In recent years much interest has been focused on the manner in which the young child acquires language. Some researchers (Chomsky, 1965; McNeil) have postulated an inherent capacity to comprehend and utilize linguistic structures, while others such as Irwin, (1960), Hess and Shipman (1965), and Greenstein, et al, (1974) have focused on experiential determinants of language competence in early childhood. As with all children, the social and emotional behavior of deaf children is greatly influenced by their ability to communicate with significant others. Interactions between the normally developing child and his parents are characterized by mutual responsiveness, where each initiates and reciprocates communication. When a Child's language development is delayed or impaired(as with a hearing loss), this communication process may also become impaired, with parents being unable to respond appropriately to confused or reduced messages from the child. This paper reviews some of the pertinent research regarding the behavioral interaction between the parent and child and its effect on communication and psychosocial development. The implications of this data for the hearing-impaired child and his family are considered. It will address the question," What is it that parents with young hearing impaired children do that facilitates or impedes speech and language development?" A methodology is also presented for developing effective communication between such children and their parents.

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate how dyslexia is currently being defined and debated by both the academic and scientific communities. Additionally, this thesis analyzes how dyslexia is presently being dealt with in the classroom and how this disability is represented in children's literature.

The achievement gap in American schools between middle class students and students from poverty is well documented. This paper outlines the findings of a study designed to explore the experience and conscientization of struggling students from poverty. The argument will be made that poverty can be viewed as a culture and that this view may shed significant light on the dynamics of the achievement gap. Further, using the construct of poverty as a culture provides real life applications that have the potential to impact the achievement gap. The study explored the lived experiences in a public school setting of intermediate students from poverty, hoping to capture their voice and insights. The research utilized a Critical Pedagogical Approach to attempt to understand why American schools struggle with these populations and what could be done to address the achievement gap.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine if certain identified educational strategies would have an effect on the success of at-risk students at the secondary level. Specifically, would school involvement and a mentor program have an effect on students' attendance, grade point average, and self-esteem. An examination of related literature indicated no one factor or specific combination of factors clearly determined which student would be at-risk. The literature further indicated that most researchers agree on a general list of educational factors that can effect student success. The study group of ninth grade at-risk students was determined by the following criteria: 1) a grade point average of 2.0 or lower, 2) 15 days or more absences during their eighth grade year, 3) a California Aptitude Test score between 30 and 50 percentile in Math, and 4) a California Aptitude Test score between 30 and 50 percentile in Reading. This study's results determined that certain educational strategies did effect at-risk students' success. Analysis of the individual student results, showed improvement, in at least, one of the identified areas. In the area of attendance, four of the subjects showed marked improvement. Four subjects showed progress in grade point averages; six of the subjects showed a positive change towards school and concerning the subjects' attitudes towards home; five students made a positive transformation. However, inspite of some individual improvement, there was no statistical improvement in the group in toto. / Graduation date: 1993

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive tempo of learning disabled students and their listening comprehension ability as a function of rate of presentation, regardless of material content (i.e., taped narrative materials--leisure: high interest/low vocabulary; taped expository materials--factual/social studies and technical/science. These data were collected on 57 learning disabled students enrolled in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in the Anderson Community Schools Special Education Co-op. Each student was tested with the Matching Familiar Figures Test (Kagan et al., 1964). Three groups of the four cognitive tempo quadrants were utilized in the experimental manipulation (i.e., listening comprehension as a function of rate of presentation, regardless of material content). Fifteen subjects were randomly assigned within each group using a drawing with replacement procedure.A 3 x 3 x 4 analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducive to the manipulation of three independent variables with repeated measures on the latter two of these variables (i.e., material content and rate of presentation). One between groups analysis (3x) and two within groups analysis (3 x 4) were involved. A R<.05 significance level and error analysis wereemployed to test three null hypotheses.FindingsResults indicated that no significant differences existed between the three groups of subjects (i.e., impulsive, reflective, fast/accurate). However, significant differences existed between content levels and between the four rates of presentation. A significant interaction between groups and rates of presentation was observed. An analysis of simple effects revealed that significant differences existed for reflectives with respect to content and rates of presentation. A significant difference between content levels was present for impulsives, while a significant difference between rates was present for fast/accurates. With the three content levels, no significant difference between groups was found. However, with all groups combined, a significant difference between rates occurred at each content level. A significant difference between groups and between content levels was determined at the 1.0 rate of presentation. At the 1.5 rate of presentation, a significant difference existed between content levels only.In addition to a significant difference between groups at the normal rate of presentation (i.e., 1.0), all groups performed best at this rate, although the impulsive group performed less well than the other two. The narrative content level elicited the best performance from all three groups, with the impulsives again demonstrating the poorest performance. Age ranges were also evaluated revealing that the oldest group (11.6 - 12.6 years) maintained the highest scores.ConclusionsIn general, the results of this study did not support the contention that increased rates of presentation would improve listening comprehension ability among learning disabled students. It was revealing to note the consistently poorer performance of the impulsive subjects on all tasks. This finding supported research which suggested that impulsive tempo is one factor contributing to poor school performance (Messer, 1976b). The study also provided evidence that the visual processing strategies underlying differences in conceptual tempo seem to generalize to the recall of auditory materials as posited by Zelniker and Jeffrey (1976). It was their suggestion that training in task-appropriate strategies may be more effective with learning disabled students than the modification of cognitive styles.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore Dakota Aboriginal caregivers' involvement in their children's education. The needs of Aboriginal parents, who may share different perspectives regarding the purposes of education, have been ignored historically because of North American assimilation policies. Thus, listening respectfully to the voices of the Wahpeton Dakota caregivers and understanding their involvement in their children's education has been the intent of this research. Qualitative research techniques were used to elicit narratives through semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research were able to reflect back to their childhood educational experiences- traditional and formal- and accept the sometimes troubled experiences that their education provided. Resilience prevailed, as the Aboriginal parents and care givers in this study envisioned a positive future for their own children.<p> The participants' narratives reflected similar, yet different expectations for "formal" education. In mainstream research literature, when educators define parent/care giver involvement, the ideal parent has been described as somehow directly involved in the school setting. This thesis challenges that perception and creates a different understanding of education for Wahpeton caregivers and its relevance to their children's lives. The Wahpeton parents and caregivers saw education as much more than academics. This viewpoint has the potential to provide a much more balanced, inclusive education process for our Aboriginal children.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-150). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3045090.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-112).