This study investigated how a set of newly developed indicators of early learning and teaching by the government, which was based on western ideology of child learning, was implemented in a Chinese context like Hong Kong. Twelve early childhood settings of 5747 children and 284 staff volunteered to implement the indicators within two years and the processes were observed and analysed. A multi-method, multi-source data collection strategy was used to document the self-evaluation and improvement process. All the participating settings went through the five stages of the evaluation cycle: understanding the Performance Indicators, assessing learning and teaching, formulating an action plan for improvement, implementing the action plan, and reflection. The results indicated that: (1) implementing a quality assurance cycle took time, resources and commitment; (2) the implementation helped to enhance practitioners' professionalism; and (3) teacher professionalism was the key to the success of this quality assurance mechanism. The socio-contextual factors and the educational implications of these findings are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760701516942]

This study uses data collected from children in Hong Kong for the PIRLS international reading survey of 2001. A total of 4867 students aged 9 to 10 years from 147 primary schools were assessed. The aim of the study is to investigate the observed differences in comprehension skills displayed in the test results from students at three ability levels. Affective factors (attitudes and reading self-concept) are also compared for the three groups. Results indicate that the lower-ability students performed very poorly in all four processes of comprehension even at the most basic level of retrieval of facts. This weakness at the lower level greatly impaired the students' ability to operate at higher levels of comprehension involving inference, prediction, integration of ideas and critical evaluation. The weakest readers had extreme difficulty with test items requiring an extended written response. Even on simple multiple-choice items their performance was inferior to the average and higher-ability groups. Data from the supplementary questionnaires indicates that across all ability groups the children's attitude toward reading is correlated positively with reading achievement. However, data collected on the students' reading self-concept produced anomalous results that cast some doubt on the feasibility of using self-evaluation and self-report questionnaires with this age and cultural group. Practical implications from the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19404150509546781]

For some time, change has been the driving force in language teaching and learning. This seems to be even truer today than it was in the past, and seems set to be even more so in the future, which raises the questions of how to identify what is known and what is needed by teachers managing the changes, and how to address any needs. In this study, we asked 35 experienced secondary school teachers of English in Hong Kong to rate their own change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics, to find out how they would rate themselves in the various areas, and to consider whether such information can be of use in identifying change-related support needs. The results show that the teachers self-assessed some of their change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics as more and some less developed than others. Reasons are put forward to explain these different ratings, and ways in which such information might be used to identify teachers' change- related needs are discussed.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598660120061327]

A total of 378 Hong Kong adolescents estimated their own and their parents' IQ score on each of Gardner's 10 multiple intelligences: verbal (linguistic), logical (mathematical), spatial, musical, body‐kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, existential, spiritual and naturalistic. They answered three simple questions concerning intelligence and intelligence tests. There were sex differences in eight of the 10 self‐estimates except for verbal and interpersonal. Male participants gave higher scores than female participants. Factor analyses of the 10 dimensions yielded a two‐interpretable‐factor solution: personal–social–spiritual intelligence and academic–arts–kinesthetic intelligence. There were consistent sex differences in the estimates of the academic–arts–kinesthetic intelligence factor for oneself, but not for parents, while there were sex differences in the estimates of the personal–social–spiritual intelligence factor for oneself and for mother, but not for father. The two factor scores were predicted by both gender and belief about intelligence.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598130600618009]

The aim of this paper was to test the strength of the relationships between student self-esteem, and the ability group of the school band and class stream they attend, as well as their self-perceived academic performance in a non-Western context. Responses of 280 Hong Kong secondary school students to the Chinese Adolescent Self-Esteem Scale were analysed by Performance × Stream × Band Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Statistically significant main effects for Performance and Stream, but not Band were found. Higher self-esteem was reported by students who perceived their academic performance as higher and who attended lower ability stream classes. The findings supported the Big Fish Little Pond effect of ability grouping within, but not between schools. Implications of the findings for school policies such as classes for the gifted and inclusion of children with learning difficulties are also discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410020019858]