Spelling of Inflected Verb Morphology in Children with Spelling Deficits

Children with spelling deficits demonstrate significant difficulty using inflectional morphology in their writing. This study investigated whether phonological deficits account for these pronounced difficulties or if they are more accurately explained by limitations in morphological or orthographic awareness. Twenty–six 11—13–year–old children with spelling deficits, 31 younger spelling–level–matched children, and 31 age–matched children were asked to spell a series of verbs with past tense and progressive markers in dictated sentences and in list form. Performance on spelling tasks was compared to performance on phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness tasks. Results suggest that children with spelling deficits have significant difficulty including inflections as well as spelling inflections and base words. Difficulty was most pronounced in a sentence context. Ability to spell inflectional forms was related to variation in morphological awareness in children with spelling deficits and to variation in orthographic awareness in spelling–level–matched children.     

Investigation of Poor Academic Achievement in Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a neurogenetic developmental disorder that presents with progressive muscular weakness. It is caused by a mutation in a gene that results in the absence of specific products that normally localize to muscle cells and the central nervous system (CNS). The majority of affected individuals have IQs within the normal range, generally with lower verbal than performance IQ scores. Prior work has demonstrated selective deficits on tests of verbal span and immediate memory. For the current study, 26 boys with DMD (and normal intellectual function) and their unaffected siblings were evaluated. Paired comparisons demonstrated that the children with DMD had significantly poorer academic achievement scores than their siblings, even though their vocabulary levels and home and educational environments were comparable. Children with DMD also had more behavioral concerns, physical disabilities, and poorer verbal memory spans. Linear regression indicated that behavioral concerns, executive function, and physical disability did not contribute substantially to academic performance, whereas performance on verbal span did. DMD presents with a selective developmental aberration in verbal span that has wide‐ranging consequences on learning skills.     

论体育教育专业改革的职业需求适应性

体育教育专业在培养中小学体育师资方面起着重要的作用,因而,体育教育专业的培养目标和教学模式必须适应现代社会的需求,适应中小学体育教学.21世纪中小学体育必将进行一系列的改革.分析了中小学体育的教学目标、教学方法和课程设置,同时对体育教育专业改革的若干方面进行了探讨.     

National Testing or Political Testing: I s There a Difference?

Are two national reports on standardized testing realistic or simplistic? What is the difference between “political” testing and conventional testing? What are some likely consequences of politicizing school testing?     

Engaging Students with Learning Disabilities in Instructional Discourse: A Commentary on the REACH Papers

The four articles on instructional discourse contributed by the members of the REACH project offer rich examples of the learning opportunities for students with learning disabilities (LD) in upper‐elementary and middle‐school content classrooms. In this commentary, I highlight possible reasons for variations in instructional engagement within and across the studies, discuss the challenges to engaging students with LD in discipline‐based instruction, and stress the value for the LD field of greater attention to instructional discourse.     

Financing Universities in the Federal Republic of Germany

Financing universities in times of increasing demands in all fields of public expenditure is a problem of nearly all European counnies not least because of the ongoing process of European integration. Comparing the different national systems of financing universities may be a means to foster cooperation and competition in a step by step growing network of universities in the European Community. This paper tries to give some insights into the German system; special considerotion is given to its federal structure and its implications for the universities' financthg system, because these problems may be of interest to other countries also. Of course this survey cannot be complete; details must be left to detailed information. The first part of the paper gives a survey of the higher education system in the Federal Republic of Gennany. The second part deals with the sources of funds, including the structure of mong streams to the universities. The third part refffs to the restrictions in using state money in the universities and the problems resulting; the fourth and final part concentrates on problems of the future, especially getring third party finds, and the diversifiation. of financing.