Conditions for student-centered teaching and learning in Qatari elementary math and science classrooms: Relationship between classroom processes and achievement of curriculum standards

Qatar K-12 school reform emphasizes student-centered classrooms where students actively engage in enquiry and use their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Classrooms characterized by these elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, but little research has been done to examine the relationship between these characteristics and standards attainment. This study investigated the conditions for student-centered teaching and learning through examination of teacher and student perceptions, and student achievement in math and science classrooms in higher and lower achieving elementary schools. Data were collected in 17 schools randomly selected from 46 schools that had implemented the standards for at least 3 years. Findings indicate that the percentage of standards met by schools is very low and the incidence of classroom behaviors associated with student-centered classrooms is also very low across schools. However, schools making more progress meeting standards tended to exhibit higher levels of student-centered behaviors. The implications of these findings for professional development and the implementation of reform in Qatar were discussed.The Qatar National Research Fund, National Priorities Research Program, Grant #13-6-7-1

Conditions for Student-Centered Teaching and Learning: Relationship Between Classroom Processes and School Achievement of Curriculum Standards

Qatari educational curriculum standards emphasize student-centered classrooms where students actively engage in inquiry and problem solving. Classrooms characterized by these elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, but little research has been done to examine the relationship between these characteristics and standards attainment or even to determine whether these elements exist. The purpose of this study was to develop profiles of Qatar schools and to examine the relationships among classroom processes, teacher and student perceptions, and student achievement in math and science classrooms in higher and lower achieving elementary schools. Data were collected in October, 2008, in 17 schools randomly selected from 46 schools that had implemented the standards for at least 3 years. Descriptive data for school profiles were generated and compared qualitatively. Findings indicate that the percentage of standards met by schools is very low (.9% to 12.1%) and the incidence of classroom behaviors associated with student-centered classrooms is also very low across schools (0% to 9.53%). However, teachers report high levels of efficacy on a 6 point scale for teaching in reform-oriented schools (4.11 to 5.41) and perceive that they are implementing high levels of standards-based practices (5.02 to 5.73). Reports of inquiry practices were lower (4.2 to 5.76) but still high compared to observation of these practices. While schools making more progress meeting standards tended to exhibit higher levels of student-centered behaviors (albeit still low), no patterns existed for teacher perceptions. They tended to be high despite achievement level or level of observed implementation. Students’ perceptions of classroom environment and problem solving also were high, but variations by achievement level were noted with higher performing schools reporting greater student-centeredness and problem-solving activities. The mismatch between participant perceptions and both observed behaviors and achievement has implications for the implementation of reform in general and professional development in particular.Qatar National Research Fun

Investigation of the Learning Environment in Higher and Lower Performing "Education for a New Era" Schools

Recently, Qatar established key elements of educational reform including curriculum standards; emphasis on student-centered teaching; charter school establishment; standards-based assessment; English as the language of instruction, and extensive teacher professional development. While study of organizational structures/outcomes of this reform is ongoing (Rand, 2007), little attention has been placed on the study of classroom processes. Since the reform focuses on learning environments that foster attainment of curriculum standards, research on teaching and learning environments in schools targeted for reform is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in math/science classroom environment in higher- and lower-performing Qatari elementary schools operating for three years. Results suggest a mismatch between teacher perceptions and objective observations of learning environment in both high- and low-performing schools.Qatar National Research Foundation, National Priorities Research Program, Grant # 13-6-7-1

Using Classroom Observation to Investigate Productive Student Participation in Higher- and Lower-Performing Qatari Schools

In 2002, Qatar established key elements of educational reform in schools including national curriculum standards; emphasis on critical thinking through student-centered teaching; establishment of charter (independent) schools; standards-based assessment; English as the language of instruction in math and science, and extensive teacher professional development. While classrooms characterized by these reform elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, little research has been done to examine the relationship between these characteristics and standards attainment or even to determine whether these classroom teaching and learning elements exist (Knight et al., 2011). Three phases of research were conducted in a research project funded by the Qatar National research Foundation over a period of three years. The first phase provided descriptions of teaching and learning in reform-focused schools (see Akhlef & Knight, 2011). The current study extends the profiles developed in Phase I through further investigation of observed differences in student-centered instruction and productive participation of elementary math and science students in higher and lower performing Qatari schools implementing the reform. Data were collected in the Fall of 2008 in 17 schools randomly selected from 46 schools that had implemented the Qatar standards for at least 3 years. Findings from this study emphasize the 2011 AERA theme involving the use of educational research that contributes to public policy and public good. This research provides information about teaching and learning in student-centered classrooms at two levels – the professional knowledge base and the Qatar educational context and can inform Qatari policy makers who are involved in the reform movement.The Qatar National Research Foundation, National Priorities Research Program Grant # 13-6-7-1

Using the Stallings Observation System to Investigate Time on Task in Four Countries

This paper presents the history of the Stallings Observation System (SOS) and describes the adaptation of the SOS instrument, training for its use in international settings, and results from four countries of the World Bank International Time on Task (ITOT) project. The ITOT project had three major goals: 1) to discover how instructional time is used at different levels in certain countries, particularly in rural and low income areas; 2) to identify obstacles to optimal use of instructional time; and 3) to encourage governments to take the necessary measures to provide students with optimal time for learning . In order to address ITOT at the classroom level, a pilot study in Tunisia was conducted that targeted four related objectives: 1)adaptation of the Stallings snapshot observation instrument for use in project classrooms; 2) design and implementation of training for observers; 3) determination of reliability and validity of observation procedures; and 4) generation of a sample profile of classrooms in a Tunisian elementary school. This paper summarizes the training and findings from the initial pilot study of time usage at the classroom level conducted in Tunisia in January, 2004 and the training and results from subsequent ITOT studies in four countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, and Brazil. More specifically, sections of the paper provide an overview of the research on effective use of instructional time using the Stallings instrument, description of the adaptation of the Stallings Snapshot observation instrument for use in the project, a summary of the training and procedures developed for the pilot study and implemented in four countries, and the results and conclusions from the observational studies in four countries

Investigating the Relationship Between Professional Development and Student-Centered Learning Environments in Qatari Math and Science Elementary Classrooms

While considerable study of the organizational structures and outcomes of Qatari educational reform in Education for a New Era initiatives has been planned and implemented (see Rand, 2007), little attention has been placed on the study of what is occurring in the site where learning actually takes place – the classroom. Little research in Qatari or other Arab classrooms has been conducted to examine the relationship between the learning environment and either attainment of the student-centered standards or professional development related to standards or even to determine whether the classroom teaching and learning elements associated with student-centered learning environments exist (see e.g., Knight et al., 2011). Since the reform focuses on creating learning environments that foster attainment of the student-centered curriculum standards, research on classroom learning environments in schools targeted for reform provides valuable information. In particular, the role of professional development in creating appropriate learning environments needs to be investigated.Qatar National Research Foundation, National Priorities Research Program, Grant # 13-6-7-

BMP-7 Does Not Protect against Bleomycin-Induced Lung or Skin Fibrosis

Bone morphogenic protein (BMP)-7 is a member of the BMP family which are structurally and functionally related, and part of the TGFβ super family of growth factors. BMP-7 has been reported to inhibit renal fibrosis and TGFβ1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), in part through negative interactions with TGFβ1 induced Smad 2/3 activation. We utilized in vivo bleomycin-induced fibrosis models in the skin and lung to determine the potential therapeutic effect of BMP-7. We then determined the effect of BMP-7 on TGFβ1-induced EMT in lung epithelial cells and collagen production by human lung fibroblasts. We show that BMP-7 did not affect bleomycin-induced fibrosis in either the lung or skin in vivo; had no effect on expression of pro-fibrotic genes by human lung fibroblasts, either at rest or following exposure to TGFβ1; and did not modulate TGFβ1 -induced EMT in human lung epithelial cells. Taken together our data indicates that BMP-7 has no anti-fibrotic effect in lung or skin fibrosis either in vivo or in vitro. This suggests that the therapeutic options for BMP-7 may be confined to the renal compartment

An unbiased proteomic screen reveals caspase cleavage is positively and negatively regulated by substrate phosphorylation

Post-translational modifications of proteins regulate diverse cellular functions, with mounting evidence suggesting that hierarchical cross-talk between distinct modifications may fine-tune cellular responses. For example, in apoptosis, caspases promote cell death via cleavage of key structural and enzymatic proteins that in some instances is inhibited by phosphorylation near the scissile bond. In this study, we systematically investigated how protein phosphorylation affects susceptibility to caspase cleavage using an N-terminomic strategy, namely, a modified terminal amino isotopic labeling of substrates (TAILS) workflow, to identify proteins for which caspase-catalyzed cleavage is modulated by phosphatase treatment. We validated the effects of phosphorylation on three of the identified proteins and found that Yap1 and Golgin-160 exhibit decreased cleavage when phosphorylated, whereas cleavage of MST3 was promoted by phosphorylation. Furthermore, using synthetic peptides we systematically examined the influence of phosphoserine throughout the entirety of caspase-3, -7, and -8 recognition motifs and observed a general inhibitory effect of phosphorylation even at residues considered outside the classical consensus motif. Overall, our work demonstrates a role for phosphorylation in controlling caspase-mediated cleavage and shows that N-terminomic strategies can be tailored to study cross-talk between phosphorylation and proteolysis. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc