Results from phonological awareness research on assessment and intervention support two major suppositions. First, findings from correlational studies revealing that young children's phonological sensitivity is related to the future development of reading skills (Lonigan et al., 1998) validate early screening of phonological awareness to identify children who may be at risk for encountering reading difficulties. Second, experimental studies examining the effectiveness of phonological awareness instruction demonstrate that young children's phonological sensitivity can be promoted, thereby altering patterns of initial weaknesses (Bentin & Leshem, 1993; O'Connor et al., 1995b; Torgesen & Davis, 1996; Warrick et al., 1993) The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of small-group instruction designed to enhance whole-class phonological awareness instruction delivered to preschoolers. Intensive small-group instruction, which supplemented phonological awareness activities conducted with large classroom groups 3 times each week, was provided biweekly to students who demonstrated waeknesses in phonological awareness on pre-treatment measures. The contrast group of low-performing students participated in the whole-class phonological awareness instruction, but received no additional small-group instruction. All students enrolled in 4 different preschool classes participated in phonological awareness instruction delivered to intact classes of 17 to 20 students. Data collected on students participating in the low-skilled treatment and contrast groups and on a sample of average- to high-skilled students, serving as an additional contrast group, were analyzed to examine the effects of supplemental, intensive, small-group phonological awareness instruction delivered to low-skilled preschoolers. The effectiveness of supplemental, intensive, small-group phonological awareness instruction for preschoolers with little awareness of the phonological structure of language was not supported by the results of this study. Analyses of post-intervention scores revealed that the experimental treatment did not promote subjects' phonological awareness to levels significantly higher than those of the low-skilled contrast students, who participated only in phonological awareness instruction delivered to the whole class. The supplemental small-group instruction also did not promote subjects' phonological awareness to levels similar to those of the average- to high-skilled contrast students.

Recent research suggests that many young women are undergoing a particularly difficult time during early adolescence, beginning with the transition to middle school (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University [CASA], 2003; Albert, Brown, & Flanigan, 2003; American Association of University Women, 1992). Employing autoethnography, I studied my experience as girl and woman, student and teacher, in elementary and middle schools and how these informed my pedagogical practices and knowledge as an elementary school teacher. Drawing upon feminist theory and cultural studies as well as research narratives, I argue for the inclusion of "kinderculture" in the curriculum by considering how Barbie, a cultural icon, provides opportunities for students to explore the role of gender in schools. Additionally, I studied the role of depression in some girls' early adolescence. The increase in new cases of depression in females during early adolescence (Bebbington, 1996) reveals the troubled character of many girls' experience of adolescence. I propose a menopausal theory of curriculum that supports scholarly reflection and curricular attention to young girls' experiences of this often difficult period of their coming of age.

Struggling readers have been the central focus of American politics for decades. Teachers of all ages and experiences across America deliver reading instruction in a variety of ways. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of an effective teacher of reading in an elementary classroom setting. The study was conducted in a public and a private sector school in a capital city in the southern United States. Two principals, two second grade teachers, and two fourth grade teachers were participants in this study. A qualitative research focus provided the methodological basis for this study. The research design for this study emulated the work of James P. Spradley (1980), author of Participant Observation, and his Developmental Research Sequence Method. The researcher assumed the role of participant observer in the classroom. The participant role of the study involved becoming a member of the classroom. Field notes were used to record accurate data throughout the study. All six participants were interviewed, and a tape recorder was used to record each teacher's verbal language communicative patterns. Observation data and interviews developed into cultural themes. The cultural themes applied in recurrent activities and were located in two or more domains. The themes were established as educational background experience, communication and self-efficacy, observation and modeling, assessment, environment, behavior management, free-choice, instructional time, writing, and technology. Results indicated that although different strategies and approaches were used among the principals and teachers, the same elements and philosophies were required to effectively teach reading in an elementary school classroom, whether it be a public or private sector school.

This research questions current taken-for-granted meanings given to school, education, teaching and curriculum from an African/African American perspective. This inquiry is based on my experiences as an African American woman curriculum theorist committed to the education of African American youth. Drawing on the lifework of Sojourner Truth, a nineteenth century African American woman abolitionist and human rights activist, this work seeks to explore aspects of both African/African American-centered education and curriculum theory as a means of informing understandings of school, education, teaching and curriculum. My research question is: How does Sojourner Truth inform curriculum theory? This inquiry is a self-exploration and self-evaluation from African/African American-centered education through curriculum theory inspired by the call of Sojourner Truth. Referencing literature relative to Sojourner Truth, African/African American-centered education and curriculum theory, this dissertation makes connections between Truths lived experiences and its relevance to African/African American-centered education and curriculum theory. Based on Sojourner Truths African/African American world view as well as my own, I developed call-and-response in the context of I~We as my methodology which honors the communion, community, and communication of All-That-Exists. Using this as well as autobiographical methods, I explored an African world view, African/African American-centered education, curriculum theory as well as spirituality in education. The results of this inquiry suggest: 1) The role of spirituality in education needs to be reexamined so that the spirit of life can become the focus of school, education, teaching, and curriculum. 2) An African/African American world view of life is a guide, source, and resource for school, education, teaching, and curriculum; 3) To challenge limited, static contemporary approaches to learning, so-journeying is an authentic, organic process of and approach to learning which reflects learning as lifelong and rooted in life; 4) Following the belief that human beings are spiritual beings having a human experience, education necessitates creating sacred space.

The passage of the federal educational legislation, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, established foreign languages as a core curricular content area. Nonetheless, educational policy makers at the state and local levels often opt to allocate greater resources and give instructional priority to content areas in which students, and ultimately the school systems themselves, are held accountable through high-stakes testing. Although foreign languages are designated as a core content area, instructional emphasis continues to be placed on curricular areas that factor into state educational accountability programs. The present study employed a mixed-methodology design. The primary goal was to explore quantitatively whether foreign language study on the part of first-year third-grade foreign language students who continue their foreign language study through and including the fifth-grade in Louisiana public schools contributes to their academic achievement in curricular areas tested on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) test. Concurrently, a qualitative aim, using a survey and interviews, was to examine how foreign language teachers of students in the present study perceive that they link instruction to the reinforcement of English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies content standard skills. The findings of the present research indicate that foreign language students significantly outperformed their non-foreign language counterparts on every subtest of the LEAP 21 test and were more successful passing this test. Moreover, foreign language students significantly outperformed their non-language peers on the language portion of the fifth-grade ITBS.

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts and the environment, how growing a plant affects preservice teachers understanding, and which types of activity-rich plant themes studies, if any, affect preservice elementary teachers understandings. The participants in the study were enrolled in two elementary science methods class sections at a state university. Each group was administered a preinstructional test at the beginning of the study. The treatment group participated in inquiry-based activities related to the Principles of Plant Biology (American Society of Plant Biologists, 2001), while the comparison group studied those same concepts through traditional instructional methods. A focus group was formed from the treatment group to participate in co-concept mapping sessions. The participants understandings were assessed through artifacts from activities, a comparison of pre- and postinstructional tests, and the concept maps generated by the focus group. Results of the research indicated that the whole-plant, inquiry-based instructional strategy can be applied to teach preservice elementary teachers plant biology while modeling the human constructivist approach. The results further indicated that this approach enhanced their understanding of plant science content knowledge, as well as pedagogical knowledge. The results also showed that a whole-plant approach to teaching plant science concepts is an instructional strategy that is feasible for the elementary school. The theoretical framework for this study was Human Constructivist learning theory (Mintzes & Wandersee, 1998). The content knowledge and instructional strategy was informed by the Principles of Plant Biology (American Society of Plant Biologists, 2001) and Botany for the Next Millennium (Botanical Society of America, 1995). As a result of this study, a better understanding of the factors that influence preservice elementary teachers knowledge of plant science principles may benefit elementary science educator in preparing teachers that are highly qualified.

David Orr (1994) asserts that the ecological crisis is a crisis of education. This study explores the relationship between the ecological crisis and education by examining the role that language plays in shaping perceptions of the natural world. Toward this end it analyzes narratives of science, literature and other disciplines that conceptualize the natural world as object and as subject. It evaluates how particular metaphors used in reference to the natural world enhance or impede ecological understanding and the cultivation of responsibility and stewardship and considers ways in which these conceptualizations might be used as a basis for new curriculum theorizing. In looking at our relationship to Earth, this dissertation explores the notion of intersubjectivity (Abram, 1996) as expressed in philosophical and theoretical writings on participatory consciousness (Berman, 1981, Abram, 1996), empathic fusion (Goizueta, 1995), and bodymind or embodied knowing (Hocking, Haskell, & Linds, 1999). Marginal or in-between spaces emerge from these narratives as important and potentially transformative sites of relationship and meaning making wherein dualities are reconciled and physical and metaphysical realms merge. The implications of these particular findings form the theoretical core of this work's conclusions. This dissertation makes an original contribution to the field of curriculum theory in the following ways: It situates discursive knowledge in the larger context of the natural world, with nature as text and conversation partner in the process of knowledge construction. In dialog with the natural world, it explores new curricular spaces of mystery and spirit. It suggests soil, roots, and mycorrhizae as rich and regenerative metaphors for curriculum theorizing. It highlights the work of the nature writers as a resource for engendering new understandings of the natural world as having voice, identity, and agency, suggests this body of literature as a curricular resource for cultivating ecological understandings, and places this literature in conversation with the field of curriculum theory. Finally, it argues for a both/and dialogic position regarding the notions of local knowledge and metanarrative. In these ways, it seeks to philosophically fund a move away from an ecologically disabling anthropocentrism and toward a greater intimacy with the natural world.

This content analysis study examined 36 plant-centered childrens science picture books that have a plot and characters published from 1950 to present. Botanical subject matter and learning opportunities offered by these books were analyzed, along with the range and frequency of the National Science Education Standards-consistent and age-appropriate plant science concepts and principles. The science graphics, artistic innovations, and story plot of these books were also examined. Rubrics and research-based recommendations were developed to offer parents, teachers, and librarians assistance in identifying, evaluating, and using such books to help children of ages 4-8 learn about plants and enjoy plant science. This genre of childrens literature was identified and selected primarily through extensive research at four major, nationally recognized childrens literature collections: The Kerlan Collection, The de Grummond Collection, The Center for Childrens Books, and The Central Childrens Room at the Donnell Library. This study determined that there was a substantial increase in the number of books written in this genre of childrens literature from 1990 to 2000. Botanical subject-matter knowledge and learning opportunities offered by these books include biodiversity of plants; characteristics of plants; life cycles of plants; economic botany, ecology, and ethnobotany. The range and frequency of National Standards-consistent and age-appropriate plant science concepts and principles identified within these books, in part, though not exclusively, included the emergent categories of the process of photosynthesis; basic needs of plants; plant structures; external signals affecting plant growth; environmental stress to plants; biodiversity of plants; plants as animal habitats; and common uses of plants. With regard to plant science graphics, 13 books were identified as presenting some type of science graphic, beyond simple illustrations. The most frequently used graphics were cutaways, sequence diagrams, and zoom graphics. The findings relative to story plot and characters revealed that the majority of story plots involved a problem followed by a solution, rather than merely a series of events. The main character(s) of these stories were most often Caucasians (44%), followed by plants (28%), Hispanics (11%), animals personified (8%), African Americans (6%), and indigenous peoples (3%). Most often the stories took place in rural settings.

Texts are contextualized¡Xtied to times, tied to places, and tied to the people who live in those times and places. This dissertation is based on a study of writing and identity set at Catholic High School in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana. For their senior English class, the six young women participating in the study produced a number of pieces of writing of various types, contrasting in genre, length, content, and register. These kinds of writing represent varying discourse practices, and it was within these practices that the young women positioned themselves or were positioned by influences in their social context. The genres produced by the young women in my study were, for the most part, associated with the familiar school genre, the essay, which is common in English classes and in academic discourse. Essay types were the analytical literary essay, the problem-solution essay (or argument), the process essay, the descriptive essay, and the informative report. The genres also included creative writing, comprising stories and fables for all as well as poetry for some individuals. There were two kinds of writing explicitly addressing experiences and events in individuals' lives: personal narratives, which are a common form in school, and autobiographies, which are less common. One student wrote meditations. In addition, students kept journals, but these had few similarities to journals that people keep in the world outside of school. The inquiry revealed convergence as well as tension among various positions associated with gender, race, class, place, and religion and also showed evidence of recurring themes and conflicts in writers¡¦ bodies of work. Also apparent, through the analyses, was an influence from genre, writers assuming a particular position when writing in a particular genre and not in others. In addition, there was some evidence of intertextual historyodirect connections of texts with prior texts a writer had written. Most interestingly, the various writings showed the students to be dealing with future ¡§possibilities¡¨ as well as present and past ¡§realities¡¨ in their own lives, not only in writing that is considered to be focused on the self, such as personal narrative, autobiography, and poetry, but also in writing that is not considered to be self-focused, such as literary essays. To summarize, the study shows the multiplicity and flexibility of writing identity even in bodies of work produced for school.

The purpose of this study is to write the life history of a black woman educator is order to enhance our understandings of educational activism and social change in the Deep South. African American educators have been marginalized and under represented in their communities despite the roles they have played in ameliorating educational inequalities. The life history of seventy-year-old Clara Byrd Glaspers activism as a black woman educator is one example. Life history, as a method of research, reveals an individuals life experiences from their perspective and provides the appropriate methodology to explore the following research questions: In the context of activism, what do we learn from Claras story about the process of social change?; what does it mean to be a black woman educator activist fighting for educational equality?; what are the motivating factors that sparked Clara Glaspers fight for educational equality?; what strategies did Clara Glasper use to meet the challenges she encountered in a segregated society? These questions are answered through a combination of life history interviews and an examination of historical documents connected with the longest running desegregation lawsuit in the history of the United States, forty-seven-year-old <u>Clifford Eugene Davis, et al. v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, et al.</u>(Mathews & Jarvis, 1997). The fifteen recorded interviews approximately two hours in length were conducted from July 2000 to December 2002. The interviews were edited into a first person narrative spanning Clara Glaspers entire life. An introduction providing a context begins each chapter. Next, Claras first person narrative becomes the body of each chapter. Reflections follow the narrative at the end of each chapter where my voice is heard. This research concludes that unlike other black women educator activists, Clara Glaspers activism for social change went through three stages: awareness, advocacy, and full-time activism. Embedded in her life story, three themes emerge that necessitate a rethinking of their implications for the field of education: activism, educational equality, and racism. Lastly, this life history is important to the field of education because it raises serious questions about how African Americans continue to be marginalized.