Not all reading disabilities are alike

In this article, reading disability is defined broadly to refer to below-average achievement in reading comprehension as assessed by a standardized test. With our research we tried to answer the question of whether all children with reading disability share a common etiology of deficient phonology, or constitute heterogeneous groups. The answer to this question was sought in four studies that examined reading disabilities from the perspective of componential skills of reading. In Part 1, the results of the first study are reported. A principal-components analysis of the performance of 139 children from Grades 3, 4, and 6 on reading-related tasks yielded two factors: decoding and comprehension. However, factor analyses conducted for each grade separately indicated that orthographic skill and processing speed could possibly constitute a third component. The orthography-speed factor emerged as a factor only in the 6th grade. Part 2 of this article reports the findings of three studies that analyzed the componential skills profiles of poor readers. It was found that the poor readers constituted heterogeneous groups and that four different types of poor readers could be identified with deficiency in any one of the following skills: (a) decoding only, (b) comprehension only, (c) a combination of decoding and comprehension, and (d) a combination of orthographic processing and reading speed. It was also found that the criteria used in selecting poor readers influenced the distribution of the ratio of the four types of poor readers within any given group.     

Vignettes of Haeckel’s Contributions to Biology

Ernst Haeckel was a very versatile and complete biologist, equally at home with imaginative leaps of conceptualization, serious natural history in the wild, and meticulous experimentation in embryology. His work shaped the development of a holistic evolutionary perspective that brought ecology, ontogeny, phylogeny, and biogeography together into a unified explanation of the patterns of diversity seen in the living world. He, along with Darwin and Mendel, was perhaps one of the three most consequential biologists of the nineteenthcentury, in many ways the golden age of biology.     

CHARTING THE OUTCOMES OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SUMMER INSTITUTE ON GERONTOLOGY

The multiple and complex needs of the elderly require interdisciplinary collaboration among many different professionals to provide comprehensive care. As a result, educators must develop interdisciplinary programs and learning experiences that address educational needs and facilitate a better understanding of the various roles and expertise of providers from many fields. Using the framework of a program evaluation model, the Charting the Outcomes of Educational and Clinical Approaches model, this article addresses the outcomes and effects of an interdisciplinary approach to continuing gerontological education used by one summer institute on gerontology. Over its 12‐year history, this institute has attracted more than 2,600 participants from many professions and occupations. The interdisciplinary approach of the Summer Institute has been evident in its planning committees, the delivery of diversified programs by a variety of providers, the facilitation of informal networking among registrants, and the organization of group discussions that bring together professionals and learners from different disciplines to communicate and collaborate on mutual concerns regarding aging issues. One theme on case management, which addressed policy and practical issues related to service delivery for the elderly, was presented by representatives from academia, government, the nonprofit service sector, and consumers to an audience of providers from various fields including business, gerontology, health promotion, nursing, occupational therapy, psychology, recreation, social work, and sociology. Thesue cess of the interdisciplinary approach to gerontological education used by the institute has helped to establish McMaster University as a Canadian leader in this field of continuing education.