Developmental Outcomes for Children at High Risk of Dyslexia and Children With Developmental Language Disorder

We followed children at family risk of dyslexia and children with preschool language difficulties from age 3½, comparing them with controls (N = 234). At age 8, children were classified as having dyslexia or Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and compared at earlier time points with controls. Children with dyslexia have specific difficulties with phonology and emergent reading skills in the preschool period, whereas children with DLD, with or without dyslexia, show a wider range of impairments including significant problems with executive and motor tasks. For children with both dyslexia and DLD, difficulties with phonology are generally more severe than those observed in children with dyslexia or DLD alone. Findings confirm that poor phonology is the major cognitive risk factor for dyslexia.     

“I Like That He Always Shows Who He Is”: The perceptions and experiences of siblings with a brother with autism spectrum disorder

Semi‐structured interviews were used to explore the perceptions and experiences of eight typically developing siblings in middle childhood who had a brother with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The analysis yielded five main themes: (i) siblings’ perceptions of the impact of their brother’s condition on their lives, (ii) siblings’ perceptions of the attitudes of others, (iii) siblings’ tolerance and acceptance towards their brothers, (iv) positive attitudes and experiences, and (v) siblings’ views on support for themselves and their brothers. These exploratory findings can be used to inform future larger scale studies and quantitative research. Initial implications for practice focus on issues related to enhancing the development of support services for siblings of children with ASD.     

Managing curriculum change and ‘ontological uncertainty’ in tertiary education

Curriculum reform at institutional level is a challenging endeavour. Those charged with leading this process will encounter both enthusiasm and multiple obstacles to teacher engagement including the particularly complex issue of confronting existing teacher identities. At Unitec Institute of Technology (Unitec), the ‘Living Curriculum’ initiative focused on whole-of-institution curriculum renewal and, in the process, acknowledged and addressed teacher beliefs and practices that variously supported and contested both the initiative itself and the professional development offerings that accompanied it. The related research project identified factors and processes that unsettle teachers, rendering them ‘insecure’, and strategies that have proven effective in supporting teachers through significant change in conceptions of curriculum, teaching and learning.     

Is the School Composition Effect Real?: A Discussion With Evidence From the UK PISA Data

The school composition effect has attracted attention from researchers who believe that progress towards equality of educational opportunity is compromised by the existence of schools with “unbalanced” social rolls. Evidence for 2 central hypotheses in the “mix” theory is tested by an analysis of UK PISA data. It is suggested that the school composition effect is sometimes an artefact of statistical procedures and caused by “unmeasured” within-SES school selection for noncognitive dispositions and variable family resources within social classes. Some implications for the debate into the origins of social differences in education and the limits of “effective schooling” are discussed.     

春天

SPring，the swe以SPring，15 the卯ar’5 Pleasant king; Then blooms eaeh thing，then maids danee in a ring，Cokl doth not sting，the Pre询birds do sing，Cuekoo，iug一姐，Pu-昵，to一诚tta胡00!春天，甜蜜的春天，一年中欢乐的国王;春光中万物昌盛，春光中少女们团团起舞寒冷不再贬骨，美丽的鸟儿处处啼唱，咕咕，喳一喳，卜一威，嘟一威嗒一握! The Palm and ma夕make eountw houses ga夕，Lambs frisk and PI即，the shePherds PIPe alld即，And we hear即e birds tune this mer即la夕，Cuekoo，iug一ug，Pu一e，to一幼tta一woo!棕搁树和山碴花把乡村房舍点缀得喜气洋洋小羔羊活蹦乱跳，牧羊人整日借笛声袅袅，我们时时听到鸟儿唱起快乐的曲调，咕咕，喳一喳，卜一威，嘟一威嗒一呢! The fields breathe绷e以，the daisies kiss our f...     

Anxiety in Science Classrooms: its measurement and relationship to classroom environment

This paper considers the role of a new vocational science qualification in the UK (Intermediate General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) science) and how it relates to science-based employment. Studies into employers' requirements are reviewed and found to indicate that an ability to understand and evaluate scientific evidence is valued highly. This part of science is not currently taught explicitly either in GNVQ or elsewhere in the science curriculum. The authors report the results of a small intervention study in which ideas about evidence were explicitly taught within Intermediate GNVQ science. The findings suggest that it is feasible to incorporate such teaching into the qualification but that, if it is not part of the formal assessment process, the teaching tends to be undervalued by the students. By contrast, the teaching staff involved in the project recognised that these ideas fill a gap in the qualification and valued the teaching materials developed for this purpose. A means of incorporating the assessment of such understanding into the current assessment procedures is put forward. Such a modification to the assessment process would add rigour to the qualification and provide a better preparation for employment in science-based industry.     

Significant Evidence

The purpose of this column is to keep religious educators abreast of relevant significant research in the general field of psychology. Its implications for methods and material in religious education are clear. Religious educators may well take advantage of every new finding in scientific research.

Each abstract or group is preceded by an evaluation and interpretive comment, which aims to guide the reader in understanding the research reported.

All of these abstracts are from PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, and used by permission of that periodical. The abstract numbers are from Volume 25, Numbers 9 and 10, September-October 1951.