What church examination records can tell us about the inheritance of reading disability

Long before the establishment of a general school system in Sweden (1842), a vast majority of the adult population had reached some reasonable level of reading literacy. The level of reading skill among the members of a household was assessed by the parish priest at annual catechetical examinations, and the results of these examinations were recorded in church registers. Eventually (in the 18th century) a 5-point grading scale was developed. In the present investigation, these unique records were used to study the transmission of low reading marks over successive generations in 17 families. For comparison, a set of 17 family trees originating from good readers was traced. The average scores of the descendants of poor readers were significantly lower than corresponding scores for descendants of good readers. However, the transmission patterns in the family trees of poor readers did not indicate any simple genetic mechanism. In another study, two dyslexic cases living today were traced backward to ancestors born around 1750. In one of the cases, a massive familial pattern of reading disability down to the eighth generation was observed, while most ancestors of the other case had average or above average reading skill as judged by the priests. The reasons for the absence of a simple hereditary pattern were critically discussed. This research was supported by a grant from the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Birgitta Esberg served as research assistant.     

ADHD and reading disability in male adults: is there a connection?

The present study examined the comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) in male adults. Participants were 120 men, of whom 24 were classified as having ADHD. The basis for the diagnosis was two self-report scales validated by interviews and background data. An extensive battery was used to assess phonological abilities and various aspects of reading skills. No differences were obtained between adults with and without ADHD on measures of either phonological processing skills or word decoding, indicating a low comorbidity with RD. This finding was valid even when different criteria were used to diagnose RD. However, the two groups differed in reading comprehension, with individuals with ADHD performing poorly in tests of reading comprehension. These results are compatible with the view that reading comprehension involves many of the higher cognitive control functions assumed to be impaired in ADHD. However, these attentional control functions are not critical to word recognition, which is determined by a more encapsulated phonological processing module. The pattern of associations between ADHD and RD observed in the present study is explained with reference to the differential attentional demands of the two aspects of reading.     

Pre-service Physics Teachers and Conceptual Difficulties on Temperature and Heat

In this article the ‘lesson preparation method’ was used to investigate pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, in particular their knowledge of pupils’ conceptual difficulties on temperature and heat. A relation is found between the conceptual difficulties pre-service teachers expect their pupils to have and the conceptual difficulties they themselves have or have had. The discussion considers what pedagogical content knowledge teacher educators should include in the initial or inservice teacher education curriculum.     

Campus commons: My privileged assumptions

Carol Lundberg reminds us that it is important to be attuned to the sometimes complicated lives students bring with them to the classroom.     

Student and teacher experiences of assessing different levels of understanding

Examinations greatly influence course structures and student study strategies. A course for students in the civil and environmental engineering programme at Luleå University of Technology was reconstructed with the aim of increasing levels of understanding. A simple written test was designed to assess low levels of understanding (definitions, concepts, etc.). Laboratory work, fieldwork and extensive assignments (calculation tasks) were intended to assess medium levels of understanding (apply, use and combine algorithms, etc.). A final oral group exam that was used to assess high levels of understanding (compare/contrast, explain causes, analyse, relate) concluded the course. Peer assessment of laboratory work and assignments was also applied. The students ranked the entire course at 5 on a 6 grade scale and appreciated the extensive assignments and the assessment approach.     

Windows of opportunities: Nordic perspectives on sexual diversity in education

The Nordic countries have often been depicted as progressive societies regarding sexual diversity and gender equality. These progressive changes in sexual minority issues, however, have not brought about radical changes in educational policies in addressing gender and sexual equality in schools. Both compulsory and upper secondary education often lack coherent protection of queer students. The same applies to specific policies on queer issues within the education system; they are hidden in the depths of many national curricula. In fact, a discrepancy exists in broader social policies supporting equality based on sexual orientation in the educational context. The main objective of this article is to investigate this discrepancy and justify it. In doing so, we will discuss in detail the educational policies and practices on sexualities currently operating in the Nordic area, particularly in Finland and Iceland. We analyse curricula documents, legislation, research reports, and other data from our own research projects, including ethnographic interviews, observation data, survey data, and written material.     

Applying spaced practice in the schools to teach math vocabulary

Spaced practice, or the distribution of practice opportunities across time, is a well‐known and effective practice for improving retention. However, spaced practice is not effectively implemented in schools, perhapsl as a result of a lack of educationally relevant research in the area. We conducted an educationally relevant investigation of the spaced practice. Using a quasi‐experimental between‐subjects design, we taught 62 third‐ and fourth‐grade students eight math vocabulary words under two patterns of spaced practice (fixed interval and expanded interval) and massed practice. Results showed a benefit of spaced practice over massed practice, but no difference between fixed interval and expanded interval spaced practice. The findings suggest that spaced practice may be implemented to improve the retention of math vocabulary words; however, more research is needed to provide guidelines to support educators in implementing spaced practice in schools.     

常利率下的一类索赔相依的风险模型探讨

讨论了常利率下一类索赔到达过程相依同时保费收入为复合Poisson过程的风险模型,先将两个相依索赔总额转化为相互独立的索赔总额,然后利用鞅方法给出相应的Lundberg不等式。