Growth in Precursor and Reading‐Related Skills: Do Low‐Achieving and IQ‐Discrepant Readers Develop Differently?

Poor readers who met low achievement and IQ‐discrepancy definitions of reading disability were compared with nonimpaired readers on their development of eight precursor and reading‐related skills to evaluate developmental differences prior to students’ identification as reading disabled. Results indicated no evidence for differences between the two groups of poor readers in the development of the eight skills, with three exceptions. Students in the IQ‐discrepant group demonstrated greater growth in letter sound knowledge, greater mean performance in visual‐motor integration at the beginning of first grade, and greater deceleration in rapid naming of letters. When compared to the nonimpaired group, low‐achieving readers demonstrated poorer performance and development in all skills, while the IQ‐discrepant readers demonstrated poorer performance and development in phonemic awareness, rapid naming of letters and objects, spelling, and word reading. The largely null results for comparisons between the two groups of poor readers challenges the validity of the two‐group classification of reading disabilities based on IQ‐discrepancy.     

The UK National Arts Education Archive: Ideas and Imaginings

The National Arts Education Archive (NAEA) is housed and maintained by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), and managed by YSP coordinators and educators with a well‐established volunteer programme. This year, 2017, as part of the celebrations of the YSP's 40th anniversary, the Archive will hold its own exhibition entitled Treasures Revealed: a collection of items selected by people who have been involved in the Archive, whether as donors, volunteers, researchers, artists, trustees or steering group members. In parallel with the exhibition, this article aims to give voice to a selection of individuals and groups associated with the Archive, discussing their interests and experiences of it, and their thoughts on its value and importance as a repository of arts education materials, ideals and practices. Our primary motivations were to consider these different voices in relation to the purpose, direction and relevance of the NAEA today. These exchanges raise fundamental questions and debates about what art education is and what it might become, and how these historical collections, and creative engagements with it, might help to shape our contemporary thinking.     

“Jagged Edges”: Victim Blaming,Student Care,and Legally Defensible Sexual Assault Investigations

Victims and survivors of sexual violence are sometimes blamed for the assault because of irrelevant factors such as how much they had to drink or what they wore. Research has indicated that conservative religious beliefs increase the prevalence of victim blaming. In order to see if this pattern extended to college administrators, we used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and interviewed eight sexual assault investigators at a faith-based institution to understand their lived and shared experiences. Four significant themes emerged from our study: the tension between student care and a legally defensible process, hope amid a never-ending saga, forbidden knowledge, and victim blaming. We conclude with a call to focus more carefully on language used, recommendations for decreasing the prevalence of victim blaming, and on preventing investigators from compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, and burnout.     

The 2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science presented to Rob Van der Voo

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science to Rob Van der Voo for his outstanding contributions to the field of paleomagnetism and his reconstruction of ancient continental positions that have lead to a better understanding of plate tectonic processes for the past billion years of Earth history.     

Developing a template for National Child Protection Index Reports

Objectives

What impact does the strengthening of child rights have on the experience and circumstances of children? CRC General Comment 13 emphasizes that defining measurable targets for improvements in child protection is a key element of efforts to strengthen child rights and well-being across the world. This paper describes an attempt to identify key domains relevant to such mapping of child protection indicators, and the feasibility of collecting data—from existing data sources or otherwise—to complete a “National Child Protection Index Report” summarizing achievements and concerns at a national level.

Methods

A process of inter-agency consultation was facilitated by the CPC Learning Network to establish a template for the Index Report. The template was modeled on that used for the “Countdown to 2015” maternal, neonatal and child health initiative, aiming to capture indices not only of key protection risks but also implementation and coverage of key protection measures. The work drew on indicator development and policy initiatives by a number of international child protection agencies. The template developed was used as a basis to pilot national data collection in Indonesia and, at a sub-national level, in northern Uganda.

Findings

The template provides a concise summary of protection issues of relevance to a broad range of constituencies, global and national. However, in the pilot settings, existing routine data collection was inadequate to effectively populate a large proportion of indicators. Mechanisms of collating findings from discrete assessments—another potential source of data for completion of the index report—were also generally underdeveloped.

Practice implications

In settings where state infrastructure allows the collection and analysis of routine data in such domains as health and economic activity, such efforts should be extended to the child protection sector. Discrete assessments by governmental or non-governmental agencies also provide significant potential for more effective sharing and collation of information. National Child Protection sub-clusters or equivalent structures can play an important role in facilitating both of these processes.     

e-Government services for faith-based organizations: Bridging the organizational divide

In this paper, we examine the challenges faced by faith-based institutions in a low-income, predominantly Black community seeking to take advantage of grants provided through the White House Office of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives (FBCI). FBCI is an e-Government program that assists nonprofit organizations in competing for Federal dollars with fewer bureaucratic barriers. Informed by the design-actuality framework, we interviewed clergy at seven faith-based organizations. The intent of this analysis is to juxtapose the design intentions of the government officials with the actualities expressed by the intended benefactors of the initiative. Our findings suggest that this e-Government initiative may unwittingly exacerbate existing disparities in the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICT).