Conceptual Mediation Program in Practice: Educational Outcomes from Two Sites

We report on two studies in which high school students who had been exposed to a cognitive training procedure known as the Conceptual Mediation Program (CMP) were compared to students who had not participated within the program. In the first study, based on data from two sites, it was found that 70 CMP students exhibited higher levels of school affect and strategy awareness than 103 comparable students not in the program. In the second study, based on retrospective data from one site, 53 students who had participated within CMP classes were found to exhibit higher levels of attainment on Year 12 South Australian public examination results (effect size of 1.04 on the aggregate). On the Year 12 examination results, the CMP students outperformed both the school and state norms.     

Innovation and Enterprise in Singapore Schools

Schools in Singapore are now tasked to develop the spirit of innovation and enterprise in their students. This is in line with the national vision of ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’. This policy initiative, which began in 2004, is set to change the fundamental nature of education in Singapore. This article discusses the innovation and enterprise (I&E) initiative, its major implications for schools in Singapore and the areas still to be addressed in the implementation of the policy. In particular, the article discusses the issues of teachers and school leaders as role models of I&E, I&E as an organic part of school business, the influence of the wider societal culture and values system, and the measurement of success of I&E. The challenge for schools is to go beyond the form of the initiative to bring real substantial and sustainable change through this movement.     

农村社区发展学院办学模式构想

深化农村教育改革,必须将农村高等教育培养目标转到为农村经济社会发展培养高素质的应用型高级人才上来,大力发展农村社区发展学院,探讨“学院 X 农户”、产学研一体化、县乡村网络化、就业培训兼升学教育、三教统筹等多样化办学模式及课程模式。这是促进农村高等教育发展的有效途径。     

论中小学骨干教师在当前基础教育改革中的角色定位

中小学骨干教师是我国基础教育改革和发展的排头兵和中坚力量,在当前基础教育新课程改革的大背景下,经过了遴选、培训、培养的中小学骨干教师应当成为教师专业化的领头者,校本培训的指导者,新课程改革的促进者和进行研究性学习的合作者,为我国基础教育实现跨跃式发展发挥应尽的带头、示范和辐射作用.     

新课程下高中物理实验教学的调查研究——以贵州省贵阳市为例

立足新课程改革的宏观背蒂,针对贵阳市高中物理实验教学的实施现状,分别从实验室仪器设备的配备情况、实验开课情况、三维目标的达成情况进行调查,分析总结出影响实验教学的因素,并提出提高实验教学的有效策略。     

Statistics for Educational Workers

ABSTRACT

Present federal education policies promote learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the participation of minority students in these fields. Using longitudinal data on students in Florida and North Carolina, value-added estimates in mathematics and science are generated to categorize schools into performance levels and identify differences in school STEM measures by performance levels. Several STEM-relevant variables show a significant association with effectiveness in mathematics and science, including STEM teacher turnover, calculus and early algebra participation, and mathematics and science instructional indices created from survey items in the data. Surprisingly, a negative association between students’ STEM course participation and success in STEM is consistently documented across both states, in addition to low participation of underrepresented minority students in successful schools in STEM.     

The Relation between the Frequency and the Universality of Teaching Activities

ABSTRACT

The author empirically tests the conceptual model of academic socialization, which suggests that parental cognitions about schooling influence parenting practices and child outcomes during the transition to school (Taylor, Clayton, &; Rowley, 2004). More specifically, the author examines associations among parents’ conceptions of school readiness, transition practices, and children's academic achievement in reading and mathematics from kindergarten through Grade 1 using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 12,622). A latent growth curve model was estimated, and results show that parents’ school readiness beliefs were positively associated with children's beginning achievement and growth. Parents’ transition practices were positively associated with children's achievement at the onset of kindergarten. Parents’ beliefs also positively predicted their use of transition practices. The analysis largely confirmed the conceptual model of academic socialization. Furthermore, findings suggest that early interventions seeking to change parenting practices should consider parents’ school readiness beliefs and expectations.     

Effects of Mutuality of Control Orientation between Leaders and Group Members

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of mutuality of control orientation between group leaders and group members. Mean change scores for group members were analyzed using a 2X2 factorial analysis of variance. No significant interaction between the control orientation of the group leader and the group members was found. However, there is an indication that group members classified as externals changed more than did internals. Further, group members working with external leaders became more internal than did group members whose leaders were internal.     

‘Trying to find the extra choices’: migrant parents and secondary school choice in Greater Manchester

This article, based on qualitative research in Greater Manchester, examines the experience of migrants in navigating the education system, and in particular in choosing secondary schools for their children. There has been extensive research on the process of choosing schools since the policy reforms of the 1980s, but none has examined how the process of choosing a secondary school is impacted by the material and affective impact of migration. The article argues that migrants’ experience is embedded in gendered, classed and racialised processes and that, despite the heterogeneity of the category, migrants often face particular barriers in negotiating the school system. Nonetheless it also explores the importance put on education by the migrants who were interviewed and the active labour they engage in to try and achieve the best results for their children.     

学校管理的三重佳境

学校管理的境界指管理实践所能达到的程度或表现情况,是管理过程中干群双方在学校发展目标的指引下,在一定的管理情境中通过创造性的管理活动所达成的一种理想的管理状态,是干群精神互动创生且共同享有的意义世界。它通常包括"文武并用、垂拱而治"、"依法行事、和谐共生"、"顺其自然、无为而治"三重佳境。要达到管理的三重佳境,必须践行培养精英、科学运作、人文濡染、制度规范、提升修养、共建诚和等策略,厘清学校发展、教师发展、学生发展三者的关系,深谙教师发展之道,并能力促之。