Edge Enterprises (United States)

Abstract The purpose of this article is to describe a 40+ year journey during which researchers have endeavored to design and evaluate an integrated, empirically based reading intervention for secondary students and to chronicle the lessons learned as well as suggest future directions for this type of work. Initial development of the intervention began in the 1980s with individual studies, each focused on one part of the reading process (e.g., decoding, vocabulary, comprehension). The quantitative results of these studies showed significant differences between the experimental and the control group or between baseline and after‐instruction conditions. In 2004, an opportunity arose to integrate the empirically validated components within a whole reading program and to have that program independently evaluated. Several scaling‐up efforts have resulted. The lessons learned and the challenges inherent in scaling up an intervention are shared. Recommendations for future efforts related to putting research into practice are made.

This article chronicles the evolution of a programmatic line of research on strategic writing instruction for adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) conducted by staff and affiliates of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. The goal associated with this research is that students with LD learn the writing skills that they need to succeed in high school and beyond and that their skills are comparable to the skills of their peers. Individual studies have shown that adolescents with LD can master a given writing strategy and can apply that strategy to novel prompts and in general education classes. Moreover, they can learn simple writing strategies from computerized programs. They can also maintain use of a writing strategy over time. When students learn several writing strategies, their scores on standardized tests improve, and their writing competency is comparable to that of peers. Studies have also shown that teachers can teach the writing strategies and achieve successful results. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that students with LD receive the instruction under conditions where they have multiple opportunities to reach mastery on each skill and receive individualized feedback on practice attempts. Overall, the research has shown that adolescents with LD can learn complex writing skills such as planning, writing, and editing multiparagraph themes; can apply these skills to tasks that are assigned in required general education courses; and can be successful in those courses.

As organizations have become increasingly effective at reducing costs and improving efficiency in their operations, their attention has shifted to revenue growth. Tapping the collective creativity and know‐how of employees is emerging as one of the best ways to anticipate customer needs and grow new markets. Typically, when companies set out to create knowledge bases, the first issue that they tackle is technology. In many cases, resources and patience are exhausted by the time they have resolved technology issues. This paper reviews Arthur Andersen’s experiences in developing knowledge bases ‐ focusing on content; knowledge sharing; and culture change.