Lise Saint-Laurent

Academic Achievement Effects of an in-Class Service Model on Students with and without Disabilities:

This article presents the results of a study designed to evaluate the impact of an in-class service model on the achievement of students at risk of school failure. The model, which included collaborative consultation, cooperative teaching, parent involvement, and strategic and adapted instruction was implemented for 1 school year in 13 different schools. Significant effects were found on writing scores for students at risk and on reading and mathematics scores for general education students. No significant treatment effects were detected for students with learning disabilities. The findings confirm the benefits of the in-class service model for some students and the need to pursue further research in order to achieve better results for the lowest achievers in the classroom.

Effects of a family literacy program adapting parental intervention to first graders’ evolution of reading and writing abilities

This article reports on the effects of a family literacy program for first graders that had three main characteristics: (1) book reading with parents that adapts parental intervention to the child’s gradually increasing skills in reading during the school year, (2) support for writing activities, and (3) enjoyable home activities complementing the in-class teaching. The 108 participants were assigned to two treatment conditions: Workshop and Control. Pre- and post-test group comparisons indicate that the workshop program has a positive effect on the children’s performance in both reading and writing. Children produced longer texts and used better vocabulary, sentence structure and spelling. This study provides new data supporting the utility of family literacy programs by demonstrating their positive effect on writing. This confirms the importance of connecting reading and writing activities in family literacy at the beginning of learning and that parents should be invited by the teacher to intervene in these two areas rather than only in reading.

Emergent Literacy and Intellectual Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a home-based emergent literacy program for children with intellectual disabilities. Twenty preschool children equally distributed between an experimental and comparison group participated in the study. Children were given a pretest and a posttest 8 months later. Assessment of childrens progress included measurement of emergent literacy knowledge, abilities and attitudes. Results show that the only item for which children in the experimental group had higher scores was pretend reading. Treatment effect is modest but promising considering the population studied. Benefits of the program are also discussed. Emergent literacy behaviors in the children in the study are compared with those reported for nondisabled students.

STUTTERING: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL TREATMENT AND EVALUATION PACKAGE

Abstract A regulated breathing method associated with systematic desensitization and cognitive restructuring was applied to eight adult stutters. Behavioral measures (percentage of stuttered syllable [%SS] and rate of speech) were taken during telephone, interview, and public speaking situations using both obtrusive and unobtrusive conditions. Cognitive and subjective assessment included the Erickson Scale of Communication Attitudes, an irrational beliefs scale, self-efficacy perception, and the percentage of improvement reported by the stutterers. Eight adult nonstutterers were also assessed in identical conditions and compared with the treated subjects in the purpose of a social validation perspective. Results showed that the treatment package significantly reduced stuttering at post-test, and therapeutic gains were maintained at 6 month follow-up study. On the %SS, no significant difference emerged at follow-up between treated stutterers and normals. The multicomponent treatment appears to be a successful treatment for stuttering.

Massed versus distributed application of the regulated-breathing method for stutterers and its long-term effect

This study evaluated a multidimensional behavioral treatment for stutterers. Within the framework of stuttering therapy, regulated breathing is a promising procedure, but additional therapeutic components seem necessary to ensure clinical efficacy. The present research addressed two issuess: (1) the effectiveness of massed versus distributed practice of regulated breathing and (2) the presence versus the absence of a maintenance program. The results showed that stutterers treated with Regulated-Breathing improved more than the placebo group in terms of percentage of stuttered syllables and speech rate. Surprisingly, intensive treatment and maintenance phase did not enhance the effectiveness of the treatment.

Effects of a Multicomponent Literacy Program and of Supplemental Phonological Sessions on At-Risk Kindergartners

In this study, a multicomponent literacy program for kindergarten classrooms was developed, implemented and its impact evaluated from the perspective of preventing reading failure and combining the approaches of emergent literacy and phonological awareness. The utility of adding phonological awareness sessions to the program was also assessed. Six classes composed of French-speaking children and located in a low SES area participated in the study, which included a comparison group. At the end of kindergarten, a significant treatment effect was found on Invented Spelling, Phonological Awareness and Reading Orientation. No significant effects on reading scores in Grade 1 were detected. Phonological sessions did not add to the treatment effect on phonological measures and reading scores. The findings confirm the benefits of emergent literacy programs with at-risk kindergartners and the need to pursue further research into strategies to improve the prevention of school failure.

Evolution of emergent reading behaviours in preschool children with developmental disabilities: a within‐individual examination

ABSTRACT The purpose of this short report is to analyse the within‐individual response to a stimulation programme conducted in a family environment on different measures of emergent reading over two years for eight children with intellectual disabilities. Graphs of the individual subjects’ evolution revealed progress in attitudes and abilities in emergent literacy behaviours. Development quotient and kindergarten attendance did not seem to be determining factors in the evolution of these behaviours. However, degree of parental compliance with the programme seemed to be related to better abilities in emergent literacy.

Lire en classe : résultats d'une enquête au primaire

An inflator system that includes an inflatable and an inflator apparatus having a supplemental gas assembly is provided. The supplemental gas assembly supplies gas to the inflatable in order to maintain a desired inflatable volume and pressure for a relatively longer period of time. The inflator apparatus also includes a pyrotechnic inflator. The supplemental gas assembly and the pyrotechnic inflator can be activated at essentially the same time using the same initiator assembly. The supplemental gas assembly preferably has a stored gas that weighs less than 200 grams.

Identification of Students with Academic Difficulties: Implications for Research and Practice

Many students with academic difficulties are not identified by schools as needing assistance. The traditional learning disabilities category appears to be less and less suitable given recent developments in special education that favor inclusion. Thus it is necessary to rethink procedures to identify students needing support and the implications of this for research and practice. This research was designed to examine the relationship between three procedures to identify students with academic difficulties in Quebec schools: teacher ratings, curriculum-based achievement tests, and identification of LD (learning disabilities) by the school. Results reveal that agreement between school identification and teacher rating is low. This agreement increased with subjects who had the lowest achievement test results. On the other hand, school identification and achievement scores are moderately associated. Finally, although achievement scores and teacher ratings are significantly correlated, only 50% of students with the lowest achievement test results are recognized by their teachers as having academic difficulties. The article concludes that further research is necessary to conceptualize in a new way the identification of students who need academic support.

Épreuves informatisées des indicateurs des savoirs essentiels en lecture pour élèves francophones au début du primaire (INDISSE)

Cet article presente des epreuves informatisees en lecture pour les eleves francophones de la maternelle et le debut du primaire, les Indicateurs dynamiques des savoirs essentiels en lecture (INDISSE). Elles visent a identifier les eleves a risque de difficulte en lecture et a suivre le progres des eleves. Les qualites psychometriques ont ete verifiees aupres d’un echantillon compose de 1130 eleves evalues a trois reprises (debut, milieu et fin d’annee). Les eleves a risque, c’est-a-dire ceux dont le resultat a une des epreuves se situait sous le 40e rang centile, l’ont ete a cinq reprises. Des analyses multitraits-multimethodes soutiennent la validite de construit des epreuves. De plus, celles-ci sont correlees avec la reussite en lecture a la fin de l’annee et avec le jugement de l’enseignante. Leur validite predictive des scores a l’examen de fin de l’annee est plus elevee en maternelle (.56) et en 1re annee (.34) qu’en 2e (.26) et 3e annee (.26). Il en est de meme pour la validite predictive du jugement de l’enseignante en fin d’annee (maternelle, .79; 1re annee, .65; 2e annee, .44; 3e annee, .36). Par ailleurs, a tous les degres scolaires, elles sont de meilleurs predicteurs de la reussite que le jugement de l’enseignante en debut d’annee. Ces epreuves peuvent completer les informations des enseignantes venant de leurs propres observations en classe et leur apporter des donnees utiles quant aux savoirs essentiels des eleves pour leur reussite en lecture.