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

This study was concerned with determining the effectiveness of two methods of teaching arithmetic in the first grade. The primary dimension of this problem was to determine and compare the arithmetic achievement of an experimental group using the Cuisenaire program and the achievement of a control group using a conventional program for the purpose of finding which was the more efficient. The secondary dimension of the problem was to determine whether socio-economic status or sex affects the achievement which results from either the conventional or the Cuisenaire method of instruction.

The problem of this study was to compare the relative gains made in the development of oral language skills in two groups of first grade pupils when two different approaches to beginning reading instruction were used. The two approaches were: (a) the language experience approach, Approach A, and (b) the traditional basal reader approach, Approach B. The six aspects of oral language development considered were: extent of verbalization, spoken vocabulary, expressions of tentativeness, use of structural patterns, colorful and vivid expressions, and use of mazes.

A general study of testing with special focus on, and analysis of, tests being used in the primary grades by selected cities; the controversy concerning aptitude and intelligence testing as it applies particularly to genetic factors and race; and the identification and selection of ideas which would be of value to a first grade teacher seeking diverse and unusual ways to discover abilities and aptitudes in first grade children. Study covers in detail some of the controversy about racial intelligence as it concerns black and white Americans starting with interpretations and controversies that occurred after World War I, and also with current controversy about the same topic (racial intelligence)and the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors in the interpretation of test scores. Agreement among various authorities who have contrasting ideas of genetic factors and their influence is discussed along two basic lines of agreement: the belief that almost all children can learn basic skills, and that this learning can best be accomplished if diverse learning approaches are used. Study concludes with an identification of, and detailed description of teaching techniques which could be used by a first grade teacher who sought in diverse ways to discover aptitudes and abilities in her children.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-107). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-225). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

This study examined a first grade, general education teacher's changing practices related to reading intervention for struggling readers as she worked with a group of university researchers to develop and implement a first grade reading instruction model. This study also investigated the following research questions: What changes in a first grade, general education teacher’s reading instructional practices occurred because of a year long university-teacher collaborative relationship in implementing evidence-based reading instruction for struggling students? What were the facilitators and barriers for implementing evidence-based reading practices for struggling readers? Analyses of classroom observations, teacher interviews, intervention validity checklists (IVC's), observations, support team meeting notes, research team meeting notes, field notes, and other forms of documentation provided a view into the process of change of one teacher. / text

Two overlapping situations in the American educational environment have given fuel for this study: the NAEP reported that 34% of fourth grade students read below grade level and NCLB mandated that all children read on grade level by 2014. First grade students from a Midwestern elementary school participated in an after school reading club that met daily. This reading experience was different from others because these first grade students were grouped by learning style preferences. Meanwhile, many classroom teachers respond to the challenge of differentiating reading instruction based solely on students’ reading ability levels creating a forever “reading below grade level” for struggling readers placed in low reading groups. The primary purpose of this study was to explore reading instruction utilizing learning style preferences of first grade students. An overarching question for this study, “How might reading instruction (nurture) aligned with the child’s learning style preference (nature) impact the child’s reading achievement?” To investigate this question the researcher created a supplemental reading experience after school by grouping children by their learning style preference to differentiate instruction. Utilizing the right kind of quality instruction with the right level of intensity and duration with the right children at the right time created an effective preventive program (Torgesen, 1998). That is differentiated instruction! A pretest and posttest assessment was conducted using running record reading assessments focusing on the total number of errors recorded. This quantitative research design, randomized pretest-posttest control group analyzed the collected data using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the one-way ANOVA analysis showed there was no significant difference in the posttests of the learning style treatment and the leveled reading control groups. Further analysis of the data revealed there was a significance comparing the pretest to the posttest within the treatment group and within the control group. This was important and implied grouping children by learning style preference for reading instruction may be an effective form of differentiation for small group reading instruction. / Department of Elementary Education

This study explored the relationships among visual and auditory perception, academic aptitude, sex and achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics. The study also sought to determine if scores on visual and/or auditory perception would contribute additional predictive information about achievement beyond that already known through knowledge of sex and academic aptitude scores.Subjects in this study were the entire first grade population of an East Central Indiana rural and suburban public school corporation. The subjects were in the first grade in the school year 1974-1975.The data collected for each subject came from four sources: (1) the Primary Mental Abilities Test K-1 (PMA), (2) the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), (3) the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination (GFW), and (4) the Science Research Associates Achievement Series, Level 1-4, Form E.The data were treated by canonical and multiple regression analysis. Separate canonical correlation coefficients were computed for boys and girls. A canonical R of .725 (p <.O1) between the predictor and criterion variables was computed for boys. The greatest association was between the predictor variable MVPT and language arts and to a lesser extent, mathematics. The PMA was also associated with these criterion variables, but to a lesser degree. Results of the study also indicate that visual perception added significantly to prediction of achievement beyond that which is already known through knowledge of a subject's sex and academic aptitude score. Auditory perception when added as a fourth variable did not make a significant contribution to predictive ability in any of the three criterion measures.Within the possible limitations resulting from a delay in the administration of the perceptual measures the following conclusions are drawn from this study. 1. There is a relationship between a set of scores on visual and auditory perception and academic aptitude and a set of scores on achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics.`2. This relationship is different for boys and girls. Girls outperformed boys on all three measures of achievement. For girls, scores on language arts and, to a lesser degree, mathematics tend to be associated with visual perception and academic aptitude. For boys, scores on reading and language arts tend to be associated with academic aptitude.3. Visual perception accounted for variation in the dependent variables of reading, language arts and mathematics beyond that accounted for through knowledge of the subject's sex and academic aptitude score.4. Visual perception had a stronger relationship to later achievement -for girls than either academic aptitude or auditory perception.5. The academic aptitude measure PMA, correlated higher with achievement for boys than it did for girls.6. Academic aptitude was a stronger predictor of later achievement for boys than either visual or auditory perceptual measures.7. Auditory perception was not significantly related to any of the achievement measures and made no significant contribution to the multiple regression equations.