LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF 1ST AND 2ND GRADE ENGLISH ORAL READING FLUENCY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: WHICH EARLY READING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE BETTER PREDICTORS?

This study investigates the relation between Spanish and English early literacy skills in kindergarten and first grade, and English oral reading fluency at the end of first and second grade in a sample of 150 Spanish‐speaking English language learners. Students were assessed in kindergarten, first, and second grades on a broad bilingual academic battery that included phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, and oral reading fluency. These measures were analyzed using hierarchal multiple regression to determine which early reading skills predicted English oral reading fluency scores at the end of first and second grade. Predictive relationships were different between English and Spanish measures of early literacy and end of year first grade and second grade English oral reading fluency. This study has important implications for early identification of risk for Spanish‐speaking English language learners as it addresses the input of both Spanish and English early reading skills and the relation between those skills and English oral reading fluency.     

Tunnelling effects in chemistry

Most of the molecules react to form products by climbing a barrier. The energy involved in this climbing of the barrier is known as the activation energy of the reaction. Questions like how fast a reaction occurs can be answered by considering the height of the barrier. However, in some reactions, the reactants transform to products by directly tunnelling across the barrier instead of climbing over it. Such a purely quantum mechanical effect, which becomes more prominent for reactions at low temperatures can lead to interesting and even completely unexpected products. This effect and its consequences in representative examples are discussed.     

The effects of using graphing calculators to enhance college students' performance in precalculus

This study extended through three academic semesters and involved 710 subjects. It compared the performance of college students taught precalculus using a graphing calculator and a textbook written to be used with a graphing utility, to the performance of students using the traditional approach, a regular textbook, and a scientific calculator. On a comprehensive common final exam, students who were taught precalculus using the graphing calculator had significantly higher scores than those taught by traditional methods.PosthumousPreliminary partial results of this experiment were presented at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Portland, Oregon, November 15–17,1991.     

Culturally Responsive Consultation Among Practicing School Psychologists

ABSTRACT

School-based consultation has garnered increasing attention relevant to culturally responsive practice in school psychology. Although prior research has investigated school psychologists’ experiences with supporting culturally diverse youth through school-based consultation, few studies have utilized an established framework to understand school psychologists’ experiences. We utilized specific components of Ingraham’s Multicultural School Consultation framework to examine fifteen school psychologists’ experiences with providing culturally responsive consultation. Constant comparative analysis revealed the various strategies used by practitioners to support culturally diverse students throughout the consultation process (e.g., involving multiple people in decision-making, using non-confrontational approaches to educate school personnel about cultural dynamics, providing messages of support and encouragement to diverse students and families) and the socio-contextual barriers to their practice (e.g., cultural minimization, lack of administrative support). Implications for research, training, and school-based practice are discussed.     

A single-display groupware collaborative language laboratory

Language learning tools have evolved to take into consideration new teaching models of collaboration and communication. While second language acquisition tasks have been taken online, the traditional language laboratory has remained unchanged. By continuing to follow its original configuration based on individual work, the language laboratory fails to take advantage of the potential provided by collaborative learning. We propose the use of a language laboratory based on single-display groupware (SDG) for learning vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and listening comprehension. By adopting SDG, the language laboratory benefits from the advantages of small group collaborative learning. In this paper, we first describe the design and pedagogical merit of the SDG collaborative language laboratory. We then share the results of a quasi-experimental pre–post comparison study, and use an observation guideline to analyze whether the conditions for collaborative learning have been fulfilled. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that developing pronunciation skills can be more effective when using a collaborative language laboratory versus an individual language laboratory. In addition to this, it can also be concluded that collaborative learning is most effective when accompanied by adequate instructional design.     

Education and social change in Spain: from crisis to opportunity

This paper analyses a particular socio-educational experience in a marginalised neighbourhood in Malaga, Spain. This initiative came about as an institutional proposal to combat neoliberal austerity policies and is known as the ‘Casa de la Buena Vida'. It aims to generate new educational practices based on solidarity, dignity and justice. The methodology followed entailed carrying out an ethnography at this institution, participating in the initiative over a period of 4 years. At the same time, life histories of some of its most notable members were drawn up. In the results section we offer an analysis of the particular identities that are created as a consequence of the living conditions, social conflicts, multicultural nature and survival strategies that operate in a welfarist policy system. We also analyse this institution's socio-educational proposal using alternative social practices that enable other subjectivities to develop.     

Professional Development of Teacher Trainers: a case study

This paper reviews the literature on teacher trainers with special reference to current initiatives in Spain, and provides a case study of the design, delivery and follow‐up to a course for teacher trainers of English language teaching and the pedagogy of language. The course was designed to promote the concept of teachers as reflective practitioners.     

Stress,coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.     

Change Blindness as a Means of Studying Expertise in Physics

Previous studies examining expertise have used a wide range of methods. Beyond characterizing expert and novice behavior in different contexts and circumstances, many studies have examined the processes that comprise the behavior itself and, more recently, processes that comprise training and practice that develop expertise. Other studies, dating back more than 50 years, have used various recall memory tasks to compare experts and novices. In this article, we describe another method for investigating expertise that has its origin in the study of change blindness, a phenomenon within the field of visual cognition. We demonstrate how an incidental change detection paradigm can be used in the context of introductory physics in a way that allows for inferences regarding the formation of mental representations about physical situations. Possible uses in future learning sciences research are discussed.