Nie, Youyan

A study of the implementation of the Strategies for effective engagement and development (SEED). SEED "aimed to assist teachers in engaging learners and support student development by utilising effective teaching strategies, which built upon an understanding of learner needs and learning styles of children in lower primary. As such the SEED initiative advocates the adoption of developmentally appropriate teaching practices and assessment modes." -- p. 4-5.

The purpose of this study is to revise the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001 ) and to examine its factorial, predictive, convergent and discriminant validity, as well as its intemal consistency reliability. One hundred nine primary and secondary school teachers in Singapore participated in this research. The revised scale consists of three factors: efficacy for instruction, efficacy for classroom management, and efficacy for motivation. The revised sub- scales showed good intemal consistency reliability. The factor analysis results also indicated that the specific teacher efficacy beliefs could be further collapsed into one general factor. The convergent validity was good but the discriminant validity was weak. The appropriate use of TSES is also discussed.

This three-wave longitudinal study underscores the importance of identifying elements in school settings that can help academically at-risk students--those who are likely to follow a trajectory of low achievement or academic failure-- to develop academic resilience. The study utilised both quantitative (i.e., survey questionnaires and standardised achievement tests) and qualitative (i.e., open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews) approaches, and focused on two subject domains--English Language (EL) and Mathematics (Maths). The participants of the study were 1305 students from 22 schools in Singapore. These students were considered as potentially at-risk academically as their aggregate scores in the Primary School Leaving Examination were lower than the cohort’s mean score. From this pool of students, students facing different levels of academic risk (i.e., low, moderate and high) in EL or Maths were identified on the basis of their school grades and scores in standardised achievement tests at the end Secondary One (S1). Low language or numeracy proficiency on entry to secondary school, which is a critical transition phase in students’ life, was considered as a significant risk factor that can directly predispose students towards continued poor academic performance in later years.
The profiles of the students in the three risk groups were compared in relation to their background characteristics and the focal variables of this study: socio-emotional strengths (i.e., emotional awareness, empathy, goal setting, social competence, and emotional regulation), academic motivation (i.e., amotivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation), perceived relatedness with teachers (i.e., student-to-teacher communication, teacher trust and teacher alienation), and perceived teacher autonomy and competence support. The results of the study suggest that, compared to students facing low academic risk, students facing high academic risk tended to report lower emotional awareness, goal setting and perceived teacher support; and higher amotivation, teacher alienation, and student-to-teacher communication. These variables can be considered as potential foci of interventions that can be implemented before or at the beginning of secondary school in order to preclude students from facing high levels of academic risk or to mitigate the effects of academic risk factors.
This study applied a dual approach in defining academic resilience. Using a trait-based approach, subjective academic resilience was defined as the students’ capacity to effectively handle challenges, adversities, pressures and setbacks in school setting; it was measured using students’ self-ratings on items acting as indicators of trait-based or dispositional form of academic resilience. Using a process- based approach, objective academic resilience was defined as the achievement of positive academic outcomes despite the presence of challenging situations or risk factors (i.e., low achievement on entry to S1). In this study, a positive academic outcome is assessed in Secondary Three (S3): It corresponds to at least a passing grade in EL (or Maths) and/or a score in standardized achievement tests in Reading (or Maths) above the 23rd percentile of the norming population.
Focusing on objective academic resilience, high-risk students who achieved positive academic outcomes in S3 were considered as resilient, and those who remained at a high-risk status were considered as less resilient. Compared to the less resilient students, the resilient students tended to report a greater improvement in goal setting, emotional awareness, and student-to-teacher communication and had a more stable perceived teacher trust over three years. The resilient students tended to have lower amotivation and teacher alienation than their less resilient peers. There were also indications that the resilient students were more competent in setting goals and in working towards their goals; they also tended to frame failure and deal with failure more positively, and to report receiving more competence and relatedness support than their less resilient peers. The key sources of support that helped students deal with academic challenges were mainly peers, followed by family members and teachers.
The results of the study also indicate that student-to-teacher communication and students’ goal-setting ability (particularly, a positive change), perceived teacher competence support, and students’ emotional regulation were the most consistent positive predictors of academic resilience in both objective and subjective forms. The aforementioned factors were found as significant predictors of academic resilience more consistently and strongly in relation to EL than Maths.

This study examined how classroom management practices—teachers’ control and care—were differentially associated with students’ engagement, misbehavior, and satisfaction with school, using a large representative sample of 3196 Grade 9 students from 117 classes. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed differential relations: After controlling for students’ gender and socioeconomic status, both control and care were positively related to student engagement. Moreover, control was a significant negative predictor of classroom misbehavior and care was a significant positive predictor of satisfaction with school. Our findings underscore the importance of blending teacher control and care to achieve multiple goals of classroom management.

This study examined the differential effects of constructivist and traditional instruction on students’ cognitive, motivational, and achievement outcomes in English classrooms, using a large representative sample of 3251 Grade 9 students from 117 classes in 39 schools. Results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) show differential cross-level effects: After controlling for students’ gender and socioeconomic status, constructivist instruction was a significant positive predictor of students’ deep processing strategies, task values, and English achievement, whereas traditional instruction was a significant positive predictor of students’ surface processing strategies and a negative predictor of English achievement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the differential effects of constructivist and traditional instruction on multiple outcomes, including students’ achievement and psychological processes that are important for learning.

This study examined the role of perceived classroom goal structures and parent’s goals in predicting students’ achievement goals, engagement and achievement. Mastery goals were predicted by both classroom and parents’ mastery goals. Both performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals were predicted by both classroom and parents’ performance goals. Mastery goals had positive impacts on academic engagement and achievement, but performance-avoidance goals had negative impacts. The impacts of performance-approach goals were not significant. Classroom and parents’ mastery goals had indirect positive effects on academic engagement and achievement through mastery goals. Parents’ performance goals had indirect negative effects through performance-avoidance goals.

MOE and MCCY have been working on a National Outdoor Adventure Education (NOAE) Master Plan since 2014. The NOAE Master Plan intends for the entire cohort of secondary 3 students to experience a capstone 5-day expedition-based programme at Outward Bound Singapore (Ubin / Coney campuses). This programme aims to strengthen our youths’ self resilience and social cohesion, where students from different schools will be mixed together. Shared common experiences will be created through team-based challenges and expeditions around our island. There is currently a lack of valid and reliable instruments that allows educators to assess learners’ values and dispositions such as confidence, resilience, independence and inter-dependence during the expedition-based camping experiences. Thus, there is a need to develop and validate instruments to collect information on the different aspects of the secondary three students during such adventure-based camp experiences, as well as to inform future refinement for outdoor education for all students.