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This article asserts that a carefully administered informal reading inventory (IRI) provides important information on low-achieving readers that is "not" provided by an end-of-grade standardized reading test. Using case studies of students' IRI performance, we address the concept of instructional level and the necessity of teaching low readers at the appropriate difficulty level--"meeting them where they are"--in the classroom and resource room. In doing so, we note that instructional-level (or below-grade-level) reading can, over time, drive low readers' print-processing skill (accuracy and rate), eventually enabling them, through purposeful practice, to "self-improve" their overall reading (including comprehension). While such improvement may not show up on an end-of-year standardized test, it will show up on an end-of-year IRI.

Cambodian social and economic systems are in an era of transformation as the nation transitions from its history of war and tragedy into a future shaped by more democratic institutions and free market policies. During the 1970s, under the Khmer Rouge, the people of Cambodia were forced to live communally and survive through collective agriculture. Starvation, hard labor, knowledge destruction, and summary execution resulted in a nation facing high levels of poverty, intellectual loss, and food insecurity. Today, while strides have been made to increase economic and social outcomes, the predominantly rural country is still characterized by a weak educational system and economic dependence on agriculture. To better understand the role of the Khmer Rouge era on agriculture, a qualitative comparative case study analysis of Cambodian agriculture pre‐ and post‐Pol Pot regime was conducted. Results indicate that the Khmer Rouge reduced labor availability, stunted rice production output, collectivized and centralized farming systems, intensified production, and created an overall loss of crop diversity and knowledge. It is necessary to understand the influence that the conflict had on Cambodian agricultural systems to assure the nation is able to transition from an unsustainable, extensification‐based agriculture system to a diverse, sustainably intensified agricultural landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addressed the concept of reading instructional level. First, we reviewed the history of the concept, including some recent criticisms of its validity (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2017; Shanahan, 2014). Next, we examined, from an instructional-level perspective, the oral reading performance of 248 third graders. We divided the sample into quartiles (based on third-grade reading rate) and tested for between-quartile differences in the students' reading of second-, third-, and fourth-grade passages. A major finding was that the lowest quartile differed significantly from the other quartiles in oral reading accuracy and rate, showing, at best, a second-grade print-processing level at the end of third grade. Finally, we considered how our findings raise old--and still controversial--questions about the best way to provide instruction to low-achieving readers in the elementary grades.

Grounded in the simple view of reading, this study tracked the development of print-processing skill in high-, average-, and low-achieving readers at six time points across grades 1-3. Results showed large between-group differences in sight vocabulary, oral reading accuracy, and oral reading rate that remained stable from beginning of first grade to end of third grade. While the average group consistently met pre-set instructional-level criteria for oral reading accuracy and rate, the low group did not. Implications for assessment and instruction are provided.

Within a developmental framework, this study compared the predictive validity of three DIBELS tasks (phoneme segmentation fluency [PSF], nonsense word fluency [NWF], and oral reading fluency [ORF]) with that of three alternative tasks drawn from the field of reading (phonemic spelling [phSPEL], word recognition-timed [WR-t], and graded passage reading [grPASS), an oral reading fluency measure). Two cohorts of students (n = 319) were assessed with the aforementioned tasks multiple times across a four-year period--middle of kindergarten through end of third grade. The results were clear and closely replicated in the two cohorts: (a) phSPEL (moderate) outperformed DIBELS PSF (weak to moderate) in predicting future orthographic-unit processing; (b) WR-t (very strong) outperformed DIBELS NWF (moderate) in predicting future oral reading fluency; and (c) DIBELS ORF and grPASS were equally good predictors (moderately strong) of future reading comprehension.

In this study we explore students' reading rates in grades 1-3. We begin with a short history of reading rate as an assessment measure in the early grades. Next, we share rate data from a recent study (N = 305) where children's contextual reading was assessed with a traditional passage-reading inventory. A comparison of our average grade-level rates with those rates reported in the DIBELS literature shows that they match closely. Finally, we introduce the concept of minimum grade-level rates, emphasizing its practical significance to teachers and researchers alike.

This study explored print-processing and vocabulary differences among a group of 5th- and 6th-grade students who had scored below the 50th percentile on a standardized reading test. Guided by the simple view of reading, we applied cut scores (low/high) to the students' performance on print-processing and vocabulary tasks. The design allowed for the placement of students in 1 of 4 reader profiles: (a) high print processing/low vocabulary (25%), (b) high print processing/high vocabulary (14%), (c) low print processing/high vocabulary (14%), or (d) low print processing/low vocabulary (48%). An important finding was that 62% of the students could not read grade-level text with adequate accuracy and rate. In fact, many could not read comfortably a full level below their grade placement. We consider instructional implications.

Force probes are versatile tools in the physics lab, but their internal workings can introduce artifacts when measuring rapidly changing forces. The Dual-Range Force Sensor by Vernier uses strain gage technology to measure force, based on the bending of a beam. Strain gages along the length of the beam change resistance as the beam bends. The elasticity of the beam leads to oscillations that persist after being excited by an impulsive force. How quickly the force probe freely returns to zero is thus related to the rigidity of the beam and the total mass attached to it. By varying the added mass and measuring the resulting frequency of the probe's internal free oscillations, the effective mass and spring constant of the probe's moveable parts can be found. Weighing of the probe parts and conducting a Hooke's law experiment provide static verification of these parameters. Study of the force sensor's behavior helps students to learn about damped harmonic motion, mathematical modeling, and the limitations of measuring devices.

Results of a laboratory modeling study are presented for excluding bed load sediment from a diversion/intake structure on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To achieve model similitude, crushed coal was used to model the prototype sediment in a 1:24 scaled model with an exaggerated slope such that shear force is adequately modeled. The Shields parameters and critical Shields parameters were matched between the prototype and the model, resulting in similar grain Reynolds numbers. Twenty-four tests, where guiding walls, submerged vanes, and/or the angle of the intake bay were altered, were conducted for a single river and diversion flow rate to develop the best performing sediment exclusion system at the intake structure. Independent vanes with 45[degrees] rotated intake bays were recommended for the most effective sediment exclusion at the intake structure. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0000149 CE Database subject headings: Diversion structures; Intake structures; Sediment; Submerging; Bed loads; Rio Grande; New Mexico. Author keywords: Diversion structure; Intakes; Sediment; Similitude; Submerged vane.