Separate Classrooms Research Articles

Examining the Validity of an Observational Tool of Classroom Support for Children’s Engagement in Learning

AbstractHigh-quality early childhood education provides children with opportunities for engaged learning. Yet there are currently no classroom-level measures that focus specifically on how teachers support engagement in the classroom, a key underlying dimension of playful learning. We introduce the Playful Learning Across the Years (PLAY) observational tool, a new tool designed to assess support for engaged learning in early childhood classrooms. Using data from videos of Ghanaian preprimary classrooms (N = 420) coded using the tool, we conduct factor analysis to assess the underlying domains of engaged learning opportunities at the classroom-level and find three domains representing support for exploration, social connectedness, and positive emotional climate. We then examine if these domains are sensitive to impacts of a teacher professional development program and find that the program had large impacts on all three domains (d = 0.55–1.01). Finally, we explore concurrent validity of the tool using classroom process quality scores from a separate classroom observational tool and teacher characteristics and find some evidence from each. This study aims to systematically operationalize opportunities for engaged learning at the classroom-level in an under-studied context, with implications for measuring quality and promoting children’s school readiness in early educational settings globally.

Brick classroom & Block classroom: preschoolers’ spatial and architectural design skills during constructive play

ABSTRACT Constructive play, where children manipulate materials to create and build something, is a prevalent form of play in preschool settings. Children can greatly benefit from engaging in constructive play, specifically by developing spatial and architectural skills. Therefore, the current study aim was to examine ways preschoolers used spatial and architectural design skills during constructive play. Participants were observed via the Spatial – Geometric – Architectural (SPAGAR) Coding System and included 31 preschool children aged five-year- old with 16 boys (M = 63.06, SD = 2.112) and 15 girls (M = 62.93, SD = 1.907) from two separate classrooms. While children in one classroom (brick classroom) played with plastic snap-together bricks, children in the other classroom (block classroom) played with non-interlocking wood blocks. Findings indicated that children’s construction-based designs varied. Children who played with blocks usually created designs that included line symmetry, patterning, engineering, and trabeated constructions (i.e. using horizontal beams). Whereas children who played with building bricks created designs that commonly included line and plane symmetry. Although, the types of play materials could have influenced children’s design preferences, children in both classrooms were found to engage in constructive play where various spatial and architectural design skills were practiced over the 10-day observation period.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Caregiver-Reported Expressive Language Profiles and Associated Covariates in Individuals with Down Syndrome.

To describe the distribution of expressive language abilities of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in a clinical sample and characterize demographic, environmental, and medical factors associated with varying expressive language profiles. Cross-sectional analysis was completed on a sample of 345 individuals with DS between the ages of 4 and 22 years who were enrolled into a longitudinal clinical database between March 2018 and August 2021. Expressive language-related items on a standardized caregiver-reported questionnaire assessing domains of functioning in neurodevelopmental disorders were used to conduct latent variable modeling and determine caregiver-reported expressive language (CREL) classes across the sample. Linear regression was used to explore associations between CREL classes and predictor variables. Latent variable modeling revealed 3 distinct classes of CREL abilities representing higher, middle, and lower CREL. Individuals in the lower CREL class were more likely to be female, to use sign language or visual communication systems, have reduced pronunciation, attend private or residential school, and to be in a substantially separate classroom. Membership was not predicted by complex medical histories or co-occurring neurodevelopmental diagnoses. Caregiver-reported expressive language abilities in a cohort of individuals with DS were variable, with most of the individuals belonging to higher or middle CREL classes, relative to one another. Additional studies are indicated to understand factors that predict higher expressive language ability and explore how to direct services to individuals who are at risk of more profound language delays.

Teacher Perceptions of the Barriers to Learning for Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Kosovo

Kosovo’s government recognizes that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) have a right to education, yet these children face significant challenges. This project uses teacher perception to identify the barriers to learning for children with SEND, then suggests ways to remove them. Children have the right to be educated in a mainstream school (alongside their peers or in a separate classroom) or in a special school. Using a pragmatic paradigm, questionnaires were distributed at a mainstream primary school (with a separate class for those with SEND) and a special school. A semi-structured interview was also carried-out. This project found that class size, a lack of accurate diagnoses, low attendance rates, poor resourcing, a lack of additional adults, and inadequate teacher training were perceived to be barriers to learning for those with SEND. Problems with the building were raised in the special school; problems with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and teaching conditions were raised in the mainstream school. Intervention is, therefore, needed at national*, municipal and school levels to ensure appropriate training, resourcing and staffing, alongside improvements to the diagnostic process.

A Hero Forgotten: Gus Garcia and the Litigation of Hernandez v. Texas (1954)

A Hero Forgotten:Gus Garcia and the Litigation of Hernandez v. Texas (1954) Gabriel Valle (bio) In 1951, in the east end of Jackson County, Texas, if Mexican-American attorney Gus Garcia had attempted to stop by the local restaurant for lunch before his next trial, he would have been greeted with a sign reading "No Mexicans Served."1 When Garcia walked into the Jackson County courtroom to defend his client Pete Hernandez, on trial for the murder of Joe Espinoza, he would have been greeted by a sea of white faces on the jury.2 Finally, should Garcia have needed to use the restroom at the courthouse, there would have been two available; one room unmarked, and the other with two signs above reading "Colored men" and "Hombres Aqui."3 Gustavo 'Gus' Garcia lived amongst and advocated against these pervasive reminders that, to white Texans, Mexican Americans were distinct and decidedly second-class citizens. As a young and promising Mexican-American civil rights attorney, Garcia took it upon himself to challenge these injustices. The talented attorney's trailblazing impact on Mexican-American civil rights deserves wider recognition.4 His dedication to Mexican-American civil rights transformed a local open-and-shut murder case with an unsympathetic plaintiff and factual deficiencies into a brief but national reckoning on Mexican-American civil rights. A Cantina, A Gun, and An Opportunity Although Gus Garcia rocketed to national fame during the Hernandez case, he was already a respected San Antonio attorney when Pete Hernandez initially approached him seeking representation.5 By all accounts, Garcia was a prodigy. A native Texan, Garcia was born in Laredo to one of the state's oldest families, which first settled there in 1765.6 Garcia graduated valedictorian of his high school class, going on to study at the [End Page 31] University of Texas at Austin and became the first Mexican-American debate team captain.7 Garcia graduated in 1936, and received his LL.B. at the University of Texas at Austin two years later.8 After graduation, Garcia initially served as an assistant San Antonio city attorney, followed by a stint as an assistant criminal district attorney. When the U.S. entered World War II, Garcia served in the Pacific Theater, earning the rank of First Lieutenant and serving as a Judge Advocate General in Yokohama, Japan.9 After the war, Garcia returned to Texas and began to make a name for himself. He possessed an "awesome eloquence," in both Spanish and English, allowing him to enrapture courtrooms and crowds alike as he simultaneously nurtured a career in the law and speaking on behalf of local Mexican-American candidates for public office.10 Anywhere Garcia went in Texas, the local attorneys and Mexican-American population would praise this "brilliant" young attorney, who possessed "one of the finest legal minds anywhere."11 It was Garcia's work on Delgado v. Bastrop ISD in 1949 that established him as a preeminent Mexican-American civil rights attorney. Delgado was a challenge to Mexican-American school segregation in Texas. The case went before Judge Ben H. Rice on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Judge Rice's ruling ordered a permanent injunction from the "segregating of pupils of Mexican or other Latin American dissent in separate schools," as well as in "facilities and services."12 The injunction did allow, however, for separate classes within the same school for first grade students, "solely for instructional purposes," especially if the Click for larger view View full resolution Delgado v. Bastrop ISD (1949) was a successful challenge to Mexican-American school segregation in Texas, although it allowed for some separate classroom instruction. Gustavo "Gus" Garcia (right) made his name litigating that case, along with Hector P. Garcia and Hector de Pena (left and middle). [End Page 32] student's English was not sufficient.13 A full five years before Brown, Garcia had won a watershed school desegregation victory, chipping away at Texas Mexican-American school segregation. Hearing of Garcia's reputation as an attorney and champion for his people, the twenty-six-year-old Hernandez sought him out for representation. The facts were not promising. On February 23...

The hope and burden of early intervention: Parents' educational planning for their deaf children in post-1960s Australia

PurposeThis article examines the educational decision-making of hearing parents for their deaf children born during a period (1970–1990s) before the introduction of new-born hearing screening in New South Wales, where the study was conducted, and prior to the now near-universal adoption of cochlear implants in Australia.Design/methodology/approachWe present findings from an oral history study in which parents were invited to recall how they planned for the education of their deaf children.FindingsWe propose that these oral histories shed light on how the concept, early intervention – a child development principle that became axiomatic from about the 1960s – significantly shaped the conduct of parents of deaf children, constituting both hope and burden, and intensifying a focus on early decision-making. They also illustrate ways in which parenting was shaped by two key structural shifts, one, being the increasing enrolment of deaf children in mainstream rather than separate classrooms and the other being the transformation of deafness itself by developments in hearing assistance technology.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a sociological/historical literature of “parenting for education” that almost entirely lacks deaf perspectives and a specialist literature of parental decision-making for deaf children that is almost entirely focussed on the post cochlear implant generation. The paper is distinctive in its treatment of the concept of “early intervention” as a historical phenomenon rather than a “common sense” truth, and proposes that parents of deaf children were at the leading edge of late-20th and early-21st century parenting intensification.

STAGES Introduction

For now, this Special Issue is one of a kind. Each piece grows directly out of the cross-institutional network between the University of St Andrews (STA), the University of Glasgow (G), and the University of Edinburgh (E)’s Security studies (S) programmes. Together, we have created the acronym STAGES to capture these ongoing collaborations. In August 2018, we, as a small group of colleagues working at each contributing university started to discuss how our master students can learn more about security beyond the confines of their separate classrooms. As Jorge M. Lasma writes, ‘In many cases, classrooms have slowly come to be seen as the only domains for learning. Other forms and channels of learning and knowledge are viewed with suspicion and sometimes even discouraged for fear of higher costs’ (2013, p. 369). Challenging this idea, we set out to create a collective project to allow different students, with their own unique opinions and viewpoints on security, to meet one another to share their ideas in open, honest and lived ways.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Historicising inclusion: how science curricular differentiation produced populations of concern in the United States and West Germany (1960s–1980s)

ABSTRACT This article explores how the sorting and separating of pupils into entangled categories of social/cultural disadvantage and disability in the 1960s through the 1980s created populations of concern. Even though the United States and Germany are typically contrasted in their approaches to inclusive education, a new scientisation of the “social” had similar effects in both countries. While inclusion is usually presumed as the opposite of segregation, we examine how distinct curricula – often administered in separate classrooms or schools – became deemed essential to prepare target populations for eventual inclusion. In the United States, demands for desegregation and mainstreaming were met in part with the design of curricula and instructional strategies for populations marked by categories of disability and/or cultural disadvantage. In West Germany, similar pedagogies appeared in materials designed for special and lower-track schools aimed at pupils classified as learning disabled and/or socio-culturally disadvantaged. Drawing on archival analysis of research journals, reports, and curricular materials from both countries, we examine how science pedagogies constituted social/cultural disadvantage and/or disability as a type of learner with limited experiences requiring compensation and emotional needs requiring affective calibration. Similar practices produced these populations of concern, enclosing them in a pre-scholastic intervention space and prescribing targeted strategies as necessary for their integration as healthy, responsible citizens. At stake is understanding how curricular differentiation directed to previously excluded groups can generate new subdivisions of the social – authorising separate (and unequally positioned) instruction in the name of inclusion.

Teaching Activities and Facilities for Pre-school Children in District Karak

Abstract
 Pre-school education is offered in the government primary schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Very little attention is given to the pre-school aged children in these schools. Therefore, this study was carried on to explore teaching activities and facilities for Pre-school Children in district Karak. The objectives of the study were to explore the availability of teaching facilities and to investigate teachers’ teaching activities while teaching pre-school children in the government primary schools. The population of the study were all the 438 head teachers of government primary schools for boys of district Karak, KP,Pakistan. Total 216 head teachers were selected as sample through proportionate cluster random sampling technique. The study was descriptive and survey method was adopted. Self-developed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and the use of Chi Square (X2) test. Non availability of Audio-Visual (AV) aids, unavailability of specialized teachers and the absence of separate classroom for preschool children were major findings of the study. Ensuring of AV aids, construction of additional classroom, recruitment of specialized preschool teachers and arrangement of refresher courses for teachers of preschool children are the major recommendations of the study.
 
 Keywords: Preschool, Primary Schools, Audio Visual Aids, Teaching activities, facilities

Teaching Multilingual Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: Teachers' Perceptions of Barriers to Distance Learning.

Providing high-quality education for students with emergent proficiency in the language of instruction (referred to here as multilingual students) presents a challenge to inclusion for educational systems the world over. In Austria, a new German language support model was implemented in the school year 2018/19 which provides language support in separate classrooms up to 20 h a week. Since its implementation, the model has been strongly criticized for excluding multilingual students from the mainstream classroom, which is argued to reinforce the educational disadvantages that they face. The study presented here provides unprecedented qualitative insight into how schooling for students within the so-called German language support classes (GLSC) was organized during the COVID-19 pandemic. It builds on results of a previous large-scale quantitative study (n = 3,400 teachers), which was conducted during the first lockdown (spring 2020) and indicated a high risk of exclusion for marginalized students, especially for multilingual students in GLSC. To gain deeper insights into the situation of these students during school closures, 37 teachers who work in these classes at both primary and lower-secondary schools in Vienna were interviewed, of which 18 interviews were considered for analysis. The interviews focus on the situation during the first and second school closures in the city of Vienna. A thematic analysis of the interview data reveals teachers’ perceptions of aspects which harmed or promoted inclusion for students in GLSC during these periods of school closure. Teachers’ perceptions of the most harming factors for students included strong language barriers between teachers and students, restricted access to technical equipment and supportive learning spaces, and low parental engagement. A development that promoted inclusion of these students was the option to allow them to come to school during the second school closure. Since existing studies on the schooling of students during school closures have hardly addressed the situation of students in GLSC, this study contributes to closing this research gap.

Thermal Sensation Analysis in the Building of Universitas Ichsan Gorontalo

Gorontalo City is characterized by a tropical climate, where thermal comfort is a crucial component to achieve, particularly for educational activities aimed at students. The thermal comfort is affected by various factors, namely building design, internal, and external factors. The university building represents a facility where face-to-face learning and teaching activities occur. The purpose of the current study is to analyze the perceived thermal comfort of students during classroom activities with three different air conditioning (AC) settings (16, 22, and 27 oC) in theUniversitas Ichsan Gorontalo campus building. This research employed a quantitative descriptive method, comprising thermal measurements inside the classroom and questionnaire distribution to students to collect thermal sensation data. The research object was conducted in three separate classrooms during the time range of 08.00-15.00 Central Indonesia time. The results revealed that most students felt neutral and comfortable in the three different AC settings inside the classroom. Nevertheless, it should be noted that thermal comfort could be influenced by other factors, such as physical activity and clothing. Consequently, further research could be conducted by taking into consideration these factors and engaging the participation of teachers and staff to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of thermal comfort in the campus building.

Inclusion of multilingual students—teachers’ perceptions on language support models

ABSTRACT Inclusion of multilingual students—teachers’ perceptions on language support models Ensuring the best possible support for multilingual students is a challenge for educational systems the world over. In Austria, new language support models, the so-called German language support classes (GLSC) and pull-out courses (POC), have been installed in the school year 2018/19. The new models offer language support in separate classrooms and have been strongly criticised since their implementation due to their segregative and assimilative character. This study aims to examine teachers’ perceptions of language support models for multilingual students in Austria. For this purpose, a large-scale quantitative survey including 1,267 in-service teachers (mean age = 43.40) from eight of nine states in Austria was conducted. Results indicate that teachers perceive a segregated language learning setting more negative for the academic, social and emotional development of students compared to an inclusive one. Furthermore, they also experience that more resources are needed to adequately implement an inclusive learning environment for multilingual students.

Evaluation of the Academic and Administrative Process in the Institutes of Educational Sciences of Universities

This study aims to understand the course of the academic and administrative processes in the institutes of educational sciences and reveal the problems encountered in these processes. Based on this objective, 23 institutes of educational sciences located in Turkey were reached. The entire population was included in the study conducted in survey research design. The study group consisted of a total of 98 administrators including 24 institute administrators (director and deputy directors) and 74 heads of division / heads of department in 23 institutes of educational sciences. The research data were collected by a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. The questionnaire contained a total of 64 items under the titles of administration, advisory services, official correspondence and announcements, personnel, physical facilities, student, cooperation, and the attractiveness of the institute. The analysis program SPSS was used in the analysis of data that were collected in approximately two months. Based on the findings obtained, the use of electronic information and information technology systems in institute correspondence, the accessibility of the institute director and deputy directors by faculty members, the actualization of advisor assignments in accordance with the regulations, the need for more support to the institute budget, and the representation of institute directors in the university administrative committee are the items with which the administrators agree most. However, the items with which the administrators agree least are the availability of separate classrooms for postgraduate programs and of appropriate physical conditions for academic activities in institutes, students’ knowledge of postgraduate regulations, cooperation with the institutes of educational sciences of other universities, the decrease in the interest in the institute programs, and gathering institutes under one roof.

The Quality of Instruction in Swedish Lower Secondary Language Arts and Mathematics

ABSTRACT Instructional quality is a research topic that has received increased attention over the past decades. However, despite evidence for its importance to student learning, few studies are designed to examine patterns of prevalent instruction. The present study aimed to enhance the understanding of instructional quality in Swedish lower secondary school by examining patterns of instruction in 7th grade language arts and mathematics. 274 lessons from 73 separate classrooms were video-recorded and analyzed using the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO). Findings of the study show that lessons were largely organized through either whole-class instruction or individual seatwork. Mathematics included significantly more explicit teacher scaffolding and mathematics teachers scored higher than language arts teachers on nearly all instructional dimensions. However, in both subjects, there were substantial differences between teachers, meaning that students in different classrooms received systematically different kinds of instruction. Implications for instructional development and future research are discussed.

From «School Buildings» to «School Architecture» – School Technicians, Grand School Buildings and Educational Architecture in Prussia and the USA in the Nineteenth Century

The history of school buildings is commonly written as a history of architecture, focusing on outstanding architects and buildings. However, the connection between pedagogical-administrative prescriptions and educational architecture has been studied less, particularly in the nineteenth century. This article highlights the often-overlooked agency of school technicians and proposes to interpret the nineteenth-century history of building schools as a history of implementing pedagogical-administrative objectives. The design of schools followed the inner differentiation of school curricula, at the same time being affected by the growth of school sizes prompted by school management structures and their efficiency aims. We will show how in larger cities the initial one-classroom schools developed into multiple-classroom buildings, taking on their final form in “grand school buildings”. The organizational developments tried and tested here would later become the national standard, with rural schools following with a certain delay. In order to grasp the emergence of the phenomena of these “grand school buildings” we combine the Prussian and US-American cases in their transatlantic connection in order to comprehend the transnational dimension of school building norms. Being closely connected through mutual observation, the US and Prussian contexts established two decisive aspects: in the Prussian case, the division into separate classrooms as functional units of school construction was implemented, while in the United States additional school rooms such as the assembly hall and specific subject-related rooms were introduced. “Grand school buildings” initiated the interest of the architectural profession, leading to negotiations between school technicians and architects.

A cultural perspective to project-based learning and the cultivation of innovative thinking

Studies on higher-order thinking skills advocate the importance of cultivating innovative thinking through project-based learning (PBL); yet, little attention was paid to students’ cultural background. Given the increase in international student mobility, the aim of this study was to examine the role of PBL in cultivating innovative thinking as perceived by international students from China and by local students. The participants studied the same PBL course, delivered by the same teaching staff, but in separate classrooms. Applying a mixed methods case study design, data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires and focus-group interviews. The findings indicated that although the PBL process had a positive influence on cultivating students’ perceived innovative thinking in both groups, differences were found in behaviors that lead to the generation of innovative ideas. The Chinese students identified gains associated with behaviors of Observing and Questioning; whereas the local students identified gains associated with Idea Networking. The study presents a five-stage innovation cultivation PBL process that can be adapted to higher education programs, highlighting the need for cultural-sensitivity in designing and delivering courses for international students.

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time: Educational Placement of Students With Intellectual Disability by State and Year

Abstract Despite the longstanding federal mandate to place students with disabilities in general education classrooms to the maximum extent appropriate, most students with intellectual disability continue to spend most of their time in separate classrooms and schools. In this study, we describe longitudinal educational placement patterns in six states that represent the wide span of educational placement (i.e., Vermont, Kentucky, Kansas, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Montana). Surprisingly, some states are trending toward more restrictive placements, and the gap between the most and least inclusive states is continuing to widen over time. We offer constructive suggestions for appropriately applying the principle of least restrictive environment so that placement decisions are driven by student needs and not where students live.

Outcomes of Inclusive Versus Separate Placements: A Matched Pairs Comparison Study

This quasi-experimental study focused on 15 pairs of children with extensive support needs, matched across 12 characteristics based on their first complete Individual Education Program (IEP) in the school district. One child in each pair was included in general education for 80% or more of their day from their first IEP to the most current IEP at the time of the study. The other child in the pair was placed in a separate special education class, and was served there from the first IEP to the last IEP. All children were observed over a typical school day with time-sampling data collected on the types of activities, the contexts, and the types of engagement that occurred. In addition, outcome data from the first IEP to the most current IEP in the district were analyzed across three variables: communication levels, literacy levels, and numeracy levels. Results indicated that students in the general education classrooms had a significant, large effect size as compared with their pairs in separate classrooms on several variables. In addition, students in the general education classrooms demonstrated highly significant levels of progress as compared with the students in separate classrooms. Implications related to placement, disability characteristics, progress, and policy are discussed.

‘I’ll be the hero’: how adolescents negotiate intersectional identities within a high school dual-language program

ABSTRACT In this study, we examine how adolescents in a dual-language program negotiate intersectional identities through interaction, while engaged in small-group exploratory talk around the task of a collaborative-writing project. We recognize that while dual-language settings can help adolescents build relationships with ethnolinguistically different peers who might be otherwise tracked into separate classrooms, dual-language spaces, nested within a larger racialized U.S. system, also have potential to reify marginalized identities. Using a microethnographic lens, we examine how students in an extra-curricular high school dual-language Spanish-English program negotiate intersectional identities while engaging in small-group work to write a bilingual book to share with elementary students. We found that the small-group setting was a space where students negotiated both marginalized and privileged identities, sometimes related to language and other times related to a host of other factors. We consider how talking directly with adolescents about the roles that might be placed on them as participants in dual-language programs can enlist them in the work of creating dual-language spaces that validate the various identities students seek to take up.