Development of dyslexic subgroups:

There is a consensus that dyslexia is on a continuum with normal reading skill and that dyslexics fall at the low end of the normal range in phonological skills. However, there is still substantial variability in phonological skill among dyslexic children. Recent studies have focused on the high end of the continuum of phonological skills in dyslexics, identifying a “surface” dyslexic, or “delayed” profile in which phonological skills are not out of line with other aspects of word recognition. The present study extended this work to a longitudinal context, and explored differences among subgroups of dyslexics on a battery of component reading skills. Third grade dyslexics (n=72) were classified into two subgroups, phonological dyslexics and delayed dyslexics, based on comparisons to younger normal readers at the same reading level (RL group). The children were tested at two points (in third and fourth grade). The results revealed that the classification of dyslexics produced reliable, stable, and valid groups. About 82 percent of the children remained in the same subgroup category when retested a year later. Phonological dyslexics were lower in phoneme awareness and expressive language. Delayed dyslexics tended to be slower at processing printed letters and words but not at rapid automatic naming of letters, and relied more heavily on phonological recoding in reading for meaning than did phonological dyslexics. A subset of the delayed dyslexics with the traditional “surface dyslexic” pattern (relatively high pseudoword and low exception word reading) was also identified. The surface subgroup resembled the RL group on most measures and was not very stable over one year. The results are discussed in light of current models of dyslexia and recent subgrouping schemes, including the Double-Deficit Hypothesis.     

Together against all odds: towards understanding the identities of teachers of at risk students

This paper describes how a collaborative project engaged teachers and university researchers in an ongoing conversation about teaching students whose learning is considered to be at risk due to a complex of social and economic barriers. Action research was employed to develop understanding of unique teacher identities shaped in classroom settings with large numbers of these students. Teacher stories generated by this research revealed that, as key members of interagency teams, teachers play a strong advocacy role for students at risk.     

Management innovation and firm performance: the mediating effects of tacit and explicit knowledge

This paper examines the role of tacit and explicit knowledge in translating management innovation into firm performance in Japanese companies. While past research has been inconsistent on the role of management innovation on firm performance, this research considers how management innovation in organizations can promote tacit and/or explicit knowledge creation, and whether this leads to higher firm performance. This research uses a questionnaire survey of employees of Japanese firms and applies conditional process analysis. There was no direct effect of management innovation onto firm performance, and that instead, both tacit and explicit knowledge fully mediated the relationship between management innovation and firm performance. While management innovation programs by themselves did not directly increase firm performance, the alignment of these programs with knowledge management initiatives enhanced performance. This highlights the need for management innovation that first considers the type of knowledge needed for enhanced performance. Previous research did not consider the role of knowledge as a means to translate management innovation into firm performance. This paper uncovers the mediating role of knowledge, potentially elucidating past inconclusive results.     

Reflective practice or poetic mindfulness: a role for social poetics in constructing and performing futures

Reflective Practice has been dominated for the last 25 years by an experiential school as typified by Kolb (1984. Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall). This paper suggests that there are significant problems with an approach to considering futures that is based on ‘knowledge’ of the past, identification of ongoing cause–effect relations and individual agency. Alternative, Social Constructionist premises are discussed and a ‘Social Poetics’ (Shotter, 1996. “Social Construction as social poetics: Oliver Sacks and the case of Dr P.” In Reconstructing the Psychological Subject, edited by B. Bayer and J. Shotter. London: Sage) is offered as a mindfulness that foregrounds moment-by-moment relations in which new realities are improvised. The use of different poetic forms to shape a poetic mindfulness is proposed and three advantages of such a practice are suggested. First, that a poetic mindfulness can interrupt limiting ‘thinking habits’. Secondly, it foregrounds the creativity of ongoing relations and, thirdly, it provides an alternative to simple cause–effect relations by foregrounding social improvisation.     

Five years later: A survey of state textbook reform

A survey was conducted to follow up the activities of a national project to improve the quality of textbooks available in American schools. The survey found that reform efforts have affected textbook policy in the adoption states throughout the country; nonadoption states, for the most part, have not addressed problems with textbooks. Changes in the adoption states are more incremental than dramatic; more diverse than focused; more in keeping with state cultures than national in character. Certain trends, however, indicate that policy makers continue to believe that their actions can improve the textbooks used in their schools. There is evidence that the adoption processes are increasingly focused on qualitive judgments about books being made by better-prepared and better-supported selectors. In addition, the adoption processes themselves are becoming less constraining on local district decision making through a variety of mechanisms.