Online Resources for New Mothers: Opportunities and Challenges for Perinatal Health Professionals

Studies have shown increasing Internet use for health information and service facilities. After consulting a convenience sample of new mothers, this study applied select terms and phrases to a widely accepted search engine and investigated its potential for providing resources for new mothers. Results of this quantitative content analysis showed that only four of the 13 phrases used in the search generated 50% or more websites containing content relevant to new mothers. Findings indicate that informational support by way of electronic fact sheets is available using the Google search engine. However, functional support (e.g., social networks, consultation phone details, and mother–infant activities) configured limited data resources using the Google search engine. In addition, because websites can be difficult to navigate, users’ technical proficiency needs to be taken into consideration as well as the sites’ up-to-date information. With Internet technology rapidly expanding, perinatal educators and other perinatal health-care professionals need to be informed about current online resources to help direct consumers to useful online resources and mitigate the often overwhelming and confusing information.     

Managing reading and related literacy difficulties: University students’ perspectives

This study explored the experiences of university students who identified as always having had reading difficulties. Thirty-three participants, all from one Australian university, were surveyed and 10 were also interviewed. Findings revealed that many shared academic challenges related to studying, along with a belief that their difficulties were not well understood by staff or peers. While participants disclosed many similar personal struggles related to completing their studies, positive attributes such as determination and time management strategies were frequently mentioned as instrumental in allowing them to reach university. Experiences were more variable regarding awareness of, access to, and satisfaction with university-based support and academic adjustments. To facilitate optimal inclusive educational practices, this study supports the need for greater awareness among staff about challenges faced by these university students along with a more individualised and targeted approach to providing them with academic supports and accommodations.     

Predicting reading level in grades 1 to 6 from listening level and decoding level: Testing theory relevant to the simple view of reading

The relationships among pronunciation level (decoding), verbal level (listening), and accuracy level (reading) were investigated in grades 1 to 6, and for students who are in the advanced phase of decoding. The data collected were used to investigate the validity of the simple view of reading and the causal model of reading achievement which holds that pronunciation level (P_L) and verbal level (V_L) are the proximal causes of accuracy level (A_L). A total of 135 students in grades 1-6 were given measures of nonword decoding, real word decoding, listening, and reading. All of the reliable variation in an indicant of the level of reading ability, A_L, could be predicted from an indicant of the level of ability to decode real words, P_L, and an indicant of listening level, V_L. Furthermore, the strong relationship between pronunciation level, P_L, and accuracy level, A_L, did not evaporate for the students who had mastered basic decoding skills, as measured by nonword decoding tests. The correlations between pronunciation level, P_L, and accuracy level, A_L, were high even for students in grades 5 and 6, most of whom probably had progressed beyond the alphabetic phase (phonological recoding). Correlational support was found for the simple view of reading and the causal model which holds that A_L is equal to the square root of the product of V_L and P_L. The above theory and supporting data were interpreted as suggesting that the level of reading accuracy, A_L, of students can be improved the most throughout grades 1 to 6 by emphasizing instruction that will improve pronunciation level, or decoding, even for children who have progressed beyond the beginning to read phase which involves learning the alphabetic principal, or phonological recoding.     

The Anglican Perspective on Church Schools

Many of the contemporary issues in education in Britain have their roots in the conflicts and compromises of the past. This is particularly so of the place of church schools in the overall provision of education nationally. Our increasingly secular and multicultural society naturally questions the ongoing relevance of explicitly Christian schools in the state education system of the 21st century (cf. Times Educational Supplement , 23 February 2001); yet the demand for pupil admissions to church denominational schools remains strong. The current government is committed to raising standards in all schools and acknowledges the significant contribution that the ethos and value-systems of church schools play in their success; yet it is aware that the 'dual system' of secular and religious schools, as an historic compromise, has given rise to considerable tensions with the state in the past (Chadwick, 1997) and could well do again in the future.