Implementing MTSS in Beginning Reading: Tools and Systems to Support Schools and Teachers

Multi‐tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks are designed to directly support students with, and at risk for, disabilities by providing timely, aligned, and coordinated supports, with the goal of preventing or ameliorating the effects of early risk. Yet developing and implementing MTSS in beginning reading is a complex process. Many schools encounter common barriers to achieving full and sustained implementation of MTSS systems and practices. The purpose of this article is to describe a state K‐3 reading initiative that resulted in improved reading outcomes for K‐3 students, including students at risk for reading disabilities. Specifically, this article describes a series of tools (i.e., activity timeline, whole group and small group templates, data grouping workbook) that helped teachers in the initiative to overcome barriers in order to ensure that tiered instruction met the needs of all students, including students with, and at risk for, reading disabilities.     

From Professional Development to Implementation: A District's Experience Implementing Mathematics Tiered Systems of Support

This article is about a school‐district‐initiated partnership with university faculty and their effort to implement a mathematics multi‐tiered system of support (MTSS). In addition to reporting research about MTSS implementation, we describe how this district translated research into practice. We also share the perceptions of key stakeholders about implementing mathematics MTSS in their district. We found that stakeholders identified time and human capacity as barriers to implementation, while the primary facilitator to implementation was identified as the acquisition of concrete strategies and tools supporting instruction. These stakeholder perceptions have implications for other districts with limited resources attempting to implement mathematics MTSS in their buildings through professional development and coaching.     

The effects of technology‐enhanced formative evaluation on student performance on state accountability math tests

Technology‐enhanced formative evaluation (TEFE) could enhance student achievement while diminishing the burden of formative evaluation for educators. The current study examined data from 360 randomly selected schools that either used a TEFE program for 1 year to 4 years 11 months, for 5 or more years, or not at all. Analyses of covariance found a significant and moderate to large (d = .51 and .78) effect on percentage of students who scored proficient on state accountability tests in math. Moreover, among schools that used TEFE, those with a non‐White student population of at least 50% scored in the proficient range on state math tests at a rate equal to that of those with at least 50% White students. A significant and moderate to large (d = .71) effect was found, however, between these two groups of schools among schools that did not use a TEFE program. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

老板不会对你说的7句话

1."I payyour salary.You have to do what I say."我付你薪水,你就要按我说的做.     

Methods for measuring student response to stimulant medication: A meta‐analytic review

Measuring student response to interventions has become an important role for school psychologists. Children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are frequently treated with stimulant medication, but the response to the treatment is rarely adequately assessed. The current study examined the sensitivity of measures used to assess the outcomes of stimulant medication for children identified with ADHD using meta‐analytic procedures. A total of 812 articles were reviewed with 35 being selected for the study based on a common treatment protocol of .3 to .5 mg/kg with a 2‐ to 8‐week pre‐ and post‐test interval. Measures were categorized as behavioral, psychological, or physiological. A total of 81 effect sizes were computed with a total unbiased estimate of effect of .53 and unbiased estimates of effect of .11 for physiological measures, .38 for psychological measures, and .56 for behavioral measures. Tests of homogeneity found nonsignificant results within each of the three categories. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Meta‐Analysis of Mathematic Basic‐Fact Fluency Interventions: A Component Analysis

Mathematics fluency is a critical component of mathematics learning yet few attempts have been made to synthesize this research base. Seventeen single‐case design studies with 55 participants were reviewed using meta‐analytic procedures. A component analysis of practice elements was conducted and treatment intensity and feasibility were examined. Findings suggest that drill and practice with modeling produced the largest effect sizes. Treatments with more than 3 components yielded higher effect sizes than those with fewer than 3, and a combination of treatment agents lead to better outcomes than a single agent. Other findings pertaining to prebaseline assessment, treatment time, experimental design employed, and treatment setting are also discussed.     

More Than Clinical Waste? Placenta Rituals Among Australian Home-Birthing Women

The discursive construction of the human placenta varies greatly between hospital and home-birthing contexts. The former, driven by medicolegal discourse, defines the placenta as clinical waste. Within this framework, the placenta is as much of an afterthought as it is considered the “afterbirth.” In home-birth practices, the placenta is constructed as a “special” and meaningful element of the childbirth experience. I demonstrate this using 51 in-depth interviews with women who were pregnant and planning home births in Australia or had recently had home births in Australia. Analysis of these interviews indicates that the discursive shift taking place in home-birth practices from the medicalized model translates into a richer understanding and appreciation of the placenta as a spiritual component of the childbirth experience. The practices discussed in this article include the burial of the placenta beneath a specifically chosen plant, consuming the placenta, and having a lotus birth, which refers to not cutting the umbilical cord after the birth of the child but allowing it to dry naturally and break of its own accord. By shifting focus away from the medicalized frames of reference in relation to the third stage of labor, the home-birthing women in this study have used the placenta in various rituals and ceremonies to spiritualize an aspect of birth that is usually overlooked.     

Computer‐assisted tutoring: Teaching letter sounds to kindergarten students using incremental rehearsal

The profound consequences of early reading failure necessitate the provision of early literacy interventions to struggling readers. Many schools struggle, however, to address early reading difficulties because of insufficient human resources. Accordingly, the present study investigated the effectiveness of incremental rehearsal (IR) as a Tier 3 intervention to improve letter sound knowledge and fluency with four kindergarten students. Four participants not making adequate progress toward letter sound fluency benchmarks were selected for an IR intervention targeting letter sounds that was delivered via a computerized tutoring program. All four students improved their letter sound knowledge and fluency. Overall, results indicated that a computer‐aided IR intervention is an effective, efficient, and acceptable intervention. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The things (we think) we (ought to) do: Ideological processes and practices in teaching

Ideologies of education and of teaching are complex and layered, and they contain macro-social, institutional as well as micro-ideological levels. Building on cases from the UK and South Africa, this paper argues that notions of ‘professionalism’ among teachers display such ideological layering, and that such notions are heavily invested with interests that transcend the operational or institutional scales. In the case of the UK, we discuss the way in which a teacher described her experience of taking a degree course, exposing a rift between individual, experiential knowledge and institutional, organisational knowledge, characteristic of the large-scale transformations of the educational field in the UK. In the South African case, we show how a white teacher instructing black township children deploys images of the disciplined body that derive from the Apartheid ‘old order’. In both cases we see that views of professionalism are infused with micro-ideological, practical beliefs as well as with macro-ideological social and political views. In terms of the implications of our line of argument for teacher education we conclude that student teachers should be taught explicitly about the discourses by which teaching is constructed so that they are able to reflect more critically on their professional practice.