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In March 2007, the HM Inspectorate of Education commissioned The SCRE Centre (Scottish Council for Research in Education) at the University of Glasgow to undertake a review of the literature on the background to dyslexia, the range of teaching approaches used to teach children with dyslexia and the effectiveness of the various approaches. This literature review comprises a brief overview of the main educational, psychological and biological evidence, research/evaluation reviews, web-based materials and other references available to the researchers. The purpose of this review is to inform HM Inspectorate of Education's evaluation of the educational provision for children with dyslexia in Scotland, due to take place between April and December 2007. This review shows that there is an extensive array of published research literature on dyslexia because it is arguably the most common form of neurobehavioral reading disability (Shaywitz, 2003). This brief report also provides an overview of the key findings from national and international studies, and concludes with some implications and recommendations for the Scottish education system. Appended are: (1) A Conceptual Map of the Dyslexia Review; and (2) Review Method. Glossary and bibliography are included. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 12 footnotes.)

This report presents the findings of an examination of the costs, benefits, and characteristics of Sitter Services, a program in Scotland offering child care in the child's home to parents working atypical hours or respite care for families of children with developmental disabilities. The study also explored users' and providers' knowledge of the childcare component of the Working Tax Credit as a means for paying for child care. Information was collected through a literature review, discussions with Sitter Service personnel, visits to seven case study Sitter Services, and interviews with a sample of 31 users and a sample of 13 sitters in 6 services. Among the studys main findings was that of the seven out of nine sitter services in Scotland agreeing to participate, four provided child care at atypical hours to working families and three provided respite care to families of children with developmental disabilities. The 7 services employed 146 sitters. A total of 428 families were supported in the previous year by these services. Session lengths varied from 1 to 10 hours. Sitter services varied in location, size, experience, organization, and management. Services had established a variety of policies and procedures to guarantee the quality of their services. All services were heavily dependent upon grant income from a variety of funders. Costs varied widely across services, with staff salary and training costs being the major expenses. Three services made no direct charge to users; the remaining four made various charges. The majority of users thought the cost was affordable. The majority of fee-paying users also used the working tax credit. In a few cases, sitters were unpaid volunteers. A range of direct and indirect benefits to users, their families, sitters, and the wider community were identified. The report concludes with a discussion of policy implications and notes that although the benefits far outweigh the costs of the service, further developments to meet demand are hindered by the lack of guaranteed funding. (KB)

This Interchange report summarizes research carried out by the Scottish Council for Research in Education into the classroom experiences of teachers and pupils in 12 Scottish primary schools and also at the impact of "setting," the practice of grouping pupils in separate classes with separate teachers, according to pupils' attainment in a given curriculum area. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through detailed classroom observation in 1 class in each of 12 primary schools; interviews with teachers and target pupils were also conducted. An additional four schools were selected for further observational research focusing on the impact of "setting" on classroom experiences. The main findings of the research include: (1) the balance of the curriculum observed was markedly different from that recommended in the 5-14 guidelines; (2) the classroom physical layout did not necessarily reflect pupils' main working patterns; (3) pupils were most likely to be engaged when working collaboratively with other pupils or when interacting with the teacher; (4) pupils were least likely to be engaged when working without direct teacher supervision in circumstances in which they could also socialize with other pupils; (5) teachers spent around 80 percent of classroom time on teaching and teaching-related activities; (6) more whole-class teaching occurred in "setting" schools than in non-"setting" schools; and (7) teachers used a similar range of approaches in both contexts, with instruction used more frequently in "setting" schools. (KB)