Instructional and curricular requisites of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities

The successful integration of students with learning disabilities into mainstream reading classes may require teachers to adapt instruction and curricula in major ways. In this article, we discuss the relation between the instruction prescribed by standardized commercial curricula and the reading achievement of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities and other low-performing nonhandicapped students. An instructional template designed to complement commercially published reading lessons is described and its effects on the reading achievement of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities examined. Next, the limitations of generic instructional procedures to rectify the deficiencies of mainstream curricular programs for students with greater-than-average instructional needs are reviewed. We conclude with a discussion of the complexity of educating instructively needy learners in mainstream settings and the significance of well-designed instruction.     

Further education outside the jurisdiction of local education authorities in post-war England

This article revisits the three decades following the end of World War Two – a time when, following the 1944 Education Act, local education authorities (LEAs) were the key agencies responsible for running the education system across England. For the first time, there was a statutory requirement for LEAs to secure adequate facilities for further education (FE), and the post-war era is generally remembered as a period when they dominated FE. Yet this is not the full story of FE in post-war England: it is often forgotten that a significant amount of FE existed outside the municipal framework. This article returns to the post-war decades and begins to uncover the largely forgotten history of FE outside local authority control at that time. It highlights how voluntary and private organisations offered various forms of post-compulsory education outside the municipal framework, and how they contributed to the eclectic and diverse nature of FE across England. This, I argue, not only reflected the expedience, compromise and inertia that characterised FE in post-war England but was rooted in a capture of educational policy more generally by a privileged elite intent on maintaining a social order characterised by social, economic and cultural divisions.     

Enhancing preschool children's vocabulary: Effects of teacher talk before,during and after shared reading

This observational study analyzed patterns of teacher extratextual talk as it occurs before, during, and after reading books to children, and the frequency and duration of teacher questioning by type (label, define, associate) on preschoolers’ receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Over the course of 18 weeks, 13 teachers and 100 children participated in ninety 20-min small-group sessions of teacher-guided shared reading instruction. Teachers’ reading instruction was examined through videotaped observations using the Multi-Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES™; Tapp, Wehby, & Ellis, 1995). Two findings, in particular, yielded relevant educational and theoretical implications. First, time spent after reading was significantly related to expressive vocabulary. However, question timing did not seem to matter in terms of receptive vocabulary outcomes. Second, duration of teacher association questioning was significantly related to receptive vocabulary outcomes while both frequency and duration of teacher vocabulary-related association-level questioning were related to expressive vocabulary. For receptive vocabulary, both vocabulary- and comprehension-related association-level questioning mattered. These findings complement the body of work demonstrating that engaging children in interactive shared reading that elicits their active participation is related to meaningful gains in children's language and literacy growth. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Weaving a Web Within the Web: Corporate Consolidation of the Web, 1999–2008

Scholars have repeatedly debated whether the Web serves as an alternative to traditional media consolidation. To explore this issue further, the author examines Web site ownership trends over a 10-year period, finding evidence of ownership consolidation among popular Web properties. In addition, the author finds that traditional media corporations have consolidated their influence over the Web. In the end, the author suggests that the Web does not serve as an alternative to media consolidation.     

Influences on TV Viewing and Online User-shared Video Use: Demographics,Generations, Contextual Age,Media Use,Motivations, and Audience Activity

People are increasingly viewing, providing, and recommending video content through the Internet. Applying the uses and gratifications framework, along with contextual age and generational theory, this study identifies and compares motivations for, and their influence on, traditional TV viewing and online user-shared video use among a U.S. sample of adult Internet users. Further, this study explores the form and role of audience activity through online user-shared video recommendations (type, channel, and social relation). Overall, the basic U&G motivations also apply to the new online media world, but differ in levels and influence.     

Retransmission Consent,Cable Franchising,and Market Failure: A Case Study Analysis of WOOD-TV 8 Versus Cablevision of Michigan

Today, many media corporations are linked together through interlocking boards of directors. Are these interlocks legal, especially in an ever-converging media environment? This study of interlocks finds that over 40% of leading media corporations are interlocked with another leading media company. The majority of these interlocks are legal under current media conditions, but that may change as media formats converge. In addition, the legality of 2 board interlocks is questioned and discussed.     

Our Experience with User Experience: Exploring Staffing Configurations to Conduct UX in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

A research project was undertaken by a university library system to develop a sustainable user experience strategy. A task force was convened to conduct a pilot project with members from both libraries in the system to assess staffing responsibilities, guidelines, processes, and data-gathering procedures. The team tested an electronic resources list common to both libraries. In describing the methods employed by the task force in their research, this article outlines the benefits and drawbacks of staffing configurations to initiate user experience practices in an academic library setting.     

Collaboration Between the University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Library and the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Research

Librarians have traditionally facilitated research development resulting in grants through performing biomedical literature searches for researchers. The librarians at the Taubman Health Sciences Library of the University of Michigan have taken additional steps forward by instituting a proactive approach to assisting investigators. To accomplish this, the librarians have taken part in a collaborative effort with the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Research. Through this partnership, both units have created and adopted various techniques intended to facilitate the submission of grants, thus allowing researchers more time to conduct their primary activities.