Showing papers in "Elementary School Journal in 2015"
TL;DR: The Common Core State Standards for the English Language Arts, together with the new tests being developed to assess them, are placing a greater emphasis on writing in elementary schools than in the recent past.
Abstract: The Common Core State Standards for the English Language Arts, together with the new tests being developed to assess them, are placing a greater emphasis on writing in elementary schools than in the recent past. This article explores similarities and differences of the standards with past state standards, explaining the reason both for why things have been as they are and why Common Core is encouraging change. The biggest shift in writing instruction is claimed to be the new emphasis on writing about text, and ways of writing about text successfully in the elementary grades (summarization, analysis, synthesis, modeling) are described.
632 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present research-supported practices that can be used to meet CCSS writing objectives in kindergarten to grade 8, and identify these practices by conducting a meta-analysis of writing intervention studies, which included true and quasi-experiments, as well as single-subject design studies.
Abstract: In order to meet writing objectives specified in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), many teachers need to make significant changes in how writing is taught. While CCSS identified what students need to master, it did not provide guidance on how teachers are to meet these writing benchmarks. The current article presents research-supported practices that can be used to meet CCSS writing objectives in kindergarten to grade 8. We identified these practices by conducting a new meta-analysis of writing intervention studies, which included true and quasi-experiments, as well as single-subject design studies. In addition, we conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies examining the practices of exceptional literacy teachers. Studies in 20 previous reviews served as the data source for these analyses. The recommended practices derived from these analyses are presented within a framework that takes into account both the social contextual and cognitive/motivational nature of writing.
177 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted a meta-analysis of true and quasi-experiments conducted with students in grades 1 to 8 and found that feedback to students about writing from adults, peers, self, and computers statistically enhanced writing quality.
Abstract: To determine whether formative writing assessments that are directly tied to everyday classroom teaching and learning enhance students’ writing performance, we conducted a meta-analysis of true and quasi-experiments conducted with students in grades 1 to 8. We found that feedback to students about writing from adults, peers, self, and computers statistically enhanced writing quality, yielding average weighted effect sizes of 0.87, 0.58, 0.62, and 0.38, respectively. We did not find, however, that teachers’ monitoring of students’ writing progress or implementation of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing model meaningfully enhanced students’ writing. The findings from this meta-analysis provide support for the use of formative writing assessments that provide feedback directly to students as part of everyday teaching and learning. We argue that such assessments should be used more frequently by teachers, and that they should play a stronger role in the Next-Generation Assessment Systems being developed by Smart...
168 citations
TL;DR: In this article, moral disengagement was positively associated with bullying and negatively associated with defending, whereas moral emotions score was negatively associated to bullying and positively associated to defending, and students who scored high in moral emotions did not tend to bully other students.
Abstract: The first aim of the present study was to examine in a single model how moral disengagement and moral emotions were related to bullying and defending behavior among schoolchildren. The second aim was to test whether the two moral dimensions interacted with each other to explain behavior in bullying situations. Data were collected from 561 Swedish students. Moral disengagement was positively associated with bullying and negatively associated with defending, whereas moral emotions score was negatively associated with bullying and positively associated with defending. Moreover, students who scored high in moral emotions did not tend to bully other students, irrespective of their levels of moral disengagement, whereas when the moral emotions score was low bullying behavior increased with increasing levels of moral disengagement. In contrast, moral disengagement was negatively related to defending behavior at low levels of moral emotions, but not when moral emotions were high.
76 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as "equal," "more," and "less," and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children's vocabulary knowledge and number competencies.
Abstract: The present study involved examining whether a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as "equal," "more," and "less," and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children's vocabulary knowledge and number competencies. Children with early numeracy difficulties (N = 124) were recruited from kindergarten classes in four schools. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a storybook number competencies (SNC) intervention, a number sense intervention, or a business-as-usual control. Interventions were carried out in groups of four children over 8 weeks (24 thirty-minute sessions). Findings demonstrated that the SNC intervention group outperformed the other groups on measures of mathematics vocabulary, both in terms of words that were closely aligned to the intervention and those that were not. There was no effect of the SNC intervention, however, on general mathematics measures, suggesting a need to provide the mathematics vocabulary work along with more intensive instruction in number concepts.
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between student mathematics outcomes and the rate and quality of explicit instructional interactions that occur during core mathematics instruction in kindergarten classrooms using a multifaceted observation system.
Abstract: Explicit instruction is a systematic instructional approach that facilitates frequent and meaningful instructional interactions between teachers and students around critical academic content. This study examined the relationship between student mathematics outcomes and the rate and quality of explicit instructional interactions that occur during core mathematics instruction in kindergarten classrooms using a multifaceted observation system. A total of 379 observations were conducted in 129 classrooms, involving approximately 2,200 students across a 2-year span. Results suggest that the rate and quality of instructional interactions is related to student mathematics achievement. Implications for instruction and observation research are discussed.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the level at which students engaged with each other's mathematical ideas and the moves teachers used to support student engagement in classroom mathematics discussions and found that teachers used a wide variety of invitation and follow-up moves to encourage student engagement and combined them in multiple ways in the moment.
Abstract: Educators, researchers, and policy makers increasingly recognize that participation in classroom mathematics discussions, especially engaging with others’ ideas, can promote students’ mathematics understanding. How teachers can promote students’ high-level engagement with others’ ideas, and the challenges teachers face when trying to do so, have not often been studied, however. Using coding of videotaped whole-class and small-group discussions in 12 elementary school classrooms, we analyzed the level at which students engaged with each other’s mathematical ideas and the moves teachers used—both moves to invite student engagement and follow-up moves to encourage deeper engagement—to support student engagement. Teachers used a wide variety of invitation and follow-up moves to encourage student engagement and combined them in multiple ways in the moment to address the challenges students faced when trying to engage with others’ ideas. We show the limitations of teachers’ initial moves to stimulate en...
55 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted descriptive studies of fifth-grade students' digital folktale retellings in relation to the types and frequencies of modal use, such as image, sound, movement, and written text, as well as their retelling accuracy.
Abstract: Multimodal composing is part of the Common Core vision of the twenty-first-century student. Two descriptive studies were conducted of fifth-grade students’ digital folktale retellings. Study 1 analyzed 83 retellings in relation to the types and frequencies of modal use, such as image, sound, movement, and written text, as well as their retelling accuracy. Students composed within a scaffolded digital composing environment which comprised the PowerPoint authoring/presentation tool and a researcher-developed story frame. All students’ retellings included writing and visual design, 80% included animation, and 70% included sound. Retelling accuracy scores averaged 54%. Study 2 was conducted with a new group of 14 fifth-grade students who had previous digital retelling experience. The retellings included the same types of modal use, but at a higher level of frequency. In their retrospective design interviews, students expressed design intentionality and a metamodal awareness of how modes work together ...
52 citations
TL;DR: The Video Assessment of Interaction and Learning (VAIL) as discussed by the authors ) is a direct assessment of teachers' skill in detecting and identifying effective classroom interactions, which can be used for teacher training and preparation that contributes to improved student performance.
Abstract: Contemporary education reforms focus on assessing teachers’ performance and developing selection mechanisms for hiring effective teachers. Tools that enable the prediction of teachers’ classroom performance promote schools’ ability to hire teachers more likely to be successful in the classroom. In addition, these assessment tools can be used for teacher training and preparation that contributes to improved student performance. This article summarizes the theoretical and empirical support for a direct assessment of teachers’ skill in detecting and identifying effective classroom interactions—the Video Assessment of Interaction and Learning (VAIL). Findings from a study of 270 preschool teachers suggest that the VAIL reliably measures teachers’ interaction detection and identification skills. Teachers who can accurately detect effective interactions on video exemplars tend to have more years of education and display more effective interactions with the students in their classroom. Findings are discu...
45 citations
TL;DR: Growth rates in writing were not different as a function of children’s SES and language/speech impairment status, and children with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores than typically developing children in the quality and productivity of writing.
Abstract: We examined growth trajectories of writing and the relation of children’s socioeconomic status and language and/or speech impairment to the growth trajectories. First-grade children (N = 304) were assessed on their written composition in the fall, winter, and spring, and their vocabulary and literacy skills in the fall. Children’s SES had a negative effect on writing quality and productivity. Children with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores than typically developing children in the quality and productivity of writing. Even after accounting for their vocabulary and literacy skills, students with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores in the quality and organization of writing. Growth rates in writing were not different as a function of children’s SES and language/speech impairment status. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
39 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored relationships between language variables and writing outcomes with linguistically diverse students in grades 3-5 and found that the importance of language skills was investigated in two separate sets of models predicting contextual conventions and story composition.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between language variables and writing outcomes with linguistically diverse students in grades 3–5. The participants were 197 children from three schools in one district in the mid-Atlantic United States. We assessed students’ vocabulary knowledge and morphological and syntactical skill as well as narrative writing ability in the spring of the academic year. The importance of language skills was investigated in two separate sets of models predicting contextual conventions and story composition. Controlling for grade level, language status, and transcription skills, syntactical skill was related to contextual conventions. Additionally, the relationship between syntactical skill and contextual conventions differed for ELs and non-ELs such that at higher levels of syntactic skill non-ELs showed better performance in contextual conventions. There was also a relationship between vocabulary breadth and story composition. Controlling for vocabulary b...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the direct effects of school year, parent education, family structure, and child gender on parent involvement in elementary school and found statistically significant direct effects for several parent, family and child characteristics examined.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to clarify equivocal findings in the parent-involvement literature and examine novel interactions in a New Zealand context. Specifically, this study tested direct effects of school year, parent education, family structure, and child gender on parent involvement in elementary school. In addition, interactions between parent, family, and child characteristics were explored as moderators on the relation of school year and parent involvement. Participants were 421 primary caregivers of children attending their first through final years of elementary school on New Zealand’s South Island. Structural equation models were used to detect direct and interaction effects. Findings revealed statistically significant direct effects for several parent, family, and child characteristics examined. No interaction effects were found. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the relationship of mentor policy features with the quality of mentoring received by new teachers and find a strong and significant association indicating that mentors who have time during the day to meet with their new teachers are associated with higher-quality mentoring interactions.
Abstract: Mentoring is a common form of support for beginning teachers. State and district mentoring policies vary along a number of dimensions, yet policymakers have little evidence to draw on in designing effective mentoring programs. We use quantitative and qualitative data from a study of beginning middle school mathematics teachers in 10 districts to investigate the relationship of mentor policy features with the quality of mentoring received by new teachers. We find a strong and significant association indicating that mentors who have time during the day to meet with their new teachers are associated with higher-quality mentoring interactions. These results are supported through teacher interviews, and interviews also suggest that teachers experience better outcomes when mentors are located in the same school and have an evaluative role. These results suggest that proximity and availability may be particularly important features if mentors are to provide high-quality support to new teachers.
TL;DR: The authors investigates an example from the experience of a preservice teacher as she works on orienting students to each other's ideas, along with the factors that contribute to their emergence in real time.
Abstract: Given the current interest in organizing teacher education around core instructional practices that help preservice teachers enact ambitious aspects of teaching like leading classroom discussions, this article investigates an example from the experience of a preservice teacher as she works on orienting students to each other’s ideas. Resulting problems of practice are examined, along with the factors that contribute to their emergence in real time. The study also brings attention to the complexity of this work and the ways in which novice teachers’ knowledge, development as learners, and available resources in the contexts of their work contribute to how they approach and manage these problems.
TL;DR: The authors compare the Common Core State Standards in Writing to the Hayes cognitive model of writing, adapted to describe the performance of young and developing writers, and propose the inclusion of standards for motivation, goal setting, writing strategies, and attention by writers to the text they have just written.
Abstract: In this article, we compare the Common Core State Standards in Writing to the Hayes cognitive model of writing, adapted to describe the performance of young and developing writers. Based on the comparison, we propose the inclusion of standards for motivation, goal setting, writing strategies, and attention by writers to the text they have just written. In addition, we propose that support materials for educators should include definitions of writing processes, ideas about how to support motivation, explanation of the role of writing schema, and a grade-by-grade list of useful technology skills.
TL;DR: The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as discussed by the authors provide a new and ambitious blueprint for the teaching of writing, and the benefits of CCSS for writing far outweigh any potential limitations.
Abstract: The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provide a new and ambitious blueprint for the teaching of writing. They provide goals and expectations for the writing knowledge and skills students are expected to master as they move from kindergarten to grade 12. CCSS also places writing at the center of the educational reform movement in the United States, making writing a more integral part of the curriculum and learning. While these standards have generated considerable controversy within and outside the educational community, the benefits of CCSS for writing far outweigh any potential limitations. At the most basic level, the implementation of CCSS should result in more writing and writing instruction in schools. This is not a trivial accomplishment, as a majority of American students’ writing is in need of improvement.
TL;DR: In this article, a one-group repeated-treatment design was used to examine the academic year and summer oral reading fluency outcomes for students attending a district-sponsored summer literacy program (N = 250).
Abstract: A one-group repeated-treatment design was used to examine the academic year and summer oral reading fluency outcomes for students attending a district-sponsored summer literacy program (N = 250). Piecewise growth models applied to longitudinal data obtained during the first and second grade and over the course of the intervening summer revealed that oral reading fluency increased during each period of schooling, with the most rapid increase occurring during the intensive summer school intervention period. The gains in reading fluency observed during periods of schooling contrasted with periods of stagnation or loss when students were not in school during each of two summer breaks. The observed pattern of learning suggests that for the struggling readers we studied, schooling “mattered” regardless of when in the calendar year it was experienced. Challenges and opportunities associated with evaluating summer program performance are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the impacts of the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) initiative at kindergarten entry using a regression-discontinuity design and found statistically significant impacts of ABC pre-K participation across three key academic domains related to children's kindergarten readiness.
Abstract: Enrollment in state-funded pre-K programs prior to kindergarten entry has become increasingly common. As each state develops its own model for pre-K, rigorous studies of the impacts of state-specific programs are needed. This study investigates impacts of the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) initiative at kindergarten entry using a regression-discontinuity design. In this approach, study selection criteria are known and modeled, rather than simply comparing children who attended ABC with potentially dissimilar children who did not attend. Statistically significant impacts of ABC pre-K participation were found across three key academic domains related to children’s kindergarten readiness—vocabulary, mathematics, and print awareness skills. These results suggest that the ABC pre-K program is effective and thus that it provides a potential model for expansion of large-scale public pre-K initiatives in other states.
TL;DR: In this article, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by 46 states and called for all students, including English learners, to develop critical reading skills necessary for a deep understanding of complex texts, and critical writing skills to write about those texts.
Abstract: Adopted by 46 states, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) present a vision of what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century and call for all students, including English learners, to develop critical reading skills necessary for a deep understanding of complex texts, and critical writing skills to write about those texts. This article addresses how teachers can prepare English learners to meet the CCSS for writing in grades K–8. It considers the degree and type of additional scaffolding English learners need to write at a level required in the standards, gives examples of best practices for teaching English learners, and provides specific lessons and activities for the types of writing emphasized in the standards. In addition, the relevant research on English-learning writers in grades K–8 as well as on effective interventions geared toward helping English learners attain higher level academic literacy is reviewed.
TL;DR: This paper examined whether instruction in genre knowledge enriches students' feedback on each other's writing, resulting in better writing quality and found strong effects of the SGK condition outperforming the other conditions on text quality of four post-test writing tasks.
Abstract: This study examined whether instruction in genre knowledge enriches students’ feedback on each other’s writing, resulting in better writing quality. In total 140 sixth-grade students (age 11–13) participated in the study. Two approaches to peer response with additional instruction were compared. In one condition, students were taught specific genre knowledge (SGK). In another condition, students were taught general aspects of communicative writing (GACW). Both groups were compared with a baseline control group. Students were randomly assigned to the conditions. Results showed strong effects of the SGK condition outperforming the other conditions on text quality of four posttest writing tasks. Video recordings of students commenting on each other’s first drafts showed that the students in the SGK condition gave significantly more attention to the functions taught than students in the GACW condition. This finding supports the interpretation that knowledge about the genre-specific functions was actua...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the classwide efficacy of INSIGHTS, a universal social-emotional learning intervention for early elementary grades, on observed teacher practices and student behaviors.
Abstract: We investigate the classwide efficacy of INSIGHTS, a universal social-emotional learning intervention for early elementary grades, on observed teacher practices and student behaviors. Twenty-two elementary schools (87% free/reduced lunch) were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or an attention-control condition. Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms (n = 120) were observed in the fall prior to the intervention and in the spring following the intervention. Multilevel random effects regression models showed an INSIGHTS main effect on observed teacher practices of emotional support from fall to spring. This effect was magnified in first grade. First-grade INSIGHTS classrooms also had higher teacher practices of classroom organization and lower classwide off-task behaviors over the school year compared to first-grade attention-control classrooms. Kindergarten INSIGHTS classrooms improved classwide student engagement from fall to spring compared to kindergarten attention-control classrooms. Grade-level va...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effects of an in-service program on 8 Canadian teachers' attitudes and practices regarding creative dance and found that teachers changed both their reported attitudes toward and practices about creative dance, and all change was in the direction of greater receptivity to creative dance.
Abstract: This article describes a study designed to examine the effects of an in-service program on 8 Canadian teachers' attitudes and practices regarding creative dance. The program addressed 7 areas relevant to planning and designing such programs: program content, clarification of goals, reasons for participation, students' reactions, support systems, program climate, and practical ideas and teaching methods. 8 case-study subjects, selected from those participating in a preworkshop interview, took part in 6 3-hour workshops, 2 classroom observation visits, journal writing, and a postworkshop interview. All teachers changed both their reported attitudes toward and practices regarding creative dance, and all change was in the direction of greater receptivity to creative dance. 4 months after the completion of the workshop series, all 8 teachers reported implementing creative dance in their classroom programs, and all said they planned to continue to use creative dance as an educational tool. These findings both s...
TL;DR: A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the effects of a prosocial behavior after-school program called Mate-Tricks for 9- and 10-year-old children and their parents living in an area of significant socioeconomic disadvantage.
Abstract: A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the effects of a prosocial behavior after-school program called Mate-Tricks for 9- and 10-year-old children and their parents living in an area of significant socioeconomic disadvantage. The children were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 220) or a control group (n = 198). Children were compared on measures of prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, and related outcome measures. The trial found adverse effects on four outcomes among the intervention group compared to the control group: antisocial behavior increased on two different measures (d = 0.20) and (d = 0.18), child-reported liberal parenting increased (d = 0.16), and child reported authoritarian parenting also increased (d = 0.20). In addition, parental participation was significantly associated with several program outcomes. It was concluded, that group based after-school behavior programs may have the potential to cause iatrogenic effects and must be designed, piloted, evaluated...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed how fractions are taught in the fourth grade of elementary school in Flanders and found that the observed lessons reflected to a limited extend of the recommended instructional features and contributed to a departure from these recommendations.
Abstract: This research analyzed how fractions are taught in the fourth grade of elementary school in Flanders. Analysis centered on the presence of five features of instruction recommended by research on teaching and learning fractions (i.e., multiple solution pathways, linking representations, estimation and justification of the solution, collaboration, embedment in a realistic context). Our sample consisted of 88 instructional episodes that were selected out of 24 videotaped lessons and the corresponding lessons in the teacher’s guide. Analysis related to instruction as described in the teacher’s guide, instruction during the whole group phase of teaching, and instruction during the individual practice phase of teaching. The study revealed (1) that the observed lessons reflected to a limited extend the recommended instructional features and (2) factors that contributed to a departure from these recommendations. This research is situated in the domain of teaching and learning fractions and within the broader domain of curriculum
TL;DR: The authors investigated how one first grade teacher scaffolded students' meaningful engagement with a nontraditional classroom text, a local newspaper, through daily interactive read-alouds, and found that the teacher scaffolding engagement through thoughtful selection of content, improvisation aimed at cr...
Abstract: Research revealing the continued dominance of narrative texts in primary-grade classrooms, coupled with shifts in the American cultural and textual landscape, have prompted educational policy urging teachers to increase the variety of informational texts students read and the authenticity with which students use those texts. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how one first-grade teacher scaffolded students’ meaningful engagement with a nontraditional classroom text, a local newspaper, through daily interactive read-alouds. Data sources including expanded field notes, transcripts of naturalistic observations, and teacher interviews were analyzed inductively using methods of constant comparison and discourse analysis. Purposefully selected topical episodes highlighted the characteristic of newspapers as dynamic texts that privilege real-time information. Analysis identified that the teacher scaffolded engagement through thoughtful selection of content, improvisation aimed at cr...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the construct validity of the Classroom Working Alliance Inventory (CWAI) and supported a two-factor model, representing the emotional and collaborative elements of relationship.
Abstract: Relationships with teachers have been found to be particularly salient for elementary-age students, as they relate to successful adjustment to school. The construct of working alliance reconceptualizes traditional definitions of relationship to consider elements of emotional connection, as well as the collaboration central to the working relationship between two individuals. The current study sought to examine the construct validity of the Classroom Working Alliance Inventory (CWAI). Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model, representing the emotional and collaborative elements of relationship. These findings provide evidence for the validity of the construct of classroom working alliance in capturing the working relationship between teacher and student.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the content of writing standards from a representative sample of states and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing and language to determine to what degree EBPs were signposted, variability of this signposting, and the overlap of practices signposted in states’ standards and the CCSS.
Abstract: Though writing plays an important role in academic, social, and economic success, typical writing instruction generally does not reflect evidence-based practices (EBPs). One potential reason for this is limited signposting of EBPs in standards. We analyzed the content of writing standards from a representative sample of states and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing and language to determine to what degree EBPs were signposted, variability of this signposting, and the overlap of practices signposted in states’ standards and the CCSS. We found a few practices signposted fairly consistently (e.g., isolated components of writing process instruction) and others rarely so (e.g., use of text models), as well as great variability across standards, with some covering almost half of the EBPs and others far fewer. Only a few states’ writing standards overlapped considerably with the CCSS. We discuss the implications of these findings for teacher professional development and for evaluating sta...
TL;DR: A survey of the factors usually associated with reading difficulty can be found in this article, where personality maladjustment is defined as any behavior that deviates from what is generally considered the normal behavior of children in the school situation.
Abstract: M ANY attempts have been made to find a basic cause for reading disability. All attempts to ascribe reading difficulty to one and only one cause have been foredoomed to failure; for the chief fact which seems apparent at the present time is that the causative factors of reading disability are many and variable. This article will attempt to point out the part played by personality maladjustment as a causative factor in reading disability. "Personality maladjustment" seems to be a term that covers a multitude of sins and one that defies any limited definition. For the purposes of this article "personality maladjustment" will be defined as any behavior that deviates from what is generally considered the normal behavior of children in the school situation. A survey of the factors usually associated with reading difficulty follows.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of five experiential practices (autonomy support, stimulation, emotional support, time for choice activities, and interest-based activities) and the moderating influence of initial achievement (language and arithmetic achievement) was examined.
Abstract: Experiential education is a child-centered educational framework that is popular in Flemish kindergartens. In this study, the impact of five experiential practices (autonomy support, stimulation, emotional support, time for choice activities, and interest-based activities) and the moderating influence of initial achievement (language and arithmetic achievement) was examined. Data were collected on 2,360 kindergartners (139 classes), their parents, and their teachers. Hierarchical linear models examined the extent to which experiential practices and children’s background characteristics predicted several aspects of children’s school adjustment: language and arithmetic achievement, school enjoyment, and independent participation. Results indicated that not all experiential practices were related to optimal school adjustment; a stimulating teaching style was related to greater learning gains in academic achievement, but an autonomy-supportive teaching style was related to smaller learning gains in ac...
TL;DR: For example, the public school system of Baltimore has for several years provided a differential of $400 a year to special-class teachers having thirty semester hours of credit in approved courses in special education.
Abstract: The public-school system of Baltimore has for several years provided a differential of $400 a year to special-class teachers having thirty semester hours of credit in approved courses in special education. However, a survey of special education in the Baltimore schools made by the writer in the spring of 1929 showed that the regulation had remained wholly inoperative. Not a single teacher had received any increase beyond the initial bonus of $ioo, which was given without qualifications, because no teacher had earned the thirty hours of credit in courses in special education required for the additional $300 increment. No increase was given to a teacher who had done some work but had not earned the full thirty hours of credit. Nor had any attempt been made to outline or define, or even to list, the courses that must be completed to earn the differential. Potentially, Baltimore had one of the best systems of salary differential for special-class teachers to be found anywhere, but it had remained a dead letter because, partly at least, the type of training necessary to obtain advances had not been definitely determined, although certain courses had been approved in a few institutions which offered training for teachers of mentally handicapped children. That Baltimore had failed to designate the courses which teachers of different kinds of special classes must pursue in order to acquire competency in their work and, incidentally, to earn salary promotions should occasion no surprise. So far as the writer knows, definite schedules of courses for special-class teachers had never been drawn up and put into effect by any city, state, or government school system before action was taken in Baltimore. As a result of a survey of the Baltimore special classes, as ex-