Writing and Using Learning Objectives.

Learning objectives (LOs) are used to communicate the purpose of instruction. Done well, they convey the expectations that the instructor-and by extension, the academic field-has in terms of what students should know and be able to do after completing a course of study. As a result, they help students better understand course activities and increase student performance on assessments. LOs also serve as the foundation of course design, as they help structure classroom practices and define the focus of assessments. Understanding the research can improve and refine instructor and student use of LOs. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by CBE-Life Sciences Education (LSE) at http://lse.ascb.org/learning-objectives. The guide contains condensed summaries of key research findings organized by recommendations for writing and using LOs, summaries of and links to research articles and other resources, and actionable advice in the form of a checklist for instructors. In addition to describing key features of the guide, we also identify areas that warrant further empirical studies.

A Positive Youth Development Perspective on Mental Distress among American Indian/Alaska Native Youth.

Positive youth development approaches with American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth have been particularly successful and promising. Utilizing a survey with 3,736 AI/AN students, we investigated the associations between risk and protective factors and significant mental distress of AI/AN youth. The protective factors were studied within the positive youth development framework, which includes positive developmental assets reflecting aspects of the Circle of Courage, a prior framework embodying core indigenous values for youth development and education to support youth at risk. Risk factors in the study included having experienced trauma, being bullied by peers, substance use, and skipping school; protective factors were social supports, out-of-school-time activity participation, healthy eating, and healthy sleeping behaviors. Through logistic regressions, we found that risk factors were associated with more mental distress, consistent with prior research. However, students who participated in out-of-school-time activities at least three times a week, were sleeping at least eight hours daily, and those reporting social supports, particularly family/community support and sense of empowerment, had lower likelihood of mental distress. In fact, the presence of these protective factors reduced the associations of risk factors and risky behaviors with mental distress.

Estimating Between-Person and Within-Person Subscore Reliability with Profile Analysis.

Subscores are of increasing interest in educational and psychological testing due to their diagnostic function for evaluating examinees' strengths and weaknesses within particular domains of knowledge. Previous studies about the utility of subscores have mostly focused on the overall reliability of individual subscores and ignored the fact that subscores should be distinct and have added value over the total score. This study introduces a profile reliability approach that partitions the overall subscore reliability into within-person and between-person subscore reliability. The estimation of between-person reliability and within-person reliability coefficients is demonstrated using subscores from number-correct scoring, unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory scoring, and augmented scoring approaches via a simulation study and a real data study. The effects of various testing conditions, such as subtest length, correlations among subscores, and the number of subtests, are examined. Results indicate that there is a substantial trade-off between within-person and between-person reliability of subscores. Profile reliability coefficients can be useful in determining the extent to which subscores provide distinct and reliable information under various testing conditions.

The Effects of Schema-Based Instruction on the Proportional Thinking of Students With Mathematics Difficulties With and Without Reading Difficulties.

This study examined the effect of schema-based instruction (SBI) on the proportional problem-solving performance of students with mathematics difficulties only (MD) and students with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD). Specifically, we examined the responsiveness of 260 seventh grade students identified as MD or MDRD to a 6-week treatment (SBI) on measures of proportional problem solving. Results indicated that students in the SBI condition significantly outperformed students in the control condition on a measure of proportional problem solving administered at posttest (g = 0.40) and again 6 weeks later (g = 0.42). The interaction between treatment group and students' difficulty status was not significant, which indicates that SBI was equally effective for both students with MD and those with MDRD. Further analyses revealed that SBI was particularly effective at improving students' performance on items related to percents. Finally, students with MD significantly outperformed students with MDRD on all measures of proportional problem solving. These findings suggest that interventions designed to include effective instructional features (e.g., SBI) promote student understanding of mathematical ideas.

Redefining Individual Growth and Development Indicators: Phonological Awareness.

Learning to read is one of the most important indicators of academic achievement. The development of early literacy skills during the preschool years is associated with improved reading outcomes in later grades. One of these skill areas, phonological awareness, shows particular importance because of its strong link to later reading success. Presented here are two studies that describe the development and revision of four measures of phonological awareness skills: Individual Growth and Development Indicators Sound Blending, Syllable Sameness, Rhyming, and Alliteration 2.0. The authors discuss the measure development process, revision, and utility within an early childhood Response to Intervention framework.

Self-reported changes in the professional singing voice after surgical intervention treatment for breast cancer: a survey pilot study of female professional singers.

BACKGROUND: The effects of breast cancer surgical treatment on the professional singing voice are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to discover whether there are self-perceived changes in the quality and/or process of singing experienced by professional female singers who have undergone surgical intervention for the treatment of diagnosed breast cancer-including any changes perceived from the use of radiation, chemotherapy, and other drug treatments related to those surgeries. METHODS: A voluntary subject pool comprised female professional singers who have undergone surgery for breast cancer was recruited from professional singing networks. Participants underwent evaluation through an anonymous online survey, psychometrically vetted for content and instrument reliability/validity before administration. RESULTS: Valid participants (N=56) responded to 45 questions regarding surgical procedures, related therapies, and self-perceived vocal effects. Analysis of results produced a preliminary description of types of voice change, duration of changes, and qualitative self-perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: This initial report reveals that there are self-perceived singing voice changes experienced by professional singers treated for breast cancer. However, additional research is needed to determine the degree of vocal impact perceived to be attributable to individual surgical interventions and related therapies.

Statistical equating with measures of oral reading fluency.

Recent research on curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency has revealed important issues in current passage development procedures, highlighting how dissimilar passages are problematic for monitoring student progress. The purpose of this paper is to describe statistical equating as an option for achieving equivalent scores across non-parallel reading passages. The psychometric and design properties of words-correct scores are examined, and the requirements of traditional equating methods are discussed. Simulated and empirical words-correct scores are used to demonstrate the steps in the equating process and the situations in which each method is most appropriate.

The teaching performer: a survey of assets versus choices in voice use.

Despite fine instructional texts in voice hygiene such as those of Sataloff (2005), McCoy (2004), and Bunch Dayme (2009), giant strides in diagnostic assessment of vocal risk factors, and compelling vocal dose studies of Titze (2000-2005) and others, challenges continue to persist for singing voice teachers who are also active performers, or "Teaching Performers." The purpose of this study was to investigate the voice hygiene and voice use practices of Teaching Performers in and out of performance periods, and to assess the readiness of these individuals to consider hygienic changes in their vocal routines. Volunteers from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (N=727) were recruited to participate in an anonymous online survey. Strong instrument validity and reliability was determined through expert vetting for content validity, internal consistency testing (coefficient alpha), and test-retest reliability measurement. Teaching Performers (N=596) responded to 26 questions, supplying voice hygiene and usage information through a variety of response platforms. Vocal health and hygiene habits of self-described "successful" Teaching Performers were revealed through descriptive and comparative data analyses. Consideration of results focuses on perceived benefits and current practices of calculated voice use in the careers of active Teaching Performers. Notably, a gathering awareness of relevant factors of voice hygiene and voice use was detected in the participant population also. The results of this survey indicate a persistent need for further study and also may provide a basis for continuing investigations into vocal health, hygiene, and vocal dosing. Additionally, the study results may provide a foundation for the development of further recommendations in the field of singing voice pedagogy.

Meta-analysis of coefficient alpha.

The meta-analysis of coefficient alpha across many studies is becoming more common in psychology by a methodology labeled reliability generalization. Existing reliability generalization studies have not used the sampling distribution of coefficient alpha for precision weighting and other common meta-analytic procedures. A framework is provided for a statistically grounded meta-analysis of coefficient alpha using its sampling distribution. Two empirical examples are offered to illustrate these methods, and limitations of reliability generalization are described.

Self-injurious behavior and the efficacy of naltrexone treatment: a quantitative synthesis.

People with mental retardation, autism, and related developmental disabilities who self-injure are treated with a wide array of behavioral techniques and psychotropic medications. Despite numerous reports documenting short-term and some long-term changes in self-injury associated with the opiate antagonist naltrexone hydrochloride, no quantitative review of its efficacy has been reported. We conducted a quantitative synthesis of the peer-reviewed published literature from 1983 to 2003 documenting the use of naltrexone for the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Individual-level results were analyzed given subject and study characteristics. A sample of 27 research articles involving 86 subjects with self-injury was reviewed. Eighty percent of subjects were reported to improve relative to baseline (i.e., SIB reduced) during naltrexone administration and 47% of subjects SIB was reduced by 50% or greater. In studies reporting dose levels in milligrams, males were more likely than females to respond. No significant relations were found between treatment outcomes and autism status or form of self-injury. Results are discussed with respect to future efficacy work related to study outcomes and the pharmacological treatment of self-injury.