The Effect of Early Intervention on Academic Achievement of Hearing-Impaired Children

Objective. This population-based study assessed the relationship between characteristics of early intervention programs for hearing-impaired children and academic achievement. Methodology. The study was conducted on the elementary school-age population of six regions of the province of Quebec. Of the 301 hearing-impaired children registered, 112 met the eligibility criteria and participated in the study. The characteristics of early intervention which had been assessed were: age of initial access, the intensity, target and nature of services, service setting, coordination mechanisms, communication mode and parental compliance. Results. After adjustment for child and family characteristics and the other service variables studied, higher academic achievement was found to be significantly associated with services that (a) were initiated before children reached the age of two, (b) were parent-centered rather than child-centered, and (c) emphasized auditory intervention and an oral mode of communication. The results also showed that the socioeconomic environment in which the children lived significantly influenced the effect of certain characteristics of early intervention programs. The present study identified service characteristics with regard to specialized intervention and service delivery conditions that could lead to more effective early intervention programs.     

学业预警工作对学困生的干预效应研究

进入大学后一部分学生由于个人学习基础、学习兴趣、学习方法或外部环境等种种因素的影响,导致学习效率较低,学习效果较差,学习成绩落后,学业出现困难,不能达到学校人才培养方案对学生的要求,也影响了个人的未来职业发展。在这种情况下,学业预警机制的建立与实施就显得尤为重要。通过分析学业预警的定义及意义,探索了在教学中实施学业预警的具体过程。实践证明,学业预警工作有利于提高学困生的学习成绩。     

The Effect of Early Intervention Services on Maternal Well-Being

In this investigation we examine the relation between intensity, duration, and comprehensiveness of early intervention (EI) services and changes in three aspects of maternal well-being: parenting stress, social support, and family cohesion. Data on the hours, length, and types of services received by a sample of 133 children and families from EI programs in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were gathered from the point of entry into EI to the point of discharge around the child's third birthday. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to determine which measure of EI service intervention contributed significantly to the explained variance in changes in maternal well-being, over and above aspects of the child's functioning and prior levels of maternal well-being. Results indicated that, although greater service intensity was associated with improved family cohesion overall, mothers of children without motor impairment reported greater increases than mothers of children with motor impairment. Service intensity and comprehensiveness predicted significant increases in social support levels. EI services did not have a significant impact on parenting stress. Three practice and policy implications are discussed: building flexibility into EI service provision to be responsive to individual family needs; attending to the accommodations required of families raising a child with a motor impairment; and incorporating other aspects of family functioning into future studies of EI effectiveness.     

The Effects of Mindful Movement Intervention on Academic and Cognitive Abilities Among Kindergarten Children

Early Childhood Education Journal - Evidence suggests that acting mindfully, that is, by stressing the purpose of the action and monitoring its current state, may benefit health, wellbeing, and...     

Relations between Social Competence and Academic Achievement in Early Adolescence

Relations between academic performance and 3 aspects of social competence--socially responsible behavior, sociometric status, and self-regulatory processes (goal setting, interpersonal trust, and problem-solving styles)--were studied. Based on a sample of 423 12- and 13-year-old students, correlational findings indicate that each aspect of social competence is related significantly to students' grades. Results from multiple regression analyses suggest that when accounting for students' IQ, sex, ethnicity, school absence, and family structure, socially responsible behavior mediates almost entirely the relations between students' grades and the other 2 aspects of social competence. Socially responsible behavior and peer status appear to be related by way of their joint association with goals to be socially responsible, interpersonal trust, and problem-solving styles. Similarly, relations between socially responsible behavior and the background variables are explained by joint relations with the self-regulatory processes. The social nature of learning and the role of self-regulation in both interpersonal and behavioral aspects of social competence are discussed.     

Investigation of Poor Academic Achievement in Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a neurogenetic developmental disorder that presents with progressive muscular weakness. It is caused by a mutation in a gene that results in the absence of specific products that normally localize to muscle cells and the central nervous system (CNS). The majority of affected individuals have IQs within the normal range, generally with lower verbal than performance IQ scores. Prior work has demonstrated selective deficits on tests of verbal span and immediate memory. For the current study, 26 boys with DMD (and normal intellectual function) and their unaffected siblings were evaluated. Paired comparisons demonstrated that the children with DMD had significantly poorer academic achievement scores than their siblings, even though their vocabulary levels and home and educational environments were comparable. Children with DMD also had more behavioral concerns, physical disabilities, and poorer verbal memory spans. Linear regression indicated that behavioral concerns, executive function, and physical disability did not contribute substantially to academic performance, whereas performance on verbal span did. DMD presents with a selective developmental aberration in verbal span that has wide‐ranging consequences on learning skills.     

高职院校学业成就测量与评价的实现

从学业成就测量与评价的意义、教育测量在教育评价中的作用入手分析探讨了教育测量在高职学校中的应用。分析指出,学业成就的测量与评价作为一种必不可少的机制和手段,应用到高职院校日常教学和管理中将起到积极作用,通过测量与评价可以有效地提高教学质量,反馈教学信息,完善教育目标。     

New Orleans Early Intervention Study of Children with Visual Impairments

There is widespread agreement that early intervention for children with visual impairments and their families is important and beneficial. However, few con- trolled prospective studies of the effectiveness of various types of early intervention have been completed with these children. This randomized study evaluated the immediate and long-term effects of a comprehensive, weekly homebased intervention for infants and toddlers with visual impairments, compared with a low-intensity treatment through parent group meetings offered approximately 12 times per year. In annual assessments conducted for t h e years after the intervention was begun, there were negligible statistically significant or practical differences between groups based on a variety of measures of child and family functioning. In light of the cost-effectiveness analyses reported, questions are raised about the type of early intervention that should be provided to children with visual impairments.     

小学生心理素质对学业成绩影响的研究

运用《瑞文标准推理测验》和自编《小学生心理素质问卷》对1247名小学生作心理素质团体测试。路径分析结果表明:(1)整体上看,小学生心理素质对学业成绩的影响是:认知、个性对学业成绩起直接作用;适应性通过认知、个性对学业成绩有间接作用。(2)从学业成绩分组来看,对高分组的小学生而言,个性对学业成绩有直接影响,认知和适应性对学业成绩有间接影响;对中等组的小学生而言,认知、个性、适应性都对学业成绩有直接影响;对低分组的小学生而言,认知对学业成绩有直接影响,个性、适应性对学业成绩有间接影响。     

早期干预实践的原则探析

早期干预实践源于看似不相容的理论,然而在实践过程中则发展出一些原则作为其实践的基础。文章回顾近十年来的文献,总结出了早期干预的一些原则。     

班级学生学业成就的分层研究

本文以基础教育阶段432名学生为被试,考察了班级学生学业成就分层状况及形成过程。结果表明:1．班级学生的学业成就分层经历了较长的过程,小学低年级学生学业成就总体水平较高, 分层的显著性不强,到初中二年级学生的学业成就分化显著,基本呈正态分布。2．学生的学业成就稳定性较强,具有一定的流动性,初中二年级学生学业成就的流动加剧。3．差生的心理认同经历了长达 3—5年的抗争与认同过程,一旦从心理上认同,向上流动的几率很小。     

The ‘Play’ Focus in Early Intervention: Children with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper examines the characteristics of ‘play’ within the conceptual framework of early education for intellectually disabled children, suggesting that early intervention programs and strategies may have transformed ‘play’ for these children into ‘work’.     

Effect of a Combined Repeated Reading and Question Generation Intervention on Reading Achievement

Research was conducted to ascertain if a combined repeated reading and question generation intervention was effective at improving the reading achievement of fourth through eighth grade students with learning disabilities or who were at risk for reading failure. Students were assigned to a treatment or control group via a stratified random sampling. Instructional components and training were based on best practices reported in the literature. Students receiving intervention significantly improved their reading speed and ability to answer inferential comprehension questions on passages that were reread. Compared to the control group, students in the intervention group also made significant gains in oral reading fluency on independent passages.     

An Examination of the Effect of Elementary School Size on Student Academic Achievement

Prior studies that have investigated the relationship between school size and student academic achievement have produced conflicting results. For example, some studies found a positive relationship between school size and student achievement; other studies found that the relationship is negative. Typically, however, these past studies have not accounted for the influence of student ability in their analysis of the impact of school size on student achievement. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of school size on student achievement while accounting for student ability, among other variables. The results reported in this paper suggest that school size has a nonlinear relationship with respect to student achievement. Thus, there is an optimal school size with respect to the maximization of student achievement.     

The Changing Landscape of Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards: An Analysis of Early Adopters of AA-MASs

Several states had an assessment that they considered to be an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS) in place, or in development, when the April 2007 federal regulations on modified achievement standards were finalized. This article uses publicly available information collected by the National Center on Educational Outcomes to analyze changes in states' AA-MAS between 2007 and 2008. The article compares across the 2 years the number of states that had an assessment they considered to be an AA-MAS, states' participation guidelines, and the characteristics of these assessments. We also provide information about the number of students who participated in this assessment option during the 2006–07 school year. In 2007, six states (Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma) either had or were in the process of developing an assessment they considered to be an AA-MAS. In 2008, California, Connecticut, and Texas also offered this assessment option. Six of the nine states that have been early implementers of the AA-MAS were states that had offered an out-of-level testing option until federal policies required that option to be phased out. Most states had fewer items on their AA-MAS than on their regular assessment. States that had participation guidelines for the AA-MAS in 2007 developed them prior to finalization of the federal regulations, and some changes between 2007 and 2008 in states' participation guidelines appear to have been made to better align the guidelines with the regulations. The characteristics of the assessments states consider to be AA-MASs are changing rapidly and will probably continue to change rapidly over the next few years as more is learned about the advantages and limitations of this assessment.     

Head Start Children: School Mobility and Achievement in the Early Grades

Abstract

The relationship of 2 school mobility indices (school changes and parental perceptions of mobility effects) to 2nd-grade academic achievement was examined. The sample comprised 90 children who had attended Head Start and had made the transition to public school. Data also were obtained from the children's mothers. School mobility was defined as the number of school transfers over 3 years (kindergarten to Grade 2). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that frequent school changes in the primary grades were related to lower achievement levels even after controlling for the child's sex and the effects of achievement prior to the school moves.     

The Relationship between Self Concept and Academic Achievement

It was hypothesized that children, both white and Negro, attending a de facto segregated school have less positive self concepts than do children attending desegregated schools, and that there is a significant positive relationship between self concept and academic achievement. Sixty children from the intermediate grades of each of the elementary schools in a small city in northern New Jersey were matched on the basis of age, grade, ex, race, intelligence, and socio-economic status. Analyses of variance were computed on the scores obtained rom the self-report instrument administered and correlations between these scores and achievement scores were alculated. It was found that children attending the de facto segregated school had less positive self concepts. There was also a significant positive relationship between self concept and academic achievement. That is, those children having more positive self concepts had higher academic achievement.