Grade Classrooms Research Articles

Adaptive instruction in an inquiry-based mathematics and digitally rich classroom – multiple perspectives

The aim of this special issue is to illuminate the issue of adaptive instruction in a secondary school classroom, in which mathematics teaching is pursued through an inquiry-based approach. The data that the authors were asked to comment upon was presented in the form of a video recording, filmed in a 9th grade classroom in 2017. The video clip was shared between scholars, who were invited to a three-day seminar in Tel Aviv in January 2020 to share their ideas about adaptive instruction from different prespectives. In this special issue, different research questions, theoretical approaches, and methodological lenses are used to focus on didactic, cognitive, semiotic, and argumentative features of classroom episodes. We discuss the insights provided by each of these different treatments, identify the commonalities and dissimilarities of the different approaches, and bring out the specific contribution of each towards understanding adaptive instruction in the context of inquiry-based mathematics.

Investigating Teachers Grading Perceptions, Current Grading Habits and Their Views Towards Classroom Assessment Grading Practice

This study empirically investigated teachers' perceptions, current assessment grading practices, and views towards classroom assessment grading practice. The study randomly sampled 204 teachers and utilized three questionnaires for data collection. Cronbach Alpha Coefficient established the reliability of the various questionnaires. Frequency counts and percentages were used to answer the study research questions, while Pearson correlation was employed to test the study hypotheses. The study found that teachers do not positively perceive assessment grading practice, included non-achievement factors when grading students' assessments and used subjective knowledge when grading assessments. However, teachers viewed the assessment grading practice as an essential tool for quantification of students learning. Subsequently, significance difference was found between teachers' experience and teachers' perception towards assessment grading practice and views on the classroom importance of assessment grading practice. Nonetheless, no significant difference was found between teachers experience and teachers' current classroom grading habits.

Evaluation of the Good Behavior Game Using ClassDojo in Secondary Classrooms

Effective classroom management skills are critical in supporting students’ academic, social, and behavior development in schools. However, teachers often report support with classroom management as their greatest need. Given this concern, effective and efficient strategies are needed for teachers and school staff dealing with classwide behavioral difficulties. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of the Good Behavior Game utilizing ClassDojo on classwide academically engaged and disruptive behavior. A withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on the behavior of students in four seventh and eighth grade classrooms. Measures of teacher perception of social validity and student perception of acceptability were also obtained. Overall, results indicated the intervention procedures were effective at increasing student academic engagement across four secondary classrooms, were considered socially valid by participating teachers, and were acceptable to secondary students. Impact Statement Few studies have evaluated class wide interventions in secondary settings, despite a clear need for such supports. The current study found the Good Behavior Game to be effective when implemented with ClassDojo, with procedures found to be socially valid by teachers and students.

Enacting a Permeable Curriculum: Language Inquiry with Popular Music

AbstractIn this teaching tip, I describe how students in my second grade classroom and I developed a curricular structure called Monday Music that involved reading, singing, the study of grammar conventions in the English language, and critical conversations about popular music. Drawing on Dyson's conceptualization of the permeable curriculum, I offer suggestions for teachers who are interested in getting to know more about their students' interests and experiences out of school and are seeking ways to amplify those interests and experiences in the classroom in meaningful ways.

Applying Peer Tutoring to Spelling with Elementary-Aged Students

Peer tutoring methods were implemented in a 2nd grade classroom using an alternating treatments design with a baseline. In the baseline phase, 18 participants spelled words they had not yet learned. During the treatment phase, teacher-led spelling instruction was alternated each week with peer tutoring for spelling. Peer tutoring for spelling was applied through two activities targeting accuracy and fluency. Both teacher-led instruction and peer tutoring for spelling resulted in greater improvement from the weekly pretest to posttest in both words spelled correctly and correct letter sequences than baseline. Peer tutoring for spelling led to greater improvements in performance and was more acceptable to students. This study expanded on the limited literature on evidence-based practices for spelling instruction and supports previous findings that explicit spelling instruction yields greater spelling performance than no spelling instruction.

IPads in First Grade Classrooms: Teachers’ Intentions and the Realities of Use

Technology use in elementary school classrooms is growing in frequency as school districts adopt higher rates of technology ownership per student. With increased access, it is critical to examine both teachers’ intentions and the actual use of technology in their classroom environment. This qualitative study uses interviews to examine teachers’ intentions toward iPad use in 1st grade classrooms (students aged 6 to 7 years old) in the United States paired with classroom observations to document how the iPads are used within teachers’ teaching practices with students. Data from this study documents teachers’ clear and consistent intentions for iPad use in their classroom to support their pedagogical goals of differentiation and providing more small group instruction. However, classroom observations document both opportunities and challenges of use including increased time and effort spent managing the devices and student behavior. The results provide detailed descriptive data of the realities of iPad use in 1st grade classrooms and document that technology use in classrooms is a complex and multifaceted experience for both students and teachers.

Teachers’ Management of Peer Relations: Associations with Fifth Grade Classroom Peer Ecologies

We investigated the associations between students’ perceptions of their teachers’ management of peer relations (TMPR) and two facets of the peer ecology: perceptions of peer support and the behaviors of popular peers (responsibility and rebelliousness). Participants were 1,031 fifth graders nested within 50 elementary school classrooms. Early adolescents in our sample were majority White and varied in socioeconomic status. A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that TMPR was a unique component of adolescents’ classroom context. Multilevel modeling indicated that TMPR is positively associated with supportive peer interactions and perceptions that responsible peers are popular. Additionally, TMPR was associated with weaker endorsements that rebellious peers are popular. Findings underscore the importance of teacher practices that are attentive to peer relationships as well as the promise of developing intervention efforts in this area.

Development of a Community-Driven Mosquito Surveillance Program for Vectors of La Crosse Virus to Educate, Inform, and Empower a Community.

The fields of entomology, geospatial science, and science communication are understaffed in many areas, resulting in poor community awareness and heightened risks of vector-borne diseases. This is especially true in East Tennessee, where La Crosse encephalitis (LACE) causes pediatric illness each year. In response to these problems, we created a community engagement program that includes a yearlong academy for secondary STEM educators in the 6-12 grade classroom. The objectives of this program were to support inquiry-driven classroom learning to foster student interest in STEM fields, produce community-driven mosquito surveillance, and enhance community awareness of LACE. We trained educators in medical entomology, geospatial science, and science communication, and they incorporated those skills into lesson plans for a mosquito oviposition experiment that tested hypotheses developed in the classroom. Here, we share results from the first two years of the MEGA:BITESS academy, tailored for our community by having students ask questions directly related to Aedes mosquito oviposition biology and La Crosse encephalitis. In year one, we recruited 17 educators to participate in the project, and 15 of those educators returned in year two. All participating educators completed the academy, conducted the oviposition experiment, and informed over 400 students about a variety of careers and disciplines for their students. Here, we present a community-based program that helps to address the problems associated with long-term mosquito surveillance, health and science education and communication, career opportunities, and the community needs of Appalachia, as well as the initial data on the effectiveness of two years of an educator-targeted professional-development program.

Business-as-usual reading instruction in 2nd grade: teacher centered and rarely evidence-based

The goal of the current study was to gain insight into what elements encompass business-as-usual (BAU) reading instruction and to what extent BAU reading instruction includes elements that have been found to positively impact reading competence. In addition, we examined whether and how these evidence-based elements are incorporated and how they cluster. In total, in 52 2nd grade classrooms from 30 schools, reading instruction was systematically observed by a trained student assistant. In 24 of these classrooms, a second co-observer rated the lesson to assess inter-rater reliability. In addition, teachers were asked about content-related aspects of their reading instruction using a questionnaire. The observations showed that BAU reading instruction was predominantly teacher centered and characterized by many phases in which students worked independently. Evidence-based elements of reading instruction were rarely observed. Further, teachers rated their instruction as more differentiated than did observers. Our cluster analysis of evidence-based elements of reading instruction revealed that in BAU reading instruction, various aspects of strategy instruction are primarily implemented together.

Comparison the effectiveness of compassion and acceptance and commitment training (act) on psychological well-being

Aim: The aim of the present study is comparison the effectiveness of compassion and acceptance and commitment rtraining (act) on psychological well-being. Method: This study was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with control group. Research population consisted of 11th grade students in four districts of Mashhad in 2021-22 academic years. From schools that had at least 4 classrooms of 11th grade, one school were selected by cluster sampling. After visiting that school, three classes were randomly selected and divided lnto three equal groups.the experimental groups recieved 8 sessions of 90 minutes separately, with methods of the compassion and aecep tance and cammi tment - based training (act) and the control group didnot receive training.Research tools was pschological well-being scale (Ryff,1989). Data were analyzed with univaiate analysis of variance, with repeated measures and Bonferroni hoc methods using SPSS-25. Results: Results indicated the effectiveness of both methods, compassion and acceptance and commitment training (act), in increasing psychological well-being was (P˂0/001). Also was no significant difference between methods in increasing pschological well-being (P > 0/05). Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, to increase pschological well-being for students,methods of compassion and acceptance and commitment training can be used.

The Acute Effects of Actively Play on the ExecutiveFunctions of Thai Children

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a single active play intervention on the executive functions in children. Methods: A quasi-experimental design. Children from two classrooms in the 5th grade were randomly selected. Children in one classroom (n=30) were assigned to an active playgroup, while those from another class (n=30) were assigned to a control group. We tested two components of executive functions (i.e., working memory [the Trails Making Test (TMT)] and inhibitory control [the Stoop Color-Word Test (SCWT)]) at pre-and post-intervention times. Results: There was a significant interaction effect of an active play by time for the TMT and SCWT (p < 0.01). At post-test, children in the active playgroup had better TMT and SCWT scores than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Compared to the pre-test, children in the active playgroup had better TMT and SCWT cores on the post-test (p<0.01), while children in the control group had better TMT1 and SCWT2 scores in the post-test (all p<0.05). Conclusion: Given the improved working memory and inhibitory control, the active play seems to be an effective intervention, even in a single bout.

"Ella es" Trabajando la convivencia y la igualdad. Una experiencia de aula Aprendizaje- Servicio

For any teacher it is a satisfaction and a happiness to get his students to teach him, because this is only the result that the teaching-learning process is a reality, it has been carried out in a proper way and the proposed objectives were achieved. The experience is located in the second quarter of the academic year 2021/2022 and starts in a sixth grade classroom with a ratio of 26 students in the Colegio Nuestra Señora de Lourdes and more specifically, in the neighborhood of Puntales-Cádiz. ELLA ES" was proposed as a Service Learning Project and its final product was the exhibition of the work, which was done cooperatively by the entire educational community, in the Neighborhood Association San Lorenzo del Puntal. It was there from March 7 to 14 and could be visited freely every afternoon from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm. The exhibition was a success and the students, totally motivated, learned and were enriched boto personally and as a group.

Traditional Ewe Folktale: A behaviour modification strategy in the Early Grade Education classrooms in Ghana.

Purpose: Behaviour modification is considered a task of the home and the school. It is the duty of the school to nib in the bud any negative behaviour children pick from the home environment at the early grade level. This paper explores the impact and usefulness of messages from Traditional Ewe Folktales hereafter (TEF) in the training of early grade children in Ghana. 
 Methodology: This paper is a qualitative research. Primary data was collected from four separate storytelling sessions in home and school settings. Six stories were narrated in the home setting by two old ladies under moonlight for fifteen children each from a rural setting. In the school setting, one story each was narrated by two teachers in two different schools. Storytelling periods on the school time table was used. Three stories were considered for analysis; Two and one story each were randomly selected from the home and school settings respectively.
 Results: It was found that educational values are imbedded in TEF. The educational values include the values of the society such as honesty, hard work, teamwork, patriotism and turn taking. Regular and purposeful use of these stories has the propensity of modifying behaviour. The paper concluded that when these educational values are tapped and developed through appropriate exemplars in the enactment of the school curriculum, behaviour modifications would occur with sustainability. The use of teaching strategies like role play, dramatization and songs can drive the behaviour modification. The paper recommended that TEF should be included in early grade classroom activities as a teaching strategy but not a means of whiling time. Parents should support teachers to gain more knowledge of TEF for classroom practices. The school base in-service training should be revived to equip teachers with knowledge of TEF and its application in the classroom.

Translanguaging Pedagogy as an Enactment of Authentic Cariño and an Antidote to Subtractive Schooling


 
 
 This article explores translanguaging pedagogy through the lens of the politics of caring, subtractive schooling, and authentic cariño (composed of intellectual, familial, and critical cariño). We begin with a broad overview of translanguaging and situate it in the theoretical frameworks of the politics of caring, subtractive schooling, and authentic cariño. We ground our approach in the notion that educators must hold heteroglossic language ideologies. We draw upon examples from literacy instruction in bilingual and ESL fourth grade classrooms to argue that translanguaging pedagogy can be seen as an enactment of intellectual, familial, and critical cariño. We conclude with a call for teacher educators to consider enacting authentic cariño and translanguaging pedagogy in their university classrooms by making space for bi/multilingual pre-service teachers to use their full linguistic repertoires. In this way translanguaging pedagogy, politically aware authentic caring, and authentic cariño can be viewed as part of a broader program of preparing teachers to value authentic ways of bilingual languaging and biliteracy development.
 
 

Teacher embodiment of culturally responsive pedagogies in a fifth grade classroom

Schools need better roadmaps for accomplishing culturally responsive pedagogy and intercultural education. In this article, I feature the culturally responsive practices of a Black teacher situated in an elementary classroom in the U.S. Her practices contribute to a roadmap for enacting culturally responsive pedagogy that incorporates small group instruction and cooperative learning. I also contend that queries investigating pedagogies affirming minoritized students must consider the primary actors charged to implement such work. In addition to her pedagogical practices, I include data that elucidate how the teacher’s racial biography is explicitly tied to the culturally responsive work she engages in the classroom. I conclude with considerations for how this case study might offer educators, researchers, and policymakers’ ideas for deep integration of intercultural education.

Taking a “Whole” Classroom Perspective: Theorizing Classroom Typologies Using a Video-Based Observational Protocol

Inspired by a “whole child” framing, the current study takes a “whole classroom” perspective to consider classroom practice. Study aims included: (1) presenting a systematic video-based observational coding strategy to concurrently consider practice domains that have implications for learning—cognitive instruction, classroom management, and teacher–student relational interactions; (2) identifying distinct and interrelated classroom typologies based upon this coding strategy. The framework was developed through coding and analysis of 58 purposively sampled urban 4th–9th grade classrooms from the Measures of Effective Teaching study. Analyses revealed three overarching typologies: task-focused (52%), low stimulation (43%), and optimal (5%). We conclude by discussing implications for urban education.

Identifying trans and non-binary youth in population-based school health surveys in western Canada

Abstract Background Most research about gender-diverse adolescents is with clinical samples, skewing population estimates of health and risk. With trans youth estimated at around 0.5% of the population and no reliable measures, school health surveys have not asked gender diversity items. In 2018, the British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (BCAHS) in Canada trialled measures to differentiate cisgender, trans, and non-binary youth, to capture a representative picture of health for gender-diverse young people. Methods The 2018 BCAHS is a stratified random survey of 2,175 classrooms of grades 7-12 (ages 12-19) in 58/60 school districts province-wide (N = 38,015). Two measures asked about sex assigned at birth and current gender identity, combined to identify cisgender boys and girls, trans boys, trans girls, non-binary and questioning youth. We examined patterns of missingness by demographics. Results Overall, nearly 99% of youth responded to both items, with very low missing (0.5% for sex, 0.8% gender identity) with no differences by school or district, or by age. Missing responses were higher among international students and English language learners but still low (1.1%). Youth living in foster care or with a disability or chronic condition also had higher odds of skipping both items, but the highest missing was only 3.7% among youth with FASD. Overall, 48.9% identified as cis girls, 48.6% as cis boys, 0.13% as trans girls, 0.33% trans boys, 0.75% non-binary, and 1.28% as not sure (479 trans/non-binary, and 484 unsure). Preliminary analyses show positive assets also support gender diverse youth well-being. Conclusions A two-step measure of gender identity is feasible for adolescents as young as 12 years old in large scale school surveys, with very low missing responses in western Canada. Although <1% identified as trans, in large samples stable estimates for population comparisons are possible. Future studies should pilot gender identity measures in other nations/languages.

A study of EFL teachers\u2019 classroom grading practices in secondary schools and private institutes: a mixed methods approach

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study aimed at exploring the grading decision-making of Iranian English language teachers in terms of the factors used when assigning grades and the rationales behind using those factors. In the preliminary quantitative phase, a questionnaire was issued to 300 secondary school and private institute EFL teachers. Quantitative data analyses showed that teachers attached the most weight to nonachievement factors such as effort, improvement, ability, and participation when determining grades. Next, follow-up interviews were conducted with 30 teachers from the initial sample. The analyses of interview data revealed that teachers assigned hodgepodge grades on five major grounds of learning encouragement, motivation enhancement, lack of specific grading criteria, pressure from stakeholders, and flexibility in grading. Data integration indicated that teacher grading decision-making was influenced by both internal and external factors, with adverse consequences for grading validity. Eliciting explanations for the use of specific grading criteria from the same teachers who utilized those criteria in their grading in a single study added to the novelty of this research. Implications for grade interpretation and use, accountability in classroom assessment, and teachers’ professional development are discussed.

Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge about the Potential of Tasks to Promote Students’ Mathematical Reasoning

The use of tasks to promote mathematical reasoning (MR) in teaching practice is essential to meet curricular goals. However, that practice is often a huge challenge for teachers, and particularly for prospective teachers and thus it is essential to highlight it as a goal for initial teacher education. This study focuses on preservice mathematics teachers’ (PTs) knowledge about the potential of mathematical tasks to promote students’ MR, in a teacher education course. Results show that PTs were able to justify their option for a mathematical task with potential to promote students’ MR, and through its implementation in one 8th grade classroom they have deepen their knowledge and gave greater meaning to task design principles and acknowledging their students’ knowledge. Thus, the activity of selecting and adapting a task, although less demanding than the design of a new task, can still provide PT with important reflection and knowledge about its potential to promote students’ MR. The study stresses the relevance for initial teacher education of considering four domains associated with the recognition of the potential of tasks to promote MR.

Project Recuerdo: Honoring Latinx Families’ Knowledge Within the School

AbstractThe authors describe a culturally sustaining bilingual family engagement project that draws upon Latinx families’ experiential and cultural wealth and integrates that knowledge within the literacy curriculum of a bilingual fourth grade classroom. Through the use of monthly writing prompts, Project Recuerdo, engages families in sharing stories that demonstrate cultural, linguistic, and historical knowledge with the child, teacher, and wider community. This form of family engagement counters deficit orientations towards diverse families, especially Mexican American families, as problems to fix, and instead honors the wealth of knowledge families have and integrates it within the curriculum. Through the analysis of the bilingual journal entries, related classroom artifacts, and family focal groups, the authors validate the importance of learning with and from diverse families; and detail the process for planning the implementation of the family project. Authors provide suggestions for teacher self‐reflection and possible writing prompts to engage families.