Finding the common ground: Teachers' and employers' representations of English in an assessment context

There has been a long‐standing debate about how ‘English’ can be defined. Educational policy changes have typically been driven by differing representations of the subject, and have ranged from broad ‘aesthetic’ definitions to more narrow ‘functional’ views. The present study aims to analyse areas of consensus and contention in stakeholders' discourse regarding English. A questionnaire‐based survey and focus groups were used to explore how teachers and employers viewed English as a subject. Their views were conceptualised into three themes: the importance of functional English; English as atomistic versus holistic study; and English as critical thought. These themes are discussed in relation to historical definitions of ‘English’, and their implications for the future reform of English qualifications.     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

Issues in Adopting a Laserdisk-Based Science Curriculum

We examined the implementation of a laser-disk based science curriculum in an elementary school. The goal was to develop a richer understanding of the principles for designing a curriculum that will adequately support teachers in adopting a learner-centered framework. Issues included: who has ownership of the classroom discussion; what types of activities are engaged in terms of the constraints imposed; and what is the teacher's response to the specific tools provided (the teacher's guide, the Circle of Learning, and concept maps). In addition to looking at the implementation pattern, we also examined the impact of the implementation on student attitudes and anxiety toward science. Results indicated little adoption of the curriculum, and teachers continued to maintain a high degree of control in the classroom. However, results also indicated significant effects of the curriculum on science attitude and anxiety. Suggestions for future research are included.     

Academic identity,confidence and belonging: The role of contextualised admissions and foundation years in higher education

This article presents a cross-national exploration of responses to widening participation (WP), with a specific focus on the provision of foundation year (FY) programmes and the use of contextualised admissions (CA) in selective Irish and UK institutions. There remains a dearth of research on these routes, with little understanding of the characteristics of students who utilise them, of why students use these routes and little knowledge of their effect on students’ experiences in university and their overall sense of belonging. A year-long longitudinal comparative case study design examined three alternative entry routes in two selective higher education institutions (HEIs) in England and Ireland: a well-established FY; a newly formed FY; and a CA pathway. Data were collected through a mixed-method approach. Questionnaires and in-depth focus groups were employed at fixed points with participating students in each route. Results indicated that FY students had lower levels of familial educational history and parental occupation. FY students’ sense of belonging significantly increased over the year, with students reporting increased confidence and sense of belonging due to the relationships established during the FY. CA students’ sense of belonging remained the same, with students reporting feeling different and isolated. Results indicate that while students utilising FYs may be ‘more disadvantaged’ than CA students, their experiences helped establish a sense of belonging; illustrating the need for diverse WP routes catering to a wide range of needs. Results highlight the importance of providing opportunities to develop social and bridging social capital for all non-traditional students.     

基于工作流引擎的科研审批流程的设计与实现

科研一直以来都是高等学校的重点工作之一,科研管理信息化也是教育信息化战略的重要组成部分。就高校科研管理系统中最为复杂的审批流程进行分析研究,结合先进的工作流引擎技术来进行具体的设计与实现,使得科研审批流程变得清晰、高效。     

Cohort crowding and nonresident college enrollment

This study uses a fixed effects panel data framework to examine the effects of cohort crowding and other variables on nonresident enrollment at four-year public colleges and universities. The results suggest that larger cohorts of resident students crowd out nonresident students at flagship universities, but there is inconsistent evidence of crowd out at non-flagship schools. Additionally, larger cohorts of resident students result in increased nonresident tuition at flagship universities but not at non-flagship schools. When faced with larger cohorts of resident students, flagship universities lower the numbers of nonresident students enrolled and raise the price for nonresidents.     

Peer collaboration: the relation of regulatory behaviors to learning with hypermedia

Peer collaboration is a pedagogical method currently used to facilitate learning in classrooms. Similarly, computer-learning environments (CLEs) are often used to promote student learning in science classrooms, in particular. However, students often have difficulty utilizing these environments effectively. Does peer collaboration help students learn with these environments? Little research looking closely at face-to-face peer collaboration with computer learning environments exists. Utilizing a social-cognitive theoretical framework, this study investigated the relation between the conceptual-knowledge learning and the collaborative regulatory behaviors of students working with a peer as they studied about the human circulatory system using a hypermedia CLE. Fifty-four high-school students from the East Coast of the United States were audiotaped to identify the collaborative regulatory behaviors they evidenced as they studied. Results revealed significant correlations among students’ proportion of categories of regulatory behaviors and their learning gains (from pretest to posttest). Moreover, qualitative analyses revealed particular behaviors that larger-gain collaborative pairs engaged in to a greater extent than smaller-gain pairs as they learned with the hypermedia environment.     

Home–School Literacy Bags for Twenty-first Century Preschoolers

Combining home–school literacy bags with preschool family literature circles provided a strong foundation for family involvement at home and school during this year-long Reading Partners project, and helped parents become essential partners in their children’s literacy development. Using home–school literacy bags, children and parents learned how to combine expressive arts and emergent literacy strategies including alphabet recognition, phonemic and phonological awareness, and oral language fluency. State-of-the-art activities designed for each of the multiple intelligences met the needs of diverse students with many different learning styles and interests. As families participated in fall and spring school-based Festivals in which they shared the literacy bags in small group family literature circles, they demonstrated children’s emerging literacy skills in a relaxed, yet highly engaging atmosphere.     

Development of a Socioecological Adolescent Sexual Health Index and Atlas: A Case Study in Washington State

ABSTRACT

Adolescent sexual health programs often frame needs assessments using risk-taking, disease, or fertility data, fostering a narrow perspective of sexual health and limiting scopes of related programs. We address the gap between traditional measures and the socioecological lens used by many in the field. Using Washington State as an example, we report methods for developing and mapping an index of sex education needs that integrates social determinants of health (SDH) to reflect the complex, interrelated influences affecting adolescents. The generated index and maps support a holistic approach to assessing inequity, resource allocation gaps, and specific programmatic needs of young people. This case study demonstrates that it is possible and important to align adolescent sexual health measurement strategies with more holistic adolescent sexuality development frameworks. We recommend that public health professionals consider a broader range of data on SDH in their sex education policy and program decision making.