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Selected AbstractsA meta-analysis of national research: Effects of teaching strategies on student achievement in science in the United StatesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 10 2007Carolyn M. Schroeder This project consisted of a meta-analysis of U.S. research published from 1980 to 2004 on the effect of specific science teaching strategies on student achievement. The six phases of the project included study acquisition, study coding, determination of intercoder objectivity, establishing criteria for inclusion of studies, computation of effect sizes for statistical analysis, and conducting the analyses. Studies were required to have been carried out in the United States, been experimental or quasi-experimental, and must have included effect size or the statistics necessary to calculate effect size. Sixty-one studies met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The following eight categories of teaching strategies were revealed during analysis of the studies (effect sizes in parentheses): Questioning Strategies (0.74); Manipulation Strategies (0.57); Enhanced Material Strategies (0.29); Assessment Strategies (0.51); Inquiry Strategies (0.65); Enhanced Context Strategies (1.48); Instructional Technology (IT) Strategies (0.48); and Collaborative Learning Strategies (0.95). All these effect sizes were judged to be significant. Regression analysis revealed that internal validity was influenced by Publication Type, Type of Study, and Test Type. External validity was not influenced by Publication Year, Grade Level, Test Content, or Treatment Categories. The major implication of this research is that we have generated empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of alternative teaching strategies in science. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1436,1460, 2007 [source] The Quality of Content Analyses of State Student Achievement Tests and Content StandardsEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2008Andrew C. Porter This article examines the reliability of content analyses of state student achievement tests and state content standards. We use data from two states in three grades in mathematics and English language arts and reading to explore differences by state, content area, grade level, and document type. Using a generalizability framework, we find that reliabilities for four coders are generally greater than .80. For the two problematic reliabilities, they are partly explained by an odd rater out. We conclude that the content analysis procedures, when used with at least five raters, provide reliable information to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners about the content of assessments and standards. [source] Grade-Level Invariance of a Theoretical Causal Structure Predicting Reading Comprehension With Vocabulary and Oral Reading FluencyEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2005Paul Yovanoff This research investigates the relative importance of vocabulary and oral reading fluency as measurement dimensions of reading comprehension as the student passes from elementary to high school. Invariance of this model over grades 4 through 8 is tested using two independent student samples reading grade-level appropriate passages. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that the model is not invariant across grade levels. Vocabulary knowledge is a significant and constant predictor of overall reading comprehension irrespective of grade level. While significant, fluency effects diminish over grades, especially in the later grades. Lack of grade level invariance was obtained with both samples. Results are discussed in light of vertically linked reading assessments, adequate yearly progress, and instruction. [source] Uses and Gratifications of the Web among StudentsJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2000Samuel Ebersole This study was designed to explore how some students in ten public schools view the WWW and how their attitudes and opinions affect their use of this new medium in an educational context. An exploratory principal components analysis of forty use statements resulted in an eight factor solution. Additionally, student responses to a computer-administered survey instrument were collected and analyzed revealing significant differences in the way that students describe their use of the WWW. Gender, grade level, and amount of time spent using the WWW were used to create between-group comparisons of the WWW use categories that made up the computer-administered survey instrument. The final phase of data analysis was a content analysis of sites visited by students. A total of 123,071 URLs were collected from the computers used to administer the computer survey instrument. These were reduced to a total of 500 sites that were reviewed by media specialists. Students were found to be visiting commercial sites at a much higher proportion than those in other domains. Also, the commercial sites received the lowest rating for "suitability for academic research" of all the domain names. And while students reported their purpose for using the WWW as "research and learning" fifty-two percent of the time, the coders found only twenty-seven percent of the sampled sites to be "suitable" for that purpose. [source] The impact of a collaborative family/school reading programme on student reading rateJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2002Lisa Kelly-Vance Student reading skills are below grade level in many schools and professionals are constantly searching for new ideas to enhance reading curricula. To address this problem in one elementary school, a parent/school reading programme was implemented. Parents were encouraged to increase the amount of time spent reading with their children at home and the school provided easily accessible reading materials, suggestions for encouraging reading at home, prizes and special activities. Programme participants demonstrated a higher increase in reading rate and accuracy than the matched peers. Prior to implementation and at the end of the reading programme, parents and students who chose to participate in the programme reported positive attitudes toward reading together. Implications of these results are discussed and an emphasis is placed on expanding research in the area. [source] Identifying meta-clusters of students' interest in science and their change with ageJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2009Ayelet Baram-Tsabari Abstract Nearly 6,000 science questions collected from five different web-based, TV-based and school-based sources were rigorously analyzed in order to identify profiles of K-12 students' interest in science, and how these profiles change with age. The questions were analyzed according to their topic, thinking level, motivation for and level of autonomy in raising the question, the object of interest and its magnitude, and psychological distance of the object in question from the asker. Characteristics of the asker, such as gender, grade level, and country of origin were also considered, alongside characteristics of the data source, such as language, setting (Internet, school, TV), and the potential science-attentiveness of the users. Six meta-clusters of children's and adolescents' interest in science were identified using cluster analysis of their self-generated science questions. A developmental shift in interest from non-classical to classical school science subjects was noted. Other age-related developments, such as an increase in thinking level as reflected by the questions, a decrease in organization level and the psychological distance of the object in question with age were also explored. Advantages and shortcomings of web-based data collection for educational research are discussed, as are the implications of the results obtained using this methodology for formal science education. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 999,1022, 2009 [source] Effects of an Urban High School-Based Child Care Center on Self-Selected Adolescent Parents and Their ChildrenJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2001Elizabeth Gillis Williams ABSTRACT: This study examined the effects of an urban high school-based child care center on parenting teens and their children enrolled during 1995-1998. Retrospective record review of 52 low-income, urban adolescent parents enrolled at the Celotto Child Care Center (CCCC) during the period of study was conducted from the CCCC and the high school records. Mean age of the student parents was 17 years (s.d. = 1.3) and mean grade level was 11.2 (s.d. = l). Most parents were female (98%) and African American (62%). Children enrolled at CCCC had a mean age of 10 months (s.d. = 10.8). Students using the services of CCCC showed improvement in overall grade point averages, and 100% were educationally successful as defined by promotion to the next grade or graduating from high school. None of the students experienced a repeat childbirth during the period of CCCC enrollment. Ninety percent of children were up-to-date with pediatric health visits and immunizations. These results lend strong support to the importance of extending child care and social support services to teen parents, and for the implementation of high school-based child care centers as alternative sites for these critically important services. (J Sch Health. 2001;71(2):47,52) [source] Reading Comprehension in Adolescents with LD: What We Know; What We Need to LearnLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2008Michael N. Faggella-Luby The changing job market requires a sophisticated array of literacy skills that adolescents with learning disabilities reading below grade level have not yet acquired. This summary of the research on reading comprehension highlights emerging findings and related instructional conditions necessary to achieve optimal student outcomes with limited instructional time. Limitations in the existing evidence base are addressed via four factors for future research and development agendas: (a) use theory to inform research and practice, (b) study the role that dosage plays as an independent variable, (c) study tiered models of instruction that are applicable for use in middle and high school settings, and (d) study factors that can enhance scaling of reading comprehension interventions. [source] Promoting Strategic Learning by Eighth-Grade Students Struggling in Mathematics: A Report of Three Case StudiesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 3 2005Deborah L. Butler Participants were three eighth-grade students enrolled in a learning assistance classroom who were of at least average intelligence but who were performing significantly below grade level in mathematics. These case studies document the processes by which these students were supported to self-regulate their learning in mathematics more effectively. We begin by outlining important instructional foci in mathematics education for intermediate or secondary students with learning disabilities, along with what research indicates are effective instructional processes. In that context, we introduce the theoretical principles underlying the instructional model used here,Strategic Content Learning (SCL). Based on analyses of case study data, we describe how SCL instruction was structured to promote strategic learning. Throughout the discussion, intervention processes are described in sufficient detail to be of use to practitioners. [source] Age-related variations and sex differences in gender cleavage during middle childhoodPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2001ROSANNE BURTON SMITH Gender cleavage, the segregation of the sexes, is a powerful phenomenon affecting socialization during childhood, but its developmental trajectory is far from clear. Sociometric responses by 299 boys and girls in Grades 3 to 6 from a group preference record were used to investigate age-related variations and sex differences in gender cleavage. Moreno's (1953) developmental model of gender cleavage was examined in the light of sociocultural changes, as well as advances in the theory and measurement of gender cleavage. Sex differences were found in same-gender preference, with older elementary girls showing greater same-gender preference than boys of the same age. However, this finding, plus the absence of gender differences in cross-gender evaluations, did not support more recent developmental accounts of gender cleavage. Linear trend analyses contradicted Moreno's basic precept of increasing same-gender preference between Grades 3 and 6. While same-gender acceptance and rejection were relatively similar regardless of grade level, cross-gender acceptance was greater in higher than in lower grades and the reverse was true for rejection. Furthermore, weaker gender cleavage effects in rejection data than in acceptance data suggested that strong same-gender liking does not infer equally robust cross-gender dislike. Gender cleavage appears to be relative rather than absolute. A more complex model is proposed incorporating sex differences as well as rejection evaluations [source] Modeling the effects of health status and the educational infrastructure on the cognitive development of Tanzanian schoolchildrenAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Alok Bhargava This paper models the proximate determinants of school attendance and scores on cognitive and educational achievement tests and on school examinations of over 600 schoolchildren from the Control group of a randomized trial in Tanzania, where children in the Intervention group heavily infected with hookworm and schistosomiasis received treatment. The modeling approach used a random effects framework and incorporated the inter-relationships between school attendance and performance on various tests, controlling for children's health status, socioeconomic variables, grade level, and the educational infrastructure. The empirical results showed the importance of variables such as children's height and hemoglobin concentration for the scores, especially on educational achievement tests that are easy to implement in developing countries. Also, teacher experience and work assignments were significant predictors of the scores on educational achievement tests, and there was some evidence of multiplicative effects of children's heights and work assignments on the test scores. Lastly, some comparisons were made for changes in test scores of treated children in the Intervention group with the untreated children in the Control group. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:280,292, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sources of variance in curriculum-based measures of silent readingPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 4 2003Rachel Brown-Chidsey Curriculum-Based Measurement silent reading (CBM-SR) items have been found to be reliable and valid for measuring reading comprehension skills This generalizability study reports the findings from administration of three CBM-SR passages to fifth through eighth grade students in one school district. Using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance (RMANOVA) procedures, the statistical probability of performance on the CBM-SR task as a differential indicator of reading comprehension skill was found to be significant among students in different grade levels and between students who did and did not receive special education services. Follow-up analyses were conducted using generalizability theory to estimate the amount of variance in CBM-SR scores from individual score differences, grade levels, and special education status. The results indicated that on two of the passages, variability in CBM-SR scores came primarily from grade level differences in scores on the tasks, while on the third passage, the differences were most attributable to individual differences in scores, regardless of grade level or special education services. Implications for the use of CBM-SR items for routine assessment of students' reading skills are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 363,377, 2003. [source] Developmental, gender, and practical considerations in scoring curriculum-based measurement writing probesPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 4 2003Christine Kerres Malecki The present study focused on CBM written language procedures by conducting an investigation of the developmental, gender, and practical considerations surrounding three categories of CBM written language scoring indices: production-dependent, production-independent, and accurate-production. Students in first- through eighth-grade generated a three-minute writing sample in the fall and spring of the school year using standard CBM procedures. The writing samples were scored using all three types of scoring indices to assess the trends in scoring indices for students of varying ages and gender and of the time required to score writing samples using various scoring indices. With only one exception, older students outperformed younger students on all of the scoring indices. Although at the middle school level students' levels of writing fluency and writing accuracy were not closely associated, at the younger grade levels the CBM indices were significantly related. With regard to gender differences, girls outperformed boys on measures of writing fluency at all grade levels. The average scoring time per writing sample ranged from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 minutes (depending on grade level). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 379,390, 2003. [source] Patient information about general anaesthesia on the internetANAESTHESIA, Issue 4 2009M. Tallgren Summary The internet is a frequently consulted source of health information. Using the Google search engine, we searched for patient information about general anaesthesia on the world wide web, using four synonyms of the term in four languages and analysing the top 20 results. Of the 320 search results, 104 (32%) contained relevant information: 36 (45%) with the English (UK); 39 (49%) with the English (US); 13 (16%) with the Swedish; and 16 (20%) with the Finnish search terms (p < 0.001). ,Good' websites, defined as those with a DISCERN rating of 4,5 stars, were found in all languages: 12 with the English (UK); 11 with the English (US); two with the Swedish; and one with the Finnish search terms (p = 0.012). Few good websites showed a reading grade level of , 8 that is recommended for consumer health information. Of the good quality sites, 18/22 (82%) remained within the top 20, three months later. [source] Developmental Change and Individual Differences in Children's MultiplicationCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2003Donald J. Mabbott Age-related change and patterns of individual differences in children's knowledge and skill in multiplication were investigated for students in Grades 4 and 6 (approximately ages 9 and 11, respectively) by examining multiple measures of computational skill, conceptual knowledge, and working memory. Regression analyses revealed that indexes reflecting probability of retrieval and special problem characteristics overshadow other, more general indexes (problem size and frequency of presentation) in predicting solution latencies. Some improvement in the use of conceptual knowledge was evident between Grades 4 and 6, but this change was neither strong nor uniform across tasks. Finally, patterns of individual differences across tasks differed as a function of grade level. The findings have implications for understanding developmental change and individual differences in mathematical cognition. [source] The Impact of Vertical Scaling Decisions on Growth InterpretationsEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2009Derek C. Briggs Most growth models implicitly assume that test scores have been vertically scaled. What may not be widely appreciated are the different choices that must be made when creating a vertical score scale. In this paper empirical patterns of growth in student achievement are compared as a function of different approaches to creating a vertical scale. Longitudinal item-level data from a standardized reading test are analyzed for two cohorts of students between Grades 3 and 6 and Grades 4 and 7 for the entire state of Colorado from 2003 to 2006. Eight different vertical scales were established on the basis of choices made for three key variables: Item Response Theory modeling approach, linking approach, and ability estimation approach. It is shown that interpretations of empirical growth patterns appear to depend upon the extent to which a vertical scale has been effectively "stretched" or "compressed" by the psychometric decisions made to establish it. While all of the vertical scales considered show patterns of decelerating growth across grade levels, there is little evidence of scale shrinkage. [source] Grade-Level Invariance of a Theoretical Causal Structure Predicting Reading Comprehension With Vocabulary and Oral Reading FluencyEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2005Paul Yovanoff This research investigates the relative importance of vocabulary and oral reading fluency as measurement dimensions of reading comprehension as the student passes from elementary to high school. Invariance of this model over grades 4 through 8 is tested using two independent student samples reading grade-level appropriate passages. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that the model is not invariant across grade levels. Vocabulary knowledge is a significant and constant predictor of overall reading comprehension irrespective of grade level. While significant, fluency effects diminish over grades, especially in the later grades. Lack of grade level invariance was obtained with both samples. Results are discussed in light of vertically linked reading assessments, adequate yearly progress, and instruction. [source] Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV scale , parent formINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 1 2008Susan Shur-Fen Gau Abstract This study aimed to establish the psychometric properties of parent ratings on the Chinese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV scale (SNAP-IV) in a school-based sample of 3534 students in grades 1 to 8 from two cities and two suburbs in Taiwan and 189 children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (aged 6 to 15) consecutively recruited from a medical center in Taipei. Parents completed the Chinese versions of the SNAP-IV, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Child Behavior Checklist. The Chinese SNAP-IV demonstrated similar three factor structure (Inattention, Hyperactivity/Impulsivity, and Oppositional) as its English version, and satisfactory test,retest reliability (intraclass correlation = 0.59,0.72), internal consistency (alpha = 0.88,0.90), concurrent validity (Pearson correlations = 0.56,0.72), and discriminant validity. Boys scored higher than girls across the eight school grade levels. The SNAP-IV clearly distinguished children with ADHD from school-based participants. Comorbidity with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder predicted higher SNAP-IV scores among children with ADHD. Our findings suggest that the Chinese SNAP-IV is a reliable and valid instrument for rating ADHD-related symptoms in both clinical and community settings in Taiwan. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sex differences in relational and overt aggression in the late elementary school yearsAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2010Janet Kistner Abstract Sex differences in relational and overt aggression among 3rd (n=176), 4th (n=179), and 5th graders (n=145) from three public schools (n=500; 278 girls) were examined. Nominations of relational aggression increased over time among 4th and 5th grade girls, but not among boys or 3rd grade girls. Among 3rd graders, boys received more nominations for relational aggression than girls. By the end of the 5th grade, girls received more relational aggression nominations than boys. There was also a significant rise in nominations of overt aggression among 5th grade girls, but not among 5th grade boys or younger boys and girls. As expected, boys were more likely than girls to be nominated for overt aggression at all grade levels. The findings are helpful for explaining inconsistencies of earlier research pertaining to sex differences in relational aggression and for advancing our understanding of the causes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 36:282,291, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Middle school victims of bullying: Who reports being bullied?AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2004James D. Unnever Abstract This study examined factors that influence a student's decision to report being bullied at school. An anonymous survey of 2,437 students in six middle schools identified 898 students who had been bullied, including 25% who had not told anyone that they were bullied and 40% who had not told an adult about their victimization. We investigated chronicity and type of bullying, school climate, familial, demographic, and attitudinal factors that influenced victim reporting to anyone versus no one, to adults versus no one, and to adults versus peers. Logistic regression analyses indicated that reporting increased with the chronicity of victimization. Reporting was generally more frequent among girls than boys, and among lower grade levels. Students who perceived the school climate to be tolerant of bullying, and students who described their parents as using coercive discipline were less likely to report being bullied. Implications for improving victim reporting of bullying are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 30:373,388, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Identifying Sources of Differential Item and Bundle Functioning on Translated Achievement Tests: A Confirmatory AnalysisJOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, Issue 2 2001Mark J. Gierl Increasingly, tests are being translated and adapted into different languages. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses are often used to identify non-equivalent items across language groups. However, few studies have focused on understanding why some translated items produce DIF. The purpose of the current study is to identify sources of differential item and bundle functioning on translated achievement tests using substantive and statistical analyses. A substantive analysis of existing DIF items was conducted by an 11-member committee of testing specialists. In their review, four sources of translation DIF were identified. Two certified translators used these four sources to categorize a new set of DIF items from Grade 6 and 9 Mathematics and Social Studies Achievement Tests. Each item was associated with a specific source of translation DIF and each item was anticipated to favor a specific group of examinees. Then, a statistical analysis was conducted on the items in each category using SIBTEST. The translators sorted the mathematics DIF items into three sources, and they correctly predicted the group that would be favored for seven of the eight items or bundles of items across two grade levels. The translators sorted the social studies DIF items into four sources, and they correctly predicted the group that would be favored for eight of the 13 items or bundles of items across two grade levels. The majority of items in mathematics and social studies were associated with differences in the words, expressions, or sentence structure of items that are not inherent to the language and/or culture. By combining substantive and statistical DIF analyses, researchers can study the sources of DIF and create a body of confirmed DIF hypotheses that may be used to develop guidelines and test construction principles for reducing DIF on translated tests. [source] Interior Design in K-12 Curricula: asking the ExpertsJOURNAL OF INTERIOR DESIGN, Issue 3 2007Stephanie A. Clemons Ph.D. ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess how interior design content areas (subject matter) could be introduced and integrated into elementary and secondary (K-12) grade levels in support of national academic education standards. Although the minimum standards have been developed for entry level interior designers (Council for Interior Design Accreditation [CIDA] Standards, adopted 2002) and beyond (National Council for Interior Design Qualification [NCIDQ]), a gap exists in the interior design education continuum from "kindergarten to career." Between June 2001 to April 2002, in order to understand perceptions of experts in interior design and elementary and secondary education, focus group sessions and personal interviews were conducted with interior design educators and practitioners, K-12 teachers (elementary, junior high, and high school levels), national standards curriculum specialists (local and state levels), and school-to-career curriculum specialists. The goal of the study was to develop a framework that could guide the integration of interior design content into K-12 levels. This paper reports the findings from the focus groups and proposes a framework that could guide the national integration of interior design content into grades K-12, support national academic standards, and suggest possible channels of dissemination for developed interior design curriculum materials. [source] Simple but complex: components of the simple view of reading across grade levelsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 4 2009Janet Tilstra The purpose of this study was to examine the simple view of reading (SVR) and contributions of verbal proficiency and reading fluency to reading comprehension for fourth-, seventh- and ninth-grade readers (N=271). The SVR explained a significant proportion of variance in reading comprehension for all grades with decreasing explained variance in higher grades. The variance explained by decoding decreased from fourth grade to higher grades. The variance explained by listening comprehension increased from fourth- to seventh-grade, but did not change from seventh- to ninth-grade. In all grades, verbal proficiency and reading fluency contributed substantial additional variance to reading comprehension beyond the SVR. Changes in the predictive relation between listening and reading comprehension and factors influencing reading comprehension in each grade are discussed. [source] Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reformJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 8 2008Robert Geier Abstract Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922,939, 2008 [source] Impact of a multiyear professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary studentsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2008Okhee Lee Abstract This study examined the impact of the 3-year implementation of a professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. Teachers were provided with instructional units and workshops that were designed to improve teaching practices and foster positive beliefs about science and literacy with diverse student groups. The study involved third, fourth, and fifth grade students at six elementary schools in a large urban school district during the 2001 through 2004 school years. Significance tests of mean scores between pre- and posttests indicated statistically significant increases each year on all measures of science at all three grade levels. Achievement gaps among demographic subgroups sometimes narrowed among fourth grade students and remained consistent among third and fifth grade students. Item-by-item comparisons with NAEP and TIMSS samples indicated overall positive performance by students at the end of each school year. The consistent patterns of positive outcomes indicate the effectiveness of our intervention in producing achievement gains at all three grade levels while also reducing achievement gaps among demographic subgroups at the fourth grade. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 726,747, 2008 [source] Progression in children's understanding of the matter concept from elementary to high schoolJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2006Xiufeng Liu Adopting a neo-Piagetian conceptual framework and a phenomenographic approach, we identified students' conceptual progression pattern on matter from elementary to high school. We interviewed 54 students from Grade 1 to Grade 10 chemistry on their conceptions of substances (i.e., water, vinegar, and baking soda) and the combining of the substances. We found that progression of students' conceptions on matter from elementary to high school is multifaceted. For any aspect we examined, from spontaneous description of substances to chemical reaction of baking soda with vinegar, there was a unique progression pattern. Different conceptual progression patterns existed for different substances (i.e., water, baking soda, and vinegar) as well. Further, there is no clear conceptual leap between different grade levels in conceptual progression; that is, there is tremendous overlap in conceptions among students of different grades. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 320,347, 2006 [source] Schoolchildren's Consumption of Competitive Foods and Beverages, Excluding à la Carte,JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 9 2010Madhuri Kakarala MD BACKGROUND: Competitive foods/beverages are those in school vending machines, school stores, snack bars, special sales, and items sold à la carte in the school cafeteria that compete with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) meal program offerings. Grouping à la carte items with less nutritious items allowed in less regulated venues may obfuscate analysis of the school competitive food environment. Excluding à la carte items from competitive foods, the objectives were to: (1) assess competitive food use by gender, ethnicity, eligibility for free or reduced-price meals, and participation in school meals programs, (2) determine differences between grade levels in energy intakes obtained from food sources, (3) determine the nutrient intake derived from competitive foods for students who consumed them, and (4) determine energy-adjusted differences in 24-hour nutrient intakes of protein, calcium, iron, and other selected nutrients between competitive food consumer and nonconsumers. METHODS: Competitive foods/beverages use, excluding à la carte items, was examined using the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA III), a nationally representative sample of 2309 schoolchildren in grades 1 to 12. Mean nutrient intakes were adjusted for energy intake and other covariates, and differences between consumers and nonconsumers of competitive items were determined using analysis of variance and sudaan. RESULTS: Excluding à la carte items, 22% of schoolchildren consumed competitive items in a representative school day and use was highest in high school. Consumers of competitive items other than à la carte had significantly higher mean energy, sugar intakes, and lower sodium, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and iron intakes than nonconsumers. CONCLUSIONS: Use of competitive foods/beverages, excluding à la carte, was detrimental to children's diet quality. [source] Elementary Students' Sleep Habits and Teacher Observations of Sleep-Related ProblemsJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 2 2005Denise H. Amschler PhD Professor ABSTRACT: Sleep affects the health and well-being of children and plays a key role in preventing disease and injury, stability of mood, and ability to learn. Unfortunately, children often do not get adequate sleep on a regular basis. This study surveyed 199 fifth-grade students regarding their sleep habits using the Sleep Self-Report (SSR) instrument (child's form), the Morningness/Eveningness (M/E) Scale, and additional demographic questions. Students' teachers also were asked to evaluate their students' behavior using the Teacher's Daytime Sleepiness Questionnaire (TDSQ). Results indicated many students experienced problems with sleep-related behavior. However, correlating the TDSQ scale with the SSR Daytime Sleepiness Subscale produced a weak correlation coefficient, indicating teachers may not be able to accurately identify students with sleep problems. Overall findings indicated these students displayed sleep behavior similar to other US children. However, research involving children's sleep behavior is limited, and more research is needed. Parents should monitor their children's sleep times, and teachers need to be aware how sleep deprivation can affect children's mood, reaction time, and concentration. Health education curricula need to include sleep-related instruction at all grade levels to address this concern. [source] Sources of variance in curriculum-based measures of silent readingPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 4 2003Rachel Brown-Chidsey Curriculum-Based Measurement silent reading (CBM-SR) items have been found to be reliable and valid for measuring reading comprehension skills This generalizability study reports the findings from administration of three CBM-SR passages to fifth through eighth grade students in one school district. Using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance (RMANOVA) procedures, the statistical probability of performance on the CBM-SR task as a differential indicator of reading comprehension skill was found to be significant among students in different grade levels and between students who did and did not receive special education services. Follow-up analyses were conducted using generalizability theory to estimate the amount of variance in CBM-SR scores from individual score differences, grade levels, and special education status. The results indicated that on two of the passages, variability in CBM-SR scores came primarily from grade level differences in scores on the tasks, while on the third passage, the differences were most attributable to individual differences in scores, regardless of grade level or special education services. Implications for the use of CBM-SR items for routine assessment of students' reading skills are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 363,377, 2003. [source] Developmental, gender, and practical considerations in scoring curriculum-based measurement writing probesPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 4 2003Christine Kerres Malecki The present study focused on CBM written language procedures by conducting an investigation of the developmental, gender, and practical considerations surrounding three categories of CBM written language scoring indices: production-dependent, production-independent, and accurate-production. Students in first- through eighth-grade generated a three-minute writing sample in the fall and spring of the school year using standard CBM procedures. The writing samples were scored using all three types of scoring indices to assess the trends in scoring indices for students of varying ages and gender and of the time required to score writing samples using various scoring indices. With only one exception, older students outperformed younger students on all of the scoring indices. Although at the middle school level students' levels of writing fluency and writing accuracy were not closely associated, at the younger grade levels the CBM indices were significantly related. With regard to gender differences, girls outperformed boys on measures of writing fluency at all grade levels. The average scoring time per writing sample ranged from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 minutes (depending on grade level). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 379,390, 2003. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||