Using a Multidimensional Differential Item Functioning Framework to Determine if Reading Ability Affects Student Performance in Mathematics

Many teachers and curriculum specialists claim that the reading demand of many mathematics items is so great that students do not perform well on mathematics tests, even though they have a good understanding of mathematics. The purpose of this research was to test this claim empirically. This analysis was accomplished by considering examinees that differed in reading ability within the context of a multidimensional DIF framework. Results indicated that student performance on some mathematics items was influenced by their level of reading ability so that examinees with lower proficiency classifications in reading were less likely to obtain correct answers to these items. This finding suggests that incorrect proficiency classifications may have occurred for some examinees. However, it is argued that rather than eliminating these mathematics items from the test, which would seem to decrease the construct validity of the test, attempts should be made to control the confounding effect of reading that is measured by some of the mathematics items.     

The effect of an instructional intervention on middle school english learners' science and english reading achievement

This study examined the effect of a quasi‐experimental project on fifth grade English learners' achievement in state‐mandated standards‐based science and English reading assessment. A total of 166 treatment students and 80 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted of on‐going professional development and specific instructional science lessons with inquiry‐based learning, direct and explicit vocabulary instruction, integration of reading and writing, and enrichment components including integration of technology, take‐home science activities, and university scientists mentoring. Results suggested a significant and positive intervention effect in favor of the treatment students as reflected in higher performance in district‐wide curriculum‐based tests of science and reading and standardized tests of oral reading fluency. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 987–1011, 2012     

The Gendering of Physical Education in Hong Kong: East,West or Global?

How gender operates is a key factor in the ways in which physical education is organized, taught and experienced by students and teachers. This essay highlights the gendered contours of the history of physical education development in Hong Kong, its Chinese heritage and its colonial foundations – the persistent influence of British approaches to physical education teacher education and the promotion of sport. The paper is a collaborative work between Chinese-born and Western scholars. It examines the relative influences of Chinese attitudes towards gender roles and the active, sporting body and the continued impact of Western approaches to physical education and sport in a post-colonial society.     

Academic Journal Publishing

This paper summarizes the presentations made at the “Academic Journal Publishing” session of the 2007 NASIG conference. The session was conducted by four publishers from a variety of academic publishing companies who made presentations (specifically tailored to a librarian audience) which provided a broad stroke overview of their industry and how they go about the process of publishing and distributing academic journals in the 21st century. Through each of their presentations they spoke to the questions of “what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.” Topics covered included the launch and acquisition of journals, the peer review process, the tools and services supplied to authors and editors, the production processes employed, special legal and copyright issues, marketing and distribution strategies, and usage.     

Special symposium: Reviews of books in applied communication

CONDITIONS OF LIBERTY: CIVIL SOCIETY AND ITS RIVALS by Ernest Gellner. New York: Penguin, 1994; $27.95.

LISTEN UP: VOICES FROM THE NEXT FEMINIST GENERATION. Edited by Barbara Findlen. Seattle, Washington: Seal, 1995; pp. xi‐264. $12.95.

“I GOTTA TELL YOU”;: SPEECHES OF LEE IACOCCA. Edited by Matthew W. Seeger. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994. 335 pages. $27.50 (hardcover). $15.00 (paperback).

A IS FOR OX: VIOLENCE, ELECTRONIC MEDIA, AND THE SILENCING OF THE WRITTEN WORD by Barry Sanders; New York: Pantheon Books; 1994; 271 pages, $23.00.

HOW THINGS GOT BETTER: SPEECH, WRITING, PRINTING, AND CULTURAL CHANGE by Henry J. Perkinson; Westport, Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey; 1995; 173 pages; $49.95.

CONCEPTUALIZING SEXUAL HARASSMENT AS DISCURSIVE PRACTICE. Edited by Shereen G. Bingham. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994; pp. 206. $55.00

APPLIED COMMUNICATION IN THE 21^st CENTURY; edited by Kenneth N. Cissna; Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erbaum Associates, 1995; 218 pages, $19.95     

明日简讯

Alfalfa's Bright Prospects苜蓿的大好前景 Biofuel,plastics,and livestock1 feed are among themany potential uses for new, cross-bred2 varieties ofalfalfa.(I)Using funds earmarked for bioenergy pro-jects,agricultural researchers are crossing thick-stemmedEuropean alfalfa with modern varieties developed fordairv feed,creating a variety that can be used for bothfeed and fuel.Researchers also hope to transform alfalfaso that it can be used to manufacture biodegradable3plastic.In addition,they’ve have identified genes that en-hance alfalfa’s ability to absorb nitrogen4 in the soil-atrait that could Rive the new varieties a vital role in pre-venting water pollution by fertilizers5.