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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (16 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Davis Previously Published Works (2023)
We utilized classroom video observations to examine the frequency and function of spontaneous communication in 112 preschool-3rd grade children with autism within 57 classrooms. Children initiated 7.53 instances (SD = 9.42) of spontaneous communication on average within a 12-minute sample, a rate of 0.69 initiations per minute. Autism features, receptive and expressive language, and adaptive functioning were associated with communication rate. A 4-factor model of spontaneous communication functions exhibited the best relative and absolute fit to the data. Findings highlight, and begin to explain, variability in spontaneous communication children used in classrooms, link individual developmental characteristics to communicative initiations, and provide evidence for conceptualizing and measuring spontaneous communication in learners with autism across classroom activities. Implications and future directions are discussed.
    Cover page: Measurements of Spontaneous Communication Initiations in Children with Autism in Preschool through Third Grade ClassroomsCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Davis Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2024)

    Reading skills are important for educational and lifelong outcomes (NICHD, 2000). However autistic children often experience challenges when it comes to reading (McIntyre et al., 2018; McIntyre et al., 2017a; McIntyre et al., 2017b; Nation, 1999; Nation, Clarke, & Snowling, 2002; Nation et al., 2006; Snowling & Frith, 1986). The factors that account for why this is frequently observed is less understood, despite studies that support certain theories (Hoover & Gough, 1990; Naigles et al., 2016; Nation, 1999; Nation & Snowling, 2004). Examining and exploring potential contributors to reading development in autistic children is the goal of this study. In this effort, we examine the role of a distinguishing feature of autism called joint attention. Since children learn to read in schools, the classroom environment is also important to consider (Dykstra Steinbrenner & Watson, 2015; Sonuga-Barke & Thapar, 2021). A key component of the classroom environment is the teacher and their interactions with students (e.g., Williford et al., 2013). As such, student-teacher relationship quality is explored as a potential factor influencing how autistic children learn to read. Thus, this study examines and explores how joint attention affects students’ developing reading skills within a sample of preschool through third grade autistic children and their non-autistic peers in general education classrooms. In addition, we examine the relationships among joint attention, student-teacher relationship quality, and reading outcomes. Data was analyzed using between group analysis of variance and path analyses. This research may help inform intervention targets within classrooms serving autistic children.

      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Davis Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2024)

      Emotion Regulation (ER) is a developmental skill connected to a range of important outcomes. Autistic students experience differences in their capacity for ER, making this an important area for study. In Chapter 1, the Classroom Measure of Active Engagement (CMAE) was adapted to further understand students’ self-regulatory behavior. This measure was used to examine the ER of a neurodiverse sample of 59 students in TK through 4th grade general education classrooms in Northern California. Analysis compared the regulatory states of autistic and non-autistic learners, and utilized teacher reported measures to examine relationships between ER and child characteristics. Findings indicated autistic learners (M = 7.54) spent less time (mins/secs) in a well-regulated state than non-autistic learns (M = 15.47), more time showing signs of dysregulation (M = 7.45, M = 5.03, respectively), and more time dysregulated (M = 7.22, M = 2.44, respectively) within academic contexts. Analyses also revealed relationships between ER and teacher reported measures of sensory processing, executive functioning, and behavior problems. Chapter 2 presented a case study of how one autistic learner managed his regulatory states during a kindergarten mathematics lesson in a general education classroom. This study explored features of the instruction and environment when the student was well-regulated or showing signs of dysregulation. Findings highlighted how opportunities for deep focus, tactile, and visual learning supported a well-regulated state. Language-heavy instruction, demanding redirections or shifts in attention, related to signs of dysregulation. Both studies provide valuable insight into the ER of elementary-aged students within general education classrooms, with a special focus on the regulatory behaviors of autistic learners.

      Key terms: Emotion regulation, physiological arousal, sensory processing, executive functioning, behavior problems, autism, general education, classrooms, instruction, participation, neurodiversity

        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2020)
          Cover page: Students’ problem behaviors and teachers’ warmth and demand as predictors of students’ classroom instructional experiences in first grade
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2016)
          This study investigated how quality of the classroom learning environment influenced first grade students' (n=533) time spent in two non-instructional classroom activities (off-task and in transition) and their subsequent literacy outcomes. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that higher classroom quality was related to higher student performance in reading comprehension and expressive vocabulary. Further, classroom quality predicted the amount of time students spent off-task and in transitions in the classroom, with slopes of change across the year particularly impacted. Mediation effects were detected in the case of expressive vocabulary such that the influence of classroom quality on students' achievement operated through students' time spent in these non-instructional activities. Results highlight the importance of overall classroom quality to how students navigate the classroom environment during learning opportunities, with subsequent literacy achievement impacted. Implications for policy and educational practices are discussed.
            Cover page: Classroom quality as a predictor of first graders' time in non-instructional activities and literacy achievement
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2018)
            Vocabulary instruction is a critical component of language and literacy lessons, yet few studies have examined the nature and extent of vocabulary activities in early elementary classrooms. We explored vocabulary activities during reading lessons using video observations in a sample of 2nd- and 3rd-grade students (n = 228) and their teachers (n = 38). Teachers spent more time in vocabulary activities than has been previously observed. In the fall, 28% of their literacy block was devoted to vocabulary in 2nd grade and 38% in 3rd grade. Our findings suggest that vocabulary activities were most likely to take place prior to reading a text—teachers rarely followed-up initial vocabulary activities after text reading. Analysis of teachers’ discourse moves showed more instructional comments and short-answer questions than other moves; students most frequently engaged in participating talk, such as providing short, simple answers to questions. Students engaged in significantly more talk during vocabulary activities (including generative talk such as initiating an idea) in the spring of 3rd grade than the spring of 2rd grade. These data contribute descriptive information about how teachers engage their students in vocabulary learning during the early elementary years. We discuss implications for practice and future research directions.
              Cover page: Observations of Vocabulary Activities during Second- and Third-Grade Reading Lessons
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Davis Previously Published Works (2022)
              This study examined how teachers and paraprofessionals in 126 kindergarten-second grade general and special education classrooms talked with their 194 students with autism, and further, how individual student characteristics in language, autism symptoms, and social abilities influenced this talk. Using systematic observational methods and factor analysis, we identified a unidimensional model of teacher language for general and special education classrooms yet observed differences between the settings, with more language observed in special education classrooms-much of which included directives and close-ended questions. Students receptive vocabulary explained a significant amount of variance in teacher language beyond its shared covariance with social impairment and problem behavior in general education classrooms but was non-significant within special education classrooms. Research implications are discussed.
                Cover page: Evaluating Teacher Language Within General and Special Education Classrooms Serving Elementary Students with Autism.Creative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)

                Background

                Few individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) successfully meet adult normative expectations in education, employment, peer relations, and habitation, although there is within-syndrome variability in this regard. The primary goal of this study was to determine whether expressive language skills contribute to the capacity for independent functioning in adulthood even after controlling for nonverbal cognitive ability.

                Methods

                Participants were 18- to 23-year-olds with FXS. Expressive language was assessed using the psychometrically validated Expressive Language Sampling (ELS) conversation and narration procedures. The language produced was transcribed and analyzed to yield measures of expressive vocabulary, syntax, and intelligibility. Parents concurrently completed questionnaires on the independent functioning of the participants with FXS.

                Results

                All three ELS measures were significantly corelated with multiple measures of independence. The magnitudes of the correlations were reduced when nonverbal IQ was controlled through partial correlation. Nonetheless, many of the partial correlations were medium to large and several were statistically significant.

                Conclusions

                Expressive language skills appear to contribute uniquely to the capacity for independence, although longitudinal data are needed to evaluate the possibility of a bidirectional relationship between these domains. Thus, language intervention may be a prerequisite for preparing youth with FXS for an independent adult life.
                  Cover page: Concurrent Associations between Expressive Language Ability and Independence in Adolescents and Adults with Fragile X SyndromeCreative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2019)
                  School readiness includes a constellation of skills and behaviors, such as social and emotional development, language and literacy, and self-regulation that provide a basis critical for classroom participation and learning. Whereas it has been well-established that students who enter kindergarten with weaknesses in language and literacy are more likely to struggle academically, less research has focused on the variability and educational impact of other foundational learning components, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors, particularly in first grade. This study used latent profile analysis to identify the following four subgroups (profiles) of students, using foundational learning components, in a sample of first graders (n = 324): Emergent Hyperactive, Externalizing, Generally Good Students, and Internalizing. Latent class growth analysis illustrated significant differences in the average rate of growth in literacy skills from the beginning to the end of first grade across the four profiles, after controlling for gender and socioeconomic status. Findings indicated the greatest growth in literacy skills for students in the Externalizing profile and the least amount of vocabulary growth for students in the Emergent Hyperactive profile followed by the Internalizing profile. Educational implications of how researchers and educators might consider students' individual differences across profiles of foundational learning components to inform ways to support development and learning in the classroom are discussed.
                    Cover page: Profiles of foundational learning skills among first graders
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2018)
                    Social skills and vocabulary are important areas of development involved in early reading achievement, yet little attention has been given to understanding the dynamic associations among them during the elementary years. This study examined the relations among three dimensions of social skills-cooperation, assertion, and self-control-vocabulary and developing reading comprehension (RC) skills in a longitudinal sample of first graders (n = 468). Using Structural Equation Modeling, reciprocal effects were observed between vocabulary and RC as well as direct effects among social skills, vocabulary, and RC after controlling for the influence of problem behaviors. This study highlights the reciprocal nature of students' vocabulary and RC skills as well as provides preliminary evidence suggesting that social skills play a role in developing vocabulary and RC skills, and further, vocabulary and RC skills play a role in social development during middle childhood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
                      Cover page: Direct and reciprocal effects among social skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in first grade
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