J. Ron Nelson

The Principal Investigator (PI) will add to his existing quantitative research skills by developing skills in qualitative and mixed methods research. These skills will be applied to the research project that is designed to develop and pilot test a supplemental intervention aimed at teaching students with and at risk for learning disabilities to detect and use expository text structures to analyze and interpret complex test.

The goal of this project is to study the efficacy of a supplemental reading intervention for English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten called Early Vocabulary Connections (Connections). This intervention is designed to coordinate the development of beginning decoding skills, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge in English. In addition to immediate effects on word reading and vocabulary, participation in Connections is hypothesized to improve learning of new vocabulary and general compre...

Since 1979 the number of students from homes where English is not the primary language has more than doubled from 6 million to 14 million, and children of immigrant parents now make up 22 percent of children under age six in the United States. Furthermore, this pattern is not restricted to a few geographic locations-the number of students from homes where English is not the primary language is growing rapidly in all states. Very little rigorous research exists on the effects of intervention...