Foster carers' experiences of a paired reading literacy intervention with looked‐after children

Previous studies have shown that paired reading, a structured literacy intervention, is a promising method for improving looked‐after children's literacy skills. The aim of this study was to explore variations in foster carers' experiences of conducting the intervention. Interviews were carried out with 15 Swedish foster carers with varying experiences in programme compliance and of practicing the method. Findings suggest that the intervention process starts with getting carers involved, which seems to be dependent on a positive carer attitude. Integrating the reading training in the everyday life is another important aspect, which evolves around motivating the child and prioritizing the reading sessions. Furthermore, the results emphasize the need of having a flexible approach when delivering the intervention. The results suggest that it is possible to engage foster carers in literacy training for looked‐after children and that paired reading can provide a model for competent reading and also result in improved child/carer relations. However, participants need support, and in some cases adjustments in the day‐to‐day delivery of the intervention are required.     

A generic randomization device for quantitative response variables

We propose a generic randomization device (RD) for the estimation of mean of quantitative sensitive characteristic that make use of additive and multiplicative scrambled responses with blank card strategy. For this generic RD, we work with 12 choices and derive statistical properties of each model and give many immediate results in corollaries. It is interesting to note that various existing models can now be viewed as the special cases of this RD. Finally, various empirical studies have been done for each of these models to evaluate the efficiency performance.     

Mapping quantitative trait loci using both extremely discordant and concordant sib pairs: a unified approach for meta-analysis

Extremely discordant (ED) and concordant (EC) sib pairs are recommended by Risch and Zhang ( 1995, 1996 ) and Zhang and Risch ( 1996 ) for the detection of linkage on the basis of power analysis. They did not, however, include both discordant and concordant sib pairs simultaneously in the test statistic. We construct a new test statistic including both types of sib pairs. The size of the sample needed to identify the sib pairs and parents, who will be genotyped, is reduced substantially by including a hybrid of discordant and concordant sib pairs in the analysis. This mixed design also provides a common parameter that simplifies meta-analysis of sib pair linkage studies.     

Education for Democracy

Literacy skills taught in the elementary grades establish a good foundation but are not adequate for the demands of secondary content curriculum. In history, preservice teachers must be prepared with a solid content base along with the pedagogy for teaching that content. To better teach and enhance student writing, preservice teachers need to learn how to integrate discipline-specific literacy into their instruction, using instructional strategies that are explicitly taught with scaffold supports. The purpose of this article is to present instructional ideas and strategies designed to help students develop key cognitive skills in history and engage in deeper-level thinking as they learn to write like a historian. Each strategy is research-based and includes sample writing assignments.     

大学生体育文化素养“三一”培养模式的研究

运用文献资料等科学研究方法,阐述了培养大学生体育文化素养的意义和大学生村官体育文化素养的作用,从指导思想与目标、内容、课程功能与评价、实现途径和创新之处等五个方面,探究了大学生体育文化素养“三一”培养模式,旨在落实校园阳光体育活动,提高大学生体育文化素养和服务新型农村社区建设.     

汉字结构快速识字法：一种新的便捷的汉字识读法

对汉字历史和现状的分析表明,汉字作为一种表意象形的图形文字,与拼音文字有着本质的不同,具有拼音文字无可比拟的优越性,因此并不难学。特别是汉字结构快速识字法的发明问世,宣告了一场汉字快速识字革命的到来。建立在少儿识字认知规律、字形结构规律、部首（偏旁）重复出现规律基础上的这一识字法,是一种极其科学的汉字识字法,为汉字走向世界、成为未来世界大同文字展示了广阔的前景。     

Do developing economies require creative industries? Some old theory about new China

This paper argues that media and communications theory, as with cultural and creative industries analysis, can benefit from a deeper understanding of economic growth theory. Economic growth theory is elucidated in the context of both cultural and media studies and with respect to modern Chinese economic development. Economic growth is a complex evolutionary process that is tightly integrated with socio‐cultural and political processes. This paper seeks to explore this mechanism and to advance cultural theory from an erstwhile political‐economy perspective to one centred about the co‐evolutionary dynamics of economic and socio‐political systems. A generic model is presented in which economic and social systems co‐evolve through the origination, adoption and retention of new ideas, and in which the creative industries are a key part of this process. The paper concludes that digital media capabilities are a primary source of economic development.     

Effects of a summer emergent literacy intervention for rising kindergarteners

This study examined the effectiveness of a nine-week summer emergent literacy program implemented in a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) summer program that serves families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants were four- and five-year-old children attending a YMCA summer camp. After being placed in appropriate respective skill-level groups, children received one-hour, daily emergent literacy instruction from their camp counselors, who were trained as novice reading teachers. The teachers used emergent literacy activities to support letter-naming fluency and growth in letter-sound correspondence recognition in addition to mastery of read-aloud texts. The 28 participants experienced positive growth on both dependent measures (letter-naming fluency and letter-sound fluency), indicating the efficiency of the intervention as a tool for improving school readiness for children from low-income families. Additionally, the results suggest that beginning reading teachers may be able to conduct effective emergent literacy instruction, making the intervention replicable. Limitations and associated future research directions are discussed.     

What Your Future Doctor Should Know About Statistics: Must-Include Topics for Introductory Undergraduate Biostatistics

The increased emphasis on evidence-based medicine creates a greater need for educating future physicians in the general domain of quantitative reasoning, probability, and statistics. Reflecting this trend, more medical schools now require applicants to have taken an undergraduate course in introductory statistics. Given the breadth of statistical applications, we should cover in that course certain essential topics that may not be covered in the more general introductory statistics course. In selecting and presenting such topics, we should bear in mind that doctors also need to communicate probabilistic concepts of risks and benefits to patients who are increasingly expected to be active participants in their own health care choices despite having no training in medicine or statistics. It is also important that interesting and relevant examples accompany the presentation, because the examples (rather than the details) are what students tend to retain years later. Here, we present a list of topics we cover in the introductory biostatistics course that may not be covered in the general introductory course. We also provide some of our favorite examples for discussing these topics.     

The Many Facets of Statistics Education: 175 Years of Common Themes

The American Statistical Association's primary founder, Lemuel Shattuck, was driven by a passion for collecting and disseminating accurate information on vital statistics, public health, and other statistically related concerns. The 175th anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the education-related reasons ASA was founded and what it has done in education since its founding, especially in the past 25 years since the 150th anniversary. An examination of early and more recent issues of the ASA's journals reveals some common themes that have recurred over the past 175 years. We discuss what those themes are and what the ASA is doing to address them currently, and then conclude by discussing what ASA members can do to help.