What Works in School? Expert and Novice Teachers’ Beliefs about School Effectiveness

In 2009, John Hattie first published his extensive metasynthesis concerning determinants of student achievement. It provides an answer to the question: “What works in school?” The present study examines how this question is answered by pre- and in-service teachers, how their beliefs correspond to the current state of research and whether they differ according to the teachers' level of expertise. Thus, it takes on a novel approach as it draws on data from two sources in the field of education -- empirical research and teachers’ beliefs -- and examines their similarities and differences. The teachers’ beliefs were elicited by asking N = 729 participants to estimate the effect sizes of several determinants of student achievement. Those were compared to the empirical effect sizes found by Hattie (2009). Profile correlations showed that expert teachers’ beliefs are more congruent with current research findings than those of novice teachers. We further examined where expert and novice teachers’ beliefs differ substantially from each other by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and comparing group means in latent variables. Our findings suggest that teachers’ beliefs about school effectiveness are related to professional experience: Expert teachers showed a stronger overall congruence with empirical evidence, scoring higher in achievement-related variables and lower in variables concerning surface- and infrastructural conditions of schooling as well as student-internal factors. Results are discussed with regard to teacher-education practices that emphasize research findings and challenge existing beliefs of (prospective) teachers

Are students in teacher training interested in educational-scientific contents? A longitudinal study covering the first four semesters

Lehramtsstudierende interessieren sich zu Beginn ihres Studiums häufig stark für pädagogische Inhalte. Ob dieses hohe Interesse allerdings im Studienverlauf stabil ist, wurde bisher unzureichend empirisch untersucht. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde an N = 1169 Lehramtsstudierenden überprüft, wie sich das Interesse an bildungswissenschaftlichen Inhalten über vier Semester entwickelt. Zusätzlich wurden Eingangsmerkmale der Studierenden als Prädiktoren zur Erklärung interindividueller Unterschiede einbezogen. Ein zentrales Ergebnis latenter Wachstumskurvenmodelle ist, dass das Interesse an den Bildungswissenschaften zwar im Mittel über die Zeit stabil bleibt, sich aber bedeutsame Varianz im Veränderungswert zeigt. Diese kann durch die Sicherheit der Studienwahl und das angestrebte Lehramt erklärt werden, und zwar in die Richtung, dass Studierende mit hoher Entscheidungssicherheit sowie Studierende eines gymnasialen Lehramts tendenziell an Interesse dazugewinnen. (DIPF/Orig.)At the beginning of their studies, students in teacher training are often strongly interested in pedagogical contents. However, whether this strong interest remains stable throughout the course of studies has as yet hardly been examined empirically. On the basis of a sample of N = 1169 students enrolled in teacher training, the present study investigates how the interest in educational-scientific contents develops over a period of four semesters. In addition, enrollment characteristics of students are included as predictors for the explanation of inter-individual differences. A key result of latent growth curve models is that, on average, the interest in educational sciences remains stable over time, however, significant variance is revealed in the change value. This can be explained by the certainty of the choice of studies and the type of teaching post aimed at, namely, it can be shown that students who are to a high degree sure that they made the right choice and students choosing an academic track program tend to build up interest. (DIPF/Orig.

From Screening to Therapy: Anti-HCV Screening and Linkage to Care in a Network of General Practitioners and a Private Gastroenterology Practice

(1) Background: Low rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis and sub-optimal linkage to care constitute barriers toward eliminating the infection. In 2012/2013, we showed that HCV screening in primary care detects unknown cases. However, hepatitis C patients may not receive further diagnostics and therapy because they drop out during the referral pathway to secondary care. Thus, we used an existing network of primary care physicians and a practice of gastroenterology to investigate the pathway from screening to therapy. (2) Methods: HCV screening was prospectively included in a routine check-up of primary care physicians who cooperated regularly with a private gastroenterology practice. Anti-HCV-positive patients were referred for further specialized diagnostics and treatment if indicated. (3) Results: Seventeen primary care practices screened 1875 patients. Twelve individuals were anti-HCV-positive (0.6%), six of them reported previous antiviral HCV therapy, and one untreated patient was HCV-RNA-positive (0.05% of the population). None of the 12 anti-HCV-positive cases showed up at the private gastroenterology practice. Further clinical details of the pathway from screening to therapy could not be analyzed. (4) Conclusions: The linkage between primary and secondary care appears to be problematic in the HCV setting even among cooperating partners, but robust conclusions require larger datasets

Endowashers: an overlooked risk for possible post-endoscopic infections

Background: Prevention of post-endoscopy infections is an important objective to assure patient safety. Endowashers, or high throughput irrigation water pumps, are a frequently used device on endoscopes. Recommendations published by professional bodies and regulatory health agencies cover not only adequate reprocessing of fiber-endoscopes but also state accepted methods of regular microbial sampling. Although major instruments like endoscopes are covered by these recommendations, other devices used as optional add-ons for endoscopes are not included

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against later initiation of treatment. Most studies were of limited quality. We found indications of short-term positive effects from language therapies in children with SLI. Longterm outcomes were not investigated. No evidence supporting the advantage of earlier treatment initiation was identified. Conclusions: The benefit of population-based language screening of preschool children with SLI is not proven. Controlled screening studies are therefore necessary. For Germany, the accuracy of existing diagnostic instruments has not yet been sufficiently examined

Distributed Dendritic Processing Facilitates Object Detection: A Computational Analysis on the Visual System of the Fly

Hennig P, Möller R, Egelhaaf M. Distributed Dendritic Processing Facilitates Object Detection: A Computational Analysis on the Visual System of the Fly. PLoS ONE. 2008;3(8): e3092.Background: Detecting objects is an important task when moving through a natural environment. Flies, for example, may land on salient objects or may avoid collisions with them. The neuronal ensemble of Figure Detection cells (FD-cells) in the visual system of the fly is likely to be involved in controlling these behaviours, as these cells are more sensitive to objects than to extended background structures. Until now the computations in the presynaptic neuronal network of FD-cells and, in particular, the functional significance of the experimentally established distributed dendritic processing of excitatory and inhibitory inputs is not understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We use model simulations to analyse the neuronal computations responsible for the preference of FD-cells for small objects. We employed a new modelling approach which allowed us to account for the spatial spread of electrical signals in the dendrites while avoiding detailed compartmental modelling. The models are based on available physiological and anatomical data. Three models were tested each implementing an inhibitory neural circuit, but differing by the spatial arrangement of the inhibitory interaction. Parameter optimisation with an evolutionary algorithm revealed that only distributed dendritic processing satisfies the constraints arising from electrophysiological experiments. In contrast to a direct dendro-dendritic inhibition of the FD-cell (Direct Distributed Inhibition model), an inhibition of its presynaptic retinotopic elements (Indirect Distributed Inhibition model) requires smaller changes in input resistance in the inhibited neurons during visual stimulation. Conclusions/Significance: Distributed dendritic inhibition of retinotopic elements as implemented in our Indirect Distributed Inhibition model is the most plausible wiring scheme for the neuronal circuit of FD-cells. This microcircuit is computationally similar to lateral inhibition between the retinotopic elements. Hence, distributed inhibition might be an alternative explanation of perceptual phenomena currently explained by lateral inhibition networks

Ki-67 as a prognostic marker in mantle cell lymphoma—consensus guidelines of the pathology panel of the European MCL Network

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) has a heterogeneous clinical course and is mainly an aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma; however, there are some indolent cases The Ki-67 index, defined by the percentage of Ki-67-positive lymphoma cells on histopathological slides, has been shown to be a very powerful prognostic biomarker. The pathology panel of the European MCL Network evaluated methods to assess the Ki-67 index including stringent counting, digital image analysis, and estimation by eyeballing. Counting of 2 × 500 lymphoma cells is the gold standard to assess the Ki-67 index since this value has been shown to predict survival in prospective randomized trials of the European MCL Network. Estimation by eyeballing and digital image analysis showed a poor concordance with the gold standard (concordance correlation coefficients [CCC] between 0.29 and 0.61 for eyeballing and CCC of 0.24 and 0.37 for two methods of digital image analysis, respectively). Counting a reduced number of lymphoma cells (2 × 100 cells) showed high interobserver agreement (CCC = 0.74). Pitfalls of the Ki-67 index are discussed and guidelines and recommendations for assessing the Ki-67 index in MCL are given

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation