Sharon Vaughn

Collaborative Strategic Reading During Social Studies in Heterogeneous Fourth-Grade Classrooms

In this study we investigated the effectiveness of a cooperative learning approach designed to foster strategic reading in 3 heterogeneous, culturally and linguistically diverse, general education classrooms in 1 school. Fourth graders in an 11-day experimental condition (N = 85) were taught by the researchers to apply reading comprehension strategies (preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap up) while reading social studies text in small student-led groups. Control condition students (N = 56) in 2 classes did not learn comprehension strategies but received researcher-led instruction in the same content. Outcome measures (a standardized reading test, social studies unit test, audiotapes of group work) indicated that students in the experimental condition made greater gains in reading comprehension, F(1,138) = 10.68, p = .001, and equal gains in content knowledge. Discourse analyses of peer talk during cooperative group sessions indicated that 65% of discourse was academic in nature and content related, 25% was procedural, 8% was feedback, and 2% was unrelated to the task. Students implemented the clarification (click and clunk) and main idea (get the gist) strategies the most consistently and effectively.

The Effects of Inclusion on the Social Functioning of Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to provide data on the social functioning (i.e., the degree of peer acceptance, self-concept, loneliness, and social alienation) of students in second, third, and fourth grade who participated in an inclusive classroom for an entire year. The social functioning of students identified as learning disabled (LD; n = 16), low achieving (LA; n = 27), and average/high achieving (AHA; n = 21) was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. The students with LD were less well liked and more frequently rejected than AHA students. Although students overall self-worth did not differ by achievement group, the students with LD demonstrated significantly lower academic self-concept scores. The students with LD did not differ on ratings of loneliness, and they demonstrated increases in the number of within-class reciprocal friendships from fall to spring. Discussion focuses on the effects of inclusion on the social functioning of students with LD.

Collaborative Strategic Reading: “Real-World” Lessons From Classroom Teachers

The present study extends 8 years of previous research using Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), a set of comprehension strategies designed to improve understanding of expository text. We examined teachers yearlong implementation of CSR. Five intervention and five control teachers from five schools participated along with their students. Intervention teachers attended a CSR professional development workshop and were provided with ongoing follow-up support. Students in CSR classrooms improved significantly in reading comprehension when compared with students in control classrooms. Teacher case studies reveal that with the exception of one teacher, students comprehension gains were associated with the quality of CSR implementation.

The Helping Behaviors of Fifth Graders While Using Collaborative Strategic Reading During ESL Content Classes.

This study investigated the frequency and means by which bilingual students helped each other and their limited English proficient peers in content classes while working in small, heterogeneous groups as they implemented a reading strategy: collaborative strategic reading. Overall, students in groups spent large amounts of time engaged in academic-related strategic discussion and assisted one another in understanding word meanings, getting the main idea, asking and answering questions, and relating what they were learning to previous knowledge. Furthermore, each group provided some explanation in Spanish. Students scores on English vocabulary tests improved significantly from pre- to posttesting. Results revealed that students helping behaviors were facilitated by the provision of specific instruction in how and when to help their peers.

Efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading With Middle School Students

The authors conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of collaborative strategic reading and metacognitive strategic learning on the reading comprehension of students in seventh- and eighth-grade English/language arts classes in two sites (Texas, Colorado) and in three school districts. Students were randomly assigned to classes and then classes were randomly assigned to treatment or business-as-usual comparison groups. If a teacher had an uneven number of classes, we assigned extra classes to treatment. The total number of classes randomized was 61, with 34 treatment and 27 comparison. Treatment students received a multicomponent reading comprehension instruction (collaborative strategic reading) from their English/language arts/reading teachers that included teaching students to apply comprehension strategies in collaborative groups for 18 weeks, with approximately two sessions per week. Findings indicated significant differences in favor of the treatment students on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test but not on reading fluency.

Planning for mainstreamed special education students: Perceptions of general classroom teachers

Abstract The purpose of this survey was to examine general education teachers perceptions and feelings about planning for mainstreamed students as well as their planning practices. The investigation was guided by a model that included three types of planning (preplanning, interactive planning, and postplanning) and three factors that influence planning (teacher, environment, and student). A second purpose was to examine how teachers responses pertaining to planning for mainstreamed students differed across grade groupings (e.g., elementary, grades 1 to 5; middle school, grades 6 to 8; and high school, grades 9 to 12). Subjects included 775 elementary, middle, and high school teachers representing 39 schools in a metropolitan school district in the Southeast. The findings from this study suggest that teachers are willing to have mainstreamed students in their classrooms as long as the students do not exhibit emotional or behavioral problems. They are willing to make adaptations while the student is takin...

Inclusion or Pull-Out Which Do Students Prefer?

The purpose of this study was to better understand students perceptions of and preferences for inclusion or pull-out service delivery models. Thirty-two students with and without learning disabilities who had participated in both models during the past 2 or 3 years were interviewed individually. Key questions assessed their perceptions of which model was most conducive to academic learning and which was most likely to yield social benefits, and the reasons for their beliefs. Results indicated that students views varied. Overall, more children identified pull-out as the model of choice, but many children were confident that inclusion was meeting their academic and social needs. We interpret the results of this study as providing support for maintaining a continuum of service delivery options and for considering the placement of each child individually, based on his or her unique needs.

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO ENHANCE READING AND WRITING INSTRUCTION IN INCLUSION CLASSROOMS

A year-long researcher-teacher professional development group with a next-year followup was conducted with seven general education teachers from two elementary schools in a large urban school district in the southeastern United States. The two schools had recently restructured their special education program to include students with LD in the general education class full-time. Teachers were taught four reading and writing practices (one during each nine-week grading block). All but two of the teachers partially or completely implemented the practices during the nine-week period. Sustained implementation during the school year was maintained by four of the seven teachers, and three of the seven teachers continued high implementation of the instructional practices during the next school year. The components of successful professional development programs are discussed and implications for teacher education are offered.

Improving the Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students With Disabilities Through Computer-Assisted Collaborative Strategic Reading

This study investigated the effects of computer-assisted comprehension practice using a researcher-developed computer program, Computer-Assisted Collaborative Strategic Reading (CACSR), with students who had disabilities. Two reading/ language arts teachers and their 34 students with disabilities participated. Students in the intervention group received the CACSR intervention, which consisted of 50-min instructional sessions twice per week over 10 to 12 weeks. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between intervention and comparison groups reading comprehension ability as measured by a researcher-developed, proximal measure (i.e., finding main ideas and question generation) and a distal, standardized measure (i.e., Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, Passage Comprehension). Effect sizes for all dependent measures favored the CACSR group. Furthermore, a majority of students expressed positive overall perspectives of the CACSR intervention and believed that their reading had improved.

Collaborative Strategic Reading as a Means to Enhance Peer-Mediated Instruction for Reading Comprehension and Content-Area Learning

This article reports on a series of studies designed to enhance reading comprehension and content-area reading for students with diverse learning needs in general education classrooms. Strategies were implemented through a peer-mediated instructional format (either small groups or pairs). Findings from professional development, students academic progress, and discourse analysis revealed that many students made significant progress in both understanding text and learning content. However, carefully monitoring the progress of all students is necessary because gains for some students are minimal.