Reading comprehension level and development in native and language minority adolescent low achievers:Roles of linguistic and metacognitive knowledge and fluency

In a longitudinal design, we measured 50 low-achieving adolescents’ reading comprehension development from Grades 7 to 9. There were 24 native Dutch and 26 language minority students. In addition, we assessed the roles of (a) linguistic knowledge, (b) metacognitive knowledge, and (c) reading fluency in predicting both the level and growth of reading comprehension. Students improved in reading comprehension, the language minority students more so than the native Dutch students. We can explain the level of reading comprehension by linguistic and metacognitive knowledge, whereas most fluency-related predictors appeared to be of minor importance. We can hardly explain the growth in reading comprehension by the predictors. Nevertheless, we found a significant interaction indicating that growth in vocabulary explained growth in reading comprehension for the language minority students. This finding seems to suggest that language minority students profit from gains in vocabulary, more so than native students

Writing proficiency level and writing development of low-achieving adolescents: The roles of linguistic knowledge, fluency, and metacognitive knowledge

In a longitudinal design, 51 low-achieving adolescents' development in writing proficiency from Grades 7 to 9 was measured. There were 25 native-Dutch and 26 language-minority students. In addition, the roles of (i) linguistic knowledge, (ii) metacognitive knowledge, and (iii) linguistic fluency in predicting both the level and development of writing proficiency were assessed. Low-achieving students improved in writing proficiency, the language-minority students more so than the native-Dutch students. Regarding the level of writing proficiency, individual differences between low-achieving adolescents could be accounted for by receptive vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, and speed of sentence verification, suggesting that these are important components in low-achieving adolescents' writing. Regarding development in writing proficiency, grammatical knowledge predicted variation between lowachieving students. Explanations and educational implications of these findings are discussed

VIGENCIA DE LAS PRUEBAS INTRADÉRMICAS EN LA VIGILANCIA EPIDEMIOLÓGICA DE LAS MICOSIS ENDÉMICAS

Las pruebas cutáneas intradérmicas (PC) son de utilidad en el estudio de las Micosis Sistémicas Endémicas: Histoplasmosis, Paracoccidioidomicosis, Coccidioidomicosis y Blastomicosis Nor teamericana. Sus agentes Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Coccidioides posadasii o Coccidioides immitis y Blastomyces dermatitidis viven en el suelo, en áreas bien definidas, con humedad y temperatura adecuada, con ecología óptima para el desarrollo de sus agentes etiológicos, constituyendo nichos ecológicos

Transition to parenthood and quality of parenting among gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples who conceived through assisted reproduction

Little research has focused on the emotions felt during pregnancy and early parenthood as well as the initial quality of parenting displayed by first-time parents who conceived using assisted reproduction technologies (surrogacy, donor insemination, and in vitro fertilization). Research on primary and secondary caregivers in gay, lesbian, and heterosexual families is especially sparse. The current study examined 35 gay-father families, 58 lesbian-mother families and 41 heterosexual-parent families with their infants. Families were assessed at home when their infants were 4 months old (±14 days), and each parent participated in an audio-recorded standardized semi-structured interview in which we explored parental feelings during pregnancy, feelings about the parental role, perceived parental competence, the enjoyment of parenthood, expressed warmth and emotional over-involvement of parents. 13 Heterosexual parents reported less positive feelings in early pregnancy than lesbian parents, while gay parents reported less positive feelings at the end of pregnancy than lesbian mothers and more positive feelings about parenthood during the first post-partum weeks than heterosexual parents. There was no interaction between family type and caregiver role on reported feelings, or on perceived competence, enjoyment, warmth, and involvement. The present findings elucidate the transition to parenthood among first-time parents conceiving through assisted reproductive technologies, and especially contribute to our knowledge about gay fathers who became parents through surrogacy