Patricia A. Edwards

Communication apprehension and employment interviews

In order to determine if patterns identified in the general communication apprehension (CA) literature would emerge with regard to employment interviews, three investigations were undertaken. The first study investigated thoughts high and low CAs entertain regarding employment interviews. The second study probed differences in self‐reported preparation activities that high and low CAs employ with regard to employment interviews. The third study examined differences in verbal and nonverbal behaviors displayed by high and low CAs in employment interview situations. In general, these studies indicate that high CAs avoid thinking about interviews, avoid preparing for them, and use a pattern of communicative minimization (few gestures, few words, etc.) in employment interviews. These data are congruent with data on CA in other circumstances, provide a basis for developing grounded interventions in this domain, and have implications for the way interviews of this nature ought to be handled in classroom situations.

Before and after School Desegregation: African-American Parents' Involvement in Schools

In this article, the author summarizes three generations of desegregation efforts since the Brown decision, with the intent to highlight parent voices. The author puts forth arguments that researchers and policymakers should turn their attention to the importance of broader sociocultural facets of desegregation. The author provides recollections from her mother, elementary school principal, and first-grade teacher showing that African-American parents did not have to be formally invited to participate in their childrens education before school desegregation. The author also gives her own recollections of PTA meetings, fundraising activities, social gatherings, and visits to her classroom by her mother. She describes the efforts since desegregation to invite African-American parents to become involved in school affairs. She suggests that educators must examine whether African-American parents feel invited or uninvited.

Making Instructional Decisions Based on Data: What, How, and Why

A carefully coordinated literacy assessment and instruction framework implemented school-wide can support school teams in making sense of various types of data for instructional planning. Instruction that is data based and goal driven sets the stage for continuous reading and writing improvement.

Ecological Correlates of the Educative Style of Afro-American Children.

In the research on the influence of the physical environment of the home on the development of children, factors such as the presence of age-appropriate play materials, the access to physical and visual exploration in the environment, and the amount and intensity of noise stimulation have been found to influence cognitive development associated with educative competence. Other factors include the amount of personal space, temporal regularity, and the type and intensity of social interaction.1 Feuerstein2 asserts that the impact of these factors is dependent upon the experience and intent of the mediating adult who frames, selects, focuses, and interprets the experiences in ways that produce the culturally appropriate educative style. Wachs,3 however, hypothesizes that it is the specific environment interacting with the organismic variables which determines the impact upon the child regardless of the sociocultural mediating experiences. Not included in either view is a theory on whether or not the child develops a

How One Elementary School Uses Data to Help Raise Students' Reading Achievement

If you are a classroom teacher or a school administrator, chances are you are inundated with all sorts of data, including student demographic information, reading and writing test scores, and an array of formative assessment data used for documenting and promoting student reading and learning. The key question here is, What are the factors that contribute to effective uses of data to help raise students’ reading achievement? In this column, we share collective reflections from two literacy specialists and one school administrator in one Midwestern U.S. elementary school, which highlight the value of using data collaboratively to bring about instructional change and to improve student reading achievement.

Vividness and control: Factors in the effectiveness of performance visualization?

Performance visualization training was developed specifically for the treatment of public speaking apprehension and centers around peoples ability to create and manipulate images of themselves as public speakers. The present study compared the effects of imagery control and vividness, separately and in combination, on self‐report measures of public speaking apprehension (PSA), state communication apprehension (CA), negative thinking, and. behavioral disruption. Imagery control and vividness were linked to reductions in PSA, state CA, negative thinking, and behavioral disruption. Consequently, it was recommended that people be screened vis a vis their ability to create and control images prior to exposure to performance visualization.

Organizing Instruction for Struggling Readers in Tutorial Settings.

In this article, the authors suggest that many of the problems struggling readers encounter while reading stem from distinct yet fundamental sources of difficulty related to the types of text read (print or online), the task or activity readers engage in, and the sociocultural context of reading. The authors further argue that although these problems are multidimensional, they can and should be addressed simultaneously. Using a case scenario of a third-grade struggling reader, the authors share guidelines with an example of how her tutor planned, organized, and monitored instruction in a one-on-one tutorial setting—here defined as a setting in which a single teacher or tutor, usually not the classroom teacher, plans and delivers instruction to one student. The authors anticipate that the insights shared will be helpful to professional educators, paraprofessionals, and volunteer or peer tutors who work with struggling readers in similar settings.

When It's More Than You, Jesus, and the Pencil: Reflections on an Academic Writing Mentorship

What makes academic writing so challenging, and what might be done to help graduate students who struggle with it? The authors explore answers to these questions by reflecting upon their own experiences in graduate school and highlighting their collaboration as African American literacy scholars. They use the term academic writing mentorship to characterize their writing relationship and discuss how collaborative work transformed their perceptions of and experiences with academic writing. They also offer academic writing mentorships as a possible strategy for supporting graduate students struggling with academic writing.

Building a Democratic Learning Community Within a PDS

1We thank Bonnie Lacey, Jennifer LaMarra, Jo Nelson, Annie Williford of Kendon Elementry School for their contributions.

Uncloseting Home Literacy Environments: Issues Raised Through the Telling of Parent Stories

In this article, we argue that it has not been fashionable to value literacy stories from parents of young children as a source of knowledge and wisdom for describing and interpreting their own home literacy environment. We also argue that past researchers have tended to examine only one dimension of information about a childs literacy development (the artifacts and activities), but have failed to examine the physical environment, interpersonal interactions and emotional and motivational climates which are often just as critical in the development of a childs literacy. Unless all of these dimensions are fully uncloseted, a complete picture of the home literacy environment cannot be revealed. In this article, we highlight some of the “thorny” issues surrounding the collection of parent stories of literacy, but conclude that parent stories are still valuable and useful. We acknowledge that what teachers hear and see in the parent stories may have the potential to help them think critically about reformatt...