Guidance and counseling program development in Botswana

In this article the procedures utilized in developing recommendations for guidance and counseling programming in Botswana are discussed. Initially, the status of guidance and counseling was determined through numerous interviews with individuals in many locations in the country. In addition to the information gained from these interviews, a needs assessment was conducted through reviewing national documents and surveying primary and secondary teachers and secondary students. Questionnaires administered to 106 primary school teachers, 89 secondary school teachers and 405 secondary school students were analyzed.Data from these sources comprised the foundation for recommendations for a sequence of developmental tasks for Guidance and Counseling Program Development in the Botswana Educational System. Six primary counselor roles including 1) Counseling Service, 2) Consulting Service, 3) Information Service, 4) Referral Service, 5) Placement and Follow-up Service and 6) Evaluation and Research Service serve as the basis for these recommendations.     

Investigating the Validity of the Australian Early Development Index

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing evaluation of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) by investigating its construct and concurrent validity with a subsample of 642 children aged 4 to 5 years drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Construct validity was examined by considering the theoretical consistency of the network of correlations between the AEDI subconstructs and the independently reported multimethod measures of early learning skills and development collected contemporaneously by the LSAC. Concurrent validity was examined by assessing the extent to which children who were “developmentally vulnerable” on the AEDI domains corresponded with the LSAC outcome indices classification of children as “developmentally at risk.” Moderate to large correlations were observed between each of the AEDI domains and subconstructs when compared to analogous teacher-rated LSAC measures, with lower levels of association observed for parent-rated LSAC measures. Concurrent validity was explored; however, with no criterion measure with which to assess the AEDI, findings are inconclusive prior to predictive validity assessment. Future waves of the LSAC will collect information on the children's abilities at school and developmental outcomes, enabling further interpretation of these concurrent and construct validity findings by triangulation and predictive validity analyses.     

Differentiated instruction: Hong Kong prospective teachers’ teaching efficacy and beliefs

Catering for learner diversity is one of the key areas in the recent educational reform in Hong Kong. Pre-service teacher education acts as a fundamental way to equip pre-service teachers ready for accommodating diverse learning needs and to build up pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy. The purpose of the study is to examine prospective teachers’ teaching beliefs toward differentiated instruction and teaching efficacy. Using a sequential mixed methods design that contains a questionnaire, focus group interviews, and individual interviews, prospective teachers undertaking a 13-session course regarding differentiated instruction as offered by a local university in Hong Kong participated in the study from January to April 2013. Changes in teaching beliefs regarding differentiated instruction as well as teaching efficacy levels were found. More positive attitudes toward differentiated teaching were found; however, there existed different concerns including class management and conflicts with personal teaching beliefs. These concerns may be related to practical experiences and confidence as well as expectations upon students. Implications for future course development and research are discussed at the end of the paper.     

Gender,student perceptions,institutional commitments and academic dishonesty: who reports in academic dishonesty cases?

The academic dishonesty literature generally focuses on the causes of academic dishonesty, and outlines deterrence strategies, as well as the punishment methods used in formal sanction. Student self-monitoring techniques are becoming a more visible alternative that places greater emphasis on proactive prevention methods as opposed to reactive punishment policies. Increasing the formal level of student responsibility in deterring academic dishonesty assumes that students will actively monitor the behavior of their classmates. Our findings indicate that student perceptions of campus climate and gender differences are important factors when explaining student reporting of suspected academic dishonesty and may illustrate important prerequisite conditions that must exist prior to the establish of a successful student self-monitoring programme.     

Teachers Speak Out on Assessment Practices

A 1997 statewide survey of Michigan teachers, administrators, and parents about assessment practices revealed that all 3 groups held similar views about what constitutes appropriate assessment in the early years, and they put little faith in test scores. This study reports on follow-up interviews aimed at determining the types, frequency, and utility of assessment techniques used by classroom teachers. Specifically, this study focused on the types of assessment techniques used by a sample of elementary teachers, including how often they use paper-and-pencil tests, how often they write observation notes and what they do with the notes, whether they use children's portfolios as assessment, and whether their teaching is influenced by mandated tests. Study findings revealed that paper and pencil tests were regularly used by teachers in grades 3 and 4 (92%), and rarely or occasionally used by the teachers below that level (16% rarely and 20% occasionally). Seventy-three percent of the early level teachers and 76% of the teachers in grade 3 and 4 used observation for summative rather than formative analysis. Teachers in both groups used checklists frequently, primarily for summative purposes. Portfolios, like other assessment tools, are used primarily for summative rather than formative purposes.     

The Long-Term Follow-up of Severely Malnourished Children Who Participated in an Intervention Program

18 severely malnourished children (IM) who participated in a 3-year home-visiting program were compared with 2 other comparison groups comprising 17 severely malnourished (NIM) and 19 adequately nourished children (controls). On enrollment, all the groups were in the same hospital, and both malnourished groups had lower developmental levels than the controls. The IM group received intervention for 3 years after hospitalization, consisting of weekly or 2 weekly home visits with toy demonstrations. At 7, 8, 9, and 14 years after leaving the hospital, the 3 groups were compared on tests of school achievement and IQ. The NIM group showed no sign of reducing their deficits, and at the 14-year follow-up they had markedly lower scores on the WISC verbal and performance scales, the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), than the controls. Throughout the follow-up the IM group's scores were intermediate between the NIM and the controls in every test. At the 14-year follow-up, their scores were significantly higher than those of the NIM group in the WISC verbal scale, and the difference approached significance in the WRAT. We conclude that psychosocial intervention should be an integral part of treatment for severely malnourished children.     

Mathematical problem solving and young children

Educators of young children can enhance the development of a problem-solving thought process through daily activities in their classrooms. An emphasis should be placed on the actual thought process needed to solve problems that occur in everyday living. Educators can follow simple suggestions to create problem-solving situations for all ages of children. The process of thinking through a problem and finding a solution is more important than traditional mathematics counting and memorizing useless facts. Even very young children are capable of a problem-solving process that is on the appropriate developmental level. The problem-solving process is constructivist in nature, as each individual perceives problems according to her or his background and developmental levels. Educators need to make a conscious effort to capitalize on all stages of problem-solving thinking to enhance future mathematical development.     

Developing teaching assistants’ skills in positive behaviour management: an application of Video Interaction Guidance in a secondary school

This paper reports an action research project in a school in the UK designed to investigate the impact of a brief Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) intervention in promoting skills of non-teaching staff in positive behaviour management. A summary of the literature in relation to VIG is provided before describing the project and data collected. Ten teaching assistants (TAs) from a secondary school took part in an intervention using VIG. The impact on TA skills and confidence was assessed using participant ratings of the specific target outcomes of the intervention using the Target Monitoring and Evaluation (TME) system. Participants’ experiences of the intervention were explored during a focus group discussion after the intervention had taken place. TME data suggested a positive impact on TA skills and confidence to support individual pupils, while thematic analysis of focus group data showed a number of themes relevant to the application of VIG in this context, including promotion of effective staff development.     

Conceptualising the role of information and communication technologies in the design of higher education teaching models used in the UK

Despite the widespread availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and some research into specific pedagogical practices using them, there has been little research on the role of these technologies in shaping broader pedagogical approaches in higher education (HE). Increased experimentation in using ICTs raises questions about their pedagogical role in teaching, learning and assessment provision, and in creating innovative pedagogies. An accepted approach is needed to compare the different ways ICTs and rich media are used in HE teaching models. Within the SusTEACH HE sustainability research project this was needed to support the carbon‐based environmental assessment of HE courses using ICTs. Building on a review of learning design theories and models, and ICTs used for pedagogical purposes, this paper considers several approaches to conceptualising the role of ICTs in HE courses, leading to the development of the Teaching Models Rating Tool designed to examine the role of ICTs in course provision. This tool characterises courses as using Face‐to‐Face Teaching Models, Distance Teaching Models, ICT‐Enhanced Blended Teaching Models or Online Teaching Models. Whilst this tool was designed to support research on sustainable HE teaching models in the UK, it has wider applications to support comparative assessments of pedagogical and economic impacts. Further developments will be informed by the complex and evolving role of ICTs in HE teaching models.     

Consortial Borrowing Along EL Camino Real

Camino, a patron-initiated borrowing system, operates within the SCELC consortium made up of private academic libraries in California. OCLC's WorldCat Navigator Request Engine is the backbone of this service, because it works with all ILS systems and integrates with discovery layers and interlibrary loan. Camino is administrated by a user group which sets policies and procedures and guides implementation for new members.