Language delays, reading delays, and learning difficulties: interactive elements requiring multidimensional programming

Researchers have hypothesized four levels of instructional dialogue and claimed that teachers can improve children's language development by incorporating these dialogue levels in their classrooms. It has also been hypothesized that enhancing children's early language development enhances children's later reading development. This quasi-experimental research study investigated both of these hypotheses using a collaborative service delivery model for Grade 1 children with language difficulties from a socially and economically disadvantaged urban community in Australia. Comparing the end-of-year reading achievement scores for the 57 children who received the language intervention with those of the 59 children in the comparison group, the findings from this research are supportive of both hypotheses. The interrelationships between learning difficulties, reading difficulties, and language difficulties are discussed along with children's development in vocabulary, use of memory strategies and verbal reasoning, and the need for multidimensional programming.     

Assessing the Diffusion and Impact of Grey Literature Published by International Intergovernmental Scientific Groups: The Case of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

Although many governmental and intergovernmental organizations publish vast quantities of grey literature, the importance of the diffusion and impact of this literature are rarely studied. Evidence from an investigation of the grey literature output of GESAMP, the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (sponsored by the UN and several of the UN-family of organizations), indicated that the literature reached scientific readers and was cited. To determine whether that evidence was representative of international intergovernmental bodies, another intergovernmental organization devoted to marine environmental issues, namely, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) was studied. GOMC, an American–Canadian partnership, has been working since 1989 to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine. Through its own publications and others resulting from studies conducted under contract or in cooperation with other organizations, GOMC provides a complex publishing history for investigation. Over 300 publications were identified and over 500 citations were located after extensive searching using several citation tools. Citation patterns for GOMC publications mirror the findings of the study of GESAMP; grey literature is cited over lengthy periods, but grey literature tends to be cited primarily by other grey literature. Although digital alerting and access tools are increasing in number and coverage, a reliance on grey literature as the primary means of publication continues to pose hurdles for influencing scientific research, public policy, and public opinion. While grey literature is common to organizations such as GOMC and GESAMP, the impact of this literature can be muted because of the limitations of its dissemination and perceptions of its quality.

Ecological Autobiography

This paper presents a discussion of the ecological autobiography as a tool for enhancing an understanding of one's self and the human‐earth relationship. Also presented is a five‐step process for developing one's own ecological autobiography and suggestions on how to make the development of autobiographical essays a part of environmental education programs. A related literature review indicates that focused autobiographies have been used effectively for personal growth, research and curriculum development and that use of the ecological autobiography warrants serious consideration as a tool for environmental education and research.     

Negative discriminative stimuli provide information about the identity of omitted response-contingent outcomes

Three experiments using rats examined whether a signal for the nonreinforcement of an instrumental response (S-) provided information about the identity of the omitted outcome. In all three experiments, one stimulus was established as a signal for the nonreinforcement of a response that earned food pellets and another stimulus signaled the nonreinforcement of a response that earned liquid sucrose. Experiment 1 found that each S-suppressed another instrumental response trained with the same outcome significantly more than a response trained with a different outcome. Using a variant of this transfer design, Experiment 2 demonstrated that an S- was slower to develop discriminative control over a new response reinforced in its presence with the same outcome compared with an outcome different from the one whose omission-the S- had previously signaled. Experiment 3 examined transfer of the S- stimuli to a response trained with two outcomes, one of which had subsequently been devalued. Performance of this response significantly increased in the presence of a signal for the omission of the devalued outcome, but decreased in the presence of a signal for the omission of the valued outcome. These results suggest that S-s do provide information about the identity of omitted response-contingent outcomes.     

Non-organic failure to thrive: Decision for and videotaped evaluations

Infants hospitalized for non-organic failure to thrive in the first six months of life are in a life-threatening situation and are already at risk for poor bonding with mother. In light of this, the meaning and use of foster care and how this separation affects the developing mother-child relationship are the issues addressed through examination of 16 cases in which 8 of the infants were placed in foster care and 8 discharged home after the failure to thrive hospitalization. This paper examines (1) maternal histories of pregnancy, labor and delivery and the neonatal status of placed and non-placed infants; (2) the developmental and weight status of placed children; (3) the nature of the decision criteria for after-hospital care; and (4) the mother-infant relationship at initial intake in terms of mother's report of events and observations of feeding and play interactions during a videotaped assessment process. The study found that the interactions between mother and infant in those situations which required foster care were clearly more dysfunctional when compared to those in which the baby was discharged home to mother. Babies in the two groups were comparable in weight status at the time of hospitalization although babies in foster placement had slightly lower scores on the Bayley Scales. Maternal histories of pregnancy, labor, and delivery were similar for the two groups as were the birth and neonatal histories of the infants.     

Linking literacy teaching with assessment: a continuing professional development initiative for secondary schools

As part of a professional development initiative helping secondary school teachers use assessment data to guide their instruction, teachers in this study changed their knowledge, skills and dispositions. Over time, they were able to identify assessments, administer these assessments, interpret the results and plan instruction. As a result, the students who were tutored by these teachers increased their achievement compared with a control group.