Parents’ reading-related knowledge and children’s reading acquisition

Teacher reading-related knowledge (phonological awareness and phonics knowledge) predicts student reading, however little is known about the reading-related knowledge of parents. Participants comprised 70 dyads (children from kindergarten and grade 1 and their parents). Parents were administered a questionnaire tapping into reading-related knowledge, print exposure, storybook reading, and general cultural knowledge. Children were tested on measures of letter-word knowledge, sound awareness, receptive vocabulary, oral expression, and mathematical skill. Parent reading-related knowledge showed significant positive links with child letter-word knowledge and sound awareness, but showed no correlations with child measures of mathematical skill or vocabulary. Furthermore, parent reading-related knowledge was not associated with parents' own print exposure or cultural knowledge, indicating that knowledge about English word structure may be separate from other cognitive skills. Implications are discussed in terms of improving parent reading-related knowledge to promote child literacy.     

Executive impairment determines ADHD medication response: implications for academic achievement

Methylphenidate (MPH) often ameliorates attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behavioral dysfunction according to indirect informant reports and rating scales. The standard of care behavioral MPH titration approach seldom includes direct neuropsychological or academic assessment data to determine treatment efficacy. Documenting "cool" executive-working memory (EWM) and "hot" self-regulation (SR) neuropsychological impairments could aid in differential diagnosis of ADHD subtypes and determining cognitive and academic MPH response. In this study, children aged 6 to 16 with ADHD inattentive type (IT; n = 19) and combined type (n = 33)/hyperactive-impulsive type (n = 4) (CT) participated in double-blind placebo-controlled MPH trials with baseline and randomized placebo, low MPH dose, and high MPH dose conditions. EWM/ SR measures and behavior ratings/classroom observations were rank ordered separately across conditions, with nonparametric randomization tests conducted to determine individual MPH response. Participants were subsequently grouped according to their level of cool EWM and hot SR circuit dysfunction. Robust cognitive and behavioral MPH response was achieved for children with significant baseline EWM/SR impairment, yet response was poor for those with adequate EWM/ SR baseline performance. Even for strong MPH responders, the best dose for neuropsychological functioning was typically lower than the best dose for behavior. Findings offer one possible explanation for why long-term academic MPH treatment gains in ADHD have not been realized. Implications for academic achievement and medication titration practices for children with behaviorally diagnosed ADHD will be discussed.     

On creating a workable signing environment: deaf and hearing perspectives

This article studies teams of service providers in education and psychiatric services, in which a substantial number of both deaf and hearing people work together as colleagues. It focuses specifically on the challenges involved in cooperatively creating a signing work environment. Using a methodology that draws on the principles of ethnography, it identifies and explores the meaning constructions associated with signing at work, from deaf and hearing perspectives. Data were collected through interviews in three organizations all in the United Kingdom: two specialist psychiatric units for deaf adults and a school for deaf children. Forty-one informants participated (20 deaf, 21 hearing). Results show that from a deaf perspective, hearing people's use of sign language in their presence at work is closely associated with demonstrating personal respect, value, and confidence, and hearing colleagues' willingness to sign is more significant than their fluency. From a hearing perspective, results demonstrate that sign language use at work is closely associated with change, pressure, and the questioning of professional competence. The challenges involved in improving deaf/hearing relations are perceived from a deaf perspective as largely person-centered, and from a hearing perspective as primarily language-centered. The significance of organizational factors such as imbalances in power and status between deaf and hearing colleagues is explored in relation to the findings.     

Maternal Support of Children's Early Numerical Concept Learning Predicts Preschool and First‐Grade Math Achievement

The primary goal in this study was to examine maternal support of numerical concepts at 36 months as predictors of math achievement at 4½ and 6‐7 years. Observational measures of mother–child interactions (n = 140) were used to examine type of support for numerical concepts. Maternal support that involved labeling the quantities of sets of objects was predictive of later child math achievement. This association was significant for preschool (d = .45) and first‐grade math (d = .49), controlling for other forms of numerical support (identifying numerals, one‐to‐one counting) as well as potential confounding factors. The importance of maternal support of labeling set sizes at 36 months is discussed as a precursor to children's eventual understanding of the cardinal principle.     

Searching the MEDLARS file on NLM and BRS a comparative study.

A comparison of the MEDLARS data base as it is currently available from the National Library of Medicine and Bibliographic Retrieval Services (BRS), Inc., is presented in chart format, and some major capability differences between the two systems are highlighted. The information inlcuded justifies the dual availability of the data base in health sciences libraries. This paper is intended for searchers and others familiar with one or both systems. Administrators considering the acquisition of the BRS system may find the study useful.     

Identifying the Best Buys in U.S. Higher Education

Which U.S. institutions of higher education offer the best value to consumers? To answer this question, we evaluate U.S. institutions relative to a data envelopment analysis (DEA) multi-factor frontier based on 2000?C2001 data for 1,179 4-year institutions. The resulting DEA ??best buy?? scores allow the ranking of institutions by a weighted sum of institutional characteristics per dollar of average net price. The net price is calculated as tuition, fees, room, and board less per student financial aid. Institutional characteristics include SAT score, athletic expenditures, instructional expenditures, value of buildings, dorm capacity, and student body characteristics. The DEA scores indicate the distance of each institution from the ??best buy?? frontier for the chosen characteristics, providing an objective means of ranking institutions as the best values in higher education.     

Student-Generated Content: Enhancing learning through sharing multiple-choice questions

The relationship between students' use of PeerWise, an online tool that facilitates peer learning through student-generated content in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and achievement, as measured by their performance in the end-of-module examinations, was investigated in 5 large early-years science modules (in physics, chemistry and biology) across 3 research-intensive UK universities. A complex pattern was observed in terms of which type of activity (writing, answering or commenting on questions) was most beneficial for students; however, there was some evidence that students of lower intermediate ability may have gained particular benefit. In all modules, a modest but statistically significant positive correlation was found between students' PeerWise activity and their examination performance, after taking prior ability into account. This suggests that engaging with the production and discussion of student-generated content in the form of MCQs can support student learning in a way that is not critically dependent on course, institution, instructor or student.     

Group Projects: Student Perceptions of the Relationship Between Social Tasks and a Sense of Community in Online Group Work

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between specific social tasks and student perceptions of a sense of community during online group work. A survey instrument was developed, piloted, and deployed to 125 students in six different online classes. Results revealed few significant relationships between each of the five social tasks examined and student perceptions of a sense of community during online group work; however, students reported that some social tasks were important. Students seemed to focus more on completing a task for a grade than seeing group projects as part of developing community to enhance learning. This might reflect a lack of understanding by the students of the importance of social tasks to successful group project completion.