This study examined the effect on reading performance of a controversial treatment for a dysfunction of visual perception known as Scotopic sensitivity/lrlen Syndrome. The treatment, referred to as spectral modification, involved the use of colored transparent overlays for reading by four elementary school children in their actual school environments. The diagnostic, prescriptive and remediation procedures used in this study were originally developed by Helen Irlen, a California psychologist and researcher. Irlen conceptualized Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome as a difficulty in visual processing of the printed page when perceived through full spectrum light. Spectral modification techniques were considered controversial in that they were employed prior to scientific validation of the syndrome. Previous research used pre-test/post-test experimental designs to test the effect of spectral modification on reading performance. The research problem addressed here was that the technique had not been systematically examined over time in the school setting, and from the practitioner's point of view. Sample selection involved pre-screening and screening phases. The pre-screening procedures of teacher recommendation and file review resulted in a pool of 26 children who were screened with the Irlen Differential Perceptual Interview Survey. Four subjects were selected who were in separate school settings, who demonstrated Irlen Syndrome to a significant extent, and whose profiles did not present variables which would compromise their participation. These four underwent comprehensive vision evaluations as a preliminary assessment procedure. A four-strand single-subject experimental design was used to generate data on subjects' rate and accuracy of oral reading, and comprehension of silent reading. Performance changes during experimental reading trials varied between the four, although three subjects exhibited positive performance change on one indicator. A supporting procedure was that subjects were pre and post-tested on the three performance indicators. Post-test results corroborated the changes demonstrated by three subjects Interview formats were employed to obtain qualitative data from teachers, parents, and the subjects themselves. Recommendations for practitioners intending to implement spectral modification techniques were generated from this data.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第20429号 / 農博第2214号 / 新制||農||1048(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H29||N5050(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 吉村 剛, 教授 藤井 義久, 教授 矢野 浩之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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Embankment dams is the most common type of dams in operation inSweden today. Due to the nature of embankment dams, seepage throughthem will always occur. If the seepage velocity exceeds a critical velocity,internal erosion is initiated, which could lead to damage in form of pipingand sinkholes. To treat this problem, remedial grouting has beenperformed involving a combination of conventional grouts, i.e. cement andcement-bentonite as well as sodium silicate, which is a chemical grout thatalso known as water glass. Regarding the sodium silicate grout, there isconcern about the long-term permanence.The aim of this thesis has been to study the potential performance ofsodium silicate grouted in embankment dams. The first part of this thesisis a literature review of the general behavior of sodium silicate as a grout,its degradation processes and the factors that could induce degradation.The second part suggests monitoring methods to control and evaluate theperformance of the treated dam and the grout if degradation has occurred.Findings from literature generally indicates a high risk of instability andlow permanence of sodium silicate when grouted in an embankment dam.This type of grout will undergo degradation mainly in two forms: syneresisinduced shrinkage and leaching due to grout erosion or dissolution. As thedegradation has developed, an increase in permeability of the repaireddam core is a potential consequence.How the potential degradation of sodium silicate will affect the treateddams is suggested to be observed by monitoring the permeability of thegrouted core. Applicable monitoring methods for this purpose aremeasurements of pore pressure and temperature using piezometers. Thesecond direct method of monitoring a changed dam behavior is suggestedto be leakage analysis, in order to detect potentially increased leakagebecause of the grout degradation. An indirect way to investigate the damperformance is suggested to be monitoring of the grout state. Measurementof ion concentration of sodium and silicon respectively in leakage waterusing selective-ion electrodes will reveal any increase in ion concentrationdue to the potential grout dissolution or leaching.

Hinds Community College (HCC) engaged in a study that produced the transitional program. This program was in response to high rates of attrition of the college’s freshmen classes because of poor academic performance. This dissertation evaluated the effectiveness of the transitional program’s main component—the learning community created by placing students in the LLS 1151 College Life course based on their status as residence hall students. HCC’s transitional program is a further elaboration of placement policies that have been a part of the community college landscape for many years. The HCC transitional program incorporates learning communities in combination with HCC’s placement policies and provides an element of structure. This research examined the academic progress of a cohort from its inception in the fall semester of 2006 through 4 years until the conclusion of the spring 2010 semester. This examination included a review and analysis of the performance of the transitional program students who were assigned to learning communities as opposed to the performance of developmental students who were not assigned to learning communities (those who commuted). Specifically, the research evaluated how many students completed programs of study out of those who initially enrolled as residential transitional students and out of those who initially enrolled as nonresidential transitional students, how many credit hours the two groups accumulated over a 4-year period, and performance in basic English and mathematics courses. This study used a causal-comparative design that examined a cohort over a 4-year period while at HCC to examine if there were significant differences between those students who were a part of a learning community compared to those students who were not.

Undergraduate cellists from diverse pedagogical backgrounds with various levels of technical proficiency often struggle to adapt to the demanding performance standards of the university environment. Frequently, these challenges are caused by technical concepts that have been incorrectly learned or unaddressed in the cellist's previous educational experience. Designed for university cello professors and undergraduate cello students, this study is a remedial and enhancement technical method for developing efficient performance habits; it presents a synthesis of cello performing ideologies, comprehensive technical analysis, physical conformation solutions, original sequential exercises, practice models, and recommendations for supporting literature. The method provides a structured path to expressive mastery and artistic freedom in performing advanced cello repertoire.

The overall aim of the research presented here is to examine challenges in the special needs support tradition and the consequences of these challenges with the aim of increasing knowledge regarding the opportunities and constraints that are created as partof the support. In addition, the overarching study aims to highlight issues of democracyand inclusion in the social practices that are focused here and in what manner theseemerge and are framed. These aims are examined through three separate studies. The first study theoretically examines the central concepts of democracy and inclusionin school policy. The central query here relates to what possible consequences differentmodels of democracy imply vis-à-vis inclusive processes and what possibilities exist forchallenging traditions in special need education? Tradition has often been recognized asan important factor for compensating individuals in a reactive and segregating way. The second study takes an ethnographic point of departure and focuses five languagepre-schools that are instituted with the primary aim of teaching Swedish to children fromhomes where Swedish is not spoken. The institutional intention is to prepare these pupilsfor inclusion in future school arenas. One query here relates to what types ofconsequences such a proactively conceptualized activity gives rise to? A case-study that focuses the analysis of a course to prepare teachers for writingremedial plans constitutes the third research foci. The course is offered by a national stateauthority, the older Institute of Special Education (Specialpedagogiska institutet). Theactivity of working on remedial plans is a challenge for the special educational traditionand its individualization of school related problems. A central issue here relates to whatconsequence such a challenge gives rise to when it is formulated by a school-authority? The results of the studies presented in this thesis indicate that traditions resist changeeven though there is an ambition to challenge these. Old patterns of providing support ininstitutional arenas are difficult to reshape. In both empirical studies individual deficits isa common understanding of school-problems. The results of the empirical studies are alsodiscussed in relation to the conceptual analysis presented in the first article.

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This study explored factors that appear to contribute to the growing increase of remedial education in higher education. Participants included teachers and administrators from feeder high schools in northeast Tennessee, local community college instructors of remedial education, and administrators. Participants were experienced and knowledgeable in the field of remedial education. Personal interviews and public domain documents included documentary material, books, magazines, newspaper articles, and use of the Internet to gather data for the study. Data analyses were broken down by participant group response to questions. Findings indicated that most graduating high school seniors are not ready for community college or college level studies. Contributing factors appear to be the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002), lack of preparation in coursework for elementary and middle school students' entry into high school, lack of communication between the feeder high schools and the local community college, cookie cutter or one-size-fits-all approach to teaching, social promotion with no mastery of coursework, and teaching to tests.

This is the age of accountability in public schools. The public wants to know that the schools are producing high achieving students who are ready for the future. With this push for accountability the rise in standardized testing should not be surprising. However, it is difficult to test an abstract course such as the arts. With the increase of standardized testing and the recent tough economic times, it is no wonder that performing arts classes in our public schools are often the first to be pared down or dissolved (Mendels, 2008). It is the presiding feeling that these courses, while nice and fun for the students, do not offer any tangible, real, or marketable skills. "...imparting knowledge about the arts typically has not been a priority goal in our nation's schools' (Ward, 1983, ¶ 2). This study explored the benefits that students can achieve through their participation in the dramatic arts courses including, but not limited to, enhancement of reading and verbal scores. This study was designed to illustrate that the arts are a natural and necessary part of the high school educational experience and can play an instrumental part of learning even in a distressed economy, and/or in a regulated testing arena. Students who were freshmen or sophomores in 2008-2009 and scored a Level 1 or 2 (below average) score on the reading portion of the state test, the FCAT, and were from Orange and Seminole Counties in Florida became the sample set. These students were disaggregated into categories of students who took a dramatic arts course or not, by gender, by race, and by socioeconomic status to determine if participation in a dramatic arts course in high school would help raise a remedial reading score on the required state test. Although the data did not show a statistical significance, it did show a positive trend in a few of the tested areas. Suggestions for why the data appear to show only a trend and not significance are discussed further in Chapter 5.