The use of tinted lenses to alleviate reading difficulties

An increasing number of optometrists are offering assessments using the Intuitive Colorimeter (Wilkins, Nimmo‐Smith and Jansons, 1992) to determine whether children who have reading difficulties might benefit from the use of tinted lenses. Suggestions have been made in the media that tinted lenses may provide a ‘cure’ for developmental dyslexia, and there have been many anecdotal accounts of improvements in reading following their use (e.g. Brace, 1993). However, such extreme claims are not typical of the scientific literature supporting the use of tinted lenses. This article provides an overview of the research into the use of tinted lenses for the amelioration of reading difficulties. The electronic databases searched for this review were BIDS, MEDLINE, PsychInfo, PsychLit and Science Direct. Key search terms used were coloured (colored) lenses, Irlen lenses, scotopic sensitivity and visual deficits in combination with the term ‘reading difficulties’.     

Mapping the typology of transition systems in a liberal market economy: the case of Canada

This research explores links between tertiary education institutions and between tertiary education and the labour market as determinants of provincial and national transition patterns in Canada. The study consists of a provincial analysis that maps the typology of transition systems across Canada’s devolved federated tertiary education structure. The results show that, nationally: the links between education and work are relatively loose aside from regulated occupations; there is an emphasis on general education; and qualifications are used as a screen for entry to the labour market. However, while Canada can be broadly understood as a liberal market economy, there is provincial diversity within the nation; and there are varying logics for the development of skill, deployment of labour, and relations between institutions. The institutional and policy frameworks, structure of jobs, and formation of skill in Canada’s largest provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec reveal diverse characteristics of transition systems. However, despite internal differentiation in the value of vocational education, variations at the provincial level have not been enough to shift the federal pattern as a whole. Instead, in Canada vocational education is generally stigmatised and viewed as signalling low ability and motivation.     

Understanding Pre-Service Teachers' Emerging Practices Through Their Analyses of a Multimedia Case Study of Practice

The limits inherent in field experiences and the difficulties in learning howto use student thinking in instructional practice are significant challengesin pre-service teachers' preparation. In this research, we haveinvestigated how multimedia case studies of practice can support pre-service teachers in making meaning of complex classroom experiences andin developing strategies and rationales for using student thinking to guideinstruction. In this paper, we present a brief review of the research on casestudies to situate our particular approach that builds on the notion that amultimedia case study can be a site for investigation, analysis andreflection by pre-service teachers. We then report the results of examiningthe issues that one cohort of pre-service mathematics teachers (grades 7–12) identified as meaningful for them in terms of their own emergingpractice and the ways in which they connected the case study teacher'spractice to their own practice. We found that the pre-service teachers wereable to use their perspectives on a common practice to highlight some of thedilemmas and tensions found in teaching. In particular, these pre-serviceteachers focused on the difficulties encountered when trying to usestudent thinking and to follow their own mathematical goals in a lesson.They were able to frame many of the issues that they encountered in theirown practice (such as checking for student understanding and the use ofquestioning) in terms of their analysis of the case study teachers' practice.     

Signatures of quality teaching for Indigenous students

This paper presents findings from the validation of a survey instrument constructed in response to what Indigenous parents/carers and students believe constitutes culturally responsive pedagogies that positively influence Indigenous student learning. Characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogies established through interviews with Australian Indigenous parents, community members and students generated themes which were distilled into survey items by a team of Indigenous and other educators. The instrument was then put on trial with 141 teachers for statistical validation. Analyses employing the Rasch model confirmed that the instrument measured a unidimensional latent trait: culturally responsive pedagogy. Seven subscales, content validities of which were determined by a panel of experts, were also confirmed. Results highlighted differences between primary and secondary teachers’ self-reported practice, and important facets of teacher pedagogy in the two different school contexts emerged. Analyses of four of the subscales of the instrument—Indigenous cultural value, self‐regulation support, literacy teaching and explicitness—are presented in the context of current emphases on quality teaching and Indigenous student outcomes. The instrument can be used to measure teachers’ nuances in pedagogy, and the resulting teacher profiles can be used to assist teachers to focus on particular aspects of their pedagogy to meet the needs of their students.     

Effects of Traditional Versus Montessori Schooling on 4‐ to 15‐Year Old children's Performance Monitoring

Through performance monitoring individuals detect and learn from unexpected outcomes, indexed by post‐error slowing and post‐error improvement in accuracy. Although performance monitoring is essential for academic learning and improves across childhood, its susceptibility to educational influences has not been studied. Here we compared performance monitoring on a flanker task in 234 children aged 4 through 15, from traditional or Montessori classrooms. While traditional classrooms emphasize that students learn from teachers' feedback, Montessori classrooms encourage students to work independently with materials specially designed to support learners discovering errors for themselves. We found that Montessori students paused longer post‐error in early childhood and, by adolescence, were more likely to self‐correct. We also found that a developmental shift from longer to shorter pauses post‐error being associated with self‐correction happened younger in the Montessori group. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that educational experience influences performance monitoring, with implications for neural development, learning, and pedagogy.     

Faculty research productivity: Some moderators of associated stressors

Using person environment-fit theory, stress measures were developed on 894 faculty, a subgroup of the 3,972 faculty in the 1988 NCRIPTAL national survey. Within three institutional groups, three fields of study (humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences), three research output variables, and eight moderating variables (singly and collectively) were correlated (direct and partials) with two measures of stress. The findings lend support to the theoretical model. The outcomes also show that moderate levels of stress can be appreciably and significantly mitigated by some selected personal variables. The environmental variables were generally ineffective in moderating the correlations between stresses and productivity. Sex differences exist. Research self-competence is a strong modifier for both sexes and is exceptionally potent for women.     

A cross-cultural study of parents' perceptions of early childhood programs

Cross-cultural studies in early childhood education assist in expanding perspectives and gaining increased understanding and appreciation of programs in other countries. Because both Sweden and the United States are interested in parent involvement in early childhood programs, a survey was conducted to assess parent's perceptions of these programs. Following a review of family life and early childhood education in Sweden and the United States are the specific components of the cross-cultural study. A stratified random sample of parents whose children were involved in early childhood programs was done in St. Louis County, MN, United States, and Kronobergs Lan, Småland, Sweden. In the first section of the five-part survey, parents indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with statements about such areas as governmental support of children and families. Parents in Sweden felt more support of the government, whereas parents in the United States used early childhood programs as a support mechanism to increase their confidence. In the other four sections of the survey, parents rated the importance of various types of parental involvement and the importance of various materials, activities, and caregiver actions in their children's programs. In general, parents in Sweden valued informal contact and inner-directed creative materials and activities. Parents in the United States valued more confining activities such as rote counting, community-based experiences, and compliance with adult expectations. The influence of the macro-society on parents' perceptions as well as microsystem interactions and environments is evident in this study. As early childhood educators learn about and adapt new ideas to their own programs, the potential of cross-cultural studies becomes realized in improved opportunities for young children and their families.     

钓鱼的艺术--《大河之恋》观感

Norman,the hero of the movie,is the son of apriest.He was born in a middle—class fami-ly.He and his families live in a town,not farfrom a clear stream and a waterfall.His father is apious(虔诚的),who takes belief to the hearts andsouls.Norman is good at learning,and going to be-come a professor in the University of Chicago.Theonly libertine(浪子)of the family is his little broth-er,Paul,who is a journalist in a newspaper inMontana.Though the two brothers and their fa-ther are quite different persons,they like fishing     

‘Just a Minute ...’—managing interruptions in the junior school classroom

This study uses a continuum to exemplify the range of interruptions experienced by teachers in junior schools. Further clarification is supplied by the matrix, showing sources and types of interruptions.

Reasons for the transformation of ‘interruptions’ into ‘disruptions’ are also discussed, substantiated where possible by selection from the available literature. Further illustrative material is taken from interviews with 12 head teachers and 13 class teachers. Non‐participant observations of 16 of these teachers, working in 11 schools, over a period of six months, provide the data about actual interruptions.

Analyses of these data provide information about the types and frequency of interruptions and evidence of how teachers manage them. Teachers’ ‘coping strategies’ are thus identified and ways of minimising interruptions are examined. The differences between ‘proactive’ and ‘reactive’ class management are considered and the effects of both upon teachers’ effectiveness is debated.