Roxel (France)

Purpose: Norm-referenced, standardized measures are tools designed to characterize a child’s abilities relative to their same-aged peers, but they have also been used to measure changes in skills during intervention. This study compared the psychometric properties of four types of available scores from one commonly used standardized measure, the Preschool Language Scales-5 (PLS-5), to detect changes in children’s language skills during and after a language intervention. Method: This study included data from 110 autistic children ages 18-48 months whose mother participated in an 8-week parent-mediated language intervention. Children’s language skills were measured at three timepoints using the PLS-5. Changes in children’s expressive and receptive language skills were calculated using raw scores, standard scores, age equivalents, and growth scale values (GSVs).Results: Analysis of raw scores, age equivalents, and GSVs indicated significant improvement in autistic children’s scores in both receptive and expressive language throughout the study (i.e., during the intervention period and in the 3-month period after the intervention). Standard scores suggested improvement only in the receptive language scale during the intervention period. Standard scores showed a floor effect for children who scored at -3 SD below the mean.Conclusions: Findings suggested that GSVs were not only psychometrically-sound, but were the most direct, and sensitive measure of changes in skills compared to raw, standard, and age equivalent scores. Floor effects may limit the sensitivity of standard scores to detect changes in children’s skills. Strengths, limitations, and interpretations of each of the scoring approaches in measuring changes in skills during intervention were discussed.

The gaps in teacher training in general need to be corrected in order to improve the quality of education offered, especially in public schools.However, when we take as an example the teaching of literature in the high school, we see that the issue is the subject of discussion of several researchers and teachers, such as Todorov (2009), Rouxel (2013), and Bridi (2016).Based on our studies, on the work we do in a public school classroom and on Chapter IV of Daniel Pennac's book, Better than life, published in 1992, we try to bring in this article some ideas on how to work on literary reading and teaching literature deepening the relationship between students and books.

For many years, reduction of fuel consumption has been a major aim in terms of both costs and environmental concerns. One option is to reduce the weight of fuel consumers. For this purpose, the use of a lightweight material based on rigid foams is a relevant choice. This paper deals with a new high temperature epoxy expanded material as substitution of phenolic resin, classified as potentially mutagenic by European directive Reach. The optimization of thermoset foam depends on two major parameters, the reticulation process and the expansion of the foaming agent. Controlling these two phenomena can lead to a fully expanded and cured material. The rheological behavior of epoxy resin is studied and gel time is determined at various temperatures. The expansion of foaming agent is investigated by thermomechanical analysis. Results are correlated and compared with samples foamed in the same temperature conditions. The ideal foaming/gelation temperature is then determined. The second part of this research concerns the optimization of curing cycle of a high temperature trifunctional epoxy resin. A two-step curing cycle was defined by considering the influence of different curing schedules on the glass transition temperature of the material. The final foamed material has a glass transition temperature of 270 °C.