The impact of instructional practices in Grades 1 and 2 on reading and spelling achievement in high poverty schools

The objective of this investigation was to examine how instructional practices in 107 first- and second-grade classrooms in 17 high poverty schools moderate the impact on literacy outcomes of literacy-related skills students bring to the classroom. Ratings of teaching effectiveness and time allocation to literacy activities were obtained. Twenty time allocation variables were reduced into seven patterns of literacy activities that were examined as predictors of reading and spelling outcomes. Students’ initial reading ability and interactions of teaching effectiveness ratings by time allocation components predicted reading and spelling outcomes. Discussion centers on immutable versus flexible views of reading development and analytic approaches to examining instructional practices.     

From study to work: methodological challenges of a graduate destination survey in the Western Cape,South Africa

Current literature proposes several strategies for improving response rates to student evaluation surveys. Graduate destination surveys pose the difficulty of tracing graduates years later when their contact details may have changed. This article discusses the methodology of one such a survey to maximise response rates. Compiling a sample frame with reliable contact details was most important, but may require using additional sources of information other than university records. In hindsight, graduates should have been contacted prior to the survey to introduce it and stress its importance, while email and postal reminders appeared to have a limited effect on non-respondents. Due to varying response rates between participating universities, online responses were augmented with a call centre administering the survey telephonically to non-respondents. Although overall differences between online and telephonic responses appeared to be small, certain question items may need to be treated with caution when conducting telephonic surveys.     

General Media

FUNDAMENTALS OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH by Alan D. Fletcher and Thomas A. Bowers (Columbus, Ohio: Grid, 1983 2nd ed.)

THE LIBRARY OP CONGRESS by Charles Goodrum and Helen Dalrymple (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1982---$25.00/10.95)

THE PERSONAL COMPUTER BOOK and THE PERSONAL COMPUTER IN BUSINESS BOOK, both by Peter A. McWilliams (Prelude Press, Box 69773, Los Angeles, CA 90069/distribution by Ballantine Books---$9.95 each, paper)     

Reference Works

COMPUTER SCIENCE RESOURCES: A GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE, compiled and edited by Darlene Myers (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1981—$59.50, paper).

LIBRARY AND REFERENCE FACILITIES IN THE AREA OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, edited by Margaret S. Jennings (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1983—$39.00, paper).

STATISTICAL SERVICES DIRECTORY: A GUIDE TO THE ORGANIZATIONS, CORPORATIONS, PROFESSIONAL AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS, RESEARCH CENTERS, UNIVERSITIES, PUBLISHERS, FOUNDATIONS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT PROVIDE STATISTICAL SERVICES (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1984—$150).

CAREERS IN INFORMATION, edited by Jane F. Spivack (White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industries Publications, 1982—$34.50/27.50).

VIDEOTEX: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY, Volume 1, 1979-1982 (Technical and Education Center of the Graphic Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 9887, Rochester, New York—price not given, but about $15.00, paper).

TELEMANAGEMENT NEWS SERVICE: THE NEWS SERVICE ON THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY FOR OFFICE, DP AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT (SRG Publications, P.O. Box 335, Palmyra, New Jersey 08065—$260.00 per year/weekly).

SPACE ENTERPRISE TODAY: THE NEWSLETTER ON COMMERCIAL SPACE VENTURES (Phillips Publishing Inc., 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1200 N, Bethesda, Maryland 20814—$297.00 per year/monthly).

LINK-UP: COMMUNICATIONS AND THE SMALL COMPUTER (On-Line Communications, Inc., 3938 Meadowbrook Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426-$23.95 per year/monthly).

RESEARCH NOTES (Policy Development and Planning, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1111 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20036—apparently free on request/irregular).

SCA: RADIO SUBCARRIER REPORT (Waters & Company, Security Mutual Building, Suite 322, Binghampton, New York 13901—$185.00 per year/monthly).     

Radio

RADIO: A REFERENCE GUIDE by Thomas Allen Greenfield (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989—$39.95, ISBN 0-313-22276-2)

THE RADIO STATION by Michael Keith and Joseph Krause (Stoneham, MA: Focal Press, 1989—$24.95, paper, ISBN 0-240-80028-1)

PROGRAMMING RADIO TO WTN IN THE NEW AMERICA by John Parikhal and David Oakes (1989—$40.00 but $20 to NAB/BEA members, paper, ISBN 0-89324-062-1)

PROFITING FROM RADIO RATINGS: A MANUAL FOR RADIO MANAGERS, SALES MANAGERS AND PROGRAMMERS by James E. Fletcher (1989—$40.00 but $20 to NAB/BEA members, paper, ISBN 0-89324-065-6)

DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLAN: A WORKING GUIDE FOR RADIO BROADCASTERS by John Geason and John Sutherland (1989—$20.00, paper, ISBN 0-89324-066-4)

AMERICAN RADIO SPRING 1989 by James H. Duncan, Jr. (Duncan's American Radio, Box 90284, Indianapolis, IN 46290—$79.00, paper)     

The relationship between student communication motives and perceived instructor communicator style

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student communication motives (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse‐making, sycophantic) and perceived instructor communicator style (i.e., friendly, impression leaving, relaxed, contentious, attentive, precise, animated, dramatic, open, dominant). Participants were 228 undergraduate students enrolled in a variety of communication courses at a small Midwestern university. Results indicate that (a) the perceived instructor communicator style attributes of impression leaving, friendly, and contentious predict student use of the relational motive, (b) the attribute of friendly predicts student use of the functional motive, (c) the attributes of animated, contentious, and friendly predict student use of the participatory motive, (d) the attributes of attentive and contentious predict student use of the excuse‐making motive, and (e) the attributes of contentious and friendly predict student use of the sycophantic motive.     

Relational messages in conflict situations among siblings

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of sibling conflict style (i.e., integrative, distributive, avoidant) with perceived relational communication themes (i.e., immediacy, similarity, receptivity, composure, formality, dominance, equality, task orientation). Participants were 186 undergraduate students who reported on a recent conflict episode with a sibling. Results indicate that (a) siblings who used the relational communication themes of immediacy, similarity, receptivity, composure, and equality reported using the integrative conflict strategy, but not the distributive conflict strategy, and (b) siblings who used the relational communication theme of immediacy and to a lesser extent the theme of task orientation, but not the relational communication themes of similarity and equality, reported not using the avoidant conflict strategy.     

The relationship between perceived instructor communicator style,argumentativeness, and verbal aggressiveness

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among perceived instructor communicator style, perceived instructor trait argumentativeness, and perceived instructor trait verbal aggressiveness in the college classroom. Participants were 236 undergraduate students enrolled in a variety of communication courses at a large Eastern university. Results indicated that (a) perceived instructor trait argumentativeness was positively related to the perceived instructor communicator style attributes of impression leaving, contentious, open, dramatic, dominant, precise, relaxed, attentive, and animated; (b) perceived instructor trait verbal aggressiveness was positively related to the perceived instructor communicator style attributes of contentious and precise, and negatively related to the perceived communicator style attributes of impression leaving, relaxed, friendly, attentive, and animated; and (c) perceived instructor use of verbally aggressive messages was related in some way to the perceived instructor communicator style attributes of contentious, impression leaving, friendly, attentive, animated, relaxed, dramatic, and precise.     

Cataloging on Receipt for Monographs: Merging Cataloging and Acquisitions Functions at UCLA

Institutions have sought to improve technical services workflows by merging some acquisitions and cataloging functions in different ways and with varying results. Those institutions’ experiences with the merging process contrast with the process implemented at UCLA. At UCLA a process of cataloging on receipt was planned and implemented in the Print Acquisitions Department, in cooperation with the Cataloging & Metadata Center. The process resulted in significantly faster delivery of print books from receipt to shelf for materials not batch packed for remote storage.