Célia Oliveira

Diversidade de resultados no estudo do transtorno de déficit de atenção e hiperatividade

With this paper we aimed at addressing the problem of data diversity in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) research. We present a literature review based on the heterogeneity of findings about the characterization of the disorder, subtypes differentiation, sources of information, sex differences and comorbidities. In an effort to understand the variety of findings, we underline potential explanations, such as the samples heterogeneity or the multiplicity of methods and procedures, among others. The review conducted was primarily based on PsycInfo and ERIC databases, but also, on PubMed and Elsevier Direct.

How portuguese and american teachers plan for literacy instruction

This study explored American and Portuguese elementary teachers’ preferences in planning for literacy instruction using the Language Arts Activity Grid (LAAG; Cunningham, Zibulsky, Stanovich, & Stanovich, 2009), on which teachers described their preferred instructional activities for a hypothetical 2-h language arts block. Portuguese teachers (N = 186) completed Portuguese versions of a background questionnaire and LAAG electronically, in Survey Monkey; American teachers (N = 102) completed identical English measures using paper and pencil. Results showed that teachers in both groups usually addressed comprehension and reading fluency on their LAAGs and that they also allocated the most time to these two areas. However, American teachers were more likely to include teacher-directed fluency activities, whereas Portuguese teachers were more likely to include fluency activities that were not teacher directed. Significantly more American than Portuguese teachers addressed phonics in their planning, whereas significantly more Portuguese than American teachers addressed writing processes such as revision. Both groups of educators demonstrated large variability in planning, with many teachers omitting important components of literacy identified by researchers, for writing as well as reading. The study highlights the importance of providing teachers with comprehensive, research-based core literacy curricula as well as professional development on key components of literacy. Study findings also suggest significant relationships between orthographic transparency and teachers’ instructional planning.

Character Education in Portugal

Around the world, children who can exercise their right to attend school spend a significant part of their lives within the education environment. Therefore, schools have a great deal of influence on childrens development beyond the academic realm. Given this accessibility to children, schools have opportunities to help children develop positive character traits. Each community must determine what role schools will play in providing character education and what content would be delivered through character education programs. This article explores these issues associated with character education within Portugal, including who should be responsible for providing character education and how it can best be transmitted.

Number Knowledge and Error Types of Elementary Portuguese Students: Implications for Instruction

In the present study, we examined number knowledge skills of 697 Portuguese elementary students from first to fourth grade. Students completed three number knowledge tasks: 1) translating numbers into words, 2) symbolic magnitude (i.e., number comparison), and 3) decomposing numbers. We evaluated students’ answers by means of error analysis using a three-category coding system adopted from specific error types were computed by grade level. Results showed that there were significant differences among grades and that the prerequisite linguistic error type (i.e., pre linguistic rules or principles of the cardinal number system), particularly in the magnitude tasks, significantly contributed to students’ performance on number knowledge tasks. This is important for instruction because learning difficulties in mathematics have been associated with weaknesses in intermediate number knowledge competencies (e.g., number comparison). Our qualitative data analyses suggest that instruction, intervention, or remediation need to consider systematic instructing students the prelinguistic rules of the number system, specifically the principles related to larger numbers.

An evaluation of the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale's psychometric properties using Portuguese teachers

Abstract Classroom management research is an important topic as teachers cannot effectively educate students in unstructured environments. With that said, few psychometrically sound measures are available to measure behavior and instructional management. Using 1520 Portuguese teachers, we evaluated the Behavior and Instructional Management Scales (BIMS) psychometric properties using Bayesian estimation and found that the original 12-item scale provided reasonable evidence of factorial validity and internal consistency reliability; however, a slightly revised model may be more promising. The BIMS subscales also had strong concurrent validity evidence based on the associations with perceived student engagement, perceived instructional strategies, and perceived classroom management.