Cecil Robinson

The Effects of Check, Connect, and Expect on Behavioral and Academic Growth.

Check, Connect, and Expect (CCE) is a secondary tier behavioral intervention that provides students with levels of support including a dedicated “coach” for check-in and check-out procedures, and social skills instruction. Elementary students (n = 22) in an alternative education school setting received CCE for 13 weeks following 4 weeks of baseline data collection. Measures included (a) daily progress reports (DPR), (b) direct observation of academic engagement, and (c) curriculum-based measures of academic growth (math calculation and oral reading fluency). These measures were used to examine the relationship between CCE and student outcomes using an interrupted time series design and multilevel growth curve modeling. This quasi-experimental within-subjects design compared the slopes and intercepts of baseline student data with intervention student data. Results demonstrate that students displayed statistically significant improvement on DPRs at the onset of CCE and demonstrated positive behavioral growth during CCE. There was also a statistically significant improvement of academic engagement at the onset of CCE. There was no statistically significant change in academic performance. A description of potential moderating variables, future research directions, and practical significance is presented.

Effects of a summer emergent literacy intervention for rising kindergarteners

This study examined the effectiveness of a nine-week summer emergent literacy program implemented in a Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) summer program that serves families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants were four- and five-year-old children attending a YMCA summer camp. After being placed in appropriate respective skill-level groups, children received one-hour, daily emergent literacy instruction from their camp counselors, who were trained as novice reading teachers. The teachers used emergent literacy activities to support letter-naming fluency and growth in letter-sound correspondence recognition in addition to mastery of read-aloud texts. The 28 participants experienced positive growth on both dependent measures (letter-naming fluency and letter-sound fluency), indicating the efficiency of the intervention as a tool for improving school readiness for children from low-income families. Additionally, the results suggest that beginning reading teachers may be able to conduct effective emergent literacy instruction, making the intervention replicable. Limitations and associated future research directions are discussed.

Supplemental Summer Literacy Instruction: Implications for Preventing Summer Reading Loss

Summer reading loss is a prevalent problem that occurs primarily for students who are not exposed to or encouraged to read at home or in summer programs when school is out. This problem prevails among early readers from low-income backgrounds. This study provided 31 six and seven-year-old children with a structured guided reading program through an existing community summer program (e.g., YMCA). Specifically, camp counselors were trained to deliver scripted guided reading instruction daily in ability groups consistent with student age. Researchers were able to establish the need for reading instruction to, at minimum, prevent summer reading loss by administering the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) prior to intervention. Further, weekly oral reading fluency assessments were completed for all participants throughout the 9-week reading program. Results suggest that both six and seven-year-old children performed consistently across the summer program, without any summer reading loss measured. The implications for practitioners and researchers from this simple, efficient summer reading program are discussed.

Learning Personal Selling Through Cognitive Apprenticeship: Creating More Authentic Instruction Through the UA Sales Lab

The University of Alabama (UA) Sales Lab is an authentic technology-supported learning environment that is built upon principles of cognitive apprenticeship. Students need critical thinking and effective communication skills to be successful in business and the traditional classroom poses significant limitations in meeting these goals. Passive learning does not promote this type of thinking or communication (Munoz and Huser 2008). Simply reading a marketing textbook and listening to classroom lectures does not effectively mimic selling in the real world.