Ph.D., Regents Professor

Georgia State University

Describing Early Reading Development and Classroom Instruction through Naturalistic Observation

Presentation together with Victoria Burke, Ph.D. Postdoctorate Research Associate, Georgia State University

Abstract: Researchers use naturalistic observation to describe development and learning in authentic contexts. Naturalistic observations of children's behavior while they are learning can provide insights into the nature of the learning process. We will discuss the challenges of using naturalistic observation and the decisions we made that enabled us to provide evidence that deaf and hard-of-hearing children's reading strategies are constistent with Siegler's overlapping waves model (Siegler, 1996). We will also describe a current study that focuses on coding classroom instruction to determine what instructional strategies result in optimum learning for which deaf and hard-of-hearing students (that is child x instruction (CXI) interactions). 

Related Publications:

Lederberg, A.R., Schick, B. & Spencer, P.E. (2013): Language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Successes and challenges. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 15-30. Doi: 10.1037/a0029558

Miller, E.M., Lederberg, A.R. & Easterbrooks, S.R. (2013): Phonological awareness: Explicit instruction of young deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 18, 206-227.

Beal-Alvarez, J.S., Lederberg, A.R. & Easterbrooks, S.R. (2012): Grapheme-Phoneme acquisition of deaf preschoolers. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 17(1), 39-60. Doi: 10.1093/deafed/enr030

Lederberg, A.R. & Beal-Alvarez, J.S. (2011): Expressing meaning: From communicative intent to building vocabulary (pp. 258-275). In Marschark, M. & Spencer, P.E. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language, and education, 2nd edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Easterbrooks, S.R., Lederberg, A.R. & Connor, C.M. (2010): Contributions of the emergent literacy environment to literacy outcomes for young children who are deaf. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(4), 467-480.

Bergeron, J.P., Lederberg, A.R., Easterbrooks, S.R., Miller, E.M. & Connor, C.M. (2009): Building the alphabetic principle in young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Volta Review, 109(2-3), 87-119

Farran, L.K., Lederberg, A.R. & Jackson, L.A. (2009): Maternal input and lexical development. The case of deaf pres-schoolers. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 44(2), 145-163

Lederberg, A.R. & Spencer, P.E. (2008): World-learning abilities in deaf and hard-of-hearing preschoolers. Effect of lexicon size and language modality. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 14(1), 44-62

Short Biography Amy Lederberg: Amy Lederberg is a Regent's Professor in the Educational Psychology and Special Education department at Georgia State University where she has been since 1989. She received her doctorate from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. Starting with her dissertation, she has used observational methodology to study the development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. She has examined how DHH children develop attachment, interact and communicate with their mothers, from friendships with their deaf and hearing peers, and use strategies to build vocabulary. With funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, she and her colleagues are now focused on improving language and literacy development of young DHH children. They have developed an intervention for prekindergarten that shows promise of accelerating vocabulary, phonological awareness, and alphabetic knowledge in DHH children. She is Principal Investigator of the Center on Literacy and Deafness. The goal of this IES-funded National Research and Development Center is to understand what instructional strategies are effective in faciliting growth in language and literacy and to develop more effective interventions that can be implemented by teachers of young deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Short Biography Victoria Burke: Victoria Burke received her doctorate in educational psychology from Georgia State University in 2012. She is currently a Postdoctorate Research Associate with the Center on Literacy and Deafness. She has a Master's in Learning Disabilities and was an elementary school teacher. Her research focuses on the development of early reading skills and is part of a research team that has developed an intervention for young deaf and hard-of-hearing children.