Phonological working memory, phonological awareness and language in literacy difficulties in Brazilian children

One of the most usual flaws that lead to literacy disability regards cognitive difficulties and alterations some children present in the literacy process. Many studies have found alterations in phonological processing, more specifically in phonological working memory (PWM) and phonological awareness (PA). Therefore, our aim was to identify alterations in skills of phonological working memory, phonological awareness and language (semantic, syntactic and phonological aspects) of Brazilian children with literacy disabilities (age 7–8). They were divided into two groups: (1) Group of Normal Literacy (NL); and (2) Group With Literacy Disabilities (LD). The evaluation comprised tests that assessed general cognitive functions and the skills at stake. The LD presented a poorer performance than the NL in the skills of PWM, PA and language aspects. The factor analysis showed that these skills prevailed in differentiating the groups. Thus, children with literacy disabilities presented deficits in phonological processing and language. These deficits seem to be a result of alterations of the phonological representations and poor language skills that are prior to the literacy period. Consequently, we believe that the early identification of these alterations can be very useful for the prevention of future literacy problems.     

Proposals for improving the transition process of young people with intellectual disabilities in Spain: insights from focus groups of professionals,young people and their families

This research aims to present proposals that can improve the transition to adulthood of young people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Four focus groups were set up in three different cities in Spain, each comprising education and social work professionals, people with ID and family members. In total, 32 participants were included in the study. The discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic content analysis. Improvements proposed by participants were organised into six themes: coordination between services and professionals; curricular approaches; participation by young people with ID; peer-relationship networks; family and administration. Participants highlighted the need to make the curriculum more flexible and foster curricular experiences related to social and workplace inclusion, as well as establish more continuity in guidance processes throughout the different stages of education and especially at the end of secondary education. Participants also suggested the need for young people with ID to have a more prominent role in their educational process, and strengthening their social networks by promoting their participation in community activities.     

A developmental perspective on full- versus part-day kindergarten and children's academic trajectories through fifth grade

Children's kindergarten experiences are increasingly taking place in full- versus part-day programs, yet important questions remain about whether there are significant and meaningful benefits to full-day kindergarten. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Kindergarten Cohort ( N = 13,776), this study takes a developmental approach to examining associations between kindergarten program type and academic trajectories from kindergarten (ages 4–6 years) through 5th grade (ages 9–12 years). Full-day kindergarten was associated with greater growth of reading and math skills from fall until spring of kindergarten. Initial academic benefits diminished soon after kindergarten. The fade-out of the full-day advantage is in part explained by differences in the children who attend part- and full-day kindergarten as well as school characteristics.     

Everything We Do Is A Celebration of You! : Pleasant Company Constructs American Girlhood

The American Girl (AG) collection is an enormously successful line of girls merchandise that includes dolls, books, and accessories. Through mail-order catalogs, AG has become a part of the cultural universe of young girls in the United States. We examined the dolls, books, accouterments, and catalogs as texts and, therefore, sites of cultural construction, attempting to uncover the ways in which nationality, history, race/ethnicity, consumerism, and gender are immersed in these products. Our study underscores how the AG dolls and products render the world for its young consumers. This rendering is not innocent. Inclusions, exclusions, and hierarchies are naturalized, offering a particular view of race, gender, and the imagined community that is embedded in social practices and power relations that help determine our ways of seeing and imagining from a very young age.     

‘I'm ready for a new chapter’: The voices of young people with autism spectrum disorder in transition to post-16 education and employment

This study explores the views and experiences of 12 young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in transition to post-16 education and employment, in light of the changes introduced by the new special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation in England. The extension of provision until the age of 25, and the introduction of person-centred education, health and care (EHC) plans, have given a significant place to the views of young people with SEND and their families. The views, wishes and aspirations of young people must be captured in the newly developed plans, reflecting the statutory requirement for local authorities to systematically record these in a biopsychosocial way, focusing on participation and well-being. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people with ASD attending specialist settings or receiving specialist support under the new EHC plans. These were analysed inductively, through thematic analysis. The findings suggest that at the time of transition, young people with ASD want to become increasingly more independent, present ambivalent feelings about their future and acknowledge the relevance of support systems in their lives. Implications for practice and future research are discussed, in light of the new English policy context.     

Channel adaptive rate control for energy optimization

Low energy consumption is one of the main challenges for wireless video transmission on battery limited devices. The energy invested at the lower layers of the protocol stack involved in data communication, such as link and physical layer, represent an important part of the total energy consumption. This communication energy highly depends on the channel conditions and on the transmission data rate. Traditionally, video coding is unaware of varying channel conditions. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer approach in which the rate control mechanism of the video codec becomes channel-aware and steers the instantaneous output rate according to the channel conditions to reduce the communication energy. Our results show that energy savings of up to 30% can be obtained with a reduction of barely 0.1 dB on the average video quality. The impact of feedback delays is shown to be small. In addition, this adaptive mechanism has low complexity, which makes it suitable for real-time applications.     

The relationship between motivation to read and reading comprehension in chilean elementary students

This study examined the role of reading motivation in reading comprehension achievement of 1070 Chilean third, fourth, and fifth-grade students enrolled in public and private schools. Students were assessed in Spanish reading comprehension and were administered the Motivation to Read Profile from Gambrell, Palmer, Codling and Mazzoni (1996), at the beginning and end of the school year. Results showed that motivation to read at the beginning of the school year was significantly associated with gains in reading comprehension skills. When disaggregating motivation into self-concept and value of reading, only self-concept of reading significantly predicted gains in reading comprehension. Moderation analyses showed that students that started the year with lower reading comprehension and higher motivation to read, had significantly better reading comprehension at the end of the school year, than their peers who started with lower reading motivation. The pedagogical implications are discussed.

     

Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk application

Understanding the main determinants of Internet banking adoption is important for banks and users; our understanding of the role of users’ perceived risk in Internet banking adoption is limited. In response, we develop a conceptual model that combines unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) with perceived risk to explain behaviour intention and usage behaviour of Internet banking. To test the conceptual model we collected data from Portugal (249 valid cases). Our results support some relationships of UTAUT, such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, and also the role of risk as a stronger predictor of intention. To explain usage behaviour of Internet banking the most important factor is behavioural intention to use Internet banking.     

Perceived effects and uses of the national teacher evaluation system in Chilean elementary schools

This paper addresses the perceived consequences of the Chilean national teacher evaluation system. We interviewed 57 school leaders in 30 schools across 10 municipalities about effects and uses of the assessment in their schools. Results show that in the large majority of schools our interviewees observe positive effects such as increased teamwork and internal reflection processes based on the assessment results. Reports about effects at teacher level far outnumber institutional effects, and are mixed. In all schools our interviewees report on teachers’ negative emotions and work overload due to the assessment process, but also about their internalization of the underlying professional standards. The paper analyzes differences among schools and offers suggestions for the development of large-scale standardized teacher evaluation systems.