Differential ability and attainment in language and arithmetic of Dutch primary school pupils.

Background. In pre-school and primary education pupils differ in many abilities and competences (‘giftedness’). Yet mainstream educational practice seems rather homogeneous in providing age-based or grade-class subject matter approaches. Aims. To clarify whether pupils scoring initially at high ability level do develop and attain differently at school with respect to language and arithmetic compared with pupils displaying other initial ability levels. To investigate whether specific individual, family or educational variables co-vary with the attainment of these different types of pupils in school. Samples. Data from the large-scale PRIMA cohort study including a total of 8258 grade 2 and 4 pupils from 438 primary schools in The Netherlands. Methods. Secondary analyses were carried out to construct gain scores for both language and arithmetic proficiency and a number of behavioural, attitudinal, family and educational characteristics. The pupils were grouped into different ability categories (highly able; able; above average; average and below). Further analyses used Pearson correlations and analyses of variance both between and within ability categories. Cross-validation was done by introducing a cohort of younger pupils in pre-school and grouping both cohorts into decile groups based on initial ability in language and arithmetic. Results. Highly able pupils generally decreased in attainment in both language and arithmetic, whereas pupils in average and below average groups improved their language and arithmetic scores. Only with highly able pupils were some educational characteristics correlated with the pupils’ development in achievement, behaviour and attitudes. Conclusions. Pre-school and primary education should better match pupils’ differences in abilities and competences from their start in pre-school to improve their functioning, learning processes and outcomes. Recommendations for educational improvement strategies are presented in closing.

Optimal Scaffolding Methods for Students with Emotional and Behavioural Disorders

Optimal assistance of an adult, adapted to the current level of understanding of the student (scaffolding), can help students with emotional and behavioural problems (EBD) to demonstrate a similar level of understanding on scientific tasks, compared to students from regular education (Van Der Steen, Steenbeek, Wielinski & Van Geert, 2012). In the present study the optimal scaffolding techniques for EBD students were investigated, as well as how these differ from scaffolding techniques used for regular students. A researcher visited five EBD students and five regular students (aged three to six years old) three times in a 1,5 years period. Student and researcher worked together on scientific tasks about gravity and air pressure, while the researcher asked questions. An adaptive protocol was used, so that all children were asked the same basic questions about the mechanisms of the task. Beside this, the researcher was also allowed to ask follow-up questions and use scaffolding methods when these seemed necessary. We found a bigger amount of scaffolding in the group of EBD students compared to the regular students. The scaffolding techniques that were used also differed between the two groups. For EBD students, we saw more scaffolding strategies focused on keeping the student committed to the task, and less strategies aimed at the relationship between the child and the researcher. Furthermore, in the group of regular students we saw a decreasing trend in the amount of scaffolding over the course of three visits. This trend was not visible for the EBD students. These results highlight the importance for using different scaffolding strategies when working with EBD students compared to regular students. Future research can give a clearer image of the differences in scaffolding needs between these two groups.