Exploring relationships between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension amongst English second language readers in South Africa

Most analyses of oral reading fluency (ORF) are based on L1 reading, and the norms that have been developed in English are based on first language reading data. This is problematic for developing countries where many children are learning in English as a second language. The aim of the present study is to model the relationship between English reading fluency and comprehension among rural English-second-language learners (ESL) in South Africa. We use data collected in 2013 by the National Education and Evaluation Development Unit in South Africa. This survey tested 4697 Grade 5 students from 214 schools across rural areas in South Africa. A sub-sample—1772 students—were selected for an ORF test. For these students there exist data on both reading comprehension and reading fluency. Although a number of studies have analyzed the relationship between fluency and comprehension, none have been conducted on a large-scale for ESL learners in a developing country such as South Africa. The present research contributes to the literature by analysing the size, significance and uniformity of this relationship for ESL learners in South Africa. Preliminary findings indicate a threshold at 70 words-read-correct-per-minute which is lower than the typically used threshold of 90 words-read-correct-per-minute of English first language readers.     

Agriculture and the TV newscast

Agricultural information staffs at land‐grant universities are charged with disseminating information to the general public in order to arouse interest in and understanding of agricultural research and extension programs. The following study indicates that the television newscast is a good outlet for at least some of this information; one that economically can be used by agricultural information staffs. Joseph J. Marks is Director of Agricultural Information for Michigan State University. This article is based upon his M.A. thesis in the Department of Television and Radio at MSU, which was completed under the direction of Dr. Thorns F. Baldwin.     

全球幸福指数,从改变自己开始

国民生产总值到底能衡量什么? 怎样才算改善全人类的生活?早在1968年,卓有远见的罗伯特·肯尼迪就对"国民生产总值"这个标准进行了最有力的抨击——国民生产总值衡量了所有的东西,唯独没有衡量的是那些使生命真正有价值的东西.这很荒唐吧?我们衡量社会进步的最重要的标准,衡量一切,唯独不衡量让生命有意义的东西?我相信,如果肯尼迪今天还在世,他一定会要求我们这些统计学家到社会中去,找到究竟是什么让生命有价值.重新设计国家核算系统,让它建立在那些重要的东西上,例如:社会的公正、可持续性,还有人民的幸福.     

The influence of match location,quality of opposition,and match status on technical performance in professional association football

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of match location, quality of opposition, and match status on the technical aspects of performance within a single professional British football team. Forty matches from the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 domestic league seasons were notated post-event using a computerized notational analysis system with 13 on-the-ball behaviours and corresponding outcomes (successful or unsuccessful) assessed. Log-linear modelling procedures indicated that the incidences of all on-the-ball technical behaviours, with the exception of “set-pieces”, were influenced by at least one of the three situation variables, with both independent and interactive effects found. In contrast, logit modelling suggested that there was no general influence of the situation variables on the outcomes of the on-the-ball behaviours. The findings emphasize the need for notational analysts and coaches to consider the potential independent and interactive effects of match location, quality of opposition, and match status when assessing the technical components of football performance, particularly those relating to behaviour occurrence. Future research should consider the effects of additional situation variables purported to influence the mental, physical, technical, and tactical components of football performance.     

What aspects of schooling are important? School effects on tertiary entrance performance

The purpose of this paper is to identify school effects on student performance for tertiary entrance in Australia, taking into account student-level predictors using longitudinal data from the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. It finds that aspects of schooling, such as positive attitudes to school and disciplinary climate, affect student performance at the student level but not generally at the school level. The socioeconomic context of schools has no effect on student performance when taking into account schools' academic context. Apart from academic context, teacher shortage, academic press, and teacher efficacy were the only school factors that had positive significant effects on student performance. The policy implications are that school-based policies are unlikely to improve performance or promote equity, but, instead, policies should focus more on students falling behind, who are found across the school system, not limited to a small proportion of schools with particular characteristics.