Contextual effects on predicting risk for reading difficulties in first and second grade

This study utilized early reading assessment data from a randomized trial of 210 urban and rural schools in Texas to examine contextual effects on risk prediction in first and second grade. The primary objective was to examine the roles of (a) individual differences, (b) the grade 1 classroom, and (c) the pairing of first and second grade teachers in determining grade 2 outcomes in word reading and fluency. A second objective was to investigate whether the administration format of the assessment (paper, paper plus desktop, handheld plus desktop) or the level of teacher support (web mentoring, no mentoring) moderated the prediction. These moderator variables proved not to be significant. Subsequent analyses found that a combination of student pretest and mean of pretest classroom was a better predictor than student pretest alone. Additionally, the effect of student scores varied by teacher-pair. On average, intraclass correlations (ICCs) ranged from 6% to 17%. Differences in ICCs at the classroom level were much greater than at the school level, and differences in urban schools were twice that of rural schools.     

Mathematics in narratives of Geodetic expeditions

In eighteenth-century France, geodesy (the measure of the earth's shape) became an arena where mathematics and narrative intersected productively. Mathematics played a crucial role not only in the measurements and analysis necessary to geodesy but also in the narrative accounts that presented the results of elaborate and expensive expeditions to the reading public. When they returned to France to write these accounts after their travels, mathematician-observers developed a variety of ways to display numbers and mathematical arguments and techniques. The numbers, equations, and diagrams they produced could not be separated from the story of their acquisition. Reading these accounts for the interplay of these two aspects--the mathematical and the narrative--shows how travelers articulated the intellectual and physical difficulties of their work to enhance the value of their results for specialist and lay readers alike.     

Strategies in assessing the need for updating evidence-based guidelines for six clinical topics: an exploration of two search methodologies

BACKGROUND: Because of the expense of updating practice guidelines, recent attention has focused on approaches that can reliably assess any updating required. Shekelle et al. (Journal of the American Medical Association 2001, 286, 1461-7) proposed using limited literature searches with expert involvement to reduce resources used in assessing whether a guideline needs updating. OBJECTIVES: This study compared Shekelle's method and the traditional systematic review method regarding comprehensiveness and effort. METHODS: Two research teams translated critical key questions on screening test treatments and outcomes to Medical Subjects Headings (MeSH) and search strategies. They refined Shekelle's method over three iterations, seeking greater efficiency. Using both methods independently, teams assessed the need to update six topics from the 1996 Guide to Clinical Preventive Services (US Preventive Services Task Force). Outcomes included completeness of study identification, importance of missed studies and effort involved. RESULTS: The revised review approach produced fewer citations than the traditional approach and saved time, identifying fewer eligible studies than the traditional approach. None of the studies missed was rated important by the experts consulted. CONCLUSIONS: The revised review approach provides an acceptable method for judging whether a guideline requires updating. Librarians were an integral part of the research process that streamlined the searches.     

Effects of Applying Different Time Limits to a Proposed GRE Writing Test

In order to determine the role of time limits on both test performance and test validity, we asked approximately 300 volunteers–prospective graduate students–to each write two essays–one in a 40-minute time period and the other in 60 minutes. Analyses revealed that, on average, test performance was significantly better when examinees were given 60 minutes instead of 40. However, there was no interaction between test-taking style (fast vs. slow) and time limits. 'That is', examinees who described themselves as slow writers/test takers did not benefit any more (or any less) from generous time limits than did their quicker counterparts. In addition, there was no detectable effect of different time limits on the meaning of essay scores, as suggested by their relationship to several nontest indicators of writing ability.     

Beginning and end of the internship: student teachers’ interpersonal profiles and the accuracy of their self-beliefs

An important purpose of internships in teacher preparation programmes is to develop competence through experience. The research questions in the present study concern student teachers’ interpersonal profiles (i.e. patterns of their interpersonal behaviour as perceived by students) and the accuracy of their self-belief regarding the interpersonal relationship with students at the beginning and end of the internship. Participants were student teachers (n=34) of a one-year teacher education programme. There were fewer student teachers with preferable interpersonal profiles at the end of the internship than in the beginning. Self-beliefs at the beginning indicated that the majority of student teachers were underestimating themselves; at the end of the internship most of them were overestimating themselves. About two-thirds had more accurate self-beliefs at the end of the internship than at the beginning. Overestimating oneself seemed negatively related to more accurate self-beliefs at the end of the internship and student teachers with more preferable profiles had more accurate self-beliefs.     

Dynamic Transition Patterns in Acculturation Among Hispanic Adolescents

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, M_age (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.     

The development of source evaluation skills during adolescence: exploring different levels of source processing and their relationships (El desarrollo de las habilidades de evaluación de las fuentes durante la adolescencia: una exploración de los distintos niveles de procesamiento de las fuentes y sus relaciones)

Abstract

This study examines the development of source evaluation skills in four groups of students from 10 to 19 years of age. We designed a set of tasks based on a distinction between three components of source evaluation: the identification of source parameters; the evaluation of source features such as the source’s competence or benevolence under explicit instructions; and the use of source features in assessing a document’s relevance with respect to a given task. This inventory was administered to 245 teenagers in grades 5, 7 and 9 and to undergraduate students. All types of source evaluation skills developed throughout adolescence, with some of them remaining suboptimal for older readers. Furthermore, we found weak relationships between students’ identification of source parameters and their use of source features in the absence of any specific prompt. Finally, source evaluation tasks were weakly related to teenagers’ word reading skills. Taken together, these results document teenagers’ acquisition of source evaluation skills and warrant a distinction between readers’ ability to comprehend source features and to use these features when assessing information quality.     

BE COOL! a digital learning environment to challenge and socially include gifted learners

Educational technology research and development - This paper describes the development of the BE COOL! learning environment that gives all children, gifted and non-gifted, the opportunity to learn...     

What predicts the malnutrition among a select group of Filipino older persons in institutionalized setting? A partial least square study

The overall intent of this study is to examine the relationship among several factors that influence the malnutrition of a select group of Filipino elderly in institutionalized setting. A total of 102 residents were purposively recruited from three different institutionalized care settings at the national capital region of the Philippines. A multi-aspect questionnaire was used to characterize the demographic and nutrition profiles of the participants. Data were treated statistically using the partial least square design. Notably, the study showed that 48.0% of the elderly residents in institutions were at risk of malnutrition, 36.3% were malnourished, and 15.7% have normal nutritional status. Malnutrition was found to be prevalent among the female group, aged >70 years old, functional impairment (p = <0.01), poor eating habits (p = 0.01), lower dietary intake (p = 0.01), and eating difficulties (p = 0.04). However, statistically significant relationships between eating habits (p = 0.08) and dietary intake and comorbidities (p = 0.32) and malnutrition were not established. Impliedly, administrators of homecare institutions are invited to pay greater attention to the nutritional status of the elderly by institutionalizing nutrition assessment and evaluation practices and nutrition care planning that respond to the identified nutritional needs and concern of the elderly.