Kerry Dally

The influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition

This article reports the findings from a longitudinal study investigating the influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition. Data from individually administered measures of phonological processing and reading, as well as teacher ratings of childrens behavior, were collected from a cohort of 132 children at 12-month intervals, from kindergarten to 2nd grade. Results from multiple linear regression analyses employing latent constructs of phonological abilities and inattentive behavior provided support for the hypothesized model, with kindergarten measures of inattentiveness and phonological abilities predicting subsequent reading performance. An analysis of reciprocal relationships among these constructs revealed evidence that inattentiveness also interfered with the acquisition of phonological analysis skills. Implications for reading instruction and reading interventions are discussed.

Smart-Phone Obesity Prevention Trial for Adolescent Boys in Low-Income Communities: The ATLAS RCT

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Active Teen Leaders Avoiding Screen-time (ATLAS) intervention for adolescent boys, an obesity prevention intervention using smartphone technology. METHODS: ATLAS was a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 14 secondary schools in low-income communities in New South Wales, Australia. Participants were 361 adolescent boys (aged 12–14 years) considered at risk of obesity. The 20-week intervention was guided by self-determination theory and social cognitive theory and involved: teacher professional development, provision of fitness equipment to schools, face-to-face physical activity sessions, lunchtime student mentoring sessions, researcher-led seminars, a smartphone application and Web site, and parental strategies for reducing screen-time. Outcome measures included BMI and waist circumference, percent body fat, physical activity (accelerometers), screen-time, sugar-sweetened beverage intake, muscular fitness, and resistance training skill competency. RESULTS: Overall, there were no significant intervention effects for BMI, waist circumference, percent body fat, or physical activity. Significant intervention effects were found for screen-time (mean ± SE: –30 ± 10.08 min/d; P = .03), sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (mean: –0.6 ± 0.26 glass/d; P = .01), muscular fitness (mean: 0.9 ± 0.49 repetition; P = .04), and resistance training skills (mean: 5.7 ± 0.67 units; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This school-based intervention targeting low-income adolescent boys did not result in significant effects on body composition, perhaps due to an insufficient activity dose. However, the intervention was successful in improving muscular fitness, movement skills, and key weight-related behaviors.

Values Pedagogy and Teacher Education: Re-conceiving the Foundations

The article explores the research findings of values pedagogy, both Australian and international, and makes application to the need to re-conceive many of the assumptions and foundational theories that underpin teacher education, based on the new insights into learning, human development and student wellbeing that have resulted from these research findings.

Values Education as Holistic Development for All Sectors: Researching for Effective Pedagogy.

The paper argues that values education has moved from being associated most heavily with the religious agenda of faith schools to being central to updated research insights into effective pedagogy. As such, it represents a vital approach to education in any school setting. The paper draws on an array of values education research and practice in making the case but centres especially on findings from a number of recent publicly funded projects in Australia with which the authors have been associated. Of special importance is evidence from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project and the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience that provide both anecdotal and empirical evidence that high quality values education contributes to holistic educational development, including academic advancement, of students across all school sectors.

Addressing issues of religious difference through values education: an Islam instance

The article’s main focus is on exploring ways in which modern forms of values education are being utilized to address major issues of social dissonance, with special focus on dissonance related to religious difference between students of Islamic and non‐Islamic backgrounds. The article begins by appraising philosophical and neuroscientific research relevant to the underpinning concepts behind such forms of education. It then explores evidence from the federally funded Australian Values Education Program, and its various related research projects, that suggests that values education has potential to impact on a range of educational measures, including those related to enhancing understanding and tolerance across lines of religious difference.

Learning disabilities and literacy and numeracy development

Abstract This article provides a summary of the literature review contained in Volume Two of the DETYA Report, Mapping the Territory: Primary students with learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy. It summarizes the last three sections from the review. Section Three explores effective instructional techniques and programs in literacy and numeracy for students with learning difficulties. After that effective service delivery approaches within regular settings are examined in Section Four. Finally, issues in program evaluation and measurement of outcomes are addressed in Section Five.

Values and the Curriculum

This chapter will explore values pedagogy as a contemporary approach to engaging students in the most complete forms of learning that are directed towards and, increasingly evidence suggests, result in holistic student achievement. It will address those aspects of values pedagogy that focus particularly on the place of curriculum as a driver of whole person development and to the forms of implicit and explicit teaching that serve those ends. It will explore a range of research projects from different countries that illustrate findings related to the comprehensive learning effects elicited by well-crafted and pedagogically sound curriculum content, implementation, assessment and evaluation. It will also focus on the positive effects that, research tells us, emanate from creating a positive ambience in which values-oriented curriculum can function.

PhD theses at the margin: examiner comment on re-examined theses

Abstract It is rare for a PhD candidate who submits a thesis for examination to fail outright. If a thesis exhibits significant flaws the candidate may be required to make major revisions and re‐submit the work for re‐examination. The written comments of examiners before and after resubmission can provide important insights into the process of examination and the qualities examiners identify in a marginal thesis. Drawing on 101 of the most recent, completed theses across fields in one Australian university, this article investigates the differences in examiner comment on the qualities of theses by the same candidates before and after major revision and re‐submission (N = 6), and between these theses and those that were ‘passed’ at the first examination (N=95). Critical comments about the literature review and the degree to which the examiner moved into a supervisory role were found to be strong indicators of theses at the margin’.

A Teacher’s Duty: An Examination of the Short-Term Impact of Values Education on Australian Primary School Teachers and Students

This chapter explores the findings that emerged from a mixed-methods investigation of the impact of values education in eight Australian primary schools after 12 months of implementation. In 2006, the Australian Government committed funding to the values education Good Practice Schools Project (VEGPSP) which was based on a national framework aimed at ensuring that Australian children are educated in an environment where essential values, such as respect, tolerance and compassion, are taught explicitly and demonstrated by teachers. The chapter describes the effective classroom pedagogy and school-wide practices that supported the explicit teaching of values and reports the results obtained from a pre-post analysis of survey data collected from students, staff and parents regarding the outcomes of the project. Of especial interest are the findings related to the way the program nurtured the personal integrity of the students and enabled them to become more inclusive, more responsible and more honest with each other.

Instructional techniques and service delivery approaches for students with learning difficulties

This article is the second of two feature articles in this Journal, providing a summary of the literature review contained in Volume Two of the DETYA Report, Mapping the Territory: Primary students with learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy. The first article (Volume 6, No.1, March 2001, pages 12–19) examined definitions of learning disability and explored the loci of learning difficulties and their influence on literacy and numeracy development. This second article summarises the last three sections from the review. Section Three explores effective instructional techniques and programs in literacy and numeracy for students with learning difficulties. After that, effective service delivery approaches within regular settings are examined in Section Four. Finally, issues in program evaluation and measurement of outcomes are addressed in Section Five.