Includes bibliographical references.

Self-Regulation of Homework Behavior: Homework Management at the Secondary School Level -- Narrative Comprehension Skills in 5-Year-Old Children: Correlational Analysis and Comprehender Profiles -- Improving Middle School Student Engagement Through Career-Relevant Instruction in the Core Curriculum -- Courageous Reading Instruction: The Effects of an Elementary Motivation Intervention -- Comparing Student Experiences with Story Discussions in Dialogic Versus Traditional Settings -- Judgment Confidence and Judgment Accuracy of Teachers in Judging Self-Concepts of Students -- Exploring Disciplinary Background Effect on Social Studies Teachers’ Knowledge and Pedagogy.

[Article title : Self-Regulation of Homework Behavior: Homework Management at the Secondary School Level / Jianzhong Xu and Hongyun Wu, p. 1-13]

Abstract : The authors examined empirical models of variables posited to predict homework management at the secondary school level. The participants were 866 eighth-grade students from 61 classes and 745 eleventh-grade students from 46 classes. Most of the variance in homework management occurred at the student level, with affective attitude and homework interest appearing as 2 significant predictors at the class level. At the student level, homework management was positively associated with learning-oriented reasons, affective attitude, self-reported grade, family homework help, homework interest, teacher feedback, and adult-oriented reasons. On the other hand, homework management was negatively associated with time spent watching television. In addition, Black girls, compared with Black boys, were more likely to manage their homework assignments.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.658457

[Article title : Narrative Comprehension Skills in 5-Year-Old Children: Correlational Analysis and Comprehender Profiles / Anna Potocki, Jean Ecalle and Annie Magnan, p. 14-26]

Abstract : This study was designed to examine whether a variety of cognitive and linguistic factors theoretically considered to be predictive of reading comprehension skills in elementary school children were also predictive of listening comprehension skills in 131 five-year-old children. The results showed that the predictors of young children's listening comprehension performance are indeed similar to those identified in the literature as predictive of reading comprehension performance. The involvement of sentence comprehension skills, updating capacities, vocabulary, and syntactic and morphological knowledge was therefore confirmed in young children. Furthermore, a cluster analysis provided evidence of early profiles of comprehenders who differed in their ability to respond to either literal or inferential questions in a comprehension test. The skills that make it possible to distinguish between these profiles are identified.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.667013

[Article title : Improving Middle School Student Engagement Through Career-Relevant Instruction in the Core Curriculum / Dennis K. Orthner, Hinckley Jones-Sanpei, Patrick Akos and Roderick A. Rose, p. 27-38]

Abstract : The authors assessed the effect of career-relevant instruction on school valuing and engagement of middle school students in a southern U.S. school district. Previous research and theory indicate students learn best when new knowledge is provided within the context of information students consider to be of value. The data come from a school-based randomized trial of the CareerStart intervention that was introduced in 7 of 14 middle schools, and include the initial 3 years of data for 3,493 students. The authors examined the effect of the CareerStart intervention and student-reported career-relevant instruction on psychosocial measures of school engagement and school valuing. After controlling for previous school engagement, demographic, socioeconomic, and academic factors, the analysis confirms that students in the treatment schools reported significantly higher levels of school valuing than students in the control schools, and students reporting greater career-relevant instruction indicated significantly higher levels of school engagement and valuing.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.658454

[Article title : Courageous Reading Instruction: The Effects of an Elementary Motivation Intervention / Barbara A. Marinak, p. 39-48]

Abstract : In an attempt to more clearly understand the erosion of engagement in some readers, a number of researchers (J. Brophy, Citation2008; J. Guthrie, Citation2010; K. Mohr, Citation2006) and organizations (Education Alliance, Citation2010) have called for the investigation of strategies to improve elementary reading motivation. Consequently this mixed-methods investigation focused on a motivation intervention for fifth-grade readers. Two constructs consistent with expectancy-value theory (J. Eccles, Citation1983), self-concept as a reader and value of reading, were examined. A pretest–posttest design was utilized following a motivation intervention arranged during participatory action research. The results suggest that a curricular considerate intervention comprised 3 practices had a significant impact on the reading motivation of 5th-grade students.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.658455

[Article title : Comparing Student Experiences with Story Discussions in Dialogic Versus Traditional Settings / Alina Reznitskaya and Monica Glina, p. 49-63]

Abstract : The authors examined the testimonials of 60 elementary school students about their experience during class discussions of assigned readings. They randomly assigned 12 classrooms to 2 treatments: Philosophy for Children (P4C) and Regular Instruction. P4C is an alternative educational environment that places dialogue at the center of its pedagogy. Ten students from each classroom were interviewed. According to the results, significantly more P4C students stated that they enjoyed expressing disagreement with peers, taking on new responsibilities, and explaining their thinking to others. More P4C students complained about the difficulties with getting the floor to speak, and suggested that changes are needed to better balance group participation. The authors discuss these findings and suggest implications for research and teaching.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.658458

[Article title : Judgment Confidence and Judgment Accuracy of Teachers in Judging Self-Concepts of Students / Anna-Katharina Praetorius, Valérie-Danielle Berner, Horst Zeinz, Annette Scheunpflug and Markus Dresel, p. 64-76]

Abstract : Accurate teacher judgments of student characteristics are considered to be important prerequisites for adaptive instruction. A theoretically important condition for putting these judgments into operation is judgment confidence. Using a German sample of 96 teachers and 1,388 students, the authors examined how confident teachers are in their judgments of students’ mathematic and verbal self-concepts, and whether judgment confidence is related to judgment accuracy. Judgment confidence was largely student specific, and the majority of teachers were overconfident of their judgments. Moreover, teacher confidence was higher for extreme judgments. In the subject of mathematics, judgment confidence was moderately associated with judgment accuracy. The findings challenge the efficacy of adapting instruction to student characteristics, as it is obvious that many teachers are not aware of their judgment inaccuracy.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.667010

[Article title : Exploring Disciplinary Background Effect on Social Studies Teachers’ Knowledge and Pedagogy / Pei-Fen Sung and Meng-Li Yang, p. 77-88]

Abstract : Case studies have pointed out that teachers’ disciplinary knowledge affects their pedagogy; however, the results are not consistent. There is a need for quantitative research to examine the relationship between teacher knowledge and practice, particularly in social studies where content-specific studies are mostly qualitative. The authors used history as an example and surveyed all public and private junior high school social studies teachers in Taiwan to examine if disciplinary backgrounds significantly affect teachers’ knowledge, conceptions about the discipline, and their teaching practices. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses show that disciplinary backgrounds significantly affect teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogy. Evaluations of effect sizes suggest that academic backgrounds can serve as useful proxies for teacher recruitment. The results also indicate that nature-revealing courses affect teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogy.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.658453