Social skills interventions across school settings: Case study reviews of students with mild disabilities

This study investigates the efficacy of a social skills training program with seven mildly handicapped students across three school settings: regular classroom, special education resource room, and recess. It was found that social skills training generated improvement on both pre-post measures and behavior ratings. Improvements were maintained 2 weeks after treatment was discontinued for seven students. All students' performance generalized from resource room to regular classroom settings; only four students' performance generalized to the recess setting.     

Effects of the implementation of state-wide exit exams on students’ self-regulated learning

Whereas several studies investigated the effects of implementation of state-wide exit exams on student achievement, there is still little known about the impacts of the exams on students’ self-regulated learning. This paper examines the question as to whether the implementation of state-wide high school exit exams is associated with a change in the self-regulated learning of students in mathematics or English. We conducted a standardized questionnaire survey of students in two German states for a period of 3 years. In mathematics no significant effects of the immediate introduction of state-wide exit exams were identified. In English the results show significant positive and negative effects. The results are discussed and implications for further research are given.     

The Amalgamation of Special Education? On Practices and Policies that may Render it Unrecognizable

The decades-long assault on principles of special education—some knowingly, such as the regular education initiative, and some unknowingly, such as certain presumptions and practices of full inclusion—have consequences that may negatively affect the future of the field. Protracted criticisms on the character, role, and legitimacy of traditional special education and its related policies and practices have, in some ways, weakened its identity. It is conceivable that special education, as a robust and independent educational component is being threatened. Factors leading to this conclusion are discussed as well as a call for recognition of policy implications and needed research to guide policy development.     

Changes in student attributions due to the implementation of central exit exams

The central aim of standardized exit exams is to motivate students and teachers to work harder on critical subject matters and thus increase student achievement. However, the effects of the implementation of central exams on student motivation have not been analyzed in a longitudinal section until now. In the present study, the consequences of implementing central exams in the German states Bremen and Hesse on student attributions after the exams have been analyzed. We expected an increase in attributions to effort, teaching and luck, caused by the change in examination systems in Bremen advanced courses from 2007 to 2008. Differential results were expected for students perceiving themselves successful or not successful respectively. As a control, advanced courses in Bremen were compared to those in Hesse that did not pass through a change in examination systems at this time. The results point to an increase of attributions to effort and teaching in the total group, but none of attributions to luck. Additionally, as hypothesized, the change in attributions to effort occurred only for perceived successful and a change in attribution to teaching was found mainly for perceived unsuccessful students. The outcomes are interpreted and consequences for further studies are formulated.     

Play it safe or play to learn: mindsets and behavioral self-regulation in kindergarten

Metacognition and Learning - Individuals hold different mindsets encompassing beliefs about trait stability (stable vs. malleable) and goal orientations (performance vs. mastery). These...     

Statewide low-stakes tests and a teaching to the test effect? An analysis of teacher survey data from two German states

Governments worldwide are changing their educational policies to improve student performance. Some of these reforms involve the introduction of high-stakes testing, which often creates negative effects such as ‘teaching to the test’. This article deals with the use of low-stakes testing in the German states of Hesse and Bremen, and analyses whether statewide low-stakes testing produces comparable results to the use of high-stakes tests from the perspective of teachers. Moreover, it seeks to identify the factors responsible for the observable teaching to the test effect, above and beyond the use of statewide exams. The data come from surveys carried out in the framework of a longitudinal study funded by the German Research Foundation. Hesse and Bremen introduced statewide exit exams in several subjects in 2007 and 2008 as low-stakes tests. Our quasi-experimental study has been evaluating these implementations since 2007.     

The effect of culture and belief systems on students’ academic buoyancy

Increasingly, learner motivation is implicated in student failure at universities. This has led to intense research into internal or external variables that might buoy resilience to failure. This research investigates the impact of strong cultural connectedness and strong belief systems on the academic buoyancy of international students studying at an Australian University. For this purpose, we surveyed 102 tertiary students at a Sydney university. Results demonstrate that, in the event of academic failure, students’ academic buoyancy remains high if they have support through strong cultural connections and from their belief systems. We further endeavored to identify if academic buoyancy was fed by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. This research contributes to the understanding of the sources of strengths available to international students from primarily collective cultures studying overseas. There are implications for educational practice in terms of identifying students ‘at high risk’ if they are unable to draw strengths from cultural connections and belief systems.     

Effects of self-monitoring and contingent reinforcement on on-task behavior and academic productivity of learning-disabled students: A social validation study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the social validity of behavior change produced by self-monitoring and contingent reinforcement upon the on-task behavior and academic productivity of six learning-disabled students using a single-case, multiple-treatment design. Subjects self-monitored their on-task behavior while concurrent measures of academic productivity were collected. This study employed two phases of self-monitoring and contingent reinforcement. Self-monitoring was broken down into its component parts: self-observation and self-recording. Contingent reinforcement consisted of verbally reinforcing improvements and meeting goals set for both on-task behavior and academic productivity. On-task behavior and academic productivity improved under both interventions. Improvements were commensurate to levels of on-task behavior and academic productivity exhibited by the subjects' nonhandicapped peers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.