The Performance Effects of Word Locator Cues on the NAEP Reading Assessment

Beginning with the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment, a new subset of items will be introduced with the intent of measuring vocabulary in context. The assessment’s item format requires an examinee to locate a targeted word in the reading passage. It was reasoned that presenting these items along with ‘word locator cues’ might help reduce construct irrelevant variance due to students’ differential ability in searching the targeted word. Using a sample of 1323 fourth and eight grade students, this study investigated the effects of two such ‘word locator cues’ on student performance: numbering the lines of the passage, and printing targeted words in boldface type. The results indicated that various format conditions (with and without cues) do not influence student performance on the vocabulary items after controlling for reading comprehension. On the other hand, at both fourth and eighth grade, we detected interactions between format conditions and race/ethnicity, which suggested that word locator cues appear to hurt the performance of certain subgroups. Implications of these findings for NAEP’s future reading assessments are discussed. Accessed 11,314 times on https://pareonline.net from October 04, 2007 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Oral contraceptive use and risk of melanoma in premenopausal women

Melanoma has been increasing in white populations. Incidence rates rise steeply in women until about age 50, suggesting oestrogen as a possible risk factor. Oestrogens can increase melanocyte count and melanin content and cause hyperpigmentation of the skin. We examined prospectively the association between oral contraceptive (OC) use and diagnoses of superficial spreading and nodular melanoma among 183 693 premenopausal white women in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II) cohorts. One hundred and forty six cases were confirmed in NHS during follow-up from 1976 to 1994, and 106 cases were confirmed in NHS II from 1989 to 1995. Skin reaction to sun exposure, sunburn history, mole counts, hair colour, family history of melanoma, parity, height and body mass index were also assessed and included in logistic regression models. A significant twofold increase in risk of melanoma (relative risk (RR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–3.4) was observed among current OC users compared to never users. Risk was further increased among current users with 10 or more years of use (RR = 3.4, 95% CI 1.7–7.0). Risk did not appear elevated among past OC users, even among those with longer durations of use, and risk did not decline linearly with time since last use. In conclusion, risk of premenopausal melanoma may be increased among women who are current OC users, particularly among those with longer durations of use. Further research is needed to determine whether low-dose oestrogen pills in particular are associated with an increase in risk and to describe possible interactions between OC use and sun exposure or other risk factors for melanoma. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Sun exposure and melanoma risk at different latitudes: a pooled analysis of 5700 cases and 7216 controls

Background Melanoma risk is related to sun exposure; we have investigated risk variation by tumour site and latitude

The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality in children: A new questionnaire

We report the development of a self-report questionnaire of the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality for use with children. Focus groups were held with children to sample their experiences of situations modelled on components of three RST systems: fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS, related to fear), behavioural inhibition system (BIS, related to anxiety), and behavioural approach system (BAS, related to approach). The thematic responses formed the conceptual anchors to the development of test items that were examined using exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 288 9–13 year olds. After eliminating items that did not load on their designated factor, or substantially cross-loaded over factors, the original 48 items were reduced to 21 items: 7 items for each of the BIS, FFFS and BAS factors. The separation of the BIS and FFFS items across two factors is consistent with the revised model of RST. We offer this new questionnaire as a RST measure of fundamental motivation and emotion traits in children

Gender and police leadership: time for a paradigm shift?

Despite a number of initiatives aimed at improving the representation and progression of women in the police service in England and Wales, the number of women in leadership ranks remains low. At the same time, concern over the quality of police leadership has been at the forefront of much public debate in recent years. This article focuses on recent proposals to reform the way in which senior officers are recruited through a discussion of the appointment of non-sworn/'outsider' officers through the adoption of direct and multiple entry models of recruitment as outlined by the Winsor Review (2012, Independent review of police officer and staff remuneration and conditions. Part 2. http://review.police.uk/part-two-report/). Hailed as an opportunity to secure an alternative face to police leadership, we reflect on the growing disquiet over police leaders and leadership and consider the possibilities of such a reform agenda for the representation and progression of women in policing. We propose that although a multipoint system of entry for specialisation or leadership roles may offer a number of opportunities to a service in crisis, such a reform agenda may ultimately serve to threaten and further undermine women's participation and status in policing as 'outsiders'

Pre-Diagnostic Circulating Vitamin D and Risk of Melanoma in Men

PURPOSE: Various studies have examined the association between serum vitamin D levels and different cancers; however, this is the first prospective study of this association with melanoma risk. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between serum vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and melanoma in a cohort of older, middle-aged Finnish male smokers. METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study within the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. From the ATBC cohort, 368 subjects were chosen for our study; 92 participants that developed melanoma and 276 matched control subjects. At study baseline, lifestyle questionnaires and blood samples were collected. Serum 25(OH)D was modeled as three sets of categorical variables: clinically-defined categories, season-specific quartiles and season-adjusted residual quartiles. Conditional logistic regression was used to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) to estimate the association between circulating vitamin D and melanoma risk. RESULTS: Overall no association of serum 25(OH)D and melanoma risk was observed. A decreased risk of developing melanoma was observed in the middle categories compared to the lowest category, albeit not significant. CONCLUSION: Results indicate no association between serum 25(OH)D levels and melanoma. Additional studies, including possibly consortium efforts, are needed to investigate the association between serum 25(OH)D levels and risk of melanoma in larger, more diverse study populations

Prognostic value of performance status assessed by patients themselves, nurses, and oncologists in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Accuracy in the assessment of performance status by oncologists has not been well evaluated. We investigated possible discrepancies in the assessment of performance status among patients, nurses, and oncologists, and evaluated the prognostic importance of each assessment. Two hundred and six inpatients with inoperable, advanced non-small cell lung cancer were investigated prospectively. Weighted Kappa statistics for inter-observer agreement were 0.53 between oncologists and patients and 0.63 between oncologists and nurses. There was a significant difference among the assessments by the three groups (P < 0.001). Oncologists gave the healthiest performance status assessment, nurses an intermediate assessment, and patients the poorest. When included separately in the Cox model, the assessment by each group was significantly correlated with survival. However, the assessment by the patients themselves failed to distinguish survival of patients with performance status 1 and 2. Among the three models including patient-, nurse-, and oncologist-assessed PS, that including oncologist-assessed PS best fitted to the observed survival data. These results showed that the assessment by the patients themselves is different from those by the nurses and the oncologists and provided additional support for the use of the assessment by oncologists in clinical oncology. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Geographic clustering of testicular cancer incidence in the northern part of The Netherlands

Geographic variations in testicular cancer incidence may be caused by differences in environmental factors, genetic factors, or both. In the present study, geographic patterns of age-adjusted testicular cancer incidence rates (IRs) in 12 provinces in The Netherlands in the period 1989–1995 were analysed. In addition, the age-adjusted IR of testicular cancer by degree of urbanization was evaluated. Cancer incidence data were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. The overall annual age-adjusted IR of testicular cancer in The Netherlands in the period 1989–1995 was 4.4 per 100 000 men. The province Groningen in the north of the country showed the highest annual IR with 5.8 per 100 000 men, which was higher (P < 0.05) than the overall IR in The Netherlands (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–1.6). The highest IR in Groningen was seen for both seminomas and non-seminomas. In addition, Groningen showed the highest age-specific IRs in all relevant younger age groups (15–29, 30–44 and 45–59 years), illustrating the consistency of data. The province Friesland, also situated in the northern part of the country, showed the second highest IR of testicular cancer with 5.3 cases per 100 000 men per year (IRR 1.2, 95% Cl 1.0–1.5, not significant). This mainly resulted from the high IR of seminoma in Friesland. Analysis of age-adjusted IRs of testicular cancer by degree of urbanization in The Netherlands showed no urban–rural differences at analysis of all histological types combined, or at separate analyses of seminomas and non-seminomas. Geographic clustering of testicular cancer seems to be present in the rural north of The Netherlands with some stable founder populations, which are likely to share a relatively high frequency of genes from common ancestors including genes possibly related to testicular cancer. Although this finding does not exclude the involvement of shared environmental factors in the aetiology of testicular cancer, it may also lend support to a genetic susceptibility to testicular cancer development. Testicular cancer cases in stable founder populations seem particularly suitable for searching for testicular cancer susceptibility genes because such genes are likely to be more frequent among affected men in such populations. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig