Interventions for reading difficulties: a comparison of response to intervention by ELL and EFL struggling readers

This article explores whether struggling readers from different primary language backgrounds differ in response to phonologically based remediation. Following random assignment to one of three reading interventions or to a special education reading control program, reading and reading-related outcomes of 166 struggling readers were assessed before, during, and following 105 intervention hours. Struggling readers met criteria for reading disability, were below average in oral language and verbal skills, and varied in English as a first language (EFL) versus English-language learner (ELL) status. The research-based interventions proved superior to the special education control on both reading outcomes and rate of growth. No differences were revealed for children of EFL or ELL status in intervention outcomes or growth during intervention. Oral language abilities at entry were highly predictive of final outcomes and of reading growth during intervention, with greater language impairment being associated with greater growth.     

An Aid to Intuitively Understanding Bias and Consistency

Students often find the concepts of bias and consistency hard to understand intuitively. This article presnts means of demonstrating these concepts using a computer so that students, once they have seen them in action, can more readily grasp their meanings and imlications.     

Interactive Multimedia in Introductory Accounting: A preliminary analysis

This paper describes the development of an interactive multimedia package designed for incorporation into the teaching program for degree‐level first year accounting. The initial module forms part of a pilot study at James Cook University where interactive multimedia will form an integral part of the teaching program in accounting. This module includes four sessions, equivalent to one quarter of the semester's requirement. These sessions were trialed by students, colleagues and practitioners to assess the package's effectiveness in communicating introductory accounting concepts and enhancing the learning process. Some results of these trials are presented.     

Competency and training issues related to the integration of career counseling and mental health counseling

Summary Career counseling cannot be neatly separated from the counseling that affects the remainder of clients' lives, and mental distress cannot be considered independent of the career which encompasses so much of an individual's world. Life is complex and includes many facets which counselees bring to the counseling relationship. Counselors must be able to deal with the major issues in clients' lives including career issues and issues of mental health. Minimum skill for counselors would include the ability to assist a range of clients and the knowledge to effectively refer others. For too long career counseling and mental health counseling have been viewed as separate entities. This view of career and mental health counseling as separate is inconsistent with the development of counseling as a profession and does not serve potential clients well.Spencer G. Niles, D.Ed. is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education and Robert H. Pate, Jr., Ph.D. is a Professor of Counselor Education and Chair of the Department of Human Services in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.     

Alexia and the neural basis of reading

Three main types of acquired reading disturbance (alexia) have been described and accepted by clinicians. Each features a group of distinct findings and each is found following damage to a separate location within the language dominant hemisphere of the brain. Many different names have been applied to these entities, but posterior alexia, central alexia, and anterior alexia appear to represent both the clinical differentiations and the basic anatomical loci. A fourth type of acquired alexia, called deep dyslexia, has recently been reported, again with separate clinical findings and a different anatomical locus postulated. By comparison of the clinical features of the four alexias with features of alexia in Oriental languages and the reading competency of the nondominant hemisphere, a hypothetical neural basis for the act of reading can be outlined. Presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of The Orton Dyslexia Society, San Diego, California, November 1983.     

Using Collaborative Assessment to Examine the Relationship between Self-Reported Beliefs and the Documentable Practices of Preschool Teachers

A team of researchers used a collaborative assessment protocol to compare the self-reported teaching beliefs of a convenience sample of preschool teachers (N = 57) to their documentable practices (i.e., practices that could be observed, recorded, and categorized using a deductive strategy). Data were examined from survey instruments, detailed classroom observations and time-sampling, curriculum materials, and program artifacts. Results indicated that when child-directed choice/play time, emergent literacy and language development activities were emphasized, teachers self-reported beliefs were more strongly aligned with developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) as a philosophy of practice. When consistent routines, organized classrooms, preplanned curriculum, and teacher-directed learning were the dominant behaviors, the teachers were found to report more “traditional” or academic-oriented beliefs.     

Faculty Perspectives on Course and Teacher Evaluations

Student ratings of instruction have been the subject of numerous studies with much of the research focusing on the validity and reliability of the ratings themselves. Comparatively little empirical investigation has been devoted to the perceptions of the individuals who are the subjects of the ratings, that is, the faculty. The current study explored faculty perspectives on the usefulness of student ratings for formative and summative purposes, and the actual use of student ratings for summative purposes. Contrary to what might have been deduced from the anecdotal literature, the results of this study do not portray a great deal of resistance to student ratings in general or to their use for formative and summative evaluation. It was also found that student ratings are actually being used for the latter purpose. The usefulness of the student feedback was viewed differentially by the faculty, with feedback on their interaction with students seen as most useful, followed by feedback on their grading practices, global ratings of instructor and course, and finally structural issues of the course.     

Age of Uncontrolled Information Flow

We are heading into an era of uncontrolled and uncontrollable information flow. In the past, the tools of information flow required large investments, and the persons controlling them were easily identifiable. Now, effective long-range communication with large numbers of people can be done using tools that are easily affordable to the average citizen. Moreover, it can be done in ways that make monitoring and control virtually impossible. This is not a worrisome future change that can be averted by prompt action; it is a fait accompli and there is no reversing it. However, this is not necessarily clear to those interested in monitoring and control. Unfortunately, the bulk of electronic communication is still relatively exposed to monitoring and control, and is likely to remain so for a while. The danger is that the authorities, trying to retain a grip on a situation that is irretrievably slipping away, will react to the extremes of the problem in ways that leave ordinary users' privacy unprotected. The best approach is to adapt traditional solutions rather than inventing new ones. The safeguards built into the traditional solutions may not be precisely appropriate, but they are far better than nothing.