EMMIE and engineering: What works as evidence to improve decisions?

While written by a proponent of realism, this article argues in favour of a pragmatic approach to evaluation. It argues that multiple sources of evidence collected using diverse research methods can be useful in conducting informative evaluations of programmes, practices and policies. It argues in particular that methods, even if their assumptions appear incommensurable with one another, should be chosen to meet the evidence needs of decision-makers. These evidence needs are captured in the acronym, EMMIE, which refers to Effect size, Mechanism, Moderator (or context), Implementation and Economic impact. Finally the article questions evidence hierarchies that are inspired by clinical trials, and suggests instead that, notwithstanding the clear differences in the physical and social worlds, engineering may provide a superior model for evaluators to try to emulate. And engineering is, above all, a pragmatic field

The Appalachian Writing Series from Bottom Dog Press

The poets from the Appalachian Writing Series of Bottom Dog Press will each read from their book of poetry including Marc Harshman, Jeanne Brynner, Karen Ktorba, Sandee Gertz Umbach, Hilda Downer. Introductions will be by coordinator and editor Larry Smith. This series, along with our fiction series, has kept the contemporary writing of Appalachia before the public. The poetry here has range and yet bears a common core in its insistence on understanding the culture and issues of the people of Appalachia. I would hope this presentation-performance could be given some prominence in the conference program. The press will be present at the book fair and in the conference publications

An Open, Pilot Study of the Understanding Words Reading Intervention Program

En: SAGE Open, pp. 1–11The aim of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy of a new reading intervention program, Understanding Words, for struggling readers in an open trial design. Twenty-five participants who had poor reading skills and typically had a mix of coexisting developmental disorders completed the 40-hr program over 20 weeks. Significant gains were achieved on measures of word identification, phonological decoding, and reading comprehension. Growth in reading ability per hour of intervention matched the average reported in the literature. Individual analysis showed that 84% of the sample returned to the average range on a measure of phonological decoding and 52% to 56% achieved the same gains in reading comprehension. Limitations of study design and future research directions are also discussed