Mariam Dreher - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Mariam Dreher
We investigated how a teacher implemented principles of literacy teaching and learning set forth ... more We investigated how a teacher implemented principles of literacy teaching and learning set forth in the Finnish core curriculum in a first-grade classroom, focusing on two aspects of the curriculum: (1) a community-oriented view of language, which can be understood from a socio-cultural perspective; and (2) a broad conception of text, which involves diversified literacy practices including both digital and printed environments. We understood the classroom as a place where the teacher deployed her pedagogic habitus (Bourdieu 1977; Pahl 2012), which in turn shaped the practices. Our analysis of videotapes of classroom literacy events and the teacher's diary during one school year showed that change in practices turned the classroom habitus (Bourdieu 1977) into a communicational entity where the pupils worked collaboratively with meaningful literacy activities with oral and print texts, including old and new technologies.
... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated ... more ... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Pedormance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics. Cunningham, AE, & Stanovich, KE (1991 ). ... preschool Barbara Laster Betty Conte ...
The Reading Teacher, 1985
... reading test results Manx; parents misunderstand standardized test results. What changes in t... more ... reading test results Manx; parents misunderstand standardized test results. What changes in the typical score reports would help parents under stand reading performance better? ... Mariam Jean Dreher Harry Singer Each year we spend millions of dollars on standardized tests. ...
Journal of Literacy Research, 1981
The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store con... more The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store contextually appropriate instances for general terms in sentences. Anderson et al. (1976) found support for this hypothesis with college subjects. Although Dreher (in press) adduced evidence that fifth-, sixth-, and eighth-graders can instantiate when asked to do so, and can store and use instantiations already provided in sentences which they are expected to remember, she also discovered that unlike college students, they do not spontaneously instantiate general terms. Consequently, Dreher hypothesized that the results with children may represent a point on a developmental trajectory toward the spontaneous instantiation found at the college level. The purpose of the present work was to test the developmental trajectory hypothesis by using the same set of sentences and conditions at the college level as had been used by Dreher with children. College subjects were also tested with the same set of sentences used by Anderson et al. so that a comparison could be made between college students' performances on the Dreher and on the Anderson et al. tasks. The results indicated that college students instantiated with both sets of sentences. Hence, the two sets of sentences are functionally equivalent at the college level. Thus, the results confirmed the validity of the instantiation hypothesis at the college level. When coupled with Dreher's previous work, and the evidence of this study that the two sets of sentences are functionally equivalent, these results add support to the developmental gradient-shift explanation for differences between children and college students.
Reading Research Quarterly, Jul 9, 2000
apply and produce usable knowledge, and communicate effectively with coworkers and customers. In ... more apply and produce usable knowledge, and communicate effectively with coworkers and customers. In doing so, 21st-century workers will need to fluidly shift between independent work and functioning as part of a problem-solving team. Workplaces are likely to become increasingly complex environments due to the use of sophisticated technologies and the immediate availability of diverse information sources. Such complexity may contribute to workers' feelings of sensory and cognitive overload. At the same time, some intellectual ...
Journal of Literacy Research, 1996
This study investigated children's reading strategies and progress when a meaning-based a... more This study investigated children's reading strategies and progress when a meaning-based approach to reading instruction was implemented in a Finnish 1st-grade classroom. A reading program was designed in which the teacher introduced predictable books, literacy-related centers, and minilessons in context on selected letter-sound correspondences. Field notes and videotapes of individual reading sessions were analyzed to describe the strategies the students used while reading both familiar and unfamiliar books. In the fall, in a familiar context, the students read mostly based on their memory. In an unfamiliar context, the students used graphemic information and sounded out and elongated the words and named some letters. Later, they used their phonological recoding skills in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts. All the students progressed toward conventional reading, demonstrating that they had reached at least the alphabetic phase of reading development.
National Reading Conference Yearbook, 1998
A study examined the effectiveness of research strategy instruction that is integrated with the d... more A study examined the effectiveness of research strategy instruction that is integrated with the demands of inquiry-based content-area projects, rather than the typical teaching of research-related skills out of context. The study was conducted at two elementary schools, one a Title I school with a high percentage of poor readers, the other a school with a predominantly middle class population with fewer students who were poor readers. Participants were fourth graders: at the Title I school there were 7 girls and 6 boys, and at the other school, there were 15 girls and 11 boys. The classroom context was designed collaboratively by a research team consisting of a teacher, a university faculty member, a reading/language arts coordinator, and an instructional specialist. Instruction was done by the classroom teacher alone at one school, but the teacher at the Title I school was supported by the research assistant. Results indicated similar patterns at both schools with performance assessments showing no differences on prior knowledge of the assessment topics, but provided evidence of statistically significant improvements in students' ability to find and use information. Students demonstrated improvement in their ability to: (1) search independently for information; (2) write a response to a research question based on that search; and (3) apply what they had learned to a new problem. (Contains three tables of data and 10 references; appended are examples of a performance rubric and categories of advice for a specific research problem.) (CR)
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 10573560308206, Nov 30, 2010
Journal of Literacy Research, 1981
The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store con... more The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store contextually appropriate instances for general terms in sentences. Anderson et al. (1976) found support for this hypothesis with college subjects. Although Dreher (in press) adduced evidence that fifth-, sixth-, and eighth-graders can instantiate when asked to do so, and can store and use instantiations already provided in sentences which they are expected to remember, she also discovered that unlike college students, they do not spontaneously instantiate general terms. Consequently, Dreher hypothesized that the results with children may represent a point on a developmental trajectory toward the spontaneous instantiation found at the college level. The purpose of the present work was to test the developmental trajectory hypothesis by using the same set of sentences and conditions at the college level as had been used by Dreher with children. College subjects were also tested with the same s...
International Journal of Educational Research
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research
Journal of Educational Research, 1990
A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine th... more A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine their level of explicitness, one of the criteria used to determine the "friendliness" or comprehensibility of a text. Researchers randomly selected three samples-usually chapters-from each of the 12 textbooks. The Explication Inventory (consisting of 'six items, each with a five-point scale) was used by two raters to rate each sample, and the ratings for the three samples from each textbook were then averaged to get a total for that text. To check for reliability, a third rater rated the three segments for a random sample of half the textbooks. The results of analysis indicated no statistically significant differences on total explication scores between the recent and the older textbooks. The raters concluded that the social studies textbooks they examined tended to be friendly on the criterion of explicitness, although it should be noted that text friendliness is also affected by extra-text determinants such as student abilities and curricular and instructional factors. (References and tables are provided; appendices consist of the Explication Inventory and a list of the textbooks reviewed.) (AEW)
Reading Teacher, Dec 1, 1980
International Reading Association, 2004
... to read information effectively, emphasis on using narrative texts with young readers persist... more ... to read information effectively, emphasis on using narrative texts with young readers persists in the ... in early reading instruction, and offers suggestions for developing classroom libraries ... 4) Using Informational Books for Read-Alouds; (5) Teaching Comprehension Strategy Using ...
Reading Teacher, 1989
... Studies, vol. 18 (1986), pp. 177 84. Dreher, Mariam J., and Harry Singer. "Friendly Text... more ... Studies, vol. 18 (1986), pp. 177 84. Dreher, Mariam J., and Harry Singer. "Friendly Texts and Text-Friendly Teachers." Theory Into Practice, in press. Duffy, Gerald G., Laura R. Roehler, and Joyce Putman. "Putting the Teacher ...
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 1993
Reading Teacher, 1999
... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated ... more ... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Pedormance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics. Cunningham, AE, & Stanovich, KE (1991 ). ... preschool Barbara Laster Betty Conte ...
We investigated how a teacher implemented principles of literacy teaching and learning set forth ... more We investigated how a teacher implemented principles of literacy teaching and learning set forth in the Finnish core curriculum in a first-grade classroom, focusing on two aspects of the curriculum: (1) a community-oriented view of language, which can be understood from a socio-cultural perspective; and (2) a broad conception of text, which involves diversified literacy practices including both digital and printed environments. We understood the classroom as a place where the teacher deployed her pedagogic habitus (Bourdieu 1977; Pahl 2012), which in turn shaped the practices. Our analysis of videotapes of classroom literacy events and the teacher's diary during one school year showed that change in practices turned the classroom habitus (Bourdieu 1977) into a communicational entity where the pupils worked collaboratively with meaningful literacy activities with oral and print texts, including old and new technologies.
... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated ... more ... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Pedormance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics. Cunningham, AE, & Stanovich, KE (1991 ). ... preschool Barbara Laster Betty Conte ...
The Reading Teacher, 1985
... reading test results Manx; parents misunderstand standardized test results. What changes in t... more ... reading test results Manx; parents misunderstand standardized test results. What changes in the typical score reports would help parents under stand reading performance better? ... Mariam Jean Dreher Harry Singer Each year we spend millions of dollars on standardized tests. ...
Journal of Literacy Research, 1981
The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store con... more The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store contextually appropriate instances for general terms in sentences. Anderson et al. (1976) found support for this hypothesis with college subjects. Although Dreher (in press) adduced evidence that fifth-, sixth-, and eighth-graders can instantiate when asked to do so, and can store and use instantiations already provided in sentences which they are expected to remember, she also discovered that unlike college students, they do not spontaneously instantiate general terms. Consequently, Dreher hypothesized that the results with children may represent a point on a developmental trajectory toward the spontaneous instantiation found at the college level. The purpose of the present work was to test the developmental trajectory hypothesis by using the same set of sentences and conditions at the college level as had been used by Dreher with children. College subjects were also tested with the same set of sentences used by Anderson et al. so that a comparison could be made between college students' performances on the Dreher and on the Anderson et al. tasks. The results indicated that college students instantiated with both sets of sentences. Hence, the two sets of sentences are functionally equivalent at the college level. Thus, the results confirmed the validity of the instantiation hypothesis at the college level. When coupled with Dreher's previous work, and the evidence of this study that the two sets of sentences are functionally equivalent, these results add support to the developmental gradient-shift explanation for differences between children and college students.
Reading Research Quarterly, Jul 9, 2000
apply and produce usable knowledge, and communicate effectively with coworkers and customers. In ... more apply and produce usable knowledge, and communicate effectively with coworkers and customers. In doing so, 21st-century workers will need to fluidly shift between independent work and functioning as part of a problem-solving team. Workplaces are likely to become increasingly complex environments due to the use of sophisticated technologies and the immediate availability of diverse information sources. Such complexity may contribute to workers' feelings of sensory and cognitive overload. At the same time, some intellectual ...
Journal of Literacy Research, 1996
This study investigated children's reading strategies and progress when a meaning-based a... more This study investigated children's reading strategies and progress when a meaning-based approach to reading instruction was implemented in a Finnish 1st-grade classroom. A reading program was designed in which the teacher introduced predictable books, literacy-related centers, and minilessons in context on selected letter-sound correspondences. Field notes and videotapes of individual reading sessions were analyzed to describe the strategies the students used while reading both familiar and unfamiliar books. In the fall, in a familiar context, the students read mostly based on their memory. In an unfamiliar context, the students used graphemic information and sounded out and elongated the words and named some letters. Later, they used their phonological recoding skills in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts. All the students progressed toward conventional reading, demonstrating that they had reached at least the alphabetic phase of reading development.
National Reading Conference Yearbook, 1998
A study examined the effectiveness of research strategy instruction that is integrated with the d... more A study examined the effectiveness of research strategy instruction that is integrated with the demands of inquiry-based content-area projects, rather than the typical teaching of research-related skills out of context. The study was conducted at two elementary schools, one a Title I school with a high percentage of poor readers, the other a school with a predominantly middle class population with fewer students who were poor readers. Participants were fourth graders: at the Title I school there were 7 girls and 6 boys, and at the other school, there were 15 girls and 11 boys. The classroom context was designed collaboratively by a research team consisting of a teacher, a university faculty member, a reading/language arts coordinator, and an instructional specialist. Instruction was done by the classroom teacher alone at one school, but the teacher at the Title I school was supported by the research assistant. Results indicated similar patterns at both schools with performance assessments showing no differences on prior knowledge of the assessment topics, but provided evidence of statistically significant improvements in students' ability to find and use information. Students demonstrated improvement in their ability to: (1) search independently for information; (2) write a response to a research question based on that search; and (3) apply what they had learned to a new problem. (Contains three tables of data and 10 references; appended are examples of a performance rubric and categories of advice for a specific research problem.) (CR)
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 10573560308206, Nov 30, 2010
Journal of Literacy Research, 1981
The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store con... more The instantiation hypothesis explains that as people read, they spontaneously infer and store contextually appropriate instances for general terms in sentences. Anderson et al. (1976) found support for this hypothesis with college subjects. Although Dreher (in press) adduced evidence that fifth-, sixth-, and eighth-graders can instantiate when asked to do so, and can store and use instantiations already provided in sentences which they are expected to remember, she also discovered that unlike college students, they do not spontaneously instantiate general terms. Consequently, Dreher hypothesized that the results with children may represent a point on a developmental trajectory toward the spontaneous instantiation found at the college level. The purpose of the present work was to test the developmental trajectory hypothesis by using the same set of sentences and conditions at the college level as had been used by Dreher with children. College subjects were also tested with the same s...
International Journal of Educational Research
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research
Journal of Educational Research, 1990
A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine th... more A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine their level of explicitness, one of the criteria used to determine the "friendliness" or comprehensibility of a text. Researchers randomly selected three samples-usually chapters-from each of the 12 textbooks. The Explication Inventory (consisting of 'six items, each with a five-point scale) was used by two raters to rate each sample, and the ratings for the three samples from each textbook were then averaged to get a total for that text. To check for reliability, a third rater rated the three segments for a random sample of half the textbooks. The results of analysis indicated no statistically significant differences on total explication scores between the recent and the older textbooks. The raters concluded that the social studies textbooks they examined tended to be friendly on the criterion of explicitness, although it should be noted that text friendliness is also affected by extra-text determinants such as student abilities and curricular and instructional factors. (References and tables are provided; appendices consist of the Explication Inventory and a list of the textbooks reviewed.) (AEW)
Reading Teacher, Dec 1, 1980
International Reading Association, 2004
... to read information effectively, emphasis on using narrative texts with young readers persist... more ... to read information effectively, emphasis on using narrative texts with young readers persists in the ... in early reading instruction, and offers suggestions for developing classroom libraries ... 4) Using Informational Books for Read-Alouds; (5) Teaching Comprehension Strategy Using ...
Reading Teacher, 1989
... Studies, vol. 18 (1986), pp. 177 84. Dreher, Mariam J., and Harry Singer. "Friendly Text... more ... Studies, vol. 18 (1986), pp. 177 84. Dreher, Mariam J., and Harry Singer. "Friendly Texts and Text-Friendly Teachers." Theory Into Practice, in press. Duffy, Gerald G., Laura R. Roehler, and Joyce Putman. "Putting the Teacher ...
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 1993
Reading Teacher, 1999
... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated ... more ... Interviewing children about their literacy experiences: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Pedormance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics. Cunningham, AE, & Stanovich, KE (1991 ). ... preschool Barbara Laster Betty Conte ...