Parenting education is a process of providing information to parents on the challenges of parenting, services available for families, and ideas on how to interact with children. The federal Even Start family literacy program, designed to increase the educational opportunities of parents and children, has a strong parenting education component. Parenting information is offered through formal classes, support groups, home visits and by involving parents in their child's classroom. Using the life course and family system's perspective, this study examined the impact of participation in the Even Start program on parents' knowledge of parenting and their parenting practices. The study employed a pretest-posttest design and utilized quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. In all, 74 Even Start and 26 comparison group parents participated. Four hypotheses were tested: (a) Even Start parents would make greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices than would comparison group parents; (b) parents who made gains in parenting knowledge and practices would have different demographic characteristics than those who did not make gains; (c) parents with lower depression, higher self-esteem, and greater social support would make greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices; and (d) programs offering more hours of parenting education would have parents making greater gains in parenting knowledge and practices. Quantitative results indicate that there are demographic differences at pretest and posttest in parents' scores on parenting knowledge and practices although there is no significant difference in score gains as the result of program participation. More positive parenting practices were associated at pretest and posttest with lower levels of depression. Qualitative results found increases in parenting knowledge, parenting practices, and self-esteem. No differences were found in programs who offered greater number of hours of parenting education than those that did not. / Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (March 5, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-98). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Provincial and federal government surveys and commissions have consistently reported that English literacy training for adults with no or limited English is urgently needed and that access to training is limited. The effectiveness of existing literacy training programs and instructional strategies at the adult level has not been well researched. However, at the classroom level literacy training can be easily compromised by instructional strategies that limit the concept of full-literacy by focusing ESL literacy instruction on survival, functional and skill-building reading experiences. English and second language reading research suggests that student self-selection of reading materials and a high exposure to text are effective means of increasing vocabulary knowledge and reading proficiency. This study examined the effect of an Extensive Reading program on reading proficiency and vocabulary knowledge for 2 classes (N=33) of adult low intermediate ESL learners enrolled in a 15 week English language training program at a large Canadian community college. This quasi-experimental treatment group participated in a reading program supplemental to their regular classroom reading instruction. Subjects met weekly with the researcher and self-selected reading material from a collection of graded readers. Data on the frequency of the students' reading, their preferences in reading topics and materials and self-evaluations of their first and second language reading abilities were tallied for subjects in both groups. No statistical significant differences were found for the treatment in the analysis of assessments of reading and vocabulary. However, the experimental group posted higher gains in the group mean score on reading proficiency than the control group. Analysis of the Reading Behavior Survey suggests subjects in both groups were low frequency readers (less than 5 hours of reading time in English per week) who generally evaluated themselves fair to good readers in L2 but good to excellent readers in LI. The inconclusive results for the effect of the treatment on reading proficiency and vocabulary acquisition implies the need for future studies on the effectiveness of extensive reading programs on literacy training in ESL programs where literacy in English is a concern for students and educators.

Buddy Reading, a literacy event that pairs two students as they share the reading of a book, was investigated from cultural, textual and social stances. Using a sample of 10 pairs of students from grades one and three, this study explored 1) the influences of school culture and classroom conventions that effected Buddy Reading, 2) the interaction between Grade 1 early readers as they read with more proficient Grade 3 buddies, and 3) student and teacher perceptions of Buddy Reading. Data collection involved four phases and included classroom observation, video recording students as they read together, photographic interviews of students and standard interviews of teachers. Findings indicated that student and teacher perceptions paralleled classroom practice, with the exception of students' perception of the type of decoding skills used. Although half of the proficient readers reported that they encouraged their younger partners to 'sound out words', they usually corrected oral reading errors by 'telling' or 'pronouncing' the word for their buddy. Students did not use scaffolding dialogue as they read with their buddies, and it was concluded that Buddy Reading could not be used as an alternative for reading practice with an adult. Social interaction between students was observed and discussed. School culture, tradition and rituals had a significant effect on the organization of the Buddy Reading Program and classroom practice.

<p>This research study attempted to highlight an in-depth exploration of my own classroom practice as a teacher at a high school in the Western Cape. A key goal of this research study was the quest for professional development and the development of an HIV/AIDS literacy programme for curriculum development.</p>

No description available.

<p>This research study attempted to highlight an in-depth exploration of my own classroom practice as a teacher at a high school in the Western Cape. A key goal of this research study was the quest for professional development and the development of an HIV/AIDS literacy programme for curriculum development.</p>