<p> Adolescents use literacies in order to build identities in a variety of figured worlds. Some identities become more powerful than others as adolescents attempt to understand and successfully utilize the valuations and literacies of the diverse figured worlds in which they participate. The goals of this study were to describe the figured worlds of football and the classroom of a highly recognized high school football program and school. My study involved four participants from the varsity football squad and the coaches and teachers who guided and shaped both figured worlds.</p><p> I used a qualitative case study design to explore each figured world and the literacies demanded from my participants. Data were gathered from observations in both the football and classroom figured worlds, interviews with my participants, their coaches, and teachers. I also studied various artifacts from both figured worlds in order to describe the valuations and literacies endemic to both. </p><p> Findings show that both figured worlds demanded key beliefs and valuations from my participants in order to gain power and positionality in each one. My study also shows that the football figured world expects players to comprehend key literacies in order to gain recognition and esteem. For some of my participants, connecting the valuations and literacies between the worlds allowed them to build strong identities in both. However, one participant was unable to take on the expected valuations and literacies in recognizable ways in the classroom figured world, and as a result, was unable to build a strong identity there. </p>

<p> The purpose of the study was to explore pre-service teachers' integration of tablet technology in reading, comprehension and writing instruction. As global technological use continues to soar, a large absence in the availability of tablet technology in the public schools continues, and reflects a glaring disparity between the technological uses inside and outside of education. </p><p> Within a qualitative paradigm, two theoretical frameworks guided this study -- phenomenology and transformative learning (TL) theory. The researcher conducted three sets of interviews of 14 pre-service teachers. This study was guided by four research questions regarding pre-service teachers' descriptions of using technology integration in delivering reading, comprehension, and writing instruction using tutorials. The study explored the extent to which pre-service teachers employed tablet technology during learning activities. Data collected included an interview of the interpretive researcher, tutoring lesson plans, cadre conferencing blogs, and final case study reflections. Data was analyzed using Saldana's (2013) holistic coding methods and Giorgi's (1994) four-step analysis process. </p><p> From the four research questions, ten essential themes emerged from pre-service teachers' lived experiences of integration of tablet technology: (a) generational learning shift, (b) cognitive disassociation with learning, (c) paradox of gaming, (d) technological disinclination, (e) critical thinking and problem solving, (f) self-generated learning, (g) collective brain and partnership, (h) collaborative creativity, (i) reluctance in integration of technology with writing, and (j) academic and recreational convenience. These themes revealed both positive shifts in the processing of innovative technology and literacy instruction, and challenges that must be overcome if pre-service teachers are to help students reach their full potential in the 21st century. An analysis of transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1978, 1991, 2000), revealed five pre-service teachers who experienced the ten stages while another nine who experienced partial transformative learning stages. </p><p> The findings have implications for the restructuring of teacher education programs. Pre-service teachers require continued increases of their technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), as well as greater development of their writing skills. An increase in the transformation of pre-service teachers' skillsets and mindsets can be facilitated with explicit technological integration of literacy instruction to prepare them to improve student learning outcomes.</p>

<p> With increased dependence on computer-based standardized tests to assess academic achievement, technological literacy has become an essential skill. Yet, because students have unequal access to technology, they may not have equal opportunities to perform well on these computer-based tests. </p><p> The researcher had observed students taking the STAR Reading test (Renaissance Learning, 2009) and noticed a variance in scores in relation to classroom performance. The researcher intended, therefore, to explore variables that may affect the performance of students on a computer-based reading assessment. The researcher tested two different technology-related variables as students took a summative exam, the STAR Reading test. The purpose of this study was to explore how changes in visual stimuli affected the process of reading and student reading behavior. This quantitative study sought to ascertain whether changing the computer read-out to a black screen with white lettering made a difference in student engagement and comprehension among students in grades two through six during a computer-based adaptive test. </p><p> The research site was one K-6 elementary school in a large suburban school district. The participants of the study were 316 children in grades two through six. One hundred and sixteen students were randomly sampled for student engagement data analysis. The researcher conducted a stratified random process to further select data for analysis. Students were exposed to both color display background variables throughout the study process. Teacher observers collected tallies on student engagement behaviors during the test-taking process. </p><p> The researcher calculated the mean level of student engagement on each of five observed behaviors. The researcher also collected reading comprehension data for five subsequent benchmark sessions throughout the year. The engagement results of this study failed to support the hypothesis, which stated that elementary student behaviors during testing would verify a measureable difference in engagement when either a black or white display screen was presented. The results of the reading comprehension test also failed to support the hypothesis, which stated that there would be a measureable difference in elementary students' scores while taking computer-based tests when the computer screen was set to either black or white background.</p>

<p> At the time of this study, school districts in the United States faced challenges relative to educational accountability, especially in the areas of language arts and mathematics. Research suggested that music held the potential to bolster student engagement and academic achievement to improve reading outcomes for students. An integrated music curriculum was designed and implemented by the researcher to support reading achievement in a Midwestern, suburban elementary school. The purpose of this counterbalanced research design was to examine the effect of an integrated music curriculum upon the reading achievement of kindergarten students. The lesson framework included brain-based and active listening warm-ups, the presentation of literature, an Orff-Schulwerk activity and literacy centers. Quantitative methods were used to answer four hypotheses statements including <i>t</i>-tests for difference in means, <i>z</i>-tests for difference in means, a chi-square tests for difference in variance, and an analysis of variance to determine the effects of the integrated music curriculum. </p><p> Although the quantitative results for three of the null hypotheses were not statistically significant, there were observable changes in the children's motivations and attitudes toward reading. Student growth in the content area of music was shown to be significant. The researcher concluded that music as a content area was valuable on its own, but could also make learning more powerful when utilized in reading instruction and other content areas. The new information gained from this study may help readers find effective ways of using music to enhance reading achievement.</p>

<p> Giftedness is typically defined as above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity (Renzulli, 2012). However, this definition is socially constructed and leans on the literacy practices of the dominant culture. Understanding various contributors and barriers to giftedness (Suboknik, Olszewski-Kubilis, &amp; Worrell, 2012) can help identified students interrogate their own assumptions about their positions in the school system as well as those of teachers and peers. Since the gifted support classroom is relatively immune from the curricular pressures of the regular education classroom, it provides an ideal context for students to use various literacy practices to reflect on the complex dynamics of the public school system including the ways in which dominant literacies are valued over others generally and in regards to giftedness identification and services. </p><p> This practitioner-research study followed six gifted fifth-grade readers through a four-month long weekly Book Club as they used literacy and dialogue to reflect on, construct, and critically consider their academic identities. An inductive approach was used to generatively code responses and analyze the data. Using literature and informational text, the work supported students in using a critical lens to articulate their academic identities, consciously contemplate the expectations placed upon them in the school setting, and consider the implications of their positioning in that context. They engaged in social practices that aided in and demonstrated comprehension and agency, resulting in their re-conceptualizing the notion of giftedness. In addition, participants viewed giftedness through the perspective of culture, ethnicity, and language. Students' transaction with and dialogue surrounding various text types served as a way to challenge the socially constructed notions of giftedness and the structures that support such definitions.</p>

<p> Schools today continue to intensify the need to find effective interventions for students who are at risk for reading failure. Many have turned to a multi-tiered Response to Intervention (Rtl) model to provide reading interventions that will assist educators in improving reading outcomes. This one-group pretest-posttest design study examined the relationship between participation in Rtl reading intervention and reading outcomes among 117 students grouped in a Tier 2 reading intervention. Using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Next reading assessment composite scores, I analyzed reading change for three benchmark time periods for the 2012-2013 school year. Results from descriptive statistics, <i>t</i>-test measures, and a multiple regression analysis produced positive results. The majority of students (95%) participating in a Tier 2 reading intervention demonstrated statistically significant growth in reading outcomes with a reading change mean of 95.93 points regardless of their gender, English learner status, or free and reduced-price lunch status. Improvement in reading outcomes occurred in all three designated time periods measured. This quantitative study indicates that the majority of students who participated in Rtl reading interventions improved reading outcomes from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and made gains in closing the achievement gap for reading.</p>

<p> The acquisition of literacy skills influences both the perception and production of spoken language. The connection between spoken and written language processing develops differently in individuals with varying degrees of reading skill. Some specific phonological and orthographic factors which play a role in this developmental course include neighborhood density, orthographic transparency, and phonotactic probability. In the current study, nonword stimuli which contain manipulations of the above factors were created. Participants repeated or read aloud the nonwords. Three groups of readers participated: adults with typical reading skills, children developing reading skills typically, and adults demonstrating low levels of reading proficiency. Analyses of implicit linguistic processing, including measures of segmental accuracy, segmental variability, and articulatory stability, were conducted. Results indicated that these three groups followed a consistent pattern on all three measures, in that the typical adults demonstrated the strongest performance, the children demonstrated the weakest performance, and the adults with low levels of reading skill demonstrated intermediate performance. All three groups improved in both phonological and motor learning with practice, but only the adults with low reading skills demonstrated learning as a direct consequence of orthographic transparency. Finally, reading skill was correlated with articulatory stability in both groups of adults. These data make an important contribution to the understanding of the typology of reading disorders, as well as the influence of orthographic factors on typical language and reading development.</p>

<p> Students today are spending a significant amount of time engaged in media activity, yet even with an increase of e-reader compatible smart devices, reading has not increased in popularity among elementary school age children. It is critical that students spend time engaged in meaningful reading activities to become proficient readers. Thus, as educators of these 21^st century learners, we must find a way to increase reader motivation and bridge the gap between home leisure activities and school activities. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of reading enhanced e-books on the iPad vs. traditional storybooks with regard to motivation to read, reading comprehension and fluency. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were used, over a period of four weeks with 22 first grade student participants. The results of this study suggested that e-books are more appealing than traditional print books and as equally appealing, if not more appealing to students than educational apps. By the end of the study, all students were fluently reading books at least one guided reading level higher. The results from this study showed that students benefited from the combination of e-books and traditional storybooks, with this method resulting in increased fluency and comprehension among readers.</p>

<p>The study used an embedded qualitative, historical, explanatory, case study design with a dominant quantitative, quasi-experimental pre-post, longitudinal, retrospective design. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Ludus Reading&mdash;a new reading program&mdash;in terms of kindergarten students&rsquo; reading perceptions and performance between the control and experimental group addressing the problem of illiteracy and aliteracy. Study participants included 73 kindergarten students. The results of the study were statistically significant (alpha = .05). The null hypothesis H1 was rejected (<i>F</i> (1,70)=15.01, <i>p</i> &lt;. 001). Consequently, the experimental group had higher means on KDRA2 (<i>M</i>=9.25, <i> SD</i>=5.11) than the control group (<i>M</i>=5.07, <i> SD</i>=4.25). The null hypothesis H2 was rejected (<i>F</i> (1,69)=6268.69, Wilks Lambda=0.68, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). Therefore, the experimental group had higher means on KDIBELS NWF-CLS (<i>M</i>=53.31, <i> SD</i>=21.51) than the control group (<i>M</i>=32.20, <i> SD</i>=18.99). The sub-null hypotheses were retained, signifying that moderating factors, gender and speech language services, did not influence the students&rsquo; reading performance. Qualitative data from learning profiles were explored, and emerging themes indicated that the experimental group enjoyed reading more than the control group because students from the experimental group used more descriptive emotion words to describe reading, and expressed a higher intensity level of enjoyment. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: A, page: 3786. Adviser: Jerome C. Harste. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 8, 2008).