Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Science Vocabulary: Knowledge and Application

Science vocabulary knowledge plays a role in understanding science concepts, and science knowledge is measured in part by correct use of science vocabulary (Lee et al. in J Res Sci Teach 32(8):797–816, 1995). Elementary school students have growing vocabularies and many are learning English as a secondary language or depend on schools to learn academic English. Teachers must have a clear understanding of science vocabulary in order to communicate and evaluate these understandings with students. The present study measured preservice teachers’ vocabulary knowledge during a science methods course and documented their use of science vocabulary during peer teaching. The data indicate that the course positively impacted the preservice teachers’ knowledge of select elementary science vocabulary; however, use of science terms was inconsistent in microteaching lessons. Recommendations include providing multiple vocabulary instruction strategies in teacher preparation.     

The Specter of Authoritarianism Among Criminal Justice Majors

Authoritarianism has been an influential concept in social science research. Furthermore, researchers have long been concerned about the potential dangers of authoritarianism within the criminal justice system. The current study uses Altemeyer’s RWA Scale to measure and compare levels of authoritarianism between criminal justice majors and non‐criminal justice majors in a sample of undergraduate students. Results indicate that criminal justice majors, males, and lower‐division students have higher mean RWA scores than non‐criminal justice majors, females, and upper‐division students. However, it is male criminal justice majors who demonstrate the highest levels of authoritarianism. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

A Replication of the Specter of Authoritarianism among Criminal Justice Majors: Does Race Matter?

Authoritarian personality types possess characteristics that are especially troubling if found among criminal justice (CJ) professionals. Recent research found significantly higher Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scores in male college students majoring in CJ than in male nonmajors as well as significantly higher scores among lower division students than their upper division counterparts. However, the results of that study were limited because the sample was predominantly Caucasian. Given the growth in African-American CJ professionals and the special salience of race, it is important to examine whether the findings can be generalized to African-Americans. In order to explore that issue the current study replicates that research with a largely African-American sample drawn from a historically black college/university (HBCU). Results indicate that, unlike the findings in the original study, CJ majors at the HBCU did not have statistically higher RWA scores. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Response to Madelyn Flammia's “a desktop publishing course: An alternative to internships for rural universities”∗

Charettes offer a productive way of combining theory and practice to address some of the difficult matters of getting students to see and perform technical communication as students, professionals, servers, and citizens. This collaborative activity helps students prepare for an increasingly modular professional world by revealing the contingent rhetoricity of professional autonomy. Charettes can help technical writing programs and students integrate service and civic learning into the curriculum by using indigenous professional genres that actively demand stakeholder participation. The intensity and pragmatic force of charettes can assist students in building their ethos while working with fellow stakeholders. The wide range of possible documents involved in the process associated with charettes can help technical communication students and teachers explore the connections between rhetorical exigencies and genre and put their skills to good use in a culture where many are looking for new ways to build critical citizenship.     

Teacher Candidates' Perceptions About Grading and Constructivist Teaching

The Survey of Assessment Beliefs (SAB) was developed to measure teacher candidates' perceptions about grading practices. After piloting, the SAB was administered to 222 teacher candidates at a large northeastern urban university, along with a measure of their beliefs about teaching. Candidates were found to support many grading practices not recommended by professional standards. Support for grading practices that deviate from professional recommendations was positively associated with support for constructivist approaches. Significant differences were found in grading and teaching attitudes between elementary and secondary education teacher candidates. Teacher candidates became more moderate in endorsing nonstandard grading practices following coursework in classroom assessment but on average maintained a tendency to approve academically enabling grading practices. This study provides empirical evidence about possible areas of tension between constructivist learning theory and principles of educational measurement, and it helps classroom assessment teachers understand the needs of their target audiences.     

Great Business Training is Just Enough,Just in Time,and Just for Me

Retrenchment practices in the 1980s represented a new challenge to institutions of higher education. The literature encompassing higher education within the past 10 years has revealed limited information concerning retrenchment policies in public community colleges in Texas. This study investigated the presence or absence of retrenchment policies and their relation to fluctuations in enrollment and state funding. All 49 public community‐junior college districts in the state of Texas were included in the study. Twenty (41%) of these community colleges had a retrenchment policy. This study indicated that administrative decisions regarding the development and adoption of retrenchment policies are based on state revenue declines as opposed to enrollment fluctuations.     

The Impact of Inaccurate “Informative” Priors for Growth Parameters in Bayesian Growth Mixture Modeling

Within Bayesian estimation, prior distributions are placed on model parameters and these distributions can take on many different levels of informativeness. Although much of the research conducted within this estimation framework uses what are called diffuse (or noninformative) priors, there are certain models and modeling circumstances where it is more optimal to use what are referred to as informative priors. This study focuses on the latter situation and examines the effects of inaccurate informative priors on the growth parameters within the context of growth mixture modeling. Overall, results indicated that growth mixture modeling is relatively robust to the use of inaccurate mean hyperparameters for the growth parameters, as long as the variance hyperparameters are somewhat large.     

Early Care and Education Matters: A Conceptual Model for Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Integrating the Key Constructs of Knowledge,Reflection, and Practice

There has been a great deal of discourse in the field of early care and education concerning the experiences, skills, competencies, and education level needed by early childhood teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning take place in the early years. The purpose of this article is to describe an early childhood teacher preparation program developed by a Child and Family Development Department at a large, urban, state-funded university in the hopes that we can further the discourse on how the field can ensure quality teaching and learning in both ECE and university classrooms. We propose a conceptual model that is built around three key constructs: knowledge, reflection, and practice and describe our approach to preparing early childhood educators. Using qualitative data from student reflections and course syllabi and quantitative data on the experiences and perceptions of graduating seniors, we hope to present promising practices in early childhood teacher education and provide support for our contention that the quality of early childhood teacher education matters.