Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia: A Response to Intervention Approach to Classification

This chapter provides a model for classification of dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia through analysis of the response of children to treatment. The model is discussed with reference to the types of multivariate treatment applied in a particular programme which works interactively online using an electronic data-base for linking functional difficulties in learning to treatment, and through this to firm diagnosis and classification. In applying the model, initial diagnosis of learning disabilities is treated as provisional, based on functional indicators as well as test data. Firm classification becomes possible through longitudinal assessment, analysis of response to multivariate intervention as well as response to specific programmes. Diagnosis can then be linked both to concessions as well as ongoing treatment.

Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Insights from a Formative Intervention Approach Involving Online Feedback

This paper examines preservice teachers’ perspectives on assessment feedback developed in a teacher education course during the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As initially negotiated with students, feedback was learner-centred and involved a formative intervention approach applied iteratively by the teacher educator over the course of one semester. Although such feedback was initially face-to-face, it had to be given exclusively online following the unexpected closure of the university. Analysis of student teachers’ perspectives, which were collected through an online questionnaire completed after their final assessment, reveals both positive and critical aspects regarding the feedback provided by the teacher educator. While reaffirming the significance of feedback as a crucial element for learning in online teacher education contexts, the findings also show that the clarity, affective bonding and multimodal meaning-making involved in face-to-face interaction are particularly challenging when the communication of feedback is digitally mediated. The implications and limitations of such findings are discussed.

Research From a Diné-Centered Perspective and the Development of a Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership

Purpose. Indigenous ( Diné) communities have long endured high rates of behavioral and mental health diseases like depression, drug and alcohol dependency, and suicide due to historical trauma and posttraumatic stress disorders. Western research methods used to address these issues have often failed to provide sufficient understanding of the culturally nuanced dynamics underpinning these health disparities in Indigenous contexts. As a result, Indigenous health disparities have actually increased and complex culture-based relationships that influence health outcomes are underconceptualized. Aim. For the first time a community-based participatory research approach from a Diné perspective is introduced to three Navajo communities in New Mexico to collaboratively explore their perspectives about community-engaged research and community well-being from a Diné lens. The overarching research question was: Can a community-based participatory research approach embedded within a Diné research paradigm be utilized to develop a culturally centered intervention approach? Methods. The study utilized a mixed method approach that included surveys and focus groups. Results. Six overarching themes emerged that underscored the important role of utilizing a community-based participatory Diné-centered approach to define community well-being and increase community agency to address their own health disparities. Conclusion. Indigenous-centered community-engaged research can potentially become an intervention approach for informing Indigenous communities’ understandings of well-being by drawing upon local cultural Indigenous knowledge. This study demonstrated that developing an effective community-engaged research partnership to address health disparities in a Diné context must be informed by a Diné paradigm grounded in local community cultural knowledge.