Developmental links of very early phonological and language skills to second grade reading outcomes: strong to accuracy but only minor to fluency

The authors examined second grade reading accuracy and fluency and their associations via letter knowledge to phonological and language predictors assessed at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years in children in the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia. Structural equation modeling showed that a developmentally highly stable factor (early phonological and language processing [EPLP]) behind key dyslexia predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition) could already be identified at 3.5 years. EPLP was significantly associated with reading and spelling accuracy and by age with letter knowledge. However, EPLP had only a minor link with reading fluency, which was additionally explained by early letter knowledge. The results show that reading accuracy is well predicted by early phonological and language skills. Variation in fluent reading skills is not well explained by early skills, suggesting factors other than phonological core skills. Future research is suggested to explore the factors behind the development of fast and accurate decoding skills.     

The roles of perceived teacher support, motivational climate, and psychological need satisfaction in students' physical education motivation

Research illustrates the positive roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and mastery climate and the negative role of performance climate in student motivation in physical education. Less research has examined perceptions of relationships within this setting (i.e., perceived teacher support and relatedness) and their role in student motivation. The purpose of this study was to test the mediating roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the relationship between social contextual factors and motivation in physical education students (N = 508). Results from structural equation modeling showed that perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness partially mediated the relationship between perceived teacher support and self-determined motivation and that mastery climate related directly to self-determined motivation. The results highlight the importance of perceived teacher support, mastery climate, and relatedness to motivation in physical education.     

Individual Differences in Theory of Mind, Aggressive Behavior, and Social Skills In Young Children

Research Findings. The present study examined relations between social-cognitive skills, aggression, and social competence using teacher questionnaires and tabletop tasks with preschool and kindergarten children. It was hypothesized that the acquisition of a theory of “mind”, as indexed by an understanding of false beliefs, might be related to social behavior for this age group. Overall, results indicated that both generation of forceful solutions in a traditional social-problem solving task and performance on the false belief tasks were significantly related to social competence, after controlling for the effects of age, language comprehension, and teacher ratings of aggression. In addition, theory of mind understanding was a better predictor of social competence than performance on a more traditional social information-processing task that involved the generation of alternative solutions to interpersonal problems. Practice. The implications of these findings for preschool and kindergarten peer relations and their potential relevance to treatment of deficits in social skills are discussed. Specifically, training in an understanding of counterfactual thinking (e.g., through increased and structured opportunities to engage in pretend play and storytelling) may enhance preschooler social skills.     

The Psychometric Characteristics of Choice Items

This study investigated the psychometric characteristics of constructed-response (CR) items referring to choice and non-choice passages administered to students in Grades 3, 5, and 8. The items were scaled using item response theory (IRT) methodology. The results indicated no consistent differences in the difficulty and discrimination of the items referring to the two types of passages. On the average, students' scale scores on the choice and non-choice passages were comparable. Finally, the choice passages differed in terms of overall popularity and in their attractiveness to different gender and ethnic groups     

Effects of Calculator Use on Scores on a Test of Mathematical Reasoning

A sample of college-bound juniors from 275 high schools took a test consisting of 70 math questions from the SAT. A random half of the sample was allowed to use calculators on the test. Both genders and three ethnic groups (White, African American, and Asian American) benefitted about equally from being allowed to use calculators; Latinos benefitted slightly more than the other groups. Students who routinely used calculators on classroom mathematics tests were relatively advantaged on the calculator test. Test speededness was about the same whether or not students used calculators. Calculator effects on individual items ranged from positive through neutral to negative and could either increase or decrease the validity of an item as a measure of mathematical reasoning skills. Calculator effects could be either present or absent in both difficult and easy items     

Validation of the elementary social behaviour assessment: teacher ratings of students’ social skills adapted to Norwegian,grades 1–6

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Elementary Social Behaviour Assessment (ESBA), a teacher-report measure of students’ social skills and academic engagement adapted for use in Norwegian schools. At two times, 8 weeks apart, 151 teachers rated 793 students in Grades 1–6 on the ESBA and the Social Skills Rating System Teacher’s form (SSRS-T). Exploratory factor analysis with the first assessment suggested one or possibly two factors. Confirmatory factor analysis with the second assessment confirmed the one- or two-factor models but did not offer strong evidence for one over the other. The ESBA demonstrated good to excellent reliability. Strong concurrent and predictive correlations with the SSRS-T established criterion validity. The school and teacher levels explained only a limited amount of the total variance in ESBA scores, suggesting that teachers rate students quite similarly. The Norwegian-adapted ESBA paralleled the reliability and validity evidence from US samples.     

Quality Assessment of Professional Degree Programs

Based on a completed study of alumni of a master's degree teacher education program at a large northeastern university, this article demonstrates how alumni research can be designed to focus assessment on student outcomes and be responsive to program goals, policy concerns of administrators, instructional values of the faculty, and standards of professional practice. The article presents a conceptual framework, a research design plan, identification of relevant issues, appropriate analytical techniques, and selected findings with substantial relevance to other professional degree programs. Results confirm the importance of satisfaction with courses, perception of professional growth, and level of intellectual challenge on graduates' overall evaluation of the program. The methodological approaches and substantive issues raised in this study potentially enhance researchers' ability to design future assessment studies that will impact the policy development and program planning of other professional degree programs.     

Bandpass sorting of heterogeneous cells using a single surface acoustic wave transducer pair

Separation and sorting of biological entities (viruses, bacteria, and cells) is a critical step in any microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device. Acoustofluidics platforms have demonstrated their ability to use physical characteristics of cells to perform label-free separation. Bandpass-type sorting methods of medium-sized entities from a mixture have been presented using acoustic techniques; however, they require multiple transducers, lack support for various target populations, can be sensitive to flow variations, or have not been verified for continuous flow sorting of biological cells. To our knowledge, this paper presents the first acoustic bandpass method that overcomes all these limitations and presents an inherently reconfigurable technique with a single transducer pair for stable continuous flow sorting of blood cells. The sorting method is first demonstrated for polystyrene particles of sizes 6, 10, and 14.5 μm in diameter with measured purity and efficiency coefficients above 75 ± 6% and 85 ± 9%, respectively. The sorting strategy was further validated in the separation of red blood cells from white blood cells and 1 μm polystyrene particles with 78 ± 8% efficiency and 74 ± 6% purity, respectively, at a flow rate of at least 1 μl/min, enabling to process finger prick blood samples within minutes.     

Paving the Pathway: Exploring Student Perceptions of Professional Development Preparation in Doctoral Education

The breadth of doctoral education has expanded to include professional development activities in order to prepare students for academic and nonacademic careers. This mixed methods study focused on students’ perceptions of professional development opportunities at a Research One university. The findings suggest that most students feel prepared in scholarly-related activities; but they identify gaps in areas such as preparation for grant writing, teaching, and leading research teams. Statistically significant differences in perceived preparation were noted among disciplines. We offer suggestions for future research in doctoral professional development and recognize the need to expand and diversify centralized, institution-based resources so as to pave the pathway to successful careers for graduate students.