Network-related teaching and changes in classroom seating

The extent to which teachers make changes in classroom seating reflects, in part, the degree to which they value promoting positive peer relationships in the classroom. We assessed the frequency with which teachers made both minor (i.e., involving only 2–3 students) and major (involving half or more students in the class) changes in classroom seating. We tested whether the frequency of seating changes was linked to teachers' beliefs about promoting positive peer relationships, their attunement to child- or peer-reports of peer victimization, and their concern about bullying at the school. Participants were 37 fourth-grade teachers and their students (N = 677). The frequency of major seating changes was negatively associated with teachers' peer-focused classroom seating (PFCS) beliefs and to their attunement to student peer victimization. Minor seating changes were positively associated with PFCS beliefs for teachers with low or average attunement to peer victimization; however, teachers highly attuned to peer victimization made fewer minor seating changes regardless of their PFCS beliefs. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Effects of Parent Implemented Visual Schedule Routines for African American Children with ASD in Low-Income Home Settings

Low-income, minority families are underrepresented in the literature on parent training for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the use of visual supports, such as visual schedules, is considered to be an evidence-based practice for children with ASD in school, it is not known whether this strategy is effective for minority, low-income families when implemented by the parent in the home setting. This study used a multiple-baseline across routines design replicated across two African American child-mother dyads to examine the effects of a parent-implemented visual schedule procedure on child independent schedule use and between-activity transitions. Parent participants were trained to implement a visual schedule intervention during home routines. Although a functional relation was demonstrated across routines for one mother-child dyad, results varied across participants, highlighting the importance of treatment fidelity. Implications for future research, including the challenges involved in parent-implemented interventions in low-income settings for minority children with ASD, are addressed.     

The Systems Theory Framework of Career Development and Counseling: Connecting Theory and Practice

The practice of career counseling has been derived from principles of career theory and counseling theory. In recent times, the fields of both career and counseling theory have undergone considerable change. This article details the move toward convergence in career theory, and the subsequent development of the Systems Theory Framework in this domain. The importance of this development to connecting theory and practice in the field of career counseling is discussed.     

The early academic progress of children with special educational needs

Children with special educational needs (SEN) are known to experience lower average educational attainment than other children during their school years. But we have less insight into how far their poorer educational outcomes stem from their original starting points or from failure to progress during school. The extent to which early identification with SEN delivers support that enables children who are struggling academically to make appropriate progress is subject to debate. This is complicated by the fact that children with SEN are more likely to be growing up in disadvantaged families and face greater levels of behavioural and peer problems, factors which themselves impact attainment and progress through school. In this paper, we evaluate the academic progress of children with SEN in England, drawing on a large‐scale nationally representative longitudinal UK study, the Millennium Cohort Study, linked to administrative records of pupil attainment. Controlling for key child, family and environmental factors, and using the SEN categories employed at the time of data collection, we first establish that children identified with SEN in 2008, when they were age 7, had been assessed with lower academic competence when they started school. We evaluate their progress between ages 5–7 and 7–11. We found that children identified with SEN at age 7 tended to be those who had made less progress between ages 5 and 7 than their comparable peers. However, children with SEN continued to make less progress than their similarly able peers between ages 7 and 11. Implications are discussed.     

Policy issues in the economics of higher education and related research opportunities in Britain and the United States

This paper considers several opportunities for research on the means of relating investment in higher education more closely to widely expressed desires for faster economic growth and for greater equity in educational opportunity. It does this against a background of policy issues related to growth and equity among income groups common to the current debates in the United States and Britain.Major basic policy trends in the U.S. are reviewed briefly first, with comparisons to some similar developments in Britain. These are then related to an underlying need for research to broaden the concept of human educational capital as a means of bringing findings closer to the needs of legislators' constituents and educational planners in democratic nations. Some preliminary evidence is included that suggests, for example, that not only expected monetary returns, but also expected nonmonetary returns reflecting the increasing value of time are important to students and their families as they decide to invest.The possibilities for research on means of aiding growth then are considered. They focus primarily on the opportunities inherent in early findings on relative rates of return to two year (e.g. Higher National Certificate, or junior college) programs, and the potential through adaptations in postsecondary education for speeding up application of basic science and new technology to production.Finally, research and preliminary findings on the regressive incidence of the net benefits of higher education among income groups is considered. It is suggested that there are some ways that higher education can contribute to faster economic growth while simultaneously contributing to equity.This paper was prepared while the author was Academic Visitor at the London School of Economics Higher Education Research Unit immediately following a semester spent as Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.     

Collaborative and Competitive Video Games for Teaching Computing in Higher Education

This study measures the success of using a collaborative and competitive video game, named Space Race, to teach computing to first year engineering students. Space Race is played by teams of four, each with their own tablet, collaborating to compete against the other teams in the class. The impact of the game on student learning was studied through measurements using 485 students, over one term. Surveys were used to gauge student reception of the game. Pre and post-tests, and in-course examinations were used to quantify student performance. The game was well received with at least 82% of the students that played it recommending it to others. In some cases, game participants outperformed non-participants on course exams. On the final course exam, all of the statistically significant (p<0.05) comparisons (42% of the relevant questions) showed a performance improvement of game participants on the questions, with a maximum grade improvement of 41%. The findings also suggest that some students retain the knowledge obtained from Space Race for at least 7 weeks. The results of this study provide strong evidence that a collaborative and competitive video game can be an effective tool for teaching computing in post-secondary education.     

Professional Learning Communities: A Review of the Literature

International evidence suggests that educational reform’s progress depends on teachers’ individual and collective capacity and its link with school-wide capacity for promoting pupils’ learning. Building capacity is therefore critical. Capacity is a complex blend of motivation, skill, positive learning, organisational conditions and culture, and infrastructure of support. Put together, it gives individuals, groups, whole school communities and school systems the power to get involved in and sustain learning over time. Developing professional learning communities appears to hold considerable promise for capacity building for sustainable improvement. As such, it has become a ‘hot topic’ in many countries.     

Highlighting and taking notes are equally ineffective when Reading paper or eText

Education and Information Technologies - The present study examined whether there is a difference in comprehension when reading from computer-based text versus reading from paper-based text and...     

The Developing Bodily Self: How Posture Constrains Body Representation in Childhood

Adults’ body representation is constrained by multisensory information and knowledge of the body such as its possible postures. This study (N = 180) tested for similar constraints in children. Using the rubber hand illusion with adults and 6- to 7-year olds, we measured proprioceptive drift (an index of hand localization) and ratings of felt hand ownership. The fake hand was either congruent or incongruent with the participant’s own. Across ages, congruency of posture and visual–tactile congruency yielded greater drift toward the fake hand. Ownership ratings were higher with congruent visual–tactile information, but unaffected by posture. Posture constrains body representation similarly in children and adults, suggesting that children have sensitive, robust mechanisms for maintaining a sense of bodily self.     

Children Persist Less When Adults Take Over

Children need to learn to persist through challenges, yet adults sometimes step in to solve problems for them. Here, we looked at how adult taking over related to children’s persistence. In an observational study (N = 34, ages 4–8), we found that parents who took over more often during a challenging puzzle task rated their children as dispositionally less persistent. To establish whether taking over can cause reduced persistence, we ran two preregistered experiments (N = 150, ages 4–5). Children assigned to a taking over condition persisted less on a subsequent task compared to those in a teaching or a baseline condition. Reframing the context did not ameliorate the negative impact of taking over. The results suggest that taking over impairs children’s persistence.