The role of subject-matter content in teacher preparation: an international perspective for mathematics

International comparative studies in education provide a fresh perspective on K-12 education policy by enabling countries to learn from each other’s approaches. The recently conducted Teacher Education and Development Study—Mathematics provides a worldwide lens by which to examine the role of subject-matter in the preparation of US teachers of mathematics for primary and lower secondary students. More specifically, a previous study looking at the international top-performing teacher preparation programmes identified a common set of learning experiences (topics/content) related to mathematics. This empirically derived international benchmark is used in this paper to examine the quality of the mathematics preparation of future US teachers in various university and college programmes.     

The direct and indirect effects of word reading and vocabulary on adolescents’ reading comprehension: Comparing struggling and adequate comprehenders

The current study examined statistically significant differences between struggling and adequate readers using a multicomponent model of reading comprehension in 796 sixth through eighth graders, with a primary focus on word reading and vocabulary. Path analyses and Wald tests were used to investigate the direct and indirect relations of word identification, vocabulary, silent reading efficiency, and inference-making on reading comprehension. Comparing struggling versus adequate comprehenders revealed statistically significant differences in path coefficients. In both groups, vocabulary had the largest total effect when considering its direct and indirect effects. Word identification was the strongest direct predictor for struggling comprehenders (β = .18 for struggling vs. β = ? .03 for adequate), while vocabulary was the strongest predictor for adequate comprehenders (β = .40 for adequate vs. β = .14 for struggling). Findings reinforce (a) vocabulary knowledge plays a primary role in explaining individual differences in adolescent reading comprehension, (b) the need to differentiate intervention to address underlying difficulties of struggling readers, and (c) the relations of reading component skills (e.g., word reading and silent reading efficiency) to reading comprehension may be different based on reader proficiency.     

Designing Large-Scale Multisite and Cluster-Randomized Studies of Professional Development

We develop a theoretical and empirical basis for the design of teacher professional development studies. We build on previous work by (a) developing estimates of intraclass correlation coefficients for teacher outcomes using two- and three-level data structures, (b) developing estimates of the variance explained by covariates, and (c) modifying the conventional optimal design framework to include differential covariate costs so as to capture the point at which the cost of collecting a covariate overtakes the reduction in variance it supplies. We illustrate the use of these estimates to explore the absolute and relative sensitivity of multilevel designs in teacher professional development studies. The results from these analyses are intended to guide researchers in making more-informed decisions about the tradeoffs and considerations involved in selecting study designs for assessing the impacts of professional development programs.     

Analysis of macroethics teaching practices and perceptions in engineering: a cultural comparison

ABSTRACT

Students must be taught to understand the ethical issues associated with engineering and technology, which includes microethics and macroethics. This research examined the influence of cultural environment by comparing ethics-related education outcomes between educators in (1) the United States, (2) non-US Anglo, and (3) Western European countries who teach engineering students. In an increasingly globalised world where companies and projects draw from talent across countries, it is important to understand how different cultures educate future engineers about their ethical responsibilities. Survey results revealed that a majority of educators in all three groups viewed undergraduate and postgraduate education on ethics as insufficient. A higher percentage of non-US Anglo and Western European educators taught sustainability and environmental issues in their courses compared to US respondents. US educators taught codes of ethics, ethics in design, and safety more than those in Western Europe. Open-ended responses illuminated challenges and opportunities to improve ethics education.     

Threading mathematics through symbols,sketches, software,silicon, and wood: Teachers produce and maintain cohesion to support STEM integration

ABSTRACT

This classroom-based investigation sought to document how, in real time, STEM teachers and students attempt to locate the invariant mathematical relations that are threaded through the range of activities and representations in these classes, and how highlighting this common thread influences student participation and learning. The authors conducted multimodal discourse analyses of teacher–student interactions during multiday observations in 3 urban high school STEM classes. The focal lessons were in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering (within Project Lead the Way), and precollege geometry. Across 3 cases, teachers and students actively built and maintained cohesion of invariant mathematical relations across activities and representations. Pre- and postlesson interviews revealed that teachers intentionally managed cohesion to provide the continuity across the curricular activities that teachers believed would promote student understanding. The findings contribute to ways of fostering STEM integration and ways of grounding abstractions to promote meaning making and transfer.     

Student Constructions of Fit: Narratives About Incongruence at a Faith-Based University

Decades of student persistence and retention literature has brought to light factors of social, academic, and religious fit that influence a student's decision to remain at or depart from an institution. At Christian institutions, increasing student pluralism raises the likelihood that students will not fit religiously. This qualitative study of 21 first-time, full-time students contributes to the existing literature by exploring how students who already feel they do not fit for religious reasons work at constructing a sense of fit at a Christian research university. Many participants coped with religious discontinuity by redefining specifically Christian practices and teachings in terms that were personally palatable: as either general moral lessons that would help them to be a better person or as cultural insights that would benefit them social and professionally in the future. In many cases, university staff were instrumental. Finally, participants worked to construct an acceptable level of fit, or fit threshold, through various combinations of social fit, academic fit, and religious fit, often compensating for one with others. As Christian institutions increasingly invite students from diverse religious backgrounds into their campus community, understanding ways that these students attempt to adapt to religious incongruence will be paramount.