Peer Relationships and Emotional Well-Being of Youngsters with Sickle Cell Disease

Comparisons with measures of peer relationships and emotional well-being were made between youngsters with sickle cell disease (SCD) and same-classroom comparison peers. Relative to the comparison subjects, females with SCD were perceived by peers as being less sociable and less well accepted; males with SCD were perceived as being less aggressive than comparison peers. For both males and females with SCD, no other differences were identified on numerous measures of emotional well-being. None of the multiple measures of illness severity were significantly related to measures of psychological adjustment. The common side effects of SCD, chronic fatigue and small physical size, may divert males with the illness from manifesting difficulties related to aggressive behavior with peers. For females with the illness, the common side effects of the illness may hinder the development of normal social relationships. Despite chronic exposure to numerous stressful life events associated with SCD, the youngsters with the illness were remarkably similar to comparison peers, showing evidence of considerable hardiness.     

The response in response to intervention: Evaluating the utility of assessing maintenance of intervention effects

Extensive evidence exists demonstrating the utility of Curriculum‐Based Measurement in reading (R‐CBM) for progress‐monitoring purposes; however, most studies have evaluated R‐CBM from a traditional psychometric perspective, which allows for variability in individual student's data that is not a function of increased skills (i.e., measurement error) to be ignored. Although measurement error can be ignored when the level of interest is at the group level, it is difficult to ignore at the individual‐child level when evaluating intervention effectiveness. To account for measurement error, it is recommended that R‐CBM data be collected twice weekly for 10 weeks before making decisions regarding intervention effectiveness. Waiting 10 weeks to learn that an intervention is ineffective is troublesome. The current study explores maintenance of intervention effects as a supplemental procedure to R‐CBM progress‐monitoring procedures. Data from 4 students suggest that maintenance data might be valuable in the early termination of ineffective interventions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 713–725, 2006.     

Common coding in pigeons: Partial versus total reversals of one-to-many conditional discriminations

Common coding in pigeons was examined using a delayed conditional discrimination in which each sample stimulus was associated with two different comparison stimuli (one-to-many mapping). In Experiment 1, pigeons matched circle and dot samples to red and green hues and vertical and horizontal line orientations. In Experiment 2, the samples were red and green and the comparisons were vertical and horizontal spatial positions (up vs. down and left vs. right). Following acquisition to high levels of accuracy in each experiment, the associations between the samples and either both sets or only one set of comparisons were reversed. Pigeons learned the total reversals faster than the partial reversals. These results suggest that when different comparisons are associated with a common sample, they may become functionally equivalent.     

Training Parents and Teachers in Remedial Reading Procedures for Children with Learning Difficulties

The mothers and classroom teachers of four 11‐12‐year‐old low progress readers were trained in tutoring procedures that involved delaying attention to child reading errors, providing cues to help correct errors and praising specific reading strategies and achievements. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effects of tutor training in both home and school settings. Baseline measures showed that one class teacher delayed attention to child errors and two teachers provided appropriate prompts, while the parents showed no occurrence of the tutoring behaviours. Following training, both teachers and parents applied the specific tutoring behaviours and these behaviours were shown to persist across a three to five week maintenance period during which the experimenter reduced training and feedback to tutors and at three one‐month follow‐up assessments. Pre‐tests showed the children to have reading age levels three to five years behind an expected level for their chronological age. Post‐tests showed the children to have an average gain in reading level of 28 months (range 24‐48 months).     

Mathematics anxiety of some pre-service primary school teachers

The construct ‘mathematics anxiety’ is explored with a sample of first year primary education university students. Self reported measures of anxiety about needing to use mathematics, and anxiety about the prospect of teaching mathematics, are moderately and positively correlated. The factor structure of a set of 13 items related to ‘mathematics anxiety’ is consistent with previous studies and the associations of these factors to other, related measures are explored using multiple linear regression of the factor scores. It is argued that it is likely to be more valuable to investigate ‘mathematics anxiety’ in terms of its composite factors than as a single phenomenon. Directions for future investigations are indicated.     

Transverse Propagation of Transient Electromagnetic Waves in a Non-homogeneous Half-space

The problem of a transient, transverse electromagnetic wave incident on a non-homogeneous half space is considered. Solutions are obtained by both the Laplace transform technique (LT) and the method of characteristics (MOC). The former method yields an infinite number of exact solutions in closed-form provided that the dielectric and permeability parameters are distributed as power laws in the spacial coordinate. A method for systematically generating these solutions is given. The method of characteristics, in numerical form, provides approximate solutions along the curved characteristics. Agreement between the two methods is excellent, except for a certain anomalous class of inhomogeneities. Finally, certain quasi-static solutions, involving a variety of inhomogeneities, are demonstrated.     

Secondary school students’ perceptions of, and the factors influencing their decision-making in relation to, VET in schools

This paper addresses the issue of Vocational Education and Training in Schools — an issue that has recently attracted significant political attention particularly in light of current national skills shortage in Australia. Specifically, it investigates secondary school students’ perceptions of VET in Schools [VETiS]. It also explores the factors influencing their decision-making in relation to VETiS — that is, why one might choose, or choose not, to enrol in a VETiS course of study. In view of the findings presented, the paper argues that VET, and more particularly VETiS, is experiencing an “image problem” — one underscored by the need for curriculum design and delivery reform — and suggests that there is much work still to be done on the VET agenda.