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Stealth assessment has been successfully embedded in educational games to measure students' learning in an unobtrusive and supportive way. This study explored the possibility of applying stealth assessment in a digital reading platform and sought to identify potential in-system indicators of students' digital learning outcomes. Utilizing the user log data from third- to fifth-grade students (n = 573) who read an interactive Word Knowledge E-Book, we examined various user log variables and their associations with word knowledge and strategic reading outcomes. Descriptive analysis provided a depiction of the real-time reading processes and behaviors in which students engaged while digitally reading. Multiple regression analysis with classroom fixed effects demonstrated that user log variables relevant to answering questions and making decisions (i.e., percentage of embedded questions answered correctly; number of attempts to answer the questions; and making implausible decisions) were significantly associated with students' word knowledge and strategic reading outcomes. Variables indicating reading time and frequency, however, were not significantly associated with these outcomes. This study highlights the potential of interactive e-books as another digital learning environment to establish stealth assessment, which may allow researchers and educators to track students' reading processes and predict reading outcomes while supporting digital learning.

Children with stronger self-regulation skills generally demonstrate greater overall success in school both academically and socially. However, there are few valid and reliable measures of self-regulation in middle elementary school. Such a measure could help identify whether a child is truly having difficulties. Thus, the Remembering Rules and Regulation Picture Task (RRRP) was developed. The aim of this study was to develop scoring systems for the RRRP and then to examine the associations between RRRP and independent measures of self-regulation and academic achievement in mathematics and reading. Children (N = 282) from 34 third-grade classrooms in Florida participated in this study. Results revealed that the RRRP captured three constructs: working memory, attentional flexibility, and inhibitory control. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) demonstrated that the RRRP was significantly and positively associated with other measures of self-regulation. The RRRP was significantly and positively associated with mathematics and reading as well. The RRRP appears to be a promising measure of children's self-regulation skills.

Many children fail to comprehend what they read because they do not monitor their understanding, which requires making accurate judgements of what they know and then employing repair strategies when comprehension fails. Relying on research from learning science and cognitive and developmental psychology, we developed the Word Knowledge e-Book (WKe-Book) to improve children's calibration of their word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge overall; skills which are associated with reading comprehension. The WKe-Book, which is read on a tablet computer, is a choose-your-own adventure book where choices require choosing between two rare words (e.g., cogitate vs. procrastinate). Depending on the word chosen, the story follows a different plot. There are also embedded comprehension questions where students receive immediate feedback with consequences for incorrect answers, such as being sent back to reread a few pages. In a randomized controlled trial, we tested whether students (N = 603 in 25 third through fifth grade classrooms in Arizona in the US) reading the WKe-Book would demonstrate improved word knowledge, strategy use, and word knowledge calibration. Classrooms were randomly assigned to read the WKe-Book immediately (treatment) or later (delayed-treatment control), and within classrooms, students were randomly assigned to either participate in a 15-minute weekly book club (book club treatment) or to read the WKe-Book independently with no book club (no book club control). Results revealed a significant treatment effect of the WKe-Book on students' word knowledge, word knowledge calibration, and strategy use, which predicted student performance on standardized reading comprehension and vocabulary measures. The effects were greater for students who participated in weekly book clubs compared to students in the no book club control. These findings suggest that the affordances offered by technology, which are unavailable in paper-based books, can support students' development of metacognition, including word knowledge calibration, strategy use, and word learning skills.

Background: Format readability, including font and spacing, impacts reading metrics in adults, but will the research generalize to children? We examined how eight fonts (four serif and four sans serif) and three-character spacing variations influenced children's reading comprehension and reading speed. Methods: Fifty-one students in third–fifth grade read 11 narrative text passages on a computer and answered comprehension questions. Passages were randomized in terms of order. First, the font in which the text of each passage was presented was manipulated. Then passages were presented in three spacing manipulations (narrow, normal, and wide). Results: A linear mixed effects model demonstrated that, on a group-level, passages presented in Roboto and Arial font were read significantly faster (words-per-minute) than other fonts. On the individual level, students experienced significant boosts in reading speed (words-per-minute) between their best and worst fitting font, and spacing. A chi-square test showed no one font or spacing setting that was most likely to be a students' font fit or clash. For reading comprehension, no speed–comprehension tradeoff was observed. Conclusions: Changes to text format at the group and individual level may yield boosts in reading speed for students, without negatively impacting reading comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many assume that cognitive and linguistic processes, such as semantic knowledge (SK) and self-regulation (SR), subserve learned skills like reading. However, complex models of interacting and bootstrapping effects of SK, SR, instruction, and reading hypothesize reciprocal effects. Testing this "lattice" model with children (n = 852) followed from first to second grade (5.9-10.4 years of age) revealed reciprocal effects for reading and SR, and reading and SK, but not SR and SK. More effective literacy instruction reduced reading stability over time. Findings elucidate the synergistic and reciprocal effects of learning to read on other important linguistic, self-regulatory, and cognitive processes; the value of using complex models of development to inform intervention design; and how learned skills may influence development during middle childhood.

In this study, we investigated fifth graders' (n = 52) fall literacy, academic language, and motivation and how these skills predicted fall and spring comprehension monitoring on an eye movement task. Comprehension monitoring was defined as the identification and repair of misunderstandings when reading text. In the eye movement task, children read two sentences; the second included either a plausible or implausible word in the context of the first sentence. Stronger readers had shorter reading times overall suggesting faster processing of text. Generally fifth graders reacted to the implausible word (i.e., longer gaze duration on the implausible vs. the plausible word, which reflects lexical access). Students with stronger academic language, compared to those with weaker academic language, generally spent more time rereading the implausible target compared to the plausible target. This difference increased from fall to spring. Results support the centrality of academic language for meaning integration, setting standards of coherence, and utilizing comprehension repair strategies.

We examined classrooms as complex systems that affect students' literacy learning through interacting effects of content and amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction along with the global quality of the classroom learning environment. We observed 27 3rd-grade classrooms serving 315 target students using 2 different observation systems. The first assessed instruction at a more micro level, specifically, the amount of time individual students spent in literacy instruction defined by the type of instruction, role of the teacher, and content. The second assessed the quality of the classroom learning environment at a more macro level, focusing on classroom organization, teacher responsiveness, and support for vocabulary and language. Results revealed that both global quality of the classroom learning environment and time individual students spent in specific types of literacy instruction covering specific content interacted to predict students' comprehension and vocabulary gains, whereas neither system alone did. These findings support a dynamic systems model of how individual children learn in the context of classroom literacy instruction and the classroom learning environment, which can help to improve observations systems, advance research, elevate teacher evaluation and professional development, and enhance student achievement.

Classmates' academic skill level (peer effects) is emerging as an important predictor of individual student achievement, particularly in the early grades. However, less is known about the influence of peer effects with regard to classmates' self-regulation skills and whether they are associated with students' academic gains. Examining this is the purpose of the current study. Using a direct measure of self-regulation, the head-toes-knees-shoulders (HTKS), which assesses students' ability to coordinate their attention, ability to inhibit and switch tasks, and working memory, the classroom mean HTKS was computed to represent peer effects. With 2 cohorts of 1st graders, the effect of peers' self-regulation on literacy outcomes was examined, controlling for individual student self-regulation. In Cohort 1, 445 participants from 46 1st grade classrooms in 10 schools were included. In Cohort 2, 633 students in 68 classrooms in 18 schools were included. Using hierarchical linear modeling, peer effects predicted children's growth in passage comprehension (Cohen's d = 0.35 for Cohort 1 and 0.31 for Cohort 2) as well as their vocabulary growth (Cohen's d = 0.24 for Cohort 1 and 0.16 for Cohort 2). These were independent effects above that of individual children's fall self-regulation and school-wide percentage of students qualifying for the U.S. free and reduced price lunch program, which were both significantly related to student literacy outcomes. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

Central to the initiation of a T cell dependent immune response is the recognition of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I or class II molecules (in humans termed HLA and in mice termed H-2) bound to antigenic peptide. T cell receptors (TCR) have programmed specificity for particular peptide/MHC complexes, which ensures focused immune responses are generated against the antigen source. To design effective peptide based vaccines a comprehensive understanding of the specific interactions between MHC molecules and peptide, and of TCR recognition of MHC/peptide is valuable. We place particular emphasis on non-canonical bound peptides and their use in immunotherapy studies.

The type I IFNs exert a range of activities that include antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory effects. To study this further, we have constructed recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing HIV or hemagglutinin (HA) Ags along with murine type I IFNs, IFN-alpha(4) (HA-VV-IFN-alpha(4)), IFN-beta (HA-VV-IFN-beta), or IFN-epsilon (HIV-VV-IFN-epsilon), a recently discovered member of this family. Our aims were to characterize IFN-epsilon functionality as a type I IFN and also to study the biological properties of these factors toward the development of safer and more effective vector-based vaccines. HIV-VV-IFN-epsilon and HA-VV-IFN-beta grew to lower titers than did their parental controls in murine cell lines. In vivo, however, HIV-VV-IFN-epsilon growth was not attenuated, while IFN-beta demonstrated potent local antiviral activity with no replication of HA-VV-IFN-beta detected. Flow cytofluorometric analysis of B lymphocytes incubated with virally encoded IFN-epsilon showed up-regulation of activation markers CD69 and CD86, while RT-PCR of IFN-epsilon-treated cells revealed that gene expression levels of antiviral proteins were elevated, indicating the induction of an antiviral state. The use of these constructs in a poxvirus prime-boost immunization regime led to robust humoral and cellular immune responses against the encoded Ags, despite the lack of replication in the case of HA-VV-IFN-beta. Thus, coexpression of these factors may be beneficial in the design of safer vector-based vaccines. Our data also indicate that while IFN-epsilon exhibits certain biological traits similar to other type I IFNs, it may also have a specific role in mucosal immune regulation that is quite distinct.