk’ including those with special education needs and or disabilities is increasing rapidly worldwide in all schools. This has prompted widespread debate regarding the impact of initiatives in Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting for this group of students. Teachers, parents and administrators need to have further information to enable them to contribute to the development of content, assessment and reporting processes in the curriculum that are inclusive, relevant, reliable and valid. This paper explores some of the issues and dilemmas raised by recent policy discussions regarding the inception of a first national Australian Curriculum. It draws purposively on literature relating to developments in England and Wales, where national curriculum provision has existed for over 25 years, as well as the responses of a group of stakeholders (teachers and leaders) from both England/Wales and Australian schools and settings. These data highlight both tension and opportunity in this area of work.     

Investigating teachers’ professional learning in an advanced Master’s degree programme

This study examined how multiple measures can be used to study experienced teachers’ learning. The study was conducted in an advanced Master’s degree programme, aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the United States. The programmatic features and key learning experiences found in the programme are described and connected to the multiple measures used to investigate teachers’ professional learning. Results of the study indicated that multiple measures can be used to examine a programme’s effects on teacher learning; prompted reflections can provide evidence of a programme’s influence on teacher thinking; and programme structure and content are important elements to consider when designing and assessing programmes for experienced teachers. This study also addresses how building a programme around measurable outcomes and then examining the results through multiple measures is an important link in understanding teacher learning.     

A Model of Maternal and Paternal Ethnic Socialization of Mexican‐American Adolescents’ Self‐Views

Data from a sample of 462 Mexican‐American adolescents (M = 10.4 years, SD = .55; 48.1% girls), mothers, and fathers were used to test an ethnic socialization model of ethnic identity and self‐efficacy that also considered mainstream parenting styles (e.g., authoritative parenting). Findings supported the ethnic socialization model: parents’ endorsement of Mexican‐American values were associated with ethnic socialization at fifth grade and seventh grade; maternal ethnic socialization at fifth grade and paternal ethnic socialization at seventh grade were associated with adolescents’ ethnic identity exploration at 10th grade and, in turn, self‐efficacy at 12th grade. The findings support ethnic socialization conceptions of how self‐views of ethnicity develop from childhood across adolescence in Mexican‐American children.     

Socialization of graduate teaching assistants: a case study in an American university

Although graduate teaching assistants [GTAS] play an important role on most American university campuses, and despite the fact that the GTA experience is often the only formal professional training that faculty receive, little is known about how GTAS are prepared for their role. One of the most enigmatic processes related to GTA role development is that of socialization. This paper reports the results of a study examining the types of messages that new GTAS receive about their role and the manner in which particular types of communication strategies are used to cope with inconsistencies and conflicts among those messages. It was found that GTAS are exposed to thematic messages about what it means to be a GTA, that they experienced difficulties when attempting to use those messages to guide behavior and decision‐making, and that information‐seeking strategies were used in response to the specific types of problems that were experienced.     

Informal Measures Challenge the Suitability of the Basic Skills Agency’s Reading Test

When informal measures of reading assessment were used with a Further Education student the results were different to those obtained with the Basic Skills Agency’s reading test based on cloze exercises. After describing the informal assessment the reasons for the discrepancy between the two methods are discussed. These are based first on the language production demands of cloze, and second on the relationship between functional literacy materials and cloze success. The author concludes that the suitability of cloze for testing reading is in doubt; it is likely to underestimate some readers’ abilities and it should not be used to test reading in isolation from other measures. Please note ALBSU has changed its name to the Basic Skills Agency, and to avoid confusion BSA will be used throughout the article even if at the time referred to it was known as ALBSU.