We Talk About It,But Do They Get It?

This article reports on the last of a series of iterative research studies involving students with learning disabilities in reform mathematics classrooms at the intermediate grade levels. This study reports the findings from a larger, year‐long case study that focused on ways to include students with learning disabilities and other students who are at risk for special education services in classwide discussions of problem solving. The data reported in this article detail the changes in teacher and student discourse over a nine‐week period in one classroom. Sources of data for this study included videotapes, audiotapes, and informal interviews with the teacher, a paraprofessional, and students. A quantitative analysis of the results indicates clear patterns of change in teacher and student discourse. Nonetheless, intentional efforts to include target students in the whole‐class discussions yielded instructional dilemmas that are underdescribed in the mathematics reform literature. Findings from this study have implications for special educators interested in mathematical problem solving, as well as math reformers who value the role of classroom discourse in daily instruction.     

Development and validation of an instrument to assess primary school students’ perceptions of the learning environment

Over the past 40 years, numerous instruments have been developed to assess the learning environment for a variety of purposes. Despite this plethora of available surveys, there are few that have been developed for use at the primary school level, and even fewer that have been comprehensively validated. This article describes the development of a long-overdue learning environment survey that is suited to primary school students. Evidence to support the validity of the survey, in terms of translation and criterion validity, was guided by Trochim and Donnelly’s (2006) construct validity framework. A pilot test involving one class of 30 students and interviews with six students was used to examine the face validity of individual items. Analyses of data collected from 609 students in 31 classes supported the convergent, concurrent, discriminant and predictive validity, the results of which were all satisfactory. This article is significant in that it provides educators and researchers with a valid tool to assess the learning environment. The instrument, named the Classroom Climate Questionnaire—Primary (CCQ-P), is described and its practical advantages and limitations are discussed.     

School-level environment and outcomes-based education in South Africa

In this study, we developed and validated a questionnaire to assess teachers’ perceptions of their actual and preferred school-level environment, investigated whether teachers involved with Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) perceive the school-level environment differently from those who are not, and investigated factors in the school-level environment (such as resources and staff freedom) linked with a school’s likelihood of successfully implementing OBE. The study involved modifying and validating an existing questionnaire to make it suitable for assessing the school-level environment in South Africa, as well as adding to the School-Level Environment Survey (SLEQ) the scales of Familiarity with OBE and Parental Involvement. Analysis of data collected from 403 teachers provides evidence for the validity and reliability of the new SLEQ-SA. MANOVA for repeated measures revealed a statistically significant (p < 0.01) difference between teacher perceptions of their actual school environment and the one that they would prefer for all seven SLEQ-SA dimensions. When MANOVA was used to examine whether teachers involved in OBE perceive their school-level environments differently from those who are not, statistically significant differences emerged for two of the seven school-level environment scales, with teachers involved with OBE perceiving significantly more Familiarity with OBE and Work Pressure. The constraints faced by teachers are wide ranging and include a number of factors such as a lack of material resources and large class sizes. The results provide valuable information to policy-makers, principals and researchers that potentially could help to guide the implementation of OBE.     

Volume Contents

Volume Contents

Volume Contents