The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to explore how libraries’ storytime for babies and toddlers can be construedas a reading promotion event which boosts early literacy, by ways of a multiple-case study of storytime at four public libraries in western Ireland. The study will also explore how the different libraries design these events and include different elements of traditional reading and storytelling, multimodal reading and technology, participation, and accessibility and inclusion through a sociocultural lens. The theoretical framework is constructed on the concepts and theory related to literacy development and reading promotion, and works as an analytical tool through which the empirical data collection will be examined. Data was collected through observations of storytimes at four public libraries in Ireland, as well as interviews with the involved librarians. The results show that although the librarians do not actively work to implement national and EU storytime templates, they offer programmes which are in tune with their participants’ needs, and invoke engagement and excitement about reading among children and parents or guardians alike.

The low literacy levels achieved by deaf children are of ongoing concern to educators and researchers alike. The present research considered emergent literacy as one aspect to consider in the acquisition of literacy skills in deaf children. The aim of this research was to describe the home-based literacy experiences of severely to profoundly deaf pre-schoolers as provided by their hearing parents. Parents of twenty-nine pre-school deaf children from schools for the deaf were selected to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed based on the four identified literacy contexts: the physical and functional context, the language context, the affective context and the educational context. The results obtained indicate that the deaf children in this survey are exposed to literacy-rich home environments where they are able to observe literate adult role models. Limitations in the quantity and quality of text-based interaction between the deaf pre-schoolers, their hearing parents and older siblings were identified. The results also indicated that the parents who participated in this research regarded the development of language and communication as more important than the early acquisition of literacy skills. The parents assigned the greatest responsibility in teaching literacy skills to teachers. This study highlights the sensitive nature of early literacy and language learning in young deaf children. Suggestions for further research are presented. / Dissertation (M(Augmentative and Alternative Communication))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

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One population with challenges in learning to read is children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention activities to improve phonological awareness and phonics skills with three children with ASD. Previous studies have looked at the effectiveness of using SEEL with other young children with diverse backgrounds; however, this is the first study to focus on using SEEL intervention with children with ASD. The study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design to compare performance on phonic patterns before and after intervention. Three young, male students who had a diagnosis on the autism spectrum and delays in literacy skills participated in the study. A number of different, yet comparable literacy targets were selected for each of the participants and assessment tasks were created to probe the participants’ ability to demonstrate reading and phonological awareness for these target patterns. Baseline assessment data were collected prior to participants receiving individualized intervention, and performance on each task was monitored using the same assessment each subsequent session. SEEL instruction focusing on one target at a time was used to teach participants to read or decode the target words and give appropriate responses to phonological awareness tasks. Intervention sessions were held once a week and lasted approximately 30-45 minutes. Each SEEL lesson was adapted to meet the needs of the individual child; however, all sessions contained SEEL principles of contextualized play, frequent auditory and visual exposures to the targets, explicit teaching using the target words, and engaged and reciprocal participation with opportunities to create original oral and written phrases. An analysis of the results show marked improvement in performance with the selected targets for two of the participants. This study provides further insight into the efficacy of using SEEL with different populations in need of early literacy intervention, especially those with multiple behavioral and skill-based variables to consider. It also discusses some additional factors and challenges to consider for future research in using SEEL with children with ASD.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention method to improve consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) reading in four students receiving Tier 3 services. The SEEL intervention method was also combined with the use of digital books on an iPad to investigate the effects of using technology in reading intervention sessions. Previous research indicates effectiveness for the foundational principles of SEEL, which include instruction in engaging, meaningful contexts that provide frequent and intense opportunities to practice. This research involved 4 kindergarten students who qualified for Tier 3 services based on their performance on an index of difficulty in early literacy skills. The study contrasted trained with untrained literacy targets of comparable difficulty and was conducted as a single-subject multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design. Intervention was delivered three times a week for 15-20 minutes, depending on the engagement of the participants. An analysis of the results showed improvement in three out of four participants in their reading ability of the target CVC words. It gave mixed results as to the effects of using technology in combination with the reading intervention. The analysis also looked at student engagement during both the hands-on manipulation of the materials and the reading and writing tasks performed on the iPad. It found that the engagement between these two parts of each session was similar; if a student had poor engagement for the SEEL intervention, he or she also had poor engagement for the iPad portion, and vice versa. This study provides further insight into the efficacy of SEEL and the use of technology; it also provides suggestions for future research in the area of reading intervention.

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Partners in Print, a family literacy program, was brought to the urban elementary school in this study to educate and empower kindergarten and first grade parents to promote literacy development at home. This research aimed to explore the impact of participation in this program after consistent participation by utilizing a one-group pre-test, post-test research design. The Parent Empowerment and Home Literacy Environment Survey, which included both structured and unstructured questions, was administered before and after participation in the program to elicit notions of parent empowerment and growth in the home literacy environment. Parent participants also completed a document review of program handouts to triangulate the data. The data suggested that parents feel more empowered after consistently participating in Partners in Print. There was also evidence that the home literacy environment was of higher quality after participation. This study validated the practice of implementing family literacy programs as a strategy for empowering parents and enriching the home literacy environments of children.

When teachers are charged with educating students that are racially, culturally, or economically different from them, they may have little information on the culture and type of family involvement of their students. This lack of information contributes to perceptions of working-class families as socially disorganized and intellectually deficient. However, research embodying the theoretical framework funds of knowledge (FoK) attempts to counter deficient models through its assertion that all families possess extensive bodies of knowledge that have developed through social, historical, political, and economic contexts. The primary purpose of this study was to carefully examine Hispanic parents’ support of young children’s early literacy development in the home. The knowledge gleaned from an initial study of home support, by spending time in the home of a Hispanic family provided an avenue for action research in the classroom. A second purpose was to determine if the introduction of FoK ways of learning, when applied in the classroom, had an effect on early literacy skills. In addition, I maintained a journal that chronicled my experiences and led to an autoethnographic study of myself as a transforming white, female, prekindergarten teacher. The results indicated that the family possessed extensive FoK developed through historical, cultural, educational, and social experiences. Results further indicate that introduction of these familial FoK improved the oral language skills of prekindergarten students thus enhancing their early literacy development. Autoethnographic results indicate a personal progression toward not only understanding, but becoming an advocate, for the Hispanic population.

xiv, 145 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / As an increasing number of studies document the link between the development of student academic and social behavior, there is a growing need to create and evaluate interventions that address both types of skill development in school contexts. It is of particular importance to focus on interventions that improve the learning environment to maximize student success. The Good Behavior Game (TGBG) is an example of a research-based intervention that can be easily modified and implemented in conjunction with academic interventions to maximize effectiveness of student supports. The present study focused on the development and implementation of a modified version of TGBG implemented during the delivery of a secondary level early literacy intervention for students at-risk for reading difficulties. Specifically, this study examined whether instructional assistants' implementation of TGBG was functionally related to changes in student and instructor outcomes. The student outcomes assessed were (1) problem behavior, (2) academic engagement, and (3) pre-literacy skill development. The instructor outcomes assessed were provision of opportunities to respond to instruction, specific praise, and corrective statements for student social behavior. Data were also collected on fidelity of implementation, contextual fit, and social validity of TGBG. A concurrent multiple baseline design across five instructional reading groups was used to evaluate effects of TGBG. Results indicated that TGBG was functionally related to reductions in student problem behavior. In addition, a functional relation was established between implementation of TGBG and increases in instructor provision of specific praise statements and decreases in provision of corrective statements. Academic engagement and provision of opportunities to respond remained high and stable throughout the study. Pre-literacy trajectories did not appear to be functionally related to TGBG implementation; however, this may have been due to the short timeframe of the study. Instructional assistants implementing TGBG as well as students participating in TGBG rated it positively. Conceptual, practical, and future research implications are discussed. / Committee in charge: Cynthia Anderson, Co-Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Elizabeth Ham, Co-Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Robert Horner, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Marjorie Woollacott, Outside Member, Human Physiology