Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 2015
Modern teens have pervasively integrated new technologies into their lives, and technology has be... more Modern teens have pervasively integrated new technologies into their lives, and technology has become an important component of teen popular culture. Educators have pointed out the promise of exploiting technology to enhance students’ language and literacy skills and general academic success. However, there is no consensus on the effect of technology on teens, and scant literature is available that incorporates the perspective of urban and linguistically diverse students on the feasibility of applying new technologies in teaching and learning literacy in intact classrooms. This paper reports urban adolescents’ perspectives on the use of technology within teen culture, for learning in general and for literacy instruction in particular. Focus group interviews were conducted among linguistically diverse urban students in grades 6, 7 and 8 in a lower income neighborhood in the Northeastern region of the United States. The major findings of the study were that 1) urban teens primarily an...
This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-scho... more This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-school vocabulary intervention, on the learning, maintenance, and consolidation of academic vocabulary for students from English-speaking homes, proficient English speakers from language-minority homes, and limited English-proficiency students. Using individual growth modeling, we found that students receiving Word Generation improved more on target word knowledge during the instructional period than students in comparison schools did, on average. We found an interaction between instruction and home-language status such that English-proficient students from language-minority homes improved more than English-proficient students from English-speaking homes. Limited English-proficiency students, however, did not realize gains equivalent to those of more proficient students from language-minority homes during the instructional period. We administered follow-up assessments in the fall after the i...
In 2008, approximately 10.8 million children ages 5–17 in the United States spoke a language othe... more In 2008, approximately 10.8 million children ages 5–17 in the United States spoke a language other than English in the home (Aud et al., 2010). While most language minority students receive all of their instruction in English, 3.8 million students received English language learner services during the 2003-2004 school year (Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, Passel, & Herwantoro, 2005). Compared with their native English-speaking peers, language minority students on average have lower reading performance in English (August & ...
24 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/OCTOBER 2010 difficulty, and the most frequent words are most important... more 24 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/OCTOBER 2010 difficulty, and the most frequent words are most important to student learning. Students appear to learn words in a relatively consistent sequence as they progress through the grades, and they generally learn high-frequency words first (Biemiller, 2003, 2005; Zeno, Ivens, Millard, & Duvvuri, 1995). A number of word lists and tools can help teacher teams identify highfrequency words for instruction. For example, WordCount (www. word count. org/main. php), an online tool ...
This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and Englis... more This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and English-only students engage in when inferring meaning for unknown English words that have Spanish cognates. Conducted within the context of a large-scale vocabulary intervention that taught word inferencing strategies, including a cognate strategy, this qualitative study describes cognate strategy use among a small sample of participants. The data suggest that explicit instruction, students' metalinguistic and metacognitive skills, and the structural characteristics of cognate pairs are associated with cognate recognition.
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2013
ABSTRACT Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, ... more ABSTRACT Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, defined as the difference between scores before and after an interim period, and a process-oriented approach focusing on detailed analysis of conceptually defined response patterns. The validity of the two approaches was investigated. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed by means of equivalent multiple-choice tests administered before and after an intervention, and four characteristic responses were observed: Words consistently not understood; words inconsistently understood; learned words; and words consistently understood. The results showed that inclusion of the category “words consistently not understood” offered a “truer” gain score than did the conventional change score. It captured more variance from age and cognitive constraints and appeared educationally more reliable from an assessment-for-teaching-perspective. Learning is fundamentally a matter of change over time, yet measuring change has been
This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and Englis... more This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and English-only students engage in when inferring meaning for unknown English words that have Spanish cognates. Conducted within the context of a large-scale vocabulary intervention that taught word inferencing strategies, including a cognate strategy, this qualitative study describes cognate strategy use among a small sample of participants. The data suggest that explicit instruction, students’ metalinguistic and metacognitive skills, and the structural characteristics of cognate pairs are associated with cognate recognition.
When students enter middle school, they encounter increasingly difficult text-book and instructio... more When students enter middle school, they encounter increasingly difficult text-book and instructional materials. Students appear to learn words in a relatively consistent sequence as they progress through the grades, and they generally learn high-frequency words first (Biemiller, 2003, 2005; Zeno, Ivens, Millard, & Duvvuri, 1995). A number of word lists and tools can help teacher teams identify highfrequency words for instruction. For example, WordCount (www. word count. org/main.
This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-scho... more This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-school vocabulary intervention, on the learning, maintenance, and consolidation of academic vocabulary for students from English-speaking homes, proficient English speakers from language-minority homes, and limited English-proficiency students. Using individual growth modeling, we found that students receiving Word Generation improved more on target word knowledge during the instructional period than students in comparison schools did, on average. We found an interaction between instruction and home-language status such that English-proficient students from language-minority homes improved more than English-proficient students from English-speaking homes. Limited English-proficiency students, however, did not realize gains equivalent to those of more proficient students from language-minority homes during the instructional period. We administered follow-up assessments in the fall after the instructional period ended and in the spring of the following year to determine how well students maintained and consolidated target academic words. Students in the intervention group maintained their relative improvements at both follow-up assessments.
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collectio... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, How Latino immigrant parents and school read each other: Parental involvement and literacy initiatives. ...
Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 2015
Modern teens have pervasively integrated new technologies into their lives, and technology has be... more Modern teens have pervasively integrated new technologies into their lives, and technology has become an important component of teen popular culture. Educators have pointed out the promise of exploiting technology to enhance students’ language and literacy skills and general academic success. However, there is no consensus on the effect of technology on teens, and scant literature is available that incorporates the perspective of urban and linguistically diverse students on the feasibility of applying new technologies in teaching and learning literacy in intact classrooms. This paper reports urban adolescents’ perspectives on the use of technology within teen culture, for learning in general and for literacy instruction in particular. Focus group interviews were conducted among linguistically diverse urban students in grades 6, 7 and 8 in a lower income neighborhood in the Northeastern region of the United States. The major findings of the study were that 1) urban teens primarily an...
This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-scho... more This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-school vocabulary intervention, on the learning, maintenance, and consolidation of academic vocabulary for students from English-speaking homes, proficient English speakers from language-minority homes, and limited English-proficiency students. Using individual growth modeling, we found that students receiving Word Generation improved more on target word knowledge during the instructional period than students in comparison schools did, on average. We found an interaction between instruction and home-language status such that English-proficient students from language-minority homes improved more than English-proficient students from English-speaking homes. Limited English-proficiency students, however, did not realize gains equivalent to those of more proficient students from language-minority homes during the instructional period. We administered follow-up assessments in the fall after the i...
In 2008, approximately 10.8 million children ages 5–17 in the United States spoke a language othe... more In 2008, approximately 10.8 million children ages 5–17 in the United States spoke a language other than English in the home (Aud et al., 2010). While most language minority students receive all of their instruction in English, 3.8 million students received English language learner services during the 2003-2004 school year (Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, Passel, & Herwantoro, 2005). Compared with their native English-speaking peers, language minority students on average have lower reading performance in English (August & ...
24 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/OCTOBER 2010 difficulty, and the most frequent words are most important... more 24 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/OCTOBER 2010 difficulty, and the most frequent words are most important to student learning. Students appear to learn words in a relatively consistent sequence as they progress through the grades, and they generally learn high-frequency words first (Biemiller, 2003, 2005; Zeno, Ivens, Millard, & Duvvuri, 1995). A number of word lists and tools can help teacher teams identify highfrequency words for instruction. For example, WordCount (www. word count. org/main. php), an online tool ...
This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and Englis... more This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and English-only students engage in when inferring meaning for unknown English words that have Spanish cognates. Conducted within the context of a large-scale vocabulary intervention that taught word inferencing strategies, including a cognate strategy, this qualitative study describes cognate strategy use among a small sample of participants. The data suggest that explicit instruction, students' metalinguistic and metacognitive skills, and the structural characteristics of cognate pairs are associated with cognate recognition.
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2013
ABSTRACT Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, ... more ABSTRACT Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, defined as the difference between scores before and after an interim period, and a process-oriented approach focusing on detailed analysis of conceptually defined response patterns. The validity of the two approaches was investigated. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed by means of equivalent multiple-choice tests administered before and after an intervention, and four characteristic responses were observed: Words consistently not understood; words inconsistently understood; learned words; and words consistently understood. The results showed that inclusion of the category “words consistently not understood” offered a “truer” gain score than did the conventional change score. It captured more variance from age and cognitive constraints and appeared educationally more reliable from an assessment-for-teaching-perspective. Learning is fundamentally a matter of change over time, yet measuring change has been
This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and Englis... more This research examines the processes which native Spanish-speaking learners of English and English-only students engage in when inferring meaning for unknown English words that have Spanish cognates. Conducted within the context of a large-scale vocabulary intervention that taught word inferencing strategies, including a cognate strategy, this qualitative study describes cognate strategy use among a small sample of participants. The data suggest that explicit instruction, students’ metalinguistic and metacognitive skills, and the structural characteristics of cognate pairs are associated with cognate recognition.
When students enter middle school, they encounter increasingly difficult text-book and instructio... more When students enter middle school, they encounter increasingly difficult text-book and instructional materials. Students appear to learn words in a relatively consistent sequence as they progress through the grades, and they generally learn high-frequency words first (Biemiller, 2003, 2005; Zeno, Ivens, Millard, & Duvvuri, 1995). A number of word lists and tools can help teacher teams identify highfrequency words for instruction. For example, WordCount (www. word count. org/main.
This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-scho... more This longitudinal quasi-experimental study examines the effects of Word Generation, a middle-school vocabulary intervention, on the learning, maintenance, and consolidation of academic vocabulary for students from English-speaking homes, proficient English speakers from language-minority homes, and limited English-proficiency students. Using individual growth modeling, we found that students receiving Word Generation improved more on target word knowledge during the instructional period than students in comparison schools did, on average. We found an interaction between instruction and home-language status such that English-proficient students from language-minority homes improved more than English-proficient students from English-speaking homes. Limited English-proficiency students, however, did not realize gains equivalent to those of more proficient students from language-minority homes during the instructional period. We administered follow-up assessments in the fall after the instructional period ended and in the spring of the following year to determine how well students maintained and consolidated target academic words. Students in the intervention group maintained their relative improvements at both follow-up assessments.
UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collectio... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, How Latino immigrant parents and school read each other: Parental involvement and literacy initiatives. ...
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Papers by Claire White