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Learning disabilities is what this Journal is about. In the following article, Dr. Barsch sets forth past, present and possibilities for the future of the field...

Numerous research studies (e.g., Anderson, Kutash, & Duchnowski, 2001; Lane, Carter, Pierson, & Glaeser, 2006; Volpe, Dupaul, Jitendra, & Tresco, 2009; Wei, Blackorby, & Schiller, 2011) have shown that students with disabilities generally exhibit lower reading scores than their peers without disabilities. However, questions remain about the possibility of longitudinal differences among high-incidence disability classifications (e.g., speech/language impairments, SLI; emotional disturbances, ED; learning disabilities, LD; and attention deficit disorders, ADD). This study investigated growth patterns in reading achievement among middle school students from 5th to 8th grade with different high incidence disability classifications on one state's high-stakes assessment. After a repeated measures analysis of variance and post hoc testing, results reveal that students identified as LD and SLI evidenced more growth in reading than those classified as either ADD or ED. In light of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 legislation, findings about the various growth patterns are discussed with respect to policy, measurement, and practical implications. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Prosody is an important but not fully understood component of reading. In this longitudinal study with a sample of 98. Portuguese elementary school children, a multilevel growth model with four repeated measures over time showed steady progress in participants’ reading prosody from the middle of 2nd to the end of 3rd grade. However, children’s growth in this area varied across time points. Results also showed that individual differences in prosody’s scores at baseline affect the performance of most but not of all students. Simple linear regressions showed that the prosody dimension “phrasing/expression” significantly predicted reading comprehension at all time points. Partial correlation analysis showed that when reading rate was accounted for, the unique contribution of prosody to reading comprehension was marginal, except at the third measurement © UPV/EHU.

This study examined how K-5 general and special educators (N = 102) would choose to allocate time in a 2-h language arts block if they could do so as they wished, and how these choices related to their knowledge base for reading instruction. Preferences for time allocation were assessed through an open grid on which participants listed descriptions of planned instructional activities and amount of time for each activity; teacher knowledge was assessed via a multiple-choice measure involving questions about assessment and instruction in the five components of reading. Results showed that many teachers planned little or no time for areas such as assessment, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and spelling; also, relatively little time was devoted to basic writing skills and virtually none to writing processes such as planning or revision. There were few significant differences between general and special educators in time allocation on the grid, although there were more differences by grade level (e.g., grids for Grades K-1 vs. Grades 4-5). Teacher knowledge did predict teachers' time allocation plans, particularly for teachers with relatively high knowledge of phonemic awareness and phonics. Overall, however, many teachers chose to allocate time in ways inconsistent with scientific recommendations, in writing as well as in reading. The study highlights the importance of research-based, targeted teacher professional development in literacy, as well as the need for schools to provide comprehensive, research-based core reading and writing curricula to educators, with attention to fidelity of implementation.

This study examined the knowledge base of 142 elementary-level educators for implementing response-to-intervention (RTI) models in reading. A questionnaire assessed participants' professional background for teaching reading, as well as their familiarity with specific assessments, research-based instructional models, and interventions potentially useful in RTI approaches. A multiple-choice knowledge survey patterned after a teacher licensure exam, including items situated in classroom contexts, assessed participants' knowledge about different components of reading, assessment, and RTI practices. Overall, participants obtained the highest scores on a knowledge survey subscale involving fluency/vocabulary/comprehension and the lowest on a subscale involving assessment/RTI practices, with a subscale involving phonemic awareness/phonics in the middle. Mean percentages correct on the subscales ranged from about 58-65% correct. However, participants who said they had prior code-focused professional development outperformed other participants on all survey subscales. General elementary certified teachers performed comparably to special education certified teachers on two out of three subscales, with both groups outperforming unlicensed participants; on the assessment/RTI subscale, only the special educators outperformed unlicensed participants. Most participants were familiar with basic features of RTI such as the three tiered model but were unfamiliar with the research-based instructional approaches and interventions named in the study questionnaire, although participants who had experienced code-focused PD were significantly more likely to be familiar with certain interventions. The study suggests that professional development will be important to enable many educators to implement RTI effectively in reading.

We assessed the effects of varying the treatment integrity of a prompting procedure on appropriate toy manipulation in two preschool-aged children with autism. Following an assessment to identify toys with high levels of inappropriate toy manipulation, each of three toys was associated with implementation of the prompting procedure at a different integrity level (10%, 50%, or 100%). For one participant, only the 100% integrity condition produced increases in appropriate toy manipulation. For the second participant, both the 50% and 100% integrity conditions produced increases in appropriate toy manipulation. These results suggest that integrity errors negatively impacted the acquisition of appropriate toy manipulation in children with autism, although the necessary level of treatment integrity varied across participants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public education in the United States has a history of local control in the development of curriculum and instruction. Although notable court decisions have led to more universal applications of educational policy and practices (Brown v. Board of Education 1954, Oberti v. Clementon 1993), it has been federal law that has resulted in significant changes in instruction. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; Public Law 108–142), first enacted in Public Law 94–142, guaranteed the right of a free, appropriate public education for all children, regardless of the severity of their disability. The word “appropriate” resulted in the beginning of what we refer to today as differentiated instruction: instructional strategies that allow a child to learn and progress in an educational setting. The federal law, No Child Left Behind (NCLB; Public Law 107-110), enacted in 2001, contributed to this initiative and added a caveat that these differentiated instructional strategies needed to be grounded in scientifically based research. Indeed, the term “scientifically based research” has been noted to appear in NCLB 111 times (Deshler 2002). The federal government, in IDEA 2004, identified 13 eligibility categories. In order to receive special education services, a student must, through a multidisciplinary evaluation, meet the eligibility criteria established for one of the 13 categories. Since 1975, when PL94–142 was enacted, educational interventions for students receiving special education have expanded, particularly in disability categories with a high level of incidence such as speech and language disorders and learning disabilities. Low-incidence disabilities, such as mental retardation, visual impairments, and autism, have received less attention.

This study examined sixth-graders' reading comprehension and component reading abilities in relation to two measures of print exposure: an author recognition test (ART) involving fiction authors and a reading habits questionnaire (RHQ) about children's voluntary reading for enjoyment across various genres. The ART correlated only with children's fiction book reading habits, not with other habits such as nonfiction book or magazine reading, and had a stronger relationship to all tested reading abilities than did the RHQ. Strong comprehenders in reading outperformed weak comprehenders on all component reading measures, ART score, and fiction habits; however, weak comprehenders scored higher than did strong comprehenders on the indicator of nonfiction reading habits. The two groups of comprehenders did not differ significantly on other reported reading habits. The results are discussed in relation to children's specific book choices and demonstrate the relevance of genre to evaluations of children's print exposure., (C)2010 Kluwer Academic Publishers

Several perspectives dominate as explanations for neighborhood preferences: pure race, racial proxy, race-based neighborhood stereotyping, and race-associated neighborhood factors. This analysis extends and supports the pure race and race-associated neighborhood factors arguments by showing that these theories are applied differently depending on respondents' social class, race and ethnicity, and whether they are talking about white, black, or Latino neighborhoods. Race-associated factors are emphasized for white and black neighborhoods, but pure race serves as a better theoretical framework for understanding people's preferences for Latino neighborhoods. I analyze qualitative interview data, using maps of real neighborhoods and hypothetical neighborhood show cards, to examine the neighborhood preferences of 65 white, black, and Latino residents in Ogden, Utah, and Buffalo, New York.

This article builds on existing knowledge of inmate resistance by analyzing formerly incarcerated women's narratives about prison food. Participants described trying to secure extra cafeteria portions, hoarding food, smuggling and stealing food, and cooking and eating in the cellsall to resist prison power and gain some control over their lives by managing what, how, when, and with whom they ate. These data shed light on prison life and suggest changes to food policy to curb inmate resistance and bolster the rehabilitative potential of correctional facilities.

For more than a century the social work profession has had a dual purpose: to promote individual well-being and social justice, but the micro-macro divide is fragmenting the profession. This article suggests that the profession's aim might best be realized by adopting a unifying purpose, a just sense of well-being. Research on complex adaptive systems conceptualizes a unifying purpose as vertical integration carried out in differentiated ways in discrete moments of practice in various settings. Interpersonal neurobiology and Aristotle's interdependence of character virtues and practical judgment inform a corresponding shift from the dualities of personal and professional to the social worker as a person with differentiated professional capacities and activities. Integration with differentiation enhances capacity to promote the profession's purpose.

Unusual events, beyond mere coincidences, may occur during the course of psychotherapy. Yet, clinical training often does not prepare therapists how to understand and potentially engage with these encounters. The aim of this report is to explore the emergence of synchronistic events in therapy, while providing two clinical case composites to illustrate the author's central points. Drawing on the Celtic concept of thin places, a new understanding of synchronicities and the therapeutic relationship is offered.

This paper examines the means by which Estonian national identity was preserved during 50years of Soviet occupation. The study upon which it is based explored such factors as family environments; memories, in the form of oral narratives; and life experiences. This research was informed by the sociocultural approach to mediated action, and it employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In 1993, a quota-sampling technique was used to interview a cross section of Estonian society (N=930). Descriptive statistics, and factor and multiple regression analyses were performed. Fifteen qualitative interviews were also conducted. When woven together, these personal histories create a fabric that is representative of the greater Estonian history during the occupation. The implications of these findings may reach beyond the Estonian context to further inform our understanding of the complexities and the vicissitudes of human action.

Rising inequality and concomitant economic insecurity and poverty is a continuing problem in the United States today. Enacting full employment policies would resolve this problem and would serve as a viable poverty reduction strategy. Using a more accurate measure of unemployment such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics U-6 measure would reveal the true unemployment rate. This article provides different strategies, historical and more recent, for enacting full employment with a living wage, particularly the enactment of a permanent national public service employment program administered by the states through the TANF Emergency Fund. Public sector employment expansion in the green or clean economy would benefit the urban unemployed the most. To achieve these ends, social workers, unions and community activists will need to collaborate. Finally, the Federal Reserve should review the history of the relationship between unemployment and inflation rates and develop a more accurate formula for attaining full employment while keeping inflation low. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

We conducted an exploratory research study looking at fathering interactions as they relate to the wraparound care given by the Partnership for Kids or PARK Project, a school-based system of care in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The questions posed by our research focused on how fathers' positive interaction measured by their levels of engagement and accessibility can moderate the effect of the school-based system of care intervention on the mental health outcomes of children with serious emotional disturbances. We found that, although not statistically significant, children's access to their father did have a moderating effect on CBCL scores for internalizing behaviors and total problems. There was very small change in CBCL scores for externalizing behaviors. Further, the moderating effect of father accessibility and father engagement had a lasting effect as a moderator through 12 months into the intervention, especially with regard to internalizing behavior scores.

Recent emphasis has been placed on the central role of the therapeutic relationship in successful treatment. One aspect of the development of an effective relationship is the clinical social worker's use of self. We argue that the use of self happens both consciously and unconsciously and is a dynamic and evolving process in psychotherapy. This evolution can result in the clinical social worker shifting from a stance of doing to being. Drawing from a Japanese tradition of learning, three stages of learning provide a framework for understanding how therapists may transition from a state of doing to being in the therapy. Through this process, the conscious use of self may develop into unconscious use of self. Two case examples demonstrate how expanding and using one's self-awareness and the new knowledge through meaningful learning experiences can shift a clinical social worker's ability to develop and enhance his or her use of self, inviting therapeutic presence and depth. © 2015, Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Prison foodways narratives can expand knowledge about cultural beliefs and perceptions of correctional systems. This exploratory analysis, based in qualitative interview data, seeks to initiate dialogue about the ways in which formerly incarcerated women in the US deploy racialized food narratives when describing the acquisition, preparation, and consumption of prison food. The participants’ food narratives construct prison as a non-white space that is better matched for African-American and Latina women, reinforcing and enacting larger cultural notions about incarceration. This opening analysis calls for more research and deliberation about how prison foodways narratives contribute to understandings about and perceptions of correctional systems and incarcerated people. © 2015, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Common factors are conditions and processes present in, among, and surrounding participants in clinical work. In the past 20 years, increasing attention and research on common factors has generated a great deal of discussion in clinical psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, and to a lesser extent, social work. While there is no single definition of common factors, they are generally discussed as the non-technical aspects of therapeutic work-such as the relationship between the practitioner and client and the expectancy of the client-that have been shown to be associated with successful outcomes. Common factors also include attributes of the practitioner and client, the support system of the client, the institutional and organizational conditions in which the practitioner practices, and also the strategic actions employed by the practitioner, client, and all those involved in the work that promote change. This paper will discuss key concepts in a common factors practice perspective and how evidence is used by common factors practitioners, highlight features of common factors practice, and suggest implications for developing a common factors practice approach.

There is a growing divide in social work between those that believe social work interventions should be based on either art or science. We argue that these positions create a false dichotomy within the profession, possibly due to the language associated with clinical work and research. In this introduction article of the Special Issue: Beyond the Manual, we outline the debate within social work around the art and science split and then offer a new approach to framing the issue. We argue that social workers are regularly approaching their work with clients using art and science simultaneously and describe a new frame for the profession. In an effort to articulate and promote this new frame, this special issue was born. This introductory article concludes with a brief description of the topics and articles included in the issue to orient the reader to the content included within it.