Reading comprehension skills of young adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia

This study explores the contribution of cognitive processes to comprehension skills in adults who suffered from childhood developmental dyslexia (CD). The performance of adults with CD (ages 17 to 23), chronological age-matched (CA) adults, and reading level-matched (RL) children was compared on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, working memory (WM), general knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. The results showed that adults with CD scored lower on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, WM, general knowledge, and vocabulary when compared to CA readers but were comparable to RL children on the majority of process measures. Phonological processing, naming speed, vocabulary, general knowledge, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to reading comprehension accuracy, whereas WM, intelligence, phonological processing, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to comprehension fluency. Adults with CD scored lower than CA adults and higher than RL children on measures of lexical processing, WM, and listening comprehension when word recognition and intelligence were partialed from the analysis. In summary, constraints in phonological processing and naming speed mediate only some of the influence of high-order processes on reading comprehension. Furthermore, adults with CD experience difficulties in WM, listening comprehension, and vocabulary independently of their word recognition problems and intellectual ability.     

Aspects and the overlap function

It is intuitively clear that putting the cart before the horse is not the same as putting the horse before the cart. It is equally clear that a history of philosophy is different from a philosophy of history. Yet there is no logical relationship, like the AND/OR/NOT functions, which would enable manipulation of these permuted, non-commutative, relationships. In this paper we present a system for automatic handling of ordered sets, states based on these sets, and of differing points of view regarding a Universe of Discourse. We call what we are dealing with aspects and we represent them by means of a new logical function called the Overlap function.     

Girl's Education in Zambia: Everyone's Responsibility -- A Policy Framework for Participatory Process

This paper is based on a panel in which the four authors participated at the 10th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies in Cape Town in July 1998. The overall focus of the panel was on how an initiative to promote girl's education in Zambia -- involving governments, NGOs, donor organizations, teachers and girls themselves -- has influenced policy development to the point where the Zambian Ministry of Educaion now has clear directives on girl's education. The authors analyse some of the important factors that contributed to this outcome.     

Quality Child Care: At Whose Expense?

Quality child care is related to the number of adequately prepared practitioners who are available to children on a long-term basis. Unfortunately, child care practitioners subsidize the true cost of quality child care by working for substandard wages, few benefits, and little recognition of their true worth. The need for adequate compensation for qualified caregivers is the most critical issue facing the profession, because adequate compensation enables trained and educated caregivers to remain in the field, invest in professional development, and it also attracts new students into the field. The true cost of quality should be shared by all members of society, for everyone benefits from investing in the citizens of the future.     

Reliability and concurrent validity of the DUSO affectivity assessment device

Forms M and L of The DUSO Affectivity Assessment Device were administered to 23 first-grade children. Alternate form reliability was significant at the .02 level of confidence. Forty-five first-grade children were administered Form L of The DUSO AAD and one week later the California Test of Personality. Concurrent validity correlations were significant for the total group and for subgroups differentiated by sex.