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This study describes a program designed to increase student academic performance through the use of reading strategies. The targeted population consists of third and fourth grade students in three separate communities located in northern Illinois. All three communities are part of one major metropolitan area, and the status of family income ranges from low to middle levels. Although students continually meet state standards in reading, there is an expectation by district administrators that the students should be reading at higher levels. Evidence that there is room for improvement in this area includes state assessment, comprehension testing, and teacher observation. Analysis of probable cause data reveals that lack of phonetic/decoding skills and vocabulary, curricular changes, lack of parental involvement, minimal prior knowledge, increased bilingual population, developmental difficulties, low self-esteem, and a decreased value of literacy in the home results in low reading skills. Inconsistencies in teacher training and the selection of activities in the reading curriculum contribute to deficiencies in student reading. A review of the solution strategies suggested by the professional literature, combined with an analysis of the settings resulted in the following interventions: teacher training, introduction of reading strategies, monitoring student progress, and the practice of guided reading. Results indicated that the majority of the targeted students revealed an improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Appendixes contain numerous charts of standardized test scores; entrance and exit interview questions; a checklist; the teacher survey; and consent forms. Also included in the appendixes are two Student Practice Pages from "#2131 How to Prepare... Standardized Tests--Int." published by Teacher Created Materials: Comprehension/Story; and Reading Comprehension. (Contains 45 references, 8 figures, and 6 tables.) (Author/RS)

The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods research study was to understand how the establishment of an online Community of Practice approach supports the completion of homework for third grade students in an urban school. The study focused on issues of my facilitation and development of such an online community as well as the impacts on students within the community experience. While the issues of homework quality and completion rates were addressed, the intent of this study went beyond evaluation by examining how a Community of Practice evolved and developed among young children. A mixed method case study approach was selected based on the research questions and the diverse types of data that were to be gathered. Results indicated students had fun with their peers, engaged in meaningful work, and socialized while completing their homework within a Community of Practice. Defining separate spaces for socializing and collaboratively completing assignments within the social networking platform enabled students to understand the objective for the domain. State assessment scores improved; however, more research is needed to determine whether a causal relationship exists between this type of homework intervention and student achievement. Findings from this study provide new insights to designing and facilitating virtual learning communities for children. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods research study was to understand how the establishment of an online Community of Practice approach supports the completion of homework for third grade students in an urban school. The study focused on issues of my facilitation and development of such an online community as well as the impacts on students within the community experience. While the issues of homework quality and completion rates were addressed, the intent of this study went beyond evaluation by examining how a Community of Practice evolved and developed among young children. A mixed method case study approach was selected based on the research questions and the diverse types of data that were to be gathered. Results indicated students had fun with their peers, engaged in meaningful work, and socialized while completing their homework within a Community of Practice. Defining separate spaces for socializing and collaboratively completing assignments within the social networking platform enabled students to understand the objective for the domain. State assessment scores improved; however, more research is needed to determine whether a causal relationship exists between this type of homework intervention and student achievement. Findings from this study provide new insights to designing and facilitating virtual learning communities for children.

Children with expressive language delays are at great risk for not developing communication skills at the same rate as their typical peers, putting them at risk for delays in other developmental domains (Miller, 1996). Therefore, many researchers work vigorously to improve the communication skills of children with language delays. Naturalistic teaching techniques have been shown to help children improve language skills (Hepting and Goldstein, 1996).The purpose of this study was to increase the expressive language skills of young children with language delays using naturalistic teaching strategies within a shared storybook routine. “Shared book reading with parents and other adults is an ideal context for children to practice and improve their language skills" (Crain-Thoreson & Dale, 1999 p. 28). A multiple baseline across subjects was chosen as the experimental design. The participants were three young children with developmental delays who ranged in ages from 30 to 36 months. Each attended an early intervention preschool three times a week.The storybook sessions consisted of a baseline, intervention, and post-intervention condition. All sessions in all conditions began with the presentation of two books to the participant. These same two books were presented three sessions in a row. Once the child chose a book, the experimenter began to read the text.During baseline, experimenter behaviors used included: time delay, adult commenting, and recasting. The child was under no obligation to respond. During the intervention condition, the naturalist teaching strategies of teacher directives, modeling, and time delay along with responsive strategies of recast, expansion, turn-taking, adult commenting, and following the child’s lead were implemented. The intervention phase took place during the first ten pages of the storybook session. The remaining five pages of the storybook made up post-intervention. During post-intervention, experimenter behaviors returned to that of the baseline condition.A follow-up session was conducted one week after intervention had concluded. The follow-up session was carried out in the same manner as intervention/post-¬intervention. The purpose of the follow-up was to determine if any gains made from the intervention were still in place one week after the conclusion of the intervention.All children in the study increased their use of the target language behaviors and total words spoken during the intervention condition of the experiment. This study documents a functional relationship between the teaching strategies of teacher directives, modeling, time delay, recast, expansion, turn-taking, adult commenting, and following the child’s lead, and an increase in the target language behaviors and total words spoken for the three participants.