Examining Arizona’s Policy Response Post Flores v. Arizona in Educating K–12 English Language Learners

This article provides an analysis of Arizona’s policy response in educating English language learners by conducting a narrative review. A critical Latina/o theory approach was used to analyze the data. This study reveals 5 salient policy responses: (a) severely limit bilingual education, (b) develop controversial funding solutions, (c) implement a segregated 4-hr English language development block, (d) mandate structured English immersion–focused teacher preparation, and (e) develop disputed identification and classification instruments. The available data suggest that these policies have negatively impacted the educational experience and academic attainment of English language learners.     

Chinese and US Middle-School Science Teachers' Autonomy,Motivation, and Instructional Practices

This study examined Chinese and US middle-school science teachers' perceptions of autonomy support. Previous research has documented the link between teachers' perceptions of autonomy and the use of student-oriented teaching practices for US teachers. But is not clear how the perception of autonomy may differ for teachers from different cultures or more specifically how motivation factors differ across cultures. The survey measured teachers' motivation, perceptions of constraints at work, perceptions of students' motivation, and level of autonomy support for students. Exploratory factor analysis of responses for the combined teacher sample (n?=?201) was carried out for each of the survey assessments. Significance testing for Chinese (n?=?107) and US (n?=?94) teachers revealed significant differences in teachers' motivation and perceptions of constraints at work and no significant differences for perceptions of students' motivation or their level of autonomy support for students. Chinese teachers' perceptions of constraints at work, work motivation, and perceptions of student motivation were found to significantly predict teachers' autonomy support. For the US teachers, teacher motivation was the only significant predictor of teachers' autonomy support. A sub-sample of teachers (n?=?19) was interviewed and results showed that teachers in both countries reported that autonomy was important to their motivation and the quality of science instruction they provided to students. The primary constraints on teaching reported by the US teachers related to materials and laboratory space while the Chinese teachers reported constraints related to the science curriculum and standards.     

Relationships between chronological age,developmental age,and standardized achievement tests in kindergarten

Chronological age and developmental age have been used to identify readiness for kindergarten entrance. In the current research, chronological age and results of the Gesell School Readiness Test were evaluated as predictors of kindergarten performance as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test. Subjects were 284 children attending kindergarten in the San Luis Coastal School District during the 1986—1987 school year. Results indicate that both chronological and developmental age provide good predictors of Stanford Achievement Test performance in kindergarten. Implications of the current research for setting appropriate entrance policy were explored.     

How do school resources and academic performance differ across Australia’s rural, regional and metropolitan communities?

This study uses data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to gain a better understanding of how academic performance and resources vary across rural–urban school communities in Australia. While it is well known that schools in rural areas have difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers, the degree to which schools in larger sized communities across Australia also face this problem is less understood. Moreover, very little is known about the degree to which shortages of instructional materials and equipment are associated with rural–urban location. The analysis includes 353 schools across eight community types that range in size of <1,000 people in small country towns to more than a million people in large capital cities. School principals reported the degree to which instruction in their school is hindered by a shortage of resources, which include qualified teaching staff and instructional materials and equipment. The findings highlight the extent to which school resources vary across geographic location, as reported by school principals. Principals of schools in the centre of large cities were the least likely to report that shortages of teaching staff or instructional materials hinder learning, while principals in rural and remote communities were the most likely to report that such shortages hinder instruction. These differences closely mirror student PISA academic performance and school socioeconomic composition. PISA data indicates that schools located in small rural communities have the lowest socioeconomic profiles, the lowest academic performance and the largest shortages of teaching staff and instructional materials, while schools in central neighborhoods of large cities enjoy the highest socioeconomic profiles, the highest academic performance and the fewest shortages.     

‘The Use of History of Mechanics in Teaching Motion and Force Units’

This paper reports a 4-month study that investigated the effectiveness of curriculum materials incorporating the history of science (HOS) on learning science, understanding the nature of science (NOS), and students’ interest in science. With regards to these objectives, three different class contexts were developed with three main types of information in history of science. In the first class context, the similarities between students’ alternative ideas and scientific concepts from the HOS were considered in developing teaching materials. In the second class context, the teacher developed discussion sessions on the ways scientists produce scientific knowledge. In the third class context, short stories about scientists’ personal lives were used without connection to the concepts of science or NOS. Ninety-one eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to four classes taught by the same science teacher. The concepts in the motion unit and in the force unit were taught. Three of the four classrooms were taught using the contexts provided by the HOS while the fourth class was taught in the same way that the teacher had used in previous years. The effects on student meaningful learning, perceptions of the NOS, and interest in science were evaluated at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the study to compare differences between historical class contexts and the Traditional Class. Results of analysis showed that the changes in meaningful learning scores for the first class context were higher than other classes but the differences between classes were not significant. The HOS affected student perceptions of the scientific methods and the role of inference in the process of science. Stories from scientists’ personal lives consistently stimulated student interest in science, while discussions of scientific methods without these stories decreased student interest. The positive effects of stories relating scientist’ personal life on student interest in science has major importance for the teaching of science. This research also helps to clarify different class contexts which can be provided with different types and uses of historical information.     

‘Singled out because of skin color … ’: exploring ethnic minority female teachers’ embodiment in physical education

There is a significant lack of diversity within the teaching population nationwide that reflects historical, political, and institutional racialized inequality. In the context of physical education, ethnic minority teachers often report feeling ‘different,’ marginalized, and struggle to negotiate the dominant school culture they feel they do not belong to. Purpose: To explore how race and gender intersect in the lived experiences of ethnic minority female PE teachers in predominantly white schools in the United States. Methods: This study used narrative and visual research methods. Results: Participants often felt isolated and uncomfortable in their educational contexts, actively seeking out other ethnic minorities to make meaningful connections and validate their lived experiences. Discussion: The intersection of race and gender in participants’ embodied identities reflects sexist and racist systems in which white privilege is positioned as normal or universal. PE and PE teacher education programs must actively work to disrupt and destabilize these norms.     

Archaeometric and geological constraints for the provenance of carbonatic breccias used in monumental works along the Flaminia Consular Road (Umbria-Marche, Central Italy)

Along the Umbria-Marche stretch of the Flaminia Consular Road (220 B.C.) several archaeological finds of the most important monumental works, are well preserved. The stones, employed to build many bridges, substructions and sewerages, are represented by carbonatic breccias whose geological environment of formation and source areas had never been established. On the basis of mineralogical, petrographic and micropalaeontological analyses, two groups of these lithotypes employed in Roman age were distinguished: “monogenic carbonatic breccias” only constituted by clasts of the Maiolica Unit (Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous) and “polygenic carbonatic breccias” made of fragments (in different proportions) of Calcare Massiccio (Early Jurassic), Corniola (Early Jurassic), Maiolica (Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous) and Scaglia Rossa (Late Cretaceous – Early Paleogene) Units. The possible source areas of the breccias are compatible with stratified slope-waste to scarp-base deposits of periglacial origin belonging to the Upper Pleistocene. In particular, among the seven investigated areas, we pointed out the most probable provenances (Monte Faeto-Colle, Costacciaro, Scirca, Foci, Secchiano) along the flanks of the Apennine Mesozoic chain of the Umbria and Marche regions. Although the Romans could have exploited the whole thickness of some outcrops (now disappeared) of these carbonatic lithotypes at the deepest part of the valleys, we have constrained a local provenance of the breccias so commonly used in the monumental works of the Flaminia.     

An Approach to Measuring Cognitive Outcomes Across Higher Education Institutions

Over the past decade, state legislatures have experienced increasing pressure to hold higher education accountable for student learning. This pressure stems from several sources, such as increasing costs and decreasing graduation rates. To explore the feasibility of one approach to measuring student learning that emphasizes program improvement, we administered several open-ended tests to 1365 students from 14 diverse colleges. The strong correspondence between hand and computer assigned scores indicates the tests can be administered and graded cost effectively on a large scale. The scores were highly reliable, especially when the college is the unit of analysis; they were sensitive to years in college; and they correlated highly with college GPAs. We also found evidence of value added in that scores were significantly higher at some schools than at others after controlling on the schools mean SAT score. Finally, the students said the tasks were interesting and engaging.