Language: German

Published: Innsbruck, Germany: Studien Verlag, 2009

Edition: 1st ed.

ISBN: 978-3-7065-4721-5 3-7065-4721-X

Series: Initiative neues Lernen

Abstract/Notes: One of the issues which attracted the attention of language testers in the 1990s was the impact of high-stakes tests on the classroom: what kind of influence did such tests have on teaching and learning and what could educators do to ensure that this was beneficial rather than harmful? Some progress was made in defining notions such as ‘impact’ and ‘washback’, and a number of studies appeared which analysed the relationship between tests and teachers’ and learners’ attitudes and behaviour. There was a growing awareness of the importance of factors other than test design in determining whether tests would have the impact that was desired. These factors also appear in the literature of educational innovation, and it is to this field that some testers turned for guidance on whether test impact could be predicted or controlled. This paper summarises what language testers have learned about test impact in the last decade and discusses what one model of educational innovation has revealed about how tests interact with other factors in the testing situation. It concludes with a set of recommendations about the steps future test developers might take in order to assess the amount of risk involved in attempting to create change through testing.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/S0346-251X(00)00035-X

ISSN: 0346-251X, 1879-3282

Abstract/Notes: We investigated the role of three beliefs in predicting teachers’ motivating style toward students—namely, how effective, how normative, and how easy-to-implement autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching were each believed to be. We further examined national collectivism–individualism as a predictor of individual teachers’ motivating style and beliefs about motivating style, as we expected that a collectivistic perspective would tend teachers toward the controlling style and toward positive beliefs about that style. Participants were 815 full-time PreK-12 public school teachers from eight different nations that varied in collectivism–individualism. All three teacher beliefs explained independent and substantial variance in teachers’ self-described motivating styles. Believed effectiveness was a particularly strong predictor of self-described motivating style. Collectivism–individualism predicted which teachers were most likely to self-describe a controlling motivating style, and a mediation analysis showed that teachers in collectivistic nations self-described a controlling style because they believed it to be culturally normative classroom practice. These findings enhance the literature on the antecedents of teachers’ motivating styles by showing that teacher beliefs strongly predict motivating style, and that culture informs one of these beliefs—namely, normalcy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s11031-013-9367-0

ISSN: 1573-6644

Abstract/Notes: Studies in cognitive neuroscience have shown that education practices can affect the development of executive functions (EF) in young children, although there is very little evidence on young preschool children. The present study aims to provide support for this endeavor, and consists of a quasi-experimental design with one-group pre-test/ post-test measures of cognitive control at age 3 in an urban public Montessori preschool. Three-year-olds (N = 23) in an authentic Montessori public preschool in Washington DC improved significantly on core EF measures (inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility) validated by the NIH Toolbox Early Childhood Cognition Battery, and the data revealed large effect sizes. Comparisons against NIH published norms revealed no selection bias. Performance on EF measures did not correlate with age but did correlate with amount of time between testing sessions, suggesting the possibility that experience, more than age, could have contributed to cognitive control growth. A controlled comparison between mixed-age and single-age classes revealed no differences in these EFs, raising the possibility that aspects of the environment other than the age composition are likely to contribute to growth. We propose that a potential contributor to EF growth is Montessori education, and more specifically, that this growth might be found in the design of interaction of the child with the environment. In particular, we discuss the design element called control of error, and consider why this element might be related to cognitive abilities such as inhibitory control. In current national discussions on the importance of equitable early childhood education, the synthesis of findings from neurocognitive studies has implications for children’s academic and life success.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00106

ISSN: 2504-284X

Abstract/Notes: Using the method of qualitative metasynthesis, this study analyzes 49 qualitative studies to interrogate how high-stakes testing affects curriculum, defined here as embodying content, knowledge form, and pedagogy. The findings from this study complicate the understanding of the relationship between high-stakes testing and classroom practice by identifying contradictory trends. The primary effect of high-stakes testing is that curricular content is narrowed to tested subjects, subject area knowledge is fragmented into test-related pieces, and teachers increase the use of teacher-centered pedagogies. However, this study also finds that, in a significant minority of cases, certain types of high-stakes tests have led to curricular content expansion, the integration of knowledge, and more student-centered, cooperative pedagogies. Thus the findings of the study suggest that the nature of high-stakes-test-induced curricular control is highly dependent on the structures of the tests themselves.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3102/0013189X07306523

ISSN: 0013-189X

Abstract/Notes: This randomized controlled field trial examined the efficacy of the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach on student achievement. Schools (n = 24) were randomized ...

Language: English

DOI: 10.3102/0002831214523821

ISSN: 0002-8312, 1935-1011

Language: English

ISSN: 0889-5643

Language: English

ISSN: 0010-700X

Abstract/Notes: Three groups of parents, ten who had chosen to homeschool their children, and twenty public school parents, ten who had sent their children to the Montessori program and ten who had sent their children to the regular program completed three locus of control measurements and a Q-sort on educational beliefs. Twelve parents were later interviewed. Homeschooling parents were found to feel more in control of their children's destiny and less controlled by chance and powerful others than were schooling parents. Montessori parents felt less controlled by chance than traditional parents. There were no differences in measures of internality. Results of the Q-sort indicated that subjects did not fall into readily identifiable liberal, moderate and conservative groups. The Q-sort, in fact, yielded four factors, one liberal factor focusing on 'self-actualization', one factor focusing on moral development and good citizenship, and one focusing on a challenging academic curriculum. The fourth factor was similar to the self-actualization factor but slightly more conservative. Factor I was comprised primarily of homeschoolers and Montessori parents, Factor II of only 'Christian' homeschoolers, Factor III of Montessori and traditional parents and Factor IV of traditional parents only. Interviews suggested that homeschooling parents were well-informed about child development and education while Montessori and Factor III traditional parents were well informed about child development.

Language: English

Published: Vancouver, Canada, 1989

Language: English

ISSN: 1470-8647