Computerised screening for dyslexia in adults

Identifying dyslexia in adulthood presents particular challenges because of complicating factors such as acquisition of compensatory strategies, differing degrees of intervention and the problem of distinguishing dyslexic adults from those whose literacy difficulties have non‐cognitive causes. One of the implications is that conventional literacy measures, per se, do not provide a satisfactory basis for screening for dyslexia in adulthood as some dyslexic adults have above‐average literacy skills and some non‐dyslexic adults have very poor literacy skills. This study examined an alternative approach to dyslexia screening, using three tests that depend heavily on phonological processing, lexical access and working memory, but which are not conventional measures of literacy. Using these tests, which are computer delivered, 70 dyslexic adults from three different types of educational institution were compared with 69 non‐dyslexic adults from the same institutions. The results showed that the dyslexic and non‐dyslexic groups were significantly different on all three computer‐based tests, with an average effect size of 1.55. Adaptive versions of these tests were then created to reduce overall administration time for the suite to about 15 minutes. Analysis showed that the combined scaled scores from the adaptive versions of the three tests significantly discriminated the dyslexic from the non‐dyslexic group with an increased effect size of 2.07 and with a sensitivity rate of 90.6% and a specificity rate of 90.0%. It was concluded that this approach is a valid and useful method of identifying dyslexia in adulthood, which, given the ease of administration to large numbers of adults, has noted advantages for education and employment.     

Mathematics and science inequalities in the United Kingdom: when elitism,sexism and culture collide

An examination of gender, social class and ethnicity performance and participation patterns in different UK countries shows that inequities occur in relation to gender, class and ethnicity but that the patterns of inequity look quite different in the three domains. Achievement is equal for different genders but many more males take mathematics forward to advanced levels; social class differences persist in both achievement and participation; and ethnicity shows a varied pattern with some groups performing and participating at particularly high levels and some particularly low. This paper identifies some critical issues that we face in making mathematics and science equitable and begins to analyse some of the barriers that stand in the way of students who are female, and from some ethnic and social groups.     

User dyads in software testing: bypassing the need for expert observers

This paper arises out of a research study into the online help facilities provided in popular software applications such as word processors. Its particular focus is on experimental methods of evaluating the effectiveness and usability of those facilities. Focus groups, questionnaires, and online surveys had already been used in other phases of the study, but it was judged that these approaches would be unsuitable for measuring effectiveness and usability because they are susceptible to respondents’ subjectivity. Direct observation of people working on set word‐processing tasks was ruled out initially because of a lack of trained observers; it would have taken too long for the investigator to observe a large enough sample by himself. Automatic recording of users’ actions was also rejected, as it would have demanded equipment and/or software that was not available and seemed too expensive to acquire. The approach and techniques described here were an attempt to overcome these difficulties by using observers drawn from the same population of students that provided the test subjects; as a by‐product, this may also have enhanced the acceptability (and hence possibly the validity) of the experiments by reducing the “exam pressure” perceived by participants.     

Examining the Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Reading Comprehension Intervention in Middle Schools: A Focus on Treatment Fidelity

In this experimental study, we examined the effects of a multicomponent reading comprehension intervention in sixth- to eighth-grade English language arts classes with a focus on factors to enhance treatment implementation. We tested the contribution of a theoretically derived fidelity framework that included adherence, quality, dosage, program differentiation, and student responsiveness. The study was conducted in three schools, involving 14 teachers and 859 students. English language arts classes were randomly assigned to the Comprehension Circuit Training intervention (n?=?30) or typical practice comparison (n?=?31) conditions, and all teachers taught in both conditions. Findings indicated that there was no reliable difference between the intervention and typical practice groups on standardized or researcher-developed proximal measures. To investigate the relationship between fidelity and student outcomes, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the relation of the indicators to a latent fidelity factor. Results of the CFA revealed a single fidelity factor composed of the adherence, quality, dosage, student responsiveness, and program differentiation variables. The fidelity factor was statistically significantly related to outcomes on a standardized comprehension measure (γ?=?.86, p?γ?=?.52, p?相似文献   

Changing Conceptions in the Relative Sequence of Major Topics in General Science Textbooks (1911-1934)

The authors examined the relationship between fifth-grade students' verbal ability level and the adaptive nature of the questions that these students asked in attempting to find a correct synonym for vocabulary items. Questions were divided into necessary questions (questions posed after a wrong provisional answer) and unnecessary questions (questions posed after a right provisional answer). Another division of questions was into helpful questions (questions that led to a correction of a wrong provisional answer) and harmful questions (questions that led to a shift from a right to a wrong answer). Also examined were discontinued inquiries (instances in which a student decided to break off an inquiry in favor of inferring the right alternative). The results showed that students with high verbal ability asked more necessary questions and stepped up the number of unnecessary questions for difficult items, signaling that these questions were asked to increase confidence in knowing. Students' verbal ability did not affect the frequency of discontinued inquiries, but a significant effect was found for the helpfulness of these inquiries. A detailed account of the various processes and stages involved in students' questioning is presented.     

Publisher,be damned! From price gouging to the open road

All four authors are members of the Leicester school of critical management and have previously written together on academic publishing. David Harvie lectures in finance and is interested in ethical issues related to this and other matters. He is a member of The Free Association writing collective. Geoff Lightfoot lectures in entrepreneurship and has particular interests in the ideology of markets and critical accounting. Simon Lilley works on information aspects of organisation and is currently head of the School of Management at Leicester University. Kenneth Weir is interested in accounting practices, especially critical and social accounting.     

通过教育应对社会不公平——英格兰2010年以来的政策与展望

学业成就差距是英国教育政策的重要努力方向。2010年以前,新工党政府承诺要"缩小"不同社会背景学生的学业成就差距。此后上台的联合政府,进一步承诺要"取消"这种学业成就差距。为此,自2010年以来,英国政府出台了一系列教育政策。这些政策的共同核心问题是学业成就的"社会阶级"差异。