The Urban Bridge is a symbol

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a general education initiative that takes place prior to evaluation for placement in special education. Essentially, the first two tiers of RtI require general education teachers to use research-based instruction with all students and then to evaluate the effectiveness of that instruction. Given that the use of RtI as an assessment tool begins in the general education classroom, the following question remains: Are general educators aware of the development and implementation of RtI as a process for assessing and, eventually, possibly placing students into special education? The purpose of this study was to review the literature to answer the following two questions:

1. To what extent is RtI evident in the professional literature of educator groups (teachers, administrators, and teacher educators) who will be responsible for implementing these school practices?

2. What is the nature of the published literature (concept papers, assessment practices, instructional practices, and research) on RtI?

     

SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING PROGRAMMED LEARNING

The McCarthy Scales are a versatile and increasingly popular test of children's cognitive abilities. However, much of their high standing as an assessment instrument rests on the construct validity of each of the ability scales. A major recent study of the construct validity of the McCarthy Scales concluded that only the General Cognitive Index stood up to critical evaluation. The purpose of the present paper is to highlight some inadequacies in this critical study, and then to give an evaluation of the construct validity of the McCarthy Scales which is based on the findings from recent British research.     

From Memories to Diaries: A Portrait of Hope Captured from the Lens of a Nurse Educator as a Breast Cancer Patient

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. While it is true that hope influences how these victims view and live their lives, little is known as to how hope is lived and experienced by a breast cancer patient whose professional background and practice is nursing. This narrative–interpretive study purports to create a portrait of a nurse educator whose hope becomes her language of meaning-making. A Filipino nurse educator suffering from breast cancer was used as the subject of this study. Constituting the study's corpus of data is a series of diaries which were religiously written for a period of six months (November 2007–April 2008). Three interesting themes that elucidate the portrait of hope as embodied in the subject's diaries include (a) Stop: Searching for Meaning; (b) Look: Standing through Meaning; and (c) Listen: Sailing through Meaning. Notably, hope serving as a universal human experience is a powerful gift that enables an individual to see meaning amidst painful conditions, stand firmly despite adversities, and live by faith to continue life's journey.