The proliferation of indecent images of children (IIOCs) on the Internet has exceeded the resources required to investigate suspects effectively. This article examines the validity of the Kent Internet Risk Assessment Tool—Version 2 (KIRAT– 2), an evidence-based framework for prioritizing IIOC suspects according to their risk of committing contact offenses against children. Data were obtained from 374 police files (11 police forces across the United Kingdom) corresponding to individuals who were convicted for IIOC offense(s) during the period 2001–2013. Some 170 offenders had convictions or allegations of contact sexual offenses against children; police defined these as higher risk of contact offending (HR) as opposed to the remaining 204 individuals without convictions or allegations of contact sexual offenses (lower risk of contact offending, LR). We coded 166 variables previously discussed in the literature or from law enforcement experience that may discriminate dual from noncontact offenders. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to test which variables or combination of variables discriminated between HR and LR offenders. The final model, represented as a phased decision tree, uses 17 variables with 4 filters or decision steps examining previous convictions, access to children, current evidence of both online and offline behavior, and other relevant factors. The model classified 97.6% of HR within the higher risk levels (high or very high) and 62.3% of LR within the lower risk levels (low or medium). Findings are discussed in terms of contribution to the Internet sex offending risk assessment literature and practical implications for police forces.
We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 116 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the two tutoring conditions and a control group. Results indicated that students in the two tutored groups tended to perform comparably on all tests and to outperform controls (more so in grade 5 than grade 3) on near-transfer but not far-transfer measures of RC. This differential pattern of program effects for near-versus far-transfer measures raises questions about how tests of near-transfer and far-transfer are conventionally understood.
Response to intervention (RTI) has been promoted for nearly 20 years as a valid supplement to or alternative method of learning disability (LD) identification. Nevertheless, important unresolved questions remain about its role in disability identification. We had two purposes when conducting this study of 229 economically and racially diverse poor readers in Grades 4 and 5 in 28 public elementary and middle schools in Nashville. First, we examined predictors of the children’s response to a reading comprehension tutoring program. Second, we explored the utility of different methods (growth vs final status) and measures (near- and mid-transfer vs far-transfer) in operationalizing “response,” and whether these contrasting methods and measures identified similar children. Findings indicated students with higher pretreatment scores on expressive vocabulary, nonverbal IQ, teacher ratings of attention, and reading comprehension measures were more likely classified as responsive with final status methods. Students with lower pretreatment comprehension scores were more likely identified as responsive with growth methods. These and other findings suggest “response” is strongly context dependent, raising questions about the validity of RTI as a means of disability identification.
Importance: Previous research has calculated normative data for the Dynavision D2 Visuomotor Training (D2) System among healthy athletes to understand concussion management, but to date no studies have identified the norms for healthy adults over a large age range (18-80 yr) for physical response speed. Objective: To provide normative data for the D2 for physical response speed in adults ages 18-80 yr. Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive study to obtain normative data on physical response speed using the D2 for adults in age categories 18-40, 41-60, and 61-80 yr. Setting: Genesis Physical Therapy and Wellness Center, a Midwestern outpatient hospital-based therapy center. Participants: Three hundred adults, stratified into three different age categories. Normal standards with quartiles were identified for each age and sex category. Outcomes and Measures: Multiple regression model of the inverse response times. Results: The results showed a significant difference in physical response speed between men and women and between the different age groups. Women in all age categories were slower than men. Physical response speed increased with age in both sexes, but each had significantly different age and sex main effects (p < .0005). Conclusions and Relevance: Occupational therapy practitioners can use the normative standards identified in this study in their assessment of clients with visual and cognitive deficits after a brain injury, stroke, or other neurologic pathology. What This Article Adds: This study's results can be added to the battery of other common evaluation measures that occupational therapists use to evaluate visual and cognitive deficits after neurological impairments.
Reading nonfiction texts with understanding is important to school success, yet many students struggle to do so. This randomized controlled trial extends previous research by contrasting an earlier iteration of a comprehension tutoring program (Comp) against a variant with strategies for transferring learning (Comp+Transfer). Participants were 189 fourth and fifth graders with weak reading comprehension. To evaluate their efficacy, we used commercially developed fartransfer measures and experimenter-made near-and mid-transfer measures of reading comprehension. In contrast to controls, students in both programs significantly improved their understanding of near-transfer passages. Additionally, students in Comp+Transfer improved performance on mid-transfer passages. These findings suggest the value of teaching for transfer and the importance of measuring program efficacy with researcher-made tests alongside commercial tests.Reading informational texts with understanding is necessary in all but the earliest grades. Yet, evidence indicates many children and youth do not adequately comprehend what they read. Only 35% of fourth-grade students scored at or above "Proficient" on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); only 12% of fourth graders with 404-402-8983, 615-343-4782 Requests for reprints should be sent to Sam Patton, 110 Magnolia Circle, Room 417A Nashville, TN 37212,
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