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Recent publications emphasize the need to take greater account of differences in teaching quality between subjects. The empirical analysis of this topic requires a comparison of teaching quality in different subjects to distinguish generic aspects of teaching quality from subject-specific ones. In this paper, we compare teaching quality in mathematics and German lessons using observational data from primary schools in Switzerland (N[subscript Math] = 319; N[subscript German] = 237). Data were collected using an observation instrument reflecting the teaching dimensions of the MAIN-TEACH model, which was developed based on a synthesis of established observation frameworks. The dimensions of classroom management, motivational-emotional support, selection and implementation of content, cognitive activation, support for consolidation, assessment and feedback, and adaptation were tested for subject-related measurement invariance. With a two-fold measurement invariance approach, differences between the subjects were investigated at both a global and an indicator level. When applying alpha accumulation correction, no significant subject-related differences in factor loadings or intercepts were found. The factorial structure of our data was basically identical for the two subjects. The comparison of latent factor means revealed no mean differences between the subjects. We discuss the implications for both the MAIN-TEACH model and research into subject-related differences of teaching in general.

School-external expectations regarding implementation of reforms and innovations often do not lead to successful school improvement processes in schools. To better understand these processes in schools, this paper aims to investigate school improvement processes on a deep level by focusing on cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational regulation strategies used by school teams and by exploring what school-external and school-internal factors are related to this strategy use. Principals, teachers, and specialist teachers (N = 1328) at 59 primary schools responded to an online questionnaire indicating their school's use of regulation strategies on school improvement. Results from descriptive, variance, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that school teams use all forms of school-based regulation strategies but that schools differ significantly in their strategy use. These differences were mainly explained more by school-internal deeper structures (e.g., task cohesion) and less by school-internal surface structures (e.g., school size) and not at all by school-external factors (e.g., governance systems).

A good deal of research purports that bilingualism has a positive effect on some aspects of cognitive functioning. However, this effect is not consistent, and little research examines trajectories of cognitive skill development in bilingual children. Moreover, it remains unclear whether different types of bilingualism impact how cognitive abilities unfold. The reported study investigates children's data from three linguistic groups (179 sequential bilingual, 96 simultaneous bilingual and 57 monolingual German-speaking children) and examines differences (1) regarding cognitive outcome measures pertaining to selective attention, visuospatial thinking and abstract thinking and (2) searches for substantial developmental trajectory differences regarding said measures. Children were tested at 3 points in time; at age 4;10, 6;2 and 7;4. Results indicate no significant linguistic group differences in selective attention, visuospatial thinking and abstract thinking when controlling for gender, language comprehension of the child, and families' socioeconomic status. Moreover, the three linguistic groups did not differ in developmental trajectories. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Previous findings on the preconditions of teachers' collaboration are inconsistent. This might be related to the research methods used to assess the teachers' collaborative practice. Retrospective assessments by self-report on a relatively general level prevail. The validity of these self-reports is limited, however. In contrast, time-sampling methods have the potential to investigate collaborative practice specifically and longitudinally as a day-to-day process over time validly. But to date, no research on collaborative activities in schools based on time-sampling methods is available. In this study, we extended the current state of research by analysing the variability and preconditions of teachers' collaboration at four secondary schools over three weeks based on time-sampling data collected by a newly developed online practice log. Recorded were collaborative activities outside of teaching with a focus on administrative and organisational tasks and on school subject-specific tasks. The results revealed that teachers' collaborative activities varied significantly between weekdays, showing a linear decrease from Monday to Friday, regardless of the content of collaboration. Collaboration that focused on administrative-organisational tasks seemed to be quite stable over the weeks and was hardly influenced by teachers' individual characteristics. Instead, collaborative activities that focused on school subject-specific tasks varied significantly between weeks; moreover, they were influenced by teachers' leadership role and gender. The results indicate that rather stable routinised patterns of day-to-day collaboration over the weeks decrease the influence of teachers' individual characteristics. Hence, by collecting data that is closer to content-specific day-to-day collaborative activities, time-sampling methods can be seen as a driver for new insights.

Loneliness describes a perceived deficiency in quantitative or qualitative aspects of individuals' social relationships. Whereas the health-related consequences of loneliness are well-documented, surprisingly little is known about its interpersonal features and its consequences for relationship outcomes. In the present study, we investigated the association between loneliness and relationship experiences in partner relationships with a sample of 937 individuals from 480 mixed-sex couples. By employing actor-partner interdependence models and dyadic cross-lagged moderated multilevel models, we found higher loneliness to be robustly related to (a) lower relationship satisfaction for both oneself and the partner, (b) more self-reported, but not partner-reported conflicts, (c) lower average levels of one's own, but not the partner's closeness, and (d) less own self-disclosure. In contrast, loneliness was not associated with (a) sexual contact frequency, (b) average levels of physical affection, or (c) the daily dynamics between closeness and self-disclosure/physical affection. Thus, the results of the present study indicated that loneliness is primarily associated with the perception of the partner relationship but not its rather objective features or daily dynamics.

Fostering peer interaction and shared learning is an important aim of inclusive instruction. However, it has not been established whether it is possible to offer explicit and intensive support for low achievers in inclusive settings. This longitudinal study examined whether a structured program that includes cooperative learning fosters computational competence and flexible strategy use by low achievers in mathematics in inclusive classrooms. 126 persistent counters from 35 inclusive classrooms in grade 2 participated in a structured intervention lasting ten weeks, under three conditions: Cooperative learning (CL, students working in pairs during seatwork), individual learning (IND, students working individually during seatwork) and a control group (CG) with "business as usual." Even when there was substantial class-specific differential development during group-based interventions, between pre- and posttest, results showed no statistically significant main effects for either of the two intervention conditions relative to the control group. However, compared to the CG-group, the CL intervention showed a higher slope for pretest performance, indicating that students with a higher level of computation competence benefited relatively more from the CL intervention than students with similar preconditions in the CG. The results provide evidence that multiple approaches are needed; approaches which combine well-structured programs stimulating cooperative learning and shared learning situations with intensive and individualized measures are of benefit for students with very low mathematical competence.

In this study, 34 trials of formal formative assessment activities in the context of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) from Swiss primary and upper secondary school teachers will be analysed. The aim will be to explore the formal formative assessment activities implemented in IBSE at different school levels. The trials (14 from primary school, 20 from upper secondary school) are documented with teaching plans and teaching materials as well as with transcripts from individual interviews. For the analysis, the trials were coded with a deductively developed coding scheme involving categories specifying the inquiry characteristics of the trials as well as the formative assessment characteristics. Overall, the empirical results suggest that at primary school level, more extensive formative assessment practices are possible, such as the combination of several methods within the context of one inquiry unit. At upper secondary school level, formative assessment practices are more straightforward and closely linked to summative assessment practices. These differences will be used to develop characteristic features of formative assessment practices for the two school levels.

The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between parental acculturation attitudes and second language (L2) skills and acquisition in immigrant children and to identify the mechanisms that potentially mediate between parental acculturation attitudes and children's L2 skills and acquisition. Our longitudinal study is based on a sample of 252 children with German as L2 (age t[subscript 1]: M = 41 months; t[subscript 2]: M = 57 months) and their parents. Research Findings: Results revealed that parental acculturation attitudes toward the country of origin negatively correlated with children's L2 skills at t[subscript 1] and at t[subscript 2]. Furthermore, time spent in early childcare predicted L2 skills at t[subscript 1] and at t[subscript 2]. Parental L2 proficiency and children's contact with German language speakers outside of childcare were related to children's L2 skills at t[subscript 1]. Parental L2 proficiency mediated the relationship between parental acculturation attitudes and children's L2 skills. Practice or Policy: The findings support the importance of early childcare attendance and parental acculturation for L2 skills and acquisition in children with an immigrant background.

The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) measures general intelligence and its two main components, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, each comprising of two subtests. The RIAS has been recently standardized in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain. Using the standardization samples of the U.S. (n = 2,438), Danish (n = 983), German (n = 2,103), and Spanish (n = 1,933) versions of the RIAS, this study examined measurement invariance across these four language groups for a single-factor structure, an oblique two-factor structure with a verbal and nonverbal factor, and a bifactor structure with a general, a verbal, and a nonverbal factor. Single-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the oblique two-factor and bifactor structure for each language group but not the single-factor structure. The bifactor analysis revealed that the general factor accounted for the largest proportion of common variance in each language group, while the amount of variance accounted for by the two specific factors was small and their reliabilities low. Multiple-group CFA supported scalar invariance in both, the oblique two-factor and bifactor structure.

Common sense suggests that romantic partners tend to be interdependent in their well-being and self-esteem. The authors tested the degree to which codevelopment in romantic partners (i.e., development in similar directions) is due to mutual influence between partners or due to the effects of shared environment, using longitudinal data from 5 samples of couples (N = 4,116 participants). The samples included dating, cohabiting, and married couples, with a broad age range covering young adulthood to old age. The authors used a longitudinal version of the actor-partner interdependence model and examined measures of well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depression) and self-esteem. After conducting the study-level analyses, we meta-analytically aggregated the findings across studies. The results showed significant mutual influence between partners in life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depression, and significant effects of shared environment on life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, depression, and self-esteem. The findings suggest that both mutual influence and shared environment account for codevelopment of well-being in romantic partners. In contrast, only shared environment but not mutual influence contributes to the partners' codevelopment of self-esteem. The findings have important implications because they show that the level of well-being of a person's relationship partner has long-term influence on the person's own well-being.

This article addresses the questions: why is the development of conversational competence important within higher education? And how might this goal be pursued? We offer answers that may aid a broad range of stakeholders (language learners, course designers, lecturers, language development managers, and policy makers) in thinking through these issues. Our point of departure is the view that, whilst conversational interaction is significant, prevalent and complex, the development of conversational competence receives insufficient attention. We propose that this indispensable skill can be enhanced through dedicated development in the process of learning additional languages. To illustrate how this could be done, we provide extended examples from three conversation courses that are informed by a broad and normative definition of conversation that is coupled with a didactics of conversation rooted in critical theory and critical discourse analysis. The three courses are: a French conversation class in which conversation serves as mediator of identity and difference in an imagined community; conversations between learners of German who are paired with residents of a retirement home where conversation serves to fortify auto/biographical, intercultural and intergenerational contracts; and an English conversation group in which learners combine topic-oriented conversations with shaping the conversations that in turn shape them. Combined, these courses foreshadow fragments of an explicit curriculum aimed at developing conversational competence.

Inquiry-based education has been part of innovative science teaching for the last few decades. With the competence orientation now underlying many national curricula, one of the emerging questions is how the development of student competences can be fostered in the context of inquiry-based science education. One approach to supporting students in their learning is formative assessment, which is, however, not frequently used in a structured way in daily teaching practice. The aim of this study therefore is to explore what kinds of measures might support science teachers in implementing formative assessment activities in their inquiry-based education. For this, firstly, we investigated the challenges that occur on a classroom level when using formative assessment methods in inquiry-based science education from teachers' perspectives. Secondly, we analyzed the teachers' suggestions on measures of support. Based on the respective results, this paper discusses implications for an implementation of structured formative assessment in inquiry-based science education to enhance student competences.

Urie Bronfenbrenner and Ernest Boyer argued for leaving the laboratory to conduct rigorous developmental research in the real world where children are found--in the places they go. Contributions to this special issue meet Bronfenbrenner and Boyer's call while at the same time recognizing the continued importance of laboratory research. These articles range from a review of research on the arts to a language intervention in Senegal to large-scale dissemination and intervention projects designed to communicate the best developmental science to families, public agencies, and schools. Together these articles illustrate how we can study development in the world and enrich our work on the factors that promote development. Taking this path presents us with a set of additional hurdles to be addressed, such as how to communicate with the public and how to scale up our interventions in the face of diversity along many dimensions.

As empirical studies have consistently shown, low achievement in mathematics at the secondary level can often be traced to deficits in the understanding of certain basic arithmetic concepts taught in primary school. The present intervention study in middle schools evaluated whether such learning deficits can be reduced effectively and whether the type of instruction influences students' progress. The sample consisted of 123 students in 34 classes, split among one control group and two intervention groups: (a) small group instruction and (b) independent work partially integrated into regular classrooms. Over a period of 14 weeks, students were taught basic concepts, such as place value and basic operations. In addition, they practiced fact retrieval and counting (in groups). Multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that the interventions can be used to reduce given deficits.

Much has been written about the role of human resources professionals in creating sustainable organizations. However, despite recognition that organizational human resources functions have an important role to play in sustainability, researchers tend to focus on strategic issues and sustainability. This higher-order focus has often meant that practical, operational-level advice has been overlooked. This article addresses that gap by presenting a framework of suggested sustainable recruitment and selection practices. This framework is applicable to practitioners and acts as a curriculum for educators. Almost 90 specific environmental, economic and social sustainability practices in recruitment and selection were revealed in the data collection process. A prioritized top 10 list of practices is recommended for immediate implementation.

Sleep timing undergoes profound changes during adolescence, often resulting in inadequate sleep duration. The present study examines the relationship of sleep duration with positive attitude toward life and academic achievement in a sample of 2716 adolescents in Switzerland (mean age: 15.4 years, SD = 0.8), and whether this relationship is mediated by increased daytime tiredness and lower self-discipline/behavioral persistence. Further, we address the question whether adolescents who start school modestly later (20 min; n = 343) receive more sleep and report better functioning. Sleeping less than an average of 8 h per night was related to more tiredness, inferior behavioral persistence, less positive attitude toward life, and lower school grades, as compared to longer sleep duration. Daytime tiredness and behavioral persistence mediated the relationship between short sleep duration and positive attitude toward life and school grades. Students who started school 20 min later received reliably more sleep and reported less tiredness. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

The author enjoyed reading Katharine Hay's ambitious and humbling visions for evaluation field building in South Asia. She has successfully positioned herself on a high mountain with a wonderful set of binoculars that enable her to see the entire evaluation landscape of South Asia. She magically sees and describes significant historical forces and professional movements of the past, helping one to appreciate how the current landscape was fashioned. Her insights about where South Asia is now evaluation wise are very helpful, because the influences of centralized planning in what she calls the postcolonial period and the evaluation research of liberalization period are still at play. But it is her wishes and suggestions for the future that the author finds most helpful--emphasis on government use of evaluation, accountability and learning focused on citizens and the poor, and emphasis on multiple users and citizen engagement. In this article, the author focuses on these three themes and reflects on what insights he could add to an evaluation future in South Asia. He argues that experience is a better teacher, and he is totally lacking it with respect to evaluation in South Asia. What has worked in the United States is something that South Asia evaluators are welcome to read about. However, their own experience will be their true teacher.

In mathematics instruction, can a teacher implement surface features of instruction that foster self-regulated learning as well as achieve quality at the deeper level of instruction, that is, focus on higher-order thinking, problem-solving, and mathematical modeling? An educational reform effort in Switzerland, which is based on constructivist and sociocultural theories of mathematics learning, targets both these dimensions: self-regulated learning and conceptual understanding. We examined the realization of the two dimensions in classroom instruction in a video-based study of 79 eighth-grade math classes using three kinds of data: videotapes of mathematics lessons, student and teacher questionnaires, and achievement tests. As to the surface level of instruction, teachers reported how frequently they provided opportunities for self-regulated learning. With regard to the deeper level of instruction, teachers reported how frequently they provided opportunities for independent problem solving. In addition, we examined the extent to which teachers' pedagogical beliefs reflected a constructivist orientation. The results showed that teachers implemented the two dimensions relatively independently of one another. Teachers' constructivist-oriented beliefs influenced only opportunities provided for independent problem solving and did not affect opportunities for self-regulated learning. Opportunities for self-regulated learning had a positive effect on students' learning experience. Professional development should encourage teachers to take greater account of both surface-level and deeper-level (quality) features of instruction.

Attempts to elucidate the relationship between physics achievement and psychological constructs. Concludes that cognitive factors and interest contribute relatively stable components in all the path analyses. Contains 27 references. (DDR)

In search of a better understanding of the learning difficulties in basic electricity, learning results, interest, achievement motivation, IQ, and cognitive development were investigated in students from both urban and rural schools. An analysis reveals that, for urban classes, learning is related primarily to interest and motivation and, for rural classes, primarily cognitive abilities. (KR)