Education Commons^™

“Do You Have A Brother? I Have Two!”: The Nature Of Questions Asked And Answered In Text-Focused Pen Pal Exchanges, Elizabeth M. Hughes, Lea Evering, Jacquelynn A. Malloy, Linda B. Gambrell

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Authentic learning experiences are those in which students engage with texts as well as the behaviors of reading and writing within contexts of real-world use beyond traditional academic use. This study provides quantitative analysis of how students (n=200) engaged with an adult pen pal in a shared literacy experience. Findings indicate that students actively participated with their adult pen pals asking and answering more personal questions than literature-based questions. Data were disaggregated for reading ability and gender. Students who were considered above-grade level readers asked and answered significantly more questions than students considered below grade level in reading. Girls asked …

Reading English Literature And Korean Scholars' Search For "Authentic Subjectivity", Jonggab Kim

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Reading English Literature and Korean Scholars' Search for 'Authentic Subjectivity'" Jonggab Kim discusses the ambivalence of Korean scholars toward the reading and analysis of English-language literature because of its perceived threat to Korean national identity and a route to internationalization. Kim's study is an attempt to evaluate a dual strategy of reading, one that involves both sympathy and antipathy. Kim postulates that what Korean scholars need is not a national practice of reading, but the type of reading that takes into account Korea's historical situation with the knowledge of the field or period of the text. Based …

A Suryey Of Music Therapists' Use Of Music To Facilitate Reading Development In Children, Cynthia Cross

Masters Theses

This study utilized Naturalistic Inquiry methods to investigate how music therapists use music elements to impact reading development in school-aged children. Eleven Board-Certified Music Therapists were interviewed providing information regarding music therapy interventions, reading skills targeted, theoretical influences, and professional influences. Transcripts of interviews were analyzedto determine themes, coÍtmon use of language related to the subject, common perceptions, and techniques and uses for music to impact reading development. In general subjects did not report specifically using music elements to target reading behavior. Rather, most subjects identified reading objectives determined by classroom teachers and developed music interventions to accommodate those objectives. …

The Game Of Chess: A Conduit To Increase Student Academic Achievement In Pinellas County: A Policy Advocacy Document, Douglas Williams

Dissertations

The research about chess and education is very compelling. The usefulness of chess as an educational activity is particularly valid among children whose minds are entering the cognitive phase of abstract thinking. However, chess is useful among all age groups. Chess has been shown to improve cognitive abilities among educationally low-functioning students, and it has been shown to help students academically when traditional methods have failed to produce the desired outcome. Most people think of chess as a game, and I think the time has come for educators to think about chess in a different light. It is a game, …

The Correlation Of The Use Of Color Enhancements And Reading Proficiency For General Education Primary Students, Christianna E. Walter

Education Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Learning Metrics Partnership: A Capacity Support And Policy Strengthening Initiative To Develop And Use Common Learning Metrics For Mathematics And Reading, Unesco Institute For Statistics, Acer

Monitoring Learning

The Learning Metrics Partnership (LMP) is a joint initiative of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the ACER Centre for Global Education Monitoring (ACER-GEM) to develop a set of nationally and internationally comparable learning metrics in mathematics and reading, and then to facilitate and support their use for monitoring purposes, in partnership with interested countries. This document outlines the LMP’s three-phase program that aims to develop and validate common learning metrics for reading and mathematics, and to support countries to report results of their assessment activities against these learning metrics. The key features of the program are fourfold: it accommodates …

Language Of Harry's Wizards: Authentic Vocabulary Instruction, Divonna M. Stebick, Constance N. Nichols

Education Faculty Publications

This study was the result of a year long action research project within a middle school language arts classroom. The students showed improvement in their vocabulary skills due to this instruction using Harry Potter as a context.

Using Literature For Project Based Learning, Jacquelyn Urbani

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Poet Ostriker Gives Public Reading At Dominican, Sarah Gardner, Dave Albee

Press Releases

Twice a finalist for the National Book Award, Ostriker has published numerous volumes of poetry, including The Book of Seventy (2009), which received the Jewish National Book Award. Other books of poetry include No Heaven (2005); The Volcano Sequence (2002); Little Space (1998), a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; The Crack in Everything (1996), which won the Paterson Award and the San Francisco State Poetry Center Award; The Imaginary Lover (1986), winner of the William Carlos Williams Award; A Woman Under the Surface (1983), Once More Out of Darkness (1974), and Songs (1969).

Thinking It Through: Australian Students’ Skills In Creative Problem Solving, Lisa De Bortoli, Greg Macaskill

Lisa De Bortoli

In every PISA survey, students from every participating country are assessed in the core domains of mathematics, science and reading literacy. In addition to assessing these literacy domains, the OECD proposes additional assessments in other domains. In PISA 2003, a paper-based assessment of cross- disciplinary problem solving was first assessed, when it was included as a core domain. In PISA 2012, problem solving was once again assessed, this time as an optional computer-based assessment.

The focus of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving was: Are today’s 15-year-old students acquiring the problem-solving skills that will prepare them to meet the …

Thinking It Through: Australian Students’ Skills In Creative Problem Solving, Lisa De Bortoli, Greg Macaskill

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

In every PISA survey, students from every participating country are assessed in the core domains of mathematics, science and reading literacy. In addition to assessing these literacy domains, the OECD proposes additional assessments in other domains. In PISA 2003, a paper-based assessment of cross- disciplinary problem solving was first assessed, when it was included as a core domain. In PISA 2012, problem solving was once again assessed, this time as an optional computer-based assessment.

The focus of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving was: Are today’s 15-year-old students acquiring the problem-solving skills that will prepare them to meet the …

Children's/Young Adult (Ya) Author Event: Tim Green Author Visit, Roxanne M. Forgrave

Grant Reports

The Children’s/Young Adult Author Committee at Olivet Nazarene University received a $2500 Community Engagement Grant from the university. Because of this grant, the university hosted Tim Green, a former NFL football player who is now authoring books of primary interest to fourth through eighth graders. The success of this grant is difficult to measure, but in numbers, more than 3200 4^th - 8^th grade students and their teachers attended his speaking events during his two day visit. Green autographed more than 400 books for the attendees. Regarding reading motivation, area teachers have and still are reporting students, boys …

A Multiple Case Study Of Whiteness And Critical Literacy Practices Among White Elementary Teachers In Urban Public Schools, Amanda Rose Vandehei

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether white elementary teachers' perception of Whiteness influences critical literacy practices in elementary classrooms in an urban school district in the Southwest United States. This study consists of six white elementary school teachers.

Using Hardiman's model of White Identity Development, (WID) this study specifically explores the phenomenon of Whiteness and how teachers view themselves as having white privilege and advantage in American society. Hardiman's WID model includes five stages of white racial identity development in which a white person begins with no awareness of him or herself as a racial being and …

Validation Of A Reader Self Perception Scale (Rsps2) For Use In Grades 7 And Above, Steven A. Melnick, William A. Henk, Barbara A. Marinak

William A. Henk

Clearly, the attitudes, values, expectations, and beliefs that individuals possess about literacy will play a vital role in shaping their engagement with reading, writing, and other language processes. Grounded in Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1982; Schunk, 1984), the Reader Self Perception Scale Version 2 predicts that students take four basic factors into account when forming literacy self-perceptions: Progress, Observational Comparisons, Social Feedback, and Physiological States. Student response data (n=3,031 in grades 7-10) provides evidence of construct validity through a principal components analysis of the factor structure. Alpha reliabilities by factor are reported.

Investigation Of Differences In Star Reading Scores For Second- And Third-Grade Students Who Received Differentiated Reading Instruction, Elizabeth Hearn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research study investigated the effects of teaching Response to Intervention curricula in second and third grades in a rural school district in Georgia. A causal-comparative design was used to compare scaled score gains of students who were taught using an RTI approach with curriculum available in How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction: Resources for Grades K-3 (Walpole & McKenna, 2009) and students who were taught with other unidentified RTI curricula. Students in both groups participated in either Tier 2 or Tier 3 reading instruction in addition to Tier 1 regular classroom instruction. The STAR Enterprise Reading Test served as …

The Reading And Writing Connection: Merging Two Reciprocal Content Areas, Renee Moran, Monica Billen

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this article is make connections between two content areas, reading and writing, which have traditionally been separated and consider the relationship between their theoretical underpinnings. Based on their reciprocal nature, the authors posit that students could greatly benefit by reading and writing being taught simultaneously. Relying on this premise, this article provides the reader with three practical strategies that could be applied in the literacy classroom to intertwine reading and writing. These practical strategies include: classroom blogs, graphic depictions, and pen pal responses to literature.

Book Ends Program Is A Win-Win, Karen C. Waters

Karen C. Waters

Book Ends is a site-based University reading clinic that provides a nurturing and interactive environment that empowers children to increase their reading achievement through multimodal and research-based practices in literacy. Trained to administer multiple assessments, certified teachers pursuing advanced literacy CT State Certification provide one-on-one instruction that considers students’ interests and strengths while targeting the foundational skills of the common core state standards and the comprehension anchor standards. Each child is partnered with a certified teacher who shares the philosophy that children learn to read by reading and that success comes from many opportunities to practice. Weekly tutoring sessions last …

Supporting Collaborative Efforts In Implementing Evidence-Based Reading Interventions: The Role Of Online Databases, Gina Coffee, Adam S. Kennedy, Markeda L. Newell

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this article is to provide an explanation of how effective reading interventions are identified. Through a review of the National Reading Panel’s general findings, along with a review of systems currently used to evaluate and disseminate specific reading interventions, a discussion of what works in reading is presented. The Evidence-Based Intervention (EBI) Network is presented as a resource for facilitating collaboration across disciplines. Finally, a framework to guide collaborating professionals in the implementation of evidence-based reading interventions is proposed.

Comparison Of Piaac And Pisa Frameworks For Numeracy And Mathematical Literacy, Iddo Gal, David Tout

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

This paper describes key aspects of the frameworks for the assessment of adult numeracy and mathematical literacy in PIAAC and PISA, which are OECD two flagship programs for international comparative assessment of competencies. The paper examines commonalities and differences in how the constructs of adult numeracy and mathematical literacy were assessed in PIAAC and PISA, and sketches selected challenges associated with interpretation of results from these surveys.

A Teacher's Guide To Pisa Reading Literacy, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Lisa De Bortoli

Lisa De Bortoli

This report focuses on Australian students' performance on the PISA items that have been released in reading literacy. It includes an overview of the PISA Reading Framework, Australia's results in the PISA 2009 international assessment , examples of responses and marking guides, and the context behind achievement, e.g. enjoyment of reading, how often they read and high-level strategies for learning.

Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

Lisa De Bortoli

Focusing on reading literacy as the major domain for the PISA 2009 assessment, this national report examines Australian students' achievement in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. Results are reported for the states, by gender, for Indigenous students, by location, language background and by socioeconomic background.

The Creation Of A Ninth Grade Literacy Course: One Teacher's Experiences In Teaching A Standards-Based Literacy Course, Katie Gray Keating

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examined one teacher’s experience with teaching a ninth grade literacy course. In response to consecutively low reading test scores, the administration in a rural high school in South Central Kentucky established a literacy course for all ninth grade students. This research illustrates the teacher’s implementation and instruction of that course. In addition, the research investigates how the results of a formal reading assessment might be used to improve the reading course in the future.

An Exploratory Study Of Purposeful And Strategic Communicative Techniques To Teach Vocabulary From Core Reading Programs To English Learners, Danell Bench Mieure

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the effect of instructional practices when teaching vocabulary from a core reading program to English learners. Participants were 73 fifth-grade English learners nested in classrooms of 11 teachers who were randomly assigned to the instructional treatment group or to the comparison group. Both the treatment and comparison groups were taught vocabulary words from the district-adopted core reading program. The treatment group implemented an intervention specifically designed to teach vocabulary using techniques with the potential to increase vocabulary acquisition of English learners situated in principles of the communicative approach. Data were collected on a mastery test that measured …

Parental Perceptions Of The Influence Of Digital Media And Technology On Children's Reading Habits At Home, Kurt W. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explored how parents from six participating families in Northern Utah felt about the influence of technology and media on their children’s reading at home. Each family was interviewed about their feelings, filled out a survey about the amount of technology devices in the home, and took photographs of the areas in the home where their children read or used technology. Additionally, each family kept a journal recording the technology and reading activities their children participated in over a 1-week period

Parents talked about how their childhood experiences influenced them to create rules for technology and as well as …

Effectiveness Of Reading And Writing Across The Curriculum On Middle School Reading Comprehension And Preparation For Common Core State Standards, Paula J. Wuebbels

Dissertations

This research study was conducted to determine the impact of determine the perception of classroom teachers and building principals as to the effectiveness of required Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum in both core and non-core subject areas. Both core and non-core classes are presently required within the study school district to incorporate reading and writing strategies in their content areas. The researcher wanted to study the process to prepare administrators and teachers to work successfully with the advent of required common core standards for curriculum development. Strategies used in the study will help gather information to inform the preparation …

Processes Utilized By High School Students Reading Scientific Text, Alicia Clinger

All Dissertations

In response to an increased emphasis on disciplinary literacy in the secondary science classroom, an investigation of the literacy processes utilized by high school students while reading scientific text was undertaken. A think-aloud protocol was implemented to collect data on the processes students used when not prompted while reading a magazine article and a selection from a textbook. Following the think-aloud, participants provided an oral summary that was analyzed for content and quality to assess the effectiveness of the strategies. The data showed that familiarity with text structure and prior knowledge of the content affected the processes utilized. Differences between …

Cognitive Differences Between High And Low Responders Of A Tier Ii Reading Intervention, Jillian Cohen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study evaluated a population of young students with potential reading disabilities who participated in a large western school district's Reading Skills Development project from October 2012 to May 2013. The following questions were addressed: Are there cognitive differences between students who respond well to an intense Tier II reading intervention and those who make little progress? If so, which cognitive skills best discriminate between high and low responders? De-identified data was collected from 171 struggling readers in 1st through 3rd grade who participated in the Reading Skills project. After controlling for English proficiency level, high and low responders were …

What’S The Story? Making Sense Of Conflicting Literacy And Numeracy Results, Juliette Mendelovits

Juliette Mendelovits

No abstract provided.

Reading Between The Lines. What’S The Story With Reading Literacy? Where To Next?, Sue Thomson

Dr Sue Thomson

No abstract provided.

Gjr Volume 37 Number 1 Spring 2014, Lina Soares, Christine Draper

The Georgia Journal of Reading Archive

The Georgia Journal of Reading's Spring 2014 issue includes:

Message from the Editors by Lina B. Soares and Christine A. Draper (pg. 4)

President’s Page by Loleta Sartin (pg. 5)

Quantum Shifts by Gerald Boyd (pg. 6)

Literacy Coaching: Providing Leadership and Support for the Next Generation of Teachers by Katie Stover and Crystal Glover (pg. 8)

Significance of Prior Knowledge Activation: A Close Look at a Bilingual Kindergarten Student’s Response to a Poem by Alma Stevenson (pg. 14)

The Effect of Explicit Instruction with Writing Conventions Among Preservice Teachers by Laurie A. Sharp (pg. 18)

Tacky and a Tambourine: …