Teenagers with Down Syndrome in a Time of Changing Policies and Practices: Progress of Students who were Born Between 1971 and 1978

Since the early 1970s, significant changes have occurred in New South Wales in the educational services provided for students with Down syndrome which should have resulted in improved educational outcomes for the students. Information is reported, here, on the schooling, employment, life experiences, and general skills of sixty‐six 13‐ to 20‐year‐old students with Down syndrome who were born over the period 1971 to 1978. These results are compared with data on achievement levels reported in earlier British and American studies of students with Down syndrome. Overall, the personal and leisure skills of the two groups of students appeared to be similar, with some difficulties associated with social isolation. However, when compared with the other groups, the New South Wales students appeared to have received more of their education in integrated settings, attained higher levels in academic areas (reading and money skills), were more independent, required less supervision, and had more optimistic futures in terms of integrated employment and accommodation options. Clearly, the changes in services begun in the 1970s did result in improvements in outcomes for some students with Down syndrome, though it is also evident that changes in policy do not always lead to the implementation of more effective services for all students.     

Research and teacher education in the UK: Building capacity

The need for capacity-building in teacher education in the UK has been raised as a serious issue by a number of commentators. Tensions about the place of research in teacher education have persisted for many decades, but following changes to the core funding mechanisms in the UK, the maintenance of education research bases within many universities has become increasingly tenuous. This paper provides an analytical account of an initiative conducted by the Teacher Education Group (TEG) to build research capacity in teacher education. With reference to a review of the national contexts for research in the UK and research on teacher educators, the article argues that, in order to build research capacity initiatives we need to provide motivation and new types of networking opportunities for researchers, as well as developing their expertise. In developing this argument, the article also explore the relationships between national policy changes, institutional research cultures and individual habitus and agency in research capacity-building. The paper also describes a new initiative in England, the Teacher Education Research Network (TERN).     

Comparison of the effectiveness and efficiency of oral and written retellings and passage review as strategies for comprehending text

The purpose of this study was to compare the instructional effectiveness and efficiency of oral retelling, written retelling, and passage review comprehension strategies on third‐grade students' accuracy and rate of answering reading comprehension questions. A modified alternating treatment design was used to compare the effects of oral retelling, written retelling, and passage review strategies. Each strategy occurred within the context of repeated readings with phrase drill error correction. This study extended previous research findings by examining the effects of oral and written retelling as strategies for improving both literal and inferential comprehension and by investigating the efficiency of retelling procedures. Findings revealed that students' accuracy in answering reading comprehension performance was better under both retelling conditions than the passage review condition. The oral retelling coupled with repeated readings and phrase drill error correction was the most efficient instructional method for answering comprehension questions correctly. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Students’ perceptions of the role of assessments at higher education

The quality assessment agency higher education review noted that assessment and feedback in higher education still remains an area of concern for students. Despite this, very little research has been carried out to assess students’ experience of assessments. The evidence for what factors within assessments actually contribute to student engagement is not fully understood and more research is required. This research was a qualitative study comprising of three focus groups. The student participants were 4 male and 19 female undergraduate psychology students. The data was analysed using experiential inductive thematic analysis. Two themes were identified as effecting student learning. The first was teaching factors which included two subthemes: timeliness and type of assessment. The second theme was student factors which included two subthemes: academic maturity and emotions. These themes were found to be mediated by the relationship between tutors and students. The outcome relates to previous research while also providing a better understanding into the role personal qualities and emotional factors have on learner engagement. Strategies to promote academic maturity and reduce stress and fear in students could foster a more constructive approach to learning.     

Utilising the Boxall Profile within the Scallywags service for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

In this article, Moira Broadhead, Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens offer an in‐depth analysis of a targeted intervention, Scallywags, aimed at children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Scallywags, based in Cornwall, offers an early intervention package for children and their families based upon an initial Boxall Profile analysis. Moira Broadhead is a senior educational psychologist for the Scallywags service and both Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens held split posts as assistant psychologists and support workers within the intervention service. Moira, Roy and Victoria offer practitioners new to the Boxall Profile a compelling account of how it can be used to inform practice for learners with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and conclude with a series of insightful questions about the use of the Boxall Profile and the role of interventions of this nature.     

Effects of GO FASTER on Morpheme Definition Fluency for High School Students with High‐Incidence Disabilities

Although vocabulary plays an important role in literacy and content instruction, there is a paucity of research identifying effective methods for teaching vocabulary. One promising strategy is morphemic analysis, which involves breaking words into morphemes, the smallest meaningful parts of words, and teaching students the meanings of those parts. The current study used a multiple probe across morphemes experimental design to determine the effects of an intervention package, GO FASTER (G raphic O rganizers; F lashcards A dded up and S elf‐graphed to T rack progress; E rrors R eviewed). Findings showed that with three to four instructional sessions, three high school students with high‐incidence disabilities successfully defined morphemes at a predetermined fluency rate and generalized these definitions to untaught words. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Managing Information and Communication Technology in South African Classrooms: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences

This article reports on a study that explored the management of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. In particular it focuses on the use of ICT in the pre-service teacher’s classroom in the South African context. The study was interventionist in that pre-service teachers were trained how to use ICT in teaching and learning, and were then followed into the teaching practice classroom where they were observed as to how they used the technology and managed it. Data for the project was also collected through semi-structured interviews with the pre-service teachers and through the researchers’ reflection. The results showed that the pre-service teachers, who in this case were all digital natives, are willing to use ICT for teaching, but lack the skills to manage ICT in the classroom. The results further showed that the motivation to use and integrate ICT in the classroom may not be sufficient to ensure the effective integration thereof, that is, the teachers still require management. Further, the article recommends the importance of higher education institution lecturers as role models in the use and management of ICT.