Examining the Success Factors of High-Achieving Puerto Rican Male High-School Students

This article works to dispel the myth that Latino urban high-school students are not capable of performing at high academic levels. Whereas much educational research emphasizes the academic underachievement of urban Latino students, this article counteracts this research by describing the four success factors that three working-class Puerto Rican male high-school students attribute to their high academic achievement. These success factors are: (a) the acquisition of social capital through religiosity and participation in school and community-based extracurricular activities, (b) having a strong Puerto Rican identity, (c) the influence of these students' mothers/sisters on their academic achievement, and (d) the potential for caring and sincere teachers and other school staff to influence high academic achievement. These findings have implications for Latina/o education and recommendations are provided.     

The role of parents in young people’s education—a critical review of the causal evidence

There is currently a considerable body of research suggesting that parental involvement is linked to young people’s attainment at school. It is also generally agreed that a number of factors such as parental background, attention, warmth and parenting style are associated with children’s later life outcomes. However, although widely assumed on the basis of these associations, the nature of this causal link has not yet been established. This paper summarises what would be needed to demonstrate that enhanced parental involvement produced better attainment and other outcomes, based on establishing an association, the correct sequence of events, sensitivity to intervention and an explanatory mechanism. It then reports on the findings of a systematic review of available and relevant studies, based on this approach. The search for evidence on the impact of attitudes, expectations and behaviour on attainment yielded 1,008 distinct reports. Of these, 77 were directly about the impact of parental involvement. These confirm that parental involvement and attainment are linked, and in the correct sequence for a causal model. There are several plausible mechanisms to explain why parental involvement might have an impact. And most crucially and unlike all other areas linking attitudes and behaviour to attainment, there is promising evidence that intervening to improve parental involvement could be effective.     

Environmental Education Through Narrative Films: Impact of Medicine Man on Attitudes Toward Forest Preservation

Narrative film is a multimodal, multisensual, and universal medium that has potential to reach and influence a wide range of people regarding environmental issues. The author conducted an experiment to explore the impact of film portrayals of deforestation among college students. One-hundred eighty-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Experimental and Control Conditions. Students in the experimental condition watched the movie Medicine Man portraying the issue of deforestation, whereas those in the control condition watched an unrelated movie with a similar length. Participants in both conditions then completed a self-administered questionnaire that contained the measure of attitudes toward forest preservation. The results indicated that participants in the experimental condition became more favorable toward the preservation of forests (i.e., unfavorable toward deforestation) than did those in the control condition. Regression analysis also revealed that perceived realism regarding the movie and role affinity with native people portrayed in the movie were significant predictors for the attitudes toward forest preservation.     

The Effects of an Environmental Education Program on Students,Parents, and Community

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of an environmental education program on students, parents, and the community. The program, in place for 5 years in 5th and 6th grade classes, was designed to help learners take an in-depth look at environmental issues in their community, make data-based decisions about those issues, and participate in resolving those issues. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed (including student, parent, school personnel, and community member interviews). The authors discuss program connections to students' critical thinking, environmental literacy, and participation in the community; reading, writing, and speaking skills; student and teacher characteristics; and parent and community viewpoints.     

Students’ Classroom Communication Effectiveness

Instructional communication research has frequently examined effective teacher communication, but has ignored effective student communication. This study draws on the transactional model of communication to hypothesize that students who are effective communicators will be more successful in the classroom. Participants reported their level of interaction involvement, socio-communicative orientation, and out-of-class communication in regard to a specific class. Additionally, participants reported recently received grades, their level of state motivation to study, affective learning, performance of learning indicators, and satisfaction with instructor communication. Overall, students’ communication effectiveness was positively associated with positive learning outcomes.     

小学生父母教育卷入行为理论模型的建构与验证

基于我国特定的教育文化背景,整合已有理论和实证研究,提出了小学生父母教育卷入行为结构的理论模型。通过家长访谈、专家评定,对该模型进行了完善,并据此编制了家长报告问卷加以验证。对965位小学生家长所填问卷进行分析后,形成小学生父母教育卷入行为问卷(父母回答版)。问卷共29个项目,包括了五个维度,分别为:家庭监控,指父母对子女学习、生活及交往等的监督、控制行为;学业辅导,指家长按照教师要求或自行在家中对子女的学习进行辅导的行为;亲子沟通,指家长在日常生活中就子女学习、生活、交往以及学校事务进行沟通和交流的行为,以达到共同理解、信任的过程;共同活动,指为开阔视野、促进身心发展,家长与孩子共同进行的一些文体、社会实践活动等;家校沟通,指家长为了获取子女在校表现的信息和了解学校当前进行的工作而进行的家校之间的沟通与交流。经过探索性因素分析和交叉验证分析,问卷的结构与理论模型拟合较好,能够作为考察我国小学生父母教育卷入行为的测量工具。     

源于实践,归于实践——读王升教授的新著《主体教学有效性探索》

王升教授的新著《主体教学有效性探索》源于实践又归于实践。王升教授在书中首先从形而上的层面探讨了主体教学有效性的目标定位与主体教学运行的动力,确定了主体教学有效性的视阈;然后从形而下的层面制定了主体教学有效性的标准,并探索了确保主体教学有效性的策略;最后通过实验研究验证了这些策略的科学性与合理性。     

Enhance low-achieving students' learning involvement in Taiwan's higher education: an approach via e-learning with problem-based learning and self-regulated learning

This study explored the effects of web-enabled pedagogies on students' involvement in learning. A series of quasi-experiments were conducted to investigate whether students' involvement increases over time if intervened, respectively, by problem-based learning (PBL), self-regulated learning (SRL), and their combinations. Two classes of 102 first-year students at a vocational school in a one-semester course were chosen for this empirical study. The results were generally supportive. The authors further discuss the implications for schools, scholars, and teachers engaged in e-learning.     

Students with reading difficulties/dyslexia: a longitudinal Swedish example

The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal development of students having difficulties with reading and their decoding ability in Swedish compulsory school. Another aim was to relate this to the experiences of educational activities expressed by students and parents. The decoding ability was assessed by a word chain test given at three occasions and was compared with results on a letter chain test. Retrospective interviews were performed with students and parents. The decoding ability tended to improve for most of the students over time, although some of them failed to improve or even decreased their scores, indicating a lack of environmental adjustment. Special educational support was according to students and parents organised in small and often very heterogeneous groups where the students sometimes received adequate support but often felt deviant from friends in their regular classes. The responsibility for helping the children with their schoolwork was allocated to the parents. Research in this area demonstrates the necessity of a well‐structured and stimulating learning situation. Yet, the development of these students’ decoding abilities, personal experiences, and parental involvement indicate that competence and resources at school regarding children at risk for developing reading difficulties are often lacking in the Swedish educational system.     

农民主观幸福感与心理控制源的关系研究

以山西农民为被试,探讨农民的主观幸福感与心理控制源的状况及两者之间的关系。在质性研究的基础上对Rotter内控/外控量表修订以测查农民的心理控制源倾向,以Compbell编制的幸福感指数量表测量主观幸福感。方差分析结果表明,年龄和心理控制源水平的交互作用对农民的主观幸福感影响显著。同时,本研究结果支持心理控制源的"认知———知识系统"模型。