M. Ed. / By virtue of the nature of the affliction, the auditory world of Chronic Otitis Media (COM) children is likely to be one of frequent insecurity and confusion. Fluctuations of volume, tone and clarity of sound must be very unsettling for young language learners. If the significant others in their lives are not fully informed about the nature, effects and potential impact of the illness on the developmental processes of the sufferer, then psychological, social and scholastic manifestations of the inevitable inner confusion will probably result:In South Africa today, fewer professional resources are available to meet the needs of a greater number of people. One creative solution to this problem could be the growing trend away from a predominantly one-to-one approach towards a consultative function for Educational Psychologists, with relevant psychometric and therapeutic intervention. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to explore and illuminate the experiential world of the school beginner who suffers from COM to parents and teachers alike. With the growing emphasis on the integrated, whole language approach to teaching and learning in many South African schools, the focus of this study is on how the school beginner with chronic Otitis Media experiences his new learner status. The initial aim of the exercise is to expose this experience and examine it within the context of sound theory. Further, the study is intended to be the first, small step in a process intended ultimately to benefit the wider population of COM afflicted learners by raising new awareness and understanding of their special needs in their teachers. The theoretical foundation that undergirds this study incorporates a multidisciplinary review of the literature encompassing the anatomical structure of the ear, the mechanical, physiological and neuro-sensori process of sound reception and processing (which constitutes hearing), and the normal, integrated developmental stages of the infant. This foundation is established with the aim of providing support and structure for the research questions posed. The nature of the research problem under investigation dictates the type of research design used. The Case Study was sek licted as possessing the most appropriate characteristics and methods of data collection for the planned research process. The samples selected for the study complied with specified criteria relating to the onset, intensity and chronicity of Otitis Media experienced during infa ncy. Cases were to be six to seven years of age and in the beginning stages of their formal learning process. The study falls within the qualitative research paradigm and is presented as a description and discussion of the experiential world of the school beginner with chronic Otitis Media. Where `appropriate, a tentative explanation of outcomes is given and a behavioural profile compiled for discussion with teachers, and with further exploration in mind at some future time

A study to determine whether an activity program can be carried on under adverse conditions in a first grade classroom.

"This experimental study is an effort to determine whether or not purposive effort on the part of the school and parents to develop desirable democratic attitudes and attributes in the first grade will result in more progress along these lines than allowing the development of these characteristics to be an un-sought-for by-product of the school program"--Introduction. / "August, 1953." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fullfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-76).

The purpose of the study is to determine what degree of relationship exists between chronological age and performance in the first grade.

The purpose of this study is an attempt to define the needs in the primary grades in Gainesville, to find the most successful criteria used for grouping children upon their entrance into the first grade, and to find the best plan for primary grades in Gainesville schools.

M.Ed. / Eleven official languages are distinguished in South Africa. Although multilingualism is characteristic of the South African society, it is still a relatively new phenomenon in South African public schools. For the teacher it offers a multilingual classroom - a great challenge on account of the unfamiliar phenomenon. Many demands are made on the teacher's skills in order to accompany pupils whose home language may differ from the medium of education. Most teachers do not, however, possess the necessary skills and they apply a "hit-and-miss" method in order to accompany these pupils adequately. This presents a special challenge, particularly to the grade one teacher, since grade one pupils are expected to express their needs in words. The grade one teacher is therefore self-reliant in accompanying these pupils without receiving any educational accompaniment herself. Hence the teacher finds herself in an educational situation which is dangerously unfamiliar. From the perspective of educational psychology, this educational situation is regarded as hampering to both the child and the teacher. The educational psychologist consequently faces a special challenge to intervene in an effort to ensure that the accompanying process between teacher and pupils goes smoothly. This study aims to explore and describe how the grade one teacher experiences multilingualism and to establish guidelines for the educational psychologist for the accompaniment of grade one teachers in multilingual classrooms. An explorative, descriptive, contextual and qualitative study was carried out with a view p obtain insight and understanding in respect of the grade one teacher and how she experiences multilingualism. The phenomenological interviewing method was used to collect data. The interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. The sample population consisted of four grade one teachers who were specifically selected for the purpose of the study. The data were processed according to Tesch's method and the services of an independent coder were obtained. The results of the interviews are organised in main categories. These categories are: : i) multilingualism as straneous for the teacher; ii) multilingualism hinders the effective flow of activities in the classroom; and iii) a creative problem solving attitude. Guidelines for the accompaniment of teachers in a multilingual grade one class by the educational psychology are discussed according to the above three categories. This classification was interdependent because, when one aspects is dealt with, another is essentially affected. For this reason, the educational psychologist's accompaniment of the grade one teacher should follow a holistic approach which addresses all three aspects. Finally, it is clear that multilingualism in the grade one class has many facets. In general, it appears that the grade one teacher experiences many constraints and that the educational psychologist can provide meaningful accompaniment.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-138). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

"The following study was undertaken as an investigation to find out the nature interests of the First Grade-children of the Demonstration School, North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Texas."--1.

xv, 110 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In this dissertation study, the efficacy of Vocabulary Enhanced Systematic and Explicit Teaching Routines (VE SETR) as a vocabulary intervention was examined for first grade Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs). The quasi-experimental study included two groups of elementary students in two schools that had an "early exit" Spanish language arts programs, meaning students are instructed in their native languages for the purposes of early reading instruction for 2-3 years before they are transitioned to reading in English. The study examined the efficacy of a 15 minute daily vocabulary intervention using VE SETRs to enhance the vocabulary instruction in a first grade Spanish reading program. The VE SETR treatment cohort of students received 75 minutes of core reading instruction using the Macmillan McGraw-Hill reading curriculum, Tesoros, in conjunction with systematic and explicit teaching routines (SETR) that addressed all areas of reading instruction (e.g., phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) plus 15 minutes of small group VE SETR instruction. The SETR comparison group received 90 minutes of the general core-reading curriculum using Tesoros and the SETRs only, without the 15 minutes of vocabulary enhanced instruction. The study examined whether the VE SETR intervention improved vocabulary development for students in the VE SETR treatment cohort. Assessment measures included the Bilingual Verbal Ability Test (BVAT), the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody PVT-III (TVIP), Indicadores Dinámicos del Éxito en la Lectura (IDEL) oral reading fluency measure and the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) measure. Research findings indicated a statistically significant difference in favor of VE SETR treatment on students' ability to define and use target vocabulary words as measured by the Depth of Knowledge assessment. However, the VE SETR treatment had no statistically significant effect on the treatment students' oral reading fluency and on their receptive vocabulary as measured by the TVIP, or their bilingual verbal ability as measured by the BVAT. Overall, the VE SETR treatment had a positive effect for the VE SETR treatment group on one of the four measures. / Committee in charge: Edward Kameenui, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Gerald Tindal, Member, Educational Leadership; Paul Yovanoff, Member, Educational Leadership; Scott Baker, Member, Not from U of 0; Robert Davis, Outside Member, Romance Languages

xiii, 126 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Given the staggering prevalence of 12-22% of school children with mental health problems and the paucity of effective mental health services available, it is essential that professionals examine alternative methods for providing social and emotional support to children (Greenberg, Bumbarger, & Domitrovich, 2001). Rather than continuing with a service delivery approach that is reactive, fragmented, and inefficient, professionals are called to consider a more preventive approach that ensures the health of all children. A public health model of intervention can provide a conceptual framework for mental health service delivery in its aim to serve an entire population and to provide multi-tiered support (universal, targeted, indicated) that increases in intensity based on the needs of individual persons (Coie et al, 2000). Members of the Oregon Resiliency Project, a research effort at the University of Oregon, have spent the last several years developing one such set of SEL curricula, appropriate for children in grades pre-k-12, the Strong Kids programs, Strong Start: K-2 , (Merrell, Parisi, & Whitcomb, 2007), is a component of Strong Kids , developmentally applicable to kindergarten through second grade students. The purpose of this study was to implement a pilot or feasibility study that examined the impact of Strong Start on first grade students' social-emotional knowledge skills, with a particular emphasis on emotion knowledge, social behavior and affect. Pretest data collection of Strong Start began in Fall 2007 in 4 classrooms in a suburban, northwestern school district. Implementation of the intervention occurred in Winter 2008 and posttest data were gathered in Spring 2008. Results indicated that Strong Start was implemented with integrity, and that significant increases in students' knowledge about emotion situations and significant decreases in students' internalizing behaviors were associated with exposure to the program. Limitations of this study as well as directions for future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Kenneth Merrell, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Cynthia Anderson, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Elizabeth Stormshak, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; John Seeley, Member, not from U of 0; Sara Hodges, Outside Member, Psychology