Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title from title page (viewed Apr. 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

This study evaluated an intervention that integrated explicit instruction of word recognition strategies within a home tutoring program. A randomized controlled trial paradigm was used to study the efficacy of the parent-tutoring program Paired Reading (PR; Topping, 2001) and an experimental modification of PR on the reading achievement of children in Grades 2 to 4. Fifty-seven families were recruited to participate in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) the PR parent tutoring program that taught parents to read with their child, providing corrective feedback to their child in the form of supplying the misread word, when needed (PR); (2) a modified parent tutoring intervention which used the PR program, but included training in the word identification strategies of the Phonological and Strategy Training Program (PHAST; Lovett, Lacerenza, & Borden, 2000) to be used during the PR activity when assistance with reading was needed (PR-PHAST); and (3) a wait-list control group that continued with their regular family reading activities. Children’s reading abilities were assessed twice: prior to intervention and immediately after the 16-week intervention. Questionnaires were used to assess parental involvement with home literacy activities and to evaluate parental perception of the home tutoring program. Intervention fidelity was monitored via audio taped samples of reading sessions and follow-up telephone calls. The results suggest that superior reading gains can be achieved at home with a modification of the PR technique that incorporates teaching the word identification strategies of the PHAST Program. / School Psychology

Children in middle childhood were surveyed in elementary schools to explore possible associations between their perceptions about certain characteristics of their sibling relationships and the ways in which their parents responded to sibling quarrels. An instrument was developed to measure perceptions of types of parental responses and the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire was used to assess sibling conflict, warmth/closeness, and perceptions of parental partiality. Factor analyses revealed that the parental responses of punishing, prohibiting, and group discipline were closely related, reflecting a single dimension (alpha=.81). Labeled restricting, regression analyses indicated that this type of parental response to sibling quarrels was a strong positive predictor of sibling conflict, a negative predictor of sibling warmth/closeness, and unrelated to perceptions of parental partiality. The contributions of the other types of parental responses to the aspects of sibling relationships studied were different for girls and boys. Parental referring to family rules contributed positively to girls' sibling conflict, and negatively to sibling warmth/closeness. Parental mediating conciliation, particularly by mothers, was a strong positive predictor of boys' sibling warmth/closeness. Parental mediating conciliation negatively contributed to boys' sibling conflict, particularly fathers' mediating conciliation. Nonintervention by parents, particularly fathers' nonintervention, was a strong positive predictor of boys' sibling conflict, and contributed positively to boys' perceptions of parental partiality, as well. However, among girls, fathers' nonintervention positively contributed to sibling warmth/closeness and negatively contributed to partiality. Boys perceived more sibling conflict than girls, but other sibling constellation and family structure variables did not contribute significantly to the aspects of sibling relationships studied. / Graduation date: 1995

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Martha J. Buell, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of School Home Links activity guide homework on kindergarten Texas Primary Reading Inventory scores. Student Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) scores were obtained and analyzed for gains in score from the Middle of Year (MOY) and End of Year (EOY) administration. Parents were provided School Home Links Activity Guide Homework to use with their child on a weekly basis for twelve weeks. This group formed an experimental group. A control group did not receive SHL activity guide homework. For the control and experimental group each student's letter/sound score was entered into SPSS for the MOY and EOY TPRI, and average gains were calculated. Groups of students were isolated and analyzed for gain based upon participation in a district reading program, and/or high or low parental involvement in SHL activity guide homework. Research in the upper grades shows that homework completion and parent involvement positively affect student achievement. Students whose parents are involved in their education reap many benefits. These benefits include higher academic achievement (Davies, 1991). Fuller & Olsen (1998), Davies (1991), and Epstein (1995) believe parent involvement is a stronger indicator of student achievement than socioeconomic status, parent education, ethnicity, or any other indicator. The research supports the use of homework for upper grades. The results of this study remain inconclusive for kindergarten age students. This study shows that there is no statistically significant difference between experimental and control group kindergarten TPRI scores when homework is an independent variable.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether the self-perceptions of mothers who remained at home with infants differed from self-perceptions of mothers who were employed outside the home with infants. Selected aspects of the mothering role and employment orientation were examined. The sample consisted of seventy-five mothers of twelve- to eighteen-month-old infants. The subjects resided in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.A survey instrument was developed through a pilot study to gather information needed to test the null hypothesis. All subjects were interviewed personally in their own homes to obtain data for the study. The .05 level of significance was established as the probability level for the nonacceptance of the hypothesis.The subjects were placed in one of two groups, mothers who remained at home with their infant and mothers who were employed outside the home for more than twenty hours a week. Those employed outside the home must have been employed for the six months before and including the month of the interview. A multivariate analysis of variance and associated univariate analysis of variance were used to test the study hypothesis.The two groups of mothers were found to differ significantly from one another on one of the six measures of self-perception. The six measures statistically analyzed were:(1) self-esteem, (2) childrearing behavior, (3) guilt, (4) employment orientation, (5) monetary consideration relative to employment and intrinsic motivation relative to employment, and (6) effect on the family. The measure that contributed to the rejection of the hypothesis was the variable "effect on the family." There was no difference between the. two groups on the remaining five variables.A descriptive analysis of open-ended questions yielded further information: (1) mothers with infants preferred their present roles, whether they remained at home or were employed outside the home; (2) mothers enjoyed their roles whether at home or at work outside the home; (3) mothers employed outside the home were more likely to express feelings of guilt when leaving their infants than mothers who remained at home; and (4) mothers were supported by their husbands in their decisions to remain at home or to be employed outside the home.