Functional literacy is difficult to achieve for the deaf population. Sixty percent of deaf high school students read at or below grade four, eight percent read at or above grade eight. The present study investigated two factors that may contribute to these individual differences in reading achievement in the deaf signing population: signed language comprehension skills and word recognition skills. In Study 1, 31 deaf adults (12 women and 19 men) between the ages of 17 and 54 years were categorized as either a Good Reader or Poor Reader to determine what factors would differentiate them. These groups were tested with a battery of background questionnaires, speech use and comprehension, communication, hearing, nonverbal IQ measures, three signed language measures, and two reading tests. Results showed that the Good and Poor Readers differed significantly on signed language comprehension skills. The Poor Readers (mean reading level grade 3.5) had poor sign language comprehension and the Good Readers (mean reading level grade 10.5) had good sign language comprehension. / In Study 2, the Good and Poor Readers tested in Study 1 and a hearing control group (6 women and 8 men) were tested on three lexical decision tasks. Two tasks tested use of phonology in word recognition (spelling-sound correspondence, pseudohomophone tasks) and a third task tested use of sign lexical knowledge (signability task). Across all tasks, the deaf Good Readers were as fast and as accurate as the Hearing Readers, whereas the Poor Readers were slower and made more errors than the other groups. The Poor Readers displayed similar patterns of performance to the Good Readers on the spelling-sound and pseudohomophone tasks. Neither deaf group showed much evidence of using phonological processing whereas the hearing control group did. The Poor Readers showed evidence of using sign lexical knowledge on the signability task. / These results together suggest that underdeveloped signed language skills may be a more important factor in the low reading levels of the deaf signing population than word recognition skills.

<p> As educators grapple with the issue of eliminating achievement gaps that exist among student groups, instructing for students' diverse learning needs while effectively meeting the demands of the curriculum can be a daunting task. Arts integration (AI) is a research-based strategy that has been demonstrated to lead to positive effects in student achievement with the greatest effect being among students who qualify for federal meals benefits (FARMS) (Deasy, 2002; Catterall, 1999; Rabkin &amp; Redmond, 2006). This mixed-methods study evaluated state mandated reading assessment data for a cohort of grade three students for the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 within one school district in Maryland using a formula developed by the Maryland State Department of Education to determine student change scores. While analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of AI and change scores for FARMS and non-FARMS students did not yield a positive relationship, further qualitative analysis of principal and teacher interviews and classroom observations at five public AI elementary schools revealed perceptions among educators of a positive relationship of AI to student achievement. Utilizing a grounded theory approach to examine emergent themes, a theory of effective models of arts integration was developed to include the elements of: shared vision, student engagement, rigorous instruction and teacher capacity. This study provided information regarding the optimal method of delivering arts integrated instruction that may lead to student achievement and reduce the achievement gap between FARMS and non-FARMS students. </p>

<p>The application of teacher consultation to improve reading comprehension outcomes for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students in a high school setting was investigated. Due to the low-incidence nature of the disability, a multiple baseline study was implemented to monitor DHH students' responses to the interventions teachers generated from teacher consultation sessions. The AIMSweb MAZE measures were used to inform teacher consultation sessions by documenting changes in DHH student performance within the area of comprehension. A visual analysis of DHH students' progress monitoring data prior to and during intervention implementation suggested that teacher consultation led to improved comprehension outcomes due to a positive intervention effect among three DHH students and one teacher of the Deaf. Teachers reported that the use of progress monitoring was beneficial because it allowed them to adapt their instructional delivery based on what their DHH students needed. </p>

<p> Educators have a responsibility to choose and share picture books with young children carefully, with a full understanding of the psychological, cultural and developmental potential that these books have for children. Picture books have a profound and lasting effect on children at a most impressionable age. Children identify with the characters in the picture books, sometimes through the personality of the characters, and that identification allows them to acquire ideas and emotions, conscious and unconscious, that promote developmental growth and teach social and cultural constructs.</p><p> This study employed a mixed methods research design using content analysis to describe the total personality of young characters in picture books from three decades: the 1950s, the 1980s, and the 2000s. This study looked for changes in the personalities of young characters in those time periods, including changes related to the gender of the characters.</p><p> This study found a consistent whole personality for the young characters in the picture books studied that can be described using the Big Five Personality Factors. There were statistically significant differences in the time periods for two of the Big Five Personality Factors. Although there were differences in personality between genders, those differences were not statistically significant. </p><p> Significant differences in the personality factors of extroversion and openness to experience in the time periods studied may be related to changes in society that have impacted the lives of children. The use of media, especially television, had exploded into the lives of children in the time periods studied. The relationship between children and nature had changed over the time periods. </p><p> Children may need adult intervention in terms of providing context, literary analysis, and discussion when reading picture books. Educators using picture books in instruction may need to carefully consider cultural standards, cultural ideals, and cultural change reflected in the books as part of instructional planning. Educational researchers need to examine the whole personality of characters in picture books so that the findings of their studies may inform and influence those in the home and the school using this powerful tool to help our children achieve their potential.</p>

<p>Reading is essential for personal growth and social and economic success. Smith (2002) proposed that reading was the most important subject in American early schools, and explained that reading continues to be the most significant subject in schools throughout the United States. Educators need to consider ways to strengthen our educational system beginning with teacher preparation. Researchers have outlined the close interconnectivity between teacher preparation and reading preparation; however, relatively few researchers have asked questions about the involvement of reading preparation courses, reading-related demographics, and past reading experiences in relation to reading habits and knowledge, specifically of children?s literature. This quantitative study analyzed 12 specific demographic and reading-related variables in the prediction of preservice teachers? knowledge and current reading habits of children?s literature in a teacher preparation program at a public, four-year, Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in South Texas. The correlational study employed bivariate and multivariate analyses on data collected from 168 undergraduate students enrolled in at least one reading course during the fall 2014 semester. Results of correlational analysis indicated that there were statistically significant associations for current reading habits of children?s literature on the basis of READ 3310?Principles and Practices of Early Reading Instruction, READ 3320?Principles and Practices of Reading Instruction, and READ 4380?Children?s and Adolescents? Literature, and daily contact with children outside of school. There were statistically significant associations for knowledge of children?s literature based on READ 3320, READ 4380, and past reading experiences. Results of the regression analysis indicated daily contact with children outside of school, READ 4380, READ 3310, and READ 3320 were significantly correlated with current reading habits. READ 4380, READ 3320, and past reading experiences were the variables used in the prediction of knowledge of children?s literature. The results of the study have implications for teacher preparation programs, literacy scholars, in-service educators, preservice educators, and parents. Some recommendations for future research include: complete a comparison study with in-service teachers, replicate the study to include a larger number of participants, update the Children?s Literature Title Recognition Test to reflect in-class and out of class fiction and non-fiction titles, and add a qualitative aspect.

<p> The purpose of this study was to design, pilot, and evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher-led intervention using karaoke to improve the reading skills. Elements from previous research (Biggs, Homan, Dedrick, Rasinksi &amp; Minick, 2008; Gupta, 2006) were adapted and integrated with the structure of Writer's Workshop (Calkins, 1991; Graves, 1983) to create an intervention referred to as Karaoke Workshop. The researcher, who also participated in the role of the after-school intervention teacher, adapted existing instructional and design methods and the efficacy of the adaptation of these methods in this context was part of the pilot nature of this study. </p><p> Two rounds of the design-based research cycle were followed to develop, implement, and evaluate a teacher-led intervention. The impact of the design on three key outcomes was observed leading to several key findings. The most significant finding validated the impact that karaoke has on oral reading fluency. Over an 8-week period, every participant experienced a significant improvement in oral reading fluency, with the average reading rate of participants increasing from 64 to 94 WCPM. </p><p> In addition, this study offers an instructional model for teachers who want to use karaoke in the classroom. The revised model includes separate instructional routines for teacher-led lessons and for student-driven activity. This model is based on teacher manipulation of three variables, the curriculum, the music, and the technology, which were also explored. </p><p> This study serves as an exemplar for the integration of music into the curriculum in a way that supports both the arts and student performance with core content. Given the current educational landscape, where arts instruction is often shadowed by an emphasis on the core curriculum and high-stakes testing, it is important for educators to identify ways to integrate the arts that contribute to these high-stakes outcomes.</p>

<p> This dissertation examines the identities of "marginalized" adolescents as they engage in literacy-based activities. Using ethnographic and qualitative research methods (including surveys/questionnaires, audio recorded interviews, video recorded observations, classroom artifacts, and observational notes), a multi-case study occurred over six months. The study took place at South Bay High, a small public charter school, located in a poor and working class neighborhood of major city in Northern California, serving non-dominant youth. Twenty two juniors, and of these, six focal participants, elected to participate in the study, which took place in their English 11 class. The study utilizes socio-cultural theories of learning and identity, transactional theories of pedagogy, and applies figured worlds and positional identity theory in its analysis. This work is in conversation with a growing genre of scholarship referred to as literacy and identity studies (Moje, 2009). </p><p> The relative fragility and durability of a student's academic identity is considered. In addition to examining individual identities, this work also takes up the collective classroom identity as a site for examination. By taking into account local histories of cultural and social contextual matters, and by examining classroom culture (i.e., norms, discourses, routines), the classroom studied offers the first case studied. Specifically, I consider the effect of ideologically divergent approaches to literacy instruction on the academic identities of the collective. </p><p> Adolescence is a time when young people are in search of narratives and discourses to offer understandings of the past, security in the present, and imagined trajectories towards the future. How one comes to see oneself (and one's future) is often determined by the narratives made available &ndash; from peers, media, families, schools, and other institutions. Non-dominant youth have less access to identity resources imbued with social and academic capital from which to construct identities or imagined futures. The second findings chapter follows the focal participants as they take up literacy-based resources as they engage in processes of authoring the self. </p><p> The figured world of the high school classroom has a limited amount of roles for students to occupy. Often students are labeled and treated in ways that position them on a relative scale of academic potential and social behavior. Once students become positioned in particular ways (i.e., as the class clown, teacher's pet, slacker) they often accept these positionings and come to define themselves in relatively fixed terms. However, in an ELA class, literacy can serve as a medium for students to "try on" identities not always available to them in other spaces. The third findings chapter looks at how focal participants were positioned and at the <i>positioning events</i> that serves to either solidify or disrupt seemingly fixed identities. </p><p> Implications of the study include: Instructional practices that treat ELA classrooms as spaces for interpretations not only of texts but also in ways that provide insights into students own lives. An examination of the multiple competing forces present in classrooms, from federal and state-mandated testing to the teacher's pedagogical stance, illustrates the complexity of classroom spaces, particularly in classrooms for students who have traditionally been underserved by schooling as an institution. The need to examine the spectrum of diversity among non-dominant youth so that young people are not further reduced or essentialized by progressive instructional methods is also considered.</p>

<p> Engagement with global children's literature is an effective way to introduce multiple perspectives into the classroom dialogue. Yet teachers are often unfamiliar with ways of helping students understand diverse cultural practices and beliefs. The result is that global children's literature continues to be an underused resource. </p><p> This action research study looked at 25 highly diverse educator study groups as they used global literature with pre-K - 12 students. The goal was to support the development of intercultural understanding. The study groups received $1,000 grants from Worlds of Words (wowlit.org) to fund their yearlong inquiry. The groups met face-to-face throughout the year to reflect on the interactions taking place in their classrooms. All groups met online on a members-only site. Data collected included proposals, reports, teacher vignettes, and interviews. The data was used to document range of study group structures and interactions with global literature. The study groups and online forum were supported by a grant from the Longview Foundation. </p><p> Through constant comparative analysis, new transformative understandings were identified. Key elements in the development of intercultural understanding included open inquiry, recognition of complexity and multiple perspectives, thinking about culture at a conceptual level, and engaging in open dialogue. Teachers reported an increased understanding of their competence as professionals, their student's competence as problem-posers and thinkers, and the parents' competence as important contributors to intercultural understanding. </p><p> The study concludes with implications for practitioners wanting to engage in classroom inquiries using global literature to support developing intercultural understanding. A second set of implications suggests ways in which the study group process can be made more effective. New questions are proposed for future research related to the use of global literature in various contexts, including classrooms, online professional development, and libraries.</p>

<p> The present study evaluated the effectiveness of two instructional approaches for remedial reading courses at a community college. The instructional approaches were strategic reading and traditional, textbook-based instruction. The two research questions that guided the quantitative, quasi-experimental study were: (a) what is the effect of strategic-reading instruction on the reading performance of community college students in a developmental reading course and (b) what is the effect of traditional, textbook-based instruction on the reading performance of community college students in a developmental reading course? The sample consisted of 64 participants. Two groups of students participated in the study: (a) the experimental group (<i>n</i> = 32), who received the strategic-reading instruction, and (b) the control group (<i>n</i> = 32), who received the traditional, textbook-based instruction. Students took the Nelson-Denny Reading test as a pretest and posttest to determine the effectiveness. The null hypotheses for H1 and H2 were rejected because the results of the paired <i>t</i>-test indicated strategic-reading instruction and traditional, textbook-based instruction have a statistically significant positive effect on students&rsquo; performance on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test Form G. Further, the one-way ANOVA test showed there is not a statistically significant difference between the difference scores of the students who received strategic-reading instruction and the students who received traditional, textbook-based instruction. The findings show that both methods of instruction are equally appropriate for the remedial reading course.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to create an ongoing summer program to improve reading proficiency for elementary school students' living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. There is a need for supplemental academic support for children of low-income families that focus on reading proficiency and mastery of language arts. The goal of the program is to increase family involvement in academics, student academic achievement, and the graduation rates of low income minority students. An extensive literature review was performed to investigate ways to address high school dropout rates and the achievement gap in Los Angeles. Low reading proficiency between the first and fourth grade of elementary school was determined to be a major factor contributing to the income achievement gap. A search was conducted to find a funder for a program that focuses on similar issues. Based on their mission to promote opportunity in Los Angeles County, The California Community Foundation was identified as a funding source. Actual submission for funding of this grant were not required for the completion of this project.</p>