Early Literacy Screening : Comparing PALS-K with AIMSweb and STAR

Color poster with text and tables.Wisconsin schools are required to assess K - 2nd grade students with the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS). However, other literacy screeners are also used in Wisconsin schools. Research suggests that the validity and accuracy of early literacy screeners varies from test to test. Outside of evidence published by the test authors, limited research exists to support the accuracy of PALS-K as an early literacy screener. The AIMSweb Tests of Early Literacy has strong evidence to support its ability to identify kindergarteners at risk for future reading difficulties. The validity of STAR Early Literacy assessment has been examined extensively; however, less research exists examining its predictive accuracy.University of Wisconsin--Eau Cliare Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Revising Misconceptions Using Multiple Documents

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. July 2020. Major: Educational Psychology. Advisor: Panayiota Kendeou. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 140 pages.In the “information age,” readers encounter information about socio-scientific issues repeatedly from multiple documents and sources. In turn, this information found across multiple sources may reactivate and strengthen inaccurate prior knowledge or misconceptions. Much existing theoretical and empirical work has examined how readers represent and process multiple documents and sources. Likewise, existing work has also provided an understanding of the conditions that promote the revision of preexisting misconceptions (i.e., knowledge revision) during reading. However, currently lacking is an understanding of how knowledge revision unfolds when readers engage with multiple documents from different sources. To address this gap, I present a new theoretical account that integrates key representational and processing aspects from existing accounts of multiple-document comprehension and sourcing to expand our current understanding of knowledge revision to account for multiple documents and sources (i.e., the Knowledge Revision Components Framework – Multiple Documents; KReC-MD). In a set of two experiments, I tested core hypotheses derived from KReC-MD regarding the influence of text structure, source credibility, and intertextual integration on knowledge revision. In Experiment 1, readers engaged with a set of three documents addressing misconceptions related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that varied in text structure (refutation vs. non-refutation) and source credibility (high vs. low). Readers demonstrated superior intertextual integration after engaging with refutation texts, as well as high-credibility sources. In turn, readers who engaged in more intertextual integration demonstrated superior knowledge revision outcomes. In addition to examining knowledge revision outcomes, it was also critical to examine the processes that readers engage in moment-by-moment during reading. Thus, in Experiment 2, I used a typed think-aloud methodology to examine the integration, sourcing, and knowledge revision processes readers engaged in during reading of refutation texts from either high- or low-credibility sources. Readers engaged in more source evaluations in the low-credibility condition, yet they demonstrated superior intertextual integration and knowledge revision in the high-credibility condition. Thus, readers may have engaged in more evaluation of low-credibility sources as a means of subsequently rejecting information from those sources. These results are discussed in light of existing research regarding multiple-document comprehension and sourcing, and critically, are used to refine the initial proposal of KReC-MD and inform future work

Using Brief Experimental Analysis to Increase GRE Vocabulary Knowledge

Color poster with text and graphs.BEA is a tool that "test drives" different interventions to select a promising intervention for each participant, which can be implemented over time. Research indicates that for school-aged children, Brief Experimental Analysis (BEA) can be used to select effective academic interventions, especially in oral reading fluency (Burns & Wagner, 2008). On the GRE, university students emphasize the verbal component because they perceive it as especially difficult (Loken, Radlinsky, Crespi, Millet, & Cushing, 2004). We selected three interventions commonly used to teach word definitions: interspersal, incremental rehearsal, and traditional flashcard drill. Although traditional flashcard drill procedures have been used for vocabulary instruction (e.g., MacQuarrie, Tucker, Burns, & Hartman, 2002), research suggests that interspersal procedures yield better results than traditional flashcard drill procedures for definitional knowledge and retention of knowledge over time (Petersen-Brown & Burns, 2011). We aimed to extend the traditional use of BEA to select an effective vocabulary intervention for college students. We then measured the effectiveness of this intervention across time in an extended analysis using a cumulative acquisition design.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Evaluating the Outcomes of Brief Experimental Analyses at Two Points in Time

Color poster with text, graphs, tables, and charts.Reading is a fundamental skill for success in school. Thus, providing effective intervention to children underperforming in a standard classroom is critical. Our study explores differences in the outcomes of brief experimental analyses (BEAs) when administered at two different times during the school year to see how children's instructional needs may change. We found that BEA outcomes differed for most children in our sample when administered at two different times, perhaps as a function of changes in students' academic skills. Our results may shed light on how often instruction needs to change in schools to meet the changing academic needs of students.Kell Container Corporation; University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

School Wide Early Literacy Screening : A Comparison of PALS-K and AIMSweb Tests of Early Literacy

Color poster with text and tables.The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between PALS-K and AIMSweb assessments.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Epistemic Beliefs, Language, and Sources: Interactive Effects on Belief and Trustof Scientific Information

Research suggests that peoples learning may be influenced by individual differences in their epistemic beliefs, such asFaith in Intuition (FiN), Need for Evidence (NfE), and belief that Truth is Political(TiP). This study investigated the extentto which these epistemic beliefs influenced belief in scientific information about global warming and trust in sources.Participants read statements about global warming and rated how much they believed the information and trusted thesource. Each statement was presented with a conservative, liberal, or scientific source and framed in certain or tentativelanguage. We found that epistemic beliefs significantly interacted with source and language tentativeness. For example,those with low FiN believed certain language statements more than tentative language statements. Those with low NfEbelieved conservative sources more than scientific or liberal sources. These findings demonstrate how individuals epistemicbeliefs interact with source and language factors to influence belief and trust of scientific information

Understanding the Sexual Prejudices of Sexual Orientation Minorities

Color poster with text and charts.Much of the sexual prejudice research has focused on understanding the prejudices and stereotypes of heterosexuals towards nonheterosexuals. Minimal research has examined the prejudices and stereotypes of nonheterosexuals. The purpose of this study was to find out the stereotypes endorsed by gay/lesbian and bisexual men and women toward heterosexual, bisexual, and gay/lesbian men and women.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

A Comparison of AIMSWeb TEL and PALS-K Reading Assessments

Color poster with text and tables.Response to Intervention (RtI) practices in educational settings aim to identify students who are at risk for academic struggle. Typically, RtI tries to identify 20% of students as at-risk (Good, Simmons, & Smith, 2008). It is crucial to provide at-risk students with early interventions to prevent student failure (Hughes & Dexter, 2014). Standardized screening assessments are used in identifying students who are at-risk for failure. To successfully identify at-risk students, screeners must be reliable, valid, accurate, and inexpensive. This study addresses two questions. One, how well does each screener correctly predict which children will perform below expectation (i.e. "at-risk" children) on grade 1 reading measures? And two, which kindergarten subtests are most predictive of first-grade reading performance?University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Brief Experimental Analysis of Modeling Interventions for Oral Reading Fluency : Results From a Summer Program

Color poster with text and graphs.Brief experimental analysis (BEA) is an important tool used to guide intervention selection for learners who have failed to respond to standard reading instruction (Reschly, Coolong-Chaffin, Christenson & Gutkin, 2007). The purpose of this project was to examine how BEA procedures could be used to identify a potentially effective oral reading fluency intervention involving different types of modeling combined with practice. Participants were three elementary students who attended a summer reading program. An extended analysis examined the effectiveness of the indicated intervention over time when used within the context of a comprehensive reading instructional package.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program

Social Media Spillover: Attitude-Inconsistent Tweets Reduce Memory for Subsequent Information

Social media users are generally exposed to information that is predominantly consistent with their attitudes and beliefs (i.e., filter bubbles), which can increase polarization and decrease understanding of complex and controversial topics. One potential approach to mitigating the negative consequences of filter bubbles is intentional exposure to information that is inconsistent with attitudes. However, it is unclear how exposure to attitude-inconsistent information in social media contexts influences memory for controversial information. To fill this gap, this study examines the effects of presenting participants (n = 96) with Twitter content on a controversial topic (i.e., labor unions) that was either pro-union, anti-union, or neutral. Participants then read a media article including both pro-union and anti-union information. Participants who saw Twitter content that was inconsistent with their prior attitudes regarding labor unions recalled less of the article content compared to those who saw Twitter content that was consistent with their prior attitudes. The findings suggest that Twitter users’ memory for information related to controversial topics may not benefit from exposure to messages outside their filter bubble