Relationship between home literacy environment and reading achievement in children with reading disabilities

Past research has indicated that a significant relationship exists between young children's early home literacy environment and their reading-related skills. However, this relationship has rarely been investigated among older children with reading disabilities (RD). In the present study, the relationship between parent and child home literacy activities and children's academic functioning was investigated with a sample of 65 elementary-age children with RD. The results indicated that children's home literacy activities were not significantly related to any of their academic abilities, whereas parents' home literacy activities were significantly related to children's passage comprehension and spelling scores. However, relationships between home literacy environment and reading may be different for children with and without RD.     

Discrepant performance on multiple‐choice and short answer assessments and the relation of performance to general scholastic aptitude

We conducted correlational and performance discrepancy analyses on exam and achievement data taken from students in three psychology courses. Across courses, the same findings emerged. First, only a small fraction of students consistently performed more strongly on one type of assessment (e.g., multiple‐choice) than on another (e.g., short answer). Second, students’ multiple‐choice performance, above and beyond their short answer performance, accounted for variation in students’ standing on achievement measures unrelated to psychology (including high school class standing, American College Test score, and college grade point average). In contrast, students’ short answer performance, above and beyond their multiple‐choice performance, did not account for variation in students’ standing on those achievement measures. Our findings support the continued use of multiple‐choice items to assess student learning.     

The Potential Impacts of Upcoming High-Stakes Testing on the Teaching of Science in Elementary Classrooms

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education in the United States issued a report called A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. This report and other policy initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Legislation recommended that the individual states institute assessments to hold schools accountable. This research explored the potential impact of impending standardised testing on teaching science in elementary schools in one school district in Florida. We explored the teachers' concerns about the upcoming high-stakes tests in science, possible impact on their curriculum and what changes, if any, will be made in the approach to science teaching and learning in their classrooms. As the teachers look toward the implementation of high-stakes testing in science, they have recognised the need to teach science. This recognition is not borne out of the importance of science learning for elementary school children, but rather out of fear of failure and the effects of tangible rewards or punishments that accompany high-stakes testing. In anticipation, the teachers are preparing to align their teaching to the science standards while aggressively searching for test preparatory materials. Schools are also involved in professional development and structural changes to facilitate teaching of science.     

Success with academic English: reflections of deaf college students

The study identified social, educational, and demographic characteristics of deaf postsecondary students who demonstrated strong reading and writing skills. Questionnaire information, information from institutional databases, and in-depth personal interviews were used to identify factors and characteristics that positively influenced the attainment of strong academic literacy skills. Among the areas investigated were school experiences, reading and writing experiences, study habits and attitudes, communication preferences, personality traits, and home and family background. Results of the study generally support previous work conducted with talented hearing youth. Several primary themes emerged from the study: heavy parental involvement in early education and educational decisions, differing modes of communication but extensive family communication, early exposure to and intensive experiences with reading and writing, an enjoyment of reading, a relatively limited social life, high parental and secondary school expectations, the importance of television, and positive self-image.     

Cultural‐competence considerations for contemporary school‐based threat assessment

Threat‐assessment procedures are advanced for their utility in reducing racial disparities in punitive and exclusionary school discipline outcomes. Generally unexamined, however, is bias in who gets referred for school‐based threat assessment and under what circumstances. Cultural‐competence considerations hold promise for addressing sources of bias in the evaluation of threats made in the school setting. Using a quantitative approach, this systematic literature review examines the degree to which contemporary cultural‐competence considerations are embedded in 24 school‐based threat‐assessment articles published between 2007 and 2017. Results indicate generally poor coverage of considerations for cultural competence both within and across threat‐assessment articles. An analysis of change in cultural‐competence considerations by year of publication suggests that more recently published threat‐assessment literature has generally not integrated concurrent advancements in concepts of cultural competence. Preliminary guidance for incorporating contemporary cultural‐competence considerations into school‐based threat‐assessment procedures are provided.     

Psychometric stability of nationally normed and experimental decoding and related measures in children with reading disability

Achievement and cognitive tests are used extensively in the diagnosis and educational placement of children with reading disabilities (RD). Moreover, research on scholastic interventions often requires repeat testing and information on practice effects. Little is known, however, about the test-retest and other psychometric properties of many commonly used measures within the beginning reader population, nor are these nationally normed or experimental measures comparatively evaluated. This study examined the test-retest reliability, practice effects, and relations among a number of nationally normed measures of word identification and spelling and experimental measures of achievement and reading-related cognitive processing tests in young children with significant RD. Reliability was adequate for most tests, although lower than might be ideal on a few measures when there was a lengthy test-retest interval or with the reduced behavioral variability that can be seen in groups of beginning readers. Practice effects were minimal. There were strong relations between nationally normed measures of decoding and spelling and their experimental counterparts and with most measures of reading-related cognitive processes. The implications for the use of such tests in treatment studies that focus on beginning readers are discussed.     

Examining the Circles of Adults process for Children Looked After: the role of self-efficacy and empathy in staff behaviour change

ABSTRACT

The Circles of Adults (CoA) group problem solving process has been used by educational psychologists (EPs) when supporting vulnerable educational placements, but its effects upon staff or student outcomes have not been explored. CoAs were used in the current research with staff supporting Children Looked After (CLA) in secondary schools. A quasi-experimental explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods design investigated changes in participant causal attributions, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived implementation of subsequent actions. Participation in the CoA had no significant effects upon causal attributions or self-efficacy; however, staff perceived greater self-efficacy and success in implementing actions following the CoA. They valued the process, reporting enhanced group cohesion and task focus. Insights and empathy were deepened regarding the focus student, as were awareness of group processes and reflection. Threats in small-scale research are considered and a possible mechanism for the CoA’s effect as a supervisory approach is proposed.     

Teacher Beliefs: The Impact of the Design of Constructivist Learning Environments on Instructor Epistemologies

Promoting student epistemological development is seen as a goal of higher education. Further, the epistemological beliefs of instructors have been shown to affect their teaching beliefs and behaviors. Some argue that only when instructors are epistemologically advanced will they be able to engage in pedagogical activities that encourage student epistemological development. This study examines the impact of the design of constructivist learning environments on university instructors’ epistemological belief systems. Constructivist learning environments are technology-based environments that present learners with authentic problems, that are supported by cases similar to the problem being posed, and learning-support strategies such as modeling, coaching, and scaffolding. Instructors’ epistemologies might be impacted by engaging in constructivist learning environment design because the process requires instructors to think about their discipline in non-traditional ways. Results of this qualitative inquiry suggests that instructors who are in a zone of ‘readiness’ for intellectual growth could experience epistemological growth from this experience.     

An investigation of parents' attitudes and the communication skills of their deaf children

The reciprocity and consequences of parent-child interactions are an important subject of inquiry in child development literature. The majority of studies on deaf children with hearing parents focus on differences in parent-child interactions, which emanate from a number of factors including parental attitudes toward deafness and acceptance of alternative modes of communication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental attitudes toward deafness and the communication skills of their hearing-impaired children. Whereas the majority of researchers in interactional studies have focused on mothers, both parents were included in this investigation. Significant correlations were found between fathers' scores on the Attitude to Deafness Scale and the language comprehension scores of their deaf children. No significant differences in attitudes were found between mothers and fathers. Similarly, no significant differences were found between the parents of boys and the parents of girls.