Identifying dyslexia with confirmatory latent profile analysis

Confirmatory latent profile analysis (CLPA) was used with the normative sample from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, 3rd ed. (KTEA‐3) to determine whether it was possible to identify a latent class of individuals whose scores were consistent with the academic strengths and weaknesses related to dyslexia. The CLPA identified a class of individuals consistent with dyslexia across four‐grade level groups (first–second, third–fifth, sixth–eighth, and ninth–twelfth). The results of the CLPA were applied to the KTEA‐3 clinical samples of those with known clinical diagnoses. Individuals with Specific Learning Disorder in Reading and/or Written Expression had a higher probability of being in the dyslexia latent class. The use of CLPA as a tool for learning disability diagnosis appears plausible, though much more research is needed. The strengths, limitations, and future directions for the use of CLPA in diagnosis are discussed.     

Predicting Meaningful Employment for Refugees: The Influence of Personal Characteristics and Developmental Factors on Employment Status and Hourly Wages

Refugee demographic and developmental variables were evaluated as predictors of employment outcomes following a six-month non-governmental organization (NGO) directed resettlement period. The sample consisted of 85 refugee adults (18 to 54 years) who were resettling in a medium sized urban setting in the western United States. Demographics included sex, age, education level, and English proficiency. Developmental factors included number of years spent as a refugee. Results suggested that for each year spent as a refugee there was a corresponding decrease in the ability to secure meaningful employment. Implications for vocational interventions with refugees are discussed within the framework of Social Cognitive Career Theory.     

Inclusive educational practices in Kenya: Evidencing practice of itinerant teachers who work with children with visual impairment in local mainstream schools

This article presents a findings from an investigation of the work of 38 specialist itinerant teachers (ITs) supporting the educational inclusion of children with visual impairment in Kenya. The research was designed around a participatory action research framework involving in-country researchers and participants (teachers) working in collaboration with researchers in the United Kingdom. Following an introductory training workshop, participants kept research journals over a 2-month period in which they recorded details of their itinerant duties (including the processes and content of their visits). Findings provide information about local practices of ITs support for children with visual impairment in mainstream schools and raise broader questions about the barriers to learning and development facing children with disabilities in mainstream schools in Kenya and other developing countries.     

Assessing the Relevance of Statistics and Crime Analysis Courses for Working Crime Analysts

Crime analysts study criminal activity and police function to improve performance. Analysts inform operations, aid resource allocation, and evaluate programs. These tasks require high levels of statistical literacy. Given that most analysts are college-educated civilians, college coursework in statistics and/or crime analysis may represent the foundational knowledgebase within the profession. However, little research has attempted to determine if coursework teaches the skills needed by analysts. Underlying this issue is a limited understanding about what technical skills crime analysts regularly use. Analyzing parallel surveys of 98 criminal justice educators and 146 crime analysts, this study compares the skills taught in undergraduate-level statistics and crime analysis courses to those used by analysts. Comparisons are made between perceptions of the value of coursework. Results indicate discrepancies between the orientation of coursework and the needs of analysts which underscore differences in the perceived relevance of statistics education. Recommendations are discussed.     

Evaluating Score and Decision Consistency Across Claims in a Validation Argument

This study utilizes an argument-based approach to validation to examine the implications of reliability in order to further differentiate the concepts of score and decision consistency. In a methodological example, the framework of generalizability theory was used to estimate appropriate indices of score consistency and evaluations of the likelihood of decision errors based on the design of a performance assessment and its intended use. The study illustrates how generalizability theory can be applied to address various claims about consistency when decisions are based on two or more cut scores, and results underscore the importance of considering score and decision consistency separately.     

Making Social Work Count: A Curriculum Innovation to Teach Quantitative Research Methods and Statistical Analysis to Undergraduate Social Work Students in the United Kingdom

Students in the United Kingdom (UK) are found to lack knowledge and skills in quantitative research methods. To address this gap, a quantitative research method and statistical analysis curriculum comprising 10 individual lessons was developed, piloted, and evaluated at two universities The evaluation found that BSW students’ (N = 81) self-efficacy improved significantly from pre- to posttest, but statistical knowledge improved only slightly and the improvement was not statistically significant. The findings point to recommendations for social work educators in the UK and beyond to consider when integrating the 10-input quantitative method curriculum and when teaching research methods and statistics to undergraduate social work students.     

Instructional improvement and student engagement in post-secondary engineering courses: the complexity underlying small effect sizes

The current study leveraged a professional development programme for engineering faculty at a large research university to examine the impact of instructional improvement on student engagement. Professors who participated in the professional development were observed three times and rated using an existing observation protocol. Students in courses with instructors who participated and did not participate in the professional development were surveyed about their classroom engagement. The responses were used to conduct quasi-experimental comparisons. Results indicated that students in courses with professors who participated in the professional development self-reported 3% more behavioural and 2% more cognitive engagement than students with professors who did not participate. Within professional development group, follow-up comparisons showed that students in courses with the highest rated instructors self-reported 7% more cognitive engagement than students with lower ranked professors. Thematic coding of the qualitative data suggests that the highest rated instructors may have achieved these gains through the use of three domain general instructional strategies: activating prior knowledge, facilitating classroom interaction and promoting reflection. Findings are contextualised within extant literature reporting similar effect sizes, and implications for future engagement research from a classroom systems perspective are discussed.     

Digital Media and Disciplinarity

This article asks two related questions: Is digital media studies a discipline, and should scholars within the field desire to move toward disciplinarity? Drawing on the writings of Michel Foucualt and Pierre Bourdieu, as well as several Anglo-American cultural studies of disciplinarity, the essay argues that digital media studies has not yet constituted a truly novel scholarly discourse. Because of that, our reasons for disciplinizing—to the extent that it is possible to choose to become a discipline—would be largely strategic. Given that the field is already successfully reproducing itself, the symbolic benefits of becoming a discipline are relatively limited, and such a move would also have significant intellectual costs.