Evaluation of a Reading Program Tri Valley Central School Grahamsville, New York

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new modified-Joplin-style reading program for intermediate grade students. Under this program, teachers sorted the children into groups by reading level, rather than by age/grade level. The smallest group consisted of seven members and the largest consisted of thirty. Teachers then engaged students in one hour of reading instruction every school day, with an additional half hour allotted to cultivate free reading habits. The program emphasized reading as a fun, leisure activity and focused on entertaining texts. Results for the program were mixed. The research evaluated the program on 41 criteria in five categories, and found that the new reading program either out-performed or was equal to the previous program in each category. However, the researcher also found that the new program had mixed results in improving students’ reading comprehension scores on standardized tests, as well as their tracked progress. Nonetheless, both students and parents expressed positive opinions of the program and its promotion of reading as an enjoyable activity. The researcher concludes that the program is a relative success and makes a number of suggestions to further improve its efficacy at the school

Tomato proteome changes following soil application of Pseudomonas spp.

Two commercial biological products Proradix®Agro (Pseudomonas sp.) and Salavida (P. trivialis) were assayed on young tomato plants under Phytophthora infestans challenge, under greenhouse conditions. The products were water suspended following producer’s instruction and applied to the soil 6 days before the foliar inoculation with P. infestans. Late blight symptoms were observed 4 days after pathogen inoculation. Untreated plants appeared more infected than treated plants, but no statistically significant difference was found between treatments and controls or between the two products. However the application of each product led to a visible plant growth enhancement. A comparative study was carried out in order to highlight proteome differences among treated/untreated and inoculated/non inoculated plants. Total proteins were extracted from leaves collected 48h after pathogen inoculation and analysed by two-dimensional electrophoresis. The bioproduct application followed by the pathogen inoculation led to up/down-regulation of some protein spots which were different from those affected by the pathogen only. Mass-spectrometry analysis will be carried out in order to clarify if the observed modifications concern the activation of defence mechanisms or the observed plant growth promotion