Ensuring quality in EPs’ use of dynamic assessment: a Delphi study

Dynamic Assessment (DA) is an interactive form of cognitive assessment used by some educational psychologists (EPs) to assess the learning potential of children and young people, through a focus on cognitive and affective aspects of learning. In terms of UK EP practice, this approach has the potential to complement the focus on ‘person-centred planning’ set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice. However, there is little guidance or consensus on what constitutes good DA practice. This research employed a Delphi methodology to identify competencies required to carry out quality DA. A panel of five international experts in DA and 17 EPs, using DA in practice, participated in three rounds of a Delphi study that identified 13 knowledge and 12 skills competencies considered essential for quality DA practice. The resulting framework could inform training and professional development programmes for EPs wishing to develop their skills and competence in practice.     

Disciplinary Text-Dependent Questions: Questioning for Learning in the Disciplines. The Challenge of Literacy in the Disciplines

The challenge of reading across disciplines is often not a matter of word recognition or general comprehension instruction; it is a matter of understanding how ideas are represented in the language and conventions of that discipline. In this article we describe a strategy for foregrounding the disciplines in the design and implementation of text-dependent questions in content area courses in order to accomplish a dual focus on content and discourse when using discipline-specific texts.     

Solidarity with the People: Organizing to Disrupt Teacher Alienation

Although research on teacher alienation and isolation has demonstrated the importance of developing collegial relationships, mentoring, and induction programs, there is limited research examining the ways to support critical educators with combatting their feelings of alienation and isolation as it relates to the larger sociopolitical dynamics they must endure. Within teacher education and teacher in-service development we must engage in research and approaches to learning that acknowledge the possibilities and potential of teachers to lead their development toward becoming critical and culturally relevant practitioners. Using an internal colonial framework where schooling is articulated as an extension of the colonial project, this article explores the reflections of ten educators, from the elementary to high school level, as they worked to create spaces for learning within a teacher-led, community based organization. Drawing from participant observations and interviews with organization members, this article explores the ways participation in a community based organization supported teachers with enduring the social and psychological consequences of the alienation they experienced in their schools. The data explore the ways in which participants worked to develop teaching practices drawing from anti-colonial perspectives and through their process developed a sense of solidarity with other teachers, which is discussed as three subthemes: shared beliefs, community, and commitment.     

Experiences with Counselor Training in Central Europe: Voices from Student Trainees

Globalization has led to an increase in United States-influenced counseling programs the world over; however, the extent to which these training models apply to other cultures is unclear. Using a sample of master’s-level counseling students studying in the Czech Republic (n?=?5), the authors conducted a phenomenological inquiry examining the experiences of European students trained in a program developed and supervised by faculty in the United States. Three themes (and potential barriers) related to English-language training programs in Central Europe included: cultural differences between faculty and students, complications related to the notion of professional identity, and concerns related to the utility of wellness-based principles in the Czech Republic. Implications for educators include cultural adaptation of training and course material as well as reframing illness perspectives through a wellness lens.     

Myth and ceremony in financial decision making under stress: Case studies from Mexican universities

Based on case studies of a private and a public Mexican university, this research studied the economic strategies adopted by institutions of higher education to respond to financial stress. Rather than assuming that these strategies were selected primarily on the basis of their economic efficiency, the social processes that led to their adoption were explored.Economic development theory was employed to describe and conceptualize the universities' responses to financial difficulties. The concepts of institutional rules and rational myths in the environment and the processes that lead organizations to become similar to their environment were utilized to explore the role of the institutional environment on decision-making in times of fiscal uncertainty.Results indicate that financial stress was managed through economic measures, however the universities' institutional environment filtered and gave specific meaning to particular decision strategies. Institutional rules in the environment, acquiring the character of rationalized myths, pemeated and determined decision-making choices, and were evidenced in and sustained by mimetic, normative and coercive processes. In this light, the institutional environment pervaded and predicted rational decisions.     

A Comparison of Multiple-Choice and Constructed Figural Response Items

In contrast to multiple-choice test questions, figural response items call for constructed responses and rely upon figural material, such as illustrations and graphs, as the response medium. Figural response questions in various science domains were created and administered to a sample of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students. Item and test statistics from parallel sets of figural response and multiple-choice questions were compared. Figural response items were generally more difficult, especially for questions that were difficult (p < .5) in their constructed-response forms. Figural response questions were also slightly more discriminating and reliable than their multiple-choice counterparts, but they had higher omit rates. This article addresses the relevance of guessing to figural response items and the diagnostic value of the item type. Plans for future research on figural response items are discussed.     

The effect of assessment of process after receiving teacher feedback

This exploratory study investigated the effect of assessing both process and product compared to assessing written products alone. Two groups of students received teacher feedback over a one-year period. One group was assessed on their revisions in addition to the quality of final drafts, while a second group was assessed on the quality of final drafts alone. The uptake of feedback, in the form of revision attempts, and the success of those attempts were compared between the two groups using a Mann–Whitney U-test. In addition, improvement in writing performance was measured and compared between the two groups using one-way analysis of variance. It was found that the group assessed on process had significantly higher uptake of feedback than the group assessed on product alone. However, the increased uptake consisted of unsuccessful revision attempts, while the number of successful revisions was almost identical between the groups. It was also found that the group assessed on final product alone improved significantly more than the group assessed on process in terms of essay content. It is concluded that the assessment of feedback may not be necessary in some contexts, and suggestions are given for increasing the quality of learning achieved by teacher feedback.     

Unsung Heroes: Exploring the roles of school-based professional experience coordinators in Australian preservice teacher education

The literature on practicum in preservice teacher education provides varied and detailed accounts of the roles of the student teacher, the supervising teacher, and the university-based teacher educator. However, the school-based professional experience coordinator, usually the principal or deputy principal, has been dismissed as an administrative outsider to the essential triad of supervision. Feedback from the field suggested that the coordinator's role may in fact be crucial in ensuring that practicum is an occasion for quality learning. This paper reports on a study to explore ways in which a small selection of professional experience coordinators contribute to the establishment, support and appraisal of high quality practicum experience in a variety of settings. The research fills a gap in the existing literature on the practicum by providing some illumination of the varied ways the school-based coordinator role is filled. In addition, the paper raises questions about selection and support of coordinators, about ownership of the practicum, and argues for a reconceptualisation of the practicum as the site where all shareholders engage in the partnership, with continual opportunities for construction, reconstruction and renewal of the teaching profession.     

Responsibilities,preparedness, and job satisfaction of paraprofessionals: working with young children with disabilities

To support teachers with their classroom responsibilities, schools have increasingly turned to paraprofessionals for assistance, with the largest numbers of paraprofessionals employed in the field of special education. Owing to this important role that paraprofessionals now perform in the education of children with disabilities in the USA, we set out to investigate the responsibilities that paraprofessionals working with young children with disabilities had. We were also interested in identifying how paraprofessionals and the teachers with whom they work alongside perceived the paraprofessionals' level of preparedness for their roles and their job satisfaction. Fifty‐two paraprofessionals and 59 teachers of young children with disabilities participated in the study. Overall, both paraprofessionals and teachers indicated that paraprofessionals were generally well prepared for activities they frequently engaged in and both viewed themselves as collaborative members of an educational team.