Implementation as a Focus of Consultation to Evaluate Academic Tutoring Services in an Urban School District: A Case Study Example

This article describes a multiagency initiative to evaluate academic tutoring services by focusing on the processes that contribute to effective program implementation. Community-based tutoring service providers serving students in the Cincinnati Public Schools (OH) partnered to initiate a “Seal of Approval” process for promoting evidence-based practices among tutoring providers, assigning merit to effective programs, and eliminating or remediating ineffective practices. The consultant-driven process evaluation was designed to be fair and equitable among an array of tutoring service providers. This case example has implications for consultants, tutoring program directors, and school district administrators seeking to establish an accountability system for tutoring service providers.     

Who says you need to teach reading to 11–13-year-olds?

Research indicates that as students move through the school system, many begin to experience difficulties with reading. With this mind, this study explored current practices and perceptions about reading programmes for 11–13-year-old students in New Zealand schools. The study employed an online survey designed to investigate current reading literacy practices in a sample of New Zealand primary in years 7 and 8. Observations of practice and interviews with literacy leaders, teachers, principals and students were also carried out at five case study schools. The survey indicated that teachers may underestimate the importance of learner engagement and direct teaching strategies. The case studies exemplify the need for good professional development, supportive leadership, effective class management strategies, a positive and engaging learning environment, teachers with a passion for literacy and exemplary and sustained guided reading.     

Educational engagement,expectation and attainment of children with disabilities: Evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study

Government statistics show that children with special educational needs and disabilities do not achieve as well academically as their peers, which impacts on later employment and socioeconomic circumstances. Addressing these inequalities is a key policy area which currently lacks a satisfactory evidence base. To explore the issue, the present study used data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study which contains data from the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses along with other administrative data, from a representative sample of the Scottish population. Using this large and longitudinal sample, the present study examines educational engagement, expectations and attainment for children with self-reported disability, controlling for other early childhood factors. The results show that children with mental health problems were at higher risk of leaving school early, and that children with learning difficulties were less likely to gain advanced qualifications. Neither limiting long-term illness in early childhood nor disability in adolescence were significant predictors of engagement, however, they did predict measures of academic expectation and attainment. Results suggest there is a critical phase for attainment, with area deprivation in early childhood but not adolescence being important for later educational inequalities.     

Microfluidics based on ZnO/nanocrystalline diamond surface acoustic wave devices

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with 64 μm wavelength were fabricated on a zinc oxide (ZnO) film deposited on top of an ultra-smooth nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) layer. The smooth surface of the UNCD film allowed the growth of the ZnO film with excellent c-axis orientation and low surface roughness, suitable for SAW fabrication, and could restrain the wave from significantly dissipating into the substrate. The frequency response of the fabricated devices was characterized and a Rayleigh mode was observed at ∼65.4 MHz. This mode was utilised to demonstrate that the ZnO/UNCD SAW device can be successfully used for microfluidic applications. Streaming, pumping, and jetting using microdroplets of 0.5 and 20 μl were achieved and characterized under different powers applied to the SAW device, focusing more on the jetting behaviors induced by the ZnO SAW.     

Undergraduate students' ability to revise text effectively: relationships with topic knowledge and working memory

In order to communicate understanding, students are often required to produce texts which present an explicit, coherent argument. This study examined the extent to which individual differences in undergraduates' topic knowledge and working memory skills were related to their ability to revise texts to better fulfil these goals. Forty-seven students revised texts containing three types of error: language, structure and argument. Topic knowledge was indexed by multiple choice test performance. Verbal short-term and working memory were measured using forward and backward digit recall and reading span. Rates of identification, diagnosis and correction of errors were generally poor. Contrary to expectations neither topic knowledge nor verbal working memory was associated with text revision although significant associations were identified with verbal short-term memory. When revising texts students may focus on the surface features of the text rather than addressing issues of structure and argument. Possible accounts of this tendency are considered.