Does the WISC-R measure verbal intelligence for nonenglish-speaking children?

Zarske, Moore, and Petersen's (1981) article that examined the factor structure of the WISC-R for “diagnosed learning disabled” children was critiqued. These authors concluded that the WISC-R “is an appropriate measure of general intellectual abilities” (p.407), but the present author suggests that this conclusion does not follow from their factor analytic data. The makeup of the sample also is questioned, and implications of their findings for the practitioner are discussed.     

Social skills interventions across school settings: Case study reviews of students with mild disabilities

This study investigates the efficacy of a social skills training program with seven mildly handicapped students across three school settings: regular classroom, special education resource room, and recess. It was found that social skills training generated improvement on both pre-post measures and behavior ratings. Improvements were maintained 2 weeks after treatment was discontinued for seven students. All students' performance generalized from resource room to regular classroom settings; only four students' performance generalized to the recess setting.     

Teachers’ Work,Curriculum and the New Right

This paper examines New Right arguments on educational provision, including the establishing of a voucher scheme and the introduction of elements of a free market’ into public sector education. The paper examines the right‐wing allegation that educationalists have ‘captured’ the school curriculum and the argument on the need for ‘consumer capture’ of education. It discusses the New Right tactic of privatisation by stealth, and the argument that gradualism provides the most effective means of securing educational reform. The paper discusses arguments put forward by the Right on the idea of a General Teaching Council (GTC) and argument on the need for the development of a teacher labour market freed from national salary scales. It goes on to examine Mary Warnock ‘s proposals for a GTC and her views of teacher education. The paper examines the likely effects of the implementation of right‐wing education policy, concluding that the 1988 Education Reform Act will prepare the ground for the privatisation of education and the development of a teacher labour market of the kind proposed by the New Right.     

Using the Cognitive Apprenticeship Web-based Argumentation System to Improve Argumentation Instruction

This study investigated how the instruction of argumentation skills could be promoted by using an online argumentation system. This system entitled ??Cognitive Apprenticeship Web-based Argumentation?? (CAWA) system was based on cognitive apprenticeship model. One hundred eighty-nine fifth grade students took part in this study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted and qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to evaluate the effectiveness of this online system in measuring students?? progress in learning argumentation. The results of this study showed that different teaching strategies had effects on students?? use of argumentation in the topics of daily life and the concept of ??vision.?? When the CAWA system was employed during the instruction and practice of argumentation on these two topics, the students?? argumentation performance improved. Suggestions on how the CAWA system could be used to enhance the instruction of argumentation skills in science education were also discussed.