Disabled Readers' Performance on Tasks of Phonological Processing,Rapid Naming,and Letter Knowledge Before and After Kindergarten

The importance of early identification of children at risk for reading failure is clearly established in the literature. The purpose of this longitudinal retrospective study was to further define the relationship between the development of prereading skills and later reading outcome in two groups of children; a group of reading‐disabled children and a group of their normally reading peers. Children's alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, and rapid naming skills were explored at the beginning of kindergarten and again prior to first grade as a function of later reading outcomes. Results indicate that differences found between the groups in all measures at prekindergarten age diminish by prefirst grade with the exception of phonological awareness abilities. Findings have direct implications for screening children at risk for reading difficulties and the time‐sensitive nature of these tasks during the preliteracy period.     

Communicating about gifts of life: the effect of knowledge, attitudes, and altruism on behavior and behavioral intentions regarding organ donation

Much of the limited literature on organ donation has focused on the demographic and psychographic profiles of people who are willing to become organ donors. More information about the relationship of attitudes, values, knowledge, and actual behavior among adults is needed if targeted communication campaigns promoting organ donation are to succeed. The results of a mail survey of 798 adults sampled (via stratified random sampling procedures) from two local sites of a national corporation suggest that attitudes toward donation, knowledge about organ donation, altruism, and perceived social norms are significantly associated with both actual behavior (having signed an organ donor card) and behavioral intent (among non-donors) to sign a card in the future. These findings support the major models of organ donation willingness, especially those advanced by Horton and Horton (1991) and Kopfman (1994). This study also advances current knowledge of organ donation willingness by 1) using a large, relatively diverse population of adults rather than relying on a student sample; and 2) focusing on specific knowledge barriers that distinguish donors from non-donors.     

The ``R's of School Reform' and the Politics of Reforming or Replacing Public Schools

Pressures to reform or replace public schools have flowed from a variety of social trends interacting with a growing perception that the schools are performing poorly or are inadequate for the demands of the new global economy they now face. Since the 1980s, many reforms have been attempted, but with little evidence of real improvement, especially in the education of poor and disadvantaged children. As a result, support is growing, at the very least in elite circles, for more radical reforms that would dramatically alter or even privatize public education. Public educators increasingly recognize the threats they face, but have trouble seizing upon the opportunities these threats present because they challenge fundamental aspects of the paradigm and ideology of public education to which they are wedded. This paper focuses on competing views of the policy problems and possible solutions public educators face in this situation, with particular reference to the experience of school reform efforts in the United States.     

The Restructuring of Academic Work in Australia: Power,management and gender

This paper examines how the restructuring of Australia's university system and the introduction of corporate managerialism has changed the work performed by academic staff. The paper illustrates how the emergence of higher education as both a major export industry and a vehicle for attaining greater international competitiveness has led to more intense regulation of academic work. Within a context of funding cutbacks, substantial inequities have emerged between and within universities, as they compete more aggressively for higher education markets. Hierarchical line management, with clear divisions between different categories of academic staff, has substantially replaced collegial forms of administration. This paper demonstrates how these processes have worked to undermine the effective implementation of Equal Employment Opportunity initiatives, as women remain concentrated in the lowest paid and least secure positions within universities.     

Perceptions of Mathematical Pattern amongst Primary Teachers

In a long-term study concerning mathematical tasks in primary schools, it was noted that teachers had difficulty in discussing mathematical processes and many lacked the vocabulary to do this. However, certain words and phrases such as 'pattern' or 'looking for pattern' were used with more confidence. With this in mind, discussions with teachers about commercial mathematics tasks were analysed based on mentions of pattern. It was found that the word was used frequently, but that some teachers had a wider and more sophisticated view of 'pattern' than others. There were also variations in their views about teaching pattern, with some making it clear that they had strategies for helping children to see patterns. There was a feeling amongst some teachers that not all children could see patterns, and there was a tendency for this group to regard 'pattern spotting' as a top set activity.     

Negotiating the challenge of collaborative writing: learning from one writing group's mutiny

With continuing pressure to publish or perish, interventions such as writing groups are increasingly part of the academic landscape. In this paper, we discuss our writing group's experiment with collaborative writing, which came unstuck as simmering concerns led to a mutiny within the group. The mutiny provided insights into tensions that are inevitably present in writing groups and collaborative writing exercises but are seldom written about. We explore these tensions via a collaborative autoethnography, drawing on published literature on writing groups and collaborative writing. The mutiny revealed three key dynamics. Experienced voices can have an important role to play but these voices need to be moderated so that other voices might be recognised and valued. Pleasure and productivity are two necessary components for sustaining writing groups and writing collaborations. Finally, hierarchies in the academic context are inescapable but they can be renegotiated so that more enabling power relations can be generated.