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Eric.ed.gov – Alternate Explanations for Learning Disabled, Emotionally Disturbed, and Educable Mentally Retarded Students’ Math Achievement. Research Report No. 11. Instructional Alternatives Project.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The study investigated alternative explanations for differences in mathematics achievement between pairs of handicapped students exhibiting comparable amounts of academic engaged time. Forty-two students in grades 2-4 from urban and suburban districts participated; 14 students were classified as learning disabled, 14 as emotionally or behaviorally disturbed, and 14 as educable mentally retarded. Explanations investigated were student demographics, cognitive functioning, home and family factors, teacher stress, student cognitions (including cognitive style), student motivation, behavior, and conditions in the learning environment. Of all factors investigated, only cognitive ability served as a consistent explanation for differences in math achievement for students matched on academic engaged time. Creating composite variables (specifically attitude modeling by significant others, stress/chaos in the child’s environment, and home-school cooperation) was not helpful in explaining math achievement… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Getting Ready for Kindergarten: Children’s Progress during Head Start. FACES 2009 Report. OPRE Report 2013-21a

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief report focusing on children’ s kindergarten readiness i s the third in a series of reports describing data from the 2009 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009). Previous FACES 2009 reports described the characteristics of children and their families and programs as they entered Head Start in fall 2009 ( Hulsey et al. 2011) and, in spring 2010, at the end of one year in the program (Moiduddin et al. 2012). This brief report describes the family backgrounds and developmental outcomes of children as they completed the Head Start program and also describes progress in children’s outcomes between Head Start entry and exit. It focuses on the population of children who entered Head Start for the first time in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Ethnic Differences in Early Math Learning: A Comparison of Chinese-American and Caucasian-American Families.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study compared Chinese-American and Caucasian-American children and families in order to better understand which cultural and family characteristics, parent beliefs, and parent practices operate at the early childhood level to produce the more uniform high level of math achievement among Asian-American children. Forty second-generation Chinese-American and 40 Caucasian-American preschoolers and kindergartners from well-educated, 2-parent families were given math, name writing, visual discrimination, spatial relation, and vocabulary measures. Parents completed questionnaires, interviews, and a social behaviors checklist. The study found that Chinese-American children outperformed Caucasian-American children on measures of mathematics, spatial relations, visual discrimination, numeral formation, and name writing. Caucasian-American children had higher scores on receptive English vocabulary. Chinese-American parents indicated a stronger belief in the role of hard work and early skill development in academic achievement,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Putting Math Into Family Life: What’s Possible for Working Parents?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A set of parent-child math activities designed to help busy, working parents do math with their children as part of everyday situations such as cleaning up and making dinner included basic steps, variations, and information on working with children were developed for families with elementary grades children aged approximately 5 to 11 and distributed at a variety of workplaces to groups of parents who had differing occupations, education levels, ethnicity, and family structures. The activities had titles such as How Much is on the Floor?, How Much Longer?, What’s Fair?, How Much Do We Save?, Wish List, and Number of the Day. Seven parents were interviewed 2-4 weeks after they had completed the activities with their children and the ways in which they used and adapted the… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Finding “Mathematics”: Parents Questioning School-Centered Approaches to Involvement in Children’s Mathematics Learning

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper reports on a study of parental involvement in children’s mathematics learning in the context of a series of workshops carried out in four primary schools in the United Kingdom. Previous research suggests that, while there are high correlations between parental involvement and positive student outcomes, it can be difficult to raise student achievement via parental involvement interventions. We suggest that part of the reason for this, at least in relation to mathematics, is that parents experience considerable difficulties in negotiating school-centered definitions of and approaches to mathematics. We employed a design and analytic approach informed by Derridean concepts including decentering and différance. We encouraged parents to work with their children to “find the math” in everyday life and activity. A significant component of the discussion… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Partnering with Parents: Using Cap Kits to Support Learning Activities at Home

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The idea of using plastic bottle caps to enhance children’s literacy and math skills was introduced in a pre-kindergarten methods and field class at West Chester University. We wanted an essentially cost-free way to create fun, hands-on, educational games for young students to learn basic skills supporting the Common Core State Standards (adopted by 45 states, www.corestandards.org/in-the-states). University education students began bringing plastic bottle caps, packaging them into kits, and taking them into local schools to help children learn. We have now not only formalized the Cap Kits program, but we have also conducted dozens of teacher trainings and parent workshops and have given away thousands of Cap Kits. By placing these materials into the hands of children, we are giving them manipulatives that can be used… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Centrality of Positive Emotions in the Field of Mathematics

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Mathematics has been perceived as a discipline centered on intellectuality. However, recent studies have found interaction between a variety of emotions and the quality of learning. This qualitative study focused on the characteristics of those who are willing to cope with mathematical challenges and on the emotions evoked by these challenges, and sought to evaluate the potential role of positive emotions in this context. The research was conducted among participants in the Israel International Math Competition for Girls (IIMCG). The participants were 12 of the top finalist competitors in the previous competitions. Research instruments included an in-depth interview and a Math Emotions Measuring Instrument (MEMI), measuring the emotions expressed while coping with the mathematical challenges. Major results indicated the intensity of positive emotions. The positivity ratio was… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – New Directions for Educational Media

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This 2-page brief presents 8 new directions drawn from the authors’ report “Reflections on the Ready To Learn Initiative, 2010 to 2015” that educational media producers can take to better foster all children’s school readiness and success. Since 2006, EDC and SRI have worked together on a series of efficacy studies and evaluations of Ready To Learn resources. Our research has found that digital media and technology can help families and teachers enhance the math and literacy learning of young children in low-income households. The “Reflections on the Ready To Learn Initiative” report and this 2-page brief are based on the authors’ interviews with 26 children’s media researchers, producers, and thought leaders. [For “Reflections on the Ready To Learn Initiative, 2010 to 2015,” see ED567881.] Link til… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Science at Home: Parents’ Need for Support to Implement Video-Based Online Science Club with Young Children

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Homes have remarkable possibilities to act as science learning environments for young children (3 – 6 years old). This qualitative case study investigated what kind of support parents need to do online science activities with their children at home. Data consisted of parent’s theme interviews (n=7). As a main result, a model of parents’ need for support was produced. The model contains three dimensions: 1) the affective dimension, 2) the knowledge and skills dimension and 3) the organizational dimension. Parents’ own affective experiences, organization of the experiments and finding time to do experiments are important factors to consider, when looking at parents’ willingness to engage in science activities with their children. The parents might not necessarily be content with only the child’s interest in experimenting as a… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – How Classroom Assessment Affects Science and Mathematics Achievement?: Findings from TIMSS 2015

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of classroom assessment on science and mathematics achievements. For this purpose, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is performed using variables of like learning science/maths, engage teaching in science/maths, confidence in science/maths, and home resources for learning variables at the student level, and experience, education level, homework, and assessment at the teacher level. The sample of the study consists of 4th grade students who participated in TIMSS 2015 in Turkey. According to the findings; 36% of variance in science achievement, and 40% of variance in mathematics achievement are due to variability between classes. In a random coefficient model, all student variables were found to be statistically significant predictors of science and mathematics achievement. Among these variables, the greatest effect… Continue Reading