Differential risk for developmental reading disorders in the offspring of compensated versus noncompensated parents

When one or both parents have a history of developmental reading disorder (RD) in childhood, the risk to their offspring for developing reading problems is substantially increased. However, risk research has usually assumed a stability of reading problems across the lifespan (i.e., if a parent was affected in childhood, he or she remains affected in adulthood). Yet, some individuals with RD in childhood compensate for the disorder as they grow older. Both an environmental and genetic hypothesis would predict that the risk for RD in offspring will vary as a function of parental compensation. This study examined whether risk to offspring was dependent on the parents' successful or unsuccessful compensation for their childhood reading problems. Two large family data sets were analyzed (N=907). Diagnoses with either an age discrepant or IQ discrepant criteria essentially showed that having at least one still affected parent (i.e., RD both as a child and as an adult) put the offspring at a higher risk for RD than having at least one compensated parent (i.e., RD as a child but not as an adult). The lowest risk to an offspring occurred when both parents were never affected (i.e., not RD as a child or as an adult). The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to counseling and early diagnosis of reading problems.     

Student and Teacher Perceptions of the Use of Multimedia Supported Predict–Observe–Explain Tasks to Probe Understanding

This paper discusses student and teacher perceptions of a new development in the use of the predict–observe–explain (POE) strategy. This development involves the incorporation of POE tasks into a multimedia computer program that uses real-life, digital video clips of difficult, expensive, time consuming or dangerous scenarios as stimuli for these tasks. The program was created by the first author to be used by pairs of secondary physics students to elicit their conceptions of force and motion and encourage discussion about these views. In this computer learning environment, students were required to type full sentence responses that were recorded by the computer for later analysis by the researcher. Other data sources for this study included audio and video recordings of student discussions, interviews with selected students and their teachers, classroom observations, and student questionnaires. This paper will report on some findings from the study, focussing on student and teacher perceptions of the computer-mediated POE tasks. The findings have implications for the effective use of multimedia to enhance meaningful learning in science classrooms.     

On the Estimation of Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Models and Latent Curve Models for Longitudinal Data

Nonlinear models are effective tools for the analysis of longitudinal data. These models provide a flexible means for describing data that follow complex forms of change. Exponential and logistic functions that include a parameter to represent an asymptote, for instance, are useful for describing responses that tend to level off with time. There are forms of nonlinear latent curve models and nonlinear mixed-effects model that are equivalent, and so given the same set of data, growth function, distributional assumptions, and method of estimation, the 2 models yield equivalent results. There are also forms that are strikingly different and can yield different interpretations for a given set of data. This article discusses cases in which nonlinear mixed-effects models and nonlinear latent curve models are equivalent and those in which they are different and clarifies the estimation needs of the different models. Examples based on empirical data help to illustrate these points.     

Youth’s Sibling Relationships Across the Course of a Parent’s Military Deployment: Trajectories and Implications

The present exploratory study explored the trajectories and implications of at-home (military unaffiliated) parents’ perceptions of youth’s sibling relationships across the course of a parent’s military deployment. Participants included 109 families with at least two siblings (older sibling and younger siblings age: M = 10.85, SD = 3.92 and M = 7.89, SD = 3.58, respectively) and one parent serving in the National Guard. Data were collected via in-home interviews, at six time points across the deployment cycle. A series of multilevel models revealed increases in sibling disharmony during the months a deployed parent was away, but showed signs of recovery in the year after they returned. Increases in sibling disharmony were positively associated with increases in youth’s externalizing behaviors above and beyond the effects of parenting.     

The Conceptualization and Development of the Practical Epistemology in Science Survey (PESS)

Research in Science Education - Various inquiry approaches have been promoted in science classrooms as a way for students to engage in, and have a deeper understanding of scientific discourse....     

Cross-Case Study of Self-Regulated Learning as a Series of Events

This exploratory cross-case study: (a) examined self-regulated learning (SRL) during 3 studying episodes, and (b) explored ways 8 students of varying proficiencies productively self-regulated their learning. Profiles of SRL were constructed by examining traces of studying activity, test performance, and student reflections. Profiles were used to: (a) identify individual strengths and weaknesses, (b) compare pairs of High, Low, Average, and Improving students, and (c) construct a model of SRL proficiency. SRL proficiency (skill, will, and adaptation) was not consistent with performance. This study illustrates the importance of collecting multiple measures of SRL as a series of events over time.     

The fluid infusion of musical culture: embodied experiences in a grade one classroom

ABSTRACT

Children’s daily, embodied music experiences are integral to how children live and function in the world. Growing out of a line of work focusing on the interplay between elementary children’s daily experiences of music, both in- and out-of-school and the impact on elementary music education curriculum, this research is nested within the theoretical discourses of experience, children’s musical culture, and children’s agency. Building upon this work, findings from a two-phase, 6-month inquiry, situated in an urban, Canadian, Grade 1 French Immersion classroom, draw upon the tools of ethnography and narrative inquiry, with the intention of deepening understandings of how informal music-making and sound function in children’s lives. Phase one findings highlight: (1) the frequency and spontaneity of children’s daily music experiences, both in- and out-of-school, (2) the nature of how music and sound function fluidly in a variety of contexts as integral to children’s experience, and (3) the power of musical behaviours in assisting young children to acquire French vocabulary and literacy skills. Important considerations for teacher education include: the necessity of creating space in elementary curriculum to engage children in music-making, integrating and infusing the Arts fluidly across the curriculum, and encouraging children autonomy in their musical engagement.