Examining a motivational treatment and its impact on adolescents' reading comprehension and fluency

The authors' purpose was to examine adolescents' reading motivation in relation to standardized assessments of reading comprehension and fluency. After a reading pretest, 60 ninth-grade students (M age = 14.9 years) were randomly assigned to two groups. Compared to those in the control condition, those administered brief oral feedback intended to improve motivation indicated an increased focus on mastery goals and greater perceived control during a reading posttest. No differences were found with regard to four other aspects of motivation. Students in the treatment condition, including struggling readers more specifically, did not score better on the posttest measures of reading comprehension or fluency. Hence, results failed to replicate Zentall and Lee's (2012 Zentall, S. S., &; Lee, J. (2012). A reading motivation intervention with differential outcomes for students at risk for reading disabilities, ADHD, and typical comparisons: ‘Clever is and clever does’. Learning Disability Quarterly, 35, 248–259. doi:10.1177/0731948712438556[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) findings with younger readers. Findings are discussed with regard to the theoretical and practical implications for understanding reading motivation.     

Print Newspapers: Are They Still Being Used in Academic and Research Libraries?

A six-month print newspaper usage study at the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library showed a marked decrease in use from a more limited study done four years previously. In general, patrons used only the major national, international, and regional newspapers. Communications with other academic and research libraries confirm these findings.     

Early Histories of School‐Aged Children With Attention‐Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder

In a prospective study of developmental outcomes in relation to early‐life otitis media, behavioral, cognitive, and language measures were administered to a large, diverse sample of children at 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9–11 years of age (N = 741). At 9–11 years of age, 9% of the children were categorized as having attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) based on parent report. Compared to the non‐ADHD group, the ADHD group had higher (i.e., less favorable) scores on parent and teacher versions of the Child Behavior Checklist at all ages. Children in the ADHD group also had lower scores on cognitive and receptive language measures in preschool. The findings support the concept that ADHD is a cognitive as well as a behavioral disorder.     

Landmark use by pigeons in a touch-screen spatial search task

Pigeons obtained food by pecking at an unmarked target location on a video screen equipped with a touch-sensitive frame. The target area was located near the top edge of the screen in Experiment 1 and near the left edge of the screen in Experiment 2. On baseline trials, a graphic landmark was located below and left of the target (Experiment 1) or below and right of the target (Experiment 2). In both experiments, baseline search distributions showed a single peak and were roughly symmetrical about the target area in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. On occasional test trials, the landmark was shifted horizontally, vertically, or diagonally by 1.5 cm or 3 cm. In both experiments, landmark shifts in the dimension parallel to the nearest edge produced systematic shifts in the peak place of search. Landmark shifts in the dimension perpendicular to the nearest edge produced inconsistent (Experiment 1) or relatively small (Experiment 2) shifts in peak place. The magnitude of the behavioral shift was always less than the magnitude of the landmark shift and was not consistently greater when the landmark was shifted by 3 cm than when it was shifted by 1.5 cm. These results demonstrated that pigeons can accurately locate an unmarked target area in a two-dimensional vertical arena and that their use of landmarks for spatial localization is similar in several respects to that found in open-field spatial search tasks.     

DIRECT OBSERVATIONS OF CHILDREN AT RISK FOR ACADEMIC FAILURE: BENEFITS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL VISITING PROGRAM

Ten elementary school students in need of a positive self-image and/or a sense of appropriate social conduct took part in a monthly intergenerational visiting program at an assisted living facility. In comparison to systematic observations obtained in their classrooms, the children were observed to be significantly less anxious, more interested, and participating more during the intergenerational program. Outcomes of a focus group with five seniors revealed that they had enjoyed the program and wanted it to continue. School administrators may want to consider intergenerational visiting programs for students whose behaviors place them at risk for academic failure.     

A Review of “Understanding the Semantic Web: Bibliographic Data and Metadata”

Successful subject searching depends upon the terminology of the search query. This paper compares the terminology of book titles with that of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) ¹ on a semantic level. Methods of ananlyzing titles into title phrases that serve as matching units are described. Guidelines used to choose LCSHs with the closest semantic matches to title phrases are set forth. The pairing of title phrases with semantically related LCSHs constitutes the data of the study. Categories representing the types of semantic relationships holding between pairs of terms are defined. Results of the study show that the most common semantic relationship holding between title phrases and LCSH is a hierarchical one where title phrases are more specific than LCSHs.     

Can Middle School Students with Serious Reading Difficulties Help Each Other and Learn Anything?

This investigation was intended to examine the effects of teaching middle school students with learning disabilities and mild mental retardation to tutor one another in reading comprehension strategies. All students were reading significantly below grade level and many students exhibited behavior problems in addition to their primary disability area. Students were randomly assigned to a tutoring or traditional reading instruction condition. Within the tutoring condition, students were matched into tutoring dyads, trained in the tutoring procedures, and taught specific reading comprehension strategies. Reciprocal tutoring was employed, such that students assumed roles of both tutor and tutee during daily reading periods. Performance on reading comprehension tests following tutoring yielded significant performance advantages for students involved in tutoring. Observational, survey, and interview data revealed that students enjoyed tutoring more than their traditional instruction, appeared to see the value and benefits of the tutoring, and wanted to include tutoring as part of their other classes, such as science and social studies. Findings are discussed with respect to the strengths and challenges associated with the use of tutoring to provide strategic instruction to students with special learning needs.     

Grades or Scores: Predicting Future College Mathematics Peflormance

Do men and women with similar admissions test scores earn similar grades in mathematics? What factors may explain underprediction for women? Do men and women differ in persistence in mathematics study?