A B S T R A C TThis paper examines whether a literacy intervention involving generic and content area literacy components can improve both achievement on a standardized reading test and the attainment of secondary school qualifications, and whether the intervention can be implemented by teachers in their regular classroom settings. We report on a design-based approach for whole-school improvement, the Learning Schools Model (LSM), which was implemented in seven schools with low secondary school qualification rates. The LSM ' s core premises are that instructional practices need to be developed from evidence about teaching and learning in specific contexts and that professional learning communities need to fine-tune their instructional practices through collaborative analysis of data. The study employed a quasi-experimental design within a design-based approach and included classroom observations and teacher and student surveys. Reading achievement postintervention was statistically significantly higher than the projected achievement levels had the intervention not occurred. Effect sizes for tracked cohorts were Cohen ' s d = 0.50 and 0.62. The hierarchical linear model of reading achievement, which included students' attitudes toward reading, accounted for about 95% of the total variance. The attainment of secondary school qualifications (measured by odds ratios) increased significantly compared with school attainment prior to the intervention. The rates of attaining these qualifications were faster than national rates. The results suggest that both generic and content area literacy instruction are required and that a strong foundation in generic literacy should be maintained. However, the appropriate blend of literacy instruction is determined by a profiling of teaching and learning needs.

A theory for analyzing incidental consumption in a single site recreation demand model is presented. We show that incidental consumption on a recreation trip, such as a visit to see friends or a visit to a second recreation site, can be treated as a complementary good and analyzed using conventional theory. We also show that the analysis applies whether the side trips are incidental or joint. In a simple application we find that failing to account for incidental consumption appears to create little bias in valuing recreation sites.

A full-scale experimental program consisting of testing four as-built diaphragms and four retrofitted diaphragms in both principal loading directions is presented. As-built configurations were typical of those found in historic unreinforced masonry buildings in North America and Australasia, while retrofitted diaphragms consisted of plywood panel overlays with stapled sheet metal blocking systems (SMBS). Test results were characterized using bilinear representations to establish recognizable performance parameters such as shear strength, shear stiffness, and ductility capacity, which were then used for comparative analysis. The nonlinear and low stiffness behavior of as-built diaphragms was confirmed in each principal loading direction. The plywood overlay and SMBS dramatically improved as-built diaphragm shear strength and shear stiffness, and were shown to perform satisfactorily from a serviceability perspective. The orthotropic nature of as-built diaphragms was proven, with perpendicular-to-joist shear stiffness being as low as 68% of the corresponding orthogonal value. A typical duly framed stairwell penetration and discontinuous joists with two-bolt lapped connections were shown to have no

This study investigated English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners' strategic competence in the computer-assisted integrated speaking tests (CAIST) through the development and validation of the Strategic Competence Inventory for Computer-assisted Speaking Assessment (SCICASA). Based on our review of the literature on the CAIST, strategic competence, and available instruments for measuring the construct, we defined EFL learners' strategic competence in the CAIST as learners' use of four metacognitive strategies: Planning, problem-solving, monitoring, and evaluating, with each of them consisting of various components. These metacognitive strategies formulated the four factors and scale items of the SCICASA under validation. An exploratory factor analysis of responses from 254 EFL students and the subsequent confirmatory factor analysis of data collected on another sample of 242 students generated 23 items under the four factors. The high validity and reliability of the SCICASA reveal that EFL learners' strategic competence operates in the forms of the four metacognitive strategies in the CAIST. This will lend some new supporting evidence for Bachman and Palmer's (2010) strategic competence model while providing implications for metacognitive instructions and test development. Concomitantly, the findings show the inventory as a valid instrument for measuring strategic competence in computer-assisted foreign/second language (L2) speaking assessment and relevant research arenas and beyond.

Background: Since 1990, health policy in England has stressed the importance of user involvement in shaping and delivering services.Aims: To explore mental health service user-led organisations (ULOs) in England as they interact with decision-makers to bring about change desired by them with a focus is on institutional norms behaviour and specialised knowledge impacting service users' relationships with services.Method: An ethnography of five ULOs in two provider organisations (NHS Trusts) including observing their meetings and interactions with decision-makers, conducting in-depth interviews and collecting reflective diaries kept by two members of each group.Results: During the study, one group ceased to operate. This was a group which refused to adopt the institutional rules and norms of managerial discourse. The other four groups survived by navigating the changing environment which existed at the time of the study, although often at some cost.Themes of autonomy and leadership were also identified. Conclusion:The current environment is one of organisational complexity and change and the place of ULOs is an ambiguous one as they strive to maintain autonomy whilst at the same time being an acceptable voice to managers.186 words