Since my last goals statement a year ago, I have
taken a number of classes and have had an interesting internship
experience that have helped me to refine my goals and aspirations for
the remainder of my coursework in the doctoral program. While I
continue to have an interest in working with students experiencing the
effects of poverty, I have been able to narrow my focus of research
interest to family literacy and looking at the ways families can use
storybook reading and storytelling to promote reading skills, cultural
awareness, and interest in education.
In the Fall of 2006, I completed EDRD 830 which
examines the foundations of literacy education and research for infants
through early elementary school aged children. From the readings
and lectures, I discovered that I had a strong interest in the areas of
emergent and family literacy. Before this class I had not
realized that there was a field of study dedicated to
the impact that the family has on a child's reading skills. I
found myself wanting to know more about how children's literacy skills
develop and the way that the family, both its members and culture,
impacted
that growth.. My paper examining the impact of mothers' beliefs
on their home literacy practices with their young children was the
first of several papers over the past year that have focused on family
literacy practices for young children.
Following this course, I completed two of my
research core classes and completed an elective - The Achievement Gap,
with Dr. Nicola Williams. I took advantage of projects and papers
in all three classes to continue to expand my knowledge in the area of
family literacy. In the Achievement Gap course, I was able to
review the impact of a family-based preschool initiative in
Virginia on the literacy skills of young children. This paper
expanded my thinking by opening my thoughts of family literacy to
include looking at the impact of parent and school interactions on the
development of literacy skills in children.
During summer session, I continued to examine these
interactions EDRD 829, an independent study, and in my internship.
In order to become more familiar with multicultural literature
for my older elementary students and to be aware of what their siblings
might be reading, I worked with Dr. Kristi Dunlap to develop an
independent study based on her Young Adult Multicultural Literature
course for master's level students. This independent study tied
in nicely with both of the other summer courses in which I was
enrolled. For instance, in EDRD 829, Advanced Foundations of
Literacy Education, I based my final paper on looking at
intergenerational family literacy programs, which also was the basis of
the program at Teaching for Change where I completed my internship.
At Teaching for Change, I was able to see the impact of
intergenerational family literacy programs on families, schools, and
communities. I worked directly with the Roving Readers Project
which benefits family members, children, and teachers by having adult
members of students' families and community come into the classroom to
share storybooks or storytelling with elementary school children.
The program provided a bridge for family members and teachers to
come together to support education, while at the same time, increasing
the literacy skills of both the student and adult participants.
Roving Readers also worked to provide families, schools, and
community organizations with culturally-responsive literature for all
grade levels to promote social justice.
Working with the Roving Readers program, I decided
that I would be very interested in gathering data from this established
program for my dissertation research. During the next year, I
would like to begin a small interview study of the opinions of the
Roving Readers staff, followed by a limited pilot study that begins to
examine parent participant information regarding their experiences.
Ideally this research will help lead to the development of a
concise question to begin my dissertation pproposal process. In
addition to developing a focused question, in the next two semesters I
hope to become better versed in qualitative research methods and also
hope to travel to Africa on a project working with direct teacher and
student training and experiencing an up close look at international
family literacy involvement. By August of 2008, I plan to hold my
next portfolio review and begin reviewing literature that would be
helpful to my proposal question.