Core competencies and high leverage practices of the beginning teacher: a synthesis of the literature

Teacher competency frameworks comprise a number of competencies that enable a teacher to develop effective teaching practices. However, their conception, value, use and recognition vary widely. Equally, assessment and measurement of such competencies differ across contexts. More recently, a body of research has emerged which focuses the lens of teacher preparation on the inclusion of high leverage practices. The focus of this study is to report a synthesis of the literature pertaining to the ‘core competencies’ and ‘high leverage practices’ selected for inclusion in teacher preparation. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in order to synthesis available evidence. Results are presented in two sections; competency-based approaches; and high leverage practice approaches in teacher preparation. Findings are discussed from the perspective of epistemological and methodological questions emerging from the research and the implications for teacher preparation.     

Development of Knowledge about the Role of Inference in Text Comprehension

The goal of this research was to learn when children recognize that they make inferences to understand text, and how this knowledge affects their ability to revise text and to monitor its informativeness. In 4 experiments, first-, second-, and third-grade children (6-10 years) were presented with brief stories in which the physical cause of a target event was described explicitly, implied, or not mentioned in the text. In the first 3 experiments, children judged whether they had inferred the cause or if it had been explicitly mentioned in either the original or a revised version of the story. The results showed that for stories with implicit causes, first- and second-grade children tended to report that the causes had been explicitly mentioned, while third graders correctly reported that the causes were inferred. In the fourth experiment, children were asked to judge the difficulty of inferring the cause from problematic and ambiguous versions of the stories. Older children were more likely to report difficulties in inferring the target information. Third graders were also more likely to revise the texts to include additional information about the causes of the target events. The results show that younger children tend to attribute inferred information of the text, while older children clearly distinguish inferred and explicit text information.     

The complexity of the learning and teaching of EFL among Swedish‐minority students in bilingual Finland

In Finland, English is widely visible outside the school context, above all in the area of entertainment and mass media, and is no longer regarded as a foreign language in the old sense of the word. Among Swedish‐minority students in Finland, the dominant status of English in various mass media leads to positive attitudes towards English among students and provides strong motivation to acquire the language. This paper considers whether the incidental learning of English taking place outside the classroom results in the same kind of proficiency as that resulting from formal classroom learning.     

The Effect of Test Translation on the Performance of Second Grade English Learners on the KeyMath‐3

This study was conducted to determine whether Spanish‐enhanced administration of a standardized math assessment would result in improved scores for English Learners who used Spanish as a heritage language. Twenty‐one typically developing second‐graders (English Learners) were administered the traditional KeyMath‐3. If the child made an error on an item, a Spanish version of the item was presented. Difference scores were calculated to determine whether the Spanish‐enhanced version resulted in improved scores. Data were analyzed using paired t‐tests and simple regression. The data results showed that all children significantly benefited from the Spanish‐enhanced administration of items answered incorrectly in English. The amount of benefit was predicted by a child's degree of Spanish dominance. It was concluded that standardized math tests that do not accommodate second‐language learners may be inadvertently testing language skills in addition to math skills. Implications for assessment and interpretations of assessments are discussed.     

Capitalizing on Web 2.0 in the Social Studies Context

This paper focuses primarily on the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into social studies education. It documents how various Web 2.0 tools can be utilized in the social studies context to support and enhance teaching and learning. For the purposes of focusing on one specific topic, global connections at the middle school level will be the overlapping theme across the Web 2.0 technologies.     

Development of the ability to distinguish communicative intention and literal message meaning

Children's ability to distinguish the literal meaning of a message and the speaker's communicative intent was investigated in 2 experiments. First- and second-grade children evaluated brief referential communication messages for ambiguity under 2 conditions. In an informed condition, the children knew which referent the speaker had intended. In an uninformed condition, they did not know the intended referent. 2 communication systems were used. In Experiment 1, the messages were written on cards and read to the child; in Experiment 2, a novel communication system was used. The developmental pattern of results was similar for both studies. The results showed that the first graders in the informed condition often claimed that an ambiguous message could not refer to a referent the speaker had not meant, whereas children in the uninformed condition were able to detect the referential ambiguity of the message. There were no condition differences for the second graders. The results suggest that young children's ability to analyze the literal meaning of a message is affected by the accessibility of the speaker's communicative intent and that children may develop a general ability to analyze representations of communicative intention.