The relation between reading ability and morphological skills: Evidence from derivational suffixes

The English orthography represents both phonemes and morphemes, implying that sensitivity to each of these units could play a role in the acquisition of decoding skills. This study offers some new evidence about sensitivity to morphemes and the decoding skills of American children in grades three to six. It focuses on knowledge of derivational suffixes, which is examined with sentence completion and sentence acceptability tasks that manipulate the suffixes in real words (e.g., electric, electricity) and nonsense derived forms (e.g., froodly, froodness). Both written and spoken materials are considered over the course of two experiments in which the children also received various reading tests, as well as tests of phonological awareness, vocabulary and intelligence. The results indicate that knowledge of derivational suffixes increases with grade level, along with decoding ability and phoneme awareness. Path analyses further reveal that, although there is a consistent correlation between performance on the derivational suffix materials and phoneme awareness and decoding ability, performance on the derivational suffix materials makes an independent and increasing contribution to decoding ability throughout the higher elementary grades.     

Classroom Age Composition and Vocabulary Development Among At-Risk Preschoolers

Research Findings: The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between classroom age composition and preschoolers’ vocabulary gains over an academic year and also to examine whether these relations were moderated by classroom quality. In this study (N = 130 children in 16 classrooms representing a subset of all children enrolled in these classrooms), results showed a significant cross-level interaction between classroom age composition and children's age, suggesting positive effects of greater variance in classroom age composition for younger but not older children. The interaction between behavior management (1 dimension of classroom quality) and classroom age composition was also significant, indicating that a wider distribution of classroom age composition was positively related to children's vocabulary gains within classrooms characterized by better behavior management. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of children's social interactions with more knowledgeable conversational partners in promoting their vocabulary development and signify the need to help teachers learn how to manage children's behaviors so as to provide a classroom that is optimal for child learning.     

CD-ROM project management: A case study

This article describes a CD-ROM test disc project planned to gain firsthand knowledge of the production process, and to deliver a disc that will be used to analyze the potential market for full-text publications on CD-ROM. It describes getting started in the field, details the project planning process, and explains how to gather resources, schedule the project, and develop a work breakdown schedule. In this kind of project,task definition andcollaboration with other organizations are the crucial components for success. Virginia Meade led the team that produced Bellcore’s first CD-ROM disc. She has worked as a senior project manager in the Information Management Services division at Bellcore for the past three years, and chaired the Information Technology district’s electronic publishing services group. Address for correspondence     

Project ASSIST institute: An orton-gillingham/spalding based curriculum for teachers and volunteers

In spite of our best efforts, our son Andrew did not learn to read until he attended the Jemicy School at the age of 12. Our search for help and eventual success led me to take the Orton-Gillingham approach into the public schools of Delaware, first with volunteers and then with teachers. In 1991-92, the Milford School District did a Pre-Post Design pilot using the Woodcock Johnson Reading Mastery Test for decoding and comprehension and the WRAT Revised for spelling. The results are included. Another pilot with a control group from another school district is being done in 1992-93 and a third pilot is being planned for New Castle County, Delaware in 1993-94. Training for teachers in the juvenile justice system is also planned for 1993-94.     

Geriatric community health workers’ views about aging,work, and retirement: implications for geriatrics and gerontology education

ABSTRACT

Seasoned geriatric community health workers offered valuable data that will inform educators and community health workers working with older persons. Geriatric community health workers’ views about retirement and about facilitators and barriers that keep them engaged with older adults during retirement were identified. Twenty geriatric community health workers participated in semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted by the research team. Sixty percent of the participants (N = 12) reported plans not to work during retirement, although 40% (N = 8) expressed interest in full- or part-time employment post-retirement. When asked about their expectations to stay in the field of aging or gerontology in some capacity during retirement, 30% (N = 6) expected to stay in gerontology during retirement. The findings from this research will help organizations and educational institutions create programs and resources that will encourage geriatric community health workers to continue working in the field of aging during retirement.