First-grade cognitive abilities as long-term predictors of reading comprehension and disability status

In a sample of 195 first graders selected for poor reading performance, the authors explored four cognitive predictors of later reading comprehension and reading disability (RD) status. In fall of first grade, the authors measured the children's phonological processing, rapid automatized naming (RAN), oral language comprehension, and nonverbal reasoning. Throughout first grade, they also modeled the students' reading progress by means of weekly Word Identification Fluency (WIF) tests to derive December and May intercepts. The authors assessed their reading comprehension in the spring of Grades 1-5. With the four cognitive variables and the WIF December intercept as predictors, 50.3% of the variance in fifth-grade reading comprehension was explained: 52.1% of this 50.3% was unique to the cognitive variables, 13.1% to the WIF December intercept, and 34.8% was shared. All five predictors were statistically significant. The same four cognitive variables with the May (rather than December) WIF intercept produced a model that explained 62.1% of the variance. Of this amount, the cognitive variables and May WIF intercept accounted for 34.5% and 27.7%, respectively; they shared 37.8%. All predictors in this model were statistically significant except RAN. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the accuracy with which the cognitive variables predicted end-of-fifth-grade RD status was 73.9%. The May WIF intercept contributed reliably to this prediction; the December WIF intercept did not. Results are discussed in terms of a role for cognitive abilities in identifying, classifying, and instructing students with severe reading problems.     

Smart RTI: A Next-Generation Approach to Multilevel Prevention

During the past decade, responsiveness to intervention (RTI) has become popular among many practitioners as a means of transforming schooling into a multilevel prevention system. Popularity aside, its successful implementation requires ambitious intent, a comprehensive structure, and coordinated service delivery. An effective RTI also depends on building-based personnel with specialized expertise at all levels of the prevention system. Most agree on both its potential for strengthening schooling and its heavy demand on practitioners. In this article, we describe Smart RTI, which we define as making efficient use of school resources while maximizing students' opportunities for success. In light of findings from recent research, we discuss three important features of Smart RTI: (a) multistage screening to identify risk, (b) multistage assessment to determine appropriate levels of instruction, and (c) a role for special education that supports prevention.     

Differences and impacts through action learning

Here, we argue that action learning (AL) has been evolving into different variations, whose respective advocates appear to concentrate on one of the several components inherent in Revans’ formulation of AL as L?=?P?+?Q. They do this – sometimes inappropriately – to the virtual or relative exclusion of other aspects, and this has consequences for the outcomes and impact of the AL process. In an attempt to delimit the boundaries between various versions and indeed to identify what Johnson [2010. A framework for the ethical practice of action learning. Action Learning: Research and Practice 7, no. 3: 267–283] called ‘inauthentic’ AL, we have been developing our ideas for a scanning device or framework. We refer briefly to some of the theoretical underpinnings of this framework. We then introduce a fresh taxonomy to explain and illustrate features of five principal variations of emphasis in AL that we have identified. The aim of this framework is to help stakeholders to work towards selecting and co-creating the most appropriate variation of ‘authentic’ AL to suit their unique set of circumstances at any given time. We outline the likely outcomes of each respective variation if taken to extremes and conjecture about their implications. This taxonomy should also help one to reduce the mystique and confusion that often surround AL while acknowledging its complexity. We suggest that by taking advantage of insights provided by this framework, purchasers and potential AL set members in particular are more likely to participate in learning conversations that lead to more informed decisions and actions to address or adjust their respective interests and needs. In conclusion, we identify some areas for further research and development.     

Building capacity: challenges and opportunities in large class pedagogy (LCP) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past 20 years most countries, particularly developing countries, have seen a large increase in the number of students seeking higher education. A consequence of this growth is increasing pressure on teaching staff and institutions, usually resulting in, among other effects, increased class size. Large classes of between 300 and 1,000, and even more, at the undergraduate level are not uncommon in a number of countries (Mulryan-Kyne in Teach High Educ 15(2):175–185, 2010). Large classes are often perceived as one of the major obstacles to the attainment of quality education. Despite the difficulties associated with teaching and learning in large classes, they remain a reality in many countries affecting learners across all levels of the education system and are often the only perceived option available to meet growing demand for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mohamedbhai in The effects of massification on higher education in Africa. Report from the Working Group on Higher Education of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2008). We contend that the challenges of delivering large classes can be confronted, and in many ways diminished, through the use of current and emerging technologies and enhanced faculty development. In this expository paper, we present findings from project activities focused on higher education faculty development and capacity building. The findings include both formative and summative development activities, as well as data collected in faculty professional development workshops and the results of two surveys. We use these data to lay out issues, challenges (e.g., skills, resources, logistics—including poor campus infrastructure), and opportunities (e.g., mobile capacity, distance tools such as Moodle) of large class pedagogy using a design-based research framework.     

General Mass Communications

Jerry Robinson's The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art (New York: Putnam, 1974—$15.00)

A History of the Comic Strip [Crown, 1968—$3.95, paper]

Perry and Aldridge's The Penguin Book of Comics [Penguin, 1967—$4.95, paper]

Reitberger and Fuchs' Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium Little, Brown, 1972— 6.95, paper—this last is discussed in 4:6:4 ; of which the latter appears the best competition to this new volume)

Arthur Asa Berger's The Comic-Stripped American (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1974—$2.95, paper)

Eli M. Oboler's The Fear of the Word: Censorship and Sex (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974—$10.00)

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (3937 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104—$4.00/3.00 per issue)

Ted Klein and Fred Danzig's How to Be Heard: Making the Media Work for You (New York: Macmillan, 1974—$9.95)

Douglas R. Berdie and John F. Anderson's Questionnaires: Design and Use (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974—$7.50)

S.H. Steinberg's Five Hundred Years of Printing (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1974— $3.25, paper)     

Adolescents' Goal Orientations and Academic Achievement: Long-Term relations and gender differences

The purpose of this study was to compare the views of Finnish and US preschool teachers, administrators and parents on appropriate educational practices for children aged 3‐5. To obtain a measure of their attitudes toward quality practices with children, a 26‐item instrument was adapted from Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. Researchers in the USA and Finland were asked to administer the instrument to subjects they considered to be ‘representative’ of teachers, administrators and parents in their respective countries. Analysis‐of‐variance procedures were then used to determine the differences in views to quality programmes among the three groups in both countries. No significant differences were found among the three groups in the Finnish sample (F(2,69) = 1.34, p = ns). Among the US group, the parents were found to score significantly less than administrators (F(2,120) = 7.85, p < 0.0006). Multivariate analyses of variance procedures showed that administrators from the two countries did not differ significantly in any of the areas under study. The two areas where teachers tended to differ significantly were those of ‘teaching strategies’ (t = 3.13, df = 100, p = 0.002) and ‘language development’ (t = 3.98, df = 89, p = 0.000). Teachers in the USA tended to take a more structured approach to instruction in preschool programmes, using teacher‐directed (less appropriate) approaches and providing children with (less appropriate) drill and practice on language skills. Parents in Finland appeared more supportive of developmentally appropriate practices than their US counterparts and their views were more generally congruent with those of teachers and administrators. This study suggests that the construct of ‘appropriateness’ of beliefs/practices for children may be of value in comparative international child‐care studies, and it raises the issue of why a greater congruence in beliefs/practices exists in some countries.     

Undergraduate Understanding of Climate Change: The Influences of College Major and Environmental Group Membership on Survey Knowledge Scores

A survey covering the scientific and social aspects of climate change was administered to examine U.S. undergraduate student mental models, and compare knowledge between groups based on major and environmental group membership. A Knowledge Score (scale 0–35, mean score = 17.84) was generated for respondents at two, central East Coast, U.S. universities (n = 465). Elements of student mental models examined include environmental issue confusion, skepticism, and self-reported understanding. This study finds that students frequently confuse climate change with other environmental issues, and that a substantial majority of students do not have an understanding of climate change that closely matches the scientific model. These misconceptions extend to their understanding of mitigation actions. Environmental group membership is shown to be a greater determinant of climate change knowledge than enrollment in a science major.