ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Assessment of Math Learning Difficulties in a Primary Grade-4 Child with High Support Needs: Mixed Methods Approach
Author: Mundia, Lawrence
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mixed Methods Research,Case Studies,Surveys,Action Research,At Risk Students,Interviews,Diagnostic Tests,Protocol Analysis,Mathematics Skills,Error Patterns,Grade 4,Elementary School Students,Problem Solving,Learning Disabilities,Self Esteem,Self Efficacy,Mathematics Anxiety,Learning Problems,Performance Based Assessment,Observation,Student Records,Arithmetic,Word Problems (Mathematics),Memory

This mixed-methods study incorporated elements of survey, case study and action research approaches in investigating an at-risk child. Using an in-take interview, a diagnostic test, an error analysis, and a think-aloud clinical interview, the study identified the child's major presenting difficulties. These included: inability to use the four arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) efficiently; not understanding the relationship between units, tens and hundreds; using any two of the four arithmetic processes (+, - , x, ÷) in combination within one operation; treating each column as a separate problem; place value problems / wrong alignment of numbers; poor eye-hand coordination leading to dysgraphia; and memory lapses. The other problems that became apparent through this investigation and implied in the findings include possible causal factors such as dyscalculia, dyslexia, low self-esteem, low self-efficacy, and math anxiety. Further assessment, intervention and research are recommended to address problems of this vulnerable child.
The Impact of National Standards Assessment in New Zealand, and National Testing Protocols in Norway on Indigenous Schooling
Author: Özerk, Kamil
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,National Standards,Program Implementation,Mainstreaming,Testing Programs,Indigenous Populations,Compulsory Education,Acculturation,Disadvantaged,Government Role,Financial Support,Educational Policy,Educational History,Culturally Relevant Education,Context Effect,National Competency Tests,Ideology,Personal Autonomy,Educational Change,Comparative Analysis,Comparative Education,Pacific Islanders,Elementary Secondary Education

This paper first provides a critic of the implementation of compulsory national assessment protocols internationally, and then nationally through a review of the implementation process used for the introduction of National Standards in New Zealand, and National Testing in Norwegian mainstream schools. It then reviews the impact of these two assessment regimes on indigenous Mãori and Sámi -medium schools in the context of historic policies of marginalisation and assimilation. Finally, it notes the crucial role of each national government in securing funding for the production of culturally responsive National Standards and National Testing in the effort of both indigenous groups to protect their languages and cultures.
Questioning the Validity of a State Reading List
Author: Berridge, Gina
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Validity,Reading Lists,Childrens Literature,Primary Education,Elementary School Students,Kindergarten,Grade 1,Grade 2,Cultural Pluralism,Gender Bias,Item Analysis

Quality incorporation of children's literature has long been supported to help students learn. The purpose of this study was to examine the 79 fiction selections of our state's sponsored reading list for grades K-2. The list was examined for original publication date, selections recognized as award winners, sex of authors, sex of protagonist, race of protagonists, and the presence of gender or racial bias. Results indicate the sponsored reading list is out of date, needs to contain more award winning selections, and fails to represent a balance of women authors and selections containing female protagonists. Gender bias was minimal and no presence of racial bias was observed.
Structure Strategy Interventions: Increasing Reading Comprehension of Expository Text
Author: Meyer, Bonnie J. F.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Reading Comprehension,Intervention,Text Structure,Elementary School Students,Reading Instruction,Literature Reviews,Reading Strategies,Elementary Secondary Education

In this review of the literature we examine empirical studies designed to teach the structure strategy to increase reading comprehension of expository texts. First, we review the research that has served as a foundation for many of the studies examining the effects of text structure instruction. Text structures generally can be grouped into six categories: comparison, problem-and-solution, causation, sequence, collection, and description. Next, we provide a historical look at research of structure strategy interventions. Strategy interventions employ modeling, practice, and feedback to teach students how to use text structure strategically and eventually automatically. Finally, we review recent text structure interventions for elementary school students. We present similarities and differences among these studies and applications for instruction. Our review of intervention research suggests that direct instruction, modeling, scaffolding, elaborated feedback, and adaptation of instruction to student performance are keys in teaching students to strategically use knowledge about text structure.
Parent-Child Conversations about Evolution in the Context of an Interactive Museum Display
Author: Shtulman, Andrew
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Museums,Evolution,Science Education,Misconceptions,Parent Child Relationship,Interpersonal Communication,Animals,Concept Formation,Science Education History,Children,Preadolescents,Exhibits,Interaction,Elementary School Students,Preschool Children

The theory of evolution by natural selection has revolutionized the biological sciences yet remains confusing and controversial to the public at large. This study explored how a particular segment of the public--visitors to a natural history museum--reason about evolution in the context of an interactive cladogram, or evolutionary tree. The participants were 49 children aged four to twelve and one accompanying parent. Together, they completed five activities using a touch-screen display of the phylogenetic relations among the 19 orders of mammals. Across activities, participants revealed similar misconceptions to those revealed by college undergraduates in previous studies. However, the frequency of those misconceptions was attenuated by the level of parental engagement, particularly the frequency of turn-taking between parents and children. Overall, these findings suggest that evolutionary reasoning may be improved by the kinds of collaborative discussions fostered by interactive museum displays, so long as the affordances of those displays encourage multi-user interactions.
The Reflective Experimental Construction of Meanings about the Shape of the Earth and the Alternation of Day and Night
Author: Varela, Paulo
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Earth Science,Elementary School Science,Grade 1,Primary Education,Science Process Skills,Diaries,Questionnaires,Scientific Concepts,Science Instruction,Reflection,Thinking Skills,Action Research,Content Analysis,Science Activities,Freehand Drawing,Astronomy,Elementary School Students,Verbal Learning,Participant Observation

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the process of construction of meaning about the shape of the Earth and the alternation of day and night, which is inherent to the practice of experimental science teaching. This teaching practice was gradually done by the researcher in a 1st grade class of a Portuguese primary school. The class was composed of 18 students, ten girls and eight boys, with ages ranging from six to seven years old. The analysis of the meaning construction process focused on the class diary prepared by the researcher, based on the field notes and audio recordings made during the participant observation in the classroom. The goals of the interpretive analysis of the diary were as follows: a) identifying the students' initial ideas expressed during class about the shape of the Earth, b) characterizing the processes that promote the construction of knowledge about the topics under study; c) and presenting the learning that takes place during class. These instances of learning described in the class diary, combined with the results of a true or false questionnaire, suggest that most students developed a good understanding about the shape of the Earth and the alternation of day and night.
Comprehension Challenges in the Fourth Grade: The Roles of Text Cohesion, Text Genre, and Readers' Prior Knowledge
Author: McNamara, Danielle S.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Reading Skills,Decoding (Reading),Word Recognition,Grade 4,Elementary School Students,Multiple Choice Tests,Recall (Psychology),Knowledge Level,Reading Materials,Interaction,Literary Genres,Cues,Public Schools,Urban Schools,Textbooks,Multiple Regression Analysis

We examined young readers' comprehension as a function of text genre (narrative, science), text cohesion (high, low), and readers' abilities (reading decoding skills and world knowledge). The overarching purpose of this study was to contribute to our understanding of the &quot;fourth grade slump&quot;. Children in grade 4 read four texts, including one high and one low cohesion text from each genre. Comprehension of each text was assessed with 12 multiple-choice questions and free and cued recall. Comprehension was enhanced by increased knowledge: high knowledge readers showed better comprehension than low knowledge readers and narratives were comprehended better than science texts. Interactions between readers' knowledge levels and text characteristics indicated that the children showed larger effects of knowledge for science than for narrative texts, and those with more knowledge better understood the low cohesion, narrative texts, showing a reverse cohesion effect. Decoding skill benefited comprehension, but effects of text genre and cohesion depended less on decoding skill than prior knowledge. Overall, the study indicates that the fourth grade slump is at least partially attributable to the emergence of complex dependencies between the nature of the text and the reader's prior knowledge. The results also suggested that simply adding cohesion cues, and not explanatory information, is not likely to be sufficient for young readers as an approach to improving comprehension of challenging texts.
How Reading Comprehension Is Embodied and Why That Matters
Author: Glenberg, Arthur M.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Human Body,Simulation,Reading Instruction,Instructional Innovation,Teaching Methods,Intervention,Object Manipulation,Toys,Imagination,Comprehension,Memory,Retention (Psychology),Reading Improvement

Reading comprehension, much like comprehension of situations and comprehension of oral language, is embodied. In all cases, comprehension is the ability to take effective action on the basis of affordances related to the body, the physical world, and personal goals and cultural norms. In language contexts, action-based comprehension arises from simulating the linguistic content using neural and bodily systems of perception, action, and emotion. Within this framework, a new approach to teaching reading comprehension is described: Teach children how to simulate while reading. The &quot;Moved by Reading&quot; intervention teaches simulation in two stages. In the first stage, physical manipulation, children manipulate toys to simulate the content of what they are reading. After success in physically manipulating the toys, the children are taught to manipulate the toys in imagination. Research demonstrates that both physical and imagined manipulation leads to large gains in memory and comprehension.
Relationship among Students' Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviors towards the Inclusion of Peers with Disabilities, in Mainstream Physical Education Classes
Author: Bebetsos, Evangelos
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Correlation,Intention,Student Behavior,Inclusion,Disabilities,Regular and Special Education Relationship,Mainstreaming,Physical Education,Questionnaires,Attitude Measures,Elementary School Students,Foreign Countries,Grade 5,Grade 6,Likert Scales,Moral Values,Social Attitudes,Statistical Analysis,Regression (Statistics)

Students' attitudes, intentions and behaviours towards their peers with disabilities are important to their mutual co-existence and development. The aim of this study was to investigate a) whether students' attitudes and intentions towards their schoolmates with disabilities are related to their general and modified behavior in mainstream physical education classes, and b) if the former variables could serve as predictors of the latter. The participants, 172 children without disabilities (M[subscript age]=11.15, SD=0.70), completed the revised version of the Planned Behavior Theory questionnaire (PBT) and the Children's' Attitudes towards Inclusion in Physical Education-Revised questionnaire (CAIPE-R). Although results revealed several correlations among the variables under study, only general attitudes accounted for both general and modified behavior, and attitudes for modified behavior. These findings could assist in educating students to develop and perform appropriate behaviours towards their peers in order to facilitate their co-existence, and their mutual development and learning.
The Effectiveness of Mexico's Faculty Improvement Program (Promep) in Public State Universities
Author: Guzmán-Acuña, Teresa de Jesús
Date: 2015-06-08
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Faculty,Faculty Development,Public Colleges,Higher Education,Program Evaluation,Educational Objectives,Program Effectiveness

This article evaluates the effectiveness of Promep, a faculty improvement program implemented by Mexico's Federal Department of Public Education (SEP) since 1996 to improve the academic qualifications, performance, and organization of faculty at the public higher education institutions. This evaluation examines the degree to which Promep has achieved its quantitative objectives with regard to the Public State Universities (PSU), which is the higher education subsystem that Promep has been active in for the longest period of time (1996-2013). The evaluation is based on numerous data reports published by Promep, the SEP, and other federal institutions as well as on essential subsystem-wide indicators calculated from data individually collected from each of the PSU for the purposes of this study. The results indicate that Promep has significantly improved the academic qualifications, performance, and organization of the full-time faculty staff of the PSU, but also that by 2013 the program has not been able to meet the quantitative goals it expected to achieve by late 2008, which was its initial deadline. The study suggests that the failure to achieve these initial and manageable goals has occurred mostly because many PSU have allowed the infringement of their own faculty recruitment, permanence, and promotion regulations and Promep has failed to stop these practices through the establishment of more drastic strategies, such as binding agreements and penalization schemes.
Using First-Grade Teacher Ratings to Predict Third-Grade English Language Arts and Mathematics Achievement on a High-Stakes Statewide Assessment
Author: Gallant, Dorinda J.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Grade 1,Grade 3,Correlation,Prediction,Mathematics Achievement,High Stakes Tests,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Predictive Validity,Language Arts,Writing Achievement,Reading Achievement,Performance Based Assessment,Achievement Tests,Reliability,Student Characteristics,Scores

Early childhood professional organizations support teachers as the best assessors of students' academic, social, emotional, and physical development. This study investigates the predictive nature of teacher ratings of first-grade students' performance on a standards-based curriculum-embedded performance assessment within the context of a state accountability system. The sample includes 4292 elementary school students cross-classified by 131 first-grade and 137 third-grade schools attended. This study uses extant statewide assessment data for students located in a state in the southeastern part of the United States. Controlling for student and school demographic variables in cross-classified random effects multilevel models, first-grade teacher ratings--as reflected by domain scores on a performance assessment--are found to positively and significantly correlate with students' third-grade academic achievement.
Multicultural Children's Literature and Teacher Candidates' Awareness and Attitudes toward Cultural Diversity
Author: Iwai, Yuko
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Preservice Teachers,Student Attitudes,Ethnic Diversity,Multicultural Education,Literature,Group Discussion,Student Projects,Pretests Posttests,Writing Assignments,Childrens Literature,Consciousness Raising,Teaching Methods,Surveys,Cultural Awareness,Questionnaires

The purpose of this study was to look at elementary/middle school pre-service teachers' perceptions of multicultural and diversity issues through multicultural children's literature. Nineteen pre-service teachers in a foundation of literacy course explored multicultural children's literature and involved group/class discussions and a project over the semester. Data was collected using the pre- and post-Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI), open-ended responses, quick writings, projects, and class interactions. The results showed that while they were not familiar with multicultural children's literature at the beginning of the semester, at the end of the semester they developed positive attitudes toward learning about them, identified them as crucial to foster children's awareness of diversity, and planned to use them in their future classrooms. They also increased their positive attitudes toward multicultural and diversity issues. In particular, they were most aware of two categories, cultural diversity and multicultural environment, in the CDAI.
Exploring Impacts of the EED 420 Science Methods Course on Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Views Regarding the Nature of Science
Author: Bang, EunJin
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Student Attitudes,Scientific Principles,Interviews,Science Instruction,Methods Courses,Elementary School Science,Peer Teaching,Lesson Plans,Scientific Attitudes,Program Effectiveness,Models,Qualitative Research,Questionnaires

This study explores the impact of a semester-long science methods course examining pre-service elementary teachers' views on the nature of science (NOS). Also examined were NOS characteristics that pre-service teachers incorporated into their science lesson plans and peer teachings, during the course. Data used for this study were obtained from 21 pre-service teachers who participated in the pre/post card exchange game, pre/post VNOS interviews, 5E lesson plans, and peer teaching performances. The results of the study showed that some changes were made as a result of EED 420--such as starting to view science as a data-gathering experimental endeavor, rather than just a theory-driven endeavor. None of the groups explicitly designed or taught their lesson's NOS aspects. The study posits that a mere one semester-long science method's course is insufficient to adequately improve understanding of the NOS, and to establish a sufficiently robust desire in pre-service teachers for them to implement NOS into their lessons.
Managing the Dynamics of the Bologna Reforms: How Institutional Actors Re-Construct the Policy Framework
Author: Veiga, Amélia
Date: 2015-06-22
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,Higher Education,Foreign Countries,National Standards,Alignment (Education),International Cooperation,Student Mobility,Educational Policy,Policy Formation,Governance,Surveys,College Faculty,College Administration,College Students,Attitudes,Program Evaluation,Comparative Analysis

How do the constituencies in higher education re-interpret Bologna's function with regard to the European Higher Education Area? This research examines how institutional actors re-construct the policy framework in the light of their own institutional agendas. Drawing on empirical data from a survey of academics, students and administrative and management staff this article focuses on the processes of mediation. It examines how at institutional level actors perceived Bologna whilst themselves being in the midst of Bologna's on-going policy dynamic. It dissects the tensions between macro political processes and the role status and function of the different constituencies and sheds new light on the role played at the institutional level by the three estates in re-interpreting the Bologna Declaration whilst adopting the reforms it introduces.
Measuring the Alignment between States' Finance and Accountability Policies: The Opportunity Gap
Author: Della Sala, Matthew R.
Date: 2015-06-29
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Accountability,Educational Finance,Outcomes of Education,Educational Equity (Finance),Correlation,Funding Formulas,Demography,Economic Factors

The research described in this paper expands on attempts to conceptualize, measure, and evaluate the degree to which states have aligned their finance systems with their respective accountability policies. State education finance and accountability policies serve as levers to provide equal educational opportunities for all students--scholars have called for the alignment of education finance and accountability policies as a means for states to meet the demands of educational adequacy. A metric titled the &quot;opportunity gap&quot; was developed, calculated, and tested to represent the degree of misalignment between the equity of states' finance systems and the intended equity of student performance outcomes defined in accountability policies. School finance and student performance data from nine states were collected for this analysis. Findings indicated that none of the states were delivering simultaneous equity in finance and accountability systems- none of the states provided both equity of finance inputs and equity of student performance outputs. Implications for future research on measuring the alignment between finance and accountability policies are provided by the authors.