A Randomized Study of a Literacy-Integrated Science Intervention for Low-Socio-economic Status Middle School Students: Findings from first-year implementation

This paper presents the findings from a randomized control trial study of reading/literacy-integrated science inquiry intervention after 1 year of implementation and the treatment effect on 5th-grade low-socio-economic African-American and Hispanic students’ achievement in science and English reading. A total of 94 treatment students and 194 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted of ongoing professional development and specific instructional science lessons with inquiry-based learning, direct and explicit vocabulary instruction, and integration of reading and writing. Results suggested that (a) there was a significantly positive treatment effect as reflected in students' higher performance in district-wide curriculum-based tests of science and reading and standardized tests of science, reading, and English reading fluency; (b) males and females did not differ significantly from participating in science inquiry instruction; (c) African-American students had lower chance of sufficiently mastering the science concepts and achieving above the state standards when compared with Hispanic students across gender and condition, and (d) below-poverty African-American females are the most vulnerable group in science learning. Our study confirmed that even a modest amount of literacy integration in inquiry-based science instruction can promote students' science and reading achievement. Therefore, we call for more experimental research that focus on the quality of literacy-integrated science instruction from which middle grade students, particularly low-socio-economic status students, can benefit.     

Personality Characteristics,Belief Systems,and Cognitive Performance of Exiting Teacher Education Students

This study examined relationships within and between measures of personality characteristics, personal and teaching practices beliefs, levels of dogmatism, and cognitive out-comes (NTE scores and GPA) for a sample (n=63) of teacher education students at the time of exiting a teacher education program. Moderate, negative correlations were established between dogmatism and the cognitive outcomes. Teaching practices beliefs consistent with the philosophy of John Dewey were positively related to both NTE scores and GPA, but were inversely related to dogmatic beliefs. Personality characteristics were essentially unrelated to the cognitive outcomes examined, but were consistently found to relate positively to dogmatism scores. Other results of the study questioned the subscale independence of the personality measure used. Results were interpreted in terms of past research with the various cognitive and affective measures used and implications for teacher education program planners and evaluators were discussed.     

Forty years in the union: Incubating, supporting, and catalyzing socially just educational change

North American teacher unions’ positive contributions to educational change have historically flown under the radar of educational policy makers, a situation that has been reified by recent attacks on public sector unions. In this article, I draw on social movement theory and an institutional case study of a self described social justice union to analyze teacher unions’ unique contributions to educational improvement. The primary product of this analysis is a cyclical model of union-supported, teacher-initiated educational change that codifies 40 years of social justice activism incubated, supported and catalyzed by a Canadian teacher union.     

French-Arab students and verbal intellectual performance: Do they really suffer from a negative intellectual stereotype?

Stigmatized group membership leads to deleterious consequences for individuals. More specifically, according to stereotype threat literature, the awareness of negative intellectual stereotypes can impair stereotyped group members’ performance. Based on this framework, two studies were designed to explain the lower grades obtained by French-Arab students, compared to French students. An Implicit Association Test (Study 1) revealed that native French students automatically expressed a negative stereotype regarding French-Arab students’ intellectual abilities. The second study (Study 2) examined whether this negative stereotype could alter French-Arab students’ intellectual performance in a threatening context. As expected, French-Arab students underperformed when the verbal task was presented as a measure of intellectual ability, compared to French students. When the task was presented as non-diagnostic, their performance equaled that of French students. The discussion herein addressed implications of these results in terms of discrimination against the French-Arab population.     

Electromagnetic Fields,Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation,and Epigenetics: How Wireless Technologies May Affect Childhood Development

Mobile phones and other wireless devices that produce electromagnetic fields (EMF) and pulsed radiofrequency radiation (RFR) are widely documented to cause potentially harmful health impacts that can be detrimental to young people. New epigenetic studies are profiled in this review to account for some neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral changes due to exposure to wireless technologies. Symptoms of retarded memory, learning, cognition, attention, and behavioral problems have been reported in numerous studies and are similarly manifested in autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, as a result of EMF and RFR exposures where both epigenetic drivers and genetic (DNA) damage are likely contributors. Technology benefits can be realized by adopting wired devices for education to avoid health risk and promote academic achievement.