Do central examinations lead to greater grading comparability? A study of frame-of-reference effects on the University entrance qualification in Germany

In Germany, the Abitur grades awarded at the end of upper secondary education are critical in the allocation of sought-after university places. Drawing on a representative sample of 3526 grade 13 Abitur students in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, this article examines whether and to what extent grading is affected by the mean achievement of the school serving as frame of reference (“group-referenced grading”), and to what extent this influence differs for coursework and examination grades in mathematics and English as a foreign language. Overall, the results indicate that the higher level of standardization of the central Abitur examinations makes examination grades less susceptible to frame-of-reference effects than are coursework grades.     

Comparing Automatic and Manual Measures of Parent–Infant Conversational Turns: A Word of Caution

The Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA) records children’s language environment and provides an automatic estimate of adult–child conversational turn count (CTC). The present study compares LENA’s CTC estimate to manually coded CTC on a sample of 70 English-speaking infants recorded longitudinally at 6, 10, 14, 18, and 24 months of age. At each age, LENA’s CTC was significantly higher than manually coded CTC (all ps < .001, Cohen’s ds: 0.9–2.05), with the largest discrepancies between the two methods observed at younger ages. The Limits of Agreement Analyses confirm wide disagreements between the two methods, highlighting potential problems with automatic measurement of parent–infant verbal interaction. These findings suggest that future studies should validate LENA’s CTC estimates with manual coding.     

Schulformwechsel im zweigliedrigen Schulsystem

This study focuses on students who change from the academic to the non-academic school track after grade 7 (probationary year) in Berlin. We examined which individual student characteristics (e.?g., performance, school biography, family background) predict school change after the probationary year. We were particularly interested as to whether there are secondary effects of social background, after controlling for differences in performance. Our analyses were based on data from a study which included a whole cohort of school track changers (N?=?754) who were compared with students that remained at the academic track (N?=?1470). In order to predict the change of school type, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results revealed significant differences between both groups regarding all observed characteristics. Performance-related characteristics were the best predictors of track change. After controlling for these characteristics, no further significant effects for other predictors were observable (i.?e., no secondary effects of social background were present).     

Effects of personality traits and social status on academic achievement: Gender differences

This study investigates the contribution of personality traits (HEXACO traits and Schizotypy) and social status dimensions (sociometric and perceived popularity) in understanding boys’ and girls’ respective academic achievement. The sample included 163 elementary school students from Serbia, aged 14–15 (87 girls and 76 boys). Regression analysis reveals that personality traits explain a similar amount of academic achievement variance in two gender groups (22% vs. 20% in girls’ favor), but social status proves to be a better predictor of academic achievement for boys (27% vs. 4% in boys’ favor). High Conscientiousness, perceived popularity as well as low extraversion turned out to be related to girls’ academic achievement. Low Schizotypy and Honesty‐Humility, as well as high openness, sociometric, and perceived popularity turned out to be related to boys’ academic achievement. Conscientiousness appears not to be related to boys’ academic achievement. The results are discussed and recommendations for improving educational practices are offered.     

‘Who wants to be a travelling teacher?’ Bilingual teachers and weak forms of bilingual education: the Norwegian experience

In this article, I argue that immigrant bilingual teachers and mother‐tongue teachers are not formally recognised as ‘genuine’ teachers in the Norwegian school system. Norwegian education authorities have invested considerable effort in order to strengthen the competences of bilingual teachers and to both recognise and formalise their home country education. Amongst other things, several university colleges were encouraged to provide specially designed higher education programmes for bilingual teachers in order to integrate teachers with bilingual competences into the Norwegian primary school teaching system. This paper is based on data collected in 2007–2008 during the national evaluation of this education, which is the first of its kind in Norway. Although popular amongst immigrant students, it seems that the competences to be gained by graduates of the BA degree programme are not recognised or utilised in the schools where they work. Due to low social status and an unfavourable structural position within the Norwegian school education sector, these teachers will try to distance themselves from their bilingual roles and identities. Within such a framework, the higher education that is intended to strengthen optimum bilingual tuition in the primary schools sector is, in fact, steering bilingual teachers and mother‐tongue teachers away from these more specialised and less valued professions, seeking instead, access into the more mainstream and higher status teaching jobs.     

Carnival supporters,hooligans, and the ‘Against Modern Football’ movement: life within the ultras subculture in the Croatian context

Abstract

This paper is based on sociological research on Torcida, football supporters of Hajduk Football Club from Split (Croatia). We used ethnographic methodology throughout 37 months of fieldwork (from July 2012 to August 2015) and conducted 23 in-depth interviews with hardcore members of Torcida. Although our research included the distinction between carnival supporters and hooligans, these elements are much more interconnected within the hard core of Torcida than they are separate. Because of various social efforts (sometimes coordinated with other Ultras groups) against the local and global football establishment – especially against the Croatian Football Federation and UEFA – we consider Torcida part of a wide, heterogeneous social movement against modern football. This corresponds to the self-reflection and self-perception of the core group of Torcida. Ultras subculture in the Croatian context represents a key (although not the only) social actor in bearing the AMF movement.     

Early Second Language Learning through SparkLing™: Scaling up a Language Intervention in Infant Education Centers

Infancy (0–3 years) represents a unique time for language learning. Previous research shows that infants' second language (L2) learning advances rapidly in early education centers, through a research‐based method and curriculum delivered by native‐speaking language tutors. Here we test the potential of this method for broad application, through an interactive online tool, SparkLing?, which trains and certifies language tutors to implement the program in infant education centers. Intervention infants (n = 168) from families of predominantly low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds in Madrid, Spain, experienced 18 or 36 weeks of L2 (English) exposure, through daily, 45‐min, group sessions led by SparkLing?‐trained tutors and were compared to a matched Current Practice Comparison (CPC) group of peers (n = 72). Intervention children outperformed the CPC group and showed rapid gains in English comprehension and production. SES was not a significant factor in learning. Infants' L2 skills advance quickly using this research‐to‐practice, scalable program for play‐based infant L2 instruction.     

Kooperationsbereit oder Innovationsgegner?

The issue of implementing large-scale reforms has played an important role both in the past as well as in current debates on structural changes and quality measures in education. When putting reforms into practice, individual schools and their leaders, who take a key role in reform processes, are focused. In the context of a comprehensive school reform in Berlin, this contribution presents an implementation of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ, Hall and Hord 2011), which intends to assess the degree of participants’ engagement with innovations in a phased respectively stepwise approach. Recently, the SoCQ questionnaire has been used to build different profiles or types of engagement in reform. Based on N?=?196 school leaders, latent profile analyses thus served to identify five types of profiles. Altogether, they indicate that the majority of school leaders are ready to implement the reform and contribute to its optimization. A rather small group remained skeptical with regard to the school reform. With respect to individual leadership characteristics, differences in profile composition could be found for gender, school type, and professional experience.     

Lifelong learning as a goal - Do autonomy and self-regulation in school result in well prepared pupils?

Fostering lifelong learning (LLL) is a topic of high relevance for current educational policy. School lays the cornerstone for the key components of LLL, specifically persistent motivation to learn and self-regulated learning behavior. The present study investigated the impact of classroom instruction variables on concrete determinants for these LLL components. Participants in the present study were 2266 fifth, sixth and seventh graders from 125 classrooms. Multi-level analyses showed that perception of autonomy in the classroom is associated with pupils’ motivational beliefs, and that perception that a classroom promotes self-determined performance and self-reflection of learning is a predictor of pupils' monitoring and assessment of learning. Additionally, the extent of perceived autonomy is an important factor in the reduction of gender differences in motivation. The results indicate the importance of providing pupils with appropriate learning contexts to better prepare them for successful LLL.