In October 2010, WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) won an i3 "Validation" grant to scale up and validate the Reading Apprenticeship (RA) model in three core secondary content area classes: U.S. history, biology, and English language arts. SLI's proposal stated two goals. Goal 1: To transform academic literacy teaching and…

The purpose of this project was to explore the decision-making approach and types of data that school psychologists use in determining special education classification. There were three research objectives: (a) to investigate the types of conditions and measures needed to test the use of the representativeness heuristic and assessment data, (b) to…

Teacher quality has been the focus for much of the past decade as scholars and practitioners debate the differences between teacher quality and teacher effectiveness. What is a highly qualified teacher? Is it a person that possesses a degree in the subject area they teach or one with a set of skills and knowledge to engage learners to think and…

This issue of "literacy.ca EXPRESS" focuses on poverty. The articles included in this issue are: (1) Poverty Overview; (2) Tony's Story; (3) LAN (Learner Advisory Network) Member's Story (Dianne Smith); (4) Linking Adult Literacy to Poverty Reduction; (5) MCL (Movement for Canadian Literacy) Update; (6) Highlights from the LAN; (7) Good…

We join the authors in this special issue in their call to embrace a culture of evaluation. Obstacles to change are formidable. Educators debate their purpose--provide knowledge or achieve environmental goals--and we have limited evidence of the effectiveness of environmental programs and policies. Change requires collaboration across…

Research Findings: An effective quality rating system will lead to quality assurance and improvement of early childhood education programs. Many studies have been conducted to examine the validity of quality rating instruments in Western countries, but few have been done in China. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the Beijing…

Introduction: The main goal of this study is to evaluate the psychometric and assessment features of the Scale for the "Assessment of the Teaching-Learning Process, Student Version" (ATLP-S), for both practical and theoretical reasons. From an applied point of view, this self-report measurement instrument has been designed to encourage…

The focus and purpose of master's degree student affairs preparation programs is to prepare students to become competent student affairs practitioners. Program assessments, especially those focused on outcomes are important metrics for understanding the role and impact of student affairs professional preparation programs. A well designed…

We reviewed studies involving the treatment of bruxism (i.e., teeth clenching or teeth grinding) in individuals with developmental disabilities. Systematic searches of electronic databases, journals, and reference lists identified 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of: (a) participants, (b) procedures…

This research contributes to efforts in assessment studies related to science and technology interventions. The work presented in this thesis focuses on understanding the effects of policies that influence science and technology interventions, and determining the impact of science and technology interventions themselves. Chapter 1 explores how…

Measurement in early childhood is an increasingly large-scale endeavor addressing purposes of accountability, program improvement, child outcomes, and intervention decision making for individual children. The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure relevant to intervention decision making for infants and toddlers, including response to…

The paper aims to analyse several scientific approaches how to evaluate, implement or choose learning content and software suitable for personalised users/learners needs. Learning objects metadata customisation method as well as the Method of multiple criteria evaluation and optimisation of learning software represented by the experts' additive…

This study examines the impact that diversity courses (DC's), created to increase social awareness on college campuses, have on 553 students' interactions with faculty, critical thinking and social engagement. Conducted at a large, private tier one research institution, this study reviews a pre-college survey, post-college survey and student…

Speech and language pathologists (SLPs) are collaborators in a diagnostic process that reflects an increasing number of referrals of children with autism spectrums disorders (ASD). Also, current practices leading to the remediation of speech and language disorders have come under scrutiny for limitations in effective carryover of targeted goals…

This study examines the overall results of the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and the six fitness areas of the PFT, academic achievement, demographics and self perceptions and the potential impact on students' performance on the PFT. While academic expectations are increasing, the adolescent obesity rate is also increasing, producing a decline in the…