This article is a review of the literature on classroom formative assessment. Several studies show firm evidence that innovations designed to strengthen the frequent feedback that students receive about their learning yield substantial learning gains. The perceptions of students and their role in self‐assessment are considered alongside analysis of the strategies used by teachers and the formative strategies incorporated in such systemic approaches as mastery learning. There follows a more detailed and theoretical analysis of the nature of feedback, which provides a basis for a discussion of the development of theoretical models for formative assessment and of the prospects for the improvement of practice.

Assessment and Classroom Learning

1 Front Matter 2 Executive Summary 3 Part I: Introduction to Reading 4 1. Introduction 5 2. The Process of Learning to Read 6 Part II: Who Are We Talking About? 7 3. Who Has Reading Difficulties? 8 4. Predictors of Success and Failure in Reading 9 Part III: Prevention and Intervention 10 5. Preventing Reading Difficulties Before Kindergarten 11 6. Instructional Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 12 7. Organizational Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 13 8. Helping Children with Reading Difficulties in Grades 1 to 3 14 Part IV: Knowledge into Action 15 9. The Agents of Change 16 10. Recommendations for Practice and Research 17 References 18 Biographical Sketches 19 Index

/pdf/preventing-reading-difficulties-in-young-children-e47oikxhcj.pdf

Preventing reading difficulties in young children

ContextThe cognitive and behavioral outcomes of school-aged children who were
born preterm have been reported extensively. Many of these studies have methodological
flaws that preclude an accurate estimate of the long-term outcomes of prematurity.ObjectiveTo estimate the effect of preterm birth on cognition and behavior in
school-aged children.Data SourcesMEDLINE search (1980 to November 2001) for English-language articles,
supplemented by a manual search of personal files maintained by 2 of the authors.Study SelectionWe included case-control studies reporting cognitive and/or behavioral
data of children who were born preterm and who were evaluated after their
fifth birthday if the attrition rate was less than 30%. From the 227 reviewed
studies, cognitive data from 15 studies and behavioral data from 16 studies
were selected.Data ExtractionData on population demographics, study characteristics, and cognitive
and behavioral outcomes were extracted from each study, entered in a customized
database, and reviewed twice to minimize error. Differences between the mean
cognitive scores of cases and controls were pooled. Homogeneity across studies
was formally tested using a general variance-based method and graphically
using Galbraith plots. Linear meta-analysis regression models were fitted
to explore the impact of birth weight and gestational age on cognitive outcomes.
Study-specific relative risks (RRs) were calculated for the incidence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) and pooled. Quality assessment of the studies was performed
based on a 10-point scale. Publication bias was examined using Begg modified
funnel plots and formally tested using the Egger weighted-linear regression
method.Data SynthesisAmong 1556 cases and 1720 controls, controls had significantly higher
cognitive scores compared with children who were born preterm (weighted mean
difference, 10.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.2-12.5). The mean cognitive
scores of preterm-born cases and term-born controls were directly proportional
to their birth weight (R2 = 0.51; P<.001) and gestational age (R2 = 0.49; P<.001). Age at evaluation had
no significant correlation with mean difference in cognitive scores (R2 = 0.12; P = .20).
Preterm-born children showed increases in externalizing and internalizing
behaviors in 81% of studies and had more than twice the RR for developing
ADHD (pooled RR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.85-3.78). No differences were noted in cognition
and behaviors based on the quality of the study.ConclusionsChildren who were born preterm are at risk for reduced cognitive test
scores and their immaturity at birth is directly proportional to the mean
cognitive scores at school age. Preterm-born children also show an increased
incidence of ADHD and other behaviors.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/195181/JMA10039.pdf

Cognitive and behavioral outcomes of school-aged children who were born preterm: a meta-analysis.

A MUCH debated question is whether sex differences exist in the functional organization of the brain for language1–4. A long-held hypothesis posits that language functions are more likely to be highly lateralized in males and to be represented in both cerebral hemispheres in females5,6, but attempts to demonstrate this have been inconclusive7–17. Here we use echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging18–21 to study 38 right-handed subjects (19 males and 19 females) during orthographic (letter recognition), phonological (rhyme) and semantic (semantic category) tasks. During phonological tasks, brain activation in males is lateralized to the left inferior frontal gyrus regions; in females the pattern of activation is very different, engaging more diffuse neural systems that involve both the left and right inferior frontal gyrus. Our data provide clear evidence for a sex difference in the functional organization of the brain for language and indicate that these variations exist at the level of phonological processing.

Sex differences in the functional organization of the brain for language

The book Inequality by Christopher Jencks is in one sense an arid waste of somewhat confusing and misleading statistics between chapter one and chapter nine, and, in another sense, a destructive, unscientific critique of American education and families. Jencks' interpretation comes down hard on his basic feeling that "The crucial problem today is that relatively few people view income inequality as a serious problem; indeed the Nixon administration apparently convinced itself that income was too equally distributed in 1968 and that the rich needed additional incentives to get even richer . The Kennedy and Johnson administrations were only marginally better. Neither made any explicit effort to equalize incomes; the subject was hardly discussed. Instead reformers focused on equalizing opportunity." This view is probably correct but it is no excuse for an unscholarly, unscientific polemic against far from "peripheral institutions," which is Jencks' evaluation of the American schools. This book states

Inequality, A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America.

For over 30 years, there has been a continuing concern with differential teacher attention to boys and girls in the classroom. In this article, we review themes and issues in gender and classroom interaction. The evolving theoretical perspectives on gender inequality are discussed and the pertinent empirical evidence is reviewed. The influence of feminism on the way classroom interactions between teachers and their students have been interpreted is considered, as is the way in which disruptive behaviour, mainly exhibited by boys, has impacted on the classroom environment (including referrals to special education services). More recent public concern with the relative underachievement of boys in school is discussed in the light of differential teacher attention to boys and girls.

Differential teacher attention to boys and girls in the classroom

A review and analysis of the research literature on teachers' classroom use of approval/praise and disapproval/reprimand is provided in an attempt to determine the extent to which teachers typically employ praise in their classroom teaching. There is a considerable degree of agreement across the studies reviewed, carried out in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and St Helena, regarding the ways in which teachers typically deploy approval and disapproval, with some interesting variations. There is little evidence to suggest that teachers, universally, systematically deploy contingent praise as positive reinforcement in spite of the considerable literature testifying to its effectiveness. In particular, praise for appropriate classroom social behaviour is only rarely observed.

Teachers' Use of Approval and Disapproval in the Classroom

Summary Structured interviews were carried out with 176 secondary school teachers to elicit their views/opinions about their initial professional training and their later practical experience, with particular reference to classroom behaviour management. The results showed that the vast majority of teachers believe classroom management skills to be of major importance to them professionally. Nearly three‐quarters of them were dissatisfied with the preparation in this area of professional skills provided by their initial training courses. Many thought that their colleagues spent too much time on matters of order and control and 38% thought that they, themselves, did also. Generally, they showed an interest in attending training courses in classroom behaviour management. Many felt that such training could reduce stress among teachers and might help to reduce troublesome behaviour among their pupils. Nearly all of them thought that it would be of benefit to their younger colleagues who were just beginning the...

How Do Teachers Learn to Manage Classroom Behaviour? A study of teachers’ opinions about their initial training with special reference to classroom behaviour management

Les AA. ont evalue l'efficacite de la reeducation en lecture dans dix ecoles primaires de la Nouvelle Galles de Sud. Repartis en deux groupes (reeducation en lecture et situation controle), les eleves en difficulte de lecture ont effectue des tests de competences a plusieurs reprises. L'efficacite de la reeducation en lecture n'est alors plus aussi pertinente

An evaluation of Reading Recovery

A questionnaire enquiring into classroom behaviour problems was distributed to a 25% random sample of all infant, junior and junior infant schools in a West Midlands LEA. Replies were received from all 32 schools, resulting in a very high return of 93%. Of the 198 teachers who responded 51% believed that they were spending more time than they ought on problems of order and control. On average 4‐3 children per class were identified as troublesome, of whom 3 were boys. Boys were identified as the most troublesome and as the next most troublesome child in the class by three quarters of the teachers. Asked to identify the most troublesome classroom behaviours 47% selected ‘talking out of turn’ followed by ‘hindering other children’ (25%). Very similar findings were obtained for the most frequent troublesome behaviour and for the most troublesome behaviours of the particularly troublesome individual children.

Kevin Wheldall

Papers

Differential teacher attention to boys and girls in the classroom

Teachers' Use of Approval and Disapproval in the Classroom

How Do Teachers Learn to Manage Classroom Behaviour? A study of teachers’ opinions about their initial training with special reference to classroom behaviour management

An evaluation of Reading Recovery

Which Classroom Behaviours do Primary School Teachers say they find most Troublesome