Taking a Different Route: Contribution of Articulation and Metacognition to Intervention With At-Risk Third-Grade Readers

This study compared the impact of 2 types of small-group interventions targeting below-level 3rd-grade students. The study compared WordWork decoding and spelling instruction (Calfee, Miller, Norman, Wilson, &; Trainin, 2006 Calfee, R. C., Miller, R. G., Norman, K., Wilson, K., &; Trainin, G. (2006). Learning to do educational research. In M. A. Constas &; R. J. Sterenberg (Eds.), Translating theory and research into educational practice: Developments in content domains, large scale reform, and intellectual capacity (pp. 77–103). New York, NY: Routledge. [Google Scholar]; Calfee &; Patrick, 1995 Calfee, R. C., &; Patrick, C. L. (1995). Teach our children well: Bringing K–12 education into the 21st Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Assoc. [Google Scholar]), which includes attention to articulation and metacognition, with a more traditional phonological awareness program (Torgesen &; Bryant, 1993 Torgesen, J. K., &; Bryant, B. R. (1993). Phonological awareness training for reading. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. [Google Scholar]). University education students delivered the interventions with equal instructional time and fidelity, to both groups. Students in both intervention groups engaged in repeated readings of connected text to promote transfer. The impact of training was assessed through decoding, spelling, and oral reading fluency measures. Results indicated that WordWork produced more positive results in decoding, spelling, and fluency, and had significantly fewer treatment resisters.     

Designing customizable reading modules for a high school literature classroom

This design case follows an ongoing collaboration between an instructional technologist and a high school literature teacher promoting reading comprehension through modules that provide visually interesting display of text on a computer screen along with cognitive tools. The modules were found to boost comprehension of specific content in even one use, and over time, overall reading skills were improved. Specific examples from the design and development process of this collaboration are shared here to illustrate decisions made in the face of common constraints—limited time, funding, and technical know-how—that emerged from theory and pilot studies. Teacher educators and their instructional-technology collaborators can use the information from this design and research process to harness the potential of ubiquitous software in affordable, replicable, and pedagogically sound ways.     

Inter-University Cooperation and ERASMUS: The Integration of French LEA Students in British Undergraduate University Courses

With the advent of the ERASMUS programme a new impetus has been given to the exchange of students between countries within the European Community. Having outlined the aims and objectives of ERASMUS, the authors take as a case-study the development of links between the Universities of Birmingham and Grenoble III (Stendhal University), from the initial inter-university agreemart to the creation of an ERASMUS diploma. The problems posed by diffetences in university systems and practices in Britain and France are identified. Academic issues discussed include the relative merits of contrastive and complementay study programmes, the tailoring of course packages to the needs of specific groups of students, linguistic difficulties, assessment and validation procedures. After a brief consideration of practical arrangements, the article concludes with an evaluation of lessons which are to be learnt and of the extent to which such an initiative might be said to fulfil the ideals of the ERASMUS program.     

Euro-Philiacs,Euro-Sceptics and Europhobics: Higher Education Policy,Values and Institutional Research

The European higher education landscape is inhabited by three clans: the Euro-philiac, his wicked twin, the Euro-phobic and most interesting of all, the Euro-sceptic. This unholy trinity has long been with us. Though the recent Euro electoral fiasco has in all probability served to bolster the ranks of the second and third tribes1     

Stress in elite sport performers: a comparative study of competitive and organizational stressors

The purpose of this study was to compare the content and quantity of competitive and organizational stressors in elite athletes. Ten international performers were interviewed about sources of stress. Content analysis of the data involved categorizing the demands associated primarily and directly with competitive performance (#CS = 21) under the post hoc dimension "performance issues", and the demands associated primarily and directly with the sport organization (#OS = 72) under one of the following four post hoc dimensions: "environmental issues", "personal issues", "leadership issues" and "team issues". Frequency analysis revealed that the participants mentioned the competitive stressors (sigma = 95) less than the organizational stressors (sigma = 215). Further analysis within these categories showed that the mean number of participants citing individual competitive stressors (M = 4.52) was greater than the mean number of participants citing individual organizational stressors (M = 2.99). The findings indicate that elite athletes experience and recall more demands associated primarily and directly with the sport organization than with competitive performance. Furthermore, this population appears more likely to mention similar competitive stressors but varied organizational stressors, probably because the former are inherent and endemic to elite sport, whereas the latter are essentially extraneous and widely distributed.