Choice of Reading Comprehension Test Influences the Outcomes of Genetic Analyses

Vowel representations are particularly difficult for children to learn because most vowel phonemes can be spelled in several different ways. Children in Grades 1, 2, and 3 spelled nonwords with an ambiguous vowel and reported their spelling strategies. Analysis of the children's spellings and strategy reports revealed a shift in relying solely on phonological information to considering orthographic information for making vowel letter choices. Implications for vowel spelling development are discussed.     

Fluency Has a Role in the Simple View of Reading

The Simple View of Reading (SVR) suggests that the components of reading comprehension are decoding and linguistic comprehension. Given research that suggests that fluency is a separate construct from decoding and linguistic comprehension in fourth grade, the aim of this study was to examine the role of fluency in the SVR model. Analyses of data from 248 fourth-grade children explored whether the influence of fluency on reading comprehension is direct or whether fluency plays an indirect role on reading comprehension as a mediator or moderator of decoding. Structural equation modeling and latent regression analyses revealed that reading fluency plays a mediating role in explaining the relation between decoding and reading comprehension. This novel finding is placed in the context of studies that reported either a direct effect or no effect of reading fluency in SVR.     

Sustaining High-Quality Teaching and Evidence-Based Curricula: Follow-Up Assessment of Teachers in the REDI Project

Research Findings: Recent research has validated the power of evidence-based preschool interventions to improve teaching quality and promote child school readiness when implemented in the context of research trials. However, very rarely are follow-up assessments conducted with teachers in order to evaluate the maintenance of improved teaching quality or sustained use of evidence-based curriculum components after the intervention trial. In the current study, we collected follow-up assessments of teachers 1 year after their involvement in the REDI (REsearch-based, Developmentally Informed) research trial to evaluate the extent to which intervention teachers continued to implement the REDI curriculum components with high quality and to explore possible preintervention predictors of sustained implementation. In addition, we conducted classroom observations to determine whether general improvements in the teaching quality of intervention teachers (relative to control group teachers) were sustained. Results indicated sustained high-quality implementation of some curriculum components (the Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies curriculum) but decreased implementation of other components (the language/literacy components). Sustained intervention effects were evident on most aspects of general teaching quality targeted by the intervention. Practice or Policy: Implications for practice and policy are discussed.     

Inhabiting the ‘tragic gap’: pre-service teachers practicing racial literacy

Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of children’s literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about? What conceptual and discursive tools do they use? We were guided by these questions, along with theoretical perspectives of racial literacy, multicultural discourses and a form of critical discourse analysis referred to as ‘positive discourse analysis’ or ‘reconstructive discourse analysis’. Our analysis illustrates that the participants held two questions, what constitutes racism and what makes a person a White ally, without firm resolution in the form and function of their talk. Their discourses illustrate that racial literacy involves what teachers say and also a willingness to stand in the space of indeterminacy, which may create space for new social positions. We argue for a continued theorization of critical discourse analysis alongside of racial literacy and multicultural discourses.     

5730元在马赛里能改变什么?

正"大片萧条而破败的棚顶在我脚下巨大的低洼中铺展开来,臭气冲天的污水沟,啄食垃圾的家禽,守着火炉煮食物的妇女,而霍乱和艾滋正在这口脏乱而危险的泥锅中孕育着。"中国传媒大学本科生朴智玄这样描述她第一眼见到的肯尼亚第二大贫民窟马赛里。如何持续帮助孩子们2012年暑假,朴智玄跟学校组织的支教队伍一起前往非洲肯尼亚,支教的地点是马赛里的一所叫MUMO的小学。像许许多多从未踏足这个世界的人们一样,朴智玄以为那会是贫民窟给她的全部印象,然而"当那些大眼睛黑皮肤的孩子们跑过来,小手紧紧攥着我们的手,顺着难行的道路走进马赛里,街边     

Assessing General Education and Special Education Majors’ Self‐Efficacy for Teaching Reading

In an era of teacher quality reforms, one overlooked area for assessing readiness for teaching is education majors’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. This gap is unfortunate, as teaching reading is a common responsibility among general and special education teachers. In the current push for RTI—one in which more general education teachers are increasingly called upon to provide reading support to students with learning disabilities, in addition to the support received from special educators—it is important to determine preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. Self‐efficacy is an important construct to consider as it is related to eventual teacher attrition. The purpose of the current study was to develop a scale to measure elementary and special education majors’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. With a sample of 110 education majors, a three‐factor scale was developed and demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Implications for the future of teacher education programs are discussed.     

Examining the Alignment of Mathematics Instructional Practices and Mathematics Vocabulary between Core and Intervention Materials

Within a multitiered system of support (MTSS), students who struggle to learn mathematics often receive core instruction and supplemental intervention in different settings, with different teachers and different sets of curriculum materials, all of which can result in poor alignment. This curriculum crosswalk describes how three sets of materials commonly used to provide core instruction and intervention differ with regard to mathematics practices and vocabulary. The results indicate that there is little overlap among all three programs for the majority (n = 6) of the mathematics practices, and very little overlap in mathematics vocabulary (ranging from 6.3 to 24 percent). We also provide a set of research-based instructional recommendations intended to help teachers address gaps and improve alignment of core instruction and intervention.