Education Commons^™

The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship, Timothy Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.

The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship, Timothy Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Marta Lachowska

No abstract provided.

In Their Own Words: Student Perspectives On School-To-Work Opportunities, Kevin Hollenbeck

Kevin Hollenbeck

Focus group interviews were held with approximately 60 of the several hundred high school students who are participating in school-to-work transition programs offered through the Kalamazoo County (Michigan) Education for Employment (EFE) consortium, The 10 focus groups held involved 5-8 students each and were distributed across program types as follows: 3 school-based programs; 4 worksite-based classroom programs; 1 workforce entry; 1business/industry worksite trainIng; and 1 apprenticeship. The students were quite satisfied with their EFE program and credited it with helping them do the following: learn more effectively; formulate and work toward post secondary education plans; formulate career interests; acquire employability …

What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley

Juliette Mendelovits

A frequent objection to large-scale testing programs, both national and international, is that they are used as an instrument of control, rather than as a means of providing information to effect change. Moreover, concerns about large-scale testing often take the form of objection to the specific characteristics of the assessments as being prescriptive and proscriptive, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and the spectre of 'teaching to the test' to the exclusion of more important educational content. Taking PISA reading literacy as its focus, this paper proposes, on the contrary, that a coherent assessment system is valuable in so …

The Short-Term Effects Of The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship On Student Outcomes, Timothy Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Marta Lachowska

No abstract provided.

The Short-Term Effects Of The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship On Student Outcomes, Timothy Bartik, Marta Lachowska

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.

Successful Professional Learning, Marion Meiers, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

This edition is focused on research into teacher learning and professional development. Teacher learning includes not only activities such as conferences and workshops, but also includes participation in many formal and informal learning activities. Recent research has focused, amongst other things, on characteristics of successful professional learning, and on the connections between teachers' professional learning and improvements in student learning. This research has the potential to assist teachers and schools in selecting and planning for professional learning, so that it will maximise the benefits for participants. The first section of this digest presents some research findings on effective professional learning. …

What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley

Dr Tom Lumley

A frequent objection to large-scale testing programs, both national and international, is that they are used as an instrument of control, rather than as a means of providing information to effect change. Moreover, concerns about large-scale testing often take the form of objection to the specific characteristics of the assessments as being prescriptive and proscriptive, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and the spectre of 'teaching to the test' to the exclusion of more important educational content. Taking PISA reading literacy as its focus, this paper proposes, on the contrary, that a coherent assessment system is valuable in so …

Learning Mathematics For Life : A Perspective From Pisa, Jan De Lange, Alla Routitsky, Kaye Stacey, Ross Turner, Margaret Wu, Andreas Schleicher, Claire Shewbridge, Pablo Zoido, Nicola Clements

Dr Alla Routitsky

People from many countries have expressed interest in the tests students take for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This book examines the link between the PISA test requirements and student performance. It focuses specifically on the proportions of students who answer questions correctly across a range of difficulty. The questions are classified by content, competencies, context and format, and the connections between these and student performance are then analysed. This analysis has been carried out in an effort to link PISA results to curricular programs and structures in participating countries and economies. Results from the student assessment reflect …

Dbrief : A Research Paradigm For Ict Adoption, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix

Carving A Niche: Graphic Novels In The English Language Arts Classroom, James Carter

James B Carter

An introduction to the roles that graphic novels can play in the secondary English Language Arts classroom.

A Longitudinal Study Examining The Impact Of Ict Adoption On Students And Teachers, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix

Engaging Students To Make Mathematics Interesting, Fun, Intriguing, Puzzling And Personally Satisfying, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

The author asserts that making connections with the real world is the best way to engage most students in the middle years of schooling and to potentially provide a mechanism for making mathematics interesting, fun and personally satisfying. Traditionally, in secondary school mathematics classrooms, teachers start by teaching the abstract mathematics skills and processes and then they find some possible applications afterwards. The author believes this should be the other way around.

Leadership And Learning With Ict : Voices From The Profession, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

Leadership matters’ and ‘start with the pedagogies, not the technologies’, say Australian educators. Voices from the profession provides an overview of what a cross-section of over 400 of Australia’s educational leaders saw in 2005 as factors that contribute to how leadership supports learning with information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian schools. It presents some of the issues raised and solutions proposed by the educational leaders who participated in this research. This paper draws on the words of the participants throughout, to illustrate findings and to give the report authenticity. This research shows that integrating ICT into teaching and learning …

What's In A Name? Why We Can't Learn With Mobile Phones, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

A team from the University of Melbourne is exploring the potential of mobile camera phones to support learning in schools and TAFE colleges. This article discusses some of the findings of the study.

Are Learning Technologies Making A Difference? A Longitudinal Perspective Of Attitudes, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix

Mathematics Teaching In The United States Today (And Tomorrow) : Results From The Timss 1999 Video Study, James Hiebert, James Stigler, Jennifer Jacobs, Karen Givvin, Helen Garnier, Margaret Smith, Hilary Hollingsworth, Alfred Manaster, Diana Wearne, Ronald Gallimore

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 Video Study examined eighth-grade mathematics teaching in the United States and six higher-achieving countries. A range of teaching systems were found across higher-achieving countries that balanced attention to challenging content, procedural skill, and conceptual understanding in different ways. The United States displayed a unique system of teaching, not because of any particular feature but because of a constellation of features that reinforced attention to lower-level mathematics skills. The authors argue that these results are relevant for policy (mathematics) debates in the United States because they provide a current account of what …

Affective Engagement : A Person-Centred Approach To Understanding The Structure Of Subjective Learning Experiences, Sarah Buckley, Galit Hasen, Mary Ainley

Dr Sarah Buckley

Accounts of students' learning have increasingly emphasised the role of affective engagement in achievement settings. Although most studies have focused on negative emotional experiences such as anxiety, more recent studies have investigated the role of positive emotions. This study examines the structure of students' subjective learning experiences in relation to individual interest profiles. It measured two components of affect: activation as positive arousal that indicates engagement, and valence as an evaluative quality of the students' experience. Senior secondary students (females, N=162) completed measures of individual interests, curiosity and prior knowledge, read three social issues texts and then answered some questions …

From Research To Practice : Using The Timss Video Study Findings To Enhance Australian Mathematics Teaching, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

The findings of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 Video Study have been reported at both international and national levels, however its impact on Australian mathematics teaching has yet to be realised. How can the results of the video study inform teachers' efforts toward excellence in mathematics teaching in Australia? This paper highlights some of the findings and recommendations in the national report, 'Teaching Mathematics in Australia: Results from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study', and anticipates ways that the products of the study might be used for improving teaching and teacher development. The broad purpose of the …

The Timss 1999 Video Study And Its Relevance To Australian Mathematics Education Research, Innovation, Networking, And Opportunities., Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

Results from the mathematics portion of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 Video Study, comparing videotaped Year 8 mathematics lessons from seven countries, were released in March 2003. This paper presents selected findings from that study, with a focus on those results that might be of particular interest to Australian educators. In addition, the paper considers ways in which the results and products from this study can make a lasting contribution to the field of mathematics education. Three areas are described: the innovation associated with the study's 'video survey' research methodology; the networking possibilities for mathematics educators …

Association Between Intended And Attained Algebra Curriculum In Timss 1998/1999 For Ten Countries, Alla Routitsky, Susan Zammit

Dr Alla Routitsky

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study- Repeat 1998/1999 (TIMSS) assessed the mathematics and science achievement of students in their second year of high school. In addition to achievement tests, extensive information was collected from students and teachers. Of the 38 countries that took part, the overall results in mathematics of eleven countries, including Australia were not statistically different. Following the TIMSS research model, this article examines the association between three levels of curriculum, the intended curriculum, the implemented and the attained curriculum. In particular, this paper compares the achievement in four algebra topics for those students whose teachers reported …

Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen

Dr Tom Lumley

The ongoing interest in investigating the use of Item Response Theory (IRT) methods, involving the Rasch model, in language testing research and the development of language tests has encouraged the authors to explore the nature of this approach and to introduce some research on its validation.