The investigator has undertaken this study to determine whether the present orientation course at Oakdale High School meets the needs of youth whom it serves. Interest in the problem was aroused through controversy form time to time regarding the practicability of such a course as part of the curriculum, since some of the high schools in the county either do not have, or no longer include, Orientation in the curriculum as a separate course.

In 2 experiments, I studied the effects of the establishment of Incidental Bidirectional Naming (Inc. BiN) for unfamiliar stimuli on reading comprehension for first-grade students. In Experiment 1, I measured the associations, differences, and predictive value between multiple measures of reading comprehension and Inc. BiN stimulus control in 22 first-grade students. Inc. BiN stimulus control was measured with familiar and unfamiliar stimuli and partitioned into groups according to degrees of Unidirectional Naming (UniN) and Inc. BiN. Measures of reading comprehension included the i-Ready® K-12 Adaptive Reading Diagnostic and Woodcock-Johnson® Tests of Achievement (WJIV®). Results indicated significant correlations between degrees of UniN for unfamiliar stimuli and reading comprehension. In Experiment 2, I studied the effects of the establishment of Inc. BiN for unfamiliar stimuli on multiple measures of reading comprehension in a single case, multiple probe design across dyads. I selected 3 dyads of first graders who textually responded at or above grade-level and demonstrated the absence of Inc. BiN stimulus control for unfamiliar stimuli. There were 3 reading comprehension measures: (1) explicit reading comprehension probe after reading a fiction and nonfiction passage, (2) read-do probe consisting of unfamiliar stimuli, and (3) WJIV® subtests. Participants acquired Inc. BiN stimulus control for unfamiliar stimuli through a Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) intervention across listener and speaker responses. After participants demonstrated Inc. BiN stimulus control by emitting at least 80% accuracy across listener and speaker response topographies across two consecutive novel stimuli sets, I assessed reading comprehension performance. Results from experimenter-derived passage comprehension probes demonstrated increases across all 6 participants. Although read-do results were inconsistent, 5 participants demonstrated increases following the acquisition of Inc. BiN stimulus control. WJIV® results demonstrated the greatest increases in Passage Comprehension performance, while marginal and educationally significant increases were still observed across Reading Vocabulary and Reading Recall subtests.

No description available.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if a direct, explicit method of teaching vocabulary with a Vocabulary Scenario Technique-Language Sensitive protocol (VST-LS) would yield gains in the vocabulary knowledge of 4th grade students greater than those seen in 4th grade students receiving vocabulary instruction typical to some general education classrooms. VST-LS is a detailed description of procedures intended to be used by a teacher in a general education classroom for direct vocabulary instruction. The VST-LS protocol provides for 14 word encounters involving listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Forty-one 4 th grade students consisting of 18 males and 23 females participated in the study. All participants were attending a suburban elementary school in a large urban-suburban school district. Two 4th grade teachers at the suburban elementary school agreed to participate in the study. One of the teachers who agreed to participate in the study had previously participated in a Vocabulary Scenario Technique pilot study (Ehren, Zadroga, & Proly, 2010); therefore, her 4 th grade classroom was designated as the treatment group and the second 4th grade classroom was designated as the comparison group. The treatment group received direct vocabulary instruction by a graduate student speech language pathologist (SLP) using the VST-LS protocol. The comparison group received vocabulary instruction by a 4th grade teacher using word study activities typical to some general education classrooms. Both the treatment group and the comparison group were taught 32 preselected curriculum vocabulary words across four consecutive weeks. Eight iv words were taught per week, for four weeks, during three thirty minute instruction periods (dosage = 6 hours). Two pre-test/post-test vocabulary measures, a multiple choice synonym test and a fill-in-the-blank/word-bank sentence test, were used to document both the treatment group and comparison group performances. Both the synonym pre-test and the sentence pre-test were administered to the treatment group and the comparison group one week prior to the commencement of the pilot study. Both the synonym post-test and the sentence post-test were administered to the treatment group and the comparison group one week after the conclusion of the study. A one way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the treatment effects of the VST-LS protocol in comparison to treatment effects of vocabulary instruction typical to some classrooms. The ANCOVA testing indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in post-test scores for both the synonym measure, F(1, 35) = 14.76, p < .001, and the sentence measure, F(1, 34) = 43.66, p < .001, between the treatment condition and the comparison condition, when controlling for pre-test scores on both the synonym measure and the sentence measure. A large effect size was demonstrated, indicated by group, in regard to both the synonym measure, partial η 2 = .30, and the sentence measure, partial η 2 = .56. On average, participants in the treatment condition scored higher on both the synonym measure (M = 24.33, SE = 0.77) and the sentence measure (M = 26.24, SE = 0.76) than did the study participants in the comparison condition (synonym measure: M = 20.14, SE = 0.77; sentence measure: M = 19.03, SE = 0.78). v The result of the VST-LS pilot study indicated that this method of direct vocabulary instruction was more successful in generating vocabulary gains in 4 th grade students than was vocabulary instruction typically seen in general education classrooms. Additionally, the result indicated that the VST-LS protocol has potential as a viable, efficient method for teachers to use when directly teaching curriculum vocabulary words to 4th grade students in general education classrooms. A summary of the findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for the direction of future research are discussed.

This study examined indicators of 3rd Grade students’ non-school activity participation (NSAP) for associations with measures of social competence and reading performance. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), representative of a 1999 kindergarten cohort of more than 14,000 students was used. The study constructed social competence composites from responses provided by students, parents and teachers. Principal component analysis and iterative bivariate correlations were utilized to derive the most robust composite for use in tests of the main hypotheses of the study. Results confirmed prior research findings that social competence has strong positive associations with academic performance. Thereafter, the social competence composite and ECLS Reading IRT Scale Score were used as alternative outcome measures in the bivariate analyses and linear regressions on non-school activity participation (NSAP) and breadth of non-school activity participation (BNSAP) scores. Cluster and multiple regression analyses combined in the study and brought demographic and cognitive controls to bear on iterations of five distinct views of the independent variables. Results indicated that girls influenced the association strengths observed for NSAP, and boys seemed to drive the direction and strength of BNSAP associations. Although regression betas for total samples were nominal, when viewed by demographic cluster samples the values were appreciatively improved. The use of the cluster distinctions provided views of significant associations that were otherwise dissolved into nominal aggregates. The results of these analyses support the construct validity of applying the aggregate scoring metric of EAP research to NSAP. Regression results prompted a call for future inquiries into student self-selection.

No description available.

No description available.

The transition from elementary to middle school has been characterized as one of many “normative life crises" that involves both an increased opportunity for psychological growth and a heightened vulnerability to psychological disturbance. Principles from life stress/transition literature and prevention research have been applied to the development of programs designed to help students adapt to the various changes they encounter in the transition from elementary to middle school. In the present study, students evincing a poor academic transition to middle school were identified following the second grading period of the sixth grade, and placed into one of two 16-week treatment conditions. The "full treatment" condition consisted of group support (including training in problem—solving and social skills, goal-setting, self-monitoring, and incentives), parental support, and increased teacher support; the "partial treatment" condition consisted only of teacher support. A group of good academic transition students was included in the study for comparative purposes. Measures of depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem were administered to students at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and followup, and behavior problem checklists were completed by teachers at the same points in time. At pre-treatment, important differences were found between treatment and comparison students, most notably along the behavioral dimension. The full treatment group showed a significant improvement in grade-point average (GPA) and depression scores over time, whereas the partial treatment group did not. However, improvement in academic performance was not as marked as predicted for either treatment group. The results of the present study were discussed relative to the findings of other prevention researchers, and directions for future research were considered. / Ph. D.

The dual purpose of this study is to survey the interests of boys and girls who are in the sixth grade and to suggest a program of school work based upon these interests. The writer presents the study with the hope that it will contribute to a better understanding of what children's interests are and the part they should play in planning the curriculum and complete school program.

The problem of this investigation is to make a comparative study of first-grade children to determine, if possible, whether the child who attends kindergarten has any advantages over one who does not attend.