Clusters of second and third grade dysfluent urban readers

This study examined the heterogeneity within a sample of 140 urban second and third graders identified as at-risk for reading failure due to inefficient word and/or nonword reading. Cluster analyses were conducted using standardized factor scores from a four-factor structural equation model characterizing reading performance in this sample. These standardized factor scores represented performance on four distinct factors: efficiency of word-level skills, text level skills, decoding, and vocabulary. Results identified four clusters of children who show distinctive patterns of performance on the four factors of reading. These understudied groups show different compositions along demographic categories and reading disability categories. Additionally, they have unique instructional needs that call for differentiated instruction in the domains of phonological decoding, fluency, text reading, and vocabulary.     

The relationship between reading and listening comprehension: shared and modality-specific components

This study aimed to increase our understanding on the relationship between reading and listening comprehension. Both in comprehension theory and in educational practice, reading and listening comprehension are often seen as interchangeable, overlooking modality-specific aspects of them separately. Three questions were addressed. First, it was examined to what extent reading and listening comprehension comprise modality-specific, distinct skills or an overlapping, domain-general skill in terms of the amount of explained variance in one comprehension type by the opposite comprehension type. Second, general and modality-unique subskills of reading and listening comprehension were sought by assessing the contributions of the foundational skills word reading fluency, vocabulary, memory, attention, and inhibition to both comprehension types. Lastly, the practice of using either listening comprehension or vocabulary as a proxy of general comprehension was investigated. Reading and listening comprehension tasks with the same format were assessed in 85 second and third grade children. Analyses revealed that reading comprehension explained 34% of the variance in listening comprehension, and listening comprehension 40% of reading comprehension. Vocabulary and word reading fluency were found to be shared contributors to both reading and listening comprehension. None of the other cognitive skills contributed significantly to reading or listening comprehension. These results indicate that only part of the comprehension process is indeed domain-general and not influenced by the modality in which the information is provided. Especially vocabulary seems to play a large role in this domain-general part. The findings warrant a more prominent focus of modality-specific aspects of both reading and listening comprehension in research and education.

     

Leniency and halo bias in industry-based assessments of student competencies: a critical,sector-based analysis

Industry placements are popular means to provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills, knowledge and experience in a ‘real world’ setting. Within this context, supervisor feedback allows educators to measure students’ performance beyond academic objectives, by benchmarking it against industry expectations. However, industry assessments appear to be frequently clouded and overwhelmingly positive by nature, which questions the reliability and validity of supervisors’ judgement of competencies. Supervisor bias has been paid much attention within the context of clinical placements, as well as within the domain of social work. However, the concept has been largely ignored within business education, despite the increasing emphasis on – and deep integration of – work-integrated learning in the business curriculum. This paper sets out to address this gap by examining variances in mark distribution and apparent leniency in the context of a final-year, compulsory placement unit, based on observations and data collected over nine semesters (n?=?546). The focus of this study is on gaining an understanding of the reasons behind assessment bias and the pressures placed on industry assessors. The data indicate that different types of placement locations apply dissimilar standards when assessing student performance. The author identifies three statistically different placement types (small business, not-for-profit and professional), which influence the strength and risk of grader bias, hence ultimately the assessment outcome.     

Assessing what generates precompetitive emotions: development of the precompetitive appraisal measure

Athletes’ precompetitive appraisal determines which emotion they experience with regard to an upcoming competition. Such precompetitive emotions have powerful and potentially destructive consequences for performance. To control and optimise these consequences, it is important to examine precompetitive appraisal. Currently, such efforts are hampered by the lack of a valid measurement tool. The present study aimed to develop a novel measure of precompetitive appraisal. Specifically, the Precompetitive Appraisal Measure (PAM) was constructed by adapting an existing self-report scale. Female and male intercollegiate team sport athletes (N = 384) completed the PAM, along with a measure of intensity and interpretation of precompetitive anxiety symptoms (CSAI-2D) prior to competition. On these responses, (a) a Principal Component Analysis and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the PAM’s suggested two-factor structure (Primary and Secondary Appraisal), (b) cluster analyses indicated the measure’s ability to distinguish theoretically congruent appraisal profiles (Threat and Challenge) and (c) a MANOVA and multiple regression analyses demonstrated that PAM-responses predicted precompetitive symptom intensity and interpretation. Further, analyses revealed that the majority of athletes appraised the upcoming competition as a challenge.     

School and community in action

This article describes an enrichment program for gifted students which was a joint effort of school personnel and community individuals. Parent involvement was the key to the conception and implementation of the program for first through fourth graders and was the key to its success. Gifted students were given opportunities to learn and practice higher level thinking skills, were able to interact and exchange ideas with one another, and were exposed to challenging and exciting curricula not available in their regular program. Once the program became operational, it was conducted with little or no cost to the school district and administered by the community council.     

SSONET: Systemunterstützung für mehrseitige Sicherheit in offenen Datennetzen

Wir stellen eine prototypische Implementierung einer Sicherheitsarchitektur vor. Sie unterstützt Nutzer und Entwickler verteilter Anwendungen bei der Umsetzung bzw. Integration von mehrseitiger Sicherheit. Nutzer k?nnen Schutzziele wie Vertraulichkeit, Anonymit?t, Integrit?t und Zurechenbarkeit anwendungsbezogen formulieren und ihnen zugeordnete kryptographische Mechanismen konfigurieren. Der konkrete Schutz einer Kommunikation über Datennetze wird zwischen den Partnern ausgehandelt. Heterogenen Anforderungen der Nutzer bzw. Applikationen und heterogenen Eigenschaften der Schutzmechanismen wird durch Architekturkomponenten für Konfigurierung und Aushandlung sowie sog. Sicherheitsgateways Rechnung getragen. Die Architektur setzt jeweils lokal sichere Basissysteme voraus und erm?glicht darauf aufbauend flexible mehrseitige Sicherheit für verteilte Anwendungen.     

Change in strategy: The relationship of attribution,expectancy, performance,and satisfaction

The purpose of the study was to examine the degree to which change in examination preparation is related to measures of attribution, expectancy, prior performance, perceived success/failure, and satisfaction. Subjects were students in an intermediate graduate statistics course. Although performance is the single best predictor of change in preparation, three attribution measures and satisfaction contributed unique predictive variance. While expectancy was significantly related to change in preparation, it did not add uniquely to the multiple correlation.     

The gay family in literature for young people

Virginia L. Wolf is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She is the author of nearly fifty articles on literature for young people and is a past president of the Children's Literature Association.