A Complex quest: The development and research of underachievement interventions for gifted students

The seeming lack of motivation of many academically gifted students is an area of frustration and concern for many parents, teachers, and psychologists. This article explores two studies in which researchers designed interventions to improve academic achievement. Both interventions were created using the Achievement‐Orientation Model. The first study matched the intervention to the student and found that the students' grades increased over the intervention period, t(45) = 2.56, p = .014, d = .38. Students using treatments linked to goal valuation and environmental perceptions showed the greatest academic grade growth; the self‐efficacy and self‐regulation groups showed little or no grade improvement. Building on the finding that goal valuation was important, the second study used a mixed‐methods design to pilot an intervention focused on goal valuation and student autonomy. The results of this study were mixed, as the intervention appeared to help two of the three students. Although these studies offer further insight into possibilities for promoting academic achievement among gifted students, further research examining how to best support and foster academic achievement in underachieving gifted students is needed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Current trends in teaching written composition

Recent theory, research, and teaching in written composition indicate an important shift away from viewing the text as a static product, toward investigating the process of writing and the interaction of writer and reader to create meaning in the text. Studies of the writing process, theories and pedagogies of invention, style, and arrangement, and efforts to expand writing instruction beyond traditional courses and disciplines all reflect the current extension in composition toward more comprehensive rhetorical concerns. This survey describes these recent developments in the field of written composition.     

Managing Exploratory Units in Academic Libraries

Abstract

This article describes the role of exploratory teams in leading radical innovation within academic libraries, empirically expanding on Jantz’s research on the managerial and environmental conditions necessary for the creation of such units. Using historical and contemporary private-sector examples, as well as an in-depth case study from successful implementation of one such unit, this article documents the components, characteristics, and return on investment associated with academic library R&D. Finally, by tackling the concept of exploratory activities at the organization, team, and individual levels, the article presents actionable techniques for fully supporting, and adequately nurturing creative professionals whose job is to redefine 21st century librarianship.     

The Impact and Interpretation of Modeling Residual Noninvariance in Growth Mixture Models

Current practices for growth mixture modeling emphasize the importance of the proper parameterization and number of classes, but the impact of these decisions on latent class composition and the substantive implications has not been thoroughly addressed. Using measures of behavior from 575 middle school students, we compared the results of several multilevel growth mixture models. Results indicated a dramatic shift in class assignment as the models allowed class-varying parameters, with different substantive interpretations and resulting typologies. This research suggests that using variability as a criterion for class differences in a behavior typology can dramatically impact latent class membership. This study describes decisions and results from testing for noninvariance, with particular emphasis on how decisions about the nature of within-person variance can affect resulting subgroups and model parameters.     

An Investigation of the Alignment Method With Polytomous Indicators Under Conditions of Partial Measurement Invariance

The alignment method (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2014) is an alternative to multiple-group factor analysis for estimating measurement models and testing for measurement invariance across groups. Simulation studies evaluating the performance of the alignment for estimating measurement models across groups show promising results for continuous indicators. This simulation study builds on previous research by investigating the performance of the alignment method’s measurement models estimates with polytomous indicators under conditions of systematically increasing, partial measurement invariance. We also present an evaluation of the testing procedure, which has not been the focus of previous simulation studies. Results indicate that the alignment adequately recovers parameter estimates under small and moderate amounts of noninvariance, with issues only arising in extreme conditions. In addition, the statistical tests of invariance were fairly conservative, and had less power for items with more extreme skew. We include recommendations for using the alignment method based on these results.