A8.2 Project Prospectus

Traci Girondo

October 9, 2007

1. Research Question/Foundation Questions:

How does poverty affect literacy in school-age children?

1. What is the correlation between low socioeconomic status and poor literacy skills?

2. What types of literacy are effected by poverty?

3. What are the lasting effects of poverty on literacy skills?

4. Does the underprivleged enviroment of the child effect literacy skills or is it other factors such as, malnutrition?

5. Are school-age children from underprivleged backgrounds lacking literacy skills that children from middle-class families are not?

2. Tentative point:

The point I plan to make is that poverty adversely affects a child’s development of literacy skills and factors such as growing up in an impoverished environment and malnutrition lead to the child’s decreased literacy skills.
3. Discussion:

Before beginning my research on this topic I knew that poverty had to some degree an effect on a child’s literacy skills. My knowledge on this came from a Read Aloud program that I participated in at Marshall University. In this program we were assigned to specific schools in the area that were noted as being at risk schools. These schools were recieving low test scores and very little federal funding. The goal of this program was to get the children actively involved in reading. In this program I came to the school once a week and read aloud to the class. The children were encouraged to ask questions about the book. Typically, after I read the book then the children participated in a reading activity with their teacher. I noticed while at the school that many of the children struggled with reading. I discussed this with the teacher and she noted that many of the students did not have family at home to encourage literacy skills such as reading. Through my research I am finding that this does play a role in a child’s development of literacy skills.

The information that I am learning on poverty and literacy skills is emphasizing a lot of the information that I already knew on the topic. From my research I have found that malnutrition can effect literacy skills in that children have difficulty attending to tasks when they are hungry. In regards to the literacy skill of reading you must be able to first read the material, but also comprehend it. In order to comprehend what you are reading to need to be able to attend to the subject matter. If a child is hungry they become focused on the fact that there stomach is empty and hurting and it is hard for them to block out these feelings and focus on the task at hand. Also, I have found that a parents education level can affect literacy in that there is a correlation between how much work is being done with the child at home on literacy skills. Typically, children who live in an impoverished environment have parents that work constently to provide for the family that little time is left to focus on the child’s school work. There becomes a breakdown in that the child is recieving a lot of instruction during the 7 hours they are at school, but during the other 17 hours of the day there is little instruction or time being spent on literacy tasks.

From what I am learning I developed 5 research questions to help me focus my research so that I would be able to answer my research question. When coming up with these research questions I wanted to focus specifically on what aspects of poverty affect literacy, what aspects of literacy are effected, and what are the lasting effects on the child. I felt that these questions gave a rounded view of how exactly poverty affects literacy. I feel that the most important question that I have to determine is whether there is even a correlation between poverty and literacy. From my experience I have noticed a correlation, but I feel it is important for me to back this up with research based evidence. I also feel it is important to look at how poverty is going to affect a child’s literacy skills throughout the rest of their life. I feel this is important in that this questions examines the long term effects of illiteracy. I feel that the questions I have developed will give me a well rounded view of the topic and help me to focus my research to answer my research question. I am sure as I continue my research these questions will expand and change.

There are many challenges I foresee when thinking about my research. From the research I have found there has been a lot of information on how teachers can remediate poor literacy skills in children, but not a lot of information on how poverty can affect a child’s literacy skills. I have also found a lot of information on adult literacy, but limited information on children. I feel that I will just have to spend a lot of time searching for articles that pertain to the subject matter I am researching. I need to make sure that the research I am finding is valid, reliable, and is helping me to answer my research question. I am excited about this topic so, I think the research will be exciting as well!

Resources:

Baydar, N., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Furstenberg, F.F. (1993, June). Early warning signs of functional illiteracy: Predictors in childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 64(3), 815-829. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the PsychINFO database.

D’Angiulli, A., Hertzman, C., & Siegel, L. S. (2004). Schooling, Socioeconomic Context and Literacy Development. Educational Psychology, 24(6), 867-883. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Duke, N. K., & Purcell Gates, V. (2003). Genres at home and at school: Bridging the known to the new. Reading Teacher, 57(1), 30-37. Retrieved September 20, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Espinosa, L. M. (2005). Curriculum and Assessment Considerations for Young Children from Culturally, Linguistically, and Economically Diverse Backgrounds. Psychology in the Schools, 42(8), 837-853. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Kainz, K. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2007, May). The ecology of early reading development for children in poverty. Elementary School Journal, 107(5), 407-427. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Leavy, J., Masters, A., & White, H. (2003, November). Comparative perspectives on child poverty: A review of poverty measures. Journal of Human Development, 4(3), 379-397. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Mcgee, G.W. (2004, April). Closing the achievement gap: Lessons from Illinois’ golden spike high-poverty high-performing schools. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 9(2), 97-125. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Miles, S. B., & Stipek, D. (2006). Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low-Income Elementary School Children. Child Development, 77(1), 15. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Nancollis, A., Lawrie, B., & Dodd, B. (2005). Phonological Awareness Intervention and the Acquisition of Literacy Skills in Children From Deprived Social Backgrounds. Language,Speech, & Hearing Services in Schools, 36(4), 325-335. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Perkins, H. J., & Cooter, R. B. (2005). Evidence-based literacy education and the African American child. Reading Teacher, 59(2), 194-198. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

A8.1: APA Review

After completing a review of my resources located in my library searching assignment I realized there were some common mistakes I made in all of my sources. One specific mistake I made was a careless mistake on my part. On one of my sources I had listed the page numbers from 379-97. This mistake was corrected by verifying the correct page number and changing the page number to 397. I found specific rules on page numbers on  page 227 of the APA resource manual. Another common mistake I made was not putting the word “the” before the name of the particular database I was using. As stated by the Publication Manual of the American Pychological Association- 5th Edition on page 231 under the heading “4.15 Retrieval Information: Electronic Sources” the word “the” should be located before the database. Another citation rule that I had failed to follow was also located in the same section of the manual. This rule stated that the word “database” should be listed after the name of each specific database. Altogether the mistakes I made were careless mistakes on my part or my failure to make reference to the APA resource manual. I now see how important it is to make reference to a resource manual when citing information.

A8.4:Reflection on Discussion 10/8/07

Traci Girondo

October 12, 2007

1. What was your primary contribution to the discussion?

My primary contribution to the discussion was to be the timekeeper. This was a more difficult task than I foresaw in that I found it is really important to keep track of what time the actual discussion started. I was able to ask the other girls in my group what time we had started so, once this was clarified we were able to finish in a timely manner.

2. What questions emerged from your group discussion?

During our discussion our main question was what all can be classified under copyright laws. We determined that there are a lot of fine lines when dealing with copyright issues that make the topic unclear at times. We specifically looked at how copyright laws can be applied to music downloading, choreography, and research. We questioned whether copyright laws could apply to dance choreography or music being played in a stadium. These were topics I had never considered, but areas that could be considered under copyright laws. We also examined the question of why the government has not created a better way to handle copyright infringement.

3. What questions were answered for you in your group discussion?

One specific question that was answered for me in our group discussion was how copyright applies to the field of speech-language pathology. As a group we decided that copyright laws can apply to SLP’s in that speech pathologists use a lot of information from test manuals and research that has been conducted. We decided that as future SLP’s we must be cautious about the material we are using and make sure that we are asking permission from the publisher. We decided that we always needed to error on the side of caution when using another individual’s information.

4. How will you apply what you learned in the readings and discussion to your own work?

I will apply the information I learned to my own work in that I now am more aware of what materials could be considered as copyrighted material. I will be more careful about the information I am using specifically research and graphics. If I am unsure if the information I am using could be considered copyright infringement then I will not use that material. My new lesson in regards to copyrighted material is to ask permission or not use it all.

A8.3: Response to Eshet-Alkali & Amichai-Hamburger

Traci Girondo

October 12, 2007

Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & Eshet-Alkali, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.  Retrieved October 12, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

After rereading this article I realized how much of this information was over my head the first time I read it. I feel that I simply read the article, but did not comprehend what the article was discussing the first time. After being exposed to a digital environment over the past few weeks, I feel I was able to better understand the information located in the article and apply it to my experiences using the web. I feel that I now possess more of the 5 skills noted in this article as being the skills needed to use a digital environment effectively. Although, I do feel that there are specific skills I am better at than others. The 5 skills the article discussed were photovisual, reproduction, branching, information, and socioemotional skills. In detail this article describe what each skills was and then described how each one was assessed during an experiment. Here is brief overview of the information.

The first skill that was assessed was photovisual skills. Photovisual skills are stated by the author of the article as “using vision to think” (2004) or the ability to understand through images. To assess this college students, high school students, and older adults were asked to create a theatre stage using a computer program. Results of this showed that there was no difference in the performance by high school and college kids and both of these groups scored higher than the adults tested. I feel that the results of this make sense in that high school students and college students have been exposed more to a digital environment as they have grown up. On the other hand computers and the web is a new form of multimedia for them. The same results were found for branching skills.

In the branching task the adults, college students, and high school students were asked to plan a detailed 1 week trip to Spain. They had to utilize the internet to  include a map of the area, an itinerary for each day, and a description of all the places visited. This task required the participants to use their branching skills which is the ability to make connections between various information and sources on the internet. Again, the younger participants did better than the old participants. I feel this is evident in that again, the younger participants have been more exposed to the internet and are able to make more connections.

In regards to reproduction skills, high school students scored the lowest, then college students, and the adults scored the highest. The results of this study should be of concern to teachers in that the participants were asked to give a seven line paragraph new meaning by changing the sentences around and only adding 25 additional words. This should have been as task that students excelled in, but the results of this study showed the adults did better. This may be because adults were required to do more analytical thinking when they were students. Now, a lot of the focus in the classroom is placed on meeting specific state requirements and test scores.

Another skill looked at in which adults were the highest is information skills. Information skills involve a person’s ability to look at information and make a judgement on the reliability of  the information and rule out any biased or false information. For this task participants were required to  analyze a news event and look for bias info. After this they were required to write a summary on their findings. Results of this test show that the younger participants are more likely to manipulated by false information located on the internet. They are lacking information skills to seek out the information that is reliable and they believe information that is false.

Lastly, the article looked at socioemotional skills by having the participants participate in a ten minute discussion in an online chat room. In this task the adults scored the lowest and the college students scored the highest. I feel that these results make sense in that adults are less likely to have been exposed to online chat discussion which is what many people my age have grown up doing. This task showed that adults are limited in their socioemotional skills on the web or their ability to express emotions on topics online.

From this article I have pulled a lot of information on skills that are needed to effectively use a digital environment. I feel that my personal experiences relate to the results of this study in that the skills I feel I am successful at are photovisual, branching, socioemotional, and information skills. I feel that the first three skills I listed are skills I have developed from my exposure to the Internet. The last one listed, information skills, is a skill that I am still currently developing and feel I successful at because of the work I have done for this class. From reading this article I can better appreciate this article and the information located within. This article noted many resources to back up their information which shows me that the content located within is reliable and can be justified by examining the resources listed.