Below-average, average, and above-average readers engage different and similar brain regions while reading

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 27 children (14 girls, 13 boys) who varied in their reading skill levels. Both behavior performance measures recorded during the ERP word classification task and the ERP responses themselves discriminated between children with above-average, average, and below-average reading skills. ERP amplitudes and peak latencies decreased as reading skills increased. Furthermore, hemisphere differences increased with higher reading skill levels. Sex differences were also related to ERP amplitude variations across the scalp. However, ERPs recorded from boys and girls did not differ as a function of differences in the children's reading levels.     

The RAVE-O Intervention: Connecting Neuroscience to the Classroom

ABSTRACT—This article explores the ways in which knowledge from the cognitive neurosciences, linguistics, and education interact to deepen our understanding of reading's complexity and to inform reading intervention. We first describe how research on brain abnormalities and naming speed processes has shaped both our conceptualization of reading disabilities and the design of a multicomponent reading intervention, the RAVE-O program. We then discuss the unique ways this program seeks to address the multiple and varied sources of disruption in struggling readers. Finally, we present efficacy data for the RAVE-O reading intervention across multiple school settings.     

Specific Reading Comprehension Disability: Major Problem,Myth, or Misnomer?

The goal of the present study was to test three competing hypotheses about the nature of comprehension problems of students who are poor in reading comprehension. Participants in the study were first, second, and third graders, totaling nine cohorts and over 425,000 participants in all. The pattern of results was consistent across all cohorts: Less than 1 percent of first‐ through third‐grade students who scored as poor in reading comprehension were adequate in both decoding and vocabulary. Although poor reading comprehension certainly qualifies as a major problem rather than a myth, the term specific reading comprehension disability is a misnomer: Individuals with problems in reading comprehension that are not attributable to poor word recognition have comprehension problems that are general to language comprehension rather than specific to reading. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.     

Increasing teachers' use of communication-supporting strategies: findings from an exploratory study using the Communication Supporting Classroom Observation Tool (CSCOT) in primary schools in Brunei

The Communication Supporting Classroom Observation Tool (CSCOT) is used in the UK to identify how teachers support children's communication development. This study evaluates the feasibility and impact of collaborative training for teachers using the CSCOT, delivered by specialist teachers and a speech and language therapist. Classroom practice was observed twice using the CSCOT before the collaborative training (repeated baseline). Five teachers then received the collaborative training, informed by their baseline CSCOT results. The training consisted of detailed feedback, target setting and support from the school Special Educational Needs Assistant (SENA) over a period of 20 weeks. Five further teachers did not participate in this training but acted as a control group. The CSCOT observations were then repeated for all 10 classroom teachers. The total score of the CSCOT significantly increased for the five teachers who received training only. There was no increase during the repeated baseline phase, suggesting that the increase was due to the training. All five teachers who participated in training increased their use of their targeted communication-supporting strategies. The CSCOT can be used as part of collaborative training to increase teachers' use of communication-supporting strategies in primary schools in Brunei.     

Promoting Success in High School World History: Peer Tutoring Versus Guided Notes

The purpose of this investigation was to compare qualitative and quantitative outcomes associated with peer tutoring versus teacher–directed guided notes in world history for secondary–level students with mild disabilities. Sixteen students with mild disabilities (15 of whom had learning disabilities) participated in a nine–week quarter of one of the two instructional conditions. The same special education teachers taught students during world history classes. Measures included pre– and posttests of reading fluency, comprehension strategies, and content tests, including end–of–chapter tests, cumulative–delayed–recall tests, and a delayed–recall end–of–year final exam covering the entire academic year. In addition, qualitative procedures were employed, including interviews of teachers and students regarding their instructional preferences. Findings indicated that students who participated in peer tutoring significantly outperformed those who participated in the guided–notes condition on content–area tests. No significant differences were obtained on oral–reading–fluency measures, but students in the tutoring condition performed significantly better at using a reading comprehension summarization strategy independently, and at remembering the strategy steps. Results of student interviews suggested that students responded positively overall to tutoring and guided notes, and provided specific relevant insights on each procedure. Students in the tutoring condition indicated that the time spent tutoring felt like one of the shortest academic quarters for them. Findings are discussed with respect to both benefits and challenges associated with implementing peer tutoring in high school special education content–area classes.     

Sex education and transgender youth: ‘Trust Means Material By and For Queer and Trans People’

The sex education made available to transgender youth has rarely been studied empirically. In this study, we sought to explore the sex education experiences of transgender young people and summarise their recommendations for transgender-inclusive curricula. Qualitative data from 14 transgender youth in the upper-Midwest USA were collected by means of an online questionnaire and group interview. Data was analysed using a consensual qualitative approach. Three themes emerged: (1) sources and reactions to sex education, (2) the importance of trust, and (3) missing information and recommendations. Sources and reactions to sex education included sexual health information sources and the strategies participants employed to supplement the sex education they received. Trust included trustworthy information sources and strong qualities of sexual health resources. Missing information and recommendations included unmet sex education needs, including the scope of information and from whom the information is delivered. Findings suggest that important curricular considerations include the diversity of content, but also the diversity of voices delivering it.