Purpose: Having a clear understanding of the types and amounts of classroom literacy learning opportunities is important for contextualizing children's early literacy performance. In this study, we examine the content, context, and management of literacy learning opportunities in a large, geographically diverse sample in the United States. We also…

Purpose: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration indications for cochlear implantation in children is currently 9 months of age and older for children with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Studies have shown that earlier activation of a cochlear implant (CI) can lead to better spoken language outcomes. As auditory skills are a…

Purpose: We examine the content, context, and management of literacy learning opportunities in a large, diverse sample in the US and whether these opportunities were differentiated by children's oral language and decoding skill levels. Method: A total of 1,404 children in 153 preschool-through-third-grade classrooms were observed for several…

While all Communication Centers support speakers, through consultation, in becoming more confident and competent oral communicators, the staff at one center wondered about the anxiety that speakers bring with them into the consultation. As one would expect, there is public speaking anxiety. With help from staff members who had been recruited from…

Participation in high-quality preschool can improve academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes for students of varying backgrounds, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., Andrews, Jargowsky, and Kuhne 2012; Barnett 2008; Camilli et al. 2010; Karoly and Bigelow 2005; Reynolds et al. 2007). However, some studies…

Research shows that participation in a high-quality preschool can improve young children's readiness skills for elementary school, positively influencing behavioral, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes. However, some preschool program evaluations document that some initial benefits may not persist into early elementary school. To explore how…

This paper describes a series of integrated career development activities offered in several required courses which are designed to help accounting majors gain a competitive edge in the job market. Supported by a partnership between the School of Business and the Academic and Career Planning Office, the Career Tool Kit program consists of…

This document presents the proceedings of the 21st Annual Research Forum held June 30, 2016, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 11 action research papers: The Use of Mexican Folk Art to Develop Oral and Written Language Ability and Cultural Awareness in the Secondary Spanish Classroom (Antonio…

This document presents the proceedings of the 22nd Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2017, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 12 action research papers: (1) Using Captioned Video to Teach Listening Comprehension in a Spanish Classroom (Michelle Allen); (2) Multimodal Instruction: How Film…

Today, English language learners (ELLs)--students whose primary language is other than English--are the fastest-growing major school population in the United States. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, the number of these students, whose level of English proficiency is not sufficient to support learning in a regular English language classroom, rose 18…

This dissertation evaluates the relationship between African American English and White Vernacular English as spoken in a small rural town in western North Carolina for consistencies in vowel production by group membership and for participation in the Southern Vowel Shift (SVS), a vowel rotation currently occurring in the Southern United States. A…

High school students participating in online courses offered by the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) completed end-of-course surveys in spring 2009. When the responses of 559 foreign language students were compared to students in five other subject area groups, the findings suggested foreign language students had significantly lower…

This document presents the proceedings of the 19th Annual Research Forum held June 26, 2014, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 17 action research papers: (1) Using Voices to Change Minds: Oral Performance and Poetry in the English Classroom (Erika Bunpermkoon), (2) Imagining Audiences: The Use…

The Atse Kituwah Academy (New Kituwah Academy) houses the new Cherokee immersion school in Cherokee, North Carolina. Cherokee is located on the Qualla Boundary in the mountains of the western part of the state, the contemporary homeland of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). In 2005, a comprehensive study of the health of the Cherokee…

This document presents the proceedings of the 18th Annual Research Forum held June 26, 2013, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 13 action research papers: (1) Developing Oral Language Ability in the Secondary Spanish Classroom Using the Interpersonal and Presentational Modes of Communication…