Lessons from Ellen: A Case Study Investigation of Comprehension Strategy Instruction in Action

In the past ten years, reading comprehension instruction has received significant attention from educational researchers. Drawing on studies from cognitive psychology, reader response theory, and language arts research, current best practice in reading comprehension instruction is characterized by a strategies approach in which students are taught to think like proficient readers who visualize, infer, activate schema, question, and summarize as they read. Studies investigating the impact of comprehension strategy instruction on student achievement in reading suggest that when implemented consistently the intervention has a positive effect on achievement. Research also shows, however, that few teachers embrace this approach to reading instruction despite its effectiveness, even when the conditions for substantive professional development (i.e. prolonged engagement, support, resources, time) are present. The interpretive case study reported in this dissertation examined the year-long experience of one fourth grade teacher, Ellen, as she leanled about comprehension strategy instruction and attempted to integrate the approach in her reading program. The goal of the study was to extend current understanding of the factors that support or inhibit an individual teacher's instructional decision making. The research explored how Ellen's academic preparation, beliefs about reading comprehension instruction, and attitudes toward teacher-student interaction influenced her efforts to employ comprehension strategy instruction. Qualitative methods were the basis of this study's research design. The primary methods for collecting data included pre- and post-interviews, field notes from classroom observations and staff development sessions, infonnal interviews, e-mail correspondence, and artifacts such as reading assignments, professional writing, school newsletters, and photographs of the classroom. Transcripts from interviews, as well as field notes, e-mail, and artifacts, were analyzed according to grounded theory's constant-comparative method. The results of the study suggest that three factors were pivotal in Ellen's successful implementation of reading strategy instruction: Pedagogical beliefs, classroom relationships, and professional community. Research on instructional change generally focuses on issues of time, resources, feedback, and follow-through. The research reported here recognizes the importance of these components, but expands contemporary thinking by showing how, in Ellen's case, a teacher's existing theories, her relationship with her students, and her professional interaction with peers impact instructional decisions.

Orchestrating Whole Group Discourse to Mediate Mathematical Meaning

The most common pattern of classroom discourse follows a three-part exchange of teacher initiation, student response, and teacher evaluation or follow-up (IRE/IRF) (Cazden, 2001). Although sometimes described as encouraging illusory understanding (Lemke, 1990), triadic exchanges can mediate meaning (Nassaji & Wells, 2000). This paper focuses on one case from a study of discursive practices of seven middle grades teachers identified for their expertise in mathematics instruction. The central result of the study was the development of a model to explain how teachers use discourse to mediate mathematical meaning in whole group instruction. Drawing on the model for analysis, thick descriptions of one teacher’s skillful orchestration of triadic exchanges that enhance student understanding of mathematics are presented.

The essays : or councils, civil and moral, of Sir Francis Bacon, ... With a table of the colours of good and evil. And a discourse of the wisdom of the ancients. To which is added, The character of Queen Elizabeth

The 'Table of colours' has separate pagination and half-title; 'The wisdom of the ancients,' which is translated by Sir Arthur Gorges, has separate pagination and titlepage p.135 misnumbered 145

Ordenamento territorial em Recife-pe : Os impactos urbanísticos e sociais da realocação de comunidades através do projeto Via Mangue

The logic of territorial ordainment in Recife has been developed mainly through the seclusion of the unwanted and the removal of stilt houses and slums in order to make room and prepare the space for new private enterprises. As an example of ordainment we took the 'Via Mangue' project, which is part of Recife's mobility plan and is one of the main projects aimed at the city's preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. We believe that the project makes use of the 'great social benefits' discourse in order to cover its actual and practical consequences which, taken as whole, lead to the favoring of private sector over the public interest. That being so, the main goal of the present work is to make an analysis of territorial ordainment in Recife through the execution of the Via Mangue project; observing at the same time the urban and social impacts caused by the relocation of communities to the Via Mangue III housing complex, and verifying whether this policy actually promoted substantial improvement of habitability or only a precarious social inclusion of these populations. Our research was conducted and operated at three levels. First, the conceptual reconstitution of territorial ordainment; second, documental and cartographic research on the Via Mangue project; and last, fieldwork with observation of the constructed space and personal interviews with members of the families relocated to the Via Mangue III housing complex. We hope the present work could be a valuable contribution to the comprehension of the complexities involved in the relocation of families to housing complexes built by the government

Transferable skills following WAIS-II verbal comprehension index

In this document the results and the reflections brought about by the research for the standardization of the verbal comprehension index of Wechsler scale subtests for measuring adult intelligence, WAIS -III for the general population from 16 to 24 years for the city of La Plata , using the collective administration modality are reported In this opportunity, the performance of 229 students from secondary school from 16 to 18 years, both genders, is being analyzed in the information subtest, as well as that of 155 university and non-university tertiary students from 19 to 24 years, both genders in the same subtest The information subtest is of particular interest because of the implication of previous knowledges in the text comprehension and the personal transferable skills. Given the responses, the analysis allow to make some observations a) there are no statistically significant differences between the individual and the collective administration, by gender and b) the average of correct responses for both age groups is the same but the score distribution shows a greater homogeneity in the group from 16 to18 years.

Alfonso VI en la Estoria de Espanna : Retrato ejemplar y narración histórica

La figura de Alfonso VI en Ia Estoria de Espanna se presenta por medio de dos tipos de discurso: el retrato inicial, que lo describe como un monarca ejemplar (capitulo 846), según la imagen del gobernante ideal de la segunda Partida, y la narración de su reinado, que revela una personalidad mucho más compleja y contradictoria (capítulos 845 y 847-964). La oposición entre atemporalidad = esencialidad del retrato y temporalidad = individualidad de la narración plantea, entre otros muchos, dos problemas clave para entender los métodos del taller historiográfico alfonsí: la concepción de Ia personalidad humana, en el marco del proceso de "descubrimiento del individuo" estudiado por Morris (1987), y Ia comprensión de los hechos históricos únicos e irrepetibles a la luz de principios y categorías generales.

Verbal comprehension of university students

En este trabajo se comunican los resultados preliminares de una investigación más amplia sobre desempeño y autopercepción en lectura y escritura de alumnos universitarios. Se trata en este caso de los resultados en comprensión verbal, dadas las relaciones que guarda con la comprensión lectora. Esta última constituye un aspecto crítico, particularmente en la construcción del modelo de situación , que se logra vía integración de la información proporcionada por el texto con el conocimiento previo relevante. Para su estudio se seleccionó una muestra piloto aleatoria de 60 alumnos de tercer año, de ambos sexos, de 23 años de edad promedio, a los que se les aplicó colectivamente las pruebas Vocabulario, Información y Analogías del WAIS III. Los resultados en el Índice de Comprensión Verbal muestran medidas de tendencia central semejantes a los de la muestra de tipificación y una dispersión menor, con casos particulares con puntuaciones en el límite inferior del promedio. Se hacen observaciones respecto del desempeño en población universitaria y sobre algunas particularidades acerca del tipo de errores en las respuestas proporcionadas, que merecen consideraciones adicionales. En principio indican ausencia e insuficiencia de información, confusiones conceptuales en algunos términos de uso relativamente frecuente y dificultades en la formación de conceptos, situación a ser atendida por sus implicaciones en el aprendizaje exitoso a partir de los textos.

Reading comprehension in nacional and internacional programs of educational assessment

El principal objetivo de este artículo es identificar distintos programas de evaluación educativa, tanto nacionales como internacionales, y describir sus características generales. Asimismo, analiza el modo en que se conceptualiza y evalúa la competencia lectora. Finalmente, este trabajo presenta los resultados que ha obtenido Argentina en esta área. Los programas analizados son: el Programa para la Evaluación Internacional de Alumnos (PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment) , el Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE) y, específicamente en nuestro país, el Operativo Nacional de Evaluación (ONE) y el Programa de Evaluación de la Calidad Educativa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Estos diferentes estudios sitúan la importancia de la lectura comprensiva en tanto "competencia para la vida" necesaria para la realización de otros aprendizajes, para el logro de una participación activa en la sociedad y ligada a la posibilidad de proyectar un futuro mejor. Los informes muestran la existencia de diferencias entre los resultados de distintos países y al interior de los mismos. El desarrollo de competencias desiguales aparece como un desafío a nivel nacional e internacional, ya que constituye un importante indicador de la situación crítica en la que se encuentran un número significativo de niños y adolescentes.

Text Comprehension And roduction in University Students: Text Reformulation

This paper sets out to report on findings about features of task-specific reformulation observed in university students in the middle stretch of the Psychology degree course (N=58) and in a reference group of students from the degree courses in Modern Languages, Spanish and Library Studies (N=33) from the National University of La Plata (Argentina). Three types of reformulation were modeled: summary reformulation, comprehensive and productive reformulation.The study was based on a corpus of 621 reformulations rendered from different kinds of text. The versions obtained were categorised according to the following criteria: presence or absence of normative, morphosyntactic and semantic difficulties. Findings show that problems arise particularly with paraphrase and summary writing. Observation showed difficulties concerning punctuation, text cohesion and coherence , and semantic distortion or omission as regards extracting and/or substituting gist, with limited lexical resources and confusion as to suitability of style/register in writing. The findings in this study match those of earlier, more comprehensive research on the issue and report on problems experienced by a significant number of university students when interacting with both academic texts and others of a general nature. Moreover, they led to questions, on the one hand, as to the nature of such difficulties, which appear to be production-related problems and indirectly account for inadequate text comprehension, and on the other hand, as to the features of university tuition when it comes to text handling.