Education Commons^™

Item Parameters Of Yureka Education Center (Yec) English Proficiency Online Test (Epot) Instrument, Endrati Jati Siwi, Rosyita Anindyarini, Sabiqun Nahar

REID (Research and Evaluation in Education)

Yureka Education Center (YEC) is one of the institutions which has developed an online-based English proficiency test. The test is called the English Proficiency Online Test (EPOT) which follows the TOEFL ITP (Institutional Testing Program) framework. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the characteristics of EPOT instruments consisting of Listening, Structure, and Reading subtests, which later the quality of each EPOT test item is identified. This study used a descriptive quantitative approach by describing the characteristics of EPOT test items in terms of item difficulty index, item discrimination index, test information's function, and test measurement's errors. The data were collected …

Developing English Reading And Writing Materials For Automotive Engineering Program In Vocational High School, Endang Lestari, Joko Priyana

Jurnal Pendidikan Vokasi

The aims of this study are: (1) to identify the needs of grade 11 students of the Automotive Engineering Study Program in learning reading and writing, and (2) to develop appropriate English reading and writing learning materials. This is research and development that employed Jolly and Bolitho's model with some adaptation. The development procedure consists of conducting needs analysis, designing the syllabus, developing learning materials, expert judgment, conducting field testing, and materials evaluation. The research subject was 64 grade XI students of Light Vehicle Engineering or Teknik Kendaraan Ringan (TKR) at Vocational High School (VHS) AX. The needs analysis …

Short-Term Direct Reading Instruction For 2nd Grade Students Using Horizons Fast Track A-B, Emily Dempster

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Children who read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to graduate from high school (Hernandez, 2011). This school-based project explored the effects of Horizons Fast Track A-B phonics intervention on oral reading fluency (ORF) progress of three second grade students. Students received 40-minute lessons, twice a week for three weeks. Lesson activities ranged from identifying letter sounds to story comprehension. Students were progress monitored weekly at the second- grade level using one-minute ORF probes. It appeared that the intervention was not beneficial for these students. Discussion includes possible changes that could have been made to make the …

An Exploration Of Teacher Preparation Practices With Foundational Knowledge Of Literacy, Marla K. Robertson, Laurie A. Sharp, Roberta D. Raymond, Rebekah E. Piper

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 published by the International Literacy Association provide the basis for high-quality literacy teacher preparation. This study used qualitative survey responses to explore the literacy practices that teacher educators use to promote understandings among preservice teachers for each grade-level band (i.e., Pre-K/Primary, Elementary/Intermediate, Middle/High School). The researchers used conceptualizations of teacher knowledge as a theoretical lens to better understand reported preparation practices. Data analysis revealed three themes: Teacher Educator Pedagogy, Course Content, Student and Program Expectations. Researchers posit that teacher educators do not evenly focus on all components of literacy and contend …

Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2020

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues In Teaching and Learning, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2020.

Examining The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And English Language Proficiency, Cynthia Grant Hyacinth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

English language learners continue to be a growing demographic in American schools. Despite this, linguistically diverse students’ academic achievement continues to lag behind their native English-speaking counterparts. Historically, language proficiency measures have measured language proficiency in terms of social English, neglecting the importance of academic language development. Using Cummins’ threshold hypothesis as a framework for distinguishing social English development from academic language development, language proficiency assessments and standardized assessments focused on reading achievement were examined. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine if a relationship exists between 5th grade English language learners scores on a state-mandated standardized …

The Effects Of Book Workshops On Emergent Reading Skills In Montessori Early Childhood, Antonia Rebori

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research study was to increase preliteracy skills, confidence, and interest in reading in a Montessori early childhood environment through a reading workshop model. Given the pressure on teachers to create stronger readers at younger ages, this work discusses developmentally appropriate language tasks for children ages three- to six-years-old using the Montessori method and emergent literacy theory frameworks. Research suggests children who exhibit confidence and interest in reading develop strong preliteracy skills. These factors predict capable and active readers. For six weeks, a Montessori early childhood classroom of 14 students and three adult guides participated in …

Teachers’ Use Of Standardized Assessments To Monitor Learning And Its Impact On Student Reading Achievement, Eilyn Sanabria

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading instruction must be “intentional, systematic, and explicit” and “implemented by a knowledgeable teacher” (Ruetzel & Cooter, 2019, p. 87). The era of accountability has brought standardized assessments to the forefront of reading instruction. However, gaps about assessment-related and instructional practices and their impact on student achievement exist in the literature. The present study aims to provide needed insights on how these practices help or hinder, specifically, historically low-performing students.

Using student achievement and teacher survey data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten 2011 (ECLS-K), and through the lens of data use theory (Hutchins, 1995; Spillane, 2012), hierarchical multiple …

Reading Knowledge Transfer From The Pre-Service Teaching Phase To The Novice Teaching Phase: A Phenomenological Study, Natalie Sajko

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This qualitative study explored the experiences of eight novice teachers as they transferred knowledge of reading instruction from their teacher education programs (TEPs) into their first classrooms in a rural district. Specific mechanisms for learning transfer (prior knowledge, motivation, context, and culture) and their perceived influences were also explored. Phenomenology was utilized to help explore these experiences and perceptions. Social constructivism, Situated Learning Theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and critical pedagogies (hooks, 2014; Love, 2019) were used to interpret findings in this study. This study centered on the following questions: (1) how do elementary novice teachers perceive reading knowledge transfer …

Integrating Marie Clay’S Theory Of Literacy Processing And Reading Recovery Into Small Group Reading Instruction, Katherine Ronning

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question in this project was, how can teachers use Clay’s theory of literacy processing and adapt Reading Recovery procedures to deliver effective small group reading instruction? This project documents the incorporation of Clay’s theory and Reading Recovery procedures into small group reading instruction. The literature found focuses on understanding the current literacy competencies of a student and developing a hypothesis regarding what is on the cusp of the student’s learning. The literature review helped to develop a lesson plan format that includes anecdotal record-keeping to track change over time in a student’s learning. The literature recommended that when …

Reading Strategies In A Second Language Spanish Classroom, Wendy Gorman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Reading in a second language can be a challenge for many students. This project seeks to answer the question ““ What are the most effective reading strategies to use in a middle school comprehensible input Spanish classroom? The project is a website designed to show teachers of Spanish ways to implement reading strategies that word in Spanish in their classrooms. Grounded in research on both language acquisition and reading strategies, this project keeps the basis of several key components in mind at all times- the specific needs of middle school students, how to teach language, how students acquire language skills, …

The Formative Assessment Process: Influence And Impact, Tawyne A. Gibson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research study investigated how formative data use influences teaching and learning, and what impact the formative process has on student outcomes. The study took place in a first-grade classroom with a group of five students over the course of four weeks. Participants were selected for the study because they scored in the 2nd to 11th percentile rank on the FastBridge Early Reading English assessment. Quantitative data was collected weekly for each of the four weeks using FastBridge Word Segmenting progress monitoring and then compared to baseline data taken before the study. A one-way between subjects ANOVA test was …

Increasing Diversity Exposure In Rural, Homogeneous Elementary Classrooms Through Picture Books, Meghan Flanary

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This Capstone Project examined the question: How can educators increase diversity exposure in rural, homogeneous elementary classrooms using picture books? Text sets with nine different categories of diversity were created and thirty-nine books were included for educators to use within classrooms. Using the theory of mirrors, windows, and doors for examining diversity in books guided the books to include within the text sets so that all students can see themselves represented or learn about others that are different from them. Key influences included Larrick for one of the first studies on diversity within children’s books, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center …

Identifying Reading Interventions Appropriate For Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities In Inclusive Classroom Settings, Mary Douthitt

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this Capstone project was, what are effective reading interventions for middle school students with learning disabilities that will enable them to achieve academic progress in an inclusive classroom? Including students with learning disabilities in the general education setting can improve outcomes in self-perception, social relationships, and academic achievement, but providing effective instruction in an inclusive setting is complex. At the secondary level, inclusive, co-taught classrooms include a special education teacher who typically has training in differentiation strategies but not core content, and a general educator who is a content expert but has not had preparation …

Using Ipads In A Readers' And Writers' Workshop, Megan Engfer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Many classrooms around the country and world are using technology to enhance student learning. An increase in technology use in the classroom allows students more educational opportunities when meaningful tasks are created by teachers and curriculum writers. When meaningful tasks are created teachers may have an increase in student engagement. This capstone uses a variety of resources to help answer the research question: What do teachers need to know about using iPads for engagement in a readers’ and writers’ workshop? Research concludes that teachers need additional resources and time to fully understand how to effectively use iPads in the classroom …

Effectively Teaching Reading And Social Studies That Students Will Meaningfully Connect To Their Lives And Experiences, Daniel Zielske

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research studies have shown that students reading culturally relevant literature have increased reading comprehension and fluency, experienced affirmation of their identity and an increased understanding of other cultures, and increased reading engagement (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ebe, 2010; Feger, 2006; Freeman, Y. & Freeman, D., 2004; Clark and Fleming, 2019 ). Bringing culturally responsive competent teaching into literacy and social studies by using culturally relevant texts will allow students to connect these texts to their own lives and experiences. Looking at the social studies textbook used in my school district, I felt it was ineffective in helping to connect students to history …

Increasing Student Engagement And Success In Reading: A Reading Workshop Unit For Grade 7 Ela, Megan Wilson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The goal of this capstone project was to design and implement a digital reading workshop unit that is based on the Investigating Characterization: Author-Study Book Clubs (Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Wischow, 2018). This project sought to answer the question Can student-selected texts and the use of a reading workshop model improve student reading engagement and success? My early teaching experiences inspired me to consider whether or not traditional reading instruction methods were resulting in student reading engagement and success. The research studied in this capstone revealed that increasing student engagement in reading is highly reliant upon building student motivation, including student …

Writing, Researching And Reading Bilingual, Regional Children's Literature, Anna M. Nogar Phd

LAII Events

Do you remember reading or being read children's books? Were they about leyendas y mitos, historias or places you had been near home? ¿Was there a vaivén between languages? In this talk, Dr. Anna M. Nogar will discuss the research involved in creating illustrated, bilingual books with a regional focus for children; how such books are written; and what is involved in their reading for young audiences. Teaching and working with current students in an online undergraduate class on "La vida juvenil bilingüe" in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Dr. Nogar shares that experience and helps us think about …

How Should Context-Dependent Words Be Taught To Beginning Readers?, Abigail M. Turner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined three different instructional methods for teaching beginners to read context-dependent words. Two types of context-dependent words were taught: irregular past tense verbs and function words. The words were embedded either in scrambled contexts or in meaningful sentence contexts. Three different instructional conditions to teach the words were compared. In the Meaningful Context condition, students studied the target words embedded in meaningful sentences. In the Scrambled condition, students studied target words placed in scrambled word sequences. In the Combination condition, students studied target words in both types of contexts that were alternated across learning trials. Participants were 53 …

Benefits Of The Habit Of Reading, Jackson V. Wagstaff

Marriott Student Review

Reading offers great cognitive, emotional, and social benefits.

A Professional Development Program To Improve Reading Comprehension For Secondary Students, Dayna Hillcrest

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The goal of the literature review and project was to help secondary students improve reading proficiency by identifying influential instructional practice and creating a systematic professional development. The literature review revealed four influential themes that became the pillars of a systematic professional development to be implemented over a three-year period and provide secondary teachers with direct and explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction. Themes were as follows: students need reading comprehension strategy instruction (RCSI) in the content area secondary classroom to learn how to comprehend complex text, teachers need to use direct and explicit strategy instruction with a scope and sequence …

Administrator Role In Successful Volunteer Based Reading Programs, Heidi Frye

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research addressed in the capstone considers programs that utilize volunteer reading programs using tutors from the community to work with elementary students who need extra support to reach grade level reading goals. The research question is: How do administrators of elementary schools implementing volunteer reading tutoring programs describe their role in the program’s success? The thesis considered research of Stanovich and Torgesen around the needs of struggling readers and of Wasik and Slavin about the essential elements in volunteer tutoring programs aimed at increasing student reading achievement. The research utilized qualitative semi-structured interviews with two administrators working in buildings …

Conferring With Elementary Students To Enhance Literacy Skills, Kelsey Patricelli

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, how does conferring improve the literacy skills of elementary students? The author describes the process of researching and creating a professional development for the purposes of informing educators of conferring, demonstrating its benefits, and modeling how to best implement it into their educational spaces. Research around conferring, specifically by Serravallo (2019), Allen (2009) and Calkins (2013) helped break down the three aspects of conferring - assessment, individualized instruction and goal setting. These separate components were then broken down to help determine the benefits conferring has on the literacy growth of students. This …

The Storying Of Colombian Writing Centers, Jennifer Erin Pretzer

Masters Theses

Using the results from a study conducted on Colombian writing centers, this thesis applies principles from narrative theory to posit a grand narrative for Colombian writing center professionals. The study was modeled on one Jackie Grutsch McKinney used to examine US writing center professionals’ descriptions of their work, and the thesis includes a comparison with her results. Respondents were asked to answer seven questions, two of which were multiple choice and five of which were short answer. The questions asked respondents to describe their tutoring staff composition, their center’s operations, writing centers in general, and ways their center resembles and …

Effective Approaches In Reducing Reading Discrepancy Scores Between Students In General Education And Special Education, Jeannine M. Butler Ed.D., Karee O. Nasser Ed.D.

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

This research study examined curricular and instructional approaches that help students who receive special education services meet common Illinois state standards as measured by annual state standardized testing. Despite having supportive accommodations and modifications, Illinois students who receive special education services have lagged behind their general education peers in meeting academic standards as measured by annual Illinois state testing. Participants included personnel from schools that were identified as being high performing while also having the smallest discrepancy between students in general education and special education. These schools were investigated to determine what approaches they use to have this reduced achievement …

The Lived Experiences Of High School Students Who Self-Identify As Readers: A Phenomenological Study, Michael J. Romick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and better understand the lived experiences of what it means to be a reader as a high school student. The literature revealed a plethora of studies and articles on various aspects of reading and many pieces from teachers, researchers, and academics’ perspectives, but there are virtually no studies that have explored what being a reader means from the high school reader’s perspective; no studies that have explored the lived experiences of what being a reader means to high school students. The central question guiding this study asked, “What is the lived …

Reading Conferences And Impact On Literacy Learning, Ashley Butenewicz Danter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how student discussions during reading conferences impact literacy learning in the areas of student comprehension and motivation. Surveys, interviews, audio recorded discussions, and notes in a teacher research journal were all analyzed for emerging themes. The findings show that reading conferences have a positive impact on student literacy learning, specifically that there was an increase in reading comprehension and motivation. The data also revealed the major role that critical, multicultural texts have on reading comprehension and motivation for reading when coupled with reading conferences. Implications for future research are discussed.

My News, Georgia Southern University

My News (2014-2020)

• President Marrero to host virtual town hall on June 8
• Office of Inclusive Excellence to host virtual community listening sessions beginning June 9
• How you can help fight the coronavirus
• Georgia Southern's Q1 2020 Economic Monitor: Pandemic slams regional economy, outlook remains murky
• Georgia Southern alumna fulfills lifelong dream, helps children struggling to read
• Personal hardships drive graduate to earn degree, advocate for others
• Georgia Southern doctor of physical therapy students awarded scholarships for volunteer work
• Georgia Southern student wins Next Generation of Campus Rec writing contest
• Preserving history: Georgia Southern anthropology faculty, students to investigate Civil War battlefields
• Armstrong …

Teaching Children To Decode Words: Connected Versus Segmented Phonation, Selenid M. Gonzalez-Frey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Two methods of decoding instruction were compared. Kindergartners who could not decode nonwords participated in the study, N = 38, M = 5.6 years. Segmented phonation, frequently used in synthetic phonics programs, taught students to convert graphemes to phonemes by breaking the speech stream (“sss – aaa – nnn”) before blending. Connected phonation taught students to pronounce phonemes without breaking the speech stream (“sssaaannn”) before blending. Kindergartners were matched and randomly assigned to the two conditions. Both groups were taught to decode the same set of CVC nonwords consisting of continuant consonants and vowels that could be stretched and connected …

Beginning Reading: A Comparative Study Of Beginning Reading Phonics Programs, Michelle Lee Beishline

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

There is a gap in our understanding of effective early reading instructional approaches, particularly regarding identifying which specific core systematic phonics reading programs provide longer-lasting impact on literacy achievement. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to examine the effects of two distinct pre-kindergarten phonics programs, a linguistic phonics program and a basal phonics program, on short and long-term literacy outcomes. The overarching question addressed in this study was whether the type of literacy instruction in pre-kindergarten predicts outcomes in kindergarten and grade 3 and to what extent, if any, these relationships are moderated by demographic variables. More specifically, …