Rorschach records of children tend to contain a high percentage of percepts which pertain to animals and animal details. Since teachers of primary grades deal with many animal pictures and stories in their daily work routine, it may be possible that the records of these persons may show a higher percentage of animal responses than might ordinarily be expected of intelligent adults in the normal population.

Reading comprehension is one of the most critical academic skills to be acquired in school; therefore, the comprehension instruction provided by teachers is of utmost importance. This study examined 3 years of classroom observation data to describe the comprehension instruction provided by kindergarten through third-grade teachers who were participating in the federal Reading First reading reform initiative within 22 high-poverty Title I schools located in rural, suburban, and urban school districts in one western state. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used to analyze data collected during 325 three-hour observations of classroom literacy instruction to identify both the quantity and the types of comprehension instruction provided. Comprehension instruction was divided into four categories in this study: vocabulary instruction; instruction provided before reading or listening to activate, assess, or build prior knowledge; comprehension instruction during or after reading or listening; and comprehension strategy instruction. Fifty-seven thousand six hundred sixty-three minutes of literacy instruction were observed; 13,237 minutes of this instruction were coded as comprehension instruction. Results of the study indicated that, on average, teachers allocated 23%, approximately 41 minutes, of their 3-hour literacy block to comprehension instruction. Overall, 96% of teachers provided at least one instructional event that was coded as comprehension instruction; however, there was tremendous variability in the amount of instruction provided and the implementation of instructional practices supported by research. Elements of the gradual-release-of-responsibility model were rarely observed including a relative lack of guided and iv independent practice to assist students in applying comprehension skills and strategies. Teachers relied heavily on asking students questions before, during, and after reading. Very little instruction was focused on cognitive strategies or instruction to support students’ acquisition of knowledge related to narrative or expository text structures. Positive outcomes included the implementation of small group instruction and the use of a variety of text types. Teachers in this study were required to implement a published core reading program, which may have exerted influence on the results that were obtained.

Curricular decision making is foundational to teachers’ practice—every facet of the instructional process is the result of teachers’ decisions. For new teachers, learning to make curricular decisions that will satisfy institutional, public, and professional demands and facilitate learning in their classrooms can be especially challenging given today’s standards-based educational climate. In the primary grades, teachers find themselves having to manage competing demands of accountability and their own beliefs about effective instruction for young children. Despite the field’s renewed interest in studying teachers’ thinking as it relates to post-NCLB curricular decision making, few studies examine curricular decision making among beginning primary grade teachers who share the same accountability issues as their more experienced colleagues. Utilizing case study methodology, this investigation explored how five novice primary grade teachers approached curricular decision making for the core content areas within accountability-driven Texas public schools. Data included classroom observations, interviews and post-observation conversations, lesson planning think-alouds, and curricular documents. Cross-case analyses indicate that participants' curricular decision making was characterized by professional judgment in response to various dilemmas they encountered while attempting to address personal, professional, administrative, and organizational expectations. In many ways, the standards-based contexts in which participants taught made teaching especially difficult for these teachers who were only beginning to accumulate the wisdom of practice. Findings also suggest that participants' curricular decisions were informed by a combination of internal and external influences. Most significantly, curricular decisions were deeply rooted in who teachers are and who they hope to become as professional educators. Professional identity permeated all five teachers' approaches to curricular decision making, from the types of decisions they chose to address to the actual decisions they made in the classroom. Concomitantly, these teachers' conceptions of the teaching profession helped shape the nature of their curricular decisions. The study also reveals that professional colleagues played a strong role in guiding curricular decisions among the participants, although not all support offered to novices was necessarily beneficial for their development as effective decision makers. Finally, the study raises questions about incongruities between teacher preparation programs and the expectations graduates will face as beginning teachers. / text

abstract: As digital media practices become readily available in today's classrooms, literacy and literacy instruction are changing in profound ways (Alvermann, 2010). Professional organizations emphasize the importance of integrating new literacies (New London Group, 1996) practices into language-arts instruction (IRA, 2009; NCTE, 2005). As a result, teachers search for effective ways to incorporate the new literacies in an effort to engage students. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the potential of digital storytelling as participatory media for writing instruction. This case study was conducted during the fall semester of 2012 in one first-grade classroom and one second-grade classroom in the Southwestern United States. The study addressed ten interrelated research questions relating to how primary-grade students performed in relation to the Common Core writing standards, how they were motivated, how they formed a meta- language to talk about their writing, how they developed identities as writers, and how they were influenced by their teachers' philosophies and instructional approaches. Twenty-two first-grade students and 24 second-grade students used the MovieMaker software to create digital stories of personal narratives. Data included field notes, interviews with teachers and students, teacher journals, my own journal, artifacts of teachers' lesson plans, photographs, students' writing samples, and their digital stories. Qualitative data were analyzed by thematic analysis (Patton, 1990) and discourse analysis (Gee, 2011). Writing samples were scored by rubrics based on the Common Core State Standards. The study demonstrated how digital storytelling can be used to; (a) guide teachers in implementing new literacies in primary grades; (b) illustrate digital storytelling as writing; (c) develop students' meta-language to talk about writing; (d) impact students' perceptions as writers; (e) meet Common Core State Standards for writing; (f) improve students' skills as writers; (g) build students' identities as writers; (h) impact academic writing; (i) engage students in the writing process; and (j) illustrate the differences in writing competencies between first- and second-grade students. The study provides suggestions for teachers interested in incorporating digital storytelling in primary-grade classrooms. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2013

Three schools were matched for socioeconomic data, location, and quality. Students in kindergarten through grade three in two schools received nutrition education; the third school was the control. Of the two treatment schools, one was randomly assigned to receive parent as well as student education in nutrition. Three-hundred and seventy cognitive scores, 168 affective scores, and 100 plate-waste analyses were collected in both pretest and posttest phases. At the end of the fourmonth treatment period, 24-hour food frequency recalls were collected for 151 children. Students at the school where both parents and their children were involved had higher dietary quality scores and were eating a wider variety of food compared to students in either of the other two schools. Cognitive scores for kindergarten and first grade students were significantly higher for children in the school with parent involvement. The results substantiate the importance of a parent education component in achieving a positive effect in food behavior as a result of a nutrition education program.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether students in a kindergarten/first-grade multiage class achieve at a different level than students enrolled in a traditional kindergarten or first-grade class in a selected primary school in East Tennessee. The question of the interaction between gender and type of instruction was also analyzed. The causal comparative quantitative research method was used to analyze data differentiating between students enrolled in multiage and traditional classes, retrospectively. A t-test was used to determine the level of performance the students demonstrated on the BRIGANCE K Screen at the beginning of the study. The number of mastered first-grade reading skills and mathematics skills, the score on the system-wide first-grade reading test and mathematics test, and gender interaction with type of instruction in each area were analyzed using ANCOVAs. Statistically significant results (pBRIGANCE 1 Screen(ANCOVA). In 1998, the combined males scored significantly higher than the combined females. In 1999, multiage males had significantly higher means than traditional males. ANCOVA results showed statistically significant difference in the number of mastered reading skills of the multiage students in 1998 as well as with the combination of all three years. The multiage mean was the higher of the two groups all three years. For the number of mastered mathematics skills, ANCOVA results showed a statistically significant difference in 1999 with the multiage scores higher than the traditional group. ANCOVA results showed no significant difference between the groups on the standardized reading and mathematics tests analyzed. Findings indicate that kindergarten students may benefit from kindergarten classes in a multiage setting, and that first-grade students may benefit from multiage settings in mastering skills in reading and mathematics but that benefit is not necessarily demonstrated by standardized test scores.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aligning supplemental reading instruction with core classroom reading instruction on struggling second-grade students’ proficiency in phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Alignment was defined as core classroom and supplemental instruction that are congruent in philosophy, goals, instructional materials, instructional methods, student activities, and reading strategies that follow the same scope and sequence. This study employed a two-group, pre-post true experimental design. Second-grade students (N = 153) scoring in the lowest quartile on the fall Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency assessment were randomly assigned to either an aligned or nonaligned supplemental reading instructional condition received instruction over a 20-week period. Reading specialists in 11 schools provided the supplemental instruction. iv The DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and the Woodcock Reading Mastery-Revised (WRMT-R III) assessments were used to assess student reading growth in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. Each student received one score from the DIBELS ORF and six scores from the WRMT-R III. Seven separate nested analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to examine differences in group means at posttest while accounting for nesting of reading specialists within schools. Pretest measures for each of the dependent variables were used as covariates to adjust posttest scores at the end of the study. After controlling for pretest score differences and accounting for the variance associated with reading specialists nested within schools, statistically significant differences were found favoring the aligned supplemental condition for posttest scores on all measures. Effect sizes ranged from small to moderate, with largest effect sizes being found for vocabulary and comprehension. The results of the study suggest that at-risk second-grade students benefitted from supplemental instruction that is aligned to the classroom core reading program.

This study examines primary grade retention as it is utilized in one suburban school district as an intervention for low achievement. Since as early as the late 1800's, educators have been struggling with the solution for students who do not demonstrate readiness for grade promotion. Grade retention is one of the practices that has been utilized in an effort to give students added time to prepare for the next grade level. This researcher collected and analyzed data on the experiences of a sample of six kindergarten, first, and second grade students who are repeating their respective grade level. The data for this qualitative study have been presented through classroom observations, parent and teacher interviews, and document review. The patterns that resulted from the data collection and analysis have provided insight into the factors that influence a student's experience with grade retention. This study explored the influential components of a primary grade retention program with recommendations for practical application in the field and future research in this area. / Educational Administration