Center researchers showcase findings at California conference
Several Vaughn Gross Center researchers put their hard work on display as they rubbed elbows with nationally recognized scholars at the 13th annual Pacific Coast Research Conference (PCRC) on Feb. 3-6 at Loews Coronado Bay Resort just outside San Diego.
The PCRC, started by Naomi Zigmond of the University of Pittsburgh, features researchers in the fields of learning disabilities and learning difficulties. Only current and prior-year presenters can attend the conference. Big-name PhDs usually present at sessions, but poster sessions also are held, giving up-and-coming researchers and doctoral students a chance to present.
Presenters from the Center include:
- Carolyn Denton, who presented Research on the Impact of Coaching Provided to Teachers of Students Placed At-Risk and Students with Disabilities along with Patricia Mathes of Southern Methodist University and Jan Hasbrouck, a private educational consultant in Seattle. The panel described Student-Focused Coaching (SFC), a model provided to teachers as a form of professional development. Hasbrouck described the theoretical and empirical foundations of the SFC model, and Mathes presented the results of a study of professional development and SFC coaching in a Head Start setting. Denton presented the design and early results of the study of onsite and technology-based coaching using SFC currently in process in the Center’s Scale-Up project.
- Meaghan Edmonds and Jeanne Wanzek, who presented A Synthesis of Spelling, Writing, and Reading Interventions and the Effects on Spelling Outcomes for Students with LD, a manuscript written by Wanzek, Sharon Vaughn, Jade Hjelm, Elizabeth Swanson, Edmonds, and Kim. The work synthesizes previous research studies examining the effects of spelling, reading, and writing interventions on the spelling outcomes for students with learning disabilities. The research reveals that spelling outcomes were consistently improved following spelling interventions that included explicit instruction with multiple practice opportunities and immediate feedback after the word was misspelled. Evidence from studies employing reading interventions and interventions aimed at spelling within written compositions also indicate positive effects on spelling outcomes.
- Ae-Hwa Kim, Colleen Klein, and Thea Woodruff, who presented a poster session on Facilitating Responsible Co-Teaching in Literacy Through Technology. The data came from the Center’s completed BRIDGE project, an ongoing study to design, implement, and document a professional development process through which teachers can learn and apply research-based reading practices for students with reading difficulties.
- Sylvia Linan-Thompson, who presented English Language Learners and Reading Instruction: Short and Long Term Effects. The report documents student outcomes one year after intervention for struggling readers who received intensive reading intervention in first grade in either English or Spanish. The study was part of a panel presentation that reported on the short- and long-term effects of reading interventions with multiple language backgrounds.
- Greg Roberts presented a poster session titled Effectiveness of Tier I and Tier II Interventions for At-Risk Kindergarten Students.
Christie Cavanaugh and Diane Bryant attended the conference but did not present this year.