A Tiered Intervention Model for Early Vocabulary Instruction: The Effects of Tiered Instruction for Young Students At Risk for Reading Disability

Vocabulary knowledge at school entry is a robust predictor of later reading achievement. Many children begin formal reading instruction at a significant disadvantage due to low levels of vocabulary. Until recently, relatively few research studies examined the efficacy of vocabulary interventions for children in the early primary grades (e.g., before fourth grade), and even fewer addressed vocabulary intervention for students at increased risk for reading failure. In more recent work, researchers have begun to explore ways in which to diminish the “meaningful differences” in language achievement noted among children as they enter formal schooling. This article provides a review of a particularly effective model of vocabulary intervention based on shared storybook reading and situates this model in a context of tiered intervention, an emerging model of instructional design in the field of special education. In addition, we describe a quasi‐experimental posttest‐only study that examines the feasibility and effectiveness of the model for first‐grade students. Participants were 224 first‐grade students of whom 98 were identified as at risk for reading disability based on low levels of vocabulary. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences on measures of target vocabulary knowledge at the receptive and context level, suggesting that students at risk for reading failure benefit significantly from a second tier of vocabulary instruction. Implications for classroom practice as well as future research are provided.     

TV's distorted vision of poverty

Avoiding almost entirely the depiction of poverty during prime‐time broadcasts, television networks present a sentimentalized vision of economic deprivation that omits or minimizes hardship while idealizing the supposed benefits of a spartan way of life. Much happier than the harried members of middle‐ and upper‐income groups, poor and working people on television seldom strive against their economic fates or against the system. Conclusions are based on a monitoring of prime‐time entertainment broadcast by the three commercial networks during “ratings month.”     

The role of sexual orientation in predicting outcome value and anticipated communication behaviors

The purpose of this study was to (1) examine the role of sexual orientation in determining a positive or negative predicted outcome value during an initial interaction, and (2) to test whether the predicted outcome value (POV) was related to anticipated communication behaviors. Participants (N = 284) completed one of two surveys. The surveys differed only in terms of the opening scenario, which introduced a fictitious target whose sexual orientation was manipulated. The data from this study suggest that learning of an individual's sexual orientation during an initial encounter negatively influences predicted outcome value and anticipated communication behaviors. Additionally, men continue to predict outcome values that are significantly more negative than those predicted by women. The results from this study remain important especially in light of recent research in which interpersonal contact with gays and lesbians has been shown to influence positively heterosexuals’ attitudes toward this minority group.     

Extending the Empathic Communication Model of Burnout: Incorporating Individual Differences to Learn More about Workplace Emotion,Communicative Responsiveness,and Burnout

This field study contributes to the literature on emotional communication in the human-services industry. Specifically, this study extends the empathic communication model of burnout by incorporating individual differences to predict workplace emotion and communicative responsiveness. This extension has important implications for both research and knowledge on responsiveness, burnout, and workplace practices. A questionnaire filled out by 159 caregivers from a moderately sized human-services agency explored the role of self-monitoring and emotional intelligence in enhancing caregiver performance. Results indicate that those caregivers who can control their expressive behavior and manage their moods to maintain a sense of optimism are in a better position to respond emotionally and communicatively to distressed clients and resist job burnout.     

U.S. Comparative and International Graduate Programs: An Overview of Programmatic Size,Relevance, Philosophy,and Methodology

Previous work has concentrated on the epistemological foundation of comparative and international education (CIE) graduate programs. This study focuses on programmatic size, philosophy, methodology, and pedagogy. It begins by reviewing previous studies. It then provides a theoretical framework and describes the size, relevance, content, and methodological approaches of U.S.-based graduate programs. This study finds that (a) CIE graduate programs find relevance in today's knowledge economy by addressing the themes of globalization and development; (b) while education policy is a key component of CIE programmatic content, there does not appear to be a general consensus as to what a CIE program should teach; and (c) CIE pedagogy includes four broad categories: the humanities and social science disciplines, regional emphases, cross-cutting fields and theoretical lenses, and professional specializations. Although there appears to be no single formula or unified path, each program must sift through the various methodologies and theoretical tendencies of the field to charter a course that is attractive to students, profitable to its institution, and beneficial to society.     

Building New Bridges to America's Schools: Lessons From the University of Notre Dame

This article tells the story and explores the significance of Notre Dame's efforts over the past 18 years to serve the pressing needs of underresourced elementary and secondary schools throughout the United States, with a special focus on the faith-based sector—and more particularly, Catholic schools. These schools are increasingly fragile but possess a well-documented track record of success educating low-income minority students. The closure in 1976 of Notre Dame's Department of Education left open an institutional space for entrepreneurial initiatives and new partnerships responsive to the needs of schools across the nation. Attentive to the manifold ironies inherent in the founding (in the mid-1990s) and growth of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives in which ACE is housed, the authors discern a pattern in which seeming deficits and obstacles repeatedly spark innovative responses and powerful alliances among a diverse range of stakeholders united by common goals. Drawing upon lessons learned, both through failures and successes, these reflections suggest roles that institutions of higher learning might play to improve the quality of education in faith-based, private, and public schools.     

Emergent literacy profiles among prekindergarten children from low-SES backgrounds: Longitudinal considerations

This study represents a longitudinal follow-up to a prior investigation that identified five profiles of emergent literacy skills among children in the fall of their prekindergarten year. Here, we examined: (a) how profile patterns changed from fall to spring, (b) the extent to which children remained stable in their profile membership, and (c) possible factors that may explain children's movement in profile membership from fall to spring. Participants were 484 children enrolled in needs-based programs. Eight measures of emergent literacy, across oral language and code-related domains, were administered in both the fall and the spring of the prekindergarten year. Latent profile analysis was used to classify children into fall and spring profiles (N = 484, 369, respectively). Although there were fewer profiles identified in the spring, children's membership within the profiles was characterized by a degree of stability, especially in the extremes of performance. Among children who shifted membership from fall to spring (35%), movement to a more desirable profile was primarily associated with children's emergent literacy skills, particularly oral language, at the beginning of the prekindergarten year.     

Development and Validation of the Star Properties Concept Inventory

Concept inventories (CIs)—typically multiple-choice instruments that focus on a single or small subset of closely related topics—have been used in science education for more than a decade. This paper describes the development and validation of a new CI for astronomy, the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI). Questions cover the areas of stellar properties (focussing primarily on mass, temperature, luminosity, and lifetime), nuclear fusion, and star formation. Distracters were developed from known alternative conceptions and reasoning difficulties commonly held by students. The SPCI was tested through an iterative process where different testing formats (open-ended, multiple-choice?+?explain, and multiple-choice) were compared to ensure that the distracters were in fact the most common among the testing population. Content validity was established through expert reviews by 26 astronomy instructors. The SPCI Version 3 was then tested in multiple introductory undergraduate astronomy courses for non-science majors. Post-test scores (out of 23 possible) were significantly greater (M?=?11.8, SD?=?3.87) than the pre-test scores (M?=?7.09, SD?=?2.73). The low post-test score—only 51.3%—could indicate a need for changing instructional strategies on the topics of stars and star formation.     

An investigation of the knowledge structures of experts,intermediates and novices in physics

The literature on the role of models and theories in physics suggests that multiple models, abstract or concrete exist for a particular phenomenon. These models could be organized into hierarchies describing the entire physics domain (Giere 1994). Hierarchies of concepts have been used in other domains with success; however, criteria for a hierarchy of models in physics and theory's role are unclear. Therefore, research was conducted to describe the knowledge structures of experts, intermediates, and novices. A reiterative categorization task required subjects to sort and re-sort physics problems. The proportions of theory- and model-based categories created by the subjects were compared. Novices created hierarchies of model-based categories. Both intermediates and experts created theory-based categories at the highest, most abstract, level but combined model- and theory-based categories at middle and lower levels. These results support a representation of physics knowledge in which a hierarchy of models is organized by theory-based categories.