FUNDING AND FTE
Christopher J. Lemons, Ph.D.
CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS
Puranik, C., Lemons, C.J., & Al Otaiba, S. (Under Review). Peer-assisted writing
strategies for Kindergarten (PAWS). Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education. ($1,117,128). Co-principal Investigator. 0.10 FTE 7/2012
– 6/2015.
Lemons, C.J., Puranik, C., Al Otaiba, S., & Fidler, D. (2011-2014). Enhancing reading
instruction for children with Down syndrome: A behavioral phenotypic approach
(Project ERIC). Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
($1,445,011). Principal Investigator. 0.25 FTE 07/2011 – 06/2014.
ABSTRACTS
PAWS
Purpose: While both reading and writing are necessary for success in school and the
workplace, the vast majority of research and intervention development has focused
on reading skills. Most of this research suggests that early intervention is important
to improving reading achievement. However, less is known about writing, and
fewer interventions have been developed to help students learn to write. Still,
research in writing that has been completed to date suggests that early intervention
may be important. Before learning how to compose long texts, children must first
learn skills such as transcription (mechanics of writing, such as spelling and
handwriting) and text-generation (translating thoughts into text). The current project
aims to develop a writing intervention for kindergarten children. Building on the
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) framework, this new writing intervention,
Peer Assisted Writing Strategies (PAWS) will allow for increased learning time as
pairs of students are asked to work together to complete highly structured activities
aimed at increasing writing skill.
Intervention: The intervention will incorporate five principles of instructional design: (1)
explicit instruction with extensive modeling by the teacher; (2) multiple
opportunities for children to practice; (3) integration of reading and writing through
unifying themes; (4) brief, developmentally-appropriate activities to boost
engagement; and (5) use of peer assisted learning strategies. Lessons will be
designed to last approximately 30 minutes, and will occur three days each week
over 16 weeks. Weekly lessons will include letter writing automaticity instruction,
spelling lessons, and instruction regarding composition of sentences and
paragraphs. Students will work in pairs to practice writing. High achieving and low
achieving students will be paired together, with the higher-achieving student first
serving as a Coach and the lower-performing student first serving as Writer.
Children in each pair will take turns being Coach and Writer, and pairs will be
reassigned every 4–6 weeks.
Research Design: This project involves an iterative developmental design including the
development of lessons, two phases of implementation, a feasibility pilot study, and
final revisions. During the two implementation phases, students receiving the
intervention will be compared to students in regular classrooms on improvement in
writing skills, based on a pre-test. Interviews and focus groups with teachers will
help the researchers to determine revisions to be made to the intervention. The
feasibility pilot phase will also use pre- and post-intervention assessments of
students' writing in treatment and comparison classrooms, and focus groups with
teachers will provide information regarding feasibility. Classroom observation and
videotaping will be used to assess fidelity of implementation.
Project ERIC
Purpose: Enhancing Reading Instruction for Children with Down Syndrome: A
Behavioral Phenotypic Approach (Project ERIC), is to develop an innovative early
reading intervention for children with Down syndrome based upon the distinct
profile of behavior, or behavioral phenotype, for this group of children. Setting:
This research will be conducted in urban and sub-urban school districts in the
Pittsburgh area. Population: Participants will be 30 children with DS (ages 5-17)
from a variety of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
Intervention: The purpose of Project ERIC is to enhance reading instruction for children
with Down syndrome (DS) by making adaptations and modifications based on
behavioral characteristics shared by many children with DS, the behavioral
phenotype. The reading intervention will include components targeting essential
early reading skills including phonological awareness, decoding, sight word
reading, fluency, and vocabulary. To enhance the likelihood of success for children
with DS, several aspects of the behavioral phenotype including cognition, language
development, and personality-motivation, will be considered in the development of
the intervention. The goal is to determine whether reading instruction can be
improved for children with DS by adapting the instruction based on specific
characteristics shared by this group. Project ERIC has the potential to enhance the
reading outcomes for children with DS as well as provide information regarding the
effectiveness of developing reading interventions for specific groups of children
who share common characteristics and struggle with learning to read through
current approaches.
Research Design: An iterative process will be used to guide development and data
regarding feasibility of implementation and promise of positive student outcomes
will be collected. The intervention will be developed based on input from advisory
board members and 10 children with DS will receive 16-weeks of one-on-one
instruction provided by project staff in an exploratory phase in which instruction will
be modified based on student response.