Prediction of dyslexia in kindergarten boys

This study followed 163 boys from kindergarten through fourth grade. A battery of neurospychological and preacademic tests and electrophysiological measures (BEAM) were administered in kindergarten, and reading tests at grade 4, in an attempt to delineate precursors of dyslexia. Three of the kindergarten tasks (giving sounds associated with letters, rapid naming of numbers, and finger localization) differentiated dyslexics from normal readers with 98 percent correct classification. The tasks primarily involve grapheme-phoneme associations, storage and retrieval of phonological information in long-term memory, and verbal labeling. Results are interpreted as confirming the role played by phonological processing tasks in the prediction of dyslexia. Preliminary BEAM results for visual evoked potential topography suggest a significant increment in the distribution of this potential in the left parietal and frontal region, and, for auditory evoked potential topography, a significant difference between the two groups in the right posterior hemisphere. This work was supported in part by NIHCD grants RO1HD18761 to F.H. Duffy, RO1HD18654 to H. Als, and the Mental Retardation Grant P30HD18655 to C.F. Barlow.     

Telling the second half of the story: linking academic development to student experience of learning

Common measures used by academic developers, e.g. lecturer satisfaction with workshops, are necessary but insufficient indicators of impact since they tell only the first half of the story. Documenting whether positive responses translate into teaching actions that influence students is the second half of the story. In this study, the project team undertook to document this second half: the influence of a workshop for lecturers on student experience of learning in courses designed during the workshop. This paper describes the results of the study and also examines the implications – the difficulties and value of reconciling the desirable with the do‐able in undertaking studies such as this.     

A phenomenological study of community college students’ experiences with mentor teachers*

The aims of our current study were to (1) explore how community college science and mathematics majors made meaning of their experiences with mentor teachers as part of an early field experience and (2) understand the ways students’ experiences with mentors influenced their interest in teaching. Using interviews and written reflection activities, a qualitative phenomenological approach was used to understand and describe the meaning of the lived mentoring experiences of 17 community college science and mathematics majors. Five themes were identified to describe community college students’ experiences with mentor teachers in elementary, middle and high schools in a high-needs school district: (a) role modeling, (b) mutual respect and honesty, (c) responsiveness and guidance, (d) approachability and relatedness, and (e) broadening and shifting perspectives. Findings point to the potential of early relationships with mentor teachers as a means to shape community college students’ interest in teaching science or mathematics.     

The Social Funding of Race: The Role of Schooling

Our nation is suffused in questions of race and racism. Despite much scholarly and public discussion we struggle to undo long-held assumptions about race and how it functions. This article looks at race from the perspective of a public commodity that the society “funds” in order to make it seem real and intractable. Throughout the article there are multiple examples of the everyday, commonsense things people in this society do to fund the concept and give it meaning from our children's earliest days. The challenge in a society that so “fully funds” race is it seems near impossible to “defund” the concept in teacher education to allow new teachers to approach the classroom as a space where race is not determinant and highly predictive of student achievement.     

The mechanism of teaching–research conflict influencing job burnout among university teachers: The roles of perceived supervisor support and psychological capital

This study examined the relationship between teaching–research conflict and job burnout among university teachers and the moderating role of perceived supervisor support (PSS) and psychological capital (PsyCap) in this relationship. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from a convenience sample of 488 university teachers in China. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to examine the moderating role of PSS and PsyCap in the relationship between teaching–research conflict and job burnout. The results showed that (a) teaching–research conflict was positively linked to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization but negatively linked to personal accomplishment, (b) PSS moderated the effects of teaching–research conflict on both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization but did not act as a moderator in the relationship between teaching–research conflict and personal accomplishment, and (c) PsyCap moderated the effect of teaching–research conflict on all three dimensions of job burnout.     

The reliability of The Spatial Memory subtest on the K-ABC

The Spatial Memory subtest appears on the Simultaneous Processing scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, and is intended for children from 5-0 through 12-5 years of age. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the interscorer reliability of this subtest, due to reported scoring difficulties. Nineteen gifted children between the ages of 8-10 and 12-2 were administered the Spatial Memory subtest, and two independent examiners scored each subject's item responses. Results showed that the Spatial Memory subtest may be prone to scoring errors because there is no permanent record of responses. It is suggested that a permanent record of responses could improve interscorer reliability significantly and simplify the task of scoring this subtest for practcing psychologists.     

Clinically and theoretically derived WISC-R subtest regroupings: Predicting academic achievement in a referral population

Attention continues to be directed toward the WISC-R as a tool for understanding children's learning problems. The formulation of WISC-R subtest regroupings (apart from the traditional Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, and the empirically derived factor scores) may provide a basis for score interpretation and the generation of hypotheses regarding children's cognitive strengths and weaknesses. The present investigation analyzed the predicitive utility of several WISC-R subtest recategorizations with regard to academic to achievement as measured by the WRAT. The sample consisted of 105 children who had been referred for psychoeducational evaluation because of classroom learning problems. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that many of the regroupings were significant predictors of academic achievement. Generated regression equations are presented.