The Role of Set for Variability in Irregular Word Reading: Word and Child Predictors in Typically Developing Readers and Students At-Risk for Reading Disabilities

ABSTRACT

In a quasiregular orthography like English, children inevitably encounter irregular words during reading. Previous research suggests successful reading of an irregular word depends at least partially on a child’s ability to address the mismatch between decoded form and stored word pronunciation, referred to as a child’s set for variability, and the word’s relative transparency, measured here using a spelling to pronunciation transparency rating. Item-level analyses were used to explore the relationship between general child performance on the set for variability mispronunciation task, word specific set for variability (predicting reading of that word), spelling to pronunciation transparency rating, and irregular word reading. Significant predictors included general word reading, general set for variability performance, and item-specific set for variability performance; word frequency and spelling to pronunciation transparency rating; and an interaction between word reading and the transparency rating. Results underscore the importance of considering both general and item-specific factors affecting irregular word reading.     

The Multiple Meanings of Play: Exploring Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About a Central Element of Early Childhood Education

This basic qualitative study explores preservice teachers' beliefs about what constitutes play. Research for this study focused on 7 preservice teachers enrolled in an early childhood through Grade 4 practicum course at a small private university in south central Texas. The findings of this study indicate that both on an individual and group level the 7 preservice teachers seemed to believe that play had multiple meanings. Even though commonalities existed among some of the attributes used by the preservice teachers to describe play, no two preservice teachers used the same combination of attributes to define play. Instead, based on the influences that had shaped their beliefs, they strung these attributes together in unique ways. Thus, for each of the preservice teachers, play seemed to have an individualized meaning consisting of multiple parts.     

A Complex Case: Using the case study method to explore uncertainty and ambiguity in undergraduate business education

The case method is a definitive and foundational technology in business education. It was first developed as a vocational training tool equipping students for future employment. In this conception, the organisation was seen as a machine, and managers as the engineers who would maintain it through planned interventions. The case method allowed aspiring managers to practise intervention skills in a safe environment. Since the origins of the case method in US business schools before the First World War, conceptions of organisations have moved on. They are no longer seen as machine-like, but as complex, ambiguous, and protean. The 'wicked' problems that potential managers will face in an uncertain world require the development of critical thinking and sensemaking abilities. While the traditional approach to the case continues, its use as a vehicle to explore and manage complexity and ambiguity is emerging, although this is facing resistance from some students and staff.     

The Latest Research on Conceptual Change from Developmental Psychology

Science & Education -     

Construct Validity of Self-Reported Metacognitive Learning Strategies

Despite their significant contributions to research on self-regulated learning, those favoring online and trace approaches have questioned the use of self-report to assess learners' use of learning strategies. An important rejoinder to such criticisms consists of examining the validity of self-report items. The present study was designed to assess the validity of items to assess 9th-grade students' use of planning, monitoring, and regulation when studying math. To establish response process evidence of construct validity, cognitive interviews were coded to determine whether students' interpretations of the items were consistent with their intended meaning and whether their response choices were congruent with those interpretations. Evidence supported the construct validity of monitoring and regulation items, but to a lesser degree those designed to assess planning. We discuss implications of the evidence for the self-report assessment of learners' use of metacognitive strategies.     

Effects of participation in a martial arts–based antibullying program in elementary schools

This study evaluated the Gentle Warrior Program, a traditional martial arts–based intervention to reduce aggression in children, as it was implemented in three elementary schools. The sample consisted of 254 children in grades 3, 4, and 5 who participated in the Gentle Warrior Program as part of a larger school violence intervention. Results indicated that boys who participated in more Gentle Warrior sessions reported a lower frequency of aggression and greater frequency of helpful bystanding (i.e., helpful behavior toward victims of bullying) over time, relative to boys with less frequent participation. The effect of participation on aggression was partially mediated by empathy. The effect of participation on helpful bystanding was fully mediated by changes in student empathy. No significant results were found for girls. Results of the study provide preliminary support for the use of martial arts–based interventions to address bullying in schools for boys, by teaching empathy, self‐control, and peaceful strategies to resolve conflicts. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Faith schools,social capital and academic attainment: Evidence from TIMSS‐R mathematics scores in Flemish secondary schools

Social capital theory, recent developments in the theory of identity and a small econometric literature all suggest positive attainment effects from faith schooling. To test this hypothesis, the authors use a unique data set on Flemish secondary school students from the 1999 repeat of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to estimate an education production function. The results suggest modest attainment benefits in mathematics when schools are influenced by faith communities but not when they are influenced by trade unions or business groups. The authors estimate models with exogenous and endogenous switching to investigate the robustness of this result to school selection policy and parental/student self‐selection. These additional results not only suggest that the positive attainment effects of faith schooling do not reflect selection bias but also provide evidence suggesting that such attainment effects reflect forms of social capital that are more readily available in faith schools than in non‐faith schools. However, the limitations of social capital theory and evidence caution against radical policy conclusions.