Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Susan Nelson Wood, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 27, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, page: 2099. Advisers: Robert E. Roberts; Christine Markham. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985. / Also available in print.

xii, 95 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Student use of electronic response technology has been prevalent in postsecondary institutions and is beginning to penetrate K-12 classroom settings. Despite these trends, research exploring the impact of this technology in these settings has been limited. The extant research has relied heavily on survey methodologies and largely has focused on student/teacher perception or implementation practices while remaining silent on learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to broaden the scope of research models used to explore electronic response technology and its impact on student learning. The study took place in a ninth-grade science classroom at a large high school with a comprehensive curriculum. Study participants were first-year high school students enrolled in one of two sections of the freshman science sequence focusing on Physical Science content. One section, serving as the Treatment group, used electronic response devices on a daily basis to respond to preplanned teacher questions. The other section, serving as the Comparison group, relied on traditional methods of interaction such as raising hands to respond to questions. They responded to the same set of preplanned questions and differed only in the manner of response, with the teacher asking the class and then calling on one of the students to answer. The study focused on academic achievement, as measured by student performance on a pre- and posttest, as well as student engagement, measured by momentary time sample data taken throughout the entire class with focused attention on periods of teacher questioning. The analysis of academic achievement employed an ANOVA, and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups. Engagement data were analyzed using an independent samples t test, and statistically significant differences were found between the two groups. Findings from this study indicated that, when using electronic response technology in their science classes, students demonstrated significantly higher levels of engagement across an entire class period as well as during teacher questioning. Implications of the study have been framed around the promise of electronic response technology for engaging and motivating students. / Adviser: Gerald Tindal

xv, 110 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In this dissertation study, the efficacy of Vocabulary Enhanced Systematic and Explicit Teaching Routines (VE SETR) as a vocabulary intervention was examined for first grade Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs). The quasi-experimental study included two groups of elementary students in two schools that had an "early exit" Spanish language arts programs, meaning students are instructed in their native languages for the purposes of early reading instruction for 2-3 years before they are transitioned to reading in English. The study examined the efficacy of a 15 minute daily vocabulary intervention using VE SETRs to enhance the vocabulary instruction in a first grade Spanish reading program. The VE SETR treatment cohort of students received 75 minutes of core reading instruction using the Macmillan McGraw-Hill reading curriculum, Tesoros, in conjunction with systematic and explicit teaching routines (SETR) that addressed all areas of reading instruction (e.g., phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) plus 15 minutes of small group VE SETR instruction. The SETR comparison group received 90 minutes of the general core-reading curriculum using Tesoros and the SETRs only, without the 15 minutes of vocabulary enhanced instruction. The study examined whether the VE SETR intervention improved vocabulary development for students in the VE SETR treatment cohort. Assessment measures included the Bilingual Verbal Ability Test (BVAT), the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody PVT-III (TVIP), Indicadores Dinámicos del Éxito en la Lectura (IDEL) oral reading fluency measure and the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) measure. Research findings indicated a statistically significant difference in favor of VE SETR treatment on students' ability to define and use target vocabulary words as measured by the Depth of Knowledge assessment. However, the VE SETR treatment had no statistically significant effect on the treatment students' oral reading fluency and on their receptive vocabulary as measured by the TVIP, or their bilingual verbal ability as measured by the BVAT. Overall, the VE SETR treatment had a positive effect for the VE SETR treatment group on one of the four measures. / Committee in charge: Edward Kameenui, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Gerald Tindal, Member, Educational Leadership; Paul Yovanoff, Member, Educational Leadership; Scott Baker, Member, Not from U of 0; Robert Davis, Outside Member, Romance Languages

xii, 93 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Dropping out of high school may have individual as well as social implications. The process of dropping out is attributed to social and academic risk factors. Attendance, course completion and grade-point-average have been identified as key indicators of students off-track for graduation. This study utilized a single exploratory case design with embedded quantitative statistical analysis to understand the characteristics of 416 students transitioning from three middle schools to a large, suburban high school. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between 12 middle school indicators and ninth grade attendance, course completion, and grade-point-average. Findings suggested that middle school grade-point-average, course grade D, attendance, and ACT math scores were strong predictors of ninth grade performance. The major implications have highlighted key middle school risk indicators for identifying and providing intervention to transitioning students at risk of school failure. / Committee in charge: Gerald Tindal, Chairperson, Educational Leadership; Edward Kameenui, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Paul Yovanoff, Member, Educational Leadership; Robert 0 Brien, Outside Member, Sociology

xiii, 126 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Given the staggering prevalence of 12-22% of school children with mental health problems and the paucity of effective mental health services available, it is essential that professionals examine alternative methods for providing social and emotional support to children (Greenberg, Bumbarger, & Domitrovich, 2001). Rather than continuing with a service delivery approach that is reactive, fragmented, and inefficient, professionals are called to consider a more preventive approach that ensures the health of all children. A public health model of intervention can provide a conceptual framework for mental health service delivery in its aim to serve an entire population and to provide multi-tiered support (universal, targeted, indicated) that increases in intensity based on the needs of individual persons (Coie et al, 2000). Members of the Oregon Resiliency Project, a research effort at the University of Oregon, have spent the last several years developing one such set of SEL curricula, appropriate for children in grades pre-k-12, the Strong Kids programs, Strong Start: K-2 , (Merrell, Parisi, & Whitcomb, 2007), is a component of Strong Kids , developmentally applicable to kindergarten through second grade students. The purpose of this study was to implement a pilot or feasibility study that examined the impact of Strong Start on first grade students' social-emotional knowledge skills, with a particular emphasis on emotion knowledge, social behavior and affect. Pretest data collection of Strong Start began in Fall 2007 in 4 classrooms in a suburban, northwestern school district. Implementation of the intervention occurred in Winter 2008 and posttest data were gathered in Spring 2008. Results indicated that Strong Start was implemented with integrity, and that significant increases in students' knowledge about emotion situations and significant decreases in students' internalizing behaviors were associated with exposure to the program. Limitations of this study as well as directions for future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Kenneth Merrell, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Cynthia Anderson, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Elizabeth Stormshak, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; John Seeley, Member, not from U of 0; Sara Hodges, Outside Member, Psychology

xvi, 120 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Instructional use of the iPod Touch is increasing as evidenced by anecdotal reports of its efficacy as a learning tool. However, research documenting the impact of this technology has been limited. This study was based on the following research questions: (a) Does providing explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction using an iPod Touch increase students' reading comprehension outcomes based on standardized reading tests and multiple-choice probe measures when compared to a No Support comparison group? (b) Does providing different types of electronic text support increase students' reading comprehension outcomes, and if so, which type of support is most effective? (c) Does providing different levels of electronic text support influence students' attitudes toward the use of comprehension strategies as well as using an iPod Touch for this task? Participants included 155 sixth-grade students at a public middle school. Students were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups; (a) Notational Only support (a note-taking sheet), (b) Notational + Instructional support (embedded prompts), and (c) Notational + Instructional + Translational support (audio version of the text and prompts) and received reading comprehension strategy instruction and text support using an iPod Touch. An intact No Support ( N = 61) group that did not receive instruction or text support but read the texts using an iPod Touch was used as a quasi-experimental comparison group. Two standardized reading comprehension measures were employed at pretest and posttest as well as researcher developed probe measures that were used throughout the study. An ANOVA analysis determined that no statistically significant differences existed between the groups at pretest. An ANCOVA with pretest scores as a covariate found no statistically significant differences between groups on the standardized reading comprehension measures. Because of a high level of variation among the probe measure data, including significant missing data, these results were not analyzed statistically and were reported descriptively. Students responded positively to survey questions about using the iPod Touch for summarization strategy instruction and the text supports. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Edward J. Kame'enui, Chair; Dr. Kathleen Scalise; Dr. Louis Moses; Dr. Lynne Anderson-Inman

xiii, 171 p. : ill. / Although there is arguably substantial evidence in the literature on what works for students at risk of reading failure, the evidence on effective interventions for English-language learners (ELs) is rather meager. Moreover, there are limited curriculum programs and instructional materials available to support schools in the inclusion of ELs in reading-reform efforts. This study examined the efficacy of a systematic transition intervention designed to increase the early literacy achievement of Spanish-speaking ELs in transitional bilingual programs. The intervention included a set of 12 scripted transition lessons that made explicit for ELs the orthographic, lexical, and syntactic differences between Spanish and English. In addition, the lessons addressed the story content knowledge and vocabulary and academic language necessary to ensure that ELs could access the English literacy curriculum and classroom discourse. Seventy-eight first-grade ELs identified as at risk for reading difficulty were randomly assigned to receive either the transition lessons in the treatment condition or the standard school-based intervention in the control condition. Students in both conditions received 60 thirty-minute sessions of small-group instruction as a supplement to their first-grade core reading program. Instruction in both conditions was explicit and focused on the core reading components (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, word work, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Student performance was measured on the following dimensions of early reading: (a) phonemic decoding and word reading, (b) oral reading fluency, (c) vocabulary development, and (d) comprehension. In addition, fidelity of implementation, time devoted to the different literacy components, and feasibility of implementation data were collected during and after the study. A gain-score analysis was employed in this study to compare the effect of the treatment (transition lessons) and control (standard school-based intervention) conditions on scores obtained from the pretest and posttest measures of reading achievement. The results indicated that the difference in gain scores between the treatment and control conditions was not statistically significant on any of the measures utilized in the study. Therefore, the transition intervention did not appear to be more effective than the typical school-based intervention. Findings are discussed in light of current research on improving the academic performance of ELs. / Committee in charge: Dr. Edward J. Kame‘enui, Chair; Dr. Roland H. Good, III, Member; Dr. Elizabeth Harn, Member; Dr. Doris A. Baker, Member; Dr. Robert R. Davis, Outside Member