The literacy curriculum and use of an Integrated Learning System

This article describes one aspect of a year‐long study of primary level teachers’ and children’s (Grades 1‐3; children aged 6‐9 years) use of the language arts component of SuccessMaker, an Integrated Learning System (ILS). Using information gathered from teacher surveys and classroom observation, we documented areas where the curricula embedded in the ILS were congruent with teachers’ normal curricula and pedagogical practices. However, we also found numerous instances of incongruity. To illustrate our findings we use the case of phonics instruction to reveal discrepancies between normal practice and computer‐based learning. The differences in content, presentation sequence and instructional practices raise issues about the appropriate relationship between computer‐based instruction and teachers’ normal practices.     

Rats acquire win-stay more readily than win-shift in a water escape situation

Independent groups of Sprague-Dawley rats were found to acquire a win-stay, but not a win-shift, escape resporse in a circular water maze in each of three experiments that varied with respect to swim time and distance prior to escape following an incorrect first choice. The subjects were given pairs of trials: an information trial and a test trial, separated by 10 min. On the information trial the camouflaged escape platform was randomly placed in one of two positions. On the test trial the platform was placed in the same position for the win-stay task and in the opposite position for the win-shift task. Animals that did not acquire either the stay or the shift response perseverated in their responses, consistently going to the same escape location first on both information and test trials. In the fourth experiment, in which win-shift, win-stay, and perseveration all led to escape, all rats perseverated in their responses. It was concluded that response perseveration and win-stay are more natural responses than win-shift for rats in a water escape situation. This finding contrasts with the spontaneous alternation and readily acquired win-shift behavior previously demonstrated in rodents in exploratory and appetitive situations.     

Helping doctoral students teach: transitioning to early career academia through cognitive apprenticeship

Doctoral training is strongly focused on honing research skills at the expense of developing teaching competency. As a result, emerging academics are unprepared for the pedagogical requirements of their early-career academic roles. Employing an action research approach, this study investigates the effectiveness of a competency-based teaching development intervention that aims to improve the teaching self-efficacy of doctoral candidates. To conduct this research, we apply the theoretical framework of Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory, a theory of social learning that requires learners to participate in a community of inquiry. Participants report significantly higher levels of teaching self-efficacy and a stronger sense of connectedness to the wider academic community.     

Secondary science teachers' attitudes toward and beliefs about science reading and science textbooks

Science textbooks are dominant influences behind most secondary science instruction but little is known about teachers' approach to science reading. The purpose of this naturalistic study was to develop and validate a Science and Reading Questionnaire to assess secondary science teachers' attitudes toward science reading and their beliefs or informed opinions about science reading. A survey of 428 British Columbia secondary science teachers was conducted and 215 science teachers responded. Results on a 12-item Likert attitude scale indicated that teachers place high value on reading as an important strategy to promote learning in science and that they generally accept responsibility for teaching content reading skills to science students. Results on a 13-item Likert belief scale indicated that science teachers generally reject the text-driven model of reading, but they usually do not have well-formulated alternative models to guide their teaching practices. Teachers have intuitive beliefs about science reading that partially agree with many research findings, but their beliefs are fragmented and particularly sketchy in regard to the cognitive and metacognitive skills required by readers to learn from science texts. The findings for attitude, belief, and total scales were substantiated by further questions in the Science and Reading Questionnaire regarding classroom practice and by individual interviews and classroom observations of a 15-teacher subsample of the questionnaire respondents.     

Early Childhood Education in Zimbabwe: Recent Trends and Prospects

Recent trends in early childhood teacher education in Zimbabwe are reviewed in the context of overall teacher reform. Social tensions which stem from the current system of early education and care are described, together with a survey of beliefs regarding early education held by parents, teachers, and primary school headmasters. The results point to the diversity of meanings attached to early education in Zimbabwe, and the challenge this poses for parents, teachers, and policy makers in Zimbabwe.     

Interactional models of learning disabilities: Evidence from students entering foster care

Children are increasingly entering foster care due to primary or secondary neglect in the home environment. They provide a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between learning and extrascholastic environments. Achievement and intelligence scores were obtained for 3483 school‐age children during the first 30 to 60 days of foster care placement. Results showed average to low‐average mean achievement and IQ, with primary academic deficits in basic skill areas. One or more severe (≥1.75 SD) regressed discrepancies was found for 25.4% of children, and 76.6% showed one or more areas of academic underachievement (≤25th percentile). Results are interpreted as supporting interactional models of learning disability etiology that recognize environmental, neurologic, instructional, and behavioral variables. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Success of a Professional-Development Model in Assisting Teachers to Change Their Teaching to Match the More Emphasis Conditions Urged in the National Science Education Standards

Lead teachers were a major part of a staff-development program first offered in 1983 for science teachers in Iowa. Later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) reform project called Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) involved 20 school districts and worked annually with new teachers involved during the 7-year funding period, 1990–1997. Eight lead teachers, who provided assistance to staff teams, were studied in 1998 and 2000 to determine how their teaching practices changed during the 3 years following funding. The results indicated that the eight teachers have continued to grow in terms of constructivist strategies beyond the funding period and in ways illustrating that the kind of teaching advocated by the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996).     

Teaching for equity: insights from international evidence with implications for a teacher education curriculum

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in many countries are grappling with ways to address the persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This paper reports the results of a unique cross-country, cross-cultural analysis undertaken to provide insights into teaching practices that promote equity, drawing on programmes of empirical research or syntheses of major programmes of research that worked from a complex, non-linear view of teaching and its outcomes. We analysed international evidence about teaching practices that have a positive influence on diverse students’ learning outcomes and opportunities and then compared and contrasted the results of these analyses. From the commonalities we identified, we derived six interconnected facets of practice for equity, which are general principles of practice rather than specific teaching strategies or behaviours. Building on these facets, we developed a conceptual framework that can inform an equity-centred teacher education curriculum that specifically addresses the task of preparing teachers who can make a positive difference to the learning opportunities and outcomes of diverse students, particularly those historically disadvantaged by the education system.