Using Word Identification Fluency to Monitor First-Grade Reading Development

This study assessed the effects of sampling breadth on technical features of word identification fluency (WIF), a tool for screening and monitoring the reading development of first graders. From a potential pool of 704 first-grade students, the authors measured both a representative sample (n = 284) and 2 other subgroups: those with low reading achievement (n = 202) and those with high/average achievement (n = 213). Data were collected weekly on broadly and narrowly sampled WIF lists for 15 weeks and on criterion measures in the fall and spring. Broad lists were developed by sampling words from 500 high-frequency words, whereas narrow lists were created by sampling from the 133 words from Dolch preprimer, primer, and first-grade word lists. Overall, predictive validity for performance level, predictive validity for growth, and commonality analysis showed narrow sampling was better for screening the representative group and the high/average subgroup. Broad sampling was superior for screening the low-achieving subgroup and for progress monitoring across groups.     

Assessing and Promoting Cultural Relativism in Students of Counseling

Multicultural counseling is often promoted as a core element in counselor development. As such, educational efforts aim to increase counselors’ cultural relativism, or their ability to recognize their own enculturation and to appreciate the value of other cultural norms. This mixed qualitative-quantitative study explored the relationship between counselor and human service professional trainees’ moral development levels and their cultural assumptions after they had experienced a course in cultural diversity. Four themes were noted: (i) reflexivity about culture, (ii) orientation toward activism and advocacy, (iii) differences in attitudes toward sexual orientation and religion, and (iv) increased alertness to culture. Implications for culturally alert practice are discussed.     

The role of future work goal motives in adolescent identity development: A longitudinal mixed-methods investigation

Theories of adolescent identity development often emphasize the importance of adolescents’ future work goals, yet these theories rarely distinguish the self-oriented motives (enjoying or being a good fit for one’s work) from the beyond-the-self-oriented motives (having a positive impact on the world beyond the self) that underlie them. The present article explored the impact and development of both types of motives. Using longitudinal, mixed-methods data from middle school and high school students (N = 99), the present article found that: (1) adolescents generated both self-oriented and beyond-the-self-oriented motives for their future work goals, often simultaneously; (2) adolescents who held both self-oriented and beyond-the-self-oriented motives for their work goals were more likely to experience higher levels of purpose and meaning over a 2-year period than those who held neither; (3) school assignments that asked students to reflect on their work goals were positively related only to the development of self-oriented motives for work goals among middle school students; and (4) support from friends was positively related only to the development of self-oriented motives for work goals among high school students.     

Cross-cultural argument interactions between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians

This study examined the argument patterns that result when Israeli-Jews and Palestinians confront each other during group dialogues. We tested predictions derived from two theories. The first was a theory of cultural communication which predicted that Israeli-Jews and Palestinians would argue in a manner consistent with their respective cultural communication codes known as dugri and musayra respectively. Thus, the Israeli-Jews were expected to be assertive and the Palestinians more accommodating. The second theory was rooted in majority/minority power relations and predicted the opposite. The data were generated from reconciliation-based dialogue groups of Israeli-Jews and Palestinians. Communicative acts were coded according to the Conversational Argument Coding Scheme. Analysis of covariance was used to determine which patterns of argument distinguished the groups, and to identify variance attributable to lag sequences and individuals. The results were supportive of predictions from majority/minority power relations.     

Engaging “Others” in Civic Engagement through Ethnography of Communication

This essay explains how ethnography of communication informed a model of public participation designed to engage underserved populations in culturally sensitive deliberative discussions. Community college students successfully served as coresearchers to pilot test and assess the effectiveness of a community-service learning model of civic engagement research.     

Communication,Uncertainty, and Volunteer Membership

Approximately 25% of Americans volunteer annually (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). As organizational members, they face uncertainty concerning their roles, their relationships, and their organizations (Kramer, 2004). Volunteers likely face different uncertainty management issues than employees who have been the focus of most previous research. Volunteers have a different psychological contract and different motivations than employees (Rousseau, 1990). This study examined issues of uncertainty management of volunteer members in a particular setting, a community choir. In particular, it found that supervisor and peer communication and other internal factors, such as more preparation time and less difficult tasks, were associated with higher levels of certainty for members of a community choir. In addition, higher levels of certainty and additional external factors such as family support for participation and lack of conflicts were associated with higher levels of satisfaction and identification and a greater willingness to recruit for the organization. Results have implications for improving communication to increase volunteers' certainty and increasing their voluntary participation in organizations.     

NGOs in India's elite newspapers: a framing analysis

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply embedded within the socio-political landscape of India. NGOs were instituted by the Indian government specifically for the purpose of nation-building at the time of national independence in 1947 (Muttalib, 1987). In recent times however, NGOs have come under much scrutiny because of the expanding neoliberal agenda, and global discourse surrounding NGOs often involves questions of accountability. Communication scholars have studied NGOs in various contexts, but what remains unexplored is the question of how NGOs are portrayed within the media, which in contemporary society constitutes the public sphere or space of public opinion. It is important to look at the media because public legitimacy can have serious consequences for an NGO's ability to garner funds, influence policy, and build trust in beneficiary communities. This study thus asks the research question: How are NGOs framed in the Indian media? A qualitative analysis was employed to identify news frames or ‘interpretive packages’ used to talk about NGOs in two of the most widely-circulated English daily newspapers in India. The analysis identified four frames: the ‘do-good’ frame, protest frame, partner frame, and the public accountability frame. The findings show that, for the most part, NGOs are represented in a positive and even a nationalistic light, in spite of the larger global discourse interrogating NGO practices. The discussion elaborates on institutional, political, and historical reasons why NGOs are portrayed favorably in the newspapers.     

Streaming Video: The Collaborative Convergence of Technical Services,Collection Development,and Information Technology in the Academic Library

To meet the rapid evolution of visual media and changing patron expectations, Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library created Byugle, a device to stream videos to their users. This article describes the new challenges streaming video creates for librarians and the cooperative efforts of subject librarians, technical services, and the Information Technology Department as they work together to meet these challenges to provide streaming media for their patrons.