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A principal's technology leadership (TL) practices can facilitate information and communication technologies (ICT) integration into K-12 schools, alongside a drastic change in teachers' organizational behaviors to accompany this technological and cultural transformation process. However, there is little evidence of which TL practices contribute to such a holistic change in school culture; that is, the learning organization (LO) culture stimulating teachers' individual and collective professional learning orientations in tandem. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to identify distinct profiles of LO culture in schools, based on teachers' professional learning orientations. The second is to explore how a principal's TL practices are related to teachers' endorsement of these LO profiles. Data were drawn from 1105 teachers and 58 principals in 69 K-12 schools in Turkey. Multilevel latent profile analysis was used to uncover latent LO profiles with similar professional learning orientations. The resulting profiles were regressed on principals' TL practices, measured against the International Society for Technology in Education-Administrators (ISTE-A) standards. Teachers' professional learning orientations fell into high, moderate, and low-level LO profiles. The "systemic improvement" ISTE-A standard, including TL practices such as a principal's data-driven decision making, school benchmarking, and technology-oriented staff employment, proved to be a significant predictor of a high-level LO profile. The school stage and teacher's age were also found to be associated with that profile. Overall, we conclude that TL practices may have far-reaching implications for teachers' professional learning orientations and school culture.

Although there is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of being digitally competent today, there have been few empirical investigations into the assessment of primary school students' digital competences. This study presents a systematic review of the empirical research on the assessment of primary school students' digital competences. In total, 14 studies were selected and reviewed. The purpose of this review is twofold. First, the areas of digital competence that were measured by the assessment instruments were labeled according to the European Digital Competence Framework. Results showed that most studies evaluated digital competences as 'information and data literacy', 'communication and collaboration' and 'creation of digital content'. Less attention is paid to the assessment of the competence areas 'safely and responsible use' and 'problem solving'. Besides, the emphasis of most instruments is rather on the measurement of skills. Attention towards knowledge and attitudes, as important aspects of competences, remain underexposed. Second, an analysis of the provided evidence of the quality of assessment instruments for measuring primary school students' digital competences is given, based on the Research Centre for Examination and Certification Framework. Results indicate different approaches to increase the quality of the assessment instruments, but there is generally poor reporting of the psychometric properties of the tests. Based on these results, suggestions for further research and practice are discussed.

In our current diverse society, young people need a wide scope of social citizenship competences to coexist with and understand the otherness of others. Schools are one of the social practices in which students develop these social citizenship competences. This study aims to identify how socio-ethnic diversity in the classroom is related to the social citizenship competences of sixth grade primary school students. To measure students' social citizenship competences, a video-based situational judgement test (skills) and the Citizenship Competences Questionnaire (knowledge, attitudes and reflection) were administered to 791 students in 54 classes in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium). Socio-ethnic classroom diversity variables were measured by means of a student and parent background questionnaire. A regression analysis with a two-level design at student and classroom level was conducted for each of the social citizenship scales. The results indicate that differences in students' social citizenship competences are mainly explained by student-level variables. Variables measuring socio-ethnic diversity in the classroom showed that students in more social and ethnic diverse classrooms had more positive attitudes towards dealing with differences, whereas no significant relation with other social citizenship scales was found.

This study aims to explore the interrelatedness of socio-ethnic classroom diversity, teachers' citizenship beliefs, teacher practices to create a citizenship-fostering classroom climate, and their relationship with social citizenship competences of primary school students in Flanders. Data were gathered from 686 sixth-grade primary school students in 44 classrooms and their 44 teachers. To analyze the data, a multilevel path analysis was conducted for each of the social citizenship components (i.e., skills, knowledge, attitudes, reflections). Results indicate that ethnic classroom diversity is related to teachers' liberal-critical citizenship beliefs, which in turn are linked to their practices in creating a citizenship-fostering classroom climate. Regarding their role in fostering students' social citizenship competences, three significant relationships were found. First, more social classroom diversity was positively related to students' attitudes toward dealing with conflicts. Second, teachers' conservative citizenship beliefs negatively related to students' reflections about acting in a socially responsible manner and dealing with differences. Finally, contrary to expectations, students from classrooms with teachers contributing more to a citizenship-fostering climate scored lower on knowledge about acting in a socially responsible manner and dealing with conflicts.

Background: A significant number of secondary school students struggle with comprehending texts proficiently. Enhancing their reading comprehension requires knowledge about how this ability is related to various motivational and behavioural characteristics. The central aim of this study was therefore to investigate the (in)direct relationships between ninth-grade students' motivational (i.e., reading motivation and reading self-concept) and behavioural characteristics (i.e., reading strategy use, reading engagement and reading frequency) and their reading comprehension. Furthermore, differential relationships across educational tracks are investigated. Methods: A total of 2,485 ninth-grade students completed a standardised reading comprehension test and an online questionnaire to operationalise the motivational and behavioural reading variables. Data were analysed using multigroup structural equation modelling to study potential differential relationships across educational tracks (i.e., academic, technical and vocational track). Results: Motivational and behavioural characteristics were directly related to students' reading comprehension. Moreover, the relationships between motivational characteristics and reading comprehension were mediated by behavioural characteristics. As to differences across educational tracks, not all of the relationships were corroborated similarly for each track. Conclusion: Generally, the results emphasise the importance of considering the 'bigger picture', taking into account the respective contribution of both behavioural and motivational characteristics to secondary school students' reading comprehension and concurrently considering differences across educational tracks.

Effective listening comprehension skills are an important prerequisite for the academic success of primary school students. However, the assessment of listening skills in the instructional language appears to have received only scant attention in the literature. Therefore, the goal of the present study was twofold. Firstly, a comprehensive listening test was developed and different aspects of construct validity supporting the use of the listening test were explored. The listening test was administered to 1001 sixth-grade primary school students in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Next, the test items were controlled for item difficulty and discrimination, dimensionality, model-data fit, local item independence, monotonicity, and gender differential item functioning. The final listening test consisted of 24 multiple-choice and open-ended test items. Secondly, the listening test was used to identify differences between students' listening skills based on gender and home language. The results indicate that gender was not significantly related to listening comprehension skills, but L1 Dutch-speaking students significantly outperformed L2 Dutch-speaking students. This study also covers possible further fine-tuning of the instrument.

This study aimed to provide a more comprehensive view on the relationship between metacognitive awareness, intrinsic and extrinsic listening motivation, and L1 primary school students' critical listening skills. A critical listening test and different self-report questionnaires were administered to 649 native Dutch-speaking sixth-grade students. Quantitative data analysis techniques, including a series of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVAs) and a structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that high-level listeners were more aware of different factors of metacognition (i.e., person knowledge, problem-solving, and directed attention) and more intrinsically motivated to listen compared to average and low-level listeners. Further, complex structural relationships among students' motivation, metacognitive awareness, and critical listening skills were found. The results showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic listening motivation were antecedents of students' reported awareness of metacognition. The findings also suggested that metacognitive awareness mediated the relationship between motivation and critical listening skills.

The main objective of this study is to develop a self-report instrument to measure preservice teachers' ICT competencies in education. The questionnaire items of this instrument are based on an existing comprehensive framework and were created with input from experts in the field. The data were collected from a sample of 931 final-year preservice teachers in Flanders (Belgium). A first subsample was used for an exploratory factor analysis, and a second one to verify the identified factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. A two-factor structure of ICT competencies was identified: (1) competencies to support pupils for ICT use in class and (2) competencies to use ICT for instructional design. This two-factor structure was confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis. Recommendations are made on how this reliable instrument can help assess the level and progress of preservice teachers' ICT competencies.

Information and communication technology (ICT) use became of major importance for primary schools across the world as ICT has the potential to foster teaching and learning processes. ICT use is therefore a central measurement concept (dependent variable) in many ICT integration studies. This data paper presents two datasets (2008 and 2011) that contain measurements on ICT use in primary schools on the one hand and contributing conditions on the other hand. In both datasets, ICT use refers to different types of use: basic ICT use, ICT as a learning tool and ICT as an information tool. The influencing conditions refer to variables situated on the individual teacher level (eg, ICT competences, ICT professional development, etc) and the school organization level (eg, ICT school vision, ICT leadership, etc) that support or hinder the use of ICT for teaching and learning.

The present study aimed to identify the role of both student- and school-level characteristics in primary school students' achievement in the science curriculum. As societies become more culturally and linguistically diverse, many students enter the classroom with a home language that is different from the language of instruction used at school. This study takes into account both the home language and literacy in the language of instruction in relation to student achievement in science subjects. Questionnaires, reading performance tests, and science achievement tests were administered to 1,761 fourth-grade students from 67 schools across Flanders (Belgium). Multilevel hierarchical regression analyses show that the home language and literacy in the language of instruction play an important role in science achievement at the student level, next to gender and socioeconomic status. Students with a home language that is different from the language of instruction experience difficulties with science subjects. Moreover, the higher students' performance on reading comprehension and self-assessed proficiency in the language of instruction, the higher their score on science achievement tests. At the school level, a school's teachability expectations are one of the key factors related to students' science achievement. Limitations of this study and future directions for research are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the content features of educational technology curricula for primary education developed by national governments. A qualitative cross-case document analysis of the national educational technology curriculum of Norway, Flanders and England was conducted. The analysis focuses on the underlying visions, specific aims and instruction related aspects that are integrated in the national educational technology curricula of the three cases under investigation. The results indicate that specific aims mainly focus on the critical use of educational technology; safe and responsible use of educational technology; information retrieval, processing and production; communication by use of educational technology; and use of educational technology for subject learning. It is possible that a discrepancy exists between the concepts of digital literacy and the specific aims that are addressed in educational technology curricula. Moreover, the rationales that underlie educational technology curricula represent a catalytic and social point of view rather than an economic one. The implications of our findings for curriculum developers and researchers are discussed.

A principal's technology leadership (TL) practices can facilitate information and communication technologies (ICT) integration into K-12 schools, alongside a drastic change in teachers' organizational behaviors to accompany this technological and cultural transformation process. However, there is little evidence of which TL practices contribute to such a holistic change in school culture; that is, the learning organization (LO) culture stimulating teachers' individual and collective professional learning orientations in tandem. The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to identify distinct profiles of LO culture in schools, based on teachers' professional learning orientations. The second is to explore how a principal's TL practices are related to teachers' endorsement of these LO profiles. Data were drawn from 1105 teachers and 58 principals in 69 K-12 schools in Turkey. Multilevel latent profile analysis was used to uncover latent LO profiles with similar professional learning orientations. The resulting profiles were regressed on principals' TL practices, measured against the International Society for Technology in Education-Administrators (ISTE-A) standards. Teachers' professional learning orientations fell into high, moderate, and low-level LO profiles. The "systemic improvement" ISTE-A standard, including TL practices such as a principal's data-driven decision making, school benchmarking, and technology-oriented staff employment, proved to be a significant predictor of a high-level LO profile. The school stage and teacher's age were also found to be associated with that profile. Overall, we conclude that TL practices may have far-reaching implications for teachers' professional learning orientations and school culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our current diverse society, young people need a wide scope of social citizenship competences to coexist with and understand the otherness of others. Schools are one of the social practices in which students develop these social citizenship competences. This study aims to identify how socio-ethnic diversity in the classroom is related to the social citizenship competences of sixth grade primary school students. To measure students' social citizenship competences, a video-based situational judgement test (skills) and the Citizenship Competences Questionnaire (knowledge, attitudes and reflection) were administered to 791 students in 54 classes in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium). Socio-ethnic classroom diversity variables were measured by means of a student and parent background questionnaire. A regression analysis with a two-level design at student and classroom level was conducted for each of the social citizenship scales. The results indicate that differences in students' social citizenship competences are mainly explained by student-level variables. Variables measuring socio-ethnic diversity in the classroom showed that students in more social and ethnic diverse classrooms had more positive attitudes towards dealing with differences, whereas no significant relation with other social citizenship scales was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]