The written composing ability of children with learning disabilities: a review of the literature from 1980 to 1990.

This article reviews the literature pertaining to the written composing ability of students with learning disabilities that was published primarily in the decade from 1980 to 1990. The papers included are either reports of research or discussions of instructional procedures that are based on research. The topics addressed include story composition, expository writing, training/intervention research, and rationales/procedures for instruction.     

Book reviews

Association of Research Libraries     

Can Knowledge of Erasure Behavior be Used as an Indicator of Possible Cheating?

What is the typical amount of student answer‐changing that takes place in a low‐stakes test environment? Can we use this information to look for evidence of improper answer‐changing (cheating) on high‐stakes test?     

An intrapreneurial approach to integrating information production services into an academic medical center library

The many challenges faced by health sciences libraries of all types and sizes often require innovative solutions. When an innovative solution involves calculated risk taking, the approach is called intrapreneurial. At the University of Miami School of Medicine, an intrapreneurial approach solved the fiscal problems of the biomedical communications unit. The Louis Calder Memorial Library inherited these problems when the Department of the Library and Biomedical Communications was created in the early 1980s. In this paper, two intrapreneurial programs are described, and the benefit and suitability of this management style to information services are demonstrated.     

Supervisors' In-Session Behaviors and Cognitions

A multiple case study of four supervisors indicated that numerous factors shape supervisors' in-session performance and revealed a complex interplay between thoughts and behaviors.     

Among the eminent,the aspiring,and the young: A short history of new world writing

New World Writing, a magazine founded by New American Library in 1952, quickly became an important vehicle for liberal intellectual and literary thought. In addition to providing an outlet for new writing, the magazine became an important acquisitions tool for NAL. Throughout its lifetime, New World Writing remained a showcase for many of the finest writers of the 1950s, including Christopher Isherwood, Louis Auchincloss, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor, Jack Kerouac, and Gore Vidal. He is the author of Under Cover: An Illustrated History of American Mass Market Paperbacksand Heavy Traffic and High Culture: The New American Library as Literary Gatekeeper. He is working on a study of American literary agents     

Students Demonstrating Persistent Low Response to Reading Intervention: Three Case Studies

Three students with severe reading disabilities participated in a 3‐year intervention provided by trained tutors from first grade through third grade (175–231 hours). All three students demonstrated very low response to initial levels of intervention and were provided adjusted intensive intervention in an attempt to remedy their low response to instruction. Findings revealed that two of the three students realized limited growth and did not accelerate progress toward reducing the gap between their performance and the expected grade level performance. One student accelerated growth considerably during third grade and made accelerated progress toward grade level expectations. Information on intervention implementation and student progress as well as implications for practice and further research are discussed.     

Can a Teacher‐Led State Assessment System Work?

Recent implementation of Nebraska's Standards-based Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) introduced a unique opportunity to examine the benefits and drawbacks of a teacher-led state assessment system. STARS is unique among state assessment systems in that statewide tests are replaced by locally developed assessments designed by teachers. Benefits of this system are found to be greater teacher use of results for instructional planning, greater diagnostic utility of the assessments, and gains in assessment literacy. Disadvantages include the time-consuming and stressful nature of creating localized assessments. Compatibility of STARS with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are discussed.