From August 19-23 1996 an international expert meeting on problems and interventions in literacy development took place in Amsterdam. The meeting was organized by Pieter Reitsma (Paedologisch Instituut - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Ludo Verhoeven (University of Nijmegen), and funded by the Dutch National Science Foundation. Various experts in the field of literacy problems from 12 countries attended the meeting while presenting a paper based on current peESpectives and recent research. A selection of the papers being presented is now integrated into a single academic reference, after being edited and updated. The editors wish to thank all contributors to this volume for redrafting their original papers. The present volume aims to integrate recent research in field of literacy problems and interventions into a single academic reference. The volume will capture the state of the art in the rapidly expanding field of literacy problems and interventions. The target group of readers of this volume includes researchers and graduate students in language and literacy development. Moreover, the book is of interest for practitioners working in the field of literacy problems. Pieter Reitsma and Ludo Verhoeven vii LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Peter Afflerbach - University of Maryland, 2304C Benjamin Building, College Park MD 20742, USA Jesus Alegria - Universite Libre de Bruxelles, LAPSE CP 191, Avenue F. Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium Elisabeth Arnbak - Department of General & Applied Linguistics, Njalsgade 80, DK-2300 Copenhagen, Denmark Janwillem Bast - Paedologisch Instituut-VU Amsterdam, Postbus 303, 1115 ZG Duivendrecht, The Netherlands.

Together with Addressing Difficulties in Literacy Development, this reader forms the basis of the Open University's Difficulties in Literacy Development course, and is ideal for similar courses nationally and internationally.

This book outlines and critiques international strategies and programmes designed to address difficulties in literacy development. The high-profile team of contributors consider teaching programmes which operate at family, school, pupil and teacher levels. They argue that school is not the only legitimate location for literacy education, and show how difficulties in literacy can be addressed sequentially, both in and out of the school context. Issues addressed include: *the dilemmas facing practitioners in choosing between multiple approaches to practice *the factors which must be addressed in strategies which operate at the level of the family and the community *how to ensure the school can support programmes designed to improve literacy learning *how to put theory into practice in programmes designed for use with individual students *the teacher as 'reflective practitioner' - developing professional practice which effectively raises literacy achievement. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students, teachers, researchers, educational professionals and policymakers who are looking for practical strategies to address difficulties in literacy development. This reader forms the basis of the Open University's Difficulties in Literacy Development course, and is ideal for similar courses nationally and internationally.

This Reader considers the complexity of literacy difficulties, showing how research into literacy difficulties has to be multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary and involve a range of research approaches and methods. The chapters show that this is necessary to accommodate the wide range of issues that can, potentially, explain literacy difficulties and suggest strategies and interventions to ease those difficulties. Starting from the point that literacy is a contested concept and that acquiring literacy is a complex process, this Reader goes on to consider literacy development in relation to: - Theoretical understandings, implications for practice - Assessing literacy difficulties - Pedagogy and planning - Interventions in different contexts This Reader is relevant to all postgraduate students of Literacy, as well as educators, professionals and policy makers.

Based on current research, debates and concerns, this Reader adopts a cross disciplinary approach to understanding and working with those who experience difficulties with literacy. It provides a broad view of difficulties in literacy and related educational and curriculum learning issues across a range of ages, phases and settings. The Reader first considers questions of literacy, before going on to look at literacy development in relation to: " Issues and concepts in public reading debates " Literacy curriculum policy contexts " Community, family, society and individual identity " Social justice and equity issues and learning disabilities This Reader is relevant to all postgraduate students of Literacy, as well as educators, professionals and policy makers.

This book enables practitioners to reflect critically upon the choices available to them in assessing and supporting students who experience difficulties in literacy development. Includes analysis of common barriers such as dyslexia and bilingualism.

This book presents theories and clinical practices for dealing with children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disability or PDD. These are children who have a wide range of disabilities that affect their participation in even the most routine events of daily life, such as eating, dressing, bathing, and so on. Unlike many who are diagnosed with classic autism, however, these children seem to have normal social behavior, normal physical appearance, the ability to learn, hear, see, and move their bodies at will—in other words, none of the well-known reasons that cause autistic and other children to develop differently. These children have the use of all their senses, but their brains are unable to process the information that is fed through them. While much new research is being done in genetics and neurobiology to explain why something in these children has gone fundamentally wrong with their development, clinicians and therapists who deal with them on a daily basis have needed to develop practical therapies based on how the children react to their environments. Movement and Action in Learning and Development suggests that when therapists plan treatment strategies, children's experiences and interactions with the world should be given the same consideration as the limits of their biological makeups. Too often children diagnosed with PDD are lumped into therapy groups for the classically autistic, where the focus tends to be on the distance senses—hearing and vision. Case studies presented in the first half of the book suggest that for children with PDD, there is a disconnect between the brain and the tactile-kinesthetic senses that involve body movement and physical interaction with the world. Movement, in turn, seems to be connected to perception, interpretation of the world around, and ultimately, the acquisition of knowledge. For children with PDD, "normal" learning seems to be limited not only by their tactile-kinesthetic sense but also by the lack of collaboration between all the senses. The second half of the book demonstrates how these new theories translate into clinical practices.

Although the field of child and adolescent development seems to be an easy one in which to provide active learning opportunities to students, few textbooks currently exist that actually do this.

"A wonderful tool for administrators and teachers that offers child-centered resources and ideas to help our learners succeed, thereby making our classrooms more effective. I especially love the sample behavior reports, progress monitoring charts, and the self-monitoring chart. Helping students see that they are responsible for their actions and making them partners in their education are effective practices." —Megan M. Allen, Fourth-Grade Teacher Cleveland Elementary School, Tampa, FL Prevention is the key to a successful school behavior plan! In today′s increasingly diverse PreK–12 classrooms, problem behaviors can often interrupt instructional time and disrupt learning. Designed for 21st-century school leaders, administrators, behavior specialists, and classroom teachers, this research-based guide offers specific strategies and plans for preventing problem behavior at both the classroom and school level. Based on the premise that early response to problems can lead to better outcomes for students, the book′s content is framed around four essential areas: foundations, intervention, collaboration, and evaluation. Within these areas, this accessible guide features: The latest information on the science and practice of prevention Reasons why conflict resolution, peer mediation, and bully-proofing are essential to prevention Effective practices for teaching social skills to young children Proven techniques for implementing schoolwide positive behavior support Tools for using individual behavior plans to prevent problems Ideas for home-school and community partnerships and culturally responsible teaching Critical strategies for monitoring student progress and evaluating prevention practices New, updated chapters, including information on preschool behavior support and RTI This valuable resource provides all the tools and strategies school leaders and teachers need to keep children focused on learning.

Socioscientific issues require individuals to use moral and ethical considerations to help in their evaluation of evidence and decision making, entailing controversial scientific phenomena. Such issues include genetic engineering and biotechnology. Socioscientific issues pedagogy has the potential to enhance students’ overall conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena that affect the daily lives of people across the globe. Socioscientific Issues-Based Instruction for Scientific Literacy Development is a critical scholarly publication that examines the development of a research-based integrated socioscientific issues pedagogy for use in the K-12 system, teacher education preparation, and informal education centers. The publication focuses on science education researchers and pre-service and in-service teachers’ abilities to design and implement meaningful learning opportunities for students to use rationalistic, intuitive, and emotive perspectives as they engage in information reasoning on scientific topics, such as climate change and CRISPR, that are of utmost importance. Teachers in the K-12 system and informal education settings will be able to use this text to enhance scientific literacy among their students. Instructors in teacher preparation programs will be able to use this research-based text to improve pre-service and in-service teachers’ abilities to use socioscientific issues pedagogy to enhance scientific literacy among K-12 students. Additionally, audiences including researchers, administrators, academicians, policymakers, and students will find this book beneficial for their studies.