Education Commons^™

Secondary English Teachers' Attitudes Toward Disciplinary And Literacy Learning Implications For Pedagogical Praxis And Reform, Stephanie Kay Sugioka

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to examine the epistemological stances of the two teacher participants, that is, to determine their attitudes toward student literacy and their beliefs about the purposes of English as a discipline; (2) to describe the interplay between their epistemological stances and their pedagogical practices, in particular with respect to their use of research-based literacy strategies; and (3) to arrive at a means of supporting them in their use of more effective pedagogical strategies, in this case including more in-depth discussion in their classes for the purpose of furthering their students' critical literacy. The …

Virtual Coaching For Novice Teachers, Marcia L. Rock, Madeleine Gregg, Robert A. Gable, Naomi P. Zigmond

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Virtual bug-in-the-ear technology presents one tool that allows practitioners and university educators can use to attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers. The experience of Project TEEACH based at the University of Alabama suggests that simple technology tools could be used effectively to support teachers through their most challenging instructional situations. Such coaching provides the kind of at-the-elbow support that can be most beneficial to young teachers.

Following Tradition: Young Adult Literature As Neo-Slave Narrative, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Primary Teachers' Knowledge And Knowledge Calibration Of Early Literacy Practices, Tami Al-Hazza, Charlene Fleener, Jane Hager

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This research design was based on the knowledge calibration work by Cunningham, Perry, Stanovich, and Stanovich (2004). One hundred and forty-one full time teachers participated in a four day professional development workshop on research-based reading instruction. Participants were administered a three-part survey comprised of 1) demographic information 2) knowledge calibration items measuring perceived understanding of phonics, phonological awareness, and syllabication and 3) phonics pretest published in Self-Paced Phonics: A Text for Educators (2005). There were statistically significant differences between participants who rated their knowledge as high and those who rated their knowledge as low on the phonological and phonics items. …

The Impact Of The “Universal Voyager Literacy” Reading Program On Reading Achievement And Instructional Practices In An Urban School District, Shanika L. Hope

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

Founded in 1994, Voyager Expanded Learning is a provider of K-3 in-school reading programs, as well as K-8 reading intervention programs for school districts throughout the United States. Voyager Universal Literacy's systematic, precise framework fully addresses the five elements of reading instruction, through an explicit succession of ability growth. Voyager Universal Literacy was developed to be a comprehensive program encompassing the subsequent requisites: in-school broad reading program, progress monitoring methods, extensive-day and summer activities, home learning syllabus, implementation monitoring, and on-going professional development. Voyager Universal Literacy Program activities are organized to provide a thorough range and progression for reading instruction. …

Balanced Literacy Versus Basal Reading Instruction For Urban African-American, Title I Third-Grade Students, Julie Ann Perkins

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study compared third-grade reading achievement of urban African-American, Title I students using a basal reading series with those using a balanced literacy program to determine whether the highly structured skills-based methods advocated by The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act actually foster or impede reading achievement in an urban school setting.

Two hundred forty-five third-grade African-American, Title I students from an urban elementary school in southeastern Virginia served as subjects for the study. Subjects were studied as intact groups to avoid disruption in the educational setting. Participants in the control group were third-grade classes of urban African-American, Title I …

The Effects Of Breakthrough To Literacy On The Phonological Awareness Skills Of Students In Early Elementary School, Amy W. Woodward

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study researched the effects of Breakthrough to Literacy (1998), a phonological awareness computer-based program, on elementary school students in grades kindergarten through three. The treatment group received the Breakthrough to Literacy program in kindergarten. The control group received the traditional curriculum without this program. The students were assessed on phonological awareness skills at the end of kindergarten, the fall and spring of grade one and grade two. Their reading comprehension skills were also assessed at the end of grade 3. Results indicate that Breakthrough to Literacy improved the phonological awareness skills of students who received the program in grades …

A Comparison Of Anonymous E-Peer Review Versus Identifiable E-Peer Review On College Student Writing Performance And Learning Satisfaction, Ruiling Lu

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of anonymous e-peer review with identifiable e-peer review on student writing performance and learning satisfaction. It also investigated whether anonymous e-peer review facilitated a greater amount of critical peer feedback.

Quasi-experimental design was used to test group differences on the dependent variables. Participants were 48 freshmen enrolled in two English Composition classes at Old Dominion University in the fall semester of 2003. The two intact classes taught by the same instructor were randomly assigned to the anonymous e-peer review group and the identifiable e-peer review group.

The results showed that …

Language Use And The Oral Tradition In Aaya (African American Young Adult) Literature, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In elementary school my favorite teachers taught me that the language used in my home was incorrect, incoherent, and inappropriate. My second grade teacher Ms. Hull, a tall, thin, dark-skinned woman, stands out among the others. I can still see her hovering over us. “Was!” Ms. Hull shouted, “not wuz. Your tongue is lazy.” “You be what?” she’d ask in disgust with one hand on her hip. When this happened, I was sure to get yelled at and lectured. To avoid such humiliation, I quickly learned to, as we said in my neighborhood, “talk proper.” Shame nagged at …

Narrowing The Gap Between Readers And Books, Kaavonia Hinton, Gail K. Dickinson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Relationships Of Reading And Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Standardized Placement Test Scores, And Diverse Community College Students' Perceptions Of Those Relationships, Ann Woolford-Singh

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Social cognitive theory explains the role that one's level of confidence plays in the accomplishment of a specific task. According to Bandura (1982, 1995), self-efficacy beliefs should align with performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs and reading/writing standardized placement test scores of diverse community college freshmen. Additionally, this study sought to understand the sources of these students' reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs through the descriptions of experiences they feel have influenced those beliefs.

There were three major research questions: (1) What is the strength of the relationships among reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs and reading/writing …

Perspectives On Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Executive Functions, Working Memory, And Language Disabilities, Carol Westby, Silvana Watson

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

The conceptualization of the nature of attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD) has changed in the last decade. ADHD is now viewed as a neurologically based condition with primary deficits in executive functions and working memory (WM). Students with ADHD have deficits in discourse organization, inferring, and monitoring that are related to their executive function and WM deficits. A large number of students with ADHD also have comorbid reading and language disabilities that exist in addition to the deficits directly associated with the ADHD. Comprehensive evaluation of students with ADHD is essential to address their specific learning needs

An Examination Of The Effects Of The America Reads Tutoring Program And Tutor Training On The Attitude And Academic Achievement Of Urban At-Risk Minority Students, Tami C. Al-Hazza

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The American educational system is struggling to identify methods of preventing early reading failure. Many schools are implementing tutoring intervention programs to supplement classroom instruction and to help meet the needs of struggling at-risk readers. Although there is substantial research on tutoring programs that employ professional teachers, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of non-professional volunteer tutoring programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the America Reads tutoring program and tutor training on the reading achievement and reading attitude of urban, at-risk, K–3 minority students. The population sample was drawn from four …

The Effects Of The Help One Student To Succeed (Hosts) Program On The Reading Achievement Of At-Risk 4th And 5th Grade Elementary Students, Kelvin L. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study investigated the effects of the Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) tutoring program on the reading achievement of at-risk 4^th and 5^th grade elementary students, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skill (TAAS). Seventy-eight 4^th and 5^th grade at-risk students from four Title I elementary schools in the Plano Independent School District participated in the study. Thirty-nine of these students were enrolled in the HOSTS program and were matched to a comparison group of students according to ethnicity, age, gender, grade, free or reduced lunch, bilingual and English as a Second language …

Comparative Effects Of Three Methods Of Staff Development In Content Area Reading Instruction On Urban High School Teachers, Mark Alan Forget

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In researching the role of group interaction and constructivism in three different types of staff development in content area reading instruction with urban high school teachers, a self-report survey instrument was used to ascertain differences between four groups of respondents with regard to respondents' reported levels on four dependent variables. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the degree of statistical significance between mean scores that resulted. Results showed statistically significant differences with probabilities less than .05 for group differences based on the independent variables type of staff development received by respondents, reported support of school administrators for …

An Evaluation Of The Accelerated Reader Program In Grades 3–5 On Reading Vocabulary, Comprehension, And Attitude In An Urban Southeastern School District In Virginia, Carol Ann Howard

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to study recreational reading in third, fourth, and fifth grade urban students in a school district in Southeastern Virginia. The widely-used Accelerated Reader (AR) was the tool examined in the promotion of recreational reading. Recreational reading studies have been done on a broad economic spectrum (Advantage Learning Systems, 1997; Paul, 1996; Paul, VanderZee, Rue & Swanson, 1996). A gap in knowledge exists as to whether recreational reading programs, using AR, are effective with the urban elementary students. The major research questions determined if recreational reading, using Accelerated Reader, influenced reading vocabulary, comprehension, and attitude …

Causal Attribution And Dimension Differences Between Sixth-Grade Urban Middle School Students Who Pass And Students Who Fail Reading On The Virginia Literacy Passport Test, Elsie Perry Daniels

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Attribution theory, which focuses on student beliefs about why they succeed or fail, was investigated with 220 sixth grade students who were required to pass the Virginia Literacy Passport test. Part I of this study investigated the reliability and validity of Causal Dimension Scale II (McAuley et al., 1992) when it is used with a sixth grade preadolescent population. Part II investigated student attributions for performance outcomes on the reading portion of the Virginia Literacy Passport test. This study researched the hypothesis that middle school students who passed the Virginia Literacy Passport Test (LPT) reading test would attribute their successful …

Classical Montessori: A Study Of The Classical Rhetorical Canons In Early Montessori Writing Instruction, Deborah E. O'Neil

English Theses & Dissertations

This thesis begins by proposing that all five classical canons are an ideal theory for guiding any writing pedagogy. The majority of the thesis, then, details how Montessori writing instruction synergistically exploits these canons to create a powerful pedagogy. Devised by Maria Montessori in the late 1800s, her instruction displays standard and nonstandard applications of invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Because Montessori writing instruction begins in preschool, this thesis concludes with an exploration of the potential benefits of introducing a classical curriculum before college.

The Influence Of Reading Comprehension And Other Selected Factors On Student Dropouts In An Urban Southeastern School District In Virginia, Viola Garris Morgan

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of reading achievement on the dropout status. The major research question was to determine to what extent does reading comprehension influence the dropout rate after controlling for demographic and performance characteristics?

The target population consisted of 677 urban twelfth-grade students attending schools in an urban southeastern school district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Of the 677 students, 142 were dropouts, and 535 were nondropouts. Simple and partial correlations were used to determine the relationship between variables after partialing out performance and demographic variables. In addition, the discriminant analyses were used …

The Nature Of Data Sources That Inform Decision-Making In Reading By Experienced Second-Grade Teachers, Margaret Mary Dinan Davis

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

This qualitative research was designed to describe the nature of data sources that inform decision making in reading by experienced second grade teachers. Data was collected on seven subjects from multiple sources: seven, successive interviews, think alouds using videotaped lessons, classroom observations, and inspection of documents such as grade books, student work samples, report cards, and reading tests. Data analysis was accomplished by transcribing all data into a qualitative data base (Padilla, 1991). Text chunks were tagged and filtered by data source. Categories such as oral language and comparison of data were added as they emerged during analysis. The most …

Effects Of Direct Reading Instruction On Literacy Achievement In Urban, Literature Based Classrooms, Steven M. Scarcelli

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research examined two similar groups of first grade students and two different approaches to reading instruction within a whole language/literature based curriculum. The sample population for this research was drawn from four randomly assigned first grade classes attending an elementary school with urban characteristics. Teacher selection was based on results from the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile. Teachers in the experimental group implemented an approach that utilized a daily format for reading instruction developed by Dr. Patricia Cunningham. This approach involved strategies including phonics, writing, teacher directed, and self selected reading instruction. Teachers in the control group used the …

Computer Networks And The Teaching Of English As A Second Language: How Networks Affect Second Language Acquisition, Kirstin J. Reed-Perez

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study To Determine Whether Oral Delivery Style, In Presenting Poetry To Students, Significantly Effects The Level Of Responsiveness To The Poetry, William H. Goff Ii

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

Concerns about the lack of intrinsic motivation among students has been associated with behaviorism's emphasis on extrinsic rewards and with a general societal trend toward materialism. Teachers frequently comment that many students seem to have little interest in learning. This research examined one factor in student motivation, lesson delivery style.

Four 7th grade classes, two different classes from two different schools, were used, resulting in 69 subjects. Poetry was read to classes with either an aesthetic or a bland delivery style. The behavioral response of the students was noted as to whether or not they were indicative of physiological arousal. …

An Examination Of The Effects Of An Intergenerational Reading Workshop On The Listening Comprehension Of At-Risk Pre-Kindergarten Students, Marycarolyn G. France

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

A surge of interest in working with parents to help their children build prerequisite language skills that would prevent reading failure has developed in recent years. The challenge of preventing reading failure in students is exacerbated when parents themselves have limited skills in reading. In recognition of this fact, schools and other institutions have begun to provide intergenerational programs to teach parents and children together. The workshop which is the subject of this study is one such program.

Thirteen parents and their pre-kindergarten children, who had been identified by the school as at-risk students, were exposed to an intergenerational reading …

The Influence Of Brain Hemisphericity On The Composing Process Of Twelfth Graders, Reinholdine Breien-Pierson

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Despite the popularization of the concept of brain hemispheric dominance, little serious research has been done in the area of the role of brain hemisphericity in learning and thought. The purpose of this case study was to explore the role of hemisphericity in the area of student composition to test the theory that the composing process and writing of student papers differs relative to the students' hemispheric dominance. A second area of investigation was to test the theory that teachers value papers written by students who share their hemispheric dominance.

The subjects, eight twelfth graders and four (English) teacher evaluators, …

A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Two Urban Kindergarten Beginning Reading Programs On Student Oral Reading Performance And Attitudes Toward Reading, Ann-Carol Banton Holley

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the whole language and the Writing to Read beginning reading programs on oral reading performance and attitudes toward learning to read in school. The research population totaled 128 kindergarten students from two elementary schools within the same urban school system. This population consisted of a complete population sample of sixty-one students at the whole language school and sixty-seven Writing to Read students chosen by random selection to represent all classes and teachers at the other school.

Oral reading performance and attitude toward reading of the two groups were compared …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Selected Aspects Of The Developmental Education Program At An Urban Multicampus Community College, Michael Anthony Barton

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of developmental/remedial education at an urban multi-campus community college. The study sought (1) to identify the number and demographic characteristics of students served by developmental studies, (2) to determine the academic achievement and persistence of these students, and (3) to assess the performance of developmental English students in regular college English.

Data were obtained for a two year period on all new students who enrolled in the fall of 1980. The study employed two approaches: (1) a descriptive analysis of the variables of age, sex, race, enrollment status and day/night …