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Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

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classrooms demonstrated greater affective perspective taking skills than children in full-<br />

day classrooms regardless <strong>of</strong> experimental group assignment. Children in full-day versus<br />

half-day classrooms might tire m<strong>or</strong>e quickly during intervention st<strong>or</strong>ybook readings,<br />

particularly if teachers read toward the end <strong>of</strong> the day.<br />

Regarding social skills, results revealed that children in the intervention group<br />

demonstrated greater productiveness during classroom activities than children in the book<br />

reading control group, perhaps because participation in the intervention group enhanced<br />

productiveness during free play within the classroom context. Conclusions drawn<br />

regarding children‘s social skills should be interpreted with caution, however, given the<br />

lack <strong>of</strong> strong statistical evidence f<strong>or</strong> observer reliability.<br />

Limitations and Suggestions f<strong>or</strong> Future Research<br />

Perhaps the most notable limitation <strong>of</strong> the current research is the lack <strong>of</strong> an<br />

additional control group that did not include st<strong>or</strong>ybook readings beyond those required <strong>of</strong><br />

Rocky Mountain SER Head Start programming policies. Future research should include<br />

such a group in <strong>or</strong>der to better assess effects <strong>of</strong> st<strong>or</strong>ybook reading participation on<br />

children‘s emergent literacy skills, emotion knowledge, and social skills.<br />

Results revealed differences between the intervention and book reading control<br />

groups that merely approached statistical significance. These findings could be the result<br />

<strong>of</strong> the minimal intervention preparation and supervision employed. First, teachers<br />

assigned to the intervention group participated in very minimal training on intervention<br />

methods. Training included a very brief presentation <strong>of</strong> emergent literacy and social-<br />

emotional development, a brief video illustrating dialogic reading techniques, and a brief<br />

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