Connecting teachers’ language knowledge, perceived ability and instructional practices to Grade 1 students’ literacy outcomes

We examined the associations between teachers’ knowledge of language and literacy constructs, perceived ability to teach early literacy skills, instructional practice, and students’ early reading outcomes. The results showed that teacher knowledge predicted quality of instruction, but neither quality of instruction nor teacher knowledge were associated with stronger decoding or word reading outcomes once earlier decoding skills were controlled. Differentiation of instruction was observed more in classrooms with lower initial decoding skills, and it contributed to better decoding at Time 2. Finally, perceived ability predicted decoding and years of experience predicted word reading at Time 2

The effects of teaching complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences : Evidence from a dual site cluster trial with at-risk Grade 2 students

We evaluated the impact of teaching complex grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPC) derived from the Simplicity Principle to at-risk poor readers in Grade 2 classrooms, using a two-arm dual site matched control trial intervention. Poor word readers (n = 149) were allocated to either a) Simplicity GPC (n= 79) or b) Letter-Name Control (n= 70) small group reading programs, and received intervention for 12–15 hours over 12 weeks. Students were matched on baseline reading, language, parent demographics, and observed regular classroom teaching quality. Results of hierarchical data modeling showed advantages for the GPC-group for word reading, pseudoword reading, and sentence comprehension at post-test moderated by pre-test phonological awareness skills. The results provide support for teaching complex GPCs derived from the Simplicity Principle as an approach to intervention for word reading, but suggest that children with low PA need additional supports

Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) #6: Hand-off Communications

Hand-off communications, or hand-off processes, involve the transition of care as well as the transfer of patient-specific information by one healthcare professional to another with the purpose of providing a patient with safe, continuous care. A successful hand-off can only be achieved by effective communication

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Neurocognitive Profiles of Children With High Intellectual Ability: A Pilot Study

A common question among teachers of students with high intellectual ability is how to best teach this group of children. To answer this question, it is first necessary to better understand their cognitive profiles. Thus, the primary goal of this study was to examine the neurocognitive profiles of children with high intellectual ability. To do this, we used the Discrepancy Consistency Model (Naglieri, 1999), which allows researchers to detect patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. One hundred forty-two children with high intellectual ability (70 females, 72 males; Mage = 127.41 months, SD = 10.76) from Grades 4, 5, and 6 were assessed on measures of general intelligence and academic achievement, as well as on measures of Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processes. Results showed that 54% of the sample had a PASS score that was significantly lower than that of each student’s average PASS score. Only 8% of the students had a PASS disorder (a score that was low in relation to the student’s average and below 90). Further, 4% of our sample had both a PASS disorder and an academic-skills disorder. The findings suggest that students with high intellectual ability can show variability in PASS scores that may have relevance for instructional programming and for identifying twice-exceptional children

Zeitgeist : Spirit of the Times

A publication to accompany a collaborative curatorial project organized by students from a third-year Museum Studies class at the University of Western Ontario, in which 11 emerging artists were asked to create pieces in response to artefacts selected from the London Regional Art and Historical Museum’s collection. A text by Roode and Broadhurst addresses the following subjects: the origins of the Museum’s collection; technological change; and how the meaning(s) of everyday objects change when they are displayed in a Museum. Includes a list of selected artefacts, as well as brief statements by student curators. List of artworks. 5 bibl. ref