Instructional and curricular requisites of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities

The successful integration of students with learning disabilities into mainstream reading classes may require teachers to adapt instruction and curricula in major ways. In this article, we discuss the relation between the instruction prescribed by standardized commercial curricula and the reading achievement of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities and other low-performing nonhandicapped students. An instructional template designed to complement commercially published reading lessons is described and its effects on the reading achievement of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities examined. Next, the limitations of generic instructional procedures to rectify the deficiencies of mainstream curricular programs for students with greater-than-average instructional needs are reviewed. We conclude with a discussion of the complexity of educating instructively needy learners in mainstream settings and the significance of well-designed instruction.     

Transferring technology to the small manufacturing firm: A study of technology transfer in three countries

Case histories were compiled of 100 instances of technological change in 102 manufacturing companies in eight industries in Ireland, Spain and Mexico. The cases are analyzed for the source of initial ideas and for sources of technology employed in resolving major problems.Technology is found to flow principally through informal channels within industries. Very little information was obtained from the formal mechanisms or institutions normally considered central to the technology transfer process.Foreign subsidiaries obtain the greatest proportion of their technology from their parent firms. Surprisingly, they are found to have several channels of technology blocked to them, which are more readily available to domestic firms. Domestic firms, in many ways have easier access to foreign technology than do the subsidiaries of multinational firms.Product and process innovations originate in somewhat different quarters. Process innovations are slightly more likely to be based on foreign technology; product innovations are more likely to be based on domestic technology.The results reported in the present paper are very similar in many ways to results reported previously in Brazil and Australia.     

A step function in pigeons’ temporal generalization in the peak shift task

Pigeons were reinforced for pecking a key following one signal duration (S+) but not following another signal duration (S?). The S+ and S? were 2.52 and 5.67 sec, respectively, counterbalanced across birds. Subsequent generalization tests with a range of signal durations revealed a step function, with high response rates for all durations on the S+ side of the distribution, low response rates for all durations on the S? side, and an intermediate rate for the intermediate duration. A comparison group of pigeons trained with only the S+ duration showed a flat generalization function. For the discrimination-trained birds, the delay between signal termination and opportunity to respond was subsequently varied during generalization testing. A step function again appeared, and no evidence of subjective shortening over the delay was found. The overall pattern of results suggests that the birds categorized the temporal signal into two classes and retained a categorical code over the delay.     

Patterns and predictors of father-infant engagement across race/ethnic groups

This study examines whether levels of father engagement (e.g., verbal stimulation, caregiving, and physical play) vary by race/ethnicity using a model that controls for fathers' human capital, mental health, and family relationships. It also tests whether the models work similarly across race/ethnic groups. Its sample of N=5,089 infants and their families is drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). We found that, after including controls, African American and Latino fathers had higher levels of engagement in caregiving and physical play activities than White fathers. There were no differences in verbal stimulation activities across race/ethnicity. Fathers' education (college level) predicted more verbally stimulating activities whereas fathers' report of couple conflict predicted less caregiving and physical play. Although levels of engagement differed across the groups, the overall models did not differ by race/ethnicity, except for physical play. African American mothers who reported high levels of depressive symptoms had partners who engaged in more physical play than White mothers with high levels of depressive symptoms.