Decision making in determining eligibility of culturally and linguistically diverse learners: Reasons given by assessment personnel

Assessment personnel from the southern borderlands area of Texas participated in analyzing one of four different hypothetical cases. Respondents were expected to defer making eligibility decisions due to language proficiency, environment, culture, or lack of data. When data were lacking, the investigators proposed that respondents would recognize the need for additional information and defer making a decision. Differences in eligibility decisions were found when the respondents analyzed cases in which a significant discrepancy existed and in cases in which language proficiency information was provided. Experience in assessment was significant in the determination that additional information was needed to reach a decision, F(2, 87) = 3.99, p < .05. A majority of the respondents (83%) made an eligibility decision using insufficient data.     

Interrupting the Pathway From Discrimination to Black Adolescents’ Psychosocial Outcomes: The Contribution of Parental Racial Worries and Racial Socialization Competency

Racial discrimination can lead to psychosocial problems for Black adolescents, including internalization (e.g., depression) and externalization (e.g., conduct problems). Black parents (N = 186; M_age = 42.9) of adolescents (ages 10–18) were assessed to investigate how parental worries and racial socialization competency (i.e., confidence, skills, and stress) contribute to the association between parental discrimination experiences and their adolescents’ psychosocial problems. Mediation analyses indicated that the total direct models with discrimination, worries, and problems had good fit, and that the addition of worry mediated the discrimination-problems association. Furthermore, racial socialization competency moderated the association between worry and problems, wherein greater competency was associated with less impact of worry on problems. Findings illuminate potential intervention targets for buffering discrimination’s influence on adolescents’ psychosocial functioning.     

Tier 3 specialized writing instruction for students with dyslexia

Two instructional experiments used randomized, controlled designs to evaluate the effectiveness of writing instruction for students with carefully diagnosed dyslexia, which is both an oral reading and writing disorder, characterized by impaired word decoding, reading, and spelling. In Study 1 (4th to 6th grade sample and 7th to 9th grade sample), students were randomly assigned to orthographic or morphological spelling treatment but all students were taught strategies for planning, writing, and reviewing/revising narrative and expository texts. Both treatments resulted in improvement on three measures of spelling and one measure of composition. Morphological treatment resulted in better improvement in spelling pseudowords, whereas orthographic treatment resulted in better improvement in rate of reading pseudowords. In Study 2 (4th to 6th grade sample), students were randomly assigned to explicit language treatment (phonological working memory + phonological-orthographic spelling + science report writing training) or nonverbal problem solving treatment (virtual reality-based computer simulation, drawing maps, and building clay models). Both treatments used science content material and resulted in significant improvement in spelling and reading pseudowords (accuracy and rate). The surprising finding was that hands-on, engaging science problem solving led to more improvement in phonological working memory than did specialized phonological instruction. Only when spelling instruction emphasized orthography or morphology (Study 1) did real word spelling improve. Preparation of this chapter was supported by Grant Nos. HD25858 and P50 33812 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In Study 1 teaching assistants included Sylvia Abbott, Marci Anderson-Youngstrom, Belle Chennault, Kate Eschen, Noelia Garcia, Sandra Hiramatsu, Lynn Junell, Julia Kim, Stephanie King, Shin-Ju (Cindy) Lin, Rebecca Metzger, Heather Murphy, Jennifer Norton, Sue Palewicz, Rebecca Pirie, and Suzanna West. Also on the assessment team were Sylvia Abbott, Belle Chenault, Kate Eschen, and Rebecca Pirie. Certified teachers Diana Hoffer and Christina Johnson implemented the composition lessons written by the first author. In Study 2, teaching assistants included Nicole Alston-Abel, Leah Altemeier, Wade Altom, Marci Anderson-Youngstrom, Annie Boyd, Nicole Garcia, Laura Gould, Marta Holsinger, Yen-Ling Lee, Shin-Ju (Cindy) Lin, Laurie McCarthy, Heather Murphy, Hema O’Shea, Michelle Proux, Kristine Tardiff, and Kari Terjeson. Janine Jones supervised the assessment team. Margaret McShane and Doug Stock served as administrative assistants.     

The depiction of stuttering in contemporary juvenile fiction: Implications for clinical practice

We reviewed 29 contemporary juvenile fiction books featuring characters who stutter to assess the presentation of stuttering‐related content. Although plots varied widely, most characters displayed attributes or accomplishments that offset their communication impairment. Many characters improved social and/or communicative functioning during the stories, though rarely in conjunction with professionally administered intervention. Most books depicted listener responses to stuttering, including impatience, teasing, ridicule, and bullying. Some books contained incorrect or distorted information, which could convey the mistaken impression that stuttering is simply a symptom of emotional distress. Nonetheless, most portrayals of stuttering seemed sufficient for the books to be considered for use as an instructional tool in certain education and intervention activities. Potential applications of the books in these contexts are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predicting performance in first-semester college basic writers: Revisiting the role of self-beliefs

This study of 118 students who placed into basic skills sections of College English suggests that students’ self-beliefs may be a particularly important predictor of success in weak writers in first-semester courses. Two types of writing self-efficacy scales—a writing tasks/skills scale and an approach-to-writing scale—were developed to follow current composition practice more closely. Locus of control was the single most powerful predictor of success. This finding is congruent with theory about the importance of locus of control in new and ambiguous situations. High school performance, writing proficiency, and negative academic behaviors were also significant factors in regression analyses for both course grade and writing proficiency test. Various ways that writing instructors can help improve students’ self-beliefs are discussed.     

Improving preschool classroom processes: Preliminary findings from a randomized trial implemented in Head Start settings

A primary aim of the Chicago School Readiness Project was to improve teachers’ emotionally supportive classroom practices in Head Start-funded preschool settings. Using a clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the Chicago School Readiness Project randomly assigned a treatment versus control condition to 18 Head Start sites, which included 35 classrooms led by 94 teachers who served 602 children. Teachers in the treatment condition were invited to participate in behavior management training and their classrooms were visited weekly by mental health consultants who “coached” teachers as they implemented behavior management strategies. Estimation of hierarchical linear models revealed that the multi-component intervention provided statistically significant benefits: Head Start classrooms randomized to the treatment condition were found to have statistically significantly higher levels of positive classroom climate, teacher sensitivity, and behavior management than were classrooms in the control condition (with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.52 to 0.89). Discussion of these findings reflects on policy implications and future research.     

Quality and Its Assurance in Further Education

Inspection is one of several approaches adopted in the further education (FE) sector for enhancing quality and raising standards. Inspections are carried out by full‐time inspectors augmented by a substantial body of part‐time appointments from the colleges, industry and commerce. All colleges have a quadrennial inspection which draws on evidence collected during the previous four years, supplemented and updated by the visit of an inspection team. Colleges are actively involved in the planning of their inspection and nominate a senior member of staff as a full member of the inspection team. Inspectors assess the strengths and weaknesses of each aspect of provision, using a five‐point grading scale. Inspection grades represent the collective judgements of all those involved and initial assessments of inspectors are moderated throughout the inspection process. A high degree of consistency has been observed between the gradings obtained by full‐ and part‐time inspectors. Inspections are regularly reviewed and evaluated so that changes can be made to the arrangements as necessary. Inspections to date have provided a valuable picture of the issues to be addressed by the FE sector and the main challenges facing the new FE inspectorate     

Arousal and short-term memory: Effects of caffeine and trial spacing on delayed-alternation performance

Two experiments tested the prediction of Kesner’s (1973) parallel memory-stores theory that arousal reduces retention in short-term memory. Using rats as subjects, the effect of caffeine on delayed-alternation performance in a spatial discrimination was investigated. Trial spacing was also manipulated, both alone and in combination with the drug variable. The results showed that, with massed trials, caffeine facilitated alternation at the short delay and inhibited it at the longer delays tested. Using spaced trials, caffeine decreased alternation at all delays. Spaced trials produced overall superior performance as compared with massed trials. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that caffeine reduces short-term retention but, paradoxically, can also increase performance under massed trials by decreasing proactive interference (i.e., retention) from earlier trials.     

A preliminary discourse analysis of constructivist-oriented mathematics instruction for a student with learning disabilities

Reform efforts in mathematics education arose, in part, in response to constructivist works on conceptual learning. However, little research has examined how students with learning disabilities (LD) respond to constructivist-oriented instruction in mathematics, particularly in moment-to-moment interactions. To understand the nature of constructivist-oriented mathematics instruction involving students with LD, the authors conducted a case study to analyze teacher–student interactions during constructivist-oriented small group instruction involving a student with LD. The student demonstrated, to a certain degree, the ability to reason mathematically when provided with appropriate opportunities and prompting. However, given the limited intervention time, his reasoning and problem solving did not seem to go beyond the semiconcrete level of operation, which may have inhibited his solving of complex word problems with large numbers. Findings indicate that more efforts are needed to support students, those with LD in particular, in their transitions from concrete or semiconcrete to abstract conceptual understanding and problem solving.