Multisensory programs in the public schools: A brighter future for LD children

A longitudinal study followed the progress of a group of elementary SLD students as they were instructed using the Alphabetic Phonics (AP) curriculum. After a three year period, the AP curriculum produced positive results in reading comprehension for most SLD students, particularly those who began the program in first and second grade. Students in resource and self-contained settings made significant gains in reading comprehension, although the two types of students exhibited different patterns of progress. Students of different ability levels responded differently to the AP curriculum. Average and above average students made significant progress in reading comprehension, but below average students did not advance substantially in relation to their ability level. At the end of three years, classroom teachers had a significantly more positive view of students’ word attack, oral reading, and silent reading comprehension skills.     

Developing Embedded Signature Assessments for Continuous Improvement in Teacher Education

The development and use of assessment systems to measure the performance and progress of teacher candidates and inform the continuous improvement of teacher education programs has been a longstanding priority in teacher education for the past 30 years. Teacher educators in the School of Education at a small public midwestern university revised and improved their assessment system by developing seven Embedded Signature Assessments (ESAs). ESAs are formative performance assessments that are implemented in professional education courses to measure a teacher candidate’s performance prior to student teaching and readiness for student teaching. This article describes the development and implementation of ESAs at one university, with attention to the benefits and challenges.     

Substance use disorders in young adults with and without LD: predictive and concurrent relationships

This article reports on young people with and without learning disabilities (LD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Participants were assessed for LD at ages 12 and 19 and for SUD and psychiatric disorders at age 19. Participants with LD at ages 12 and 19 were more likely to develop an SUD or a psychiatric disorder compared to participants without consistent LD. Participants with LD at age 19 were more likely to have a concurrent SUD or psychiatric disorder compared to those without LD at age 19, while participants with LD at age 12 showed only a trend toward increased rates of SUD at age 19 when compared to participants without LD at age 12. Participants with and without LD did not differ in substance use, consumption levels, or onset history. In a multivariate model, adolescent LD was associated with a three-fold increased risk for SUD after behavioral problems and family structure had entered the model. Although these results provide some support for the notion that adolescents with LD are at increased risk for SUD, LD also appears to confer a general risk for adverse outcomes.     

The Role of Pictures in Learning to Read

The one constant aspect of children's books is that they include pictures. It is known that pictures can hinder some aspects of the development of reading skills in young children. Yet, in other ways they may serve a supportive function. The situation is not a simple one since what is seen as unsupportive in one approach to teaching reading may be supportive in another. When and where pictures might provide support is considered.     

Counselor Attitudes Toward Administrative Practices: Massachusetts and Connecticut

Administrative practices and their relationship to counselor role conflict, as perceived by school counselors, was investigated by survey questionnaire in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Results indicated that counselors feel that role clarification would ensue if guidance pupil personnel services directors had administrative jurisdiction of programs and that the main deterrent is traditional autonomy of the building principal. At the secondary level, principals tend to have supervisory and administrative control, while at the elementary level the reverse trend appears to be true.     

Children’s Cortisol and the Quality of Teacher–Child Relationships in Child Care

Teacher–child relationships were examined as predictors of cortisol change in preschool children. Saliva for assays was collected from one hundred and ninety‐one 4‐year‐olds (101 boys) in the mornings and afternoons on 2 days at child care, and before and after a series of challenging tasks and a teacher–child interaction session outside the classroom. Parents reported on children’s temperament, teachers and children reported on teacher–child relationship quality, and observers rated group‐level teacher insensitivity. Teacher‐reported relationship conflict predicted cortisol increases during teacher–child interaction and teacher‐reported overdependence predicted cortisol increases from morning to afternoon, even after controlling for individual teacher, child, and classroom characteristics. The findings extend earlier work by suggesting that cortisol change across the child‐care day is influenced by teacher–child relationship characteristics.     

Are all part-time faculty underemployed? The influence of faculty status preference on satisfaction and commitment

Utilizing a person–job fit perspective, we examined the job satisfaction and affective commitment of three groups of college faculty (N = 167): full-time faculty, part-time faculty preferring a part-time position (voluntary part-time), and part-time faculty preferring a full-time position (involuntary part-time). Involuntary part-time faculty were least satisfied with salient facets of satisfaction (advancement, compensation, and job security), whereas voluntary part-time faculty and full-time faculty reported similar levels of satisfaction on these facets. No consistent differences in satisfaction by faculty status were found for the majority of the other, less salient facets. The three groups of faculty also reported similar levels of perceived overqualification and affective commitment to the organization. Future directions for research and practice are discussed.     

The effects of teaching notetaking strategies on elementary students’ science learning

The research examined effects of notetaking instruction on elementary-aged students’ abilities to recall science information and their notetaking behaviors. Classes of eight to nine years old third grade students were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: strategic notetaking, partial strategic notetaking, and control, for four training sessions. The effects of the notetaking instruction were measured by their performances on a test about science information, a long-term free recall of the information, and the number of information units recalled with or without cues. Students’ prior science achievement was used to group students into two levels (high vs. low) and functioned as another independent variable in analysis. Results indicated significant treatment effect in favor of the strategy notetaking instruction groups on cued and non-cued recall of the information units. Students with higher prior achievement in science performed better on cued recall and long-term free recall of information. The results suggest that students as young as those in third grade classes can be instructed to develop notetaking ability that promotes their learning.     

1978 Mathematics olympiads in the People's Republic of China

It has been said that the one thing that remains constant in China is change. 1978 is the year in which Chinese mathematics educators re-instituted provincial and national mathematics competitions at the school level, after an absence of fourteen years. The objective of these competitions is to seek out mathematically talented youth, an objective which is consistent with Chinese efforts to revitalize scientific development and move towards achieving the Four Modernizations: Science and Technology, National Defense, Agriculture, and Industry. The reader is provided, in this article, with an overview to the nature of mathematics competitions now unfolding in China.