Contexts for Remedial Reading: Practice Reading and Pause,Prompt and Praise tutoring

Abstract Fourteen residential childcare workers were trained to implement both a Practice Reading and the Pause, Prompt and Praise remedial reading procedures in school and cottage settings with 18 low‐progress readers of primary school age. Pause, Prompt and Praise procedures were introduced in each setting only if readers made insufficient progress with Practice Reading alone. Childcare workers displayed major change in their tutoring behaviour between baseline (untrained tutoring) conditions and trained tutoring conditions (Practice Reading or Pause, Prompt and Praise). Readers who received a six week programme of individual reading assistance made significant gains on standardised tests of reading accuracy and comprehension and made accelerated progress through graded book levels, while children in the comparison group did not. Results are discussed in terms of the interactive social contexts provided by the two procedures and of the opportunities for reciprocal gains in skill between readers and tutors with the Pause, Prompt and Praise procedures.     

Addressing individual difficulties in reading: issues relating to Reading Recovery and Pause,Prompt, Praise

Recently the DfES has issued guidance on ways to address the needs of students who experience difficulties in literacy through Wave Three provision in the National Literacy Strategy ( DfES, 2002 ). This guidance raises the issue of what kind of programmes might be initiated in mainstream schools that will improve what is available generally for pupils who experience difficulties. The original Literacy Taskforce report (1997) named Reading Recovery (RR) as one programme suitable for this purpose. It is not the only programme with 'proven' efficacy, however. This article compares RR and another New Zealand‐based programme, Pause, Prompt, Praise (PPP) with which it has a number of characteristics in common, in order to examine particular issues which are important to ensure that a particular programme can meet individual children's literacy needs and also have the potential for adoption by LEAs and schools in the current national curricular context. These issues are the underpinning rationales, assumptions about the reading process and questions of resources, ownership and control ( Openshaw et al., 2002 ).     

Comparison of Peer Tutored Remedial Reading Using the Pause,Prompt and Praise Procedure with an Individualised Tape‐assisted Reading Programme

In this study ten 9‐ to 11‐year‐old, low progress readers were randomly assigned to receive assistance through one of two remedial reading programmes, i.e. peer tutoring using Pause, Prompt and Praise procedures or an individualised tape‐assisted reading programme (TARP). An educational psychologist trained primary teachers to implement and monitor both programmes. Results of the eight‐week programme indicated substantial gains for readers on both programmes with gains being maintained and even increased at follow‐up. While reading gains for tutees on the peer tutoring programme were similar to those for readers on TARP, the greatest gains were made by peer tutors.     

The effects and characteristics of family involvement on a peer tutoring programme to improve the reading comprehension competence

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of an educational programme involving peer tutoring at school and family tutoring at home on child reading comprehension achievement in Catalunya, Spain. We drew upon a sample of 303 primary school students from 8 to 11 years old and 223 family tutors from home (61.5% mothers, 15% fathers, 17% both parents, 6.5% siblings). Reading comprehension performance was assessed through standardised tests in pre and post-test bases. Background variables were collected by means of student and parent questionnaires and also teacher and family interviews. An analysis of the family tutoring interactions was also performed. The main results showed positive effects for all the students, but especially for the 223 students who received family support. Overall, the study reveals the effectiveness of peer learning to improve reading comprehension skills and the potential of family involvement for the development of academic skills when the school provides trust and support for it.     

Do Boys or Girls Make Better Reading Tutors? An Empirical Study to Examine Children's Effectiveness as Tutors Using the Pause,Prompt and Praise Procedures

This study aimed to assess the effects of single‐sex and cross‐gender pairings in the context of the ‘pause, prompt and praise’ procedures for improving reading, the effects of boys as tutors compared with girls as tutors and those of choice in sex of tutor. Four groups were involved in the study: boys tutoring boys, girls tutoring girls, girls tutoring boys and boys tutoring girls. The tutees were 24 Year 7 pupils and the tutors were 24 Year 10 pupils from a large suburban comprehensive school in the Midlands of England. The reading age of each of the tutees was measured both before and after the intervention so that gains in reading age could be evaluated. The results showed that peers could be successfully trained to use the pause, prompt and praise techniques and that these were effective in raising the reading standards of tutees in all four groups. However, little evidence was found to suggest that any of the pairings was any more successful than the others or that the sex of the tutor had any significant effect on the tutoring outcome. On the other hand, however, there was some evidence that choice of tutor sex might have an effect on gains in tutee's measured reading ages     

一道三角题的隐形误解及正解探究

文[1]中有这样一道例题及解法.例1（文[1]例4）已知sinxcosy=1/2,则cosxsiny的取值范围是（）.A.[-1/2,1/2]B.[-3/2,1/2]C.[-1/2,3/2]D.[-1,1]错解：设cosxsiny=t,sinxcosy＋cosxsiny=sin（x＋y）=1/2＋t,由-1≤     

On Interdisciplinary Research: with particular reference to the field of environment and development

Interdisciplinary research is fashionable, but also controversial; yet it is far from agreed what is meant by the term. This paper analyses some central issues concerning interdisciplinary research, both in general and with particular reference to the field of environment and development. It draws on earlier literature, especially Becher (1989) and on experience from universities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, U.S.A and Britain. The paper includes an analysis of how disciplines interact, focussing on economics, ecology and anthropology. It also addresses two 'great divides'. The first is that between the 'two cultures': a gap which is indeed important, although it does not lie precisely between the natural sciences on the one hand and the social sciences and humanities on the other. The second is the gap between research and application; research that is usable by policy-makers, it is argued, is typically, and necessarily, not of high quality judged in academic terms.     

Children engaging in storybook reading: The influence of access to print resources, opportunity, and parental interaction

Economic and social class differences in literacy-specific experiences and access to print resources have been widely documented. This study examined an intervention strategy designed to provide access to literacy materials and opportunities for parent-child storybook reading in three Head Start Centers. There were three specific objectives: (1) to examine the influence of text type (highly predictable, episodic predictable, and narrative) on patterns of interaction between parents and children; (2) to examine whether there were differences in these patterns of interaction between low proficiency and proficient parent readers; and (3) to examine gains in receptive language and concepts of print scores for children of low proficiency and proficient parent readers. Forty-one parents and their children participated in the study; 18 low proficiency parent readers and 23 proficient parent readers were involved in a 12-week book club. Results indicated that text type affected patterns of interaction and that parents' reading proficiency influenced conversational interactions, with different text types serving as a scaffold for parent-child interaction. Regardless of parental reading proficiency, however, children's receptive language and concepts of print improved significantly, providing further evidence for the importance of parental storybook reading on children's emerging literacy.     

怎样在英语听、说、读、写中体现整体教学的思想

新的《英语课程标准》注重培养学生的创新精神及学生语言技能、语言知识、情感态度、学习策略和文化意识等素养的整体发展，倡导体验、实践、参与、合作与交流的学习方式和任务型的教学途径。贯彻英语新课标的理念，应在英语听说读写的教学过程中体现整体教学思想，在教学各个环节的设计中和实施中体现整体性，坚持以学生为中心，融语言知识、言语技能和语言运用为一体，让学生在生动活泼的英语情景中学习英语，努力提高英语教学质量。     

英语报刊阅读教学与意识形态的建构:批评视角

传统的英语报刊阅读课程教学只是重视文章的表面意义,没有深层次地探讨报刊文章背后隐藏的意识形态意义。本文利用批评话语分析的理论框架,旨在通过分析几种比较典型的语言现象,如被动化、名物化、直接引语与间接引语的区别,分析语言是如何利用这些工具来传播意识形态,揭示这些语言现象背后的意识形态意义,进而提高学生在阅读英文报刊过程中的批判思考的意识。     

Education and Decentralisation in Less Developed Countries: a comment on general trends,issues and problems,with particular reference to Papua New Guinea

The last two decades have witnessed numerous changes in the administrative systems of many less developed countries. A few have centralised their administrations, but a larger number have decentralised. Usually education has been affected as part of overall changes, though occasionally reforms in education have been initiated independently of other sectors.

This paper begins by discussing the meaning of decentralisation. It points out that the term is vague, that systems may have many contradictory strands, and that the terminology and processes may not be understood even by those in charge of decentralisation projects. The paper then discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different structures, and the experiences of several countries during the 1970s and 1980s. Particular prominence is given to events in Papua New Guinea.     

Delivering reading intervention to the poorest children: The case of Liberia and EGRA-Plus,a primary grade reading assessment and intervention

As governments, donors and implementation organisations re-focus Education for All Goals in terms of quality of education, increasing concerns have been raised over low literacy levels in developing countries. This paper provides key learning from the application of an early reading intervention applied in post-conflict Liberia, which included a robust assessment tool (Early Grade Reading Assessment) to measure the impact of the programme on students’ reading levels. A rationale for the design and methodology applied by the two implementing organisations (Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and Concern Worldwide) is provided, situated within the Liberian education context. The paper demonstrates the positive impact on programme quality, contextual relevancy and scale-up that a diagnostic baseline assessment has when linked to a tailored literacy intervention. Lessons learnt are presented to guide the identification of best practice in early literacy interventions at national-level and internationally.     

The relationship of school-based parental involvement with student achievement: a comparison of principal and parent survey reports from PISA 2012

This paper explores parental involvement using principal and parent survey reports to examine whether parents’ involvement in their children’s schools predicts academic achievement. Survey data from principals and parents of seven countries from the PISA 2012 database and hierarchical linear modelling were used to analyse between- and within- school variance in students’ math achievement. Factor analysis of both principal and parent responses revealed three dimensions of parental involvement with schools: parent-initiated involvement, teacher-initiated involvement and parent volunteerism. Principal reports of parent-initiated involvement positively predicted between-school differences in student achievement. Within schools, parent reports of teacher-initiated involvement negatively predicted student achievement. The paper shows the importance of understanding the source of information for survey measures. Information on parental involvement from the parent surveys of the PISA study is suitable for describing within-school variation in student achievement, whereas principal reports can be used to predict variation between schools.     

Planning, teaching and assessing the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties: a response from EQUALS

EQUALS is a national organisation that has a major concern for the development of a curriculum that promotes the inclusion of all pupils. The EQUALS movement has, in the past, published its own materials in support of curriculum development for pupils with learning difficulties. In this article, Keith Humphreys, EQUALS' quality assurance manager, provides a response to the publication of the QCA/DfEE guidelines. He discusses EQUALS' response to these guidelines and proposes a way forward for schools already using EQUALS materials. While acknowledging that the implementation of the QCA/DfEE guidelines will lead to an evolution of good practice, he articulates a concern that staff should continue to appreciate and value their own development work. Keith Humphreys details the ways in which EQUALS intends to support this process of evolution in the future.     

Thought and action in the life of F.D. Maurice,with particular reference to the London Working Men's College

Lifelong learning is realized in different ways in different countries. Socio-economic and cultural factors are important determinants of implementation. Japan is a self-styled ‘maturing’ society with an ageing population. It is wealthy, but undergoing rapid social, economic and technological change that poses a threat to its sense of community. Its economy is faltering for the first time since reconstruction after World War II. In the author's view, based on desk study and a visit to relevant agencies in Nagoya and Tokyo in June 1999, lifelong learning is seen to be a key means for addressing these three central issues - ageing, community and economic change. National bodies have deliberated on the problems and informed themselves of needs and options for development. They have articulated policies to promote and celebrate learning of all kinds at any point of life through adult, vocational and community education. Initial education is perceived to have a key role in inculcating aptitude for, and positive attitudes towards, learning over the lifespan. This paper argues that, in Japan, lifelong learning is viewed as a ‘lifeline’ i.e. a vital means of communication on these issues between the national ‘think tanks’, bureaucrats and the Japanese public. The Bureau of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (Monbusho) seeks to develop and implement policies to achieve these goals.     

The parental milieu: Biosocial connections with nonhuman animals,technologies, and the earth

This article develops the concept of the “parental milieu” as a theoretical tool for biosocial research in environmental education and the emerging field of critical life studies. Using the concept of milieu as a catalyst for theoretical inquiry, we map several movements and variations of the term through the 20th century works of von Uexkull, Simondon, and Deleuze and Guattari. This results in the development of four propositions that connect the parental milieu with the territorial milieu of the animal world; the technical milieu of ubiquitous digital networks; the metabolic milieu of consumption; and the trans-qualitative milieu of fluid relations and queer kinships. We conclude with a call for transgenerational research that addresses the ways that the parental milieu intersects with children's environmental learning and ­ethico-aesthetic sensibilities.     

The Reading Lab: ‘failure’, dynamic teaching and reflective practice in growing the skill of reading

ABSTRACT

University educators have observed the concurrent problems of student attrition, higher than normal or desired failure rates and students struggling to complete assessable and non-assessable work, for instance, set readings. Recent public commentary has pointed to the widening participation agenda with its lowering of university entrance scores and consequent increase in university places as factors contributing to the problem: many students are entering university without the preparation or dispositions that helped their predecessors succeed. University teachers are at the coalface of this problem. These teachers do not set entrance scores or course caps but are tasked with supporting an increasingly diverse student population.

This article offers a case study: a university teacher’s encounter with a university’s Key Accountability Measures around failure and attrition, and offers a teaching response to this policy. In response to these changing conditions, The Reading Lab was designed as a large-group learning and teaching activity in the form of a series of interactive lectures devoted to the practices of reading. The Lab sessions sought to address a problem that many scholarship-of-reading researchers have communicated: our university students are often not resilient readers and as a result often do not complete set readings. This article evaluates what the Reading Lab achieved (and failed to achieve). For instance, if it is possible (in the current climate) that the failure and attrition rates might never radically improve, how can teaching and learning activities be more positively directed towards the student experience, for even minor gains in the inclusion and the retention of students?