Development of an Early Hebrew Oral Reading Fluency Measure

Currently, there are no Hebrew (L2) reading assessments that have been tested to obtain evidence for reliability and validity on which to base decisions about Hebrew instruction. The authors developed a Hebrew benchmark assessment tool for first grade students modeled after Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, a standardized test of accuracy and fluency used to identify at-risk students and to monitor student progress. Results of pilot data collection (N=53) provide evidence for strong alternate form reliability for this measure, as well as evidence for content, face and criterion-related validity. Future directions for research and development are discussed.     

Improving indigenous and ethnic minority student success in foundation health study

This study investigates what teaching practices in the ‘non-lecture context of a foundation programme' help or hinder Māori and Pasifika students' success in a New Zealand university. This two-year qualitative project used Kaupapa Māori and Pasifika Research (KM/PR) methodologies conducted in three phases: (1) needs analysis, (2) intervention and (3) evaluation. Twenty-eight Māori or Pasifika students were interviewed using the Critical Incident Technique identifying 798 incidents grouped into four themes for institutional development: (I) use effective practices for teaching and learning, (II) grow independent learners, (III) support the empowerment of the learner and (IV) harness the positive cohort effect. Initially, students reported that intensive support provided by the foundation programme was not preparing students well for success in degree-level study. Following interventions of institutionally-led changes, students reported better preparation for ongoing study. The overall learning environment and provision of Māori and Pasifika academic and pastoral support were important factors for success.     

A Qualitative Inquiry of Social and Emotional Support for Students with Persistent Concussion Symptoms

ABSTRACT

Students who sustain concussions often struggle with social and emotional symptoms. Such symptoms can interfere with students’ academic performance, relationships, and overall sense of well-being. This qualitative study involved interviews with eight adolescents and young adults who sustained concussions as youths and experienced significant social and emotional symptoms; six of the participants’ parents were also interviewed. Grounded theory methodology was used to code the data, construct categories and identify themes, and develop a theoretical model of students’ post-concussion social and emotional issues and potential sources of support. Categories of issues emerging from the interviews included anxiety/stress, depression/sadness, interpersonal difficulties/isolation, and irritability/moodiness. An exploration of barriers and facilitators of recovery revealed themes related to: factors at school, factors at home, medical care, and level of involvement with sports and athletic personnel. The theoretical model highlights important areas for development in school-based consultation to ameliorate students’ post-concussion social and emotional symptoms.     

Usual suspects: experience,reflection and the (en) gendering of knowledge

Much attention in adult learning theory rests on the distinction between ‘experience’ and ‘reflection’, with experience treated as the raw material for learning and reflection as a highly cognitive processing stage in which the learning actually takes place. The distinction thus valorizes emotional detachment, physical distance and rationality, thereby imposing an epistemological hierarchy that is deeply complicitous with power differentials of gender, class and race. This article locates the concept of reflection within the gendered dualisms of Western philosophy and their historically produced understandings of the relationship between experience and thought. I first examine how our notions of reflection deploy theories of knowledge and the state that took shape during the Enlightenment and, second, situate them within a politics of vision closely related to the rise of the middle class. In exploring this necessarily truncated history, I suggest that our notions of reflection internalize relationships of ruling. Some parts of the self, such as emotion and the body, are portrayed as unreliable and dangerous; reason's task is therefore both interrogatory and managerial, reproducing implicit matrices of sovereignty and control.     

Open to critique: predictive effects of academic outcomes from a bridging/foundation programme on first-year degree-level study

Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indigenous and ethnic minority students, on first-year degree-level outcomes. Overall performance within the bridging/foundation programme was positively associated with increasing Grade Point Average (GPA), ‘Core 4’ GPA and passing all courses in first year. However, mixed associations were identified between feeder bridging/foundation courses and their intended first year course counterparts. These findings support the continued provision of bridging/foundation education; however, curricular reform within the bridging/foundation programme was required. Key developments included: restructuring course delivery; increasing constructive alignment across the curriculum; increasing cultural content within western science-orientated courses; introduction of cross-curricular assessment and use of additional innovative teaching and learning activities. Additional challenges remain for degree programmes to explore how they can change in order to better support indigenous and ethnic minority student success within first-year tertiary study.     

An exploration of teachers' current perceptions of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Difficulties exist in identifying and providing services for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). As teacher referral is an essential link in service delivery this study investigated teachers' current perceptions of SEBD by examining characteristics of children nominated by their teachers as having SEBD. While the majority of children were nominated for externalizing behaviours, teachers rated girls as having more severe externalizing difficulties than boys. In contrast, there was no significant difference between teachers' internalizing ratings of boys and girls, despite the fact that girls reported more severe depressive symptomatology. Moreover, teachers rated gender‐contrary behaviours more severely than gender‐consistent behaviours. Consistent with achievement results, teachers rated the majority of children as having moderate to severe academic difficulties. Little agreement was found between characteristics reported by teachers and children. Implications are discussed within the context of the school psychologist's role in working with teachers to increase awareness of the profile of these children.     

Lord of the Rings,Star Wars,and participatory fandom: mapping new congruencies between the internet and media entertainment culture

The culture of media entertainment, as exemplified in the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars film franchises, is being infused with new modes of authorship, production, marketing, and consumption that are characterized by Internet fan clubs, online producer‐consumer affiliations, and real‐world legal controversies over the proprietary ownership of digital bits of information. To analyze these new interactive patterns being employed by two competing media franchises, Bourdieu's theory of cultural production is supplemented with Jenkins's study of participatory fandom. Then, the contested nature of computer‐mediated communication is explored using a model that brackets the opposing potentialities of Internet influence on offline society.     

What helps and hinders indigenous student success in higher education health programmes: a qualitative study using the Critical Incident Technique

Tertiary institutions aim to provide high quality teaching and learning that meet the academic needs for an increasingly diverse student body including indigenous students. Tātou Tātou is a qualitative research project utilising Kaupapa Ma¯ori research methodology and the Critical Incident Technique interview method to investigate the teaching and learning practices that help or hinder Ma¯ori student success in non-lecture settings within undergraduate health programmes at the University of Auckland. Forty-one interviews were completed from medicine, health sciences, nursing and pharmacy. A total of 1346 critical incidents were identified with 67% helping and 33% hindering Ma¯ori student success. Thirteen sub-themes were grouped into three overarching themes representing potential areas of focus for tertiary institutional undergraduate health programme development: Māori student support services, undergraduate programme, and Ma¯ori student whanaungatanga. Academic success for indigenous students requires multi-faceted, inclusive, culturally responsive and engaging teaching and learning approaches delivered by educators and student support staff.