Do parents make a difference to children’s academic achievement? Differences between parents of higher and lower achieving students

Differences in family factors in determining academic achievement were investigated by testing 432 parents in nine independent, coeducational Melbourne schools. Schools were ranked and categorized into three groups (high, medium and low), based on student achievement (ENTER) scores in their final year of secondary school and school improvement indexes. Parents completed a questionnaire investigating their attitudes towards the school environment, their aspirations, expectations, encouragement and interest in their child’s education (adapted from scales constructed by Marjoribanks). They also responded to six open‐ended questions on their attitudes to achievement and to their (child’s) school. Multiple regression analyses revealed that parental expectations of their children’s educational level made the strongest unique prediction of high achievement followed by the length of time they had maintained their expectations. Limitations discussed include the disparity in meaning associated with the definition of school success and whether these results can be generalized to all students considering the biased sample (socio‐economic status).     

Spectrum Approach to Mentoring: an evidence-based approach to mentoring for academics working in higher education

Anecdotal and empirical evidence indicates that mentoring can be a successful strategy for supporting professional learning, yet limited literature exists on approaches to mentoring designed specifically for academics working in higher education. The aim of this study was to create an approach to mentoring tailored to the needs of academics and underpinned by evidence from the literature. Participatory action research was chosen as the methodology for the project as this enabled a process of inquiry to be embedded within academic practice. The outcome was the development of the Spectrum Approach to Mentoring (SAM). This three-step approach is goal orientated, and encompasses mentoring relationships that may be ongoing and sustained over time through to those that are short-term and aligned with a particular task or focus. SAM provides a suite of resources that can be used by academics to promote valuable opportunities for professional learning through the initiation of mentoring relationships.     

Assessing Multiliteracies and the New Basics

This paper addresses the skills and characteristics required of successful learners, workers and citizens in the knowledge economy. The authors trace the shifting commercial, technological and cultural conditions characteristic of this economy, and highlight the key qualities now required for individual success. Effective learners will increasingly need to be autonomous and self-directed, flexible, collaborative, of open sensibility, broadly knowledgeable, and able to work productively with linguistic and cultural diversity. While still prevalent, it is held that standardised testing and a 'back to basics' approach to curriculum are unable to promote and measure effectively these skills and sensibilities. Instead, a broader and more creative approach to curriculum and assessment is recommended. A 'new basics' is argued for at the level of curriculum, with correlative assessment techniques such as analysis of portfolios, performance, projects and group work.     

Multicultural Complexity: an Intersectional Lens for Clinical Supervision

The author discusses the need for counselor educators and supervisors to promote the intersectional nature of identities in counselor trainees and supervisees, especially as supervision serves as the vanguard for professional development and provides a more individually tailored space. This article introduces the concept of multicultural complexity, along with its current dearth in the counseling literature. The utility of multicultural complexity is explored, and recommendations made in the form of sample action plans (Appendix) regarding how counselor educators and supervisors can further incorporate the concept into the practice of clinical supervision.     

Research on class size effects: a critique of methods and a way forward

Research findings on class size differences need to be examined carefully because of their far reaching pedagogical and resource implications. An examination of research on the possible causal effect of class size differences on pupil progress, and on possible mediating factors, also raises important issues for educational research in general. In this chapter critically different approaches to research on class size effects are reviewed and an approach used in current research at the Institute of Education, that seems most likely to inform this controversial topic is described. Researchers need to pay more attention to providing a more reliable and valid measure of class size itself. In keeping with the bulk of research in this area the emphasis is on quantitative approaches, although possible limitations and alternative research approaches are considered. Limitations of earlier cross sectional research are examined, and the well-known STAR research is used to highlight some limitations of experimental designs. Finally, the advantages of longitudinal research, using multi-level modelling techniques, are examined.     

Teaching [and] Historical Understanding: Disciplining Historical Imagination with Historical Context

The form, content, and practice of history has shifted including changes in conceptualization and practice that came in viewing history as social science, critiques and reconstructions of historical forms of knowledge, and debates about form, format, genre, and discourse. The central argument of this essay begins with the claim that history is a distinctive discipline. It's distinction lies not only, or even primarily, in its subject matter or materials. Rather, history is distinct as a form of inquiry and mode of understanding, with distinguishing characteristics of historical context and historical imagination. Important implications follow.