Behavioral Approaches to Obesity Treatment

Obesity is at the forefront of the public health agenda. Why, with all the emphasis on the health risks of obesity and the availability of multiple treatment options, is it so difficult for people to successfully lose and maintain weight? The answer is simple: Most obesity treatment plans tell people what to do but not how to change their behavior. Furthermore, many people attempting weight loss focus on narrow aspects of weight loss behaviors (e.g., specific eating or exercise plans, over-the-counter weight loss products, medication, and in growing numbers, gastric surgery). However, weight gain is ultimately a consequence of multiple environmental and biologic factors that encourage behaviors that result in positive energy balance. It is unlikely that most obesity treatments will be successful unless people learn to address the environmental, biologic, and behavioral barriers that influence their ability to make eating and physical activity choices that promote long-term weight management. Behavioral approaches to obesity treatment help people develop the skills they need to successfully manage their weight in a way that is consistent with their individual barriers, goals, and lifestyles.     

Reading and spelling acquisition in Thai children

Thai, a tonal language, has its own distinctive alphabetic orthography. The study investigates reading and spelling development in Thai children, with an aim of examining the grain size that is predominantly used when reading and spelling. Furthermore, word and nonword lists were developed to examine the acquisition of the complex system of vowels and tone rules in Thai. Reading and spelling of words and nonwords were assessed in 60 Thai children ranging in age from 7 to 9 years 8 months from Grade(s) 1, 2, and 3. A lexicality effect was found for both reading and spelling. Spelling lagged behind reading in the Grade 1 children. Development rapidly increased between the youngest Grade 1 children and the older Grade 2 and 3 children. For word reading there were significantly more lexical errors than phonological errors. Beginning readers appear to predominantly use a larger lexico-syllabic grain size to read Thai.     

Creating a Progress‐Monitoring System in Reading for Middle‐School Students: Tracking Progress Toward Meeting High‐Stakes Standards

In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of curriculum‐based measures (CBM) in reading for indexing the performance of secondary‐school students. Participants were 236 eighth‐grade students (134 females and 102 males) in the classrooms of 17 English teachers. Students completed 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐minute reading aloud and 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐minute maze selection tasks. The relation between performance on the CBMs and the state reading test were examined. Results revealed that both reading aloud and maze selection were reliable and valid predictors of performance on the state standards tests, with validity coefficients above .70. An exploratory follow‐up study was conducted in which the growth curves produced by the reading‐aloud and maze‐selection measures were compared for a subset of 31 students from the original study. For these 31 students, maze selection reflected change over time whereas reading aloud did not. This pattern of results was found for both lower‐ and higher‐performing students. Results suggest that it is important to consider both performance and progress when examining the technical adequacy of CBMs. Implications for the use of measures with secondary‐level students for progress monitoring are discussed.     

lol: new language and spelling in instant messaging

Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a “new language” of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a spelling test delivered over instant messaging. We used the conversations to develop a taxonomy of new language use in instant messaging. Short-cuts, including abbreviations, acronyms, and unique spellings were most prevalent in the instant message conversation, followed by pragmatic signals, such use of emoticons, emotion words, and punctuation, and typographical and spelling errors were relatively uncommon. With rare exceptions, notably true spelling errors, spelling ability was not related to use of new language in instant messaging. The taxonomy provides an important tool for investigating new language use and the results provide partial evidence that new language does not have a harmful effect on conventional written language.     

The Erosion of FAPE for Students with LD

How schoolsfulfill Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) requirements has evolved. Decades of general and special education reforms have led to dramatic increases in expectations for students in special education to be included in the general education classroom and curriculum and to achieve to the same high standards as their general education peers. Students with learning disabilities (LD) in particular are impacted by these reforms. The notion of their individually‐appropriate education has been slowly eroded as limitations in special education practices and the goals of education reform have been responded to. As special education intentions and practices advance, stakeholders have a responsibility to protect the FAPE of students with LD, to ensure meeting these students’ individualized learning needs.     

Mathematics and Science Learning Opportunities in Preschool Classrooms

Research Findings: The present study observed and coded instruction in 65 preschool classrooms to examine (a) overall amounts and (b) types of mathematics and science learning opportunities experienced by preschool children as well as (c) the extent to which these opportunities were associated with classroom and program characteristics. Results indicated that children were afforded an average of 24 and 26 min of mathematics and science learning opportunities, respectively, corresponding to spending approximately 25% of total instructional time in each domain. Considerable variability existed, however, in the amounts and types of mathematics and science opportunities provided to children in their classrooms; to some extent, this variability was associated with teachers' years of experience, teachers' levels of education, and the socioeconomic status of children served in the program. Practice or Policy: Although results suggest greater integration of mathematics and science in preschool classrooms than previously established, there was considerable diversity in the amounts and types of learning opportunities provided in the preschool classrooms. Affording mathematics and science experiences to all preschool children as outlined in professional and state standards may require additional professional development aimed at increasing preschool teachers' understanding and implementation of learning opportunities in these 2 domains in their classrooms.     

Examining the link between preschool social-emotional competence and first grade academic achievement: The role of attention skills

Recently, research has begun to identify cognitive and social-emotional predictors of early academic success. Yet few studies have examined the mechanisms by which children's social-emotional skills are associated with later academic success. The present study examines the associations between preschool emotion knowledge, kindergarten attention skills, and first grade academic competence in a sample of mostly disadvantaged children. Results indicate that attention during kindergarten is a significant mediator of this association, even after accounting for the effects of maternal education, family income, and children's age, sex, and receptive vocabulary skills. The findings provide further support for the implementation of preventive curricula that focus on both social and emotional development as well as attentional development as one strategy for improving future academic success in young children.     

Operation ARA: A computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning

Operation ARA (Acquiring Research Acumen) is a computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning. It is a valuable learning tool that utilizes principles from the science of learning and serious computer games. Students learn the skills of scientific reasoning by engaging in interactive dialogs with avatars. They are tutored by avatars with tutoring sessions that vary depending on how well students have responded to questions about the material they are learning. Students also play a jeopardy-like game against a feisty avatar to identify flaws in research and then generate their own questions to determine the quality of different types of research. The research examples are taken from psychology, biology, and chemistry to help students transfer the thinking skills across domains of knowledge. Early results show encouraging learning gains.     

Lifetime assessment of poly-victimization in a national sample of children and youth

ObjectiveTo use a lifetime assessment of victimization experiences to identify children and youth with high cumulative levels of victimization (poly-victims). Also to compare such children to other victims and non-victims, and assess the contribution of cumulative victimization to levels of psychological distress.DesignA national sample of 1,467 children aged 2–17 recruited through random digit dialing and assessed via telephone interviews (with caretakers and youth themselves) about a comprehensive range of 33 types of victimization experiences in the previous year and at any time in their lives.ResultsNearly 80% of the children and youth reported at least one lifetime victimization. The mean number of lifetime victimizations was 3.7 and the median 2.6. The total number of different lifetime victimizations was highly predictive of symptoms of current distress. The best linear prediction of distress on the basis of cumulative victimization entailed weighting child maltreatment and sexual assault by factors of 4 and 3 respectively compared to other victimizations. We proposed classifying poly-victims as those 10% of children and youth with the highest victimization scores, and calculating different thresholds for children at different ages. Poly-victims designated in this way had significantly more distress, more non-victimization adversities than other youth and were less likely to come from an intact family.ConclusionLifetime assessment of victimization has value as a means of identifying groups of highly victimized children and youth.Practice ImplicationsThis paper describes a procedure under which practitioners can assess for a group of children, termed “poly-victims,” who have a very high burden of lifetime victimization. These children merit identification because they have high levels of psychological distress, some of the most serious victimization profiles, and a presumed vulnerability for further victimization.