A longitudinal study of mathematical competencies in children with specific mathematics difficulties versus children with comorbid mathematics and reading difficulties

Mathematical competencies of 180 children were examined at 4 points between 2nd and 3rd grades (age range between 7 and 9 years). Children were initially classified into one of 4 groups: math difficulties but normal reading (MD only), math and reading difficulties (MD-RD), reading difficulties but normal math (RD only), and normal achievement in math and reading (NA). The groups did not differ significantly in rate of development. However, at the end of 3rd grade the MD only group performed better than the MD-RD group in problem solving but not in calculation. The NA and RD only groups performed better than the MD-RD group in most areas. Deficiencies in fact mastery and calculation fluency, in particular, are defining features of MD, with or without RD.     

Epistemic beliefs and achievement goal orientations: Relations between constructs versus personal profiles

Research has found students' epistemic beliefs to predict their achievement goal orientations. Much of this research emerged from the dimensional approach of epistemic beliefs, which hypothesized a relationship between particular independent dimensions of epistemic beliefs with different achievement goals. Research in this approach has primarily applied a variable-centered approach to investigating these relations. The authors adopt an alternative conceptualization of epistemic beliefs, which considers epistemic beliefs and achievement goals as orthogonal to each other, and which favors a profile-centered approach to researching their relations. They hypothesized that while a variable-centered analysis would identify relations between epistemic beliefs and achievement goal orientations, a profile-centered analysis would demonstrate the independence of these psychological constructs. In three studies with high school students (ns = 256, 149, 250) the authors demonstrate that epistemic beliefs and achievement goals form different personal profiles that are differentially related to learning strategies.     

International Programs in Schools: Considerations of Form and Function

(Intergenerational Programs in Schools: Considerations of Form and Function) – In recent years there has been a groundswell of intergenerational program activity occurring on an international scale. At an unprecedented level, new initiatives are emerging which aim to bring young people and older adults together in various settings – to interact, stimulate, educate, support, and provide care for one another. The focus of this paper is on intergenerational programs implemented in schools. Discussion centers primarily on how such initiatives enhance and reinforce the educational curriculum, contribute to student learning and personal growth, enrich the lives of senior adult participants, and have a positive impact on the surrounding communities. The paper concludes with a review of some key issues that need to be taken into account when developing and evaluating intergenerational programs.     

Film—General

INTRODUCTION TO FILM by Robert S. Withers (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1983---$6.95, paper)

OPPORTUNITIES IN FILM by Jan Bone (Available from VGM. Career Horizons, 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, Illinois 60646-1975 for $5.95 paper or $7.95 hardcover)

CHARLIE CHAPLIN: A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY (227 pages, $35.00)

Karen M. Stoddard, SAINTS AND SHREWS: WOMEN AND AGING IN AMERICAN POPULAR FILM (174 pages, $27.95)

THE NEW LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (1983---$4.00, paper)

100th number of CINE CUBANO ($7.00)

The American Film Institute has begun (and ended) its Monograph series with four volumes. All are available from University Publications of America (44 North Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701; each is $25.00 in hardcover and $10.00 in paperback)

WOMEN AND FILM: BOTH SIDES OF THE CAMERA by E. Ann Kaplan (New York: Methuen, 1983---$10.95, paper)

ROLLING BREAKS AND OTHER MOVIE BUSINESS by Aljean Harmetz (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983---$14.95)     

Consumer Use and Business Potential of Virtual Worlds: The Case of “Second Life”

Abstract

Several months ago, the virtual social world “Second Life” (SL) received considerable interest in both the popular and business press. Based on a series of 29 qualitative, in-depth interviews, this article investigates what types of behaviors consumers show within this environment and what business opportunities it offers for companies. The results indicate that users do not consider SL as a mere computer game but as an extension of their real lives. This has implications for how marketing managers can use this online application that go beyond those known from traditional computer or online games.     

To Read,Responsibly

This article is a critique of the National Endowment for the Arts report, To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007). Author Nancy Kaplan originally published an analysis of this report on a blog, IF: Book at http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2007/11/reading_responsibly_nancy_kaplan.html. She edited and rewrote that original presentation for publication in PLQ. Much of Kaplan's method involves a rigorous analysis of the same data that the NEA report writers used. However, she demonstrates, contrary to the organizational researchers' conclusions, that voluntary reading rates among teenagers and young adults did not decline between the early 1970s and 2004. Neither, Kaplan finds, is there any reliable data to support the NEA's editorial claims about the declining proficiency in adult readers. She concludes that the NEA authors truncated the time dimension of the available data and otherwise manipulated or misinterpreted data to obtain their results. Kaplan concludes that library professionals should discount the highly publicized NEA findings and focus on the clear statistical realities reported on the source documents and summarized here instead.     

A Note on Cluster Effects in Latent Class Analysis

This article examines the effects of clustering in latent class analysis. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted, which begins by specifying a true multilevel latent class model with varying within- and between-cluster sample sizes, varying latent class proportions, and varying intraclass correlations. These models are then estimated under the assumption of a single-level latent class model. The outcomes of interest are measures of bias in the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and the entropy R ² statistic relative to accounting for the multilevel structure of the data. The results indicate that the size of the intraclass correlation as well as between- and within-cluster sizes are the most prominent factors in determining the amount of bias in these outcome measures, with increasing intraclass correlations combined with small between-cluster sizes resulting in increased bias. Bias is particularly noticeable in the BIC. In addition, there is evidence that class separation interacts with the size of the intraclass correlations and cluster sizes in producing bias in these measures.     

Thinking about technology: Applying a cognitive lens to technical change

We apply a cognitive lens to understanding technology trajectories across the life cycle by developing a co-evolutionary model of technological frames and technology. Applying that model to each stage of the technology life cycle, we identify conditions under which a cognitive lens might change the expected technological outcome predicted by purely economic or organizational models. We also show that interactions of producers, users and institutions shape the development of collective frames around the meaning of new technologies. We thus deepen our understanding of sources of variation in the era of ferment, conditions under which a dominant design may be achieved, the underlying architecture of the era of incremental change and the dynamics associated with discontinuities.