Editorials

This article discusses historical and contemporary influences on changes in special education assessment, with emphasis on three persistent themes: accurate classification, fairness to minority students, and special education outcomes. Dunn's contributions to each of the themes are discussed, along with other influences such as legislation and litigation. Current dynamics leading to significant changes in special education assessment are discussed, particularly in the disability category of specific learning disabilities.     

Preschool Teachers’ Implementation of Vocabulary Strategies During Shared Reading: a Comparative Study

Research Findings: Shared reading is reported to be the single best instructional practice for emergent literacy skills. Vocabulary instruction practices implemented during shared reading by both Head Start (HS) teachers and teachers from more affluent private school settings were compared to determine whether there were differences between the 2 groups of teachers in their implementation of research-based practices. HS teachers implemented vocabulary instruction practices during shared reading more often, and chose different words to instruct, than private school teachers. Whereas 78% of HS teachers provided some vocabulary instruction during shared reading, only 59% of private school teachers did so. Among those teachers who provided vocabulary instruction during shared reading, HS teachers used significantly more contextualization strategies for word instruction than private school teachers. These findings suggest that preschool teachers who work with children from high-needs backgrounds use vocabulary instruction during shared reading as a way to bolster children’s vocabularies more frequently than teachers working in private preschools that serve children from more privileged backgrounds. Extratextual language was also compared, and private school teachers had a higher mean length of utterance and type–token ratio than the HS teachers. Practice or Policy: Professional development is recommended for preschool teachers to increase the implementation of best practices for vocabulary instruction during shared reading.     

Perceptions of control at school among students in special education programs

Data are reported on special and regular education students' perceptions of control at school and the importance to the students of having such control. For both special and regular education populations, comparisons were made between students enrolled in experimental and nonexperimental programs. Findings indicate comparability among the four groups with regard to areas in which control is valued. Perceptions of control at school for those in the standard special education group were lower than the ratings of regular education students and lower than those given by special education students in the experimental program.     

Scaling the duration of short pauses in licking behavior of rats and mice: A first approximation to a basic pause-scaling unit

Two studies are reported in which short pauses from the drinking behavior of four hooded rats (rat study) and four mice (mouse study) were analyzed. Both of these studies supported the hypothesis that the interlick interval (II) can be used as a unit (PU) for scaling short pauses in licking behavior during water drinking. The outcomes of these studies are seen as suggesting that the factor responsible for the constancy of the II is also functioning during short pauses and is responsible for the tendency herein reported for pauses to be scaled by the PU.     

Using a Behavior Change Model to Document the Impact of Visits to Disney's Animal Kingdom: A Study Investigating Intended Conservation Action

Abstract Over the last 10 to 15 years, zoos and aquariums have set out to influence visitors' conservation‐related knowledge, attitudes, affect, and behavior. In 2000, the Institute for Learning Innovation collaborated with Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK) on a comprehensive baseline study conducted to assess the outcomes of a DAK experience on visitors in four areas: knowledge, attitudes, affect, and behavior. This article describes one aspect of the comprehensive study: an investigation of the long‐term (two‐to‐three‐month) impact of a visit to Conservation Station at Disney's Animal Kingdom on visitors' intended conservation action. The study used a behavior change model from the health arena: the Prochaska Model of Behavioral Change. The model proved helpful but had some drawbacks, suggesting the need to develop a more sensitive change model. The implications of this study could assist institutions in thinking about what audiences or messages to emphasize in order to influence behavior.