Hard Cash and Soft Skills: Experimental Evidence on Combining Scholarships and Mentoring in Argentina

Abstract

We evaluate a long-standing program run by one of the largest education foundations in Argentina that offers scholarships and nonacademic mentoring to secondary school students. We randomly assigned 408 grade 6 students within 10 public schools in the Province of Buenos Aires to either receive the program throughout secondary school or not to receive it. After three years, the program improved students’ academic behaviors (e.g., studying before an exam or catching up on missed work), but we find little evidence that these changes translated into broader improvements in students’ academic mindsets (e.g., self-beliefs about performance and efficacy), perseverance (e.g., grit), or learning strategies (e.g., metacognition). The program also improved students’ performance in school during the first year (e.g., grades, attendance, and passing rates), but we do not find similar gains in subsequent years. This may be due to a large share of treatment students being expelled from the program for not meeting its requirements. The program did not improve student learning or personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness). Finally, we find some heterogeneous effects for female students and students from low-income families.     

International Children's Literature

Discusses the definition and contributions of international children's literature. Presents an overview of the International Board on Books for Young Children (IBBY), the Hans Christian Andersen Award and 2004 nominees, and the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL). Includes recommendations and summaries of 12 books.     

Referential perspective and instruction: A study on teacher-student interaction and text remembering

The aim of this paper is to study the role ofteacher-student interaction, in the acquisitionof text comprehension and memory skills from asocio-cultural approach. In our view, one ofthe most important areas of neglect in cognitive research in this field is the interactional nature of that development. We intend to establish the way in which teacher-student interaction and, specially, the use of some specific semiotic means mayfacilitate the acquisition and internalizationof general strategies for understanding andremembering expository texts. The role ofreferential perspective (Wertsch, 1989) in theinternalization of complex text study actionsis analysed.The task was to study three expository textsthat were similar in their structure. Thecontent of the texts was analysed in terms ofidea-units (Meyer, 1984). Each text was formedby idea-units from three different levels: mainideas, secondary ideas and details. A categorysystem for the analysis of study and recall ofthe text is developed. In the study phase theanalysis proceeded in two steps: study actionsand text ideas. In the recall phase, two types ofindexes (number of ideas and degree ofclustering) were considered. For the analysisof instructional actions, both the nature ofinstruction and referential perspective wasrecorded.     

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children’s Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers

Research Findings: This study explored the relations between Spanish–English dual language learner (DLL) children’s home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish–English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock–Muñoz and the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother–child reading at home influenced children’s Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children’s performance on English oral language measures. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs’ language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children’s language abilities are discussed.     

Cooperative learning: a methodological innovation in teacher training / El aprendizaje cooperativo: una innovación metodológica en la formación del profesorado

Cooperative learning is an important methodological strategy to develop students’ general competencies. In this paper, we show an educational innovation experience of cooperative learning developed as part of the ‘Educational contexts and processes’ subject of the Speciality in Technology and Industrial Processes of the Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teaching at the University of Valencia, during the 2011–12 academic year. The innovation experience becomes ‘meta-experience’ since it allows students to reflect on their own knowledge in building the learning process. The overall objective of this experience is to develop attitudes and skills for cooperative learning in future secondary education teachers. To this end, we designed the activity ‘Short Film’ that employs cooperative learning as a methodological strategy to foster learning and media literacy. The experience gave students the opportunity to reflect, discuss and be involved in their learning process. Furthermore, the academic results were excellent and students valued the educational innovation in a positive way.     

Are teachers ready for CLIL? Evidence from a European study

This article presents the outcomes of a European study on the main training needs which pre- and in-service teachers, teacher trainers, and coordinators consider they have in order to adapt to a bilingual education model. The macro-study has designed, validated and administered four sets of questionnaires to 706 informants across the whole of Europe, which have allowed a detailed diagnosis of language teachers’ training needs in terms of linguistic and intercultural competence, theoretical and methodological aspects based on the new options associated to Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), teaching materials and resources, and ongoing professional development. After framing the topic against the backdrop of prior investigations, the article expounds on the research design of the study and outlines its main findings in relation to the afore-mentioned fields of interest. A detailed diagnosis of where we currently stand in this process of preparation for CLIL models in Europe is provided and within- and across-cohort comparison is carried out in terms of a series of intervening variables. The ultimate aim is to base decisions regarding language degrees and teacher training courses on empirically grounded guidelines in order to guarantee a success-prone implementation of CLIL in our continent, country and region.     

Spiritual Conversation as Religiously Educative

This article proposes spiritual conversation as a religiously educative activity. Revelation as the relational activity of speaking–listening between the human and the divine in daily life, and education as an activity to show someone how to live and die, are key concepts for this study. This work includes a study of narrative at the heart of spiritual conversation. By uncovering the two contrasting processes of religious education, namely teaching religion and teaching how to be religious, this work identifies the contexts in which these processes may take place. This article explores spiritual conversation in two settings: Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and biomedicine.     

Understanding students’ game experiences throughout the developmental process of the number navigation game

Educational technology research and development - Serious games for learning have received increased attention in recent years. However, empirical studies on students’ gaming experiences...     

Remedial interventions for children with reading disabilities: speech perception--an effective component in phonological training?

The effects of two types of phonological training in children with reading disabilities (RD) were examined. One of the programs (SP/LPA) trained children in speech discrimination, letter-sound correspondence, and phonemic awareness. The other program (LPA) trained children only in letter-sound correspondence and phonemic awareness. The effects of these programs were compared with a control group. Thirty-five children with RD were trained in small groups five times a week for 4 weeks. The results indicated that both experimental groups improved in phonemic awareness compared to the control group but that only the SP/LPA group scored higher than the control group in reading.     

Music learning and education: contributions from neuroscience / Aprendizaje musical y educación: aportaciones desde la neurociencia

Traditionally, the teaching of music has tended to be a professional subject within the training of virtuosos in conservatories or a playful subject taught in schools, without due consideration given to the potential it offers to developing cognitive capacities. Advances in neuroscience highlight the importance of learning music in relation to the cognitive benefits derived from its practice. Brain exploration techniques show that practising music places a significant demand on the most developed cognitive functions of the human being, confirming the intervention of different cerebral areas involving a large portion of the brain and an increase in attention and concentration levels. After carrying out a literature review of the current state of the question, some of the most common findings in all fields of musical education are cited, considering aspects that are of particular relevance today, such as interdisciplinarity, emotion, cooperative learning, self-regulation and creativity.