Roxanne F. Hudson

Identifying Essential Instructional Components of Literacy Tutoring for Struggling Beginning Readers

This study examined the components of a one-on-one literacy tutoring model to identify the necessary and sufficient elements for helping struggling beginning readers. The tutoring components of interest included word work using manipulative letters, written word work, and a generalization component. Reading assessment data from 100 first-grade students, randomly assigned to four tutoring conditions and a control group, were analyzed. Following the treatment period, groups were evaluated on phonological awareness, sight word knowledge, decoding, and word attack. Results indicated that children who received all of the tutoring components performed better than those in the control condition across all four reading performance indicators under consideration.

Adoption potential of fruit-tree-based agroforestry on small farms in the subtropical highlands

Worldwide, fruit-tree-based agroforestry systems have been only modestly studied, although they are common on smallholder farms. Such systems based on apple (Malus spp.), peach (Prunus spp.), and pear (Pyrus spp.) are common in northwest Guatemala as low intensity homegardens and are known to increase total farm productivity in communities where farm size is a limiting factor. This study investigated the potential for adoption of fruit-tree-based agroforestry by resource-limited farmers using ethnographic investigation and linear programming simulations of farm activities at the household level. Two communities with differing demographics, infrastructure, and access to regional markets were selected based on the presence of extensive fruit-tree-based agroforestry. The influences of family size, land holdings, and tree and crop yields on the optimal adoption levels of fruit trees were evaluated through a comparative study of the varying social and physical infrastructure present in the two communities. Fruit-tree-based agroforestry was potentially more attractive to relatively prosperous families or those with larger land holdings. Improvements in fruit-tree productivity and interspecies competition were of greater importance where family land holdings were smaller. The inability of families to produce sufficient food to meet annual needs, poor fruit quality, and lack of market infrastructure were identified as constraints that limit adoption. The complementarity of production with the dominant maize (Zea mays) crop, home consumption of fruit, and the potential to generate additional cash on limited land holdings were identified as factors promoting adoption of fruit-tree-based agroforestry.

Promoting Active Participation in Book Reading for Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

A common literacy practice in early childhood classrooms is reading aloud to children. Little is known, however, about the quality of engagement in shared reading activities for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Dialogic reading is one method of shared reading in which adults encourage children to actively participate in the reading process by asking them a variety of questions while reading a book. The current study used a multiple baseline design across participants to examine the effect of a dialogic reading intervention on book reading participation for three preschool boys with ASD. Compared to baseline book readings, dialogic book reading resulted in increased rates of child verbal participation and longer duration spent engaged with printed materials. Based on these preliminary findings we suggest that this reading strategy may be a promising practice for early childhood educators that warrants further exploration.

Preparing Early Childhood Special Educators to Serve Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children and Families: Can a Multicultural Education Course Make a Difference?

There is no doubt that todays schools are faced with the challenge of educating an increasingly diverse school population. More teacher education programs address these challenges by adding courses in multicultural education and/or infusing content on teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students into the existing curriculum. This investigation reports on the changes in concepts and beliefs of 45 preservice teachers enrolled in a 17-week unified early childhood/special education multicultural education course. The course consisted of topics related to teaching students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Instructors used a variety of pedagogical strategies in the course including small group activities, case study illustrations, videotapes, thematic unit instruction, and traditional large group lectures. Students were asked to draw concept maps on “multicultural education” and write explanatory paragraphs on the first and last day of the course. Conceptual and belief changes were found in both the concept maps and supporting paragraphs.

Tutoring Opened My Eyes: Tutor Experiences in the America Reads Challenge

The America Reads Challenge offers colleges and universities an opportunity to make a contribution to the community while enhancing the education of their students, employing tutoring as a service learning experience. At the same time, their efforts will help the institution develop and sustain community partnerships. This paper reports an analysis of America Reads tutors’ reactions to their experiences working with struggling readers. Tutors’ comments were collected from reaction papers written during a course associated with the program and from other sources. Tutors reported numerous benefits, including new knowledge about children and schools, new appreciation for teachers, new awareness of teaching as a potential profession, and preparation for important aspects of parenthood. Some tutors elected to change their major as a result of their experience, and others reported a greater commitment to community service and mentoring. The potential for America Reads is yet untapped.

Introduction: Understanding Theory and Practice in Reading Fluency Instruction

Fluency is gaining new recognition as an essential element of every reading program, especially for students who struggle in reading. Reading fluency is one of the defining characteristics of good readers, and a lack of fluency is a common characteristic of poor readers. Differences in reading fluency not only distinguish good readers from poor, but a lack of reading fluency is a reliable predictor of reading comprehension problems (Stanovich, 1991). Once struggling readers learn sound-symbol relationships through intervention and become accurate decoders, their lack of reading fluency emerges as the next hurdle they face on their way to reading proficiency (Torgesen et al., 2001; Torgesen, Rashotte, Alexander, Alexander, & McPhee, 2003). This lack of fluent reading is a problem for poor readers because they tend to read in a labored, disconnected fashion with a focus on decoding at the word level that makes comprehension of the text difficult, if not impossible. Despite the importance of reading fluency and its role as a sign of proficient reading, it remains largely unexamined. It has been seven years since a ground-breaking special issue of Scientific Studies in Reading explained the ‘‘DNA of Reading Fluency’’ (Kame’enui & Simmons, 2001), and we are still puzzling over the complex nature of reading fluency. While listening to a reader read expressively to convey the author’s message through accurate and quick reading, it appears that reading fluency is a simple thing, something that any reader can accomplish. However, not every reader becomes fluent, and in our search for better and more effective reading interventions, it behooves us to stop and delve deeply into what it is that we want our students to develop. Once we understand the multidimensional nature of

Effects of Emergent Literacy Interventions for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Combining data from a series of three planned consecutive randomized controlled trials, the present study investigates two literacy interventions for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. For the first cohort, children were randomized to interactive book reading (IBR; treatment) or business as usual (BAU; control); in Cohort 2, children were randomized to phonological awareness (PA; treatment) or BAU; in Cohort 3, children were randomized to IBR or PA. Both treatments were implemented weekly in the classroom from November to May. Combined across cohorts, data from 57 classrooms in 8 districts were available for analysis (n = 47, IBR; n = 42, PA; n = 44, BAU). Model results showed that IBR had significantly greater pretest-posttest gains than the sample mean on expressive vocabulary and listening comprehension (approximate effect sizes: d* = 0.29 and 0.30), whereas PA had significantly greater PA gains (d* = 0.39).

A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Practitioner Perspectives on Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Special Education

Despite the central role “evidence-based practice” (EBP) plays in special education agendas for both research and policy, it is widely recognized that achieving implementation of EBPs remains an elusive goal. In an effort to better understand this problem, we interviewed special education practitioners in four school districts, inquiring about the role evidence and EBP played in their work. Our data suggest that practitioners’ responses to policies that press for increased use of EBP are mediated by a variety of factors, including their interpretations of the EBP construct itself, as well as the organizational conditions of their work, and their access to relevant knowledge and related tools to support implementation. We interpret these findings in terms of their implications for understanding the problem of implementation through a more contextual and ecological lens than has been reflected in much of the literature to date.

Cambodian Inclusive Education for Vulnerable Populations: Toward an Ecological Perspective Policy.

Abstract Cambodia is a dynamic country in transition and its population is committed to improve an economic, social, and educational system (Chandler, 2008). An imperial legacy and traumatic histor...