A synthesis on the research of the comorbidity of ADHD and LD in Korea: perspective and trend

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LD) are the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders, and they frequently co-occur with each other. It has been found that students with comorbidity of ADHD and LD experience more difficulties in school. Even though the research interests in the comorbidity of ADHD and LD are increasing, there are inconsistent results in research studies and insufficient understanding of the comorbidity of ADHD and LD. This study attempts to grasp the progress of the studies in the comorbidity of ADHD and LD in Korea and to suggest the future directions for following research. A total of 90 studies published between 1987 and 2009 are examined. First, we analyze the studies that examined the learning problems of ADHD and then identify the characteristics of the learning problems in ADHD group. Afterwards, we investigate the studies that dealt with the attention problems of LD and then discuss the characteristics of the attention problems in LD group. Third, we identify the differences between ADHD and LD and synthesize the research findings. Finally, we analyze the studies conducted in conjunction with the comorbidity of ADHD and LD. On lightening the research of the comorbidity on three aspects, we find the research trend in Korea and provide the implications for future studies on the comorbidity of ADHD and LD. Furthermore, we suggest that it is important to identify comorbid conditions at the early stage, and it is necessary to conduct multidisciplinary research and international comparison research.     

Skills for Independence for Children with Cerebral Palsy: a comparative longitudinal study

Thirty‐six children with cerebral palsy, aged 3.5 to 4.5 years were compared on their skills for independence. Of the 36 boys and girls, 19 children were enrolled in a Conductive Education Program in Birmingham and 17 were enrolled in British special education programs in the Greater Manchester area. Skills for independence were measured with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales via teachers’ responses, once a year on three occasions. Parents were interviewed using the Developmental Profile 2, once a year on three occasions. The results of two‐way ANOVA with one repeated measure on both teachers’ and parents’ responses indicate that there was no significant difference between the two groups in their skills for independence. However, both groups performed significantly better as they were getting older. Despite the strong emphasis on independence in Conductive Education, the children's level of independence was no different from their counterparts. Thus, the claim for the effectiveness of Conductive Education is not supported by the study.     

Developing local oral reading fluency cut scores for predicting high‐stakes test performance

This study evaluated the classification accuracy of a second grade oral reading fluency curriculum‐based measure (R‐CBM) in predicting third grade state test performance. It also compared the long‐term classification accuracy of local and publisher‐recommended R‐CBM cut scores. Participants were 266 students who were divided into a calibration sample (n = 170) and two cross‐validation samples (n = 46; n = 50), respectively. Using calibration sample data, local fall, winter, and spring R‐CBM cut scores for predicting students’ state test performance were developed using three methods: discriminant analysis (DA), logistic regression (LR), and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC). The classification accuracy of local and publisher‐recommended cut scores was evaluated across subsamples. Only DA and ROC produced cut scores that maintained adequate sensitivity (≥.70) across cohorts; however, LR and publisher‐recommended scores had higher levels of specificity and overall correct classification. Implications for developing local cut scores are discussed.     

Learning science through technological design

In the course of a decade of research on learning in technology‐centered classrooms, my research group has gained considerable understanding of why and how students learn science by designing technology. In this article I briefly review two dimensions in which science and technology share fundamental similarities: (a) the production and transformation of representations and (b∥ the action‐oriented language describing the two domains. Because it is fundamentally problematic to derive what ought to happen in science classrooms from other dimensions, I provide three episodes to illustrate what and how students know and learn science during technological design activities. Episodes and analyses embody the two dimensions previously outlined. Because these episodes are representative of the database established during an extensive research program, I suggest there is sufficient ground for using and investigating science‐through‐technology curricula. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 768–790, 2001     

Counselor Educators' Experiences Preparing Preservice School Counselors: A Phenomenological Study

The authors conducted a phenomenological study to explore the experiences of 32 school counselor educators preparing preservice school counselors. Analysis of data from 3 focus groups revealed 3 themes: breadth versus depth, balancing specialties and professor partiality, and preparation versus practice. These results highlight the need for collaboration across counseling specialties at the preservice level.     

Why Do We Want to Change Teachers’ Beliefs and How Could We Support These Changes? The Case of Conceptions of Learning

The theoretical part of this paper argues for an embedding of the question of stability and change of teachers’ conceptions of learning into the researchers epistemological standpoint. The empirical part illustrates this statement by showing how changes in a teacher's conception of learning could be understood from a constructivist perspective. According to this perspective, conceptions are related to other relational and environmental variables that form a meaningful configuration. Thus, although conceptions of learning appear as relatively stable cognitive structures, they are also related to environmental variables to be managed by the teachers’ educators. This research result determines the discussion of the basic questions addressed in the title of this paper: why do we want to change teachers beliefs and how could we, as teachers’ educators, support these changes.     

Translating Policy into Practice: the teaching and learning experience

Student diversity has increased within Australian universities. This has changed the teaching and learning needs of students. The implementation of quality was aimed at enhancing the quality of the higher educational product. However, the policy, while providing an accountability framework at the institution level, failed to provide the structural mechanisms needed to achieve quality in the teaching and learning the students receive, that is the sub‐faculty level. Other factors, such as the potential growth of non‐government resources in the form of more international students have perhaps a greater chance of improving the quality of teaching and learning within the faculties, because they provide both the funds and an incentive for more funds as a reward for implementing quality assurance within the teaching and learning function of universities.     

Identifying indicators of university autonomy according to stakeholders’ interests

Tertiary Education and Management - This paper is an attempt to reconcile two different perspectives and come up with a more comprehensive conceptualization of university autonomy by adopting a...     

MARKETING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES TO COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS

A major investment in educational television programmes by the federal government led the United States Department of Education to seek ways to extend the audience size for these programmes beyond public television by placing them on commercial broadcast stations in America. This article describes the programmes, the marketing organization and strategies used to promote programming to the commercial marketplace, and the successes achieved in persuading commercial broadcasters to accept educational children's programming, particularly programmes aimed at minority audiences.     

Noise Levels in Hong Kong Primary Schools: Implications for classroom listening

Many researchers have stressed that the acoustic environment is crucial to the speech perception, academic performance, attention, and participation of students in classrooms. Classrooms in highly urbanised locations are especially vulnerable to noise, a major influence on the acoustic environment. The purpose of this investigation was to determine noise levels in one such urban environment, Hong Kong. The ambient noise level, and its relationship to the speech intensity levels of both teachers and students was surveyed in 47 primary school classrooms. Moreover, the presence of acoustical treatments for noise reduction and the use of classroom amplification systems were documented for each classroom. The survey found that the mean occupied noise level was 60.74 dB (A); the mean unamplified and amplified speech‐to‐noise ratios of teachers were 13.53 dB and 18.45 dB, respectively; while the mean unamplified speech‐to‐noise ratio for students was 4.13 dB. Most of the classrooms exhibited insufficient acoustical treatments to provide significant noise reduction. The listening environment in many Hong Kong primary schools was not favourable for optimal classroom learning. Recommendations for improving the acoustical environment in classrooms in highly urbanised locations such as Hong Kong are discussed.