The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of reading programs for migratory children in the United States and to identify those characteristics common to reading programs which could be considered exemplary in terms of innovation and effectiveness. Responses to a 34-item questionnaire addressed to coordinators of migrant education in each of the 50 States were analyzed in order to answer the following two questions: (1) To what extent can characteristics of reading programs for migratory children be determined? (2) To what extent can characteristics of effective, innovative, and exemplary reading programs for migratory children be described? / For the purposes of this investigation, the following areas were those identified as being relevant to a determination of characteristics of reading programs for migrant children: (1) organization of reading programs; (2) student information; (3) curriculum/instruction information; (4) professional staff background and training; (5) program emphases; (6) non-academic information such as additional supportive services available; (7) information about maintenance between home and school contacts. / Provision was also made for State coordinators to note outstanding features of their State's programs which were judged by them to be exemplary. / Completed questionnaires were returned by 47 of the 50 States, a response rate of 94% with final analysis of the data based on completed questionnaires of 40 States. / The results of the questionnaire showed a pattern of responses which could be categorized broadly in two ways. Answers to items descriptive in nature seemed readily available to the respondents. Responses which were quantitative in nature however, were less comprehensive and obviously not as readily obtainable. / In response to the first question posited, based on completed questionnaires, the following are some generalizations which could be made: most states offer a supplemental remedial program within the regular school day; reading is seen as part of the language arts rather than as a separate subject; a variety of measures are used for diagnosis and evaluation; services of district-level personnel such as early childhood specialist and language arts specialist are available; the majority of migrant children are Spanish-speaking; bilingual education and instruction in English as a second language are means used to overcome language barriers; most states use teacher-aides in their migrant education programs. / In response to the second question relating to characteristics of effective, innovative, exemplary reading programs, these were alluded to by the respondents, but because of the highly generalized nature of the responses, such characteristics remained, in effect, undescribed. / Some conclusions drawn from the study were: accounting for the numbers of migrant children to be served persists as a problem; there is lack of consonance between limited emphasis given to bilingual education and English as a second language and the language needs of the majority of migrant children who are Spanish-speaking. / Some recommendations were that a core curriculum should be developed, leading to the standardization of materials relative to the needs of migrant children; there should be coordinated efforts between states to develop some standardized means of determining grade placement and grade advancement of migrant children. Recommendations for further study included a suggestion that (1) a study be conducted to determine the feasibility of elevating teacher-aides to the status of paraprofessionals through concerted preservice and inservice training, (2) a field-based survey should be conducted to determine characteristics of reading programs through on-site observations and assessment of such programs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 3965. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74269 |
| Contributors | COHEN, MIRIAM B., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 162 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds