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Repeated reading of meaningful text has been shown to produce improvements in reading rate, fluency, and comprehension in readers of varying ability. The assisted repeated reading (ARR) method, which provides a fluent and expressive (i.e., prosodic) model, has been proposed as being particularly helpful in this regard. However, it is unclear which component of the ARR method (prosodic modeling or reading practice with intact text) is the most influential factor. The present study examined the effects of text practice and prosodic modeling on the reading rate, accuracy, expressiveness, and comprehension of 40 grade 5 disabled readers. Text practice and prosodic modeling were systematically varied to create four training conditions. Each subject read the first half of a set of stories three times under one of the four experimental conditions. Pretest and posttest measures of the dependent variables were analyzed for both the training passages and the second half of each story, on which no training occurred (transfer passages). While reading performance improved across all conditions, substantial additional gains were produced by the conditions that included the practice of intact text. Modeling of prosody did not produce significant additional gains. Transfer effects were limited, with only the ARR condition producing improved accuracy on the second half of the stories.

Although young people with ID may make fewer independent decisions about their lives than typically developing peers, support in decision making can enable both increased protection and independence.

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This study examined the cognitive effects of self-referencing in math word problems in 100 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Two types of compare problems were used: compare unknown (CU) and referent unknown (RU). The word you was placed in the problems either as the known or the unknown term. For the CU problems, self-referencing facilitated students' performance regardless of the position of the you term. When self-referencing was applied, students asked for fewer repeats and solved these CU problems faster and with greater accuracy. For the RU problems, however, students benefited from self-referencing only when the self term was placed as the compare (known) term. When the you term was placed as the referent term, the facilitative effect of self-referencing disappeared. The position of the you term in a RU problem apparently has an impact on the translation procedure required in solving the problem. Further research on the cognitive processing issues raised by these data is suggested and the educational implications of the findings are discussed.

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Objectives. This study investigated the attitudes and experiences of pharmacy educators towards faculty development programs. Methods. A random sample of 600 faculty surveyed via mail resulted in 222 useable surveys (38.3% response rate). Results. Few respondents have completed formal faculty development programs, while a larger number have completed informal programs. Clinical faculty reported a greater desire for pursuing formal faculty development than non-clinical faculty (P=0.036) and were more favorable toward partnering with a school of education in delivering formal faculty development programming (P=0.001). Top motivating factors for pursing formal or informal faculty development programming were to improve teaching, research skills, and quality of work. The majority of respondents were not positive toward the level of mentoring provided in their first academic position as well as ongoing institutional support. Conclusions. These findings provide valuable information from the perspectives of faculty and establish a baseline of activity of faculty development in academic pharmacy and possible actions to be taken.