At the present time reforms called for in mathematics education involve substantial changes in classroom activities from memorizing formulas and procedures to debating, questioning, and justifying claims about concepts (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989; 1991). However, most inservice programs in teacher education are unprepared to help practitioners make this kind of transition. Most instructors feel hampered both by insufficient backgrounds in mathematics and by unfamiliarity with new teaching methods. This study illustrates how women teachers might come to do and know mathematics in ways consistent with proposed reforms. It explores four practitioners' old and new perspectives on learning mathematics and their performance on a specific task (writing word problems on fractions). All of these instructors had previously attended SummerMath for Teachers, an inservice teacher education program designed to provoke teacher change by having them work on conceptually-challenging problems like the one in this study. The investigation utilized qualitative, case-study methods and its findings were interpreted through the lens of an epistemological framework to describe more fully factors promoting intellectual development in women. The participants demonstrated that they now recognized the relevance of mathematics to their lives and sought to construct meaningful connections among its principles and concepts. They used diagrams as a means for uncovering and sorting out mathematical relations, thought about content in terms of their students' learning and redefined their commitments as learners and teachers of mathematics in the context of other serious and important responsibilities.

During the past two decades there has been a dramatic increase in adult women's participation in higher education. Women re-entering college face a number of obstacles, including both psychological barriers and practical problems to be solved. Many researchers, educators, and administrators have attempted to design and conduct programs to assist re-entry women in making this transition with varying degrees of success. Although there is a substantial body of literature on factors affecting academic achievement, including motivation and locus of control, little work has been done on the relationship between self-esteem and academic success in the non-traditional, re-entry woman. Research concerning self-esteem and academic performance has focused largely on populations such as traditional aged college students, school children of various ages and minority groups, handicapped students, or comparative groups of male and female students. In this study, ten non-traditional women students entering a re-entry program at Quinsigamond Community College were examined. The subjects had approximately the same English and math placement scores, and similar backgrounds and life situations. Through examination and analysis of self-esteem inventory results, in-depth interviews, and academic transcripts, the study examined the correlation between their perceived sense of self and their academic achievement, irrespective of their academic ability. Self-esteem did not appear to be the issue in predicting academic success for these women. All of the students achieved success academically as indicated by their transcripts; and this is what seemed to determine their increased level of self-esteem. Further, it was the positive environment, feedback, and support, throughout their school careers, from people and from programs such as the Health Certificate, that seemed to make the difference in endurance, motivation, and ability to tough it out when the going got rough. For most of these women, their positive re-entry experiences appear to have raised their levels of self-esteem. In addition, I assessed the impact of the re-entry program on these participants. Every one of the ten re-entry women credited the Health Certificate Program for her success.

No description available.

<p> Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have typically experienced poor outcomes as they have transitioned from school to adult life. Quality school-based transition planning has been found to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities in general. This mixed-methods study was designed to examine the effects of a family- centered transition planning project on the transition Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) of youth with ASD. Thirty-nine youth with ASD and their families were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or control group. Pre- and post-intervention IEPs were collected for each youth. The IEPs were analyzed to determine differences in changes to the quality of both the overall transition IEPs and the integrated employment goals. The IEPs were also compared in an effort to determine if the change in number of IEPs with goals related to integrated employment, postsecondary education, community living and adults services were significantly different for the two groups. To further explore the contextual factors that may have contributed to differences in the effect of the intervention on IEPs, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of four youth from the intervention group, including two who&rsquo;s transition IEPs improved and two who&rsquo;s transition IEPs did not. Both participation in the family-centered intervention and occupational status predicted improvements in the overall quality of IEPs but not in the integrated employment domain. The intervention was not found to be differentially effective for youth with varying levels of parent occupational status, self-determination, or adaptive behavior. Adult services was the only domain in which the intervention group had IEPs that improved significantly more than the control group. Although the intervention had a positive effect on the overall quality of transition IEPs, there were a number of youth in the intervention group with IEPs that did not improve or that improved only minimally. The interviews revealed a number possible contextual factors related to the families&rsquo; experiences with the overall transition process that may have contributed to the differential effectiveness of the intervention. They included the quality of the school/family relationship, the quality of school-based transition services, the flexibility and responsiveness of the school, families&rsquo; perceptions about their ability to affect change, and student membership in the school community. The limitations of this research were identified as well as recommendations for future research.</p>

<p> Growing media attention and a high diagnosis rate of autism places significant demand on the service industry to provide qualified staff to work with individuals who have autism. Discrete trial instruction (DTI) is one of the most sought-after treatment approaches for those individuals. However, there is a gap in research regarding the efficacy of training methods for those who train direct staff to implement DTI. This quantitative study used an applied behavior analysis basis, deriving from foundations of behavior theory, to compare the abbreviated feedback form (AFF) to the lecture test model (LTM) to understand which will improve direct staff's ability to implement DTI more efficiently from baseline. The AFF provided for trainees a list of skills to implement tasks that have multiple steps. The LTM provided trainees a lecture of skills to understand basic applied behavior analysis, autism, and DTI. Four participating staff's baseline and training data were analyzed by comparing their scores to the set criterion from the AFF. The data were analyzed by both the program supervisor and the researcher, with inter-observer agreement reached. Using a single-subject, AB design, data demonstrated that staff who were trained using the AFF had significant improvement from baseline, compared to staff trained using the LTM. Supervisors who use the AFF to more efficiently and rapidly train staff may decrease the time gap between service recommendation and implementation, making needed treatment more readily available and efficacious to children diagnosed with autism. Improvements in staff skill set will likely have a direct correlation on the improvements and long term outcomes for those being treated.</p>

While there exists an extensive research literature that focuses upon literacy development in monolingual, English speaking children, very little research has been conducted regarding the problems encountered by children learning English as an additional language (EAL). Recent political and educational concerns have been the educational under-achievement of minority ethnic children and their underrepresentation in those identified as having specific learning difficulties. This thesis aims to further our understanding of factors underlying literacy development in both monolingual and EAL children to produce evidence to inform policy and practice in addressing these concerns. A three-year longitudinal study is reported together with a series of experimental studies. The longitudinal study examines the developmental pattern of the processes underlying literacy development in children learning EAL and also their monolingual peers. Forty-three children learning EAL and forty-three monolingual (English speaking) children were assessed on a range of cognitive-linguistic measures in School Year 2. Testing was repeated in School Years 3 and 4. The experimental studies explored in more detail the comprehension-related difficulties identified in the EAL children in the first year of the longitudinal study. Given that boys' underachievement in literacy is a general concern in the monolingual population, gender differences within both the monolingual and EAL children are also examined in the longitudinal study. Children learning EAL and their monolingual peers achieved similar levels of success on reading accuracy-related measures and made similar progress over the three years. For the EAL children there was no evidence of gender differences whilst for the monolingual children there were lower scores for the boys. On comprehension-related measures, although both groups of children made a similar level of progress at each point in time, children learning EAL experienced more difficulty than their monolingual peers. Gender differences in comprehension were, in general, not found for either group of children. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications for addressing the educational underachievement of ethnic minority children and the identification of specific learning difficulties in these children.

A educação de tempo integral no Brasil tem estado presente nas formulações de educadores de forma crescente. Várias iniciativas foram tomadas em diferentes momentos da vida pública do país, procurando desenvolver projetos de ensino em tempo integral para as escolas, implantando propostas e modelos. O desenvolvimento histórico e atual da escola de tempo integral é marcado por vários programas, projetos e experiências em diversos formatos que são regulamentados por leis e diretrizes norteadoras. Esse estudo teve como finalidade compreender o funcionamento de um estabelecimento de ensino de educação de tempo integral em um município do interior paulista, optando por realizar um estudo qualitativo na modalidade etnográfica, utilizando como instrumentos as observações participantes, entrevistas semiestruturadas e análise documental. Participaram desta pesquisa 15 Professores/Educadores e 17 alunos vinculados ao estabelecimento de ensino de tempo integral do município estudado. Para análise dos dados, as entrevistas foram minuciosamente transcritas, as observações registradas no diário de campo e o Plano Político Pedagógico foi transcrito e organizado. Os resultados obtidos contemplaram a descrição do funcionamento e organização da rotina e das atividades propostas do estabelecimento, possibilitaram ainda a compreensão sob as percepções dos profissionais e alunos frente a Educação de Tempo Integral. O que levou a uma reflexão dos aspectos: físicos e funcionais; da aprendizagem; social e educacional no qual o estabelecimento está agenciado. Revelando ao final que a modalidade de Tempo Integral no estabelecimento estudado, tanto nos aspectos de compreensão como no das execuções curriculares, fundamenta-se no aumento da jornada escolar, com características que forneça o trabalho sobre a visão de conceitos integrais prevista nas diretrizes norteadoras do parâmetro nacional para a modalidade de educação integral, organizando assim as atividades e currículo em um formato formal e informal; compreendendo o período da manhã na oferta de atividades curriculares e no período da tarde, como atividades de complemento, concebidas por extrapedagógicas / The full-time education in Brasil has been present in formulations of the educators increasingly. Many initiatives have been taken at different moments of public life in the country, looking to develop projects of full-time education for school, implementing proposals and models. The historical and actual development of the full-time school is marked by many programs, projects and experiences in various formats than are regulated by laws and guiding guidelines. This study had as purpose to understand the operation of a full-time education establishment in a city in the state of São Paulo, opting to accomplish a qualitative study in the ethnographic modality, using as tools the participant observations, half-structured interviews and documental analysis. In this research, participated 15 professors/educators and 17 students bound to the full-time education establishment of the country studied. For data analysis, the interviews were meticulously transcribed, the observations registered in the diary field and the Pedagogic Political Plan was transcribed and organized. The results obtained complemented the functional description and organization of the routine and activities of the establishment, made possible the understanding under the perceptions of the professionals and students about full-time education. That led to a reflection about aspects physics and functional; of the learning; social and educational in which the establishment is acted. Reveling in the end that the full-time modality in establishment studied, both in the aspects to understand and in the curricular executions, it is based on increasing of the school day hours with characteristics that provide the work on the vision of integral concepts foreseen in the guiding guidelines of the national standard to modality of the integral education, organizing the activities and curriculum in a formal and informal format; understanding the morning period as offers the curricular activities and the afternoon period as offers additional activities, entitle as extra pedagogics

Volume 1 comprises five papers, an Introductory Chapter, Papers One and Two which are the main papers in the Volume, a Concluding Chapter and an Appendix Chapter. The Introductory Chapter provides an overview of the overall research enterprise, inclusive of factors influencing the choice of work undertaken and how the research project brief was negotiated with key research partners. Reference is also made to the organisation and general style of in which both of main papers are written. Presenting work within a genre appropriate for the intended target audience is part of the university criteria for Volume 1. Paper One presents an 8000 word Critical Literature Review of the focus area of the research, namely, 'engagement mentoring for marginalised youth'. The purpose of the Review was to inform the research design of the study that followed. The primary research activity undertaken came to be conceptualised as 'Development and Research' (D & R) rather than 'research per se'. Paper Two presents the D & R project which involved two local children's service providers devising and developing a community-based engagement mentoring project through Realistic Evaluation (Pawson and Tilley, 1997) for young children identified as 'at-risk' of offending behaviour. Work was carried out in the Kingstanding area of Birmingham, which might be described as a socially disadvantaged / economically deprived suburb of the city. The Concluding Chapter suggests how engagement mentoring as an intervention might be further developed. Finally, the Appendix Chapter provides a fuller methodological critique of the empirical study, inclusive of the context in which the research was undertaken.

The moving image has been a tool of education as well as a means of entertainment for over 100 years. Whilst there are many videos marketed either for, or about autism, there has been little or no research into the responses of autistic people to the medium, particularly from the participatory and emancipatory paradigm of qualitative research. This thesis examines the responses of a group of adult autistics compared with non-autistic adults, taking as a starting point the variety of psychological theories purporting to explain autistic differences in cognition and learning style. The study was of particular value in revealing the unique insights of the autistic participants and concluded that there appear to be autistic strengths that suggest that autistic people engage particularly well with the medium provided it is presented in an appropriate format. The thesis can be seen to operate at two levels. Firstly the academic consideration of the responses of a group of autistic and some non-autistic participants to visually mediated material, and secondly it is an exploration of the insider relationship of the researcher within a discourse traditionally constructed from the outside. There is an experiental and emancipatory exploration of the themes highlighted by Tregaskis (2004) in his paper on identity, positionality and power which examines the issues for Disabled Researchers. The study has revealed some interesting insights into autistic people's culture and concludes that there is scope for much more research into this topic and questions whether the ethics of autism research need reconsideration.

Today, increasing numbers of children and young people (CYPs) live with chronic health conditions. A fact reflected in recent UK legislation which highlights the necessity of supporting these CYPs to fully access education. This study explores the experiences and perspectives of children and young people with chronic conditions (CYPCCs) regarding hospitalisation and hospital school. A narrative methodology was selected to explore the experiences of five hospitalised CYPCCs (aged 12 to 16 years) in addition to the meanings they ascribed to these experiences. Findings contribute important insights into CYPCCs' experiences of hospitalisation in relation to the following family, personal growth, health-related identity, relationships, coping, unpredictability and uncertainty and medical intervention and physical pain. This research makes a unique contribution to the field, in relation to the substantive topic (how CYPCCs perceive educational experiences in hospital settings) and the original application of a narrative research methodology. I argue the necessity for professionals to recognise CYPCCs as a potentially vulnerable group. Ethical issues concerning access to hospitalised CYPCCs for research purposes are highlighted and the value of narrative research with CYPs is endorsed. Implications for professional practice and research are discussed which seek to improve the educational opportunities, experiences and outcomes for CYPCCs.