How Animals Help Students Learn summarizes what we know about the impact of animals in education and synthesizes the thinking of prominent leaders in research and practice. It's a much-needed resource for mental-health and education professionals interested in incorporating animals in school-based environments, one that evaluates the efficacy of existing programs and helps move the field toward evidence-based practice. Experts from around the world provide concrete examples of how animals have been successfully incorporated into classroom settings to achieve the highest level of benefit while also ensuring the health and welfare of the students and animals involved.

There has been much talk and effort focused on the educational achievement gap between white versus black, Hispanic and American Indian students. While there has been some movement the gap has not appreciably narrowed, and it has narrowed the least for Native American students. This volume addresses this disparity by melding evidence-based instruction with culturally sensitive materials and approaches, outlining how we as educators and scientists can pay the educational debt we owe our children. In the tradition of the Native American authors who also contribute to it, this volume will be a series of "stories" that will reveal how the authors have built upon research evidence and linked it with their knowledge of history and culture to develop curricula, materials and methods for instruction of not only Native American students, but of all students. It provides a framework for educators to promote cultural awareness and honor the cultures and traditions that too few people know about. After each major section of the volume, the editors will provide commentary that will give an overview of these chapters and how they model approaches and activities that can be applied to other minority populations, including Blacks, Hispanics, and minority and indigenous groups in nations around the globe.

This book brings together in one volume information about the neurobiological, genetic, and behavioral bases of reading and reading disabilities. In recent years, research on assessment and treatment of reading disability (dyslexia) has become a magnet for the application of new techniques and technologies from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. This interdisciplinary fusion has yielded numerous and diverse findings regarding the brain basis of this syndrome, which are discussed in this volume by leading researchers. Intervention approaches based on such research are presented. The book also calls for research in specific directions, to encourage the field to continue moving into the bold frontier of how the brain reads. The volume is essential reading for a range of researchers, clinicians, and other professionals interested in reading and reading disability, and also commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Extraordinary Brain Conferences hosted by The Dyslexia Foundation.

There has been much talk and effort focused on the educational achievement gap between white versus black, Hispanic and American Indian students. While there has been some movement the gap has not appreciably narrowed, and it has narrowed the least for Native American students. This volume addresses this disparity by melding evidence-based instruction with culturally sensitive materials and approaches, outlining how we as educators and scientists can pay the educational debt we owe our children. In the tradition of the Native American authors who also contribute to it, this volume will be a series of "stories" that will reveal how the authors have built upon research evidence and linked it with their knowledge of history and culture to develop curricula, materials and methods for instruction of not only Native American students, but of all students. It provides a framework for educators to promote cultural awareness and honor the cultures and traditions that too few people know about. After each major section of the volume, the editors will provide commentary that will give an overview of these chapters and how they model approaches and activities that can be applied to other minority populations, including Blacks, Hispanics, and minority and indigenous groups in nations around the globe.

This book brings together in one volume information about the neurobiological, genetic, and behavioral bases of reading and reading disabilities. In recent years, research on assessment and treatment of reading disability (dyslexia) has become a magnet for the application of new techniques and technologies from neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. This interdisciplinary fusion has yielded numerous and diverse findings regarding the brain basis of this syndrome, which are discussed in this volume by leading researchers. Intervention approaches based on such research are presented. The book also calls for research in specific directions, to encourage the field to continue moving into the bold frontier of how the brain reads.

The volume is essential reading for a range of researchers, clinicians, and other professionals interested in reading and reading disability, and also commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Extraordinary Brain Conferences hosted by The Dyslexia Foundation.

The recent progress in cognitive neuroscience, and the importance of genetic factors and gene-environment interactions in shaping behavioral functions in early childhood, have both underscored the primacy of early experience and development on brain development and function. The contributors to this volume discuss different paradigms and approaches in infant language and cognition, pushing the frontiers of research by innovatively combining methods, introducing new measures, and demonstrating the use of technologies and measurement approaches that can inform the study of word learning and categorization, gaze, attention, gesture, and physiological functions. The volume offers a blend of theories and empirical evidence to support, refute, or modify them. Most chapters examine the link between theory and methodology, and their appearance together in a single volume serves to inform and engage multiple disciplines, to engage everyone to think across disciplines and paradigms, to embrace the integration of creativity and science as the field continues to study in greater depth and with innovative measures and approaches, the infant pathways to language. The volume is essential reading for a wide range of students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in infant cognitive and language development.

The recent progress in cognitive neuroscience, and the importance of genetic factors and gene-environment interactions in shaping behavioral functions in early childhood, have both underscored the primacy of early experience and development on brain development and function. The contributors to this volume discuss different paradigms and approaches in infant language and cognition, pushing the frontiers of research by innovatively combining methods, introducing new measures, and demonstrating the use of technologies and measurement approaches that can inform the study of word learning and categorization, gaze, attention, gesture, and physiological functions. The volume offers a blend of theories and empirical evidence to support, refute, or modify them. Most chapters examine the link between theory and methodology, and their appearance together in a single volume serves to inform and engage multiple disciplines, to engage everyone to think across disciplines and paradigms, to embrace the integration of creativity and science as the field continues to study in greater depth and with innovative measures and approaches, the infant pathways to language. The volume is essential reading for a wide range of students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in infant cognitive and language development.

How Animals Help Students Learn summarizes what we know about the impact of animals in education and synthesizes the thinking of prominent leaders in research and practice. It's a much-needed resource for mental-health and education professionals interested in incorporating animals in school-based environments, one that evaluates the efficacy of existing programs and helps move the field toward evidence-based practice. Experts from around the world provide concrete examples of how animals have been successfully incorporated into classroom settings to achieve the highest level of benefit while also ensuring the health and welfare of the students and animals involved.

This book contains reports of research on bilingualism in infants and children as well as perspectives from those involved in cross-linguistic research on language development, literacy development in bilingual children, and psycholinguistic research on bilingualism in adults. It offers a fresh multidisciplinary perspective and next steps for research on childhood bilingualism.

From infancy through old age, many people's lives are enriched by the love of a pet. In addition, both volunteer and trained service animals are an increasingly common sight as they participate in hospital, school, and nursing home visitation and therapeutic programs. Yet, there has been little scientific research on the role that pets and therapeutic animals play in our health and development. While animal-assisted therapies appear promising, they often lack solid evidence of effectiveness. More research is therefore needed to understand the effects of human-animal interaction (HAI) and to optimize the value of this interaction. The findings in this volume deepen our understanding of human and animal behavior, including the impact that pets can have on children's development and the efficacy of animal-assisted therapies. This volume first addresses HAI research methodology, including recommended research designs, terminology, and topics for further exploration. It then summarizes the progress of HAI research in child development and human health, including how young children think about animals, links between children's early abuse of animals and later conduct disorders, the association between pet ownership and better health, and whether such health improvements result in health cost savings. The volume ends with a detailed agenda for future research. With its interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to a wide range of researchers and practitioners interested in what happens when people meet and engage with animals.

Our relationships with animals, as anyone with a beloved dog or cat knows, can be among the most significant in our lives. But why are we so attached to our pets? What kind of health, developmental, and psychological impacts do animals have on us? And what practical benefits - for animals and humans alike - can be gained from a deeper understanding of human-animal interactions? In this volume, a cross-disciplinary group of authors that includes behavioral psychologists, neuroscientists, geneticists, ethicists and veterinarians seek to understand human-animal interactions by applying research in the neurobiology and genetics that underlie human social functioning. Chapters describe the concepts and methodologies that social neuroscientists use to understand human social relationships, functioning, and the social bases of cognition, and apply these to understanding the role of animals in our lives. Authors present evolutionary and developmental perspectives, and weigh the implications of human-animal interactions research for animal welfare. Clinical applications include animal-assisted therapies for people with disabilities, acute or chronic health conditions, and social or emotional difficulties. Clear and accessible, this book is intended for a broad readership that includes clinicians, teachers, and anyone interested in how and why animals affect us the way they do.

How do children develop reading skills-and when these skills don't develop typically, how can we best identify challenges and intervene? Find the answers in this comprehensive volume on dyslexia: its root causes, the most effective methods of diagnosis and treatment, and the sociopolitical factors that affect intervention. Based on presentations from the seventeenth Extraordinary Brain Symposium, this book brings together contributions from more than 50 top researchers and practitioners, who explore critical topics such as: * Early identification of children at risk for reading difficulty * The use of neuroimaging and molecular genetics to better understand the origins of dyslexia * The unique challenges to dyslexia assessment and intervention in developing countries * Important insights from computer-based simulations of developmental dyslexia * The impact of race, poverty, and linguistic differences on the accurate diagnosis of dyslexia * The current state of teacher preparation programs * Key considerations related to universal screening tools * How to scale up evidence-based interventions for reading disorders An essential resource for researchers, graduate students, and reading specialists, this book is an authoritative synthesis of what we know about dyslexia-and what we need to know to provide better supports for struggling readers.

What causes dyslexia, and how does it manifest across languages? As bilingualism becomes increasingly important globally, these questions have never been more critical--and this comprehensive volume from The Dyslexia Foundation explores them in unprecedented depth.

Bringing together the best brain-based, genetics, and behavioral research in the field from more than 40 of today's most highly respected researchers, this landmark volume fully examines what we know about the identification, manifestations, and potential differences in dyslexia across languages and orthographies. International contributors share their groundbreaking studies, helping researchers and graduate-level students investigate key questions about dyslexia:

• How does dyslexia vary in frequency and manifestation among speakers of various alphabetic and nonalphabetic languages?
• How might the characteristics of different languages affect reading acquisition and reading difficulties?
• How do genetic profiles interact with environment to influence how reading difficulties manifest?
• Are there unique neurobiological and/or behavioral characteristics that are universal to dyslexia?
• How can computational and statistical modeling contribute to a better understanding of reading difficulties in children and adults?
• In what ways might bilingualism influence reading and reading difficulties?

The editors also lay out a clear agenda for future research on reading, writing, and dyslexia across the world's languages and orthographies. These specific next steps will pave the way for more and better research and encourage stronger interdisciplinary collaborations among fields, such as cognitive science, neuroscience, genetics, and education.

Reflecting 20 years of progress in our understanding of dyslexia, this foundational volume will lay the groundwork for tomorrow's practical resources--and help ensure that all children around the world have access to the best, most effective reading instruction.

With contributions by:

• Diane August
• Stanislas DeHaene
• Albert M. Galaburda
• Tomi K. Guttorm
• Debra Jared
• Chia Ying Lee
• Joseph J. LoTurco
• Gigi Luk
• James S. Magnuson
• Catherine McBride-Chang
• Charles Perfetti
• Ulla Richardson
• Mark Seidenberg
• Ayumi Seki
• Linda S. Siegel
• Shelley D. Smith
• Richard K. Wagner
• Johannes C. Ziegler

This book is part of the Brookes Publishing The Extraordinary Brain Series

This latest volume in the Extraordinary Brain series represents a joint effort between researchers and practitioners to shape the future of early reading intervention by taking stock of the present and making recommendations for the future. Effective early reading intervention depends on research and practice that leads to positive changes in classroom practice and better student reading outcomes. This important volume promotes the valuable “research to practice to research” loop, bringing top experts and practitioners together to examine what we know—and what we need to know—about effective reading and writing intervention. The newest addition to the respected Extraordinary Brain series, this book compiles and expands on critical findings presented at The Dyslexia Foundation’s biannual symposium. More than 35 researchers and practitioners explore the latest on topics relevant to effective reading and writing education, from neurobiology and genetics to specific strategies for translating research into intervention—and learning from the results of these interventions to inform new research. The concluding chapters map out key priorities for future research and innovation. An essential text for teachers, reading specialists, reading researchers, administrators, and students in graduate courses, this volume marks a significant step toward resolving the literacy challenges of young learners. It will also help move the field toward a firmly established “research to practice to research” collaboration among researchers and practitioners. Key topics covered: neurobiological bases of word recognition and comprehension how behavioral genetics can inform education translating and applying research to the classroom designing and interpreting the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) the correlation between rapid automatized naming (RAN) speed and reading development the impact of eye movement research on our understanding of skilled reading reading development and difficulties among English Language Learners dialect variation in African American children the writing challenges of children with dyslexia and Language Learning Difficulty (LLD) developing research ideas from classroom and school experiences specific considerations for the field as it progresses and develops and more

What's the connection between reading and writing, and how should they be taught both together and separately? Discover the answers in this cutting-edge research volume, ideal for use as a graduate-level text or a trusted professional reference. Featuring groundbreaking contributions from a who's who of top-level researchers, this important volume gives educators the foundational knowledge they'll need to plan and deliver high-quality, evidence-based reading and writing instruction aligned with Common Core State Standards. Educators will fully explore the link between reading and writing, learn how they complement and enhance each other, and discover promising instructional approaches that can strengthen all students' literacy skills and reduce achievement gaps. THE LATEST RESEARCH ON: Integrating reading and writing instruction Aligning instruction with Common Core State Standards Effectively translating the results of research studies into everyday practice Incorporating literacy instruction into academic content areas Developing a unified assessment model for literacy Building students' critical thinking skills Designing instruction and interventions for English language learners Creating preservice and inservice programs that help teachers support the reading-writing connection Using technology to teach and strengthen the reading-writing connection

As education professionals work to incorporate scientific, evidence-based practices into reading instruction, one thing is clear: sound decisions depend on a solid understanding of what the research says. This book brings together all the information readers need in a single volume. A masterful synthesis of information from leading experts in the field, this accessible resource helps school administrators, educators, and specialists answer complex questions about scientifically based reading research and make informed choices about teaching practices. Readers will learn how to read research literature, judge its value, apply it to practice, and recognize common myths about scientific research review the essential findings of the National Reading Panel report on Teaching Children to Read and examine up-to-the-minute research information about phonics and phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension find research-based explorations of practical classroom issues, such as preparing teachers to implement research findings, keeping students motivated, and helping students with reading disabilities learn about current brain research and neuroimaging and its influence on reading discover how reading research informs educational policy and get reliable information on current legislation Required reading for all professionals whose work deals with reading instruction, this book gives readers the clear, detailed information they need about one of today's most critical topics in early education.