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Descriptors:
Social Influences; Cultural Influences; African Americans; Moral Values; Ethics; Epistemology; Males; Popular Culture; Scholarship; Educational Research; Educational Attainment; High Risk Students; Urban Areas

Abstract:
While much of mainstream qualitative research has focused on conventional methodology, in terms of axis of inquiry, epistemology, and approaches to ground the theory of its questions to construct knowledge, educational researchers have yet to conceptually develop an alternative praxis in our work which takes into account hip-hop culture. More specifically, research which investigates the social reality of youth, particularly Black males. The authors give an historical overview of hip-hop culture, and examine the social, political and economic context from which the art form emerged. Second, they articulate why it is important to discuss hip-hop culture as the genre relates to Black male youth. Third, they explore the moral and ethical dilemmas in the wider public about hip-hop culture. Fourth, the authors give a critical discussion on the transformative and emancipatory possibilities in scholarship and research praxis regarding Black male youth and hip-hop culture in the contemporary moment. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Middle School Students; Assignments; Program Effectiveness; Integrated Services; Caseworker Approach; High Risk Students; Intervention; College School Cooperation; Poverty; Partnerships in Education; Community Colleges; Colleges; School Districts; Family Programs; Urban Schools; Environmental Influences; Student Needs; Academic Achievement; Low Income Groups

Abstract:
For the past eight years, Midwest Educational Research Consortium (MERC), located at Western Michigan University, received two multi-million dollar grants through a U.S. Department of Education program entitled Gaining Early Awareness and Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). GEAR UP is a school/university partnership using a cohort model with the goal of increasing the number of students of poverty who graduate from high school and go on to postsecondary education. The MERC/GEAR UP project partners with two universities, two community colleges, and four school districts in Michigan and Ohio. Over the eight years of project funding, MERC/GEAR UP personnel have employed a number of successful strategies and interventions within the GEAR UP project schools. While many of these programs provided services to students and their families as well as their teachers, the most compelling of these programs has been the academic case management program. The case management process provides a network of positive support to help middle school students in low-income, urban settings with the challenges and barriers in their lives. The proposed academic case manager intervention focuses on two specific features: (1) facilitating students completing classroom assignments and (2) understanding the context of students' lives outside of school and using this understanding as a vehicle for developing specific interventions to help students relate to their school concerns. This model is premised on the idea that well-planned practical case manager interventions focusing on these two key features is essential toward overcoming the significant obstacles created by the gap between the school and community environments. The purpose of this study documents the effectiveness of this intervention within a formal CIPP (Stufflebeam, 1983, 2003) evaluation framework. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Shyness; Comprehension; Conflict; Preschool Children; Language Skills; Teacher Student Relationship; Psychological Patterns; High Risk Students; Developmental Delays; Personality Traits; Gender Differences; Predictor Variables; Expressive Language; Correlation; Student Characteristics; Attachment Behavior

Abstract:
Research Findings: The teacher-child relationship can provide an important support to young children who exhibit developmental risk. This research studied the contribution of children's language skills, temperamentally based attributes (shyness, anger), and gender to closeness and conflict in the teacher-child relationship for 133 preschoolers attending programs serving at-risk children. The results showed that both language comprehension (positive predictor) and shyness (negative predictor) were significantly linked to closeness in the teacher-child relationship. An additional result was that children who displayed greater anger within the classroom had relationships with their teachers characterized by higher levels of conflict, and both gender and language expression served as moderators for the relationship between anger and teacher-child conflict. Practice or Policy: These findings are important for considering how various skills and attributes of preschool children may contribute to their formation of trusting and secure relationships with their classroom teachers. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grade Point Average; Graduation; High Stakes Tests; Exit Examinations; High School Students; High School Graduates; Academic Failure; Compliance (Legal); Disabilities; Alternative Assessment; Educational Policy; State Standards; High Risk Students

Abstract:
A decade-long push by states to make high school students pass an exit exam before getting their diplomas has stalled as politically sensitive student-failure rates contribute to a growing public backlash against high-stakes testing. Though 26 states have adopted such mandates--most of them since 2000--that number has remained static since last year, according to a report scheduled for release this week by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization that has tracked the trend for the past seven years. For nearly a dozen states, compliance deadlines that once seemed far off have begun to bite, leading Arizona, Alabama, Maryland, and Washington, among others, to soften their mandates by offering alternative paths to a diploma, or by also weighing factors such as a student's grade point average. States that rushed to tie high school graduation to passing a high-stakes test now face pressure to come up with alternatives, even as critics warn against a dilution of standards. All states with exams offer alternative paths to a diploma for students with disabilities, and 18 of the 23 that have fully phased in their exit-exam requirements also offer alternatives for general education students. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Evaluation; Educational Assessment; Performance Based Assessment; Evaluation Methods; Vocational Education; Informal Education; Alternative Assessment; Urban Schools; Peer Teaching; High Risk Students; Rural Schools; Test Construction; Interviews; Interpersonal Relationship; Empowerment; Journal Writing

Abstract:
This article argues that whilst there have been substantial advancements in the ways in which learning is conceptualised, theoretical understandings of assessment, and practices that contribute to meaningful statements of learners' achievements, have not mirrored these changes in certain learning contexts. The authors challenge contemporary methods of educational assessment, particularly for marginalized groups of learners, specifically young people and adults in informal, vocational and professional learning. They critique the assessment and formal accreditation opportunities available to these groups of learners, and emphasise a need for more authentic, learner-friendly methods to encourage their engagement and retention. Drawing on empirical work with three contrasting groups of learners, they outline a theoretical framework for assessing the authentic performances of learners in a range of settings. The assessment of authentic performance is an important but under-reported area of assessment activity, which has the potential to address a number of contemporary criticisms of assessment systems in national and international contexts. The emphasis on the assessment of performance in this article recognises that informal and vocational learning is inherently social, is mediated by more knowledgeable others and relies on professional judgements as to how good practice is defined, shared and understood within the wider community. The first section sets out this theoretical framework alongside the "assessment problem", and defines the authors' understanding of "authentic assessment". The second section describes the outcomes of an empirical study that aimed to develop processes and rubrics of alternative forms of assessment based on performance. The conclusion proposes some key components of a model for the authentic assessment of performance. (Contains 3 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Reading Difficulties; Phonological Awareness; Grade 3; Cognitive Processes; Proximity; Cognitive Ability; Reading Skills; Word Recognition; Canada Natives; Foreign Countries; Predictor Variables; High Risk Students; Grade 4

Abstract:
The objectives of the present study were twofold: (a) to explore the interrelationship among distal, proximal cognitive skills, and word reading; and (b) to identify those cognitive processes that predict phonological awareness and rapid naming. Seventy First-Nation Canadian children attending grades 3 and 4 were examined on phonological awareness, rapid naming, Word Identification, Word Attack, and the cognitive processing measures of planning, attention, successive, and simultaneous (PASS). Results indicated that phonological awareness and rapid naming uniquely predicted reading, whereas PASS variables did not, when the effects of phonological awareness and rapid naming were controlled. Finally, both phonological awareness and rapid naming were predicted by planning. Implications for diagnosis of children at risk for reading difficulties and remediation are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Urban Schools; Intervention; Science Achievement; Achievement Gains; Program Effectiveness; Grade 5; Grade 4; Faculty Development; Teaching Methods; Student Diversity; Workshops; Teacher Improvement; Teacher Attitudes; Science Instruction; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary School Students; Grade 3; Pretests Posttests; Teacher Influence; High Risk Students; Minority Groups; English (Second Language); Elementary School Science; Literacy; Cultural Influences

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. (Contains 10 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Language Usage; Dramatic Play; Preschool Children; Speech Language Pathology; Preschool Teachers; Teaching Methods; At Risk Persons; High Risk Students

Abstract:
Purpose: This study examined preschool teachers' fidelity to the language-focused curriculum (LFC; B. Bunce, 1995), a comprehensive classroom curriculum designed to improve at-risk children's language outcomes through targeted improvements to a classroom's activity contexts (e.g., dramatic play, art, storybook reading) and instructional processes (e.g., teacher use of open-ended questions, recasts, and expansions). Specific aims included to (a) examine program differentiation by determining how measures of activity contexts and instructional processes differentiated treatment and comparison teachers, (b) determine treatment teachers' adherence to both activity contexts and instructional processes over an entire academic year, and (c) determine treatment teachers' reported quality of program delivery and comfort with curriculum implementation. Method: Fourteen preschool teachers were randomly assigned to implement the LFC or to maintain their prevailing curriculum. Fidelity was measured 3 times over an academic year using a curriculum fidelity checklist. Results: LFC teachers exhibited fidelity to activity contexts more readily than to instructional processes. Teacher use of language-focused instructional processes was relatively low even after a year of LFC implementation. Conclusion: This study supports the need for speech-language pathologists to work closely with preschool educators to implement the activity contexts and instructional processes associated with high-quality preschool language-learning environments. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Leisure Time; Parent Participation; Family Involvement; Parenting Styles; Adolescents; Measures (Individuals); Foreign Countries; Comparative Analysis; Dropouts; High Risk Students; Questionnaires; Parent Attitudes; Parent Aspiration; Academic Achievement; Parent Teacher Cooperation; Statistical Significance; Family School Relationship; Family Environment

Abstract:
This paper focuses on family involvement in the education of teenagers at risk of dropping out from compulsory secondary school. A questionnaire was completed by 131 Spanish and Cypriot families with children at six schools--three in each country. The questionnaire investigated: (1) parental perceptions of their children's activities in their free time; (2) academic expectations for their children; (3) parental concern regarding their children's education; and (4) parent-teacher interactions. Descriptive measures and t-test comparative analyses between Spain and Cyprus were undertaken. Results show that these families have an encouraging attitude towards their teenagers. Nonetheless, significant statistical differences between Spanish and Cypriot parents suggest that the Spanish families have a more protective parenting style than the Cypriot families. The study points to the lack of support for these families as regards advice and stimulation for their children at home, and to the need to promote school-family partnerships. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Inclusive Schools; Friendship; Comparative Analysis; Special Needs Students; Mainstreaming; Interpersonal Relationship; Social Status; Peer Relationship; Disproportionate Representation; High Risk Students; Student Experience; Teacher Characteristics; Classroom Environment; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
Inclusive education places much value on implementing the conditions that foster good relationships between students. Research has shown that pupils with special needs can have difficulty in building relationships with peers without special needs. This study describes their social position in regular education. It applies different indexes for social position and compares these with each other and with other judgments of the social position of pupils with special needs. The analyses show that pupils with special needs are less popular, have fewer friendships and participate less often as members of a subgroup. Compared with their peers, pupils with special needs are over-represented in these at-risk categories by a factor of two to three. Teachers have a more positive view on the relationships in the group and the number of friendships pupils with special needs have. Also pupils' own subjective experiences are more positive. The results of the present study stress that physical inclusion only is a very basic condition, that becoming part of the group is not an automatism and that especially pupils with special needs may need extra support in participating in the group. (Contains 9 tables, 1 figure, and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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