xvi, 225 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study investigated the effectiveness of function-based academic and behavior intervention on behavior and reading improvement for five English language learners who exhibited escape-maintained problem behaviors and academic reading difficulties. The study sought to document the effect of a function-based approach on students with highly diverse cultural backgrounds in an international school in Thailand. The intervention emphasized (a) the functional behavior assessment (FBA) strategies to identify the function of the target behavior, (b) evidence-based effective reading instructional approaches, and (c) responsiveness to cultural perspectives of teachers and students. A combined single-subject research methodology documented a functional relationship between implementation of the function-based intervention and decreased problem behaviors. The findings revealed the potential to increase academic engagement and reading performance for the students by following a behavior support plan based on effective reading instruction and tasks modified to accommodate students' academic needs. The study emphasized cultural responsiveness of the intervention plan and implementation. Despite several limitations, this experimental research incorporated culture into behavior and academic support as well as into the research designs. In future application, cultural responsiveness among professionals will be a key element to ensure that future intervention support will meaningfully change the lives of students and will be sustained over time. / Adviser: Robert Homer

Accountability for student learning outcomes is of importance to parents and school and district administrators, especially since the passage of The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The requirement for high-stakes testing to measure progress has fostered interest in ways to monitor student preparedness during the school year. This study used 2014 and 2015 test data from of 154 students from one elementary school to measure the correlation between individually administered Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement Brief Reading and DIBELS Next reading assessments and outcomes on the high-stakes Utah SAGE test. This correlational study used Pearson correlation coefficients to determine redundancy across the tests, and used multiple regression to assess how well scores on the KTEA and DIBELS Next tests predict students' subsequent scores on the SAGE test. Results indicate that DIBELS Next was a strong predictor of SAGE outcomes while KTEA Brief results were moderate predictors.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:47:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriela_Medeiros_Nogueira_Tese.pdf: 48288829 bytes, checksum: 436f73b2bfa3d1d9f9bd082d704831dc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-23 / The main theme of this thesis is the study of the transition from early childhood education to the First Grade in the context of extension of Elementary School to nine years. The main question is: Has the extension of Primary School to nine years and the compulsory admission of six-year-old children enabled a better relationship Childhood Education and Elementary School since both educational levels should be restructured? It was considered analyses from National and Municipal contexts, and the everyday life in schools throughout documental research, interviews and en ethnographic approach as methodological procedures. However, the main was the school context. The research was carried out in a school from Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul Brazil, in a pre-school class in 2009, in the First Grade in 2010. The interviews with the Municipal Department of Education coordinators and the school principals, as well as with the teachers and children, the classroom footages and the detailed data description from the Field Work had its investigative focus on the identification of: I) early reading situations; II) literacy practices and events; III) play culture and culture of pairs, who were done by a group of children and their teachers during the everyday life inside the classroom. The theoretical assumption, which led to the data analysis, have considered, mainly, the works from: Soares (2004, 2006), Manrique (2007) related to early reading, Street (2003, 2010) and Castanheira (2004) regarding to literacy and Brougere (2008. 2010, Corsaro (2007, 2011), Sarmento (2003) referring to issues about the playculture and childhood. The results of this research demonstrated that the extension of Elementary School to nine years has not contributed whatsoever in a meaningful way to a better relationship between Early Childhood Education and Elementary School, since the rupture between both levels have been acutely kept. In the one hand the practices inside the pre-school classroom revealed a sensitive proposal to the manifestation and wishes of the children; practices which were committed to the development of competent readers and authors throughout interaction with real reading and writing situations and also by contemplating aspects of the everyday play culture in the classroom. On the other hand, in the everyday life in First Grade prevailed a more mechanical early reading perspective, which instead of inviting the children to live the pleasures of reading and writing involved them in dull and monotonous activities / Esta tese tem como tema o estudo da passagem da Educação Infantil para o 1º ano no contexto do Ensino Fundamental de nove anos, a partir da seguinte questão norteadora: A ampliação do Ensino Fundamental para nove anos e o ingresso obrigatório das crianças aos seis anos de idade possibilitaram maior articulação entre a Educação Infantil e o Ensino Fundamental, uma vez que ambas as etapas de ensino deveriam ser reestruturadas? Para responder essa questão, foram considerados na análise os contextos federal, municipal e o cotidiano escolar através de pesquisa documental e de abordagem etnográfica. A pesquisa foi realizada em uma escola da rede municipal de Pelotas/RS através de observações participantes em uma turma de pré-escola em 2009, tendo continuidade em 2010 no 1º ano. As entrevistas com os gestores da Secretaria Municipal de Educação e gestores escolares, com as professoras e as crianças, as filmagens das diversas situações de sala de aula e a descrição detalhada dos dados no Diário de Campo tiveram como foco investigativo identificar: i) situações de alfabetização; ii) práticas e eventos de letramento; iii) cultura lúdica e cultura de pares, vividas por um grupo de crianças e suas professoras no cotidiano de sala de aula. Os pressupostos teóricos que nortearam a análise dos dados consideraram, principalmente, os seguintes trabalhos: Soares (2004, 2006), Manrique (2007), em relação à alfabetização; Street (2003, 2010) e Castanheira (2004), quanto ao letramento; e Brougère (2008, 2010), Corsaro (2007, 2011), Sarmento (2003), para questões referentes à cultura lúdica e à infância. Os resultados dessa pesquisa demonstraram que a ampliação do Ensino Fundamental de nove anos não contribuiu de forma significativa para uma maior articulação entre a Educação Infantil e o Ensino Fundamental, pois a ruptura entre ambas as etapas se mantém de forma acentuada. Enquanto as práticas observadas na turma da pré-escola revelaram uma proposta sensível às manifestações e aos anseios das crianças., Foi possível perceber que as práticas na pré-escola tinha comprometimento com a formação de leitores e autores competentes através da interação com situações reais de leitura e escrita, contemplando aspectos da cultura lúdica no cotidiano da sala de aula. No entanto, as práticas observadas no 1º ano bastante diferentes, prevalecendo uma perspectiva de alfabetização mecânica, que, ao invés de convidar as crianças a vivenciar o prazer de ler e escrever, afastou-as com atividades maçantes e enfadonhas

The present study examined the effectiveness of a shared storybook reading intervention in increasing children’s early numeracy and early literacy skills through a multiple baseline single case design. Four parent-child dyads were included in the study, and children’s early numeracy and early literacy skills were measured using the eNumeracy Early Math Assessments and the Preschool Early Literacy Indicators, respectively. The study also measured mathematical dialogue to determine if an increase in children’s early numeracy skills is due to the intervention and not other confounding variables. Finally, the study measured intervention integrity, and parent ratings of social validity. Results of the study indicated that parent-child mathematical dialogue increased for three participants and could not be calculated for the fourth participant due to attrition. Visual analysis and hierarchical linear modeling results indicated no statistically significant early numeracy or literacy outcomes across participants. A masked visual analysis indicated that there was an observable difference in children’s scores on the eNumeracy Ordinal Position measures, but none of the other outcome measures. Additionally, the majority of parents were able to implement the intervention with integrity and all parents reported high levels of social validity. The findings of this study show that the parent directed shared mathematical storybook reading intervention was effective in increasing mathematical dialogue between parents and children. Future studies should examine the impact of shared mathematical storybook reading interventions on discrete early numeracy and literacy skills specifically targeted during the book reading interventions.

Hispanic children in the United States are more likely to fall behind in several literacy measures even before they enroll in prekindergarten programs. There are some structural and non-structural factors that have a direct impact on Hispanic children’s early literacy skills. Among the non-structural factors this mixed-method study explored Hispanic caregivers’ beliefs about education as well as their literacy practices at home. The study compared two groups: diverse Hispanic caregivers with 4-year-old children enrolled in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) and diverse Hispanic caregivers whose 4-year-old children were not enrolled in VPK. A total of 125 diverse Hispanic caregivers responded to two surveys: the Parental Reading Belief Inventory and the Adaptation of the Stony Brooks Reading Survey. Twenty Hispanic parents were later interviewed to better understand their beliefs about education as well as their literacy practices at home. The surveys and interviews revealed playing games, drawing pictures and looking at books with their children were the most common literacy practices in which Hispanic caregivers engaged. All participants in the study stated how much they value their children’s education. Some, particularly caregivers whose children were participating in VPK programs, were more likely to engage in their children’s education and experience fewer barriers to reading at home. Country of origin played an important role in differentiating Hispanic parents in their beliefs about education as well as in their literacy practices at home. From the diverse group of participants in the study, Mexican caregivers were less likely to perceive themselves as playing a key role in their children’s education and they also shared experiencing more barriers in their literacy activities when compared with parents from Cuba and Puerto Rico. Overall, enrollment in VPK was dependent upon the type of barriers to reading activities that Hispanic parents experience as well their country of origin.

The study examined the typical development of early literacy in a group of typically developing preschool Sepedi first language children residing in Atteridgeville, by determining their performance on a protocol of early literacy tasks. The following aspects were included: written language awareness, narrative abilities, phonological awareness, letter name knowledge, grapheme-phoneme correspondence and literacy motivation. The performance of the participants on the various tasks was used to describe the early literacy development of the target population and to identify relevant risk criteria that may indicate delayed early literacy development in the target population. The performance of participants on these tasks differed from those of other participants in local and international studies, which underscores the necessity of culturally sensitive procedures for identifying delays in the early literacy development of children. The influence of factors such as the mother’s level of education, gender, participants’ level of engagement in literacy activities and participants' current academic performance on the development of early literacy skills were also investigated. Based on the results as well as other indications from the literature, possible risk factors for delayed early literacy development for this group are listed. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

This project consists of two, two-week thematically planned language arts units containing all the components of a balanced literacy. It was created to teach second and third grade at risk students at Chester Morrison Elementary School, in Menifee, California during two weeks of their off track time. Both sessions have daily detailed plans for the teacher outlining all the components of a balanced literacy program. Both sessions contain relevent books that students make and take, shared reading to increase comprehension and skill building, and constant literacy opportunities.

No description available.

Professionals in education continue to explore technology as a way to instruct young students, and there is an accompanying belief that this technology can make an educational and academic difference. Despite the high percentage of young students in classrooms using technology, the impact of this technology on the early literacy skills of young children remains largely unknown. Guided by Vygotsky’s social learning theory, this study reports a 24-week investigation on whether regular use of Istation®, an integrated learning system used by approximately 3,000,000 students in the United States, had an effect on the early literacy achievement of children in twelve kindergarten classrooms. A mixed-method, quasi-experimental design was constructed using propensity scores. Also investigated were the effects of the level of teacher literacy support on early literacy achievement and the interaction between Istation® use and the level of teacher literacy support. A descriptive discriminant analysis was performed to determine the main effect of Istation®. The level of teacher support and the interaction effect was then tested using a multivariate between-subject analysis. Results indicated that Istation® did have a statistically significant effect on the early literacy skills of the 72 kindergarten students studied and was able to explain 17.7% of the variance in group differences. Hearing and recording sounds and letter sound knowledge were the main contributors to group differences. Teacher literacy support and the interaction between teacher support and Istation were not significant. This study considers the relationship between technology and early literacy and concludes that Istation® can serve as a more knowledgeable other as students develop some early literacy skills; however, teachers are still needed to provide complete literacy instruction for young students.

There are persistent and pervasive issues plaguing American education, and almost seventy years of educational reform efforts have failed to adequately improve educational outcomes for many of America’s children. Networked improvement communities (or NICs) are a type of social organization created to address such problems and are proposed as an effective and efficient way to organize improvement efforts. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the sensemaking experience of a newly-formed networked improvement community as members engaged in inquiry around a chosen problem of practice. During network initiation, NIC members engage in experiences to collaboratively identify and collectively articulate a central problem of practice, and these intentional inquiry processes are a critical step for newly-formed networks. The study was designed to answer the following questions about this research case: What initial understandings emerged about the networked improvement community's chosen problem of practice? How did members of a newly-formed networked improvement community begin to make sense of their organizational problem of practice through inquiry? What cues triggered member sensemaking? What actions propelled member sensemaking forward? Data collection methods included the selection of naturally occurring network inquiry documents originating from member-generated student and teacher journey map experiences and corresponding member reflections and discussion via a network blog (or discussion forum). The data were analyzed utilizing both deductive and inductive strategies across multiple phases of analysis. Likewise, the data were reviewed against the study’s conceptual framework, which was based on current research on networked improvement communities and the sensemaking process. Measures of rigor were achieved through multiple strategies, including triangulation, disconfirming evidence, rich descriptions, theory-based sampling strategy, and peer debriefing/expert review. The data revealed not only a rich understanding of the network’s problem of practice but also provided a window into what types of cues triggered member sensemaking in this social structure and what actions propelled member sensemaking forward in this ongoing process.