Supporting student success

The 2007 CEDER Yearbook is a peer-reviewed compilation of papers delivered at the Fourth Annual CEDER Conference held on February 17-18, 2006. “Supporting Student Success” was the overarching theme and title of the conference, which attracted more than 320 attendees. Three conference sub themes focused on Supporting Academic Success, Supporting Hispanic Student Success, and Supporting Students Emotionally. These sub themes provided the structural division of this yearbook into its three basic parts by the same names. Chapter 1, delivered by Dr. David Chard, one of our keynote speakers, prefaces this volume and is entitled “Fluency and its Relationship to Reading Comprehension: Promoting Success for all Students.” The eighteen papers included in this volume were selected by the Editorial Advisory Committee for the 2007 Yearbook based on a number of criteria, including the importance and timeliness of the topic, theoretical grounding, rationale, and contributions to the field. These manuscripts are intertwined by several distinct threads (literacy; instructional effectiveness; learning theory; teacher preparation; leadership; and student support: motivation and assessment) that weave a framework for Supporting Student Success. Literacy is a central thread or unifying element of Chapters 3, 4, 12, 14, and 15. In Chapter 3, Garrett, Schaum, Zunker, and Crowder address the accessibility of nonfiction texts in the elementary classroom. In Chapter 4, Grote, Pearce, and Marroquin describe the efforts of the America Reads Challenge program at the Early Childhood Development Center at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and discuss characteristics of tutoring success and outcomes. In Chapter 12, Crowder and Griffith relate the life-changing power of literacy as experienced by two Hispanic women “of courage.” In Chapter 14, Sarmiento-Arribalzaga presents research on grouping strategies for literacy development of bilingual children. In Chapter 15, Valadez, Ybarra, and Lara address Hispanic children’s literature in the kindergarten to fifth grade classroom. Instructional effectiveness and learning theory are a key focus of Chapters 5, 6, and 13. In Chapter 5, Harris, Skinner, and Stocks describe the evaluation and selection process for textbooks. In Chapter 6, Jones, Torti, and Foote provide research on children’s engagement in authentic learning experiences, inspired by the Reggio Emilia learning theory. In Chapter 6, Lucido presents case study results of three successful dual language programs in three states highlighting the characteristics of the administrators, teachers, and effective instructional practices. Lucido reflects the concerns of the other authors in these threads on instructional effectiveness and learning theory when he poses a final challenging question: “Are we preparing our children to be economically, socially, and linguistically viable in our ‘shrinking’ world?” Teacher preparation and leadership are central threads to Chapters 2, 8, 9, and 10. In Chapter 2, Bolick and Hill present results of Project Teach, a study designed to assess whether teachers are adequately prepared for the classroom and the state exit exams through Centers for Professional Development of Teachers. In Chapter 8, Oliver, Nelson, and Ybanez present the results of a preliminary grounded theory study designed to assist in developing a model for supervision in counseling programs. In Chapter 9, Sailors argues that teachers need situated and contextualized support to help their success at improving literacy development. The paper reports on effective aspects of professional development models and presents an intervention study. In Chapter 10, Sorenson presents analyses of barriers that discourage lead teachers from seeking administrative roles, specifically the principalship, in public schools by “assessing political and institutional context roles,” and he provides research on factors that can contribute positively to “home grown” recruitment. In support of student success, these authors demonstrate a concern and present solutions for improving teacher and leadership preparation. Sailors captures this spirit: “Just as teachers are encouraged to see their students as individual learners and to meet the instructional needs of their students on an independent basis, so too, should teachers be viewed by those who provide professional development for teachers.” Student support, motivation, and assessment are central threads to Chapters 7, 11, 16, 17, and 18. In Chapter 7, Marinak summarizes a multi-year (2001-2006) action research project that includes attributes for design and delivery of a response to intervention model at the middle school level. In Chapter 11, Bohling, Melrose, Bonnette, and Spaniol present research on the efficacy of Bioelectric Impedance Analysis as an alternative method for determining body composition in Hispanic youth, with implications for student success in the well-being of students. In Chapter 16, Hwang presents strategies for motivating at-risk students using the America Reads Program. In Chapter 17, Nelson and Low describe the significance of emotional intelligence and its relationship to college success and conclude with recommendations for additional research. In Chapter 18, Potter presents various categories of teacher behaviors that can influence student motivation and engagement in the classroom. These authors affirm the importance of attention to individual needs in order to facilitate effectively student success and motivation. In conclusion, the manuscripts included in the 2007 CEDER Yearbook reflect research aimed at improving student success. The research presented here is an attempt to begin to address the demographic changes highlighted by Dr. Steve Murdock, one of the conferences keynote speakers and demographer for the State of Texas. Dr. Murdock stated that if one wants to see what the racial/ethnic makeup of the U.S. will look like in the future, one need not look further than to the makeup of Texas today. According to Victor Villaseñor, another one of our keynote speakers, to be successful the educator must get in touch with his or her inner genius and help students access their inner geniuses. To achieve student success, educators must also get to the emotions, and teach with energy. The genius is kindled, says Villasenor, when the teacher is able to reach the very soul of the student.