To Read,Responsibly

This article is a critique of the National Endowment for the Arts report, To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007). Author Nancy Kaplan originally published an analysis of this report on a blog, IF: Book at http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2007/11/reading_responsibly_nancy_kaplan.html. She edited and rewrote that original presentation for publication in PLQ. Much of Kaplan's method involves a rigorous analysis of the same data that the NEA report writers used. However, she demonstrates, contrary to the organizational researchers' conclusions, that voluntary reading rates among teenagers and young adults did not decline between the early 1970s and 2004. Neither, Kaplan finds, is there any reliable data to support the NEA's editorial claims about the declining proficiency in adult readers. She concludes that the NEA authors truncated the time dimension of the available data and otherwise manipulated or misinterpreted data to obtain their results. Kaplan concludes that library professionals should discount the highly publicized NEA findings and focus on the clear statistical realities reported on the source documents and summarized here instead.     

A Note on Cluster Effects in Latent Class Analysis

This article examines the effects of clustering in latent class analysis. A comprehensive simulation study is conducted, which begins by specifying a true multilevel latent class model with varying within- and between-cluster sample sizes, varying latent class proportions, and varying intraclass correlations. These models are then estimated under the assumption of a single-level latent class model. The outcomes of interest are measures of bias in the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and the entropy R ² statistic relative to accounting for the multilevel structure of the data. The results indicate that the size of the intraclass correlation as well as between- and within-cluster sizes are the most prominent factors in determining the amount of bias in these outcome measures, with increasing intraclass correlations combined with small between-cluster sizes resulting in increased bias. Bias is particularly noticeable in the BIC. In addition, there is evidence that class separation interacts with the size of the intraclass correlations and cluster sizes in producing bias in these measures.     

Thinking about technology: Applying a cognitive lens to technical change

We apply a cognitive lens to understanding technology trajectories across the life cycle by developing a co-evolutionary model of technological frames and technology. Applying that model to each stage of the technology life cycle, we identify conditions under which a cognitive lens might change the expected technological outcome predicted by purely economic or organizational models. We also show that interactions of producers, users and institutions shape the development of collective frames around the meaning of new technologies. We thus deepen our understanding of sources of variation in the era of ferment, conditions under which a dominant design may be achieved, the underlying architecture of the era of incremental change and the dynamics associated with discontinuities.     

Comparison of ratings by mothers and teachers on preschool children using the vineland social maturity scale

Comparison of informants' ratings of 20 preschool children on the VSMS showed no significant correlations between either the social quotients or the rankings by mothers and daycare center teachers. Of significance, however, was the difference between the means of the two groups, the mothers consistently reporting the social quotients of the children to be higher than did the teachers.     

Sociometric status and behaviors of emotionally disturbed children

Behavior checklist and sociometric data on emotionally disturbed children in residential treatment were correlated. Behaviors found to relate significantly (and negatively) with sociometric status pertained mainly to physical and verbal aggression and to intrusive acts. A smaller group of items of a less interpersonal nature also were significantly correlated with status. Behavior incidence of groups identified as high, average, and low in status was also studied. Even where correlations were low, the data tended to distribute in ordinal fashion. Also, the Liked and Average groups tended to be much closer in behavior incidence than were the Average and the Disliked groups. The meaning of the focusing mainly on negative characteristics was discussed, as were implications for modifying status of children, the use of checklists, and of brief time sampling for monitoring behavior change.     

The IQs of children with ADHD are normally distributed

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether or not attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-when there was an absence of reading problems-was associated with having a high IQ. The vocabulary and block design short forms of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition were administered to 63 children with ADHD, 69 children with reading difficulties (RD), and 68 children with comorbid ADHD + RD. Results indicated that the distributions of estimated Full Scale IQs (FSIQ) for each of the three groups of children did not differ significantly from a normal distribution, with the majority of children (more than 50%) in each group scoring in the average range. The percentage of children with ADHD who scored in the above-average range for FSIQ was not significantly higher than the percentages of children in the other two groups. No significant group differences emerged for estimated FSIQ, vocabulary, or block design. It was concluded that children with ADHD are no more likely to have an above-average IQ than are other children.     

Estimating Population Characteristics From Sparse Matrix Samples of Item Responses

The multiple-matrix item sampling designs that provide information about population characteristics most efficiently administer too few responses to students to estimate their proficiencies individually. Marginal estimation procedures, which estimate population characteristics directly from item responses, must be employed to realize the benefits of such a sampling design. Numerical approximations of the appropriate marginal estimation procedures for a broad variety of analyses can be obtained by constructing, from the results of a comprehensive extensive marginal solution, files of plausible values of student proficiencies. This article develops the concepts behind plausible values in a simplified setting, sketches their use in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and illustrates the approach with data from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SA T).     

Using images to promote reflection: an action research study in Zambia and Tanzania

This paper focuses on the use of images to promote reflection and analysis of inclusive practices. The image-based work was set in the context of a two-year action research study, which took place in Tanzania and Zambia, 2001–2003, in collaboration with researchers from the Enabling Education Network (EENET), based at the University of Manchester's School of Education. This study, entitled, 'Understanding Community Initiatives to Improve Access to Education' involved the use of a wide range of processes to promote reflection, analysis and documentation, including a range of different types of images. We reflect here on the learning, which took place among the researchers in all three countries in using images as a basis for reflection on inclusive education.