Ten Years of Research: A Systematic Review of Three Refereed LD Journals

Content analyses of journals in the field of LD provide a means of surveying research and publication trends, the knowledge of which may inform policy and practice related to future research agendas. As the first decade of the current millennium was particularly contentious for the field of LD, we felt that a content review would be timely. In this paper, the content of three refereed LD journals—Journal of Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, and Learning Disabilities Quarterly—was analyzed. Articles from 2001–2010 (n = 841) were systematically coded to capture article type, area of interest, population of interest, sample characteristics, and inclusion of students with LD. Results indicate that across the decade, (a) 68% of articles reported empirical research; (b) empirical research trended up; (c) publication of intervention research remained steady; (d) the most common foci were literacy and the non‐academic characteristics of individuals with LD; and (e) inclusion of participants labeled as having a LD declined. We discuss trends, possible explanations, and implications, highlighting areas for future research.     

Book reviews

The Light That Shines: Chapel Hill, 1912–1916. Robert B. House. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1964. Pp. 216. $5.00.)

Psychology of Adolescence for Teachers. Glenn Myers Blair and R. Stewart Jones. (New York: Macmillan, 1964. Pp. 118. $1.50, paper.)

Psychology of the Child in the Classroom. Don C. Charles. (New York: Macmillan, 1964. Pp. 86. $1.25, paper.)

Reading Instruction for Today's Children. Nila Banton Smith. (Engle‐wood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice‐Hall, 1963. Pp. 594. $7.50.)

Religion and the Schools, The Great Controversy. Paul Blanchard. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963. Pp. 265. $4.95.)

School Business Administration in the Smaller Community. Fredrick W. Hill and James W. Colmey. (Minneapolis: T. S. Denison and Company, 1964. Pp. 324. $7.95.)

Sociology of Childhood. Oscar W. Ritchie and Marvin R. Koller. (New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1964. Pp. 333. $5.00.)

The Teaching of Mathematics. Roy Dubisch. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1963. Pp. 124. $2.95, paper.)

Vignettes on the Theory and Practice of School Administration. Finis E. Engleman, Shirley Cooper, and William J. Ellena. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963. Pp. 237. $4.80.)     

Advocating for a More Effective Critical Pedagogy by Examining Structural Obstacles to Critical Educational Reform

Since a major purpose of critical pedagogy is to change society by changing schools, critical pedagogy must gain an increased presence within K-12 schools. For this to happen, however, critical educators must begin to more fully recognize and appreciate the structural obstacles that schools present to critical educational change. This paper examines three of these obstacles: schools’ nature as public institutions, the fact that schools change reform efforts, and the relationship between ‘first-order’ and ‘second-order’ change and the types of changes for which criticalists often advocate. The paper ends by encouraging a smaller, more practical critical pedagogy that is focused on tangible and meaningful effect.     

Heart Rate Response to a Modified Harvard Step Test: Males and Females,Age 10–69

Abstract

The residents of an entire community are being examined periodically in an effort to determine the etiologic factors which lead to impaired health. As a part of this study, a submaximal test consisting of stepping onto an 8-inch bench at the rate of 24 steps/ minute for three minutes was administered to 2696 males and 2568 females, aged 10–69. The ECG, from which heart rate (HR) was measured, was recorded before, during, and after the exercise. Resting, exercise, and postexercise HR's are significantly higher for females at all ages. Pre-exercise HR decreases from age 10 to about age 25 in males and females, and shows little age change thereafter. In both males and females the terminal (3 minute) HR decreases from age 10 to 35, remains fairly constant to age 55, and decreases thereafter. The postexercise HR decreases again at age 65 in males and females. Reclining pre-exercise HR is moderately correlated with the exercise and postexercise HR at all ages in males and females. However, there is only a low correlation between either sitting or standing anticipatory HR and exercise and postexercise HR's. The HR's at 2′30” and 3′ during exercise are highly correlated as are the various postexercise HR's with each other at all ages and in both males and females. The correlation of the exercise HR and postexercise HR is moderately high. Percentile ranks for males and females (age 10–69) are given for the 1-minute postexercise HR's.     

An Educational Intervention Designed to Increase Women's Leadership Self-Efficacy

Women are sparsely represented in leadership in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Cultural stereotypes about men, women, and leaders influence the attitudes, judgments, and decisions that others make about women and the choices women make for themselves. Multilevel interventions are needed to counteract the impact of these pervasive and easily activated stereotypes, which conspire in multiple ways to constrain women's entry, persistence, and advancement in academic STEMM. We describe an individual-level educational intervention. Using the transtheoretical model of behavioral change as a framework, we assessed the success of a semester course on increasing women's leadership self-efficacy for the first three cohorts of course participants (n = 30). Pre/post questionnaires showed gains in leadership self-efficacy, personal mastery, and self-esteem, and decreases in perceived constraints. Qualitative text analysis of weekly journals indicated increasing leadership self-efficacy as course participants applied course information and integrated strategies to mitigate the impact of societal stereotypes into their own leadership practices. Follow-up queries of the first two cohorts supported the enduring value of course participation. We conclude that providing strategies to recognize and mitigate the impact of gender stereotypes is effective in increasing leadership self-efficacy in women at early stages of academic STEMM careers.     

Counting cells with a low-cost integrated microfluidics-waveguide sensor

The capability to count cells from biofluids at low cost has important diagnostic implications in resource-poor settings. Many approaches have been developed to address this important need, and while most envision a low per-test cost, the detector instrument can be quite expensive. In this report, we present a novel device that enables low-cost and rapid counting of cells from a drop of blood. We demonstrate a shallow, buried, planar waveguide fabricated by ion exchange in glass that underlies a microfluidic structure for capturing cells. Laser light transmitted through the waveguide was attenuated by the number of metal nanoparticles tagged to the cells because of the interaction of the metal particles with the evanescent field of the waveguide. Calibration of the sensor using bead-tagged lymphocytes captured from human blood showed that the sensor could semi-quantitatively count as few as 100 cells/μL of blood. This technology enables the enumeration of specifically captured cells, allowing for a point-of-care, hand-held device for fast and affordable cell counting in screening, remote, or resource-poor settings.