Distance education: A particular context for teaching and learning. Introduction to this special issue

This editorial introduction positions distance education in the larger context of educational research and theory construction. Next to a definition of key concepts, the authors elaborate three major issues that are dealt with in distance education research in relation to educational materials. The first issue centres on curriculum and values. The second topic concentrates on the creation of appropriate learning environments. The third issue focuses on the evaluation of effects of materials in use. In discussing the three issues the authors stress the particularities of the distance education context.     

Shared book reading behaviours of children with Down Syndrome before and after participation in the MultiLit reading tutor program: an exploratory study

This exploratory study compares the shared book reading behaviours of five school aged children with DS (aged 11 years 6 months to 15 years 6 months) before and after participation in an intervention which included selected components of the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program. The program was delivered 1:1 to participants each week over a 12 week period. Analysis of the average performance across the group revealed that the proportion of reading errors relative to the number of words read from preintervention to postintervention were significantly reduced. Significant improvement was also seen in shared book reading fluency following intervention. Individual case study data is also presented. Postintervention, reading errors per minute were reduced for two participants (P4 and P5). Reading dysfluencies per minute decreased for two participants (P1 and P5) while all participants improved in shared book reading fluency. Preliminary results suggest that children with DS can generalise skills taught in the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program to shared book reading, although variability regarding changes in literacy abilities postintervention was observed.     

Concurrent validity of the Slosson full‐range intelligence test: Comparison with the Wechsler intelligence scale for children–third edition and the Woodcock Johnson tests of achievement–revised

This study examined the concurrent validity of the Slosson Full‐Range Intelligence Test (S‐FRIT) by comparing S‐FRIT scores to the scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Third Edition (WISC‐III) and the Woodcock‐Johnson Tests of Achievement–Revised (WJ‐R). Data from 123 elementary students' screening and psychological testing results were examined. Results revealed that the S‐FRIT scores were more related to overall intelligence, verbal, and math abilities than nonverbal intelligence, reading, or written language abilities. Further, it was found that 89% of the participants' S‐FRIT Full‐Range IQ scores fell within one standard deviation of their WISC‐III FSIQ scores, with an average discrepancy of 7.6 points. Discrepancies between S‐FRIT and WISC‐III scores were also examined by educational diagnostic categories and ability levels. Limitations and suggestions for future research are provided. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

‘Hey diddle diddle,the cat and the fiddle: What ever happened to Mother Goose?’

Mother Goose and other types of playful rhymes are an important part of children's oral language development and help them understand several important oral and written language concepts, including words, phonemes, segmentation, matching, and position. Inclusion of nursery rhymes in the early childhood curriculum provides a natural, enjoyable way to help children develop these language skills.Joanne R. Nurss is Professor of Early Childhood Education at Georgia State University in Atlanta.     

Using Stakeholder Input to Guide Cultural and Contextual Adaptations for a Universal School-Based Intervention

The Urban Review - Strong student–teacher relationships foster students’ social, emotional, and academic development, particularly for students from marginalized racial/ethnic groups....     

The tensions of preparing pre-service teachers to be assessment capable and profession-ready

There is both a growing appreciation of teacher assessment capability for the improvement of school student learning and achievement and a commensurate drive for graduates in Australian Initial Teacher Education institutions to demonstrate impact on school student learning as part of a national accreditation process. We argue in this article that if institutions are to prepare assessment capable graduates who are “profession-ready”, attention to practice architectures is warranted. Practice architectures are the features in schools that enable and/or constrain practice. Skills, knowledge and understandings do not just cleanly transfer across Initial Teacher Education institutions and practicum contexts into graduate teacher classrooms. Practitioner identities are produced through “relatings” within specific social-political arrangement, “doings” that constitute activities afforded in material-economic conditions, and “sayings” that are a dominating medium in cultural-discursive frameworks.