FOURTH GRADERS' PERFORMANCE ON A STATE-MANDATED ASSESSMENT INVOLVING TWO DIFFERENT MEASURES OF READING COMPREHENSION

This study examined fourth graders' performance on two reading comprehension measures, involving a question-answering format and a cloze format, which were part of a state-mandated assessment. Word-level reading skills and oral language comprehension were important to success on both formats, but word accuracy had a stronger relationship to the cloze than to the question-answering measure. Language comprehension related strongly to both formats. The cognitive profiles associated with poor reading comprehension varied, but most often involved a specific difficulty in accuracy of pseudoword decoding. The results suggest that test format should be considered in interpreting reading comprehension performance and underscore the need to assess specific component abilities in reading.     

The Need for a New Psychological Model of Religious Development

This article summarizes the most prominent theories of religious development that are rooted in Piagetian tradition: R. Goldman, D. Elkind, J. Fowler, F. Oser. Following a discussion of some of their assumptions and presuppositions, the paper presents a rationale for a new theoretical model of religious development applicable to Christian populations and congruent with a Christian worldview.     

Cross-Cultural Counseling at the Crossroads: A Dialogue with Clemmont E. Vontress

Clemmont E. Vontress, professor of education at George Washington University, discusses the genesis, status, and future direction of cross-cultural counseling, the subspecialty of which he is a pioneer and frequent contributor to its growing body of literature.     

An empirical study of occupational families in the youth labour market

This research aims at identifying job families for use in broadly based training for young people. A total of 455 job incumbents in the youth labour market were interviewed using the Job Components Inventory (JCI). The job sample was heterogeneous, reflecting a wide range of industries and job titles; some of these were skilled but mainly they were semi- and unskilled. The JCI covers the use of tools and equipment, physical and perceptual skills, mathematical requirements, communication, decision making and responsibility. Cluster analysis of items identified 36 skill components. These formed the basis for job-holder profiles, which in turn were grouped by hierarchical clustering. The optimal solution resulted in six clusters, the characteristics of which were described in terms of JCI component scores. The six clusters were labelled as clerical, skilled interpersonal, operative, unskilled manual, intermediate skilled technical and skilled technical. The stability of these six clusters was assessed using split-half replications. Results are discussed and evaluated in the context of contemporary youth training needs.     

The White House Conference: tips or taps for counselors?

Counselors cannot continue to drift complacently in the shallows of their traditional roles. Whatever their work setting, they must heed the symbolic cries of their clients who feel alienated from family, school, work, institutions, and even from themselves, and find solace in meaningless or destructive outlets. If the counseling profession has a future, it will be concerned with humanizing environments where children, youth, and adults live, learn, work, and play; serving as advocates for all persons of all ages; and responding positively to the complexities of living which confront everyone. These priorities, highlighted by the 1970 White House Conference on Children, seem to have implications for the survival of all counseling.     

THE JOB COMPONENTS INVENTORY AND THE ANALYSIS OF JOBS REQUIRING LIMITED SKILL

The Job Components Inventory, a new job analysis technique examining the use of tools and equipment, physical and perceptual requirements, mathematical requirements, communication requirements, and decision-making and responsibility requirements, is introduced. Results of a study of 100 job holders demonstrate a high reliability of the technique in terms of supervisor-job holder agreement, and the method is shown by analysis of variance and cluster analysis successfully to discriminate between and within job titles. The technique is proving to be a practical instrument for use in curriculum development, careers guidance and broad-based training, and recommendations for its further use and evaluations are made.