Reading development subtypes and their early characteristics

The present findings are drawn from the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (JLD), in which approximately 100 children with familial risk of dyslexia and 100 control children have been followed from birth. In this paper we report data on the reading development of the JLD children and their classmates, a total of 1,750 children from four measurement points during the first two school years. In the total sample, we examined whether heterogeneous developmental paths can be identified based on profiles of word recognition and reading comprehension. Secondly, we studied what kind of early language and literacy skill profiles and reading experiences characterize the children with differing reading development in the follow-up sample. The mixture modeling procedure resulted in five subtypes: (1) poor readers, (2) slow decoders, (3) poor comprehenders, (4) average readers, and (5) good readers. The children with familial risk for dyslexia performed on average at a lower level in all reading tasks than both their classmates and the controls, and they were overrepresented in slow decoders subtype. Differences between the subtypes were found in the early language and literacy skill development, as well as in the reading experiences of the reading subtypes.     

Anxiety, depression, and peer relationships during adolescence: Results from the Portuguese national health behaviour in school-aged children survey

Use data from the Portuguese HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) survey, which was conducted by one of the authors who is the national representative of the European Study HBSC, a World Health Organisation collaborative study (Currie, Hurrelmann, Setterbulte, Smith, & Todd, 2000; Matos, Simões, Carvalhosa, Reis & Canha 2000), to examine correlates of depression and anxiety in a large, representative sample of adolescents. The study had four aims: (1) to examine the relationship between feelings of anxiety and depression; (2) to examine the association of positive peer relationships, and anxiety and depression in school-age adolescents; (3) to examine the relationship between health, peer relationships, depression and anxiety; and finally, (4) to assess age and gender differences with regard to the above issues. Measures were constructed of depression, anxiety, peer relationships, and health. Consistent with previous studies, anxiety and depression were found to be significantly correlated. A MANOVA revealed that females and adolescents in grades 8 and 10 were more likely to report high anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. High anxiety and depression in adolescence was associated with poor peer relationships and poorer health. Implications of these results and directions for further research are discussed.     

BURNOUT IN SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHERS AT KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY SCHOOL: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF PERSONAL RESOURCES AND WORK WELLBEING

The purpose of the current study was to examine, within an integrative predictive model, the relative contributions of sociodemographic variables, personal resources, and work wellbeing to teacher burnout. The research was conducted with special education teachers at Italian preschools—a context in which few previous studies have been carried out—and primary schools. A cross‐sectional survey‐based study with a sample of 194 kindergarten and primary school teachers was conducted. The results indicated that teachers’ happiness at school and job satisfaction incrementally predicted variance in personal, work‐related, and student‐related burnout, even after controlling for the effects of sociodemographic factors and personal resources. Furthermore, the final integrative predictive model was similar for both kindergarten and primary teachers.     

Influence of word meaning on the acquisition of a reading vocabulary in second-grade children

The acquisition of a reading vocabulary for abstract and concrete words was examined in 62 second-grade children. Words had been learned as part of a basal reader program or as part of outside reading. Word recognition speed and reading accuracy were examined for abstract and concrete words using lexical decision and word naming tasks. The size of the concreteness effect was similar for both processing tasks. In neither task did concreteness influence reaction times, but abstract words were read with less accuracy than concrete words in both tasks. Further, these concreteness effects in reading accuracy were larger for words that were part of a basal reading program than for words acquired during free reading. We conclude that word meaning influences the entry of words at a time when children are developing a sizeable reading vocabulary.     

Standards of practice to standards of evidence: developing assessment capable teachers

Abstract

Teacher education is a hotly debated policy area in higher education and schooling portfolios, with increasing emphasis on standards and accountability. It is in this environment that The Standards Project (2013–2015) presented in this article began. It has at its core a three-part commitment: first, to undertake a comprehensive audit and analysis of all teacher education programmes in the state of Queensland, Australia, to establish the approaches and practices Universities relied on to preparing beginning teachers as assessment capable; second, to take account of multiple perspectives and approaches in initial teacher education to integrating data into how beginning teachers are prepared to source and use evidence for improving learning and teaching; and further, to develop new principles, policy and practices for reviewing and moderating teacher education programmes against professional standards. The paper proposes a move beyond the discourse of professional standards of practice towards a complementary discourse of standards of evidence. In our collaboration we drew on two fields, namely the writing on teacher education including reviews, and the field of assessment, both considered within broader sociocultural theory applied to assessment.     

Patterns of Teacher‐Student Interaction in Inclusive Elementary Classrooms and Correlates with Student Self-Concept

The efficacy of placing students with special needs in inclusive classrooms may depend in part on how instructional factors contribute to student outcomes. Differences in frequencies and levels of cognitive engagement of interactions among nine teachers in inclusive elementary classrooms were related to three other variables: teachers' ratings on the Pathognomonic-Interventionist (PATH/INT) Scale, students' designation either as exceptional or at-risk (EX/AR) or as typically achieving (TA), and students' scores on the Piers Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Teachers with PATH beliefs, who attribute learning difficulties to permanent characteristics of the student that are beyond the teacher's mandate, interacted infrequently with their EX/AR students at low levels of cognitive engagement. Teachers with INT beliefs, who see themselves as responsible for the achievement of all their students irrespective of their disabilities, interacted with all students more frequently, and at higher levels of cognitive engagement. In contrast to the PATH teachers, their EX/AR students received more instructional interactions than their TA students. As expected, the EX/AR students in all classrooms had lower Piers Harris Self-Concept Total Scale scores than typically achieving students. However, both TA and EX/AR students had lower Self-Concept Total Scale scores in the classrooms of teachers with PATH beliefs, compared to students in the classrooms of INT teachers. The relationship is discussed between teachers' beliefs, their different patterns of instructional interactions with students with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms, and the possible impact of instructional interventions on students' self-concept.     

Learning from patients: constructions of knowledge and legitimacy in hospital-based quality improvement programmes

ABSTRACT

Health services organisations are increasingly incorporating patient engagement strategies as a form of quality improvement. Such strategies take form in programmes where organisations partner with patients in order to learn from their experiences and thereby change how services are designed, delivered, and implemented. In this study, we examined the enactment of patient engagement programmes within an academic health science organisation in Canada. This was accomplished through an exploration of the various constructions of patient participants’ legitimacy, credibility, and expertise as manifesting through participation in the various practices associated with the programmes. Analysis was based on a selection of international, national, and organisational texts, as well as interviews with patient participants (n?=?20) and hospital staff members (n?=?6). Through this analysis, we argue that organisations are not learning from patients per se, but are learning from particular constructions of patient subjectivities in the form of patient advisers. We argue that if patient engagement programmes are premised upon opportunities to learn from patients, these programmes require a coherent theory of workplace learning. We suggest attention to the politics of knowledge production as a fruitful way to conceptualise how clinicians and administrators might learn from patients at the organisational level.     

The neuropathology of developmental dysphasia: Behavioral,morphological, and physiological evidence for a pervasive temporal processing disorder

Over the past twenty years, Tallal and colleagues have directed their research toward defining the neuropathological mechanisms responsible for developmental dysphasia. We have hypothesized that higher level auditory processing dysfunction, which has previously been associated with developmental dysphasia, may result from more basic temporal processing deficits which interfere with the resolution of rapidly presented, brief duration stimuli. This temporal processing deficit interferes with adequate perception of specific verbal stimuli which require resolution of brief duration formant transitions, resulting in disordered language development. The temporal processing deficit occurs across multiple sensory modalities, and also affects rapid and sequential motor production skills. Despite relatively normal clinical neuroradiological examinations, in vivo morphological analysis, utilizing magnetic resonance imaging techniques for quantitative volumetric measurements of specific brain structures, has identified abnormalities in superior parietal, prefrontal, and temporal cortices, as well as diencephalic and caudate nuclei. Abnormalities in structures which are involved in multimodal processing and sensory motor integration is consistent with the behavioral profile of developmental dysphasia. Two alternative hypotheses regarding the neurophysiological basis of the multimodal temporal processing disorder include: dysfunction in specific cellular systems which subserve rapid, transient processing; and abnormal gating of sensory relay by intralaminar and reticular thalamic nuclei.     

‘Man-up,go and get an ice-pack.’ Gendered stereotypes and binaries within the primary classroom: a thing of the past?

Gendered expectations are deeply embedded within the fabric of a society and the classroom is no exception; binaries habitually pervade attitudes, practices and pedagogies. This small-scale qualitative-interpretive study, undertaken in one rural primary school in North Wales, explores how the learning of gender is constructed, enacted and challenged by participants functioning within Key Stage 2 (children aged 8–11 years), issues experienced by, both girls and boys, to cogitate implications for gender equity and for teachers' work. The fieldwork revealed that many school participants continue to draw upon essentialist binary discourse, predominantly based on biological theories, to explain differences between boys and girls relating to classroom behaviour, subject attainment, curricular preferences and career pathways. Constant reference was made to acceptable ways of ‘doing masculinity’ and the ‘high-achieving, conforming school girl culture’. Children recognised gender binaries used by teachers and were aware of societal advances in gender equity. Despite decades of research and policies, we are still some way to ameliorating gender binaries and stereotypes in this phase of schooling. Therefore, there is an urgent need for practitioners to become more reflexively aware about the complex ways in which gendered dualisms and hierarchies perpetuate and dictate relations and pedagogical practices, which constrain experiences and opportunities for girls and boys and, to incorporate multiple ways of thinking and doing gender in classrooms.