Elementary

The aim of this study was to assess evidence for the validity of General Mindset (GM) and Engineering Mindset (EM) surveys that we developed for fifth-grade students (ages 10-11). In both surveys, we used six items to measure student mindset to determine if it was more fixed (presuming intelligence is fixed and failure is a sign that one is not smart enough) or more growth-minded (presuming one can become smarter and that failures are signals to improve) (Dweck, 1986).

Test scoring procedures should align with the intended uses and interpretations of test results. In this paper, we examine three test scoring procedures for an operational assessment of early numeracy, the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA). Current test specifications call for subscores to be reported for each of the eight subtests on the EGMA. This test scoring procedures has been criticized as being difficult for stakeholders to use and interpret, thereby impacting the overall usefulness of the EGMA for informing decisions.

This article focuses on the impacts of a program designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction. The mentor preparation program was grounded in research on effective science instruction and learning-focused mentoring.

This article describes key features of a hybrid professional development (PD) program that was designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction. Five classroom teachers who were new to our mentor training participated in the study to document the impacts of the PD sequence. The PD combined an in-person immersion into the components of effective science instruction with online modules centered on learner-supportive mentoring practices.

Dig deeper into classroom artifacts using research-based learning progressions to enhance your analysis and response to student work, even when most students solve a problem correctly.

Ebby, C. B., Hulbert, E. T., and Fletcher, N. (2019). What can we learn from correct answers? Teaching Children Mathematics, 25(6), 346-353.

In this paper, I theorize reciprocal noticing as a relational practice through which teachers and students exchange roles as knowers by reciprocating each other’s noticing as they study mathematics concepts. Findings from a unit on measuring time implemented in two classrooms with non-dominant students illustrate how teachers and students—through their reciprocal noticing—mobilize concepts back to previous understandings and forward to possible new meanings.

Ambitious efforts are taking place to implement a new vision for science education in the United States, in both Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-adopted states and those states creating their own, often related, standards. Inservice and pre-service teacher educators are involved in supporting teacher shifts in practice toward the new standards. With these efforts, it will be important to document shifts in science instruction toward the goals of NGSS and broader science education reform.

Computer programming for young children has grown in popularity among both educators and product developers, but still relatively little is known about what skills children are developing when they code. This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children’s performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week curricular intervention. Children used the ScratchJr programming tool to create animated stories, collages, and games.

Developing scientific literacy about water systems is critical for K‐12 students.