A study of reading among secondary school pupils in a developing nation

A study of the nature of advanced literacy among senior secondary school pupils in a developing country, Botswana, was made to test five hypotheses: 1) that there is a substantial relationship between reading ability in English (the second language) and reading ability in Setswana (the mother-tongue); 2) that there is a substantial relationship between reading ability in English and reading habits, and 3) between Sotswana reading ability and reading habits; 4) that there is a substantial relationship between English reading ability and success in school, and 5) between Setswana reading ability and success in school. Cloze tests in English and Setswana were administered to 441 Form Five subjects in nine secondary schools in Botswana. A sample of 97 of the subjects was selected by performance on the English close test and interviewed about their reading habits. The Cambridge School Certificate results for 435 of the subjects were obtained after they had sat the examination five months after the interviews. The results were treated by correlational and contingency analysis. The findings were that there was a significant relationship between reading ability in English and in Setswana, though not a very large one; that there was a significant relationship between reading ability in each of the two languages and the Cambridge Examination, though the relationship of the Setswana ability was smaller; and that there was a relationship between English ability and reading habits, but almost none between the habits and Setswana reading ability. It is suggested that there is an optimum level of proficiency in English required for success in school, and that increased proficiency produces diminishing returns. Suggestions are made for future research

Passing Muster: Evaluating Teacher Evaluation Systems

Describes how state or federal governments could reward exceptional teachers based on a uniform standard across various district-level teacher evaluation systems by determining the systems' reliability in predicting future performance. Includes Q & A

ResearchFanshawe Magazine Special Edition 1

https://first.fanshawec.ca/researchfanshawemag/1006/thumbnail.jp

Research methodology in contextually- based second language research

We suggest a combined research methodology for studying SLA in real-life and important contexts, a methodology sensitive to the demands of such contexts. For studying IL learning in context, our suggested methodology combines and integrates aspects from three fields: grounded ethnography in ethnomethodol ogy ; subject-specialist informant procedures in language for specific purposes; and rhetorical/grammatical strategies in discourse analysis. We first present evidence for the importance of devising a research approach to contexually based SLA. Then we sketch the suggested research methodology and present two extended case studies which illustrate the methodology. We view such research as complimentary to universal approaches to core IL grammar. Finally, we sketch our theoretical approach, showing a possible link between research in universal and contextually-based SLA.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68815/2/10.1177_026765838900500201.pd

Evaluating Teachers: The Important Role of Value-Added

Outlines issues for evaluating teachers based on value added -- their contribution to student learning -- and the use of value added information, implications of classifying teachers, and reliability compared with other fields and evaluations

Identification of a conserved protein motif in a group of growth factor receptors

AbstractResidues 370–383 (helix C) of the human nerve growth factor receptor (NGF-R) are highly similar to the sequence of the 14 residue wasp toxin, mastoparan. Both regions are predicted to form amphiphilic α-helices, as is the amino-terminal region of the third intracytoplasmic loop (i3) of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR). As both mastoparan and the β2AR i3 interact with G-proteins, it is suggested that helix C of the NGF-R may facilitate interactions with a cytoplasmic protein. A similar structural motif was identified in the cytoplasmic domains of a number of other growth factor receptors, suggesting an important role for this motif in signal transduction mechanisms

Evidence Of Dark Matter Annihilations In The WMAP Haze

The WMAP experiment has revealed an excess of microwave emission from the region around the center of our Galaxy. It has been suggested that this signal, known as the ``WMAP Haze'', could be synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons and positrons generated in dark matter annihilations. In this letter, we revisit this possibility. We find that the angular distribution of the WMAP Haze matches the prediction for dark matter annihilations with a cusped density profile, $\rho(r) \propto r^{-1.2}$ in the inner kiloparsecs. Comparing the intensity in different WMAP frequency bands, we find that a wide range of possible WIMP annihilation modes are consistent with the spectrum of the haze for a WIMP with a mass in the 100 GeV to multi-TeV range. Most interestingly, we find that to generate the observed intensity of the haze, the dark matter annihilation cross section is required to be approximately equal to the value needed for a thermal relic, $\sigma v \sim 3 \times 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$/s. No boost factors are required. If dark matter annihilations are in fact responsible for the WMAP Haze, and the slope of the halo profile continues into the inner Galaxy, GLAST is expected to detect gamma rays from the dark matter annihilations in the Galactic Center if the WIMP mass is less than several hundred GeV.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Prospects For Detecting Dark Matter With GLAST In Light Of The WMAP Haze

Observations by the WMAP experiment have identified an excess of microwave emission from the center of the Milky Way. It has previously been shown that this "WMAP Haze" could be synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons and positrons produced in the annihilations of dark matter particles. In particular, the intensity, spectrum and angular distribution of the WMAP Haze is consistent with an electroweak scale dark matter particle (such as a supersymmetric neutralino or Kaluza-Klein dark matter in models with universal extra dimensions) annihilating with a cross section on the order of sigma v~3x10^-26 cm^3/s and distributed with a cusped halo profile. No further exotic astrophysical or annihilation boost factors are required. If dark matter annihilations are in fact responsible for the observed Haze, then other annihilation products will also be produced, including gamma rays. In this article, we study the prospects for the GLAST satellite to detect gamma rays from dark matter annihilations in the Galactic Center region in this scenario. We find that by studying only the inner 0.1 degrees around the Galactic Center, GLAST will be able to detect dark matter annihilating to heavy quarks or gauge bosons over astrophysical backgrounds with 5sigma (3sigma) significance if they are lighter than approximately 320-500 GeV (500-750 GeV). If the angular window is broadened to study the dark matter halo profile's angular extension (while simultaneously reducing the astrophysical backgrounds), WIMPs as heavy as several TeV can be identified by GLAST with high significance. Only if the dark matter particles annihilate mostly to electrons or muons will GLAST be unable to identify the gamma ray spectrum associated with the WMAP Haze.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

The Sensitivity of the IceCube Neutrino Detector to Dark Matter Annihilating in Dwarf Galaxies

In this paper, we compare the relative sensitivities of gamma-ray and neutrino observations to the dark matter annihilation cross section in leptophilic models such as have been designed to explain PAMELA data. We investigate whether the high energy neutrino telescope IceCube will be competitive with current and upcoming searches by gamma-ray telescopes, such as the Atmospheric Cerenkov Telescopes (ACTs) (HESS, VERITAS and MAGIC), or the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, in detecting or constraining dark matter particles annihilating in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We find that after ten years of observation of the most promising nearby dwarfs, IceCube will have sensitivity comparable to the current sensitivity of gamma-ray telescopes only for very heavy (m_X > 7 TeV) or relatively light (m_X < 200 GeV) dark matter particles which annihilate primarily to mu+mu-. If dark matter particles annihilate primarily to tau+tau-, IceCube will have superior sensitivity only for dark matter particle masses below the 200 GeV threshold of current ACTs. If dark matter annihilations proceed directly to neutrino-antineutrino pairs a substantial fraction of the time, IceCube will be competitive with gamma-ray telescopes for a much wider range of dark matter masses.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. v2: references added and minor revisions. v3: as published in PRD