The Corinthian, Volume 10, Spring 2009

Transcription

Volume 10 • Spring 2009
The
Corinthian
The Journal of Student Research at GCSU
BUSINESS
Forensic Accounting....................................................................................................... 3
Lynn Daniel
Family Structure Choice: Taxation as an
Incentive to Change....................................................................................................... 11
Aman Khanna
EDUCATION
The Role of the Teacher in Moving Students Below
Grade Level to Grade Level........................................................................................ 27
Kathy Beck
Relationship between Teacher Morale
and School Climate........................................................................................................ 43
Stephanie Blackwell
The Effects of Accelerated Reader (AR) as an
Extrinsic Motivation Tool for Improving Gifted
Students’ Reading Levels.............................................................................................. 55
Clay Brindger
Increasing the Literacy of Unmotivated
Young Adolescent African American Males............................................................ 63
Ashley Chesnut
i
The Implications of Writers’ Workshop
in Fifth Grade................................................................................................................. 85
Joyce Cicalese
The Effects of Aromatherapy on Alertness
in an Inclusion Setting................................................................................................ 113
Kristin Czar
A Case Study on Teaching an AD/HD Child with
Special Reference to Southwest Laurens Elementary.......................................... 125
Tammy Gibson
ActivBoard Instruction: Does it Increase
Reading Skills?.............................................................................................................. 139
Denita Hall
What are Benefits and Barriers of Collaborative
Teaching in the Inclusion Model?........................................................................... 153
Patricia Holsey
Differentiated Analysis: One School’s Analysis.................................................... 165
Dianne James
An Action Study on the Influence of Cultural and
Cognitive Characteristics on Students’
Mathematical Abilities................................................................................................ 187
Ashley Johnson
The Effectiveness of Using “Read Alouds” in
Teaching Reading........................................................................................................ 207
Meagin Miller
Has Increased Time in General Educational
Classrooms Resulted in Increased Passing
Rates on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency
Test (CRCT) forStudents with Disabilities?.......................................................... 217
Annette Prince
Building Relationships with Middle School Students......................................... 229
Bridget Snooks
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The Effectiveness of Teaching Math Using
Manipulativesin the Fourth Grade at
Southwest Laurens Elementary................................................................................. 249
Denise D. Taylor
The Effects of Prep Classes on Low-Achieving
Students’Performance on the Georgia High
School Graduation Test (GHSGT)......................................................................... 271
Debbie Wilbon
HEALTH SCIENCES
“Oh! Dr. Kinsey!”: The Life and Work of America’s
Pioneer of Sexology.................................................................................................... 283
Mikella Procopio
LITERARY
“Esperanza, en suma” de una nueva vida mexicana
en Pedro Paramo.......................................................................................................... 323
Rebekah Clark
Return of the Redeemed: Charlie Wales in
Fitzgerald’s ‘Babylon Revisited’............................................................................... 331
Ashleigh Eisinger
Patrick Henry: From Strong Statements to a
Strong Cause................................................................................................................. 343
Michael George
What’s With The Love Below.................................................................................. 351
Bianca Longmire
The Wise Blood of Enoch Emery........................................................................... 359
Susan Presley
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PSYCHOLOGY
The Relationship Between Childrens’ Birth
Order and Their Social Competence....................................................................... 377
Christina Borne and Kim Mears
SCIENCE
Immobilization of a Metalloporphyrin in Sol-Gel Matrix................................ 391
Daniel McCall
Synthesis of a Novel Gadolinuuim (III) Porplyrin as a
Contrast Agent and Phosensitizer in Tumors..................................................... 407
Jack H. Owens, Jr.
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The
Corinthian
The Journal of Student Research at GCSU
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Elyssa Sanner, Editor
Alexandria Duckworth, Copyeditor
John Bowen, Staff Advisor
Tim Vacula, Photographer (Front Cover)
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:
This year brought new heights to The Corinthian: Ali Duckworth joined
our staff as copyeditor, forty articles were submitted to be considered for
publication, and Volume 10 became our largest volume yet. The Corinthian
continues to serve as a unique aspect of Georgia College & State University
by serving its mission to support learning and promote high levels of student
achievement.
The publication of Volume 10 would not have been possible without the
many faculty reviewers who volunteered their time to critique each submission,
the work of Ali Duckworth and John Bowen, and the students and faculty
members portrayed on the pages of this journal.
It is my hope that these twenty-seven students’ search for knowledge will
inspire you to embark on the same journey.
Best wishes,
Elyssa Sanner
2009
v
The Corinthian: The Journal of Student Research at GCSU
vi
Business
Business
1
2
Forensic Accounting
Forensic Accounting
Carol L. Daniel
Dr. Catherine Whelan
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
Forensic Accounting is a special field of accounting that utilizes
accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to identify and resolve legal
issues. Forensic Accounting involves looking beyond the numbers, it is more
than accounting work or detective work - it is a combination of the two. This
paper will focus on the use of Forensic Accounting, the addition of Auditing
Standards (SAS) No. 99’s 42 red flags, and the ten Statements on Auditing
Standards (SAS) Nos. 102-111 and how they work together to detect fraudulent
financial statements.
INTRODUCTION
The first known use of forensic accounting was in the conviction of Al
Cappone for tax evasion in October of 1931. “Forensic,” according to Webster’s
Dictionary, is defined as “belonging to, used in or suitable to courts of
judicature or to public discussion and debate,” or more simply, “the information
uncovered is capable of being used in court.” Forensic Accounting is the
application of accounting knowledge and investigative skills to identify and
resolve legal issues. It is the science of using accounting as a tool to identify
and develop proof of money flow (Houck 2006).
Forensic Accountants work anywhere investigative accounting is needed.
This ranges from private corporations or firms that help specific companies
deal with suspected (or known) fraud and embezzlement, to government
organizations like police departments, the FBI or the CIA. Forensic
accountants also frequently work for public accounting firms, banks, the IRS,
insurance companies and law firms.
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING
Forensic accounting is the practice of utilizing accounting, auditing, and
investigative skills to assist in legal matters. It encompasses two main areas –
litigation support and investigation. Litigation support represents the factual
presentation of economic issues related to existing or pending litigation. In
this capacity, the forensic accounting professional quantifies damages sustained
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by parties involved in legal disputes and can assist in resolving disputes, even
before they reach the courtroom. If a dispute reaches the courtroom, the
forensic accountant may testify as an expert witness.
Investigation is the act of determining whether criminal matters such as
employee theft, securities fraud (including falsification of financial statements),
identity theft, and insurance fraud have occurred. As part of the forensic
accountant’s work, he or she may recommend actions that can be taken to
minimize future risk of loss. Investigation may also occur in civil matters. For
example, the forensic accountant may search for hidden assets in divorce cases.
Since all professional accountants operate within a commercial legal
environment, all professional accountants are, in a sense, forensic accountants.
What distinguishes forensic accounting, however, are the engagements.
That is, when a professional accountant accepts an engagement where they
anticipate that their finding or analysis may be subject to adversarial or judicial
scrutiny or administrative review, the professional accountant seeks a level of
evidentiary detail and analytical precision which will be sustainable within the
legal framework of such scrutiny or review. This approach is based on no more
than the realistic appreciation that, while there is some evolutionary dialogue,
in the end, the courts or appropriate administrative bodies, are the ultimate
arbiters of what accounting facts are.
Forensic accounting is focused, therefore, upon both the evidence of
economic transactions and reporting as contained within an accounting
system, and the legal framework which allows such evidence to be suitable to
the purpose of establishing accountability and/or valuation. Engagements
are wide-ranging, and include transaction reconstruction and measurement;
bankruptcy, matrimonial divorce, and probate asset identification and
valuation; falsifications and manipulations of accounts or inventories or in
the presentation thereof; and accountability within the statutory audit and
other environments; among many others. Increasingly, as various parties
perceive the value of such evidence, grounded as it is in “accounting facts,”
forensic accountants are called upon to play important preemptive roles (as
of right, without cause), offering independent assurance in such diverse areas
as audit committee advisory services, merger and underwriting due diligence,
investment analyst research, and enterprise risk management.
The Deloitte Financial Advisory Services recently formed the Deloitte
Forensic Center. The goal of the DFC is to be a “think tank” aimed at
exploring new approaches for mitigating the costs, risk and effects of fraud,
corruption and other issues facing the global business community. There will
be a particular focus placed on the use of technology as a means of providing
solutions to fraud and corruption detection, mitigation and prevention (CCH,
Inc. 2007).
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Forensic Accounting
THE RISK ASSESSMENT STANDARDS AND RED FLAGS
Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) No.99: Consideration of Fraud
in a Financial Statement Audit (introduced in 2002) raised the expectations
of auditors in detecting fraud. It calls on them to take on more responsibility
and to “think like both a thief and a detective and be constantly looking for
the weak links in the accounting system and among the people who staff
it.” The standard supersedes the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants’ SAS No. 53 and SAS No. 82, which first identified red flags of
possible fraudulent activity and required external auditors to detect fraud that
may result in a material misstatement of the financial statements. Published
in 1988, SAS No. 53 described 14 red flags, and SAS No. 82 added 25 red flags
in 1997. SAS No. 99 increased the number of red flags to 42, extensively
revised the existing indicators, and required auditors to consider the risk
of a possible material misstatement due to fraud (Moyes 2005). SAS No. 99
now requires that CPAs serving as external auditors use these 42 red flags in
financial statement audits to detect any fraudulent reporting. If any of these
red flags detect fraud and are ignored, the auditors who failed to recognize the
fraudulent activity will most likely be held negligent, as was Arthur Andersen
in the Enron scandal (Moyes 2008).
The American Institute of CPAs also issued 10 new Statements on
Auditing Standards (SAS Nos. 102-111). The titles of each standard,
and their corresponding numbers, are shown in Exhibit 1. One of the
standards addresses audit documentation and another discusses professional
requirements. The remaining eight are conceptually related and are known
as the Risk Assessment Standards. These Standards were effective for audits
of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2006.
Forensic Accountants should be familiar with the new standards. Although
they were issued for external auditors, the requirements in the standards,
particularly the eight Risk Assessment Standards, are extremely useful to
Forensic Accountants as well. They should understand the requirements in the
standards and how the new mandates affect and expand the work performed
by the external auditors in the examination of the financial statements. The
enhanced work performed by the external auditors in areas that are especially
prone to misstatements may reveal clues that Forensic Accountants can use to
help them more efficiently and effectively plan their own work.
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Table 1: New SAS Numbers and Titles
SAS No.
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
Title
Defining Professional Requirments in Statements on Auditing
Standards
Audit Documentation
Amendment of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 1
Codification of Auditing Standards and Procedures No. 95
Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Audit Evidence
Audit Risk and Materialiyu in Conducting an Audit
Planning and Supervising
Assessing the Risk of Materail Misstatement
Assessed Risks and Evaluating the Audit Evidence Obtained
SAS No. 99 classifies the 42 red flags into three categories: 12 attitude or
rationalization (AR) red flags, 14 opportunity (OP) red flags and 16 incentive
or pressure (IP) red flags. The 42 red flags stated in SAS No. 99 originated
from the fraud-triangle concept that involves the interaction of three factors:
incentive, opportunity, and attitude. If fraud is thought of metaphorically
like a fire, it makes sense that it is better to prevent a fire than to put it out.
The incentive/pressure factor is the existence of “need or greed” that can
trigger someone to commit fraud, such as pressure to pay for a lifestyle. This
can be viewed as the source of heat for the fire. The opportunity factor is the
fuel that can get the fire going. Even if someone has motive, they must have
opportunity before they can commit fraud. The attitude or rationalization
factor can be viewed as the oxygen that keeps the fire burning. Human nature
dictates that people will not commit an act unless they can rationalize it to
themselves. Therefore, corporate and/or management’s attitude toward fraud is
a major factor in their employees attitude about fraud.
Because SAS No. 99 requires CPAs as external auditors to use the 42
red flags to detect any fraudulent financial reporting activity, there have
been several surveys and studies conducted on the red flags to rank their
effectiveness and determine which are best suited for fraud audits. Some
important questions: How effective is each of the 42 red flags in detecting the
fraudulent activity and should auditors rely more heavily on certain flags and
ignore others, or are they equally weighted?
In the study conducted by Moyes (2008), they found that most CPAs
consistently felt that opportunity and attitude/rationalization red flags were
much more effective indicators of possible fraud than incentives/pressure
red flags. Incentive and pressure factors were viewed as less effective in
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Forensic Accounting
determining fraud in this study as well as several other studies conducted
over the past years. The respondents of this survey tended to have extensive
experience using red flags for fraud detection and 81% had completed
continuing education courses on fraud detection and red flags.
OVERVIEW OF A FORENSIC FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION
Financial investigations are accounting inquiries aimed at ascertaining
whether a company’s financial results were misstated or whether one or
more employees received an improper financial benefit from the company.
Occasionally, these investigations rise to the level of being a “forensic financial
investigation.” The word “forensic” simply means that the information
uncovered is capable of being used in court. There are a variety of possible
triggers for a forensic investigation, but most fall into the following categories:
1. Regulatory Inquiries –When the SEC challenges a company’s financial
reporting or disclosure practices.
2. Shareholder Actions – When one or a group of shareholders file suit,
demanding that the corporation take action against specified corporate
officials who have been accused of fraudulent reporting or “self-dealing
transactions”.
3. Internal Audits – When a company’s internal audit department raises
issues that may trigger a financial investigation.
4. Independent Audits – When an external auditor recognizes “fraud
indicators” that may indicate fraudulent financial reporting.
The investigation is usually conducted by a team of professionals,
including lawyers and accountants. These investigations are typically begun
because someone raises questions regarding the propriety of a transaction or
group of transactions. There are five key areas in which an outside team can be
extremely valuable during a financial investigation:
1. Investigations – Discovering and analyzing the most sophisticated
circumvention of internal controls, unwinding complicated transactions,
and reconstructing events.
2. Forensic Accounting – Identifying, collecting, analyzing, and interpreting
financial and accounting data with methodologies that produce
independent thoughts, reports and expert individual opinions that will
stand up to the toughest scrutiny.
3. Electronic Discovery – Dissecting complicated transactions and exposing
vital evidence – a crucial capability since more than half of business
documents are stored in electronic form.
4. Compliance – Working closely with both in-house and outside counsel to
provide advice on Sarbanes-Oxley issues, corporate governance mattersand
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a variety of compliance requirements involving restatements and disclosures.
5. Litigation Consulting – Assistance in developing solutions to resolve
identified issues and present findings to the SEC, PCAOB, courts and other
venues (Hochberg 2006).
KEYS TO FIGHTING FRAUD
There are three phases to developing an effective anti-fraud program:
assess, improve, and monitor. All organizations can benefit from assessing their
fraud risks and developing a strong anti-fraud program that:
 Provides tangible evidence of a culture of integrity.
 Helps prevent fraud and facilitates early diction.
 Improves fraud detection, monitoring and training.
 Limits unpleasant surprises that can affect stock price
 Addresses concerns of the external auditor and board of
directors.
 Limits potential class-action lawsuits.
One important element in fraud prevention is an anonymous and multilingual hotline. Studies have shown that organizations with these hotlines
suffer much less in fraud losses than organizations that do not. Table 2 shows
that Notification by Employees and Internal Controls were both used 19%
of the time in detecting fraud cases. An effective anti-fraud program can
improve stakeholder confidence in the organization – which in turn enhances
its ability to attract investors, maintain customers, and lower financing costs.
A fraud risk assessment process should be ongoing, dynamic, and reflect the
organization’s current business conditions.
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Forensic Accounting
Table 2: Methods Used to Discover Fraud Cases
Methods
Internal Controls
Notification by Employees
Management Investigations
Employee Investigations
Notification by Customer
Accident
Anonymous Letter or Call
Internal Auditor Review
Third-Party Investigator
Notification by Supplier
Notification by Bank
Other
Detection Rates (%)
19
19
12
11
9
7
6
5
4
3
2
3
Source: KPMG Fraud Survey 2004
CONCLUSION
The addition of SAS No. 99’s 42 red flags and the 10 New Auditing
Standards (SAS Nos. 102-111) have not only given auditors more tools in
detecting fraudulent financial statements, but they have also increased the
expectations of the auditors to detect fraudulent financial reporting. These
Standards, along with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, make it much more
difficult for public corporations to mislead the public, including investors and
employees, about their financial position. The addition of these standards was
a very positive step for the Auditing Standards Board in the aftermath of a
number of major corporate and accounting scandals including Enron, Tyco
International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems, and WorldCom. These scandals,
which cost investors billions of dollars when the share prices of the affected
companies collapsed, shook public confidence in the nation’s securities markets.
The standards should ensure that this type of scandal does not happen again.
REFERENCES
CCH, Inc. June 2007. Deloitte Forms Think Tank. Public Accounting Report 31 (12) 2-3.
Chong, G. November/December 2006. Is Income Smoothing Ethical? The
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Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance 18 (1) 41-44.
Colbert, J. December 2007. What the 10 New Auditing Standards Mean for Forensic Accountants. The Forensic Examiner 16 (4) 32-37.
Geriesh, Lotfi. March 2003. Organizational Culture and Fraudulent Financial Reporting. The CPA Journal 73 (3) 28-32.
Hochberg, N. A. January/February 2006. When Accounting Practices Go Under The Microscope. Financial Executive 22 (1) 53-55.
Houck, M. M., M. Kranacher, B. Morris, R. A. Riley, Jr., J. Robertson, and J. T. Wells. August 2006. Forensic Accounting as an Investigative Tool. The CPA Journal 76 (8) 68-70.
Lanza, R. B. and S. Gilbert. July 2007. A Risk Based Approach to Journal Entry Testing. Journal of Accountancy 204 (1) 32-35.
Lister, L. M. December 2007. A Practical Approach to Fraud Risk. Internal Auditor 64 (6) 61-65.
Moyes, G. D., L. Ping, R. M. Landry, Jr. October 2005. Raise the Red Flag. Internal Auditor 62 (5) 47-51.
Moyes, G. D. 2008. CPA’s Perceptions of Red Flags Used in Detecting Fraud. The Icfai Journal of Audit Practice 5 (1) 47-60.
Rose, J. M. 2007 Attention to Evidence of Aggressive Financial Reporting and Intentional Misstatement Judgments: Effects of Experience and Trust. Behavioral Research in Accounting 19 215-229.
Shildneck, B. J. January 2007. Book Review: Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts (2nd Ed). Journal of Accountancy 203 (1) 75-76.
Sweeney, P. December 2007. Going After the Bad Apples. Financial Executive 23 (10) 24-27.
10
Family Structure Choice
Family Structure Choice: Taxation as an
Incentive to Change
Aman Khanna
Dr. Cynthia Rodriguez Cano
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
Traditionally defined as the union of one man and one woman charged
with the responsibility of rearing children, the notion of family now includes
a variety of living arrangements including non-marital cohabitation and single
parents. The current study investigates individual incentives to change family
structure from a person’s original status as single. This conceptual research,
which is grounded in theories of marriage, proposes that federal, personal
income tax is an input to change in family structure. A model of family
structure change and propositions of the relationship between the federal tax
and family structure are developed.
Family Structure Choice: Taxation as an Incentive to Change
The notion of family has taken on various meanings in the United States
(US) over the last decade. Traditionally defined as the union of one man and
one woman charged with the responsibility of rearing children, the notion
of family now includes various living arrangements such as non-marital
cohabitation and single parents. With the traditional marriage rate decreasing
(Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin 1991), the divorce rate increasing (Thornton
1985), and the growth rate of non-martial cohabitation exploding (Clarkberg,
Stolzenberg, and Waite 1995), the social concept of family continues to
change. These dramatic changes impact everyday life (e.g., social norms
and employment) and the rights (e.g., taxation, health care coverage, and
inheritance) of thousands US citizens. Furthermore, the concept of family
(i.e., marital status drives tax rates) is the basis of individual federal taxation
in the US. With 85% of United States’ tax revenues generated from individual
income taxes (Council of Economic Advisers 2007), how the notion of family
is perceived and codified by law has pervasive effects for both individuals and
the United States’ economy. The current study explores the concept of family
and how the legal constraints and the tax benefit/cost of “marital status” is
exhibited in family structure. Specifically, the current study seeks to develop
a conceptual framework for addressing two questions. First, what influences
individuals to change their family status? Second, how do legal constraints
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and federal tax incentives (disincentives) influence choice of family structure?
In investigating these questions, the current study makes several important
contributions. First, the current study offers a conceptual framework of
family structure change. Second, this study synthesizes existing literature and
identifies factors that influence a person’s choice to change his or her family
structure.
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND RELEVANT LITERATURE
The concept of family is a topic of investigation in various areas of study
including family studies (e.g., Roy 2008, Soto 2006), sociology (e.g., Clarkberg
1999), law (e.g., Bowman 2004), business (e.g., Lee and Beatty 2002), population
studies (e.g., Emisch 2008; ), and economics (Winkler 1997). Although a metaanalysis of the literature is not in the scope of the current study, a broad
review of the research provides insight into the fundamental theories of family
and the conceptualization of family across disciplines.
Theories of Family
The most prevalence theory of family is an economic explanation
of marriage. Economists hold that individuals form unions when doing so
makes both partners better off (Becker, 1965, 1973). The economic gain of
the joint arrangement is derived from the notion of specialization. Becker’s
seminal work, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1992, focused on
the family as production units that produce both goods in the home and in the
marketplace. By having one person specialize in domestic responsibilities while
the other provided financial support, couples are more efficient than singles
(Stevenson 2008). Furthermore, Becker (1965) predicts that opposites will
attract to maximize the benefit of specialization. Lam (1998) found empirical
support for the notion of “opposites will attract.”
Similar to the Becker’s economic theory is Marx’s epistemology, which
suggests families are social arrangements to formalize primal relationship
and attend elementary needs of reproduction and survival. Two types of
relationships emerge among humans: 1) those originated in elementary
survival needs (i.e., mating and conjugal bonds, paternity and offspring care,
transferring to patrimonial knowledge for survival), and 2) those originated for
social relationships, which provide the foundation of culture (Soto 2006).
Cohen’s (1987, 2002) life-profile theory argues that the woman
traditionally invests in child bearing, child rearing, and homemaking early in
a marriage with the expectation of reaping the benefits in the long-run. The
man, who is relatively free of domestic responsibilities, can dedicate his efforts
to climbing the latter to economic security. The life-profile theory suggests
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that marriage may be a mechanism for protecting the woman’s early marriagespecific investments over time in the face of possible later mistreatment by her
partner (Dnes 2007).
The “opportunity-cost” hypothesis suggests that childbearing itself is
negatively related to perceived employment opportunities (Ward and Butz
1980; Hogan and Kitagawa 1985). According to Olsen and Farkas (1990),
when both partners (i.e., husband and wife) have economic opportunities, it is
expected that the marriage rate will increase because of the male employment
effect, and that childbearing rates will decrease because of the female
opportunity-cost effect. Together, these effects should decrease out-of-wedlock
childbearing.
Brien, Lillard, and Stern’s (2006) model of marriage, cohabitation,
and divorce is based on the match quality economic theory. According to
this theory, single individuals not currently in a co-residential relationship
randomly meet one potential partner, who has an associated match quality
that is not immediately observed by the individual. “Rather, an individual
receives a noisy signal of the true quality” (Brien, Lillard, and Stern 1006, p.
457). The decision to enter into a relationship is made without the realization
of the true match quality. This uncertainty is eliminated with relationship
experience. Individuals evaluate the match quality and may choose to continue
in the relationship (i.e., stay married or continue cohabiting) or change the
relationship (i.e., covert cohabiting into marriage, dissolve the relationship, or
divorce).
In summary, theories of marriage are grounded in the fundamental
notion of give and take. Individuals engage in social arrangements with the
expectation of maximizing their return on their investment. Although many
exogenous factors influence the decision of if or when to engage in marriage,
the basic foundation of marriage is grounded in a mutually consensual social
union that benefits both parties. These unions are the basis for the structure of
family.
Cohabitation
A less studied topic is the notion of cohabitation. More often associated
with lower socioeconomic status (Ressler and Waters 1995) and same-sex
couples (e.g., Rostosky, Riggle, Brodnicki, and Olson 2008), cohabitation as
a type of family has received limited consideration in the literature. Rather,
studies of cohabitation focus on outcomes of such arrangements, including the
cause of decline in the traditional family (Axinn and Thornton 1992; Bumpass,
Sweet, and Cherlin 1991) and economic decision-making (Cherlin and Fomby
2004; Lichter, Qian, and Crowley 2005).
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Research of cohabitation in economics, sociology, and family studies
provide rich descriptive data. Western societies, in general, have shown greater
acceptance of individual choices including cohabitation (Ressler and Waters
1995). This social trend is evident in the fact that half of the US population
has cohabited by the age 30 (Bumpass and Sweet 1989). Bumpass, Sweet,
and Cherlin (1991) found cohabitation to be a true family status, with most
cohabitating individuals expecting to marry their partner. Cohabitation was
found to be a cause of the decrease in marriage rates (Axinn and Thornton
1993); however, Bumpass and Sweet (1989) suggest the relationship direction
to be from divorce to cohabitation. Cohabitation prior to marriage is
correlated with higher divorce rates than marriage without prior cohabitation
(Axinn and Thornton 1993). Reasons for cohabiting include: less personal
commitment; less sexual faithfulness; individual independence; and assurance
of compatibility before marriage (Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin 1991).
Numerous studies rely on secondary data to develop models of marriage,
cohabitation, and divorce. As noted by Brien, Lillard, and Stern (2006), data
from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1092
(NLS72) is the basis for numerous studies and have found that: 1) many
relationships begin as a non-marital cohabitation; 2) cohabitations are shorter
lived than marriages; 3) many cohabitants are converted into marriage; 4) the
risk of separation declines with the duration of the relationship; and 5) the risk
of divorce in marriages preceded by a non-marital cohabitation with the same
partner is higher than in other marriages. Marriage and cohabitation differ
in many ways. Cohabitating couples, as compared to married couples, are less
educated (Bumpress and Sweet 1989), participate less in religion (Thornton,
Axinn, and Hill 1992), are less likely to support traditional behaviors for men
and women (Blumstein and Schwartz 1983; Lesthaeghe and Surkyn 1988),
and are more likely to keep finances separate (Blumstein and Schwartz 1993;
Winkler 1997).
In summary, cohabitation as a type of family has evolved as attitudes in
Western societies move toward individual choice. Cohabitating arrangements
are consistent with theories of marriage as a union of give and take, seeking
benefit optimization.
Marriage and the Laws
The concept of marriage is a matter of state law. For the exception of
a few states (i.e., Georgia, Illinois, and Louisiana), most states recognition
some rights for non-married, cohabitating couples under common-law rights
(Gordon 1998-1999). However, these rights are generally limited to the
division of property accumulated during the tenure of the union and exclude
rights of third parties (i.e., rights of inheritance, rights to be covered under
14
companion’s medical insurance). Cohabiting couples who have written contract
may be afforded rights under contract laws; however, few cohabiting couples
executed written contracts (Bowman 2004).
Most statute-based cohabitation laws in the US have been created in
response to the pressure of same-sex marriages (Bowman 2004). Vermont
passed a statute recognizing an alternative status to marriage called civil
unions. Couples registering as civil unions in the state of Vermont are afford
all the benefits and protections of marriage including, but not limited to,
property rights, adoption, tax treatment, insurance benefits, and hospital
visitation. Massachusetts followed Vermont and was the first state to issue
same-sex marriage licenses. However, these rights may not be valid in other
states. For example, if a couple married in Massachusetts moves to Georgia,
the rights afforded them in Massachusetts are not transportable to Georgia.
Several states have embraced the notion of domestic partnership. Hawaii’s
Reciprocal Beneficiaries Act of 1997 states that couples that are legally
prohibited from marrying may register as domestic partners and receives
several rights including the right of inheritance, worker’s compensation
survivorship benefits, health-related benefits, family leave, and the right to
make health care decisions for a partner. After the unilateral decision of the
San Francisco mayor to issue same-sex marriage license, the California courts
were forced to act and passed the Domestic Partner Registration Act in 2001.
Amending the Domestic Partner Registration Act in 2003 and effective in
January 2005, the Domestic Rights and Responsibilities Act gives the most
extensive rights to domestic partners in California behind Massachusetts and
Vermont. This act gives domestic partners the same rights as married couples
with the exception of federal income filing status.
In summary, the notion of non-marital unions is recognized by most
states in the US. However, the rights afforded these non-traditional unions
varies widely across states with some states specifically denouncing rights for
anything except legally sanctioned unions between one man and one women to
states providing all rights afforded heterosexual married to same-sex unions.
Taxation
Before 1948, the US personal federal income tax focused on the individual
by taxing each person’s “entire net income received” (Revenue Act of 1916,
ch. 463, 39). The Revenue Act of 1948, and several subsequent modifications,
changed the focus from each person to marital and family affiliations (Neill
1983). This act allowed married couples to file a joint return in which their
consolidated income would be equally split, with taxes paid on each half
regardless of the actual earning ratio between the spouses. Creating a situation
for a wife, contemplating to enter the labor force is faced with tax on her
earnings that depended on the level of her husband’s earnings. In 1980, for
15
example, a homemaker with two children would face a marginal tax rate of
16% on her first dollar earned if her husband earned $10,000 that year, 22%
if he earned $20,000 that year, and 32% if he earned $30,000 that year. Under
the system of individual filing that prevailed before 1948, her marginal tax rate
was independent of her husband’s earnings. This tax regulation allowed for a
marriage bonus or single’s penalty, because by marrying someone with little or
no income a person could substantially lower his or her tax burden. Conversely,
the loss of a spouse could entail a rise in tax liability (Neill 1983).
In 1951 a third set of tax rates were introduced for head of households
effectively providing partial income splitting privileges to non-married
persons with dependents. To qualify for the head of household filing status a
person must be unmarried and pay more than half the cost of a maintaining a
home for themselves and another relative who lives with them for over half the
year and can be claimed as their dependent. In 1969, Congress enacted a fourth
set of rates for single tax payers, ensuring that their rates would generally not
be higher than 120% of the joint return schedule. However, married couple
choosing to file separately could use the new rates for single taxpayers. As
a result, many two-income couples pay a combined tax that is considerably
higher than the taxes paid by the two single persons with the same total
income. Taxes of these two-income couples would fall if they divorced, and
taxes of the two single persons would rise of they married. It is this feature of
the tax regulation that is dubbed the marriage penalty. However, married, twoincome couples were not made worse off as result of the 1969 act (Neill 1983).
A husband and wife may file a joint return only if they are not legally
separated (i.e., separated under decree of divorce or separate maintenance
agreement) on the last day of the year. Spouses who are separated under
an interlocutory decree of divorce are considered husband and wife and are
entitled to file a joint return until the decree becomes final. The filing of
a joint return will result in a savings of tax in those instances in which
differences in the tax rate brackets for joint and separate returns result
in higher tax rates for married individuals filing separately. Generally, a
husband and wife are generally jointly and individually liable for the entire
tax on a joint return. However, relief from this general rule is available under
certain circumstances, commonly referred to as innocent spouse relief.
In summary, the status of married, and all associated benefits under
federal income tax law, is reserved for legal unions between heterosexual
partners. Therefore, cohabiting couples are not afforded the tax benefits
awarded to legally married couples under federal tax acts. Conversely,
cohabiting couples are not liable for each other’s tax obligations as are legally
married couples.
16
MODEL OF CHANGE IN FAMILY STRUCTURE
The decision to marry, cohabitate, divorce, or remain single is complex
and incorporates incentives (disincentives) that are both monetary and nonmonetary. Therefore, a model of the change of family structure should
incorporate both dimensions (i.e., monetary and non-monetary). Although the
focus of the current study considers the monetary incentives (disincentives) of
federal taxation, non-monetary incentives (disincentives) must be considered
when developing a model of family structure choice. In the following
discussion, the authors draw on theories of family and relevant literature to
develop a conceptual Model of Family Structure.
Theories of family argue that individuals choose a family structure based
on economic benefit. Current tax regulations offer economic benefit for
married filing joint; however, the ability to take advantage of the tax benefit
is not available to all individuals in the US (i.e., same-sex marriage are not
recognized as a marriage under federal law). There is also a tax incentive for
unmarried head-of-household (i.e., single parents), which implies an incentive
to divorce for married couples with a qualified dependent.
The only family structure not recognized under federal law is nonmarital cohabitation. There is no federal tax incentive for individuals to
engage in non-marital cohabitation. However, research shows that the rate of
non-marital cohabitation is skyrocketing. Furthermore, research suggests a
causal relationship between non-marital cohabitation and divorce (Axinn and
Thornton 1993). This phenomenon supports the complexity of marriage and
numerous factors that individuals consider when making a family structure
decision.
Drawing on existing literature, in addition to economic incentives
(disincentives), factors that influence family structure include individual
traits (e.g., age, sexual orientation), attitudes (e.g., culture, religion, family
and commitment), socioeconomic status (i.e., cohabitation is more likely in
lower socioeconomic couples), and legal constraints (i.e., civil unions, domestic
partners, common-law marriage, same-sex marriages) (Figure 1).
It is proposed that all individuals begin as single persons. Personal traits
such as age and sexual orientation, as well as learned values and attitudes
(i.e., culture) influence whether or not the individual will move from his or
her single status to another family structure. Legal constraints mediate the
movement from a person’s original single status. Two variables moderate the
choice to move from single to another family structure: socioeconomic status
and economic incentives. Theories of marriage suggest that specialization
leads to a greater benefit for join living arrangements (couple) compared to
the sum of the individuals. Furthermore, it is proposed that tax incentives
17
(disincentives) moderate individuals’ decision to change their family
structure.
Although the variables that impact change of family structure are
identified in the proposed model, the intensity of these variables is unknown.
For example, the amount of the tax rate incentive may not be great enough
to instigate a change in family structure. Research shows that singles remain
longer in the parental home than in previous decades. It is logical to suggest
that the intensity of the incentives to change one’s status is too low to motivate
one to change his or her family structure.
Figure 1: Model of Family Structure Change
Socioeconomic Status
(income, occupation)
Attitudes
(culture and valuesreligion, social norms, family)
Change of Family
Structure
Legal Contraints
[single (no change)
Single
(civil unions, domestic non-marital cohabitation,
(original status)
partners, common-law marriage]
marriage, same-sex
marraige)
Traits
Economic Incentive
(age, sexual orientation)
(specialization; tax
benefit/cost)
PROPOSITIONS
The fundamental notion of family forms the basis for US taxation. It
is proposed that the concept of family and other non-marital concepts of
human union are all grounded in the notion of economic benefit. Individual
form relationships, because doing so puts them in a better position than
without the relationship. This notion is supported by various theories of
marriage (e.g., Becker 1965, 1973) and is conceptually generalizable to nonmarital unions such as same-sex union, heterosexual singles, and single
parents. If or when the economic benefit of a human union changes, the
relationship will also change. If economic gain is positive, the cohabitation
moves to marriage or the relationship is registered. If economic gain is
negative, the result is separation or divorce.
Tax regulations represent an economic benefit. Prior to 1948, tax rates
offered no benefit for married couples; all income was based on individual
18
income. After 1948, the marriage bonus or single penalty was passed. The
1948 act provided an economic incentive to marry.
P1: Holding other variables constant, the percentage of
federal, individual tax returns for married filing joint filings
increases after 1948.
federal, individual tax returns for single filings decreases
after 1948.
In 1951, the designation of unmarried head-of-household was enacted
providing a tax incentive (i.e., low tax rate) for unmarried parents. Hence, the
following is proposed.
P3: The percentage of federal, individual tax returns for unmarried head-of-household filing increases after 1951.
federal, individual tax returns for single filings increases
after 1952.
In considering the proposed relationships, other factors that influence the
choice of family structure must be considered. First, the natural increase in
the US population and the age composition of the population are essential.
The US population increased at a decreasing rate between 1950 and 1990
(U. S. Census Bureau 2001c); the 50- to 54-year age group experienced the
largest percentage growth between 1990 and 2000 (U. S. Census Bureau
2001a); and the number of non-family households (i.e., two or more nonrelative person in a household) represented 6.1% of all household types (U. S.
Census Bureau 2001b).
In considering the behavior of individuals concerning family structure,
it is also important to consider differences among geographic areas. For
example, in 2000, 31% of all households in the US resided in four states (i.e.,
California, Texas, New York, and Florida) (U. S. Census Bureau 2001b). The
effect size for those States might be different from the aggregate population.
Similarly, the youngest population resides in the West where the median age
is 33.8 years (U. S. Census Bureau 2001a).
19
DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Understanding what motivates individuals to enter into or change their
family status is pervasive in the study of human behaviors. The current
study is a preliminary attempt to identify variable that influence human
behavior in the creation of family structures. The benefits/costs associated
with federal taxes offer an economic incentive (disincentive) to change one’s
family structure. Empirically testing is necessary to assess the intensity of
tax incentives (disincentives) to motivate a change.
The Future of Family and Taxation
The notion of family is dynamic. The notion of family has evolved
over time as social movements (i.e., change in social values and norm; trend
toward individual choice) reshape US society. What defines a family is as
complex as the various living arrangements now embraced by individuals.
Even the most basic function of what once defined a family, child bearing
and rearing, has been relegated to a variety of human union. Surrogate
mothers take child bearing outside the family; genetically developed embryos
can create three-parented children (Mangu-Ward 2008). It is likely that the
notion of family will continue to change in the US, as social norms change
and evolve.
It is not likely that the federal government will recognize the various
family structures now present in the US. For example, tax regulations do
not recognize same-sex marriages that are now sanctioned by two states;
same-sex marriages do not qualify as married filing joint for federal tax
purposes. The non-recognition by the federal government is not likely
to change for several reasons. For example, the federal government has
relegated the interpretation of what constitutes a marriage to individual
states. The division between federal government and the states is a doctrine
long recognized and honored in the US. Furthermore, there is no bridge
among and between states to provide a uniform meaning, so “marriage” is not
transportable between states. Furthermore, the sheer size of the bureaucracy
of government makes it difficult to quickly react to changes in the
environment. Some progress is evident; in the U. S. Census 2000, the federal
government defined and distinguished “household,” “family household,” and
“nonfamily household.” However, it is not likely that tax reform will afford
non-traditional human unions (e.g., same-sex marriages) the same benefits
reserved for legally sanctioned heterosexual marriages.
Direction for Future Research
Future research is necessary to fully understand the process of family
20
structure choice and the factors that influence those choices. First, empirical
research to test the propositions set forth in this paper is prescribed. The
model provided in this paper is an overall, broad conceptualization of
family structure. Future research should investigation differences between
various family structures. Each type of “human union” presents a unique set
of conceptual and operational challenges. Future research should seek to
delineate between the various arrangements. For example, tax rates may
be a moderator for the choice to move from single and married, but not a
significant element of movement from single to non-marital cohabitation.
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24
Education
Education
25
26
The Role of Teachers in Moving Students to Grade Level
The Role of the Teacher in Moving Students from
Below Grade Level to Grade Level
Kathy Beck
Dr. Chrispen Matsika
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to research some of the challenges that
teachers face when teaching students who are reading below grade level. The
study involved third grade students at Southwest Laurens Elementary School
in Laurens County, Georgia. The study revealed that through the intense use
of some basic reading strategies that students’ fluency, reading comprehension,
and reading levels increased more than basic sight word recognition. The study
recommends that teachers continue to spend time each day allowing students
to read aloud individually to the teacher. The study further recommends that
since it is difficult for one teacher to have time for all students to read to him/
her each day, the teacher should solicit the help of volunteers for this daily
reading time.
CONTEXT
I am currently a third grade teacher at Southwest Laurens Elementary
School in Rentz, Georgia. This is my ninth year teaching third grade, my
twelfth year teaching, and my twenty-fifth year with the Laurens County
School system. Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked as a Social Worker with
a federally funded preschool program. I obtained my teaching certification in
1995 and my masters in Early Childhood Education in 1996. I have taught
all twelve years at Southwest Laurens Elementary School (SWLE) and have
taught pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, second and third grades. I was selected
as the 2006 Teacher of the Year for Southwest Laurens Elementary School and
serve as grade chair for third grade, a position I have held for three years.
There are nine third grade classes at SWLE. The students are
homogeneously grouped by ability based on Criterion Referenced Competency
Testing scores and teacher recommendation. Two of these nine classes are
identified as Early Intervention Program classes. The students in these classes
function below grade level and have been identified as students at risk to fail
third grade. I teach one of these classes..
My research was conducted at SWLE. The school serves a large rural
population, including three small towns. Our community can be described
27
as a working poor community. The school serves students pre-kindergarten
through fifth grade with a student population of 1,079. Because the school has
such a high eligibility rate for free and reduced lunches, all students receive
free lunch and free breakfast each day. SWLE is a SACS accredited school and a
Title 1 School.
The research was conducted in my third grade EIP classroom. There
are nine students in this class, six boys and three girls. There are two African
American students and seven Caucasian students. A paraprofessional assists
my students and me for one and a half hours each day. Three students receive
additional support services from the Title 1 reading and math teacher. The
implementation of the research project extended over a five-week period in the
fall of 2007.
My passion has always been to help children become life-long readers.
To become life-long readers, children must be able to read with proficiency. I
believe the love of reading and the enjoyment of reading bring a wealth of
knowledge and experiences to the reader. The ability to read proficiently seems
to be the very basis of an educated and knowledgeable community and society.
It is my goal that all my students will attain this level of competency and be
able to be productive citizens who make a difference in their world. With this
desire, I approached my research as I do my teaching: with a yearning for the
students to begin this educational, and hopefully life-long, journey through
books. At first, I had some specific hunches about why these students could not
read at grade level. I decided to expand these feelings into a broader range of
ideas. These thoughts, along with my years of experience teaching third grade,
helped me to focus on some of the challenges that teachers face when teaching
students who do not read at grade level. Some of these challenges include
children not being able to read fluently, not understanding what they read, and
reading below grade level. Working with these ideas and ideals, I began my
action research.
THE RESEARCH PROJECT
This research project looks at the role of the teacher in moving students
from below grade level to grade level in reading, thereby enabling the students
to become proficient readers. This research addresses three sub-problems:
students reading without understanding, not focusing on fluency, and not
recognizing basic sight words. One elimination of the research is that the
study will include only third grade students in one remedial class at Southwest
Laurens Elementary School in Laurens County, Georgia.
The terms to be defined are fluency, comprehension, proficient, and grade
level. Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly.
28
Comprehension is making meaning of what is written. Proficient refers to
competence or ability in reading. Grade level refers to the grade in which the
student is placed at a specific age and time.
My assumptions are that third graders can read aloud and silently and can
select books independently. This research is important to me because it opens
a way for me to improve skills of analysis and understanding. I learned from
previous studies what could be done to help below grade level readers become
fluent readers. I discovered ways to assist these students in their attempt to
become proficient readers. Through analysis and understanding, I gained
insight and skills in the area of teaching reading.
Southwest Laurens Elementary School is a rural Title I school. The result
of this research will benefit the students and the community by contributing
to a better understanding and expanding knowledge of strategies that work
for below grade level readers. Because the school has excellent community
support, the research will provide active, school-based information to the
community. Since reading is a vital part of daily life, the research focuses
on assisting third graders in becoming fluent readers. Proficient readers
potentially offer benefits to the community.
I believe that reading is an important life skill and is an essential part of
being an educated person. This research project brings into focus the problem
of third grade students reading below grade level. Since third graders are
required to pass the reading part of the Criterion Referenced Competency
Test (CRCT) in order to be promoted to fourth grade, this research project
promotes fluency and understanding in reading. Further more, I believe that
since reading is necessary for a successful and productive life, this research
project not only benefits students, but also teachers and the community.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Teachers today face increasing challenges to ensure their students
achieve high levels of literacy. These demands and challenges are at times
overpowering, but the teacher must persevere to help students learn to read
and learn to love to read. Learning to read has many challenges. These
challenges include, but are not limited to, the following: students must know
letter sounds, be able to put these sounds together to make words, be able to
read a list of sight words, read with fluency, and comprehend what they read
(Wilber, 2000). All of these skills help to make students into proficient readers,
which is both a goal and a challenge for the teacher. However, the challenges
compound because students have such diverse backgrounds and often enter
the classroom reading far below grade level (Raphael, 2005). With my years of
experience, I certainly agree with these statements and challenges about
29
the phenomena of teaching reading, especially as they relate to the students
reading below grade level.
One of the challenges facing teachers is that students are unable to read
fluently. The National Reading Panel (NPR, 2000) concluded that fluency,
defined in terms of speed, accuracy, and proper expression, is a critical part
of proficient reading (Hiebert, 2005). LaBerge and Samuels (Hiebert, 2005)
described the construct of fluency as a foundation of proficient, fluent reading.
Automaticity, they suggested, was the point at which decoding processes do
not require conscious attention. LaBerge and Samuels argue that when readers
devote considerable attention to identifying the words, their comprehension
suffers (Hiebert, 2005). I agree with LaBerge and Samuels in that I have seen
evidence to support their views within my own classroom. Some students
struggle to read with ease and confidence because they have difficulty
pronouncing and recognizing certain words. As stated above, when students
devote considerable attention to identifying individual words, the meaning of
the sentence being read is lost.
Wilber (2000) defines fluency as reading smoothly with expression at
the same speed that your child talks, not just calling words quickly. A fluent
reader reads in phrases allowing his brain to retain much more information.
A non-fluent reader spends extra energy decoding words (Wilber, 2000,
p.6). The non-fluent reader also reads in word fragments without retaining
meaning (Wilber, 2000, p.30). I have seen this many times in my classroom.
Just this year I had a student who could “read,” calling words so quickly that
I could hardly keep up, without being able to explain one thing about what he
had just read. Wilber (2000) adds that it is important that students recognize
sight words quickly in order to promote fluency (Wilber, 2000, p.140). Another
student struggled over simple sight words and then had to reread to get the
meaning correct. She worked without giving up, but great effort was required.
In McCormick (2003), Clay reported in his study that good readers in the
first grade read about 20,000 words while poor readers read only 5,000 (p.222).
This is an astounding difference, yet one that I see as plausible. I feel that once
students begin to lag behind it is difficult for them to catch up. Brabham (2002)
states that gaps in vocabulary increase to about 5,000 words by third grade.
Though I do not have exact numbers, over the years in various classes that
I have taught, I have seen similar differences in students’ abilities to recognize
and call words. Reading without automatic recognition of certain vocabulary
can become laborious (McCormick, 2003, p. 223). I agree that reading without
word recognition can be arduous but have often wondered if it is more
laborious for the student or the teacher. So often students are pleased to have
assistance calling the word and want to continue to read or attempt to read. In
past years, my low level readers loved reading an old first grade reader and
30
often said, “Mrs. Beck, this is such a good book. I love it.” Why? Because they
could read it.
Students will not become proficient readers unless they master a basic
sight vocabulary. According to Johns (1986), students who know the 220 words
on the Dolch List will be able to pronounce over 50 % of the words in all
reading materials. This certainly seems to support the importance of students
knowing and recognizing all basic sight words. The average child needs
between four to fourteen exposures to learn a new fact. Others need more
than twenty exposures (Wilber, 2000, p.15). Wilbur (2000) gives repetition,
repeating, and reinforcement the credit that I feel the methods deserve.
Children must have repeated exposure to the words, in order to be able to
recognize them. I feel this is especially true for a student who is reading below
grade level.
Throughout kindergarten through third grade, students learn to read.
Teachers provide reading instruction, reading materials, and reading practice.
Fourth graders are expected to read to learn and these students will be
expected to learn new information by reading independently (Wilber, 2000,
p.8). Even though I agree with these thoughts, here lies a major challenge for
teachers: to get students to this point of reading by the fourth grade.
In order for students to be able to learn by reading, they must be able to
comprehend what they are reading. Comprehension is a goal of reading, and if
that goal is to be realized, the student must have vocabulary knowledge (Johns,
2000). I believe that students should not only have vocabulary knowledge but
also have time for reading in order to improve comprehension. The amount of
contextual reading and the number of opportunities for response are important
to word recognition growth (McCormick, 2003, p.222). Adding to what
McMormick stated, I feel that the more time students spend with and in books,
the more their word recognition improves, and thus their comprehension levels
and abilities increase.
There is an unprecedented emphasis in the United States on improving
the teaching of reading in elementary classrooms, increasing the pressure for
improvement with the Reading First provisions of the Title I No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (Taylor, 2003). The improvement of U.S. students’ reading
achievement is a national goal (Bush, 2001; Taylor, 2003). As a teacher, I feel
the challenge to help improve students’ reading abilities. Three-fourths of
children with reading difficulties in third grade will be poor readers in high
school (Wilber, 2000, p.xiv). As a third grade teacher, I find this tremendously
disappointing, but I can see the truth in it if nothing is done to improve
reading skills. A research study found that the reading skills of third graders
can be significantly improved through instruction in word-level skills and their
word reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension improved (Torgesen, J., et
31
al. 2005). Wilber (2000) adds that 90 - 95% of third grade students who receive
proper intervention become able to read at grade level (p.xiv). Herein lies
encouragement and the basis for my research project: the role of the teacher
in moving students from below grade level to grade level in reading, thereby
helping them to become proficient readers. My feelings on teaching reading
are best summarized in a quote by Celia Rudolph (1990), “Reading experiences
should be pleasurable and beneficial.”
METHODOLOGY
With a goal of helping students to be able to read on grade level, I
planned to begin with pretests, then complete the four to five weeks of
intense intervention strategies, and conclude with posttests. I chose to give
the students tests in the areas of sight words, fluency, comprehension, and
vocabulary. It took several days to complete the pretests because of the length
of the tests and the different kinds of tests. I felt that it was best to complete
the pretests over a longer period of time so that students would not be overly
tired from the testing and would give more accurate results. I felt that the
range of testing would be beneficial to my research, as it would give a broader
perspective on particular areas of strengths and weaknesses for each student.
Since these tests were objective tests with little room for human error, I felt
that they would enhance the validity of my research.
I began by having each student read the DOLCH word list, which consists
of 226 sight words, to me and recorded his/her score. Then students were
given the Standardized Test for Assessment of Reading (STAR), a computer
based test with results ranging from grade equivalent scores to independent
reading levels (Paul, 1996). Students were given a third grade placement test
reading comprehension test and a fluency test (Pearson, 2004). All tests were
scored and the results were placed in a portfolio.
The methods of intervention used were varied and intense. Students
were drilled daily on all 226 DOLCH sight words. This was done with the use
of sight word flash cards. Speed and accuracy were emphasized. These daily
drills took place in small groups with only three students per group. A second
intervention was the use of daily sight word readers. The students selected
three sight word readers to read independently to the teacher each day. These
readers were black and white and used sight words repeatedly. The little
books used only high frequency sight words (Flora, 2005). A third strategy
that was employed was students read orally from a third grade level reader
each day. This reading was also done in a small group with three students.
These reading strategies were in addition to the daily use of a basal reader and
twenty minutes of Accelerated Reader time each.
32
RESULTS
In my research, I was surprised to find that sight word recognition
changed very little. My pretest results showed that no student could recognize
all 226 DOLCH sight words; neither could they at the end of the study. There
was a slight increase on average of one to three words. One student decreased
greatly which can be seen in the submitted two charts. One chart includes this
student’s score and the other excludes this student’s score. I did this to better
reflect the class as a whole because I felt that perhaps this student might have
had a bad testing day. The sight word results show a slight percentage gain of
.29%. These results are shown in Figures 1 and 2, found in the Appendix and
Figures section.
The fluency test, which is a part of our Harcourt reading series, gives a
target rate of 120 words per minute for third graders. The pre- and posttest
results for fluency amazed me. All students showed improvement. The range of
improvement was from 30 words per minute to 82 words per minute, with no
child reaching the target rate of 120 words per minute. The bar chart, Figure
3, shows the individual pre- and posttest scores, and the line chart, Figure 4,
depicts the comparison of the pre- and posttests for the entire class. Fluency
showed an overall increase of 45.83%.
Comprehension test scores showed an increase of 21% based on a test
with twenty questions. The average score for the pretest was 8.8 correct and
the posttest average score was 12 correct. One student exhibited no change or
improvement while all other students demonstrated some improvement. These
results are displayed in Figure 5.
The final test that was administered to students in pre- and posttest form
was the STAR (Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading). This test
is normally used in the classroom to access and establish Accelerated Reader
reading levels. The results of this test (illustrated in Figure 6) showed a
minimum growth of four months, a maximum gain of two years, with one
student remaining the same. Overall, the class average improved by 0.5.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that intense intervention strategies can make a
difference in helping students to reach the goal of reading on grade level. I
observed that the students seemed to enjoy this concentrated assistance and
looked forward to this extra one-on-one time with the teacher. I was surprised
to learn that students did not see any stigma attached to reading the little black
and white low level readers. They seemed to enjoy reading them and could read
them fluently. The children loved reading these little books over and over
33
because they could read them quickly and correctly and fluently. It seems that
the classroom teacher might easily overlook such a simple thing.
The increase in the fluency test truly amazed me. I expected to see a small
increase but not the nearly 37 percent that I found. An interesting indication
seems that fluency increased when students were able to read orally at least
twice per day. This indicates that the more the child reads aloud, the better his/
her fluency will become. The final test results from the STAR test was equally
surprising. I felt that there would be a minimum increase, but I did not expect
one child’s reading level to increase by two years. From this table, it is clear
that an increasing pattern is evident. The pattern indicates that students were
able to read fluently and with understanding even though they were sitting
at a computer reading silently. I did observe that some students were moving
their lips and some had to be prompted to whisper if they were reading aloud.
However, each student read and read with accuracy.
Plan of Action
I feel that to move forward, we as teachers should always be aware of
the importance of our one-on-one time with each student. I further feel that
each teacher should not limit students by the teacher’s own thoughts and
preconceptions about the ease or difficulty of materials presented to students.
Since the results were so positive, I plan to continue some of the methods
employed during this research project for the remainder of the year with the
hope and desire that my student will be reading on grade level by the end of
the year.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Even though I fully expected to see progress from this action research,
I did not expect to see the gains in fluency and comprehension that I found.
I realize that I work in a wonderful school setting and work with dedicated,
knowledgeable teachers; however, this research has helped me to see that it is
easy to overlook some basic strategies for helping students to become fluent
readers. This research project caused me to examine my own methods of
teaching and how much individual time that I daily dedicate to each child.
I recommend that each teacher find the time to allow each student to read
aloud to him/her every day. Through my research I have discovered that this
time is priceless and the results will be astounding. I further recommend that
teachers solicit the help of volunteers to enable the teacher to have time for
this one-on-one reading with the student. I feel that there are grandparents,
retired persons, and even young people who have the time to give to schools
and would be willing to assist in the effort to bring these students up to grade
34
level in their reading. The students need someone to listen to them read every
day. My final recommendation is that teachers keep the vision for each student.
APPENDIX AND FIGURES
Appendix A: Reading Comprehension Stories
35
Appendix B: Reading Comprehension Test
36
Appendix C: Fluency Test
Figure 1: Adjusted Sight Words
37
Figure 2: Sight Words
Figure 3: Words Per Minute (Bar Graph)
W o r d s P e r M in.
14 0
O c t.
20 07
12 0
10 0
8 0
6 0
4 0
2 0
0
A
B
C
D
E
S tu d e n t
38
F
G
H
I
A v e ra g e
Figure 4: Words Per Minute (Line Chart)
Figure 5: Comprehension Percent Correct
39
Figure 6: Independent Reading Level
REFERENCES
Brabham, E.G., & Villaume, S.K. (2002). Vocabulary instruction: Concerns and
visions. The Reading Teacher. 56, 264-268.
Flora, S.(2005). Sight word stories. Minneapolis, MI: Key Education Publisher, LLC.
Hiebert, E.H. (2005). A review of the national reading panel’s studies on fluency: The role of text. The Elementary School Journal. 105, 443-459.
Johns, J. L. (1986). Handbook for remediation of reading difficulties. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Inc.
McCormick, S. (2003). Instructing students who have literacy problems. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Paul, T., Topping, K., & Schnick, T. (1996). Fundamentals of Reading Renaissance. Madison, WI: The Institute of Excellence.
Placement Tests Teacher’s Manual (2004). Glenville, Ill.: Pearson Scott Foresman.
Raphael, T.E. & Au, K.H. (2005). QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test
40
taking across grades and content area. The Reading Teacher. Retrieved June 28, 2007 from http://www.eric.ed.gov.
Rudolph, C., Wood, T.A., & Miller-Wood, D.J. (1990). Teaching basic sight words through nursery rhymes to mildly handicapped kindergarten students. Reading Improvement. 27-1. 72-80.
Stahl, S.A., & Heubach, K.M. (2005). Fluency -oriented reading instruction. Journal of Literacy Instruction. Retrieved June 27, 2007 from
http://findarticles.com.
Taylor, B.M., Pearson, P.D., Peterson, D.S., & Rodriquez, M.C. (2003). Reading
growth in high-poverty classrooms: The influence of teacher practices that encourage cognitive engagement in literacy learning. The Elementary School Journal. 104-1. 3-27.
Torgesen, J., Myer, D, Schirm, A., Stuart, E., Vartivarina, S., & Mansfield, W., et al (2006). National assessment of title I: Interim report, volume II; Closing the reading gap: First year findings from a randomized trial of four reading interventions for striving readers. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
Wilber, P.M. (2000). Reading rescue 1-2-3. Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing.
41
42
Relationship Between Teacher Morale and School Climate
Relationship Between Teacher Morale
and School Climate
Stephanie T. Blackwell
INTRODUCTION
Faculty Sponsor
The purpose of this study is to obtain information from teachers and
administrators on the understanding or lack of understanding of how teacher
morale and school climate have a connection at Springdale Elementary School
in Macon, Georgia. Questionnaires were administered to certified classroom
teachers employed at Springdale Elementary School. In addition, interviews
were conducted with the administration.
THE CONTEXT
I am currently teaching fifth grade at Springdale Elementary School in
Macon, Georgia. This is my seventh year at this school and my seventeenth
year in Bibb County. I currently hold a certificate in middle grades (4-8). I
have taught second, fourth, fifth and sixth grades. I taught for ten years at
Bernd Elementary School in a self-contained classroom, and then requested
a transfer to Springdale Elementary School to a departmentalization
setting teaching science. After three years, the sixth grade left and then I
taught fifth grade English, then moved to fourth grade for two years and
currently teach in a fifth grade classroom. I really felt drained and burned
out teaching in a self-contained classroom and felt a change would revive
me as a teacher and boost my morale to be in the teamwork climate of a
departmentalization setting. I was extremely rejuvenated and felt very good
about being a teacher at Springdale Elementary School because its reputation
preceded itself. As several years passed, the sixth grade moved to the middle
school and new administration entered the building, I could sense a change
in the school climate but couldn’t put my finger on just what it was. Then
our school underwent a complete school renovation and new administration
on top of that, so I really felt that the school climate would begin to change
because of the physical environment improvements. After being accepted
into the specialist degree program at Georgia College and State University
and beginning research, I realized that teacher morale seemed to be low at
Springdale Elementary School. Teachers seemed gloomy, frustrated, over
worked, and little interaction with one another was at a minimum mainly
because of the lack of time to spend with one another. It was not until the
43
school year began that I started asking teachers questions about how the
teachers felt about the school climate, teacher morale, and if there was a
connection between the two. This mattered to me because this is my work
environment and I wanted to be cheerful and content in my setting. I wanted
coworkers that were pleased and satisfied, as well as in their job setting.
Springdale Elementary School is a public school located in northern
Bibb County. It is one of 33 elementary schools in the county. Springdale’s
student population is 601 with grades pre-kindergarten through fifth. The
population of Springdale varies little. Of the 601 students served, 55% are
Caucasian, 36% are African-American, 5% are Asian, 2% are Hispanic, and 2%
are multiracial. About 36% of our students are served through the free and
reduced lunch program. Approximately 10% of the student population has a
disability and 3% are English Language Learners. Springdale is employed with
one principal, one assistant principal, one counselor, one music teacher, one
PE teacher, one media specialist, one half-time media clerk, and twenty-nine
certified classroom teachers, plus six special needs teachers, and eleven papaprofessionals. All teachers except one have earned their teaching certificates
the traditional way. One teacher is currently in the second year of the Georgia
Teacher Alternative Preparation Program (GA TAPP).
Springdale Elementary School met AYP in 2007, but Bibb County as
a whole county did not. To meet AYP, each school and system must meet
the following criteria: 95% Participation, Academic Performance (Annual
Measurable Objective), and Second Indicator which was attendance. For spring
2007 CRCT, 99% of the students participated in the test. The scores showed
that 93.8% of the students met/exceeded in mathematics and 93.6% of the
students met/exceeded in reading/language arts. The second indicator was
attendance in which 2.8% of the students missed school over 15 days.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
I have been employed in Bibb County for seventeen years and at Springdale
for the past seven years. I have always enjoyed coming to work until the past
couple of years. I recently began to feel a change occurring and noticed a
serious dilemma among our staff. As I tried to pinpoint what was going on in
the atmosphere of our school, I began observing and listening to what was
happening. It occurred to me that many staff members were lacking motivation
to complete tasks, dreaded coming to weekly staff meeting, and appeared to
be dissatisfied with their school culture or the environment in which they
were working. As the next few years progressed, the atmosphere never
seemed to really change. With new seasons and holidays in the horizon, a new
administration, and a newly renovated building, I thought I would see a
44
The Relationship Between Teacher Morale and School Climate
change. There are many areas that seem to being lacking in the school culture.
One is the spirit between the staff members. Teachers need time to develop
relationships throughout the year. Staff members need time to enjoy each other
and develop trust so that goals for student achievement can be met without
obstacles in the way. Teacher recognition is also lacking. Teachers need to be
respected and appreciated for “doing a job well done.” I was very hopeful that
the school climate would “cheer up” and teachers would become more satisfied,
but this has not happened. I also saw clerical work that was time consuming.
This is an area that desperately affects the mood of the school culture. I was
bothered by this dilemma and did not know what to do or how to possibly solve
the phenomenon that was taking place at my school. The decisive moment
came when I was asked what my passion was in education. This is when I knew
I would step out onto a limb and risk asking these tough questions.
In order to gain a greater understanding or insight about this area of
concern, I propose the following research question: Does teacher morale and
school climate have a connection at Springdale Elementary School? This
problem raises the following questions:
1. Does lack of teacher social culture have a significant effect on the
morale among teachers at Springdale Elementary School?
2. Would recognition of teachers (public or otherwise) improve the
morale among the teachers?
3. Do unnecessary stressors (busy paper work, extra duty or lack of
team planning) keep morale low for teachers at Springdale?
The study will be conducted among teachers at Springdale Elementary School
in Bibb County, Georgia. The results of the study may be generalized to
educators who face similar problems with teacher morale and school climate.
Teacher morale and school climate go hand in hand. Schools can set
goals for their student achievement, but if teacher morale is low then there
will be less interest and motivation to incorporate those goals therefore,
diminishing the goals set for achievement for the school. As a researcher of
this phenomenon, I know that my research will cause awareness and a change
among the staff. Strengthening social culture in the school among the teachers
would begin to change the mindset of teachers at Springdale Elementary
School. I feel this would give teachers an opportunity to develop trust among
each other and enjoy being with each other as a school family. Teacher
recognition among the staff would provide teachers a greater appreciation
of their coworkers and begin working to achieve the goals of the school.
Although stressors are related to this profession, relieving unnecessary stress
factors would enhance the culture so that all teachers can come together and
achieve the goals for the school in unity. Teacher morale gives the school its
culture and examining this phenomenon within a school allows the world a
45
glimpse into this school culture. It provides a possible solution to the problems
that exist and this awareness will cause changes.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The expectations and advanced social issues are causing the teaching
profession to lose many fabulous teachers. Teachers’ attitudes toward their
profession have been a topic of much discussion. School climate is an area that
is often pushed aside as a priority for many schools, but is actually critical to
the survival of the teacher morale. Students’ achievement is typically higher
when teacher morale is high, states Black (2001). I can personally relate to
this because in my current setting test scores set the tone of how the teachers’
attitudes toward achievement were dictated. Low morale was high among those
grade levels that currently have disappointing scores on students’ achievement.
The first issue with low teacher morale is school environment. As Lumsden
(1998) argues, healthy school environment and teacher morale are related. I
agree with her thoughts and suggest that other factors play an important part
as well. Teacher recognition is the second issue that is often overlooked and
needs to be addressed. According to Vail (2005), public recognition of teachers
for a “job well done” goes a long way. In my current situation many teachers’
efforts go unrecognized, which affects the tone of the school climate. The
third issue that has caused much debate throughout the profession is stressors.
Protheroe (2006) clearly states that stressors such as “extra duties and
paperwork” should be kept to a minimum because this can lead to low teacher
morale. I agree with Protheroe because teachers do not need unnecessary
stressors to jam up their day and build more discontentment towards their job
and their responsibilities.
In the school environment, administration sets the tone of the school.
As Black (2001) mentioned in her report, principals “spearhead their school’s
climate and culture.” I agree with Black because as teachers are satisfied in
their environment, there will be less tension among teachers. As Black (2001)
continues to state, if job satisfaction drops, so does teacher morale. Earlier
Lumsden (1998) reported that teacher morale can have a “positive effect on
students’ achievement.” I cannot argue with this because in the past sixteen
years of my teaching experience I have seen students’ achievement rise and
fall because of teacher morale. Singh (1984) conducted a study and came to the
conclusion that administrators’ leadership was an important factor in the job
satisfaction among teachers, therefore developing high teacher morale. Based
on my experience, Singh’s research is correct.
Although teachers’ salaries tend to be below or just below the national
average in many states, this is not typically what lowers teacher morale. The
46
real rewards come from job satisfaction as Black (2001) argues. The intrinsic
rewards that teachers have are usually self- respect, responsibility, and a sense
of accomplishment. Nichols (2006) argues that teachers go “unrecognized
year after year.” She blames this on “preoccupied administrators”; however,
most teachers “generally” would not accept this kind of recognition. Teachers
want to be appreciated for their hard work but do not need a formal ceremony
to be recognized for doing their job well. From my experience as an educator,
I noticed these rewards come from the students’ growth and achievement.
Protheroe (2006) goes on to say that the lack of satisfaction in the teaching
career is due to inadequate support and lack of recognition from school leaders.
This statement sums up this idea:
By nurturing an environment in which teachers and students can focus
on learning—and by providing the types of organizational support teachers
say they need—principals can balance their support for both high levels of
students learning and high staff morale. (Protheroe, 2006, p. 47).
Teacher morale is often related to teacher burnout. Burnout happens when
a teacher experiences too many stressors. Teacher stress can be considered an
occupational stress. Otto (1996) did a study and discovered that “workload
pressures” contributed to low teacher morale. Bruno (1983) conducted a study
and found that burnout of teachers also contributes to low morale among
teachers. I must agree with Otto and Bruno as well. Excessive paper work
and extra duties can be contributors to excessive workloads. Lumsden (1998)
related stress to morale and stated stress “reduces work motivation, satisfaction
and involvement.” From my experience as an educator in the field, stressors
are often mistaken as part of the job, but this is not the case. Woodward (2003)
agrees that teachers feel “ground down by paper work” and often leave the
profession because of this abundance of stress. As many administrators try to
reduce stressors in the work force for teachers, Betoret (2006) discovered that
providing teachers with “coping resources” diminishes the stress levels, thereby
helping raise teacher morale. Most often stress levels can have a negative
impact on students’ achievement levels, as Gaziel (1993) stated in his article. I
found this to be a reality in my setting when stress compounded the students’
achievement and had a negative impact on the school.
Ultimately administrators control the climate of a school. Although high
teacher morale will have a tremendous impact on students’ achievement as well
as low teacher morale, school climate, teacher recognition, and the reduction of
stressors can make or break students’ achievement. Vail (2005) and Protheroe
(2006) have identified these three common denominators in their research of
how students’ achievement is affected by teacher morale.
47
METHOD
The participants in this study were certified teachers and administrators
at Springdale Elementary School in Macon, Georgia. Springdale Elementary
School employs two administrators, one counselor, one music teacher,
one physical education (PE) teacher, one media specialist, twenty-nine
teachers, plus six special needs teachers. Twenty-seven of the teachers and
all of the administrators employed at Springdale Elementary completed a
questionnaire which contained five open-ended questions and ten questions
to rate; all pertaining to teacher morale and school climate and their possible
connection. Consent forms were obtained from all participants. Answers to the
demographic questions on the survey indicated that 10% of the respondents
have 0-3 years of teaching experience, 27% of the respondents have 4-9
years of experience; 35% of the respondents have 10-20 experience; 21% of
the respondents have 21-30 years of experience; and 7% have 30+ years of
experience. One of the demographic questions was used to obtain information
about the highest degree of education obtained by the participants. Of the
respondents, 37% completed a Bachelor of Science in Education, 52% of the
respondents completed a Masters of Arts in Education, and 11% completed an
Education Specialist in Education, and two respondents currently pursuing a
doctorate.
The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire. The demographic
data included the number of years of teaching experience and the highest
degree earned. The remainder of the questions were open-ended and scalerated questions which focused on teacher morale and school climate and the
possible connection between the two. In addition to the questionnaire, an
interview was conducted with each administrator at the school.
Permission was obtained from the Springdale Elementary School
principal to conduct research using the questionnaire. Permission to conduct
the study was also obtained from the GCSU Institutional Review Board. The
investigator placed a copy of the survey and a consent form in the mailbox of
each participant on a Thursday morning. The participants were instructed to
return the questionnaire and the consent form to the investigator’s mailbox
by Wednesday. Two manila folders were placed in my box, one marked
questionnaires and one marked consent forms. Signatures were not required
on the questionnaires. In addition, an interview was conducted with each
administrator of Springdale Elementary School.
The questionnaire began with five open-ended questions and ended with
10 scale-rated questions. When teachers were asked to answer the question:
What is teacher morale? All responded with at least one similar answer as how
a teacher feels about him/her self and abilities, attitude, and enthusiasm of the
48
work place. Question two asked: What factors affect teacher morale? Answers
varied from support from administration, students’ behavior, unnecessary
paperwork, micromanaging, parental support, appreciation, fairness, work load,
positive feedback, consistency, and staff interaction. The third open-ended
question asked: Is teacher morale important? Again various answers appeared
like the importance of how it affects school climate, sets the tone, betters
attitudes toward school, creates a foundation for learning, affects student and
staff motivation, and the amount of effort put forth in the job. Question four
asked: What steps teachers can take to preserve or raise their morale? Many
responded with staff building activities within a school day, encouragement
and support for each other, staying positive, planning time with other grade
members, taking time to remember what is important, having their opinion
respected, supporting one another, banding together, and communicating
concerns without consequences. With the fifth and final open-ended question, I
wanted to find out how the administration can influence teacher morale. Some
responded with actions speak louder than words, ask for the truth and accept
it, be positive, show empathy, continue to recognize good teaching, treat the
teachers with respect, and be visible in the building. Others replied with the
suggestions that the administration could make positive statements, support
and appreciate with incentives, show appreciation, understand pressure being
put on teachers and allow independence with teaching styles.
Ten questions from the questionnaire requested that each written
statement be rated with a scale; one equaling strongly disagrees to five which
equals strongly agrees. Statement number one stated: School culture is affected
by teacher morale and 52% rated the statement with strongly agrees, where
41% rated it with agrees and 7% were neutral. The second statement was
Student achievement improves with high teacher morale. 60% rated it with
a strongly agrees, 33% rated it with agrees, and 7% were neutral. The next
statement was Teacher morale would improve if teachers had more time to
interact with one another. 37% rated it with strongly agrees, 44% rated it
with agree, 12% were neutral; and 7% disagree. The fourth statement stated:
Teacher recognition (informal) for a “job well done” would increase morale.
52% of the respondents rated it with strongly agrees, 41% rated it with agrees,
and 7% were neutral. The fifth statement: Making teachers feel respected
through recognition would improve students’ achievement was rated with
26% strongly agree, 53% agree and 21% were neutral. The next statement:
Unnecessary paper work makes teachers feel overwhelmed received 78%
responding with strongly agree, 15% rated it with agree, and 7% were neutral.
The questionnaire continued with four more statements. The statement:
Teachers feeling overwhelmed with unnecessary stressors creates low teacher
morale was rated by 74% of the respondents with strongly agree, 22% agree,
49
and 4% were neutral. The next question stated: Stressed teachers affect student
achievement was rated by 52% as strongly agree, with 44% agree, and 4% were
neutral. In turn the statement: Student achievement affects teacher morale
received ratings of 41% with strongly agree, 44% agree, 11% were neutral and
4% disagree. The last question of the questionnaire stated: Teacher morale
affects school climate. This statement was rated by 81% as strongly agree, 15%
agree, and 4% was neutral.
In the interview with administration, several questions were asked. The
questions were very similar to what I asked the teachers. I first asked: What is
teacher morale? They responded with teacher morale is self-worth and value
one has about him/her self and job satisfaction. I asked: What factors create
a school culture that would improve teacher morale? The administrators
replied with administrators listening to teachers’ concerns, being responsive
to issues, confront issues head on, supporting teachers or attempting to help,
and handling behavior issues. Another questions asked of the administration
was: What steps can teachers take to preserve or raise their morale? Both
responded with teachers should build each other up and support one another,
collaborate and share the load to prevent from being overwhelmed, release
the responsibilities to others, and shift from a negative solutions to a positive
solutions. The last question I asked: How do you think teacher morale and
school climate connect? The responses were that there is a strong correlation
between the two. If teachers are not happy, the school climate will be affected.
The ultimate downfall will be student achievement. The administration did feel
it would be important to have informal staff recognition or teacher spotlight
in the parent newsletter pertaining to small classroom accomplishments and
professional growth as well.
CONCLUSION
Based on the analysis of the questionnaire conducted with teachers and
administrators, it appeared that most of the teachers, if not all, felt that teacher
morale contributed to the school climate. Many felt that in order for teacher
morale to be high, the administration of the environment plays an important
part of the school climate and how teachers feel about their environment.
It appeared that most teachers felt that each teacher is also responsible for
how his or her attitude affects the environment, which can contribute to a
healthy work place, and learning environment for students’ learning. Because
elementary schools are limited in extra-curricular activities, it is difficult
to arrange common grade level planning. Many creative avenues have been
invented to accomplish this, but it is rare. However, teachers feel that this
would be very beneficial to increase teacher morale by providing
50
common grade level planning on a regular base and not just at the beginning
or end of the school year. Paper work and documentation are areas that
appeared to bother teachers the most. The teachers felt that they are acting
like secretaries instead of being teachers and educating minds. Management
of materials because of the need for documentation has frustrated teachers
and overwhelmed them to a point where it is procrastinated until the very last
minute before a deadline.
An overwhelming amount of respondents to the survey felt that teachers
needed to take good care of themselves by exercising, eating healthy and
finding time for family and realizing that without healthy teachers, teaching
would not be possible. Although it may not be the best alternative, a large
portion of the respondents said spending time with staff and interacting with
one another would help build community among school personnel and provide
support and develop relationships that would increase teacher morale and
improve school climate. Several mentioned possible incentives like having lunch
brought in or have a grade level provide snack once a month for staff meetings
to enhance school climate. In the end, all respondents had a strong feeling that
teacher morale does have a connection to school climate and its impact on the
learning environment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As I began to gather the results of this survey, I was not surprised as
the results only validated what I was feeling myself. My hope in completing
this task was to make others aware of what we can do to improve teacher
morale and school climate at Springdale Elementary School. I have no
doubt that through my questionnaire, most teachers at my school feel that
the school climate needs improvement and understand how teacher morale
impacts this climate. From what I learned through this study, I have several
recommendations to offer for improving teacher morale and school climate at
Springdale Elementary School in Macon, Georgia. First, I feel that at staff
meetings the principal should state one good thing she has noticed about each
grade level through the past week. The second recommendation I have is to
replace one staff meeting a month with an informal staff gathering. The third
recommendation I propose would be to provide incentives for teachers to
enhance the work environment. Some of the incentives would be ordering out
for lunch once a month and allowing dress down days. I have learned through
this research experience that teachers do not need a big presentation or lavish
sit down. Little incentives, small compliments and appreciation go a long way
for the teachers at Springdale Elementary School. The final incentive would be
giving teachers common planning time among their grade levels, and allow
51
this to happen at least once each grading period. This would release some of
the pressure of having to meet deadlines and doing much of the work on our
own time and not being compensated for it.
REFERENCES
Betoret, F.D. (2006). Stressors, self-efficacy, coping resources, and burnout among secondary school teachers in Spain. Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (ERIC Document No. ED422601). Retrieved June 28, 2007, from ERIC databases.
Black, S. (2001, January). When teachers feel good about their work, research, shows, student achievement rises. American School Board Journal, 188(1), Retrieved June 20, 2007, from http://www.asbj.com.
Bruno, J. E. (1983). Equal educational opportunity and declining teacher morale
at black, white, and Hispanic high schools in a large urban school district. The Urban Review, 15(1), Retrieved June 27, 2007, from
http://www.springerlink.com.
Gaziel, H.H. (1993). Coping with occupational stress among teachers: A cross-
cultural study. Comparative Education, 29(1), Retrieved June 28, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org.
Georgia Department of Education. (2007). 2007 Adequate yearly progress
report. Retrieved November 6, 2007, from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.
Lumsden, L. (1998).Teacher morale. Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (ERIC Document No. ED422601). Retrieved June 20, 2007, from ERIC databases.
Nichols, S. (2006, May). Low pay, lack of respect and NCLB create crisis in teacher morale. Education Matters, Retrieved June 20, 2007, from
http://www.tellingthetruth.com.
Protheroe, N. (2006). Maintaining high teacher morale. National Association of Elementary School Principal, 85(3), Retrieved June 20, 2007, from http://www.naesp.org.
Vail, K. (2005, June). Climate control: Ten ways to make your schools great
places to work and learn. American School Board Journal, 52
192(6), Retrieved June 20, 2007, from http://www.asbj.com.
Victorian Independent Education Union. (1996). Stress! burnout! among teachers. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from http://www.ieu.asn.au.
Woodward, W. (2003, January). Workload hits teacher morale. The Guardian, Retrieved June 27, 2007, from http://education.guardian.
co.uk/.
53
54
The Effects of Accelerated Reader
The Effects of Accelerated Reader (AR) as an
Extrinsic Motivation Tool for Improving
Gifted Students’ Reading Levels
Clay Brindger
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of extrinsic motivation
provided through an Accelerated Reading program (AR) on gifted students’
reading levels as indicated by a voluntary test. Fifty-six gifted students
enrolled at two middle schools located in central Georgia participated in this
study. Twenty of the students received extrinsic motivation through AR
during this research. Thirty-four of them also read through the AR program,
but without any additional extrinsic motivation. Their scores on the voluntary
test indicate that the group who did not receive extrinsic motivation actually
gained more between the pretest to the posttest than the group who did receive
extrinsic motivation, even though both groups of students made some gains
from the pretest to the posttest. One implication of this study is that intrinsic
instead of extrinsic motivation may be more effective for gifted students.
Another implication for future research is to compare the effects of intrinsic
versus extrinsic motivation on improving reading across different groups of
students including regular education, special education, and gifted students.
INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this research was to add more knowledge to the
highly examined subject of the Accelerated Reader program (AR) and its
relationship to the reading levels of gifted students. The AR program allows
students to read books and take computerized tests on these books. More
specifically, I sought to discover if extrinsic motivational tools affected gifted
sixth graders’ reading levels through AR. It is assumed that, if found effective,
motivational tools would be used more by classroom teachers to help increase
the amount of reading done by these students. The increase in reading would,
in turn, increase the reading levels of these students. Also, if motivational
tools are found to help gifted students, future research can be conducted
to determine how motivational tools affect general education and special
education students.
55
Statement of Problem
Schools in the United States face a widespread problem of students not
being able to read up to what educational field deems as “grade level.” An
average third grader should read on a third grade level, an average sixth
grader should read on a sixth grade level… and so forth. Based on my personal
experience, this is not happening. The problem lies more directly in the fact
that schools are sending young adults who cannot read at a level required and
deemed sufficient for success out into society. In terms of language (spoken,
read, and written), many reading educators I know share the same concern that
schools in the United States are not putting out a good product.
More than any other subject, reading is the cornerstone for ultimate
academic success. Students need a strong foundation in reading to have a fair
chance at achieving their educational and career goals. Even the higher level
students like the gifted students need to be able to show strides in reading
levels in order to compete on a worldwide basis with the students from other
countries who can be achieving higher marks in reading. Many educators
I know are stunned and frightened when they observe that many students
worldwide who speak English as a second language can read and speak English
better than Americans who know English as a native language.
Rationale
By conducting this research, I hope to see if reading more by means
of motivation through AR actually increases one’s grade level of reading.
Specifically, I am focusing on gifted students in the sixth grade. Maybe the
amount of reading has nothing to do with an increase in reading level. The
uniqueness of this study is to what affect extrinsic motivation effects reading
levels of gifted students. When someone is motivated to do something, they
are more likely to put forth a better effort with a more positive attitude. A
higher-level reader is put into a better position to succeed in society. If reading
more through motivation is successful, I hope helping students in this way will
lead to helping all students become better readers.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The first area of research I wanted to gain more background knowledge in
before I actually started collecting data was related to Accelerated Reader (AR).
I really wanted to find one or two examples of what others have researched
and discovered about AR. Do most people accept AR as the standard in
improving reading levels of students? Do most people detest AR? Are there
inconsistencies as to how AR is embraced? From a negative point of view, AR
does not necessarily make students read more. Chenoweth (200l) reports that
56
“students who were in the AR program did read more books than students who
were not in the program; however, when AR stopped, so did the AR students’
reading.” From a positive perspective, Vollands, Topping, and Evans (1999)
showed through their quasi-experiment that “when compared to gains from
regular classroom teachings and an alternative method, at-risk readers using
the Accelerated Reader program, even if not fully implemented, experienced
gains in reading scores.” AR certainly has both supporters and opponents
among educators.
I next looked for some research in motivation. Motivation is a very import
aspect of education. Many educators and researchers believe that motivation is
a crucial determinant of student success in reading and writing, especially in
the elementary grades (Miller & Meece, 1999; O’Flahavan, Gambrell, Guthrie,
Stahl, Baumann, & Alvermann, 1992). Also, as far as motivation is concerned,
research indicates that students who are motivated to read spend more time
reading than those who are not as motivated (Edmunds & Tancock, 2003;
Guthrie, Wigfield, Metsala, & Cox, 1999; Morrow, 1992; Wigfield & Guthrie,
1997). Just because a student reads more, does this have any connection to their
increase in reading level? What about struggling readers? Sometimes they
work just as hard as other students, but the results are not as easily seen.
In addition, motivation is multifaceted. Cultivation of intrinsic motivation
in students can help educators come closer to the goal of instilling in all
students a love for reading and learning perhaps more than provision of
extrinsic motivation alone (Cole 2003). However, intrinsic motivation is often
more difficult to develop. As we observe on daily basis, most people do not
wake up in the morning to go to work because they like it. They are motivated
to make money. People do not go on diets because they do not like food, they
go on diets because they are motivated to lose weight and/or become healthier.
The role of motivation in reading is a “piece of puzzle” for me. Unfortunately,
I did not find any research solely devoted to the question of how to motivate
gifted students to read and how the motivation strategies for gifted education
are compared to those for regular and special education students.
Research Question and Hypothesis
My direct research question was: did gifted students who were provided
with extrinsic motivation through AR performed better on standardized
measurements than gifted students who read through AR without extrinsic
motivation? Indirectly, I wanted to look at how effective AR is as an extrinsic
motivation tool for improving reading. With these questions in mind, my
hypothesis was that the more a student reads through motivation tools like AR,
the higher his or her reading achievement.
57
METHOD
Participants
The participants for this research were gifted sixth grade students from
two different middle schools in a central Georgia county with a population of
about 25,000. Middle School A has twenty-two gifted sixth grade students.
Middle School B has thirty-four sixth grade students. From an economic
standpoint, Middle School A has a higher percentage of students on free or
reduced lunch and is considered a “Title 1” school. The participants from both
schools were taught with identical curriculum materials at the same time and
at the same pace. The only significant difference between School A and School
B was that School A’s students received extrinsic motivational tools through
the AR program, whereas School B’s students did not receive any extrinsic
motivation.
Instrumentation
The main instrument used for this research was the Standardized Testing
and Reporting (STAR). STAR is a reading test of about twenty questions that
tests a student’s vocabulary. The students were given sentences and paragraphs
in which one word was underlined. The student was given four choices and
asked to choose the word with the correct meaning to fill in the sentences.
STAR’s diagnostic report shows a student’s grade equivalent. A grade
equivalent ranges from 1.1 to 12.9. For example, a grade equivalent of 1.1
means “first grade, first month,” 5.3 means “fifth grade, third month,” and so
on. Each student was also given a raw score. Raw scores are arbitrary numbers
that are only significant to STAR. The interpretation of these raw scores is
very similar to that of the Scholarly Aptitude Test (SAT). A score of 1,400
may be perceived as “very good” for SAT. Similarly, raw score of 1,100 may be
perceived as “very good” for STAR.
Research Procedures
All sixth grade students in this county are taught under the same
curriculum. The county also requires teachers to teach this curriculum at
the same time at the same pace. For example, all sixth grade teachers teach
“linking verbs” on Tuesday through Friday of the same week. Naturally, both
schools implement the AR program. The AR program factors into the final
grades of all sixth grade students. The only difference between the two middle
schools is that School A uses extrinsic forms of motivation and School B does
not. Extrinsic motivation at School A appears in several forms. Students at
School A are motivated beyond just getting good grades by certificates with
their names posted on the wall if they reach certain AR goals. Classes that
58
achieve certain goals receive pizza parties. Other students that achieve goals are
given personal pan pizzas. School B operates under a philosophy where the
students are expected to perform to get good grades on AR, not focusing on
extrinsic motivation.
This study adopts a quasi-experimental design. I obtained the STAR
scores for all the gifted students enrolled at these two schools at two time
points, at the beginning of the school year and again at the end of the school
year. The scores at the end of the school year served as the outcome variable,
while the scores at the beginning of the school year served as the covariate.
One factor that may have hurt the internal validity of this study is that
some teachers’ styles of teaching might be more appealing than others to
the students. It has been observed in the past that certain students would
intentionally perform poorly on a test if they did not like the teacher. This
could very well affect how motivated a student is to read.
Another factor that could have contaminated the internal validity of this
research is that it will never be completely clear if the students gave honest
efforts while taking either STAR at the beginning of the year or at the end of
the year. If a student did not score well at the beginning of the year, he or she
was not expected to read as much. Students who were not motivated to read
from the beginning may have taken advantage of this policy. It is like a runner
in the 100-meter dash jogging instead of sprinting. Yes, his or her time can be
measured, but the time is not based on his or her best effort. In order for this
research to be fully valid and meaningful, I assumed that the students gave
their best efforts when taking the tests.
A last issue is the automatic growth through outside factors that take
place but are not connected to the reading instruction through AR. Just as a
student may get taller over the school year, his or her exposure to things such
as television, the Internet, and other people can influence the growth of that
student’s reading level. It is very difficult to determine how much these outside
factors contribute to the increase in reading levels.
Data Analysis
The STAR scores at the beginning and the end of the school year were
compared using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with the beginning scores
as the covariate, the end-of-year scores as the outcome, and whether any form
of extrinsic motivation was provided through AR as the independent variable.
RESULTS
Means and standard deviations of students’ STAR reading scores from the
beginning and end of the school year are presented in Table 1. The descriptive
59
statistics show that the average STAR reading scores for School A were higher
than that of School B for the pretest. However, School B’s average STAR
reading score was higher than that of School A for the posttest.
In order to determine whether this difference in the current year’s reading
scores between the two schools were statistically different, one-way ANCOVA
was conducted with the posttest STAR reading scores as the dependent
variable, the pretest STAR reading scores as the covariate, and extrinsic
motivation as the independent variable. ANCOVA results show that there is a
statistically significant difference between the students in these two schools in
their posttest STAR reading scores with a moderate effect size (F = 50.57, df
= (1, 53), p < .001, η2 =.488). There is also a statistically significant difference
between the students in these two schools in their pretest STAR reading scores
but with a relatively smaller effect size (F = 4.33, df = (1, 53), p = .042, η2
=.076).
CONCLUSION
The major purpose of this research was to determine if extrinsic
motivation had positive effects on the reading levels of sixth graders in
the gifted program. The results from my research were very surprising. I
hypothesized that the students who were offered extrinsic motivation would
have greater increases in reading levels than those students who were not
offered any extrinsic motivation. School A, the school that offered the extrinsic
motivation, had a pretest score average of 931.27. They improved to an
average score of 963.45 for a total improvement of 32.18. The surprise came
from School B. The first test average for School B was 882.56. The posttest
average jumped to 1017.68, improving to an average of 135.12. School B
showed an average improvement of 102.94 more than School A.
This somewhat surprising result has shown me that gifted students who
are not given extrinsic motivation far outscore those gifted students who are
given this motivation. This is exactly the opposite of what I had hypothesized
prior to my research. Based on findings alone, I would hypothesize that gifted
students are not greatly swayed by the influence of extrinsic motivation.
Perhaps intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation is more effective for gifted
students. Gifted students may not need the instant gratifications that extrinsic
motivations present. I am very anxious to discover if this trend is also true for
general education students as well as special education students. These two
subgroups would be great candidates for follow-up research.
In retrospect, there were several limitations that accompanied this
research. First, we could not guarantee that students gave their best efforts on
the START pretest or posttest or both. Without honest efforts, true indications
60
cannot be determined. To be more specific with this issue, some teachers
might have attached more importance to this test than others. This could have
factored into how the students decided to perform on the test. In the future, a
different measure could be used for a study of similar purposes and design.
A second limitation is that even though teachers teach the students the
same curriculum at the same time, teachers may teach in different ways.
Students, in return, respond to different teachers in different ways. For
example, if a student does not like a teacher, the student may intentionally fail
the test. One final limitation is that this study was conducted in a small isolated
county in central Georgia, and only fifty-six students participated. Results may
vary in different settings and with a larger research sample.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of STAR Reading Scores by School
N
M
SD
School A
Pretest
Post-test
22
22
931.27
963.45
205.69
252.62
Pretest
Post-test
34
34
882.56
1017.68
202.85
195.04
School B
REFERENCES
Chenoweth, K. (2001). Keeping Score. School Library Journal, 42, 22-25.
Cole, J. (2003) What motivates students to read? Four literacy personalities. The Reading Teacher,56(4), 326-336.
Edmunds, K., & Tancock, S. (2003). The effects on the reading motivation of fourth-grade students. Reading Research and Instruction, 42(2), 17-
38.
Miller, S., & Meece, J. (1999). Third graders’ motivational preferences for reading and writing tasks. The Elementary School Journal, 10 (1), 19-35.
Vollands, S., Topping, K., & Evans, R. (1999). Computerized self-assessment of
61
reading comprehension with the accelerated reader. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 15(3), 197-213.
62
Increasing the Literacy of Unmotivated Young Males
Increasing the Literacy of Unmotivated Young
Adolescent African American Males
Ashley Chesnut Dr. Karynne Kleine
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
In response to the question “How can I increase the literacy of the
unmotivated African American males whom I teach?,” two literature groups
were established with eight fifth grade African American male students from
a public elementary school in Milledgeville, Georgia. In order to investigate
the influence of mentors on the literacy, behavior, motivation, and social
development of these students, an African American male college sophomore
led one group, and I, a Caucasian female student teacher, led the other
literature group. Data was obtained via observations of the participants in
these two groups. Throughout this study, changes in the academic performance
and the behavior of these students were noted, and as the quality of the
relationship between the participants and their mentor increased so did the
performance of the participants either in literacy skill, motivation, or behavior.
As a result of this study, I have determined that female mentors are able to
assist young adolescent African American males in improving their literacy.
However, African American males have a significantly enhanced ability to
positively influence both the behavior and the cultural identity of this group of
students.
Advice to Future Scholars and Students
This venture has been intellectually challenging and worthwhile, but it
would have been of shorter duration had I received and thoroughly read all
of the guidelines and instructions before completing the required paperwork.
As a result, it took over four months to receive approval from the Institutional
Review Board, and although the body of the thesis has been written for several
weeks, formatting the thesis in accordance with APA and the Scholars Program
regulations was time consuming. Therefore, I suggest that individuals who
participate in a similar endeavor obtain all guidelines for this project and
thoroughly adhere to them.
Acknowledgements
Although Dr. Karynne L. M. Kleine presented me with the opportunity to
participate in the Scholars Program, my motivation for engaging in this project
63
was God. As a result of prayer and Scripture, I felt led to extend my research
project involving the literacy of young adolescent African American males.
Because of God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11, I know that He has a purpose for
my involvement in this venture. He deserves the credit for its results because it
is through His power that I have completed this task.
Dr. Karynne L. M. Kleine was my project advisor for this Scholars Project,
and she has my sincere gratitude for her insight and her willingness to direct
me through this endeavor.
My parents, Charles and Penny Chesnut, have been wonderful encouragers
and supporters throughout my life but especially with this project, and I am so
blessed to have such a wonderful family.
Finally, this project would not have been possible without the help of
Roderick Sylvester, Ryan Maraziti, Dianne Becker, and the eight incredible
young men who participated in this study.
INTRODUCTION
All students deserve a high-quality education; however, assessments
indicate that young adolescent African American males are not performing as
high as other groups of students in language arts and reading. The observed
differences in literacy skill levels and acquisition rates led me to investigate
the factors that contribute to the differing outcomes. To determine the
answer to the question “How can I increase the literacy of the unmotivated
African American males whom I teach?,” I have been prompted to examine
instructional strategies, classroom environments, and models of teacherstudent relationships that would improve the reading and the writing ability
of African American males and would encourage more active participation in
class from this group of students. It is imperative that teachers use methods
that will equally benefit students of all genders and races; however, because
of the documented literacy disparities between African American males and
males of other races (Perie, M., Grigg, W.S., & Donahue, P.L., 2005; Tatum,
2005; Taylor, 2004), attention must focus on efforts that will prevent further
discrepancies for this group of students and will promote a narrowing of
this literacy gap. In order to stimulate such results, teachers must educate
themselves on the characteristics of the African American culture and on
pedagogical methods that are specifically responsive to the needs of African
American males. Furthermore, teachers must apply such knowledge and have
the agency to reflect on their personal beliefs and teaching practices to analyze
if they are meeting the learning needs of the students whom they teach,
particularly the African American males in the classroom.
64
LITERATURE REVIEW
Instructional Strategies that Benefit African American Males
According to Triplett (2004), students’ motivation for literacy learning
is directly linked to their interests; therefore, after determining the interests
of the unmotivated African American male students in the classroom, it is
possible to use their interests to help the students select texts and participate
in learning activities. Regarding text selections, research has shown that boys
are more interested in texts that contain male characters, that are analytical
and contain facts, and that are male-oriented in the themes and issues presented
in the text. However, although interest should be used to motivate students
to read and learn, students should be exposed to all types of literature and
subjects, not just those in which they demonstrate interest. Because reading
is often associated with females, boys who see reading as a feminine activity
and do not wish to be categorized as “feminine” generally disengage from the
activity. Therefore, in order to increase their motivation to read, it could be
important to provide males with African American masculine reading role
models and to involve them in boys-only book clubs so they can be assured
that reading is not a gender-specific activity (Tatum, 2005; Taylor, 2004).
An awareness of student interests can do more than merely assist in text
selection; it can also be used to increase the class participation of African
American males through the incorporation of meaningful examples and the
selection of class activities that are aligned with the interests of the students.
Since student interests are related to student engagement, it is imperative that
teachers connect content to the interests of the African American males in the
classroom in order further their learning (Taylor, 2004).
As mentioned, student interest should influence a teacher’s selection
and suggestion of texts. However, teachers also have a responsibility to
provide students with appropriate literature, but such literature can be used
to motivate the learning of African American males because it can address
students’ concerns, values, and interests (Tatum, 2000; Tatum, 2005; Taylor,
2004). African American males in low-level reading groups would particularly
benefit from culturally responsive texts, as it would “help African American
students understand changes in history, substantiate their existence, and
critically examine the present as a mechanism for political, social, and cultural
undertakings that may arise in the future” (Tatum, 2000). Most importantly,
culturally relevant literature for African American males enables such students
to credit their existence and creates a platform for addressing issues that are
meaningful and relative to the global African American community. Moreover,
such literature would inform students of all races about topics such as
65
discrimination, the consequences of personal choices, and the inalienable rights
of Americans. Appropriate literature for African American males includes texts
that promote multiple types of literacy, such as computer or emotional literacy
(Taylor, 2004), and is at a challenging but not frustrating level for a student to
read given his skills (Tatum, 2005).
Compartmentalized instruction, often a feature of many reading
classrooms, is not a beneficial instructional strategy for African American
males (Langer, 2001); instead, this group of students needs to see and be able
to make their own connections among what they are learning in their classes,
what they already know, and what is occurring in the world. Incorporating
students’ prior knowledge is one reading instructional strategy that can
increase the comprehension of African American males and can enable students
to chunk information from their short-term memory into their long-term
memory (Roe & Smith, 2005). In addition, it builds bridges between content
and students’ knowledge and experiences, which reinforces learning (Lipman,
1995; Ladson-Billings & Henry, 1990). Within the language arts classroom,
it is necessary that vocabulary, literature, and learning activities connect and
reinforce content. As Dole, Sloan, and Trathen (as cited in Tatum, 2000, p.59)
suggests, “Using literature selections to teach students the meaning of words
is more effective than assigning vocabulary words at random.” Not only does
the language arts content need to be linked to students’ prior knowledge and
integrated with other content areas, but it also needs to relate to the real world
(Langer, 2001; Foster, 1992). When assisting students in the construction
of connections, teachers should overtly show how things connect and why
such connections are important (Langer, 2001); such discussions lead to an
increase in comprehension and provide scaffolding for students. Furthermore,
according to McCarthy (as cited in Triplett, 2004, p.215), such students need
“‘opportunities to connect their literate selves with other aspects of their
identity,’” which indicates that teachers should have an in-depth knowledge of
the students whom they teach and should use such knowledge to help students
incorporate their interests and talents into what they read and write. Regarding
student connections, Banks and Banks (1995) advocate that students be
encouraged to construct their own views and connections without dependence
on the teacher; this increases the independence of the learners, and adolescents
often view independence as a male trait. Being able to make connections to
the written world is essential for all students, but this strategy validates the
students’ knowledge and experiences, increases their comprehension, and gives
meaning to what they are learning, particularly for African American males.
Hurdles that often prevent many African American males from
achievement in language arts and reading classrooms are weak decoding skills,
inferior fluency, poor comprehension, and a lack of prior knowledge about the
66
text’s content (Roe & Smith, 2005). Because of these hurdles, it is imperative
that teachers equip students with the strategies they need to read and to
write successfully. Not having the necessary skills to read or write affects
motivation, which is why it is essential to address the areas of weakness in
students’ literacy abilities. In order to be effective in empowering students to
successfully work through tasks without relying on the teacher, such strategies
need to be modeled and explicitly taught to students (Langer, 2001). These
strategies should be taught in a manner that is appealing to African American
males, which includes activities that are concrete, promote problem-solving,
are interactive and social, and use student investigations as a method for
learning (Taylor, 2004; Banks & Banks, 1995). In order for such strategies to be
beneficial to students, the pupils need to develop an awareness about their own
reading and writing performance. In order for students to know what strategy
to use, they must first recognize the hurdle that they are facing. Langer (2001)
provides research that demonstrates the effectiveness of student reflections in
fostering metacognition in students.
Teachers should be explicit in their instruction of reading and writing
strategies, and teaching these skills by using appropriate literature (Tatum,
2000), thus heightening the connections that students are able to make by
showing that the skills being learned are actually necessary and relevant.
By teaching reading strategies to students, they are able to learn the skills
necessary to become better readers and writers. Furthermore, by providing
opportunities for them to use the skills that have been learned and practiced,
students are able to play the game while improving their development of
the related skills. It is similar to a basketball player. Players have to practice
dribbling and shooting, but in order to truly improve their abilities, players
need more than practice sessions; they need to get into the game. A player
needs opportunities to get off the bench, for skills that have been rehearsed
at practices are enhanced as the player receives such chances. “Playing in the
game” can include such activities such as literature circles, fishbowls, free
reading, free writing, and readers’ theater (Langer, 2001; Taylor, 2004; Roe &
Smith, 2005). Literature circles meet to discuss texts that have been commonly
read by the group, and in fishbowls, individuals select topics and questions
to which the participants respond. Free writing and free reading enable
individuals to select their own topics and texts, while readers’ theater engages
readers by having them act out what they read in a text. These are all highly
motivating activities for African American males because they incorporate
student interests, address multiple learning profiles, and involve social
interactions; in addition, the activities influence student learning by resulting
in closer text readings and increased comprehension for the reader.
An important element of teaching middle level students is an
67
understanding of the need and desire of this age group to engage in social
interaction with others. It is essential that teachers use instructional activities
that allow students to work collaboratively in groups. Research shows that
students are more engaged in learning when social activities are present in
the instruction, and since most middle school students value social interaction
and the activities increase academic engagement, it is a valuable instructional
strategy to use in motivating young adolescent African American males to
learn. An additional benefit of collaborative groups is that by interacting with
students of various races, religions, socioeconomic levels, and experiences,
individuals are able to hear multiple perspectives and construct knowledge in
unlimited ways (Langer, 2001; Triplett, 2004). Research suggests that such
interactions improve the learning outcomes for non-white students (Ferguson
& Mehta, 2004), and thus should be a benefit the teacher considers as he strives
to advance the social and intellectual development of minority students.
Group work can promote shared cognition, as it enables students to
achieve more as a group than could be attained individually and leads to
supportive learning environments for students (Langer, 2001). However,
such grouping is effective when groups are flexible and are not solely and
consistently set according to ability. Because African American students
are overrepresented in lower level groups, inflexible grouping prevents
interactions with students of different readiness levels (Banks, 1995), impedes
the intellectual growth of students, and negatively affects students’ selfesteem (Ferguson & Mehta, 2004). When used, cooperative learning groups
can greatly benefit African American students as well as students from other
cultures who have preferences for group activities over individual activities,
and can provide learning advantages for such students because group work is
more congruent to the social norms of particular groups of students (Foster,
1992). To recapitulate, incorporating student interests and prior knowledge,
equipping students with literacy strategies, and integrating social interactions
into the curriculum are all methods that can increase the literacy of young
adolescent African American males.
Classroom Environments that Benefit African American Males
A fundamental influence of learning is the environment in which learning
takes place (Langer, 2001). There are certain types of classroom environments
that are more conducive to learning than others for African American males.
In order to motivate African American males to learn, it is crucial that the
classroom environment reflects this desire. In this context, the teacher holds
most of the responsibility for the type of classroom environment that is
fostered, and essential components that should exist in an ideal classroom for
African American males include: high standards for success, structure, shared
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control between the teacher and the students, and a respectful classroom
community. Evidence of a teacher’s high standards for students is indicated
by the caliber of assignments, the expectations for the assignments, and the
words and attitude of the teacher (Haycock, 2001). If students are often given
low-level assignments, then it is clear that the teacher’s understanding of
the students’ abilities is fallacious. However, successful teachers of African
American males have high standards for the students’ academic performance,
which is evident in the quality of assignments that are given and in the
expectations for student work (Lipman, 1995; Tatum, 2005). Instead of
watered-down curriculum, students should have access to rigorous curriculum
that promotes higher-level thinking (Haycock, 2001). Furthermore, Tatum
(2005, p.34) explains the negative reciprocity that often exists between teachers
and African American male students, which demonstrates the importance of
presenting such students with a challenging curriculum: “On one hand, the
student thinks the teacher does not care whether he learns, so he is less apt
to make an effort. On the other hand, the teacher thinks that the student does
not care about his learning so she puts forth minimal effort to teach him.”
Teachers should have confidence in their students’ abilities, but teachers should
realize that to help some students achieve at the high levels they are capable
of, additional instruction and assistance from the teacher may be necessary
(Langer, 2001; Haycock, 2001; Taylor, 2004). In addition, Walker (1992) relates
research indicating that African American students value teachers who insist
on high quality work from the students and push students to fulfill their
potential.
Structure is another important element in transforming the classroom into
an advantageous learning environment for African American males. Providing
structure includes consistently enforcing classroom rules and following
through in what is said or promised; however, a structured classroom does
not insinuate that teachers are to be cruel or crabby (Tatum, 2000). Efficient
use of all available instruction time is another method of providing structure
for students. Although some classes may appear chaotic because students are
talking, moving around the classroom, or working in small groups, structured
classrooms are actually organized in such situations and the teachers are
affective in facilitating both the activities and the students (Billings, 1990).
Classroom structure does relate to the issue of control within a classroom,
as Brozo (as cited in Taylor, 2004, p.294) states, “‘Choice and control are two
ingredients commonly missing in instruction provided to adolescent boys
who are not reading as would be expected for their grade level and who
are disinterested and reluctant readers.’” Although African American males
characteristically desire structure in the classroom, students should not be
stifled by the structure. The teacher should share control of the classroom
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with the students, which is evident by allowing students to determine their
own reading selections; in addition, encouraging students to select their own
texts is an important factor in motivating students to enjoy reading and to
read voluntarily (Taylor, 2004). The teacher should foster independence and
personal agency in the students, while the classroom environment should be
favorable for such initiative to take place (Triplett, 2004). African American
students typically value teachers who are directive, but they do not want
dictators (Walker, 1992). Nor do young adolescent males want teachers who
treat them as dependent infants. For African American middle school males to
be motivated to learn, the teacher needs to provide structure in the classroom
and be willing to share control of the classroom with the students.
In classrooms that are dominated by individual learning activities and
a spirit of competitiveness, many African American males fail to thrive
because the young are often ego achievement-centered and will act to save
face rather than to master content (Foster, 1992). In contrast, supportive
learning communities, where young men do not have to risk failure, are
necessary for their success. Possible reasons for a lack of motivation include
a fear of embarrassment and a desire to avoid negative criticism from the
teacher (Tatum, 2000). Therefore, in order to create a supportive learning
environment, the classroom community, which includes both the students and
the teacher, must be willing to accept each other and to respect each other.
This implies that the members should listen to each other and not ridicule or
tease each other for responding with a wrong answer, for the members of the
community realize that they are responsible to each other for fulfilling their
personal obligations within the group and for helping others learn and achieve
in the class.
Teachers’ Relationship to Student Motivation and Learning
In order for teachers to be effective in instructing and motivating
African American males, it is essential that teachers know the students
and apply their observations about the students and their pedagogical
content knowledge to curriculum development. Furthermore, the quality
of relationships between teachers and students is an additional factor that
affects the motivation of African American males. Since students are not
one-dimensional beings, teachers should be attentive to more than just the
academic side of a student; what is occurring at home or with friends often
affects learning (Banks & Banks, 1995). Knowledge about students’ culture
is beneficial for understanding and for communicating with the students in
the classroom, which may require a teacher to invest in personal research and
professional development in order to increase such knowledge. Students who
are withdrawn from academics may be reached and encouraged when the
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teacher has built a rapport with the students by showing interest in them as
people not just as students and by taking initiative to talk with them about
topics beyond school. Through assessments, the teacher should develop a
recognition of students’ strengths and weaknesses, which should inform the
teacher’s instructional choices (Ladson-Billings & Henry, 1990). In conclusion,
the teacher ought to acquire a comprehensive view of students’ academic
strengths and weaknesses, interests, family, culture, and personality.
As teachers learn about the students with whom they work, such
knowledge should be applied to teaching practices. For example, Foster
(1992) has documented that the engagement and achievement of African
American students can be increased by incorporating aspects of African
American English such as alliteration, call and response, creative language
play, repetition, and rhythmic language into instruction. After acquiring an
awareness of students’ learning profiles and interests, teachers should develop
differentiated lessons that particularly address the learning styles of the
students in the class. A teacher’s instruction should reflect the readiness of
students, which can be addressed by small group instruction and by allowing
students to work at their own pace (Taylor, 2004; Tomlinson & McTighe,
2006); sensitivity to students’ readiness is critical in reaching unmotivated
students. Realistic views of students’ readiness are important, but high
standards and positive views of students are critical since it is reported that
students’ views of themselves as learners are directly related to the teacher’s
view of them (Walker, 1992).
Teachers who have positive relationships with students often report fewer
behavioral problems and increase student motivation and achievement than
teachers who do not seek to know students on a personal level (Triplett, 2004;
Aspy & Roebuck, 1977). Shujaa (1995, p.196) claims that “who is teaching is as
critical as what is taught,” which underscores the influence that teacher-student
relationships have on student motivation and student success in the classroom.
Too often, ethnicity is a factor in how students are treated by their teachers;
African Americans, especially when taught by white, middle-aged women, are
the victims of stigmas in the classroom. If a teacher is not striving to meet a
student’s emotional needs, then the teacher is choosing to strip a student of
the opportunity to achieve. Furthermore, the expectations and treatment of
teachers contribute to children’s self-efficacy, which students retain far longer
than the one hundred eighty days that they spend in a teacher’s classroom.
Thus, equity pedagogy is evident in the social interactions that take place
between teachers and students (Banks & Banks, 1995). Since it is the teachers
who principally determine what type of influence is yielded on students in
the classroom, it is essential that teachers proactively establish classroom
environments and exchanges with students that foster respect. Qualities of
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affirmative relationships include an acceptance of students’ feelings and ideas,
an effective use of praise, and a constructive method of problem solving (Aspy
& Roebuck, 1977). A mutual respect is promoted when teachers display positive
regard for students of all races and who demonstrate trustworthiness and an
appreciation for each member of the classroom community. Mentoring and
advocacy are additional components of positive relationships between students
and teachers, for it provides students with someone at school with whom they
can confer and who will advocate for them when needed (Lipman, 1995).
Influences of Literature on the Study
It is vital to emphasize that not all African American males are
unmotivated and not all perform lower than other races; however, overall,
there is a disparity between this group of students and other learners which
is often linked to a lack of literacy skill acquisition suspected to come from a
lack of self-motivation to acquire such skills. Although a significant number
of African American males are unmotivated to learn and experience difficulty
in language arts and reading, it is possible to engage students and to increase
achievement by utilizing appropriate instructional strategies, by fostering a
supportive learning environment, and by developing positive relationships
with students. Various instructional methods include the incorporation of
students’ interests into the lessons, selecting appropriate literature, making
connections with the content, arming students with strategies that will help
their areas of weakness, and in employing group instruction. Although all of
these instructional methods are applied to reading and language arts in this
context, they can be used effectively in other contents for the same purpose
of benefiting this group of students without disenfranchising the rest of the
class; in fact, the majority of these strategies will profit the class as a whole
and not just the African American male students. In relation, the classroom
environment affects all students, but to promote an atmosphere that is
conducive to African American males, qualities such as high expectations for
the success of all students, structure, shared control of the classroom between
the teacher and the students, and a supportive learning community. A third
method of increasing motivation and achievement requires the teacher to learn
about the many dimensions of the students and to use such knowledge to
craft instructional practices suited to the needs and interests of students while
developing positive relationships with them. The combination of all of these
practices leads to a practice that is culturally responsive and invites African
American males to participate and grow as learners.
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METHODLOGY
Participants in this study included eight fifth grade African
American male students from Creekside Elementary School in Milledgeville,
Georgia, and one African American college student from Georgia College &
State University. This study took place at Creekside Elementary School in
Milledgeville, Georgia. The eight students were chosen based on their reading
performance in school and recommendations from their reading teacher. This
study began in February 2008 and concluded in April 2008. Students met once
a week, outside of their academic classes, with their literature group.
This was the second round of data collection for my study on how to
improve the literacy of young adolescent African American males. Originally,
my study involved twelve seventh grade students from Georgia Military
College Prep School in Milledgeville, Georgia. Data collection with this
group of students involved Qualitative Reading Inventories, reading interest
surveys, and interviews. However, the results from this initial data collection
did not yield conclusive information regarding how to improve the literacy of
these students. I simply learned about their particular reading interests, heard
their opinions about student-teacher relationships, respect, and reading, and
pinpointed their specific literacy challenges such as fluency, comprehension,
or prior knowledge. Because this data did not yield results that related to my
question or could provide similar outcomes to other researchers in comparable
contexts, I chose to initiate a second round of data collection that focused on
the affect that role models have on young adolescent African American male
students.
In this second round of data collection, the eight participants from
Creekside Elementary were divided into two reading groups. An African
American male college student led one group, and I, their social studies student
teacher, led the second group. Within these groups, the students selected a
book to read as a group, and each student and leader received a copy of their
group’s respective book. They determined how many pages or chapters they
read in between sessions, and the adult leader initiated discussions based on the
book and had the students read a selection aloud when they met. Discussions
centered on the students’ opinions and thoughts of the text and how the
text relates to their lives; however, the group leader was free to pursue other
topics of discussions with the students. During these groups, I observed and
took notes about students’ behavior, their interactions with each other and
with the adult leader, and about whether or not the strategies and activities
implemented in the lessons appeared to improve the students’ abilities to
read or to write. As their social studies teacher, I made notes of the students’
behavior, performance, and interactions outside of the literature groups.
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The notes and observations that I recorded about the students and the
literature groups during the study enabled me to review the effectiveness of
the strategies and the methods of instruction that were used within the groups.
It enabled me to compare and contrast the relationships within the groups, the
influence that these relationships had on the students, and the students’ interest
in reading in order to determine the significance of young adolescent African
American males having African American male role models in school. I was
particularly interested in determining if the students were positively affected
by the presence of a role model or if the gender and race of the role model
altered the influence on the students.
Based on research gathered for my literature review, I learned the
significance of social activity to males, which is why the literature groups were
selected as the literacy activity in which the students would engage. Discussing
texts and other topics with an adult and with other students adds enjoyment
to the task, which can improve the students’ views towards reading. Regarding
the social component of these literature groups, my focus on the relationships
between the students and the adult role model was to determine whether or not
the students preferred to have role models of the same gender and race and to
compare and contrast the relationships between the students and role models
of the two groups. Both leaders strove to build positive relationships with the
students in their group, and using my observations, I intended to determine
how these relationships affected the motivation, the literacy, the academic
performance, and the behavior of the students in this study.
Students were allowed to choose the text that their group read in order
to increase the likelihood of their participation and their motivation to read
because their interest and their voice led to the selection of their group’s text.
However, the students had to come to a consensus regarding the book that
they read in order to ensure that all in the group chose the text. The students
selected for this study were poor readers, and because research suggests that
many boys disengage from reading because it is typically associated as a female
activity, an intention of this study was to determine whether the gender of the
role model actually affected the motivation for reading of the students in the
groups.
First of all, no illegal activities were involved in this study. Secondly, in
order to participate in this study, the students had to sign assent informs, and
parents or guardians were required to sign consent forms of the minors who
participated in this study. Accompanying the assent and consent forms were
letters that informed the individuals of the purpose and activities involved in
this study so the participants were knowingly assenting to participate. As far as
I could foresee, there was no stress related to this study, as participants could
opt out of the study at any time. In addition, participation did not affect the
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grades of the volunteers in any way, and the confidentiality of the participants
will be protected. Any video or audiotapes used in the study will be destroyed
within five years of the completion of this study. The participants are referred
to using pseudonyms in the data collection and reports involved in this study.
Results and Implications of the Research Study
In this study, my personal observations and notes were the records of the
occurrences that transpired within these groups and with the eight students in
class during the course of this research study. Group A was led by *Rodney, a
sophomore African American male middle grades major, and in this group were
five students: *Kenan, Anton, Jay, Stephen, and Javion. Kenan, Jay, and Javion
are struggling readers whose academic performance is poor, and although
Anton and Stephen are average students who enjoy reading, both of these
students are in desperate need of a positive male role model, which is why the
teachers on our fifth grade team suggested their inclusion in this study. I led
group B, and there were three students in this group: *Mark, Kevin, and Rocky.
These students were the first names suggested by the reading teacher because
their decoding skills, fluency, and comprehension are so inferior. Regarding
the results of the data collection, there were definite trends that I noticed
when reviewing my transcripts from the literature group meetings; however,
the patterns that I noticed raised more questions and suggested that further
study should be done on this topic. Results from the data collection were
catalogued into three different categories: academic performance, behavior, and
relationships.
Both of the groups engaged in the same activities: learning about each
other, selecting a book, determining how much of the book to read in between
meetings, reading a selection of the book when together, and discussing
what had been read and how it connected to what the students knew and had
experienced. Yet the responses of the students within the groups and in their
classes differed. For example, although the reading ability of the participants
in group B were lower than that of the participants in group A, the students
in group B were more faithful in reading the weekly selections than the
students in group A. Furthermore, the students in group B participated more
in their social studies class after joining this group, a class in which they all
struggled. For instance, all three of the students began taking notes in social
studies and moved seats in order to be closer to the front. There was one day
in which Rocky, who rarely participated in class before the beginning of this
study, shared with the class a comparison and connection to the content that
demonstrated higher-level thinking and close attention to the material. A result
of the reading role model and the social studies teacher being the same person
could have been a possible reason for the improvement of the three
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boys in group B, especially since our group time enabled me to build stronger
relationships with each of they boys than I had been able to do during class.
I could devote more attention to each individual when the group consisted
of three instead of when the class consisted of thirty. Therefore, positive
attention and relationships might have been a motivation for the improved
academic performance in our social studies class.
Within the reading group, group B was more focused on completing the
weekly reading assignments than group A, and although there were moments
during each session that we would discuss topics beyond the book, they
generally stayed on task. In our initial group meetings, Kevin and Rocky were
especially concerned with reading for Accelerated Reader (AR) points. Because
AR points affected the students’ grades and because their reading teacher did
not allow them to go to recess if they do not have a certain number of AR
points, this could attribute to their dedication to completing the reading. In
fact, when they were selecting a book to read, the initial factor that attracted
them to particular books was the amount of AR points that the book yielded.
However, Mark persuaded them to stop focusing on AR points and to choose
a book because they thought that they would enjoy reading it. From this, I
deduced that there was a correlation between AR points as a motivator and
Rocky, Kevin, and Mark’s dedication to complete the reading assignments and
to participate in reading selections during our meetings. Also unknown was
whether or not such motivation would be related to an intrinsic competitive
desire to have a certain number of AR points, an external aspiration to obtain
enough points to participate in recess, or an internal motivator to please their
reading teacher or myself.
In group B, all three of the boys clamored to read out loud when we met.
However, in all of the sessions of group A, only three of the participants
would volunteer to read portions aloud, and these three students were the
weaker readers in the group. It is interesting to note that group A read an
easier text than group B and that the students in group A had fewer problems
with decoding and fluency than group B, yet the students in group B were
more willing to read aloud than those in group A. After spending eight weeks
in the classroom with these students, I noticed that the students in group B
were friends before these literature groups began and that in group A the
boys were more concerned with upholding their image. For example, Stephen
remained aloof, Jay was concerned with his appearance, Kenan tried to be a
“ladies man” and to appear tough, Anton was sarcastic and was quick to bully
others, and Javion was too naïve to notice that the others in the group had
established a standard “cool pose.” The two who did not read aloud in this
group were Stephen and Anton, and from my host teacher, I learned that both
of these boys have extremely unstable home situations. Based on Abraham
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Maslow’s theory regarding a hierarchy of needs, it is my conjecture that the
safety and emotional needs of these students negatively affected how they
behaved and how they wanted others to perceive them, which influenced
whether or not they would read in front of other people. Smith and Wilhelm
(2002) report that males are less likely to discuss or respond to their reading
and that the frequency and severity of the criticism that they receive for
weaknesses in reading and writing is more than girls receive. These insights
are possible reasons for why Stephen and Anton were not as willing to
participate as the other students. They may have had negative past experiences
with reading aloud, or they might not have wanted to appear weak or to be
ostracized for possibly making a mistake.
In both groups, the reading role models used various strategies to help
the participants while reading. For example, both Rodney and I helped our
respective participants create a purpose for reading, which guides readers by
helping them focus on the important ideas and critical information that is in
the text (Tovani, 2004). We were explicit in explaining such strategies to the
students, describing that such strategies can be applied to other texts, and
providing the students with opportunities to practice such strategies within
our groups. For example, we both asked our students to establish a purpose for
reading various chapters based on what happened in the last chapter. In group
A, Stephen suggested that their book was about segregation after reading the
back cover, and one of the purposes that this group set for the entire book was
to determine whether or not the book actually discussed segregation. Stephen’s
suggestion enabled their group to discuss the meaning of segregation, whether
or not the boys had ever experienced prejudice, and whether or not they would
have been scared to live in the 1960s when racism and prejudice towards
African Americans was more prominent in America. After Rodney explained
the definitions of racism and prejudice, each of the participants, including
Rodney, mentioned that they had experienced both racism and prejudice. In
Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males, Alfred Tatum (2005) comments
that black males should think about what it means to be a black male in
America, despised because of one’s skin color, the descendants of an enslaved
group, distrusted because of one’s race, and subjected to low expectations.
Having taught two semesters in situations where the majority of my students
were African American, I have realized that I do not truly know the answers to
these questions because I have not experienced any of these things. I can try to
empathize and understand, but honestly, I cannot relate beyond a certain point
because of my different background and my inexperience with such situations.
My ability as a white female to identify with African American males is affected
by these dissimilarities, but because African American males share a similar
culture and answers to these questions, African American males would
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not be as limited as me in such circumstances. From my student-teaching
experiences, I am convinced that African American males assuredly benefit
from having mentors with whom they can identify and who share similar life
experiences, but even if my race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, and
prior experiences are completely different than the students with whom I work,
I can and should still advocate for these students, assist them in learning, and
strive to establish positive relationships with them.
Regarding the behavior of the participants, I noticed that the students’
behavior was vastly improved when they were in the groups than when they
were in their classes. I attribute this to the smaller number of students in the
groups as compared to the classrooms. For example, the ratio of adults to
students in the groups was 1:5 and 1:3 respectively, but in the classroom, the
ratio was approximately 1:28. With these smaller ratios, the students were
receiving more attention and were able to build closer relationships with the
adult than they were in their classrooms. It is a challenge to truly get to know
students and to give them the attention that they need when one teaches one
hundred twenty students in four hours. One reason why role models and
mentors are so beneficial to students is because they often work with smaller
numbers of students and are, therefore, able to supply more attention to the
students. In relation, with smaller numbers in both class sizes and in mentor
groups, it is possible to better assist students in improving their academics
because there are fewer students to divide the teacher’s attention.
In relation to book selection, group B’s participants deliberated between
more challenging texts than did the students in group A, although they
admitted that their primary concern was originally the number of AR points
the book listed. However, other factors on which Rocky, Kevin, and Mark
commented included texts with engaging covers, books that were part of a
series with which they were familiar, or books that were movies. In fact, Kevin
tried to convince Mark and Rocky to choose Around the World in Eighty Days,
and when I asked him why he was so dogmatic about selecting this book, he
said it was because the cover looked “cool.” Of the nine books they originally
suggested, only one is not a movie, and all of the books that they selected
are either fantasy or science fiction, which is more challenging to read than
biographies or realistic fiction.
In contrast, group A originally looked at picture books and short-chapter
books when determining their text selection; however, Rodney encouraged
them to pick something a bit more challenging. Their choices leaned towards
books that were easy to read, contained pictures, or involved football or
basketball, such as a biography of Brett Favre. With all males, research
documents that males prefer activities that they feel competent in doing
(Willhelm & Smith, 2002). One reason why I think group A’s participants
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originally chose easier books was because they felt more confident about their
ability to read them; this sense of competence and confidence is crucial to
the male ego, especially when interacting with a stranger. Csikszentmihalyi’s
theory regarding flow experiences centers on feelings of competence and
control (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), and in relation to the literacy of young
adolescent African American males, they will not willingly engage in an
activity such as reading if they know that they have insufficient skills to
complete the activity because they feel like it is a situation in which they have
no control. An effective use of praise, an abundance of encouragement, and a
supportive environment are all conditions that a teacher or role model could
use to give a student a sense of control and to support them in taking a risk
in order to increase their competence in reading. Because we were unable to
obtain six copies of a Brett Favre biography within the week, they chose The
Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Willhelm and
Smith (2002) remark that boys generally enjoy escapism, which could account
for group B’s preference of fantasy and science fiction books; however, they
report that boys also like to read about their interests and hobbies, which
relates to group A’s original selections.
Regarding text selection, this is attributed to the interests of the particular
students involved; however, it was crucial that the students chose their text
because of the link between interest and literacy motivation (Triplett, 2004;
Willhelm & Smith, 2002). In addition, my observations from this study lead
me to believe that student motivation for reading can be affected by their role
model’s enthusiasm for reading. For example, the students in group B chose
to read the first book in the Harry Potter series, and after they had selected
this book, I shared with them how I had started reading this series over the
Christmas break and how they are some of the best books that I have ever read
because each chapter is a different adventure. We discussed the cover of the
book and what types of adventures we thought Harry and his friends would
have based on the cover’s illustration. Stephen from group A began reading
this book after hearing Mark, Rocky, and Kevin discussing it. My excitement
for reading could correlate with their discipline and motivation in reading their
assigned portions.
With group A, Rodney frontloaded the book when he introduced it to
the boys by telling them how humorous the book is and how the two brothers
always seem to have something funny happen to them. The boys accepted this
book as their choice after he suggested it, and since they started reading it, the
common statement that I heard each of the group A participants utter related
to how comical this book is. To accept a book which has a dull cover and about
which they knew nothing indicates that they were influenced by Rodney’s
comments regarding the book. Since their comments regarding the
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book mimic Rodney’s introductory statements about this text, it is possible
that their relationship with Rodney influenced their perspective towards the
text and towards reading. A possible reason for why role models can influence
perceptions towards particular books or towards reading is because of the
social factor. In “Reading Don’t Fix No Chevy’s,” Smith and Willhelm (2002)
discuss the effect that socialization has on males and reading. This can include
reading with others, which enormously increases a male’s intrinsic motivation
and engagement in the activity, but can also extend to reading a book because
it was suggested or given by someone with whom the individual has a
relationship. I believe that this played a factor in the participants’ views toward
their respective books.
Although I knew the participants and taught each of them for an entire
month before we began the literature groups, I was shocked by the difference
in the interactions that the participants had with Rodney and myself. Although
the students in both groups enjoyed the sessions and routinely asked to
meet more than once a week, the boys in group A treated Rodney differently
than they did me. Although I was their social studies teacher and had more
interactions with them, their connection and respect for Rodney seemed
instantaneous. With Stephen in particular, it took me two months to earn his
respect for my authority, yet he demonstrated such respect towards Rodney
in their first meeting when Rodney was a stranger to him. During the first
meeting of group A when the participants were introducing themselves
to Rodney, they each told him these absurd nicknames that they obviously
made up on the spur of the moment and which neither my host teacher or
I had ever heard anyone call them. However, it was obvious that they were
trying to impress Rodney and that they wanted him to like them, and Rodney
took them seriously and called them each by their nicknames. In fact, it was
not until about a week later that Rodney knew their real names. I did not
have this experience either on the first day with group B, the first day that I
taught at this placement or the first time I spoke with these same students.
The relationship that the participants in group A had with Rodney was quite
different than the relationship that the students in group B had with me. For
instance, the students in group A sought Rodney’s opinion and thoughts
about topics beyond school while the boys in group B were not as open with
me regarding topics extending beyond school. This could be attributed to
the fact that I was their teacher and Rodney was viewed more as a friend or
a cool college student, or it could be because he is a male or is an African
American while I am a white female. The difference in the relationships was
not necessarily negative because both relationships between the group leader
and the students were positive, but it does show that Rodney and I had varying
abilities to influence the students. I suggest that his abilities to influence the
80
students were greater than mine because he had more in common with them
than I did. It is necessary to explain that academics are important, but a child is
more than just a student. In order to improve the student, one must address the
child as a whole and realize that a child’s home life, prior experiences at school,
physical well-being, and friendships will affect the child’s performance at school
(Banks & Banks, 1995). Role models and mentors can assist students’ academic
performance by attending to the whole child and not just their struggles with
reading comprehension or decoding, which is why both literature group leaders
invited and welcomed such discussions by the participants.
Even after being with the students for a month, I still used the first session
and segments of the other sessions to ask Mark, Rocky, and Kevin questions
and to get to know them better, and Rodney did the same with group A.
Although we both asked questions of the students in our respective groups,
the boys in group A took more initiative in asking Rodney questions and in
bringing up topics for discussion than the participants in group B. Several of
the questions and discussion topics that they mentioned were personal, such
as things that scare them. The fact that the students replied to such topics
indicated that they trusted the group members enough to willingly appear
vulnerable in front of them. After conversing about this, Rodney and I both
felt like the students initiated such discussions because they wanted to know
his fears and his responses to the questions. We arrived at this conclusion
because of the body language of the participants, for each time they asked
such a question, they leaned into the middle of the circle and looked straight
at Rodney. It was as if they wanted his confirmation that it was acceptable to
have fears or that one could still be masculine and have an interest in art. Smith
and Wilhelm (2002) state that males receive their sense of masculinity from
other males. In relation, male role models and mentors have a greater ability
to influence African American males because they can answer questions such
as what it means to be a male. Since reading and writing are often viewed as
feminine activities, having male role models for reading assists male students
in perceiving literacy as a masculine and feminine activity, which increases
student motivation. In relation, knowing that a gap exists between the literacy
skills of African American males and males of other races, incorporating
reading role models and mentors in schools could improve literacy
discrepancies in our country by focusing on the whole child and presenting
reading as a masculine activity.
When I began my second round of data collection, it was my original
conjecture that the participants would be influenced more by the presence
of an African American male role model than by a white female role model.
Although my conjecture was accurate, I had understated the affect that would
result from the students having an adult advocate who is a white female. For
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example, the participants in group B yielded more improvements in their
literacy and academic performance; however, this could have been attributed
to my preparation as a language arts teacher while Rodney had no such
training. Ultimately, I realized that it is possible for me to positively affect
the literacy and the behavior of young adolescent African American males
through establishing positive relationships with the students and by investing
more of my time and attention into them; however, because of my inability to
understand what it is like to be male and African American, I have also realized
the necessity of providing African American male students with role models
with whom they can relate and who can assist them in viewing literacy as an
appropriate activity for males.
REFERENCES
Aspy, D. N., & Roebuck, F. N. (1977). Kids don’t learn from people they don’t
like. Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press, Inc.
Banks, C.A.M. & Banks, J.A. (1995). Equity pedagogy: An essential component
of multicultural education. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 152-158.
Retrieved May 14, 2007, from Galileo.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
New York: Harper and Row.
Ferguson, R.F., & Mehta, J. (2004). An unfinished journey: The legacy of
Brown and the narrowing of the achievement gap. Phi Delta Kappan,
85, 656-669.
Foster, M. (1992). Sociolinguistics and the African American community:
Implications for literacy. Theory Into Practice, 31(4), 303-311.
Haycock, K. (2001). Closing the achievement gap. Educational Leadership, 58,
6-11.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Henry, A. (1990). Blurring the borders: Voices of
African liberatory pedagogy in the United States and Canada. Journal
of Education, 172(2), 72-88. Retrieved May 15, 2007, from Galileo.
Langer, J.A. (2001). Beating the odds: Teaching middle and high school
students to read and write well. American Educational Research
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Journal, 38(4), 837-880.
Lipman, P. (1995). “Bringing out the best in them”: The contribution of
culturally relevant teachers to educational reform. Theory Into
Practice, 34(3), 202-208. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from Galileo.
Perie, M., Grigg, W.S., & Donahue, P.L. (2005). The Nation’s Report Card:
Reading 2005. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved
May 21, 2007, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/
main2005/2006451.asp#section1.
Roe, B.D., & Smith, S.H. (2005). Teaching Reading in Today’s Middle Schools.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Smith, M. W., & Wilhelm, J. D. (2002). Reading Don’t Fix No Chevy’s.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shujaa, M.J. (1995). Cultural self meets cultural other in the African American
experience: Teachers’ responses to a curriculum content reform.
Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 194-201. Retrieved May 17, 2007, from
Galileo.
Tatum, A. (2000). Breaking down barriers that disenfranchise African
American adolescent readers in low-level tracks. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44(1), 52-64. Retrieved May 15, 2007,
from Galileo.
Tatum, A. (2005). Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males. Portland,
Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
Taylor, D.L. (2004). “Not just boring stories”: Reconsidering the gender gap
for boys. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48(4), 280-288.
Tomlinson, C.A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating Differentiated Instruction
& Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tovani, C. (2004). Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Portland, Maine:
Stenhouse Publishers.
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Triplett, C.F. (2004). Looking for a struggle: Exploring the emotions of a
middle school reader. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy,
48(3), 290-298. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from Galileo.
Walker, E.V.S. (1992). Falling asleep and failure among African American
students: Rethinking assumptions about process teaching. Theory
Into Practice, 31(4), 321-327. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from Galileo.
84
Implications of Writer’s Workshop
The Implications of Writers’ Workshop
in Fifth Grade
Joyce Cicalese
Faculty Sponsor
CONTEXT
Last year the state of Georgia implemented a new writing assessment
for fifth grade students. Teachers received their initial training on the new
assessment in August. However, most teachers continued to teach the way they
had always taught writing, and as a result, the statewide scores did not meet
the Georgia standards for writing
Heritage Elementary School, where I am the literacy coach, is a school that
is known for its good test scores (CRCT average 89%), so when the fifth grade
writing scores came back this year at 43% we knew we had a problem that
needed immediate attention. Teachers do not feel comfortable teaching writing
and often this subject is set aside due to a lack of time. In addition, students
typically do not like to write. I have observed classrooms at other schools in
which students participate in a writers’ workshop approach. The students seem
more engaged and, as a result, the writing they produce is of a better quality.
As the literacy coach at Heritage Elementary School, I am planning to
work with the fifth grade teachers to implement a writers’ workshop approach
for the teaching of writing. I will use a “gradual release of responsibility”
model of coaching as I work with these teachers. This will involve my entering
the classrooms to model the writer’s workshop to the class and to continue to
observe and coach the teachers as they become familiar with this new approach.
I will provide ongoing support by continued demonstrations in all areas
of writing and working with teachers to understand the new state writing
assessment process.
Writer’s workshop is an approach in a comprehensive literacy program
that requires teachers to set aside one hour for daily writing instruction and
practice. Writer’s workshop follows the following format: a 10-15 minute minilesson on some aspect of writing and 40-45 minutes of independent writing
by students. During this time the teacher is conferring individually, or in small
groups, with students. During the conference the teacher reads the writing
and asks the student to give input about their progress. The teacher provides
specific commentary on the student’s writing. The teacher keeps a log of these
conferences, referring to them on an ongoing basis so that she has a historical
record of the student’s progress (or lack of).
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By providing students with feedback through the use of specific
commentary and encouraging student assessment and reflection about their
own writing, I hope we can work collaboratively to change students’ attitudes
towards writing.
School Profile
Heritage Elementary School is the largest elementary school in Bibb
County. 866 students were enrolled for the 2005-2006 school year. There is
an ethnically diverse and racially balanced student population which includes
71 special education and 17 Limited English Proficiency students. Fifty-three
percent of the students qualified for free and/or reduced lunch.
The school employs one principal, two assistant principals, two counselors,
one literacy coach, one media specialist and one media clerk, two physical
education teachers, and forty-four classroom teachers (pre-kindergarten
through fifth grade). In the area of special education, Heritage has a self
contained MOD class, one resource teacher, one speech teacher, and two special
education teachers who use an inclusion model in regular education classrooms.
Heritage Elementary School is five years old and consistently meets AYP
(Adequate Yearly Progress), receiving a rating of Distinguished from this
organization. Heritage does not have Title One status and therefore receives no
additional funding.
Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores at Heritage
Elementary school average 89 percent according to the states annual report
card.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In a school where 89.7 percent of students generally score in the meets or
exceeds category on state tests, it came as a shock that Heritage did so poorly
on the state writing assessment. Only 43 percent of our students met the state
writing standard. Teachers who are considered to be highly qualified are at a
loss as to why their teaching methods are no longer working. Our fifth grade
classes are large, averaging twenty-six students in each of five classes, which
are within the state guidelines. Fifth grade is departmentalized with each of
the five teachers teaching a different subject. The fifth grade writing teacher is
left with about forty-five minutes per day to teach writing and language arts. In
addition to not having enough time, teachers are uncomfortable when teaching
writing. They are often unaware of good mentor texts, authors and current
research about teaching writing. Teachers are often not writers themselves
and therefore enthusiasm is missing when trying to teach it. Generally,
students themselves do not like to write. As the literacy coach, I plan to work
collaboratively with the fifth grade teachers in maximizing the time for writing
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Impications of Writer’s Workshop
by implementing writing workshop.
As a result of the circumstances described above, my research question is:
Will the implementation of “Writer’s Workshop” lead to improved writing
scores for fifth-grade students at Heritage Elementary School? The researcher
will work with the two fifth-grade teachers teaching six language arts classes
at Heritage Elementary School in Bibb County to establish writers’ workshop
in their classrooms.
This study is significant to education as a whole because writing scores
in this county are appalling. Even college-bound students often need to take
remedial writing courses before they can enter college. In the business world,
employers consistently state that the students coming to them are not prepared
for the technical writing involved in many jobs.
This study is significant to the school because we were embarrassed by
our students’ performance and want to improve our status in the system.
This study is significant to teachers because they will be exposed to current
research based practice for teaching reading. Their student’s test scores will
improve. Many schools now have a place on teacher evaluation instruments to
assess teachers based on their students standardized test scores. The study is
significant to students because without good writing skills they will not be able
to meet the demands of middle and high school writing classes.
Defining the Terms
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is determined by looking at three factors:
test scores, attendance, and student participation in taking the test.
Gradual Release of Responsibility Model is a model that includes a “to,
with, and by approach to teaching and learning.” In this instance, the coach will
model or demonstrate to the teachers, they will then work side-by-side with the
coach as they teach students, gradually assuming all responsibility for teaching
their students.
Literacy Coach is a teacher without a classroom who helps other teachers
to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and supports them as they
endeavor to improve their practice. A literacy coach takes a non-evaluative role
when observing teacher practice.
Writers’ Workshop is an approach in a comprehensive literacy program
that requires teachers to set aside one hour for daily writing instruction and
practice including a 10-15 minute mini-lesson on some aspect of writing
and 40-45 minutes of independent writing by students. During this time the
teacher is conferring individually or in small groups with students about their
writing and providing specific commentary. The workshop concludes with a
5-10 minute sharing activity.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
This review of literature will include three ways of looking at Writers’
Workshop. I will examine the literature according to three criteria: teachers
as writers, students as writers, and the implementation of writers’ workshop
as teacher methodology for teaching writing. The present review is limited to
elementary teachers and students.
“Would you want to take dance lessons from a teacher who has never
danced, or piano lessons from a teacher who doesn’t play?” Fletcher and
Portalupi (2001) ask this important question in their book Writing Workshop:
The Essential Guide.
My review of the literature clearly shows that teachers who write are
better teachers of writing. “Teachers who write are in a better position to
guide students, provide useful feedback, and show the real value of writing”
(Augsburger, 1998). Augsburger (1998) and Grace (1999) both state that when
a teacher is also a writer, she is aligned with the problems that students as
writers face. She is aware of the struggles of a writer and cognizant of the fact
that writing is difficult. She knows what it feels like to receive feedback and in
turn this helps her to provide feedback to her students.
The authors go on to state that when a teacher writes she is part of the
community of writers within the classroom. She shows them her awkwardness
and makes herself vulnerable. A shift occurs in the classroom from the teacher
as omniscient to the teacher as a learner. The teacher as a writer is reaching
out to the students. As Augsburger (1998) poignantly states,
When I remember the agony of revision, the trials of collaboration,
writer’s block, deadlines, all-night and all-day writes, I know what I am really
asking my students to do when I ask them to write. (Augsburger, 1998)
Writing is a powerful form of communication and a teacher that spends
time writing shows the value of writing to her students. The teacher becomes
a model for working through the process of writing, not an assigner of
isolated tasks in writing. Graves, too, supports this when he states “I find
that teachers who write themselves as well as write with their students offer
their students greater flexibility and understanding” (Graves, 2004). While
I wholeheartedly agree with these educators, I am concerned about teachers
writing in the classroom. In my experience, when teachers are engaged in this
way the students have a tendency to be off-task. Students profit more from
the teacher being out among them monitoring and conferring with students.
Teachers must see themselves as writers, but be willing to commit to writing
outside of school.
I am of the opinion that most students do not like to write. They sit with
blank stares and empty notebooks waiting for divine inspiration and day after
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day what finally gets written is poorly constructed and empty of ideas. Gau
(2003) explains the probable cause for this when she states “students exhibit
a reluctance to write due to a lack of teacher training, poor teacher attitude,
students’ poor writing skills, students’ low self-esteem, structure of the school
day…” (Gau, Hermanson, Logar, & Smerek, 2003). I couldn’t agree more.
In my experience, I’ve found that educators make time for what they value.
When teachers consistently, year after year, push writing aside for other more
important subject matter and the federal government does not even include
writing in NCLB, what message are we imparting to our students? Gau et al
(2003) continue to state that in their research “increasing writing time and
providing frequent opportunities to write student attitudes toward writing
improved.” This is supported by (Strech, 1994) when she did action research on
the implementation of writer’s workshop in her third grade class. She found
that writing gained credibility with the students when it was done for authentic
purposes and in a student-centered writing workshop approach. “Results
showed that more students reported a positive attitude towards writing after
this treatment” (Strech, 1994). Bayer also found that when students participated
in a writer’s workshop approach to writing the “percentage of children who
looked forward to writing time almost doubled” (Bayer, 1999). Ray (2001)
illustrates:
The only way for students to understand writing as something they can
use in their lives (the driving force behind writing workshops) is for them to
have unlimited opportunities to find uses for it, to find their own what-they’llwrite-abouts. (Ray, 2001, 67)
During writers’ workshop, students have the time to write for authentic
purposes. “Writing is a process of discovery in which the teacher supplies the
structure and the students engage in the process” (Hudson, 1982).
“Writers need to talk about their writing. In writing workshops teachers
make room for students to get the different kinds and amounts of talk that
they need as writers” (Ray, 2001). Portalupi & Fletcher (2001) concur with
this when they state, “writing workshop challenges the idea that teachers talk
and students listen. Writing workshop puts students into an active stance,
both when they write and when they confer.” Anderson (2001) addresses the
importance of writing conferences to guide students to become better writers:
The point of the writing conference is to help students become better
writers. By “better writers” I mean writers who can use the strategies,
techniques, and ways of thinking about writing that we teach them
in today’s conferences on their own later when they work on future
pieces… It’s our job to invite students to set an agenda for the
conference… to ask questions about the students writing…to look at
student writing, to listen to student responses and give them feedback.
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(Anderson, 2001, 153)
The current thinking is that workshops allow students the complete package
of writing instruction: the direct instruction, the time to engage, and the
specific feedback necessary to grow as writers.
However, there are some real concerns when classroom teachers try to
put workshop into practice. Most “experts” advocating writing workshop
gloss over factors such as administrative support and student behavior (Taylor,
2000). Peg Sudol, a fifth grade teacher, encountered some real problems when
implementing writers’ workshop in her fifth grade classroom. She had difficulty
finding the time to do workshops. Another area of difficulty was “managing
the difference between her curriculum requirements which required student
to do certain types of writing, and Graves’, Calkins’, and Atwell’s insistence
that students write whatever they please” (Sudol & Sudol, 1991). Other critics
state that writing workshop lacks structure. Still others argue that writing
workshop as directed by Lucy Calkins is becoming too rigid and prescriptive
(Feinberg, 2007).
Recently, Donald Graves reviewed his last twenty years of writing
workshop. He compared his original thoughts to his beliefs today (Graves,
2004). Although some of his original beliefs about children wanting to write
are still applicable today, they are tempered by the research of the last 20
years. He credits Lucy Calkins with the advent of the mini-lesson in writing
workshop (Graves, 2004). This allows for explicit teaching in a more expedient
way than by conferences alone. He now believes that children’s writing should
not be limited to just personal narrative. New state writing standards and
assessment stress idea, organization, style and conventions as being important
to writing. Conventions account for only 20% in the overall assessment of
a writing piece in the Georgia state writing assessment, yet this is the only
area of writing that most teachers teach. Writing is either taught out of the
English book in isolated segments of language that students practice on skill
sheets or as a formulaic process.
In summary, most of the literature concurs that writing workshop
provides a better way to teach writing. It allows the structure and explicit
instruction necessary for fostering student writers.
METHODOLOGY
This study takes place at Heritage Elementary School in Bibb County,
Georgia. Throughout my study I worked with two fifth grade language arts
teachers responsible for teaching a total of 151 students in six classes. The
fifth grade at Heritage is departmentalized and the language arts teachers are
responsible for teaching English, reading, writing and spelling during a ninety
90
minute block of time each day.
To gather the data for my research, I conducted interviews with both
language arts teachers prior to and upon completion of my study. I also
administered two student attitude surveys during this time. I used the state
writing rubric to analyze two sets of timed writing samples given eight weeks
apart.
I began the research by sending out a parental permission letter to all the
fifth grade students at Heritage Elementary School. Of the 151 letters that I
sent out, 101 were returned. I then rolled the dice and arrived at the number
three. From this I pulled every third student. This became my working sample
of thirty-three students. I then reviewed the writing pre-assessment for these
students. All fifth grade students in Georgia are given this assessment during
the first two weeks of school. Students are given one of two prompts for
writing a persuasive essay. Using the state writing rubric, I analyzed those
samples. I then administered an attitude survey to the fifth grade students.
Using the surveys for my sample group, I made a graph of my findings. I
interviewed the two fifth grade writing teachers to determine a baseline for
their feelings and preparedness for teaching through writing workshop. I
continued to have weekly conversations with the teachers. Throughout the
study I observed and worked with both teachers and students during writing
workshop. At the end of the study I gave the students another writing
assessment and another attitude survey and compared the results.
Teacher Interviews
My interviews with teachers were very informal. I used open-ended
questions to guide the conversation in the hopes of getting more thoughtful
answers that were not being led by my questioning techniques. In the
preplanning interview I used these questions:
1. In what ways did your balanced literacy training prepare you for
teaching Writers’ Workshop in your classroom?
a. Teacher 1 – It made me realize that they need more time to
write and collect “seed ideas” for entries.
b. Teacher 2 – It was a very different way of teaching than
I was used to. I had to change the way I was teaching and
integrate the grammar skills within writing.
2. What barriers do you have to overcome before you can begin Writers’
Workshop?
a. Teacher 1 – We did not have writing journals on our supply
list last year so we are hoping parents will send them in.
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b. Teacher 2 – Finding the time to plan. Everything was new
and I was starting completely over. I could not use plans from
last year.
3. What’s working for you as you implement Writers’ Workshop?
a. Teacher 1 – Modeling. The students try to copy you. Using
the mentor texts to demonstrate good writing also helps. The
students try to use those strategies in their own writing.
b. Teacher 2 – Students are more eager to write now.
4. How do you feel about your students as writers?
a. Teacher 1 – They can’t write. They are low in all the skills
necessary to writing.
b. Teacher 2 – They can’t write. I am amazed at how little they
know about writing when they get to fifth grade.
5. In what ways can I support you as you begin to teach writing through
Writers’ Workshop?
a. Teacher 1 – I need you to model different craft lessons and
help me select mentor texts I can use to model good writing.
b. Teacher 2 – I need you to come in and model lessons, help me
find books to use, and help me integrate the English skills
with writing. Also, I need help assessing writing with the
new rubric.
During the reflective conference I used the following questions to steer the
interview:
1. Tell me about some of your successes as you worked through the
implementation of Writers’ Workshop.
a. Teacher 1 – The framework of the workshop format; minilesson, independent writing, and sharing works well. We are
writing almost every day. Students seem to enjoy writing
more.
b. Teacher 2 – I’ve noticed light bulbs coming on when they see
the relationship between stages of writing.
2. Tell me about some of the challenges you faced and/or are still facing.
a. Teacher 1 – It is difficult to get grades. The county has not
changed the report card or the grading requirements to
match this new method of teaching. Also, I don’t have
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b.
enough classroom space for all the students I have. Getting
around to all the students to confer with them about their
writing is also difficult.
Teacher 2 – Time! I’m still frustrated trying to get it all in.
The room arrangement is a challenge. I just don’t have the
space. I’ve had to ban questions like “How much do we have
to write?” Teaching students to revise and edit…
3. How have your students grown as writers.
a. Teacher 1 – They are writing more, but we still have a long
way to go.
b. Teacher 2 – The pre-assessment showed that they were not
able to write. I have seen improvement. They are more eager
to write and are writing longer.
4. What are your overall feelings about Writers’ Workshop as the way to
teach writing to fifth grade students?
a. Teacher 1 – They seem to enjoy writing this way. Most of
them like to share. They also like being able to talk first and
brainstorm ideas with each other. I am still concerned about
spending all this time on writing and not being able to get all
my grades.
b. Teacher 2 – I have a hard time understanding how they are
supposed to be writing all the time. I’m still concerned that I
am not teaching enough.
Analysis of teacher interviews: The teachers expressed frustration
about many of the aspects of implementing Writers’ Workshop.
Time and the amount of paperwork were the main concerns. Using
the state rubric to assess writing is very time consuming and cannot
even be used for the county grading requirements. At this point in
the interview I asked them about their own personal writing. One
teacher just laughed. Both teachers indicated that they did not have
the time or the energy to write at the end of the day. Since some of
the philosophy behind writing workshop is based in the teachers’
willingness to struggle as a writer, I am concerned about the impact
this will have on the knowledge about how and what to teach students.
(This ties into what Teacher 2 expressed on question 5.) Overall, it’s
very difficult to get everything in. They also felt that it was harder to
determine if they were covering everything. It was much easier to just
go through the teachers’ edition page by page. Yet overall, they were
seeing the results in student writing and planned to continue teaching
93
through Writers’ Workshop this year.
Student Attitude Surveys
I conducted student writing attitude surveys before and after my study.
This instrument contained both a Likert scale of ten statements using “Rarely,
Sometimes, and Usually” as the criteria. I then asked five questions. The first
related to time spent writing and was a multiple-choice question. The other
four were open-ended questions.
1. I enjoy writing at home.
a. Pretest – 28% of students indicated that they rarely enjoyed
writing at home; 62% indicated sometimes and only 10%
chose usually.
b. Posttest – 24% of students chose rarely, 38% chose
sometimes, and 38% chose usually.
Analysis: This reflected a shift towards more frequent enjoyment
of writing at home. The percentage of students who chose rarely
decreased by 4% but the students who shifted from sometimes to
usually increased by 28%.
2. I like writing in school.
a. Pretest – Again, 28% of students indicated that they rarely
liked writing in school. 41% indicated that they sometimes
liked writing and 31% chose usually.
b. Posttest – 28% of students chose rarely, 48% chose
sometimes and 24% chose usually.
Analysis: This reflected a subtle shift downwards in the amount of
students who liked to write in school. While conferring with students
during the study, many told me there was not enough time to write.
They would just get into it and have to stop. It took them a lot of time
to think of what to write.
3. I think writing is boring.
a. Pretest – 31% rarely thought that writing was boring, 48%
said it is sometimes boring, and 21% said it is usually boring.
b. Posttest – 45% of students now rarely think writing is
boring. 34% think it is sometimes boring and usually
remained exactly the same at 21%.
Analysis: There was a 14% increase in the amount of students that
think writing is rarely boring. Again, in conferring with students
during workshop time they indicated that they liked being able to
94
choose what they wanted to write about.
4. I don’t know what to write about.
a. Pretest – 31% indicated that this was rarely true for them.
48% indicated that it was sometimes true and 21% indicated it
was usually true.
b. Posttest – 24% thought that this was rarely true. 66%
indicated that it was sometimes true and 10% indicated that it
was usually true.
Analysis: Again, I am seeing a slight increase in the number of
students who are able to find things to write about. This can be
attributed to the fact that they are allowed to choose their own
topics. During Writers’ Workshop students are encouraged to talk,
brainstorm, and share stories. Often one student’s story makes another
student think of something in their own lives.
5. I don’t know how to write stories.
a. Pretest – 34% indicated that they rarely felt this way. 42%
said they sometimes felt like this, 24% said they usually felt
that they didn’t know how to write stories.
b. Posttest – 69% rarely felt that they didn’t know how to write
stories. 21% sometimes felt this way, and 10% usually felt this
way.
Analysis: This statement showed the most significant gain in my
study. An increase of 35 % shows that students believe they know how
to write stories.
I feel that a lot of this increase is due to the fact that during writers’
workshop students collect “entries” everything is not scored. Specific
commentary is given by the teacher and other students to the writer
to improve his writing without the threat of grades.
6. I don’t know how to make my writing sound better.
a. Pretest – 34% rarely felt that they did not know how to make
their writing sound better. 45% sometimes felt this way and
21% usually felt like this.
b. Posttest – 21% rarely felt that they did not know how to
make their writing sound better, 62% sometimes felt this was
a problem and 10% felt it was usually a problem for them.
Analysis: The change in response to this question indicates to me that
the students are becoming aware of themselves as writers. 13% of
students moved from the rarely to the sometimes option. 62% now
95
sometimes feel that there is more to learn. Through the use of mentor
texts they are becoming familiar with techniques that good writers
use. They are experimenting in their own writing but often do not
have the skill or the vocabulary necessary to make it work for them.
7. I like to share my writing with others.
a. Pretest – 34% of students rarely like to share their writing,
41% sometimes like to share and 24% usually like to share.
b. Posttest – 31% of students rarely like to share their writing,
38% sometimes like to share and 31% usually like to share.
Analysis: This score stayed fairly consistent between the pre- and
posttests. Although there was a slight increase in the students’
willingness to share which might be attributed to the quality of the
writing, I think it is more likely that the format of Writers’ Workshop
expects sharing in some way to be part of the process of writing.
8. I choose to write in my spare time.
a. Pretest – 38 % of students said that they rarely choose to
write in their spare time when there are other more “fun”
things to do. 52% said they sometimes chose to write in their
spare time. 10% indicated that they usually choose to write
during their spare time.
b. Posttest – 28% of students said that they rarely choose to
write during their spare time, 38% said they sometime choose
this, 34% said they usually choose this.
Analysis: This score showed the students have a greater interest in
writing in their spare time than they did at the beginning of the
study. The rarely score decreased by 10% while the usually score
increased by 24%. There can be many reasons for this increase. It
can be because Writers’ Workshop puts a greater value on writing
than other methods. Another explanation is that Writers’ Workshop
acknowledges what the student has to say as worthwhile. It may be
because the students know they will receive constructive feedback on
their writing. It might be attributed to the frustration some students
are feeling about not having enough time to write in school (see
Question 2). It may be a combination of any or all of these factors.
9. I keep a journal.
a. Pretest – At the beginning of the study 38% of students
rarely kept a journal. 24% said they sometimes wrote in one
and 38% said they kept one.
96
b. Posttest – At the conclusion of the study 24% of students
rarely kept a journal. 34% said they now sometimes wrote in
one and 42% of students responded that they now usually
wrote in a journal.
Analysis: As I examine the responses to this statement, I am upset
with the way I phrased the statement. The statement is too vague. Did
I mean at home? Was I counting the writers’ notebook as a journal? If
so, then my response on the post test should have been 100% usually
because every student keeps a writers’ notebook. So I was somewhat
disappointed at the results of this question.
10. I think of myself as a writer.
a. Pretest – 45% of students rarely looked at themselves
as writers. 41% sometimes felt this way, and 14% usually
thought of themselves as writers.
b. Posttest – 42% of students rarely looked at themselves as
writers. 42% sometimes felt this way and 18% usually saw
themselves as writers.
Analysis: Again, I was disappointed in the lack of change in responses
between the pre- and posttest. To me, this question epitomized the
intent of my study: to change the attitudes of the students towards
writing. I want the students to see themselves as writers. I believe it is
only through internalizing our attitudes about writing that we will see
significant change.
The other five questions were:
1. How often in a week do you write for pleasure? (not assigned work)
• Pretest – 39% - less than once, 53% - 2-3 times, 8% more
than 4 times
• Posttest – 18% - less than once, 63% - 2-3 times, 18% more
than 4 times
Analysis: There was an increase in the amount of students engaging in
writing for pleasure in their spare time.
2. What kinds of things do you like to write about?
• Pretest - Answers included myself, my friends, my family,
school, and my pets
• Posttest – Answers included all of the above, but there
was also a shift towards more creative writing. Students
indicated writing poems, funny stories, scary stories, action
97
stories and fantasy.
Analysis: I believe that students are being exposed to more genres of
writing.
3. One thing I can do to become a better writer is…
4. One thing that is a barrier to my writing is…
5. One thing my teacher can do to help me with writing is…
The answers to the last three questions overwhelmingly mentioned time
as the number one factor: the need to spend more time writing to become
a better writer.
One thing that is a barrier to writing is not having enough time either
in school or at home. One thing their teacher can do better is to provide
time. Other answers that appeared frequently for all three questions were
students want feedback on their writing. They don’t know the right
words to say what they want to say and need teachers to help them with
that. Noise and talking frequently get in the way of writing.
Writing Assessment
Writing assessments were given at the beginning and end of my research.
Students were asked to write to a prompt. They were given a 90 minute period
to develop a piece of writing and take it though the stages of the writing
process. I must note here that the first prompt was in the persuasive genre and
the second in the narrative genre. This pacing was predetermined by the fifth
grade writing checklist and I did not want to create more work for students or
teachers with my research. The samples were scored using the state rubric for
writing at fifth grade. The rubric evaluated writing on levels 1 to 5 in the areas
of ideas, organization, style and conventions. Many of the writing samples
received an automatic level one score because of the brevity of the piece.
There was simply not enough there to score. The following are the results and
analysis of the assessment:
•
Ideas
o Pretest – 41% of students scored level 1 on the state rubric,
8% scored level 2, 8% score level 3 and 3% scored level 4. No
one score level 5.
o Posttest – Zero percent scored level 1 on the state rubric,
34% scored level 2, 59% scored level 3 and 7% scored level 4.
No one scored level 5.
Analysis: Since “Ideas” is weighted at 40% of the total score, we
98
•
•
•
worked with the students at getting their thoughts down on the paper.
During workshop we provided time for the students to tell stories
orally. Through this storytelling activity students were able to “feed
off ” one another by connecting situations and experiences of other
students to their own lives.
Organization
o Pretest – 38% of students scored level 1, 34% scored level 2,
24% scored level 3, 3% scored level 4 and no one scored level
5 in organization.
o Posttest – 3% of students scored level 1, 28% scored at level
2, 62% scored at level 3, 10% scored at level 4 and no one
scored at level 5.
Analysis: Organization in writing consists of using an introduction,
body, and clear conclusion within their writing piece. On the pretest,
most of the students did not include an introduction and/or a clear
conclusion. However, on the posttest, most students displayed a
rudimentary understanding of these three parts. They were also
more able to keep related thoughts together in their writing which
was not evident on the pretest.
Style
o Pretest – 20% of students scored at level 1, 45% of students
scored level 2, 28% scored at level 3 and 7% of students
scored at level 4. No one scored at level 5.
o Posttest – Zero percent of students scored at level 1, 41% of
students scored at level 2, 45% of students scored at level 3,
14% scored at level 4 and no one scored at level 5.
Analysis: This was the area that scored the highest on the pretest.
Student writing was beginning to show the “voice” of the writer.
As they progressed through Writers’ Workshop we modeled more
effective leads to hook readers into their story. We also spent several
lessons on word choice, using strong verbs and more description.
There was a greater awareness of this craft in the writing on the
posttest.
Conventions
o Pretest – 38% of students scored at level 1, 31% scored at
level 2, 28% scored at level 3, 3% scored at level 4 and no one
scored at level 5.
o Posttest – Zero percent of students scored at level 1, 34% of
students scored at level 2, 55% of students scored at level 3,
10% of students scored at level 4 and no one scored at level 5.
Analysis: It was almost as if students saw writing as separate from
99
grammar on the pretest. It appeared they made no effort to use any of
the grammar rules they had learned in the previous five years. Simple
words were misspelled. Sentences were not complete and certainly not
complex. On the posttest there were fewer sentence fragments and
run-on sentences. There were also some attempts at more complex
sentence structure.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of
implementing writers’ workshop in a departmentalized fifth grade setting and
to evaluate the effectiveness of this methodology on student attitude and test
scores. Scores for the school year 2006-2007 reflected that 43% of our students
did not meet the state standard for writing and only 3% of our students
exceeded the standards. We realized that we had to take drastic measures
to improve our student writing and decided to try a workshop approach.
Teachers need more time, training, and resources to make Writers’ Workshop
work.
Although I believe my teachers did all they could to embrace this style of
teaching, they became frustrated at the amount of time and effort it took to
implement. Writers’ Workshop requires an hour daily to fully execute. They
could not afford to give this amount of time just to writing. They also had
difficulty successfully integrating the English curriculum into the writers’
workshop and had to take time out to do that. Although the Writing Workshop
method of instruction aligns beautifully with the Georgia Performance
Standards, the Bibb County grading requirements have not changed to match
this new practice. This difference sends mixed messages to the teachers about
what the county really wants them to do. In my conversations with the teachers
it became apparent that the one week of summer training was not enough for
them to feel successful. During follow-up sessions, teachers became frustrated
when the consultants could not resolve the matter of grades. As a result,
teachers were only implementing writing workshop two or three times a week
instead of the daily commitment it requires. The teachers also did not see
themselves as writers and did not have the time to write daily.
Students’ attitudes towards writing have improved.
As I examined the results of the student attitude survey, I found that their
attitudes about writing had improved significantly. Many mentioned that they
wanted to spend more time writing. Although many students commented that
they liked to choose their own topics when writing, many were still dependent
on the teacher to provide a prompt.
100
Quality of student writing has improved.
The result of the state writing rubric showed that students were indeed
writing longer. They also expressed more “voice” in their writing. In fact,
posttest scores reflected that students were becoming more proficient in their
writing ability in all four areas (Ideas, Organization, Style, and Conventions).
The majority of student scores shifted from levels 1 and 2 on the pretest to
levels 2, 3, and 4 on the posttest.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As a result of this study, I recommend the following actions be taken to insure
the success of Writers’ Workshop as the methodology to teaching writing in
fifth grade: Bibb County should review their policy on departmentalization
in elementary schools in order to provide more time for writing; funding
needs to be allocated for collaborative planning time, to provide mentor
texts for each writing teacher, and to provide release time to observe a fully
functioning Writers’ Workshop classroom; and more training should be
supplied for writing teachers through a book study on Writers’ Workshop and
the continued support of an instructional coach. In addition, I recommend
that the writing teachers continue to give Writers’ Workshop their best effort
throughout this year. Hopefully, these early positive results will be replicated
on the state writing assessment in May. I also recommend that both Heritage
Elementary School and Bibb County continue this initiative for several years
before trying a different method.
101
Appendix A: Comparison of Pre and Post Tests
Comparison of Pre and Post Tests: Ideas
Comparison of Pre and Post Tests: Organization
102
Comparison of Pre and Post Tests: Style
Comparison of Pre and Post Tests: Conventions
103
Appendix B: Attitude Surveys
1st Attitude Survey
2nd Attitude Survey
Appendix C: Teacher Interview Questions
Preplanning Conference:
1. In what ways did you Balanced Literary training prepare you for teaching
104
Writers’ Workshop in your classroom?
2. What barriers do you have to overcoe before you can begin?
3. What’s working for you as you begin to implement Writers’ Workshop?
4. How do you feel about your students as writers?
5. In what way can I support you as you begin to teach writing through
Writers’ Workshop?
Reflective Conference:
1. Tell me about some of you successes as you worked through Writers’
Workshop.
2. Tell me about some of the challenges you faced and/or are still facing.
3. How have your students grown as writers?
4. What are your overall feeligs about Writers’ Workshop as the way to teach
writing to fifth grade students?
Appendix D: Student Writing Attitude Survey
Statement
Rarely
I enjoy writing at home.
I like writing in school.
I think writing is boring.
I don’t know what to write about.
I don’t know how to write stories.
I don’t know how to make my writing
sound better.
I like to share my writing with others.
I choose to write in my spare time.
I keep a journal.
I think of myself as a writer.
105
Sometimes
Usually
1. How often in a week do you write for pleasure? (not assigned work)
Less than once Two to three times
More than four times
2. What kinds of things do you like to write about?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
3. One thing I can do to become a better writer is...
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
4. One thing that is a barrier to my writing is...
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
5. One thing that my teacher can do to help me with writing is...
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
106
Appendix E Georgia Grade 5 Writing Assessment: Scoring Rubrics
(Landscaoe Version)
Domain 1: Ideas
1
2
3
4
5
May announce
topic, but a
controlling
idea is not
established.
Minimally
developed controlling idea
that addresses
some aspect of
assigned writing task
Developed controlling idea
that addresses
assigned writing task
Well developed
controlling
idea that addresses assigned writing
task
Fully developed controlling idea that
addresses all
aspects of assigned writing
task
Little or no
focus on assigned topic,
genre, and /or
purpose
Limited focus
on assigned
topic, genre,
and/or purpose
Generally consistent focus
on assisgned
topic, genre,
and/or purpose
Consistent
focus on assigned topic,
genre, and/or
purpose
Consistent
focus on assisgned topic,
genre, and/or
purpose
Unclear supporting ideas
Supporting ideas are
general, and/
or underdeveloped
Most supporting ideas
are developed
and revelvant
to topic and
assigned genre
of writing
Supporting
ideas and
elaboration
are revlavent
to topic and
assigned genre
of writing
Supporting ideas are
fully elaborated
throughout
paper and
relevant to
the topic, assigned genre
of writing and
audience
Development
is lacking due
to brevity of
response
Some ideas
may be partially developed, while
others are
listed without
development
Some parts
of paper are
well-developed,
while other
parts are only
partially developed
Response
contains insufficient writing
to determine
competence in
Ideas
Response
lacks sufficient
information to
provide a sense
of completeness
Response contains sufficient
information
to address
topic as well
as some reader
concerns and
perspectives
Response contains specific
examples and
details that
address reader
concerns and
perspectives
Response contains specific
examples and
details that
fully address reader
concerns and
perspectives
107
Domain 1: Ideas (continued)
1
Majority of
details are irrelevant
2
3
4
5
Some points
and details
may be irrelevant or inappropriate for
assigned topic,
audience, and/
or genre
Domain 2: Organization
1
2
3
4
5
No evidence
of orangizing
stategy
Organizing
stategy is
formulaic and/
or inappropriate to assigned
genre
Overall organizational strategy is generally
appropriate
to ideas and
purpose of
genre
Overall organizational
strategy or
structiure is
appropriate to
ideas and purpose of genre
Overall organizational
strategy or
structiure is
appropraite to
ideas adn purpose of genre
Unclear
sequence of
ideas
Minimal
evidence of
sequence
Generally clear Logical
sequence of
squencing of
ideas
ideas acrsoss
parts of paper
Logical and
ppropriate
sequencing of
ideas within
and across
parts of paper
Lacks as introduction and/or
conclusion
May lack an
introduction
or conclusion
or include an
ineffective
introduction or
conclusion
Introduction
is appropriate
to topic and
conclusion is
clear
Introduction
sets stage, and
conclusion
ends piece
without repetition
Introduction
engages and
sets stage,
conclusion provides a sense
of closure
Ideas not
arranged in
meaningful
order
Unrelated
ideas grouped
together
Related ideas
generally
grouped together
Related ideas
grouped together
Logical
grouping of
ideas
Insufficient
writing to
determine
competence in
Organization
Demonstation
of competance
limited brevity
of response
108
Domain 3: Style
1
2
3
4
5
Language and
tone are flat
and/or inappropriate to
task and reader
Language
and tone are
uneven (appropriate in
some parts of
response, but
flat throughout most of
response)
Language and
tone are generally consistent
with purpose
and appropriate to assigned
genre
Language
and tone are
consistent with
purpose and
appropriate to
assigned genre
Carefully
crafted phrases
or sentences
creates a substained tone
that engages
reader
Word choice
is inaccurate,
inprecise, and/
or confusing
Word choise
is simple,
ordinary, and/
or repetitive
Word choice
is generally
engaging with
occasional
lapse into
simple and
ordinary language
Word choice
is precise and
engaging
Varied, precise,
adn engaging
language that
ois appropriate
to the assigned
genre (figurative or technical language
may be used
for rhetorical
effect)
Little or no
attention to
audience
Limited
awareness of
audience
Awaremess
of audience
demonstrated
demonsrated in
the introduction, body, or
conclusion
Attention to
audience in
the introduction, bidy, and
conclusion
Sustained
attention to
the audience
throughout
paper
Lack of sentence variety
Little variation
in sentence
length and
structure
Some variation in senece
length and
structure
Sentences vary
in length and
structure
Varaity os sentence lengths,
structures, and
beginnings
Insufficient
writing to
determine
competence in
Style
Demonstration
of competence
limited by the
brevity of
response
109
Domain 4: Conventions
1
2
3
4
5
Frequent
sentence fragments, run-ons,
and incorrect
sentences
Sentence
structure is
awkward nad/
or end punctuation my
be missing or
incorrect
Simple sentences formed
correctly;
some correct
complex and/
or compound
senece with occasional errors
Correct simple,
complex, and/
or compound
sentences with
correct end
punctuation
Clear and
correct simple,
complex, and
compound
sentence with
correct end
punctuation
End punctuation incorrect
or lacking
May have
Generally cor- Correct usage
frequent errors rect usage with with some
in useage and/ some errors
variety of inor mchanics
stances but not
in all elements
Correct usage
in variety of
contexts
May contain
frequent and
severe errors
in both usage
and mechanics
Minimal
control in the
three components of
conventions or
one compnent
may be strong
while the other
two are weak
Generally correct mechanic
with some
errors
Correct mechanics woth
comde variety
of instances
but no in all
elements
Correct
mechanics in
a variety of
contexts
Errors may
interfere with
or obscure
meaning
Some errors
may interfere
eith meaning
Few errors
interfere with
meaning
Errors do not
interfere with
meaning
Errors do not
interfere with
meaning
Insuffucuent
writing to
determine
competence in
Conventions
Demonstrations of competence limited
by brevity of
response
REFERENCES
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edition). Urbana: 90.1 p46.
112
in an Inclusion Setting
Kristin Czar
Dr. Rebecca McMullen
Faculty Sponsor
INTRODUCTION
Many adolescents place their heads down and close their eyes throughout
the duration of a class period. Sleeping during instructional time directly
affects the academic performance of a student. Participation is very difficult for
those who have low attention levels. To ensure each student is provided with
the greatest opportunity to achieve their highest potential academic learning
gain, it is vital that each student is actively engaged throughout the lesson
plan. Increasing a student’s potential to master the material relies heavily
on the level in which the student is interacting with the three predominate
learning styles: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. If a student is sleeping
during the instructional period in which these learning styles are being
addressed, the student’s potential to master the criteria decreases significantly.
Individuals who have low attention levels force teachers to disrupt the learning
environment of other students as the teacher interrupts their instruction
time to provide verbal cues for a student to sit up or wake up. Teachers are
often at a loss when faced with the dilemma of how to avoid disrupting their
instructional time by continually having to pause the lesson in order prompt
motivation and maintain the attention of students who perpetually sleep
during the duration of the class period without breaking the attention and
learning environment of the other students within the classroom. Research
within the field of aromatherapy places an emphasis on investigating the effect
of different essential oils on precise brain centers. The available research
indicates the effectiveness of aromatherapy and the use of essential oils, such
as eucalyptus and peppermint, to stimulate specific brain centers that are
known to regulate an individual’s attention level. It is the lack of research
regarding the effects of aromatherapy on alertness across multiple settings
that makes the research of the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an
inclusion classroom vital. This research will provide further insight to not only
how specific essential oils stimulate the brain to enhance alertness, but also the
effects of specific fragrances of aromatherapy on alertness in various settings.
113
LITERATURE REVIEW
The body of literature is very limited in the field of alternative medicine,
including aromatherapy. Using several professional databases, including
EBSCO, ERIC, Oxford Journals and APA, only a few articles addressed
the topic of the effects of eucalyptus and peppermint aromatherapy on an
individual’s level of alertness in the setting of an inclusion classroom. The
work of Llmberger indicates that aromatherapy is difficult to investigate due
to the numerous factors that must be considered and the various tests that
must be used in order to measure these considerations during the investigation
(Llmberger et. al., 2000). However, Reiner’s work suggests that based on the
research available, essential oils used in aromatherapy are among the most
effective alternative treatments of brain, body and emotional disorders. These
essential oils contain diminutive chemical particles that are carried through the
oxygen cells to the brain which then can cross the blood-brain barrier and can
directly heal the brain and or body (Essential Oils for ADD and ADHD 2007).
The results from the limited research available provide the field of alternative
medicine with the conclusive results that certain oils and oil components of
aromatherapy can be used as effective alternative treatments for those who
suffer from brain, body and emotional disorders. These results imply that
this field has a need for more research and investigations to determine the
full effects of aromatherapy and the various fields and disorders in which
aromatherapy may be used as a treatment.
The research journal entitled “The Influence of Essential Oils on Human
Attention. I: Alertness” by Josef Llmberger et. al., states that nearly all
aspects of human behavior are linked to the process of attention with the
basic level defined as alertness, which ranges from a state of sleep to a state
of being awake. This journal investigates the influence of essential oils and
various components of oils, including peppermint and components of the
eucalyptus oil and the measured effects these oils had on the intervals of
attention function, defined as the speed of processing. The journal discussed
the levels of alertness of the six experimental groups, which were measured
in an A-B design, as the reaction times were monitored and recorded of
the participants receiving the essential oils through inhalation versus those
in the control groups receiving water through inhalation. The results of
this research convincingly suggested that there was a significant positive
correlation between the difference in ratings and motor reactions of those who
were exposed to the inhalation of essential oils and components of essential
oils versus the negative correlation between those who were exposed to the
inhalation of water and their reaction times (2001). The results of Llmberger’s
research methods convinced later researchers to further investigate the effects
114
The Effects of Aromatherapy on Altertness
of the influence of essential oils on an individual’s alertness to determine
if the same results would be demonstrated when there is an alteration of
the setting in which the aromatherapy was introduced. Since Llmberger’s
research provided evidence that a positive correlation exists between the effects
of aromatherapy on alertness, this research can be further investigated to
determine the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in alternative settings, such
as an inclusion classroom.
“Essential Oils and the Brain” by Victoria Anisman-Reiner states that
essential oils have the capability of enhancing learning and study skills as
oxygen cells containing the fragrance molecules cross the blood-brain barrier
and are carried to the brain, stimulating various brain centers that enhance
attention levels. Based on research, several oils are predominately known
for their ability to enhance an individual’s level of alertness, resulting in the
advance in an individual’s ability to focus. Anisman-Reiner states that the
inhalation of the essential oil peppermint and components of eucalyptus
is identified as oils that stimulate and refresh the brain. The fragrance of
peppermint awakens the mind and the components of eucalyptus oil are
recognized as the best oil to boost and heighten one’s energy level (Essential
Oils and the Brain 2007). This article provides researchers with a valuable
understanding of the effects of essential oils on the brain based on current
research. This information enables researchers to investigate the effects of
different essential oils on alertness when these oils are introduced in alternative
settings, such as an inclusion classroom. From this research, future researchers
could extend the results and further investigate the effects of these oils
proximity to a target subject on the extent of the subject brain stimulation.
METHOD
The target subject was a seventeen-year-old African-American female.
Based on the most current psychological information, the student has an
IQ of 76. The student is currently being served through the PEC program
under Emotional Behavioral Disorder. The investigation of the effects of
aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion setting took place in an eleventh
grade American Literature inclusion classroom. In this particular inclusion
setting, the regular education teacher and special education teacher jointly
implemented the inclusion method of “one teach one drift.” Throughout the
duration of this class period, the teacher incorporates three learning styles
including auditory, visual and kinesthetic styles. The teacher provides a
learning environment that actively engages the students and requires constant
participation throughout the instructional period. The failing grades of the
student have been drastically affected due to her lack of participation as a
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result of her low alertness levels.
An ABA single subject design was employed in order to investigate the
effects of aromatherapy, using the essential oils of peppermint and eucalyptus,
on alertness in an inclusion classroom. For this particular research, a low level
of alertness was defined as a student placing their head on their desk with their
eyes closed, while a student actively participating with their head off their desk
demonstrated a high level of alertness. The level of alertness is recorded based
on a tally system. For this tally system, a low level of alertness is defined as
having been provided five or more verbal cues from the teacher to wake up and
participate, thus indicating low alertness levels. High alertness levels can be
defined as having fewer than five frequency tallies (refer to Diagram B). Each
day of each phase the test subject was exposed to the fragrances, in which
the placebo of water and essential oils emitted from an aromatherapy burner
lit prior to the beginning of instruction in the American Literature class and
continuously burned throughout the duration of the class period. The test
subject inhaled the elements in which the aromatherapy burner emitted into
the air. As the test subject inhaled these elements, this allowed the elements to
begin the process of affecting the specific brain centers. During the A Phase,
a placebo of water was introduced for the duration of five days. Introducing a
placebo of water during the A Phase was crucial to increase the validity of the
effects of the essential oil introduced during the B Phase. The burning of the
placebo of water decreased the opportunity for the results to reveal that the
effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion classroom were based on
psychological phenomena. During the B Phase, the intervention of essential
oils, including peppermint and eucalyptus, was introduced for the duration
of five days. During the final A Phase a placebo of water was reintroduced
for the duration of an additional five days. During each phase the researcher
observed the levels of alertness, which were measured by the frequency in
which the student was provided with a verbal cue to wake up and participate.
For each time the student was given a verbal prompt, the researcher placed a
tally under the corresponding phase and day in order to record the levels of
alertness during the implementation of the placebo versus the implementation
of the intervention of aromatherapy. During each Phase of this research the
researcher collected data through observational means on the class as a whole.
However, data were recorded on one student.
RESULTS
Data was recorded during each day of every phase using a tally sheet. This
tally sheet documented the following observations: the phase, the day, the total
hours of sleep acquired each night based on the sleep pattern chart from
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Diagram A, the frequency tally of how many times the student’s head was
placed on the desk, and the student’s level of alertness. The average total hours
of sleep recommended for a teenager is approximately 8-12 hours of sleep
per night. Diagram A illustrates that the target subject consistently acquired
fewer total hours of sleep per night than what is recommended, and at no
point during any phase of the research did the target subject acquire between
8-12 hours of sleep. When observing investigation results from the research
in Diagram B, it can be implied that for this research, since the target subject
maintained a consistent total hours of sleep per night and did not acquire more
than the recommended 8-12 hours of sleep per night, the sleep variable was
not a factor for the alteration of the level of alertness recorded during each
phase of the research. Both Diagrams A and B illustrate that, for this research,
there is a negative correlation between the total hours of sleep acquired by
the target subject and the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion
classroom. This further implies that this research has maintained its validity
by ensuring the results from the investigation of the effects of aromatherapy
on alertness in an inclusion setting are not influenced by alternative variables.
By using documented research to eliminate the possibility that the alternative
variable of sleep patterns was not a source for the alteration of the test
subject’s level of alertness, it can be inferred that the source for the alteration
of alertness levels was directly caused by the aromatherapy intervention. By
observing the frequency tallies of each phase it can be observed that in Phase
A, when the placebo was introduced, the target subject revealed extremely
low levels of alertness for each day. During Phase B of the research, the
intervention of the aromatherapy essential oils were introduced, drastically
altering the target subject’s level of alertness as the target subject displayed
significantly high levels of alertness when compared to Phase A. It was
during Phase B, when the intervention of the essential aromatherapy oils of
peppermint and eucalyptus were introduced, that the target subject reached a
baseline of one frequency tally for duration of three consecutive days. In order
to provide proof that a behavior alteration was based on the introduction of
an intervention, it is vital to determine the consistency of the target subject’s
behavior without the implementation of the intervention. To further support
the cause of the drastic alteration of alertness that was demonstrated during
Phase B, the researcher found consistencies in behaviors demonstrated by
the target subject without the intervention of aromatherapy. Identifying
consistencies in the target subject’s behaviors allowed the researcher to
conclude that the drastic alteration in alertness levels was based on the
implementation of the aromatherapy intervention. When referring to Diagram
B it can be inferred that the target subject demonstrated consistent behaviors
of low levels of alertness during the duration of the first and second A Phases.
117
Based on the consistent demonstration of low levels of alertness during the
implementation of the placebo of water, the drastic alterations that occurred
during Phase B were a result of the target subject being introduced to the
intervention of the essential aromatherapy oils of peppermint and eucalyptus.
This provides substantial evidence that there is a positive correlation between
the effects of aromatherapy and alertness in the inclusion classroom.
DISCUSSION
As documented in Diagram B, the target subject demonstrated
consistent behaviors of low levels of alertness during the duration of the
first and second A Phases, in which the target subject was introduced to the
placebo of water. The consistent demonstration of low levels of alertness
during the implementation of the placebo of water suggest that the drastic
alterations that occurred during Phase B were a result of the target subject
being introduced to the intervention of the essential aromatherapy oils of
peppermint and eucalyptus. This provides substantial evidence that there is a
positive correlation between the effects of aromatherapy and alertness in the
inclusion classroom.
Current research suggests the investigation of the effects of aromatherapy
on alertness is difficult due to the various limitations throughout the research
(Llmberger et. al. 2000). One limitation to the investigation of the effects
of aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion setting includes the variables
outside of the school that have the potential to influence an individual’s level
of alertness. For example, in this study, the amount of sleep in which the
target subject acquired may directly affect the level of alertness. Determining
the amount of sleep an individual acquired during the night, based on the
number of times and duration they remained in REM, was an important
factor in determining the target subject’s level of alertness prior to the
implementation of the placebo and essential aromatherapy oils. For instance,
it was important to know if the target subject acquired over the recommended
hours of sleep for her age range prior to the implementation of the placebo
and essential aromatherapy oils. This knowledge of the target subject’s sleep
patterns maintains consistency in the research of the effects of aromatherapy
and alertness in an inclusion setting and avoids including research that could
potentially address the effects of the number hours of sleep an individual
obtains each night on alertness in an inclusion classroom. If it was documented
that the target subject did acquire over the recommended hours of sleep for
their age range, this could be factored into any positive correlations between
the investigations of the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an inclusion
setting. In order to obtain true documentation of the sleep patterns of the
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Effects of Aromatherapy on Alertness
target subject, the researcher would need to have access to specific machines
that would measure the brain waves to determine how many times the test
subject fell into REM and the duration of each REM pattern. In order to
account for the limitation of measuring the individuals sleep patterns and
still uphold a consistent level of integrity for the research, the researcher
maintained a sleep pattern chart that documented the number of sleep hours
the test subject acquired each night of every phase, in which this variable of
sleep is measured in terms of from the time the test subject went to bed until
the time the test subject awoke the following morning. The sleep patterns
recorded be observed by referring to Diagram A.
An additional limitation to this research was based on the awareness of
the degree in which the elements within the essential oils stimulate the specific
brain centers may differ among individuals. In order to determine the degrees
in which the elements within the essential oils stimulate specific brain centers
may be monitored through the use of an EEG or EKG machine that provides
data regarding the degree of an individuals brain stimulation.
A final limitation to this research is that the data was collected through an
independent observer system. In order to better protect the integrity of this
research and provide more precise observation results, continuations of this
research should be conducted through the use of a multiple observer system.
The researcher recorded the results from a single subject. However, the
researcher documented observations of specific individuals within the same
setting as the target subject. For instance, the researcher observed that during
the first A phase there was a student in the far back right hand corner of the
room who demonstrated low levels of alertness, just as the target subject.
However, the aromatherapy oil burner was placed in close proximity to the
target subject in order to ensure that the target subject inhaled an adequate
of the essential aromatherapy oils of peppermint and eucalyptus. Had the
target subject not been provided the opportunity to inhale adequate amounts
of the oil element, this could have interrupted the stimulation process of the
specific brain centers, providing invalid results for this investigation. The
target subject demonstrated significant alertness levels when the intervention
of aromatherapy was introduced during Phase B of the research. However,
the researcher observed that during the same B Phase, in contrast to the
target subject who demonstrated a significant gain in alertness level during
this phase, the student in the far back corner still demonstrated low levels
of alertness. However, it is important to note that the sleeping habits of the
student in the far back corner of the room were not acquired.
The data collected over the duration of this research provided the field of
alternative medicine with research-based evidence that a positive correlation
exists when investigating the effects of aromatherapy on alertness in an
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inclusion setting. However, based on the results of this investigation and
observations gathered from other subjects in the same setting, there are several
steps that could be implemented over the duration of each phase to further this
investigation. For instance, further research could be conducted to determine
the effects of the proximity of essential aromatherapy oils being burned on
the level of alertness. Another step that could be implemented to further
this investigation of the effects of aromatherapy on alertness is to continue
researching the effects of aromatherapy on alertness across different settings.
Appendix A: Letter to Parents
Dear Parent/Guardian,
My name is Ms. Czar and I am a Georgia College and State University
Student Teacher in the Special Education cohort. Over the next few weeks
I will be conducing a research project in order to satisfy the requirements
for a course. Prior to the implementation of this research project I will
need the signature of approval for me to conduct this research and share all
documentation of results to my college advisor. This research will include your
child being present in the inclusion setting while the burning essential oils of
aromatherapy, including peppermint and eucalyptus, are present during the
duration of one class period. Your assistance and signature would be greatly
appreciated as I continue furthering my education in the field of research.
Lastly, your as a research participant, your child will bring home a sleep chart
in which I will need you, as the guardian to document the total hours of sleep
your child gets on a nightly basis, from the time they go to bed till the time
they awake in the morning, for the duration of three weeks. Thank you for
your patience and participation in this project.
Ms Czar
Guardian Signature
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Diagram A: Sleep Pattern Chart
Week #1
Day of the Week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Total Hours of Sleep
6
6
5
7
6
Week #2
Day of the Week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7
6
6
5
7
Week #3
Day of the Week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7
7
6
5
7
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Diagram B: Research Tally Sheet
Phase A: Implementation of placebo, water
Days of the
Week
Total Hours of
Sleep Previous
Night
Total frequency
tally of number of times
students were
provided with
verbal cues to
wake and
participate
Levels of
Alertness
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
4
6
5
5
4
13
6
11
7
12
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Phase B: Implementation of Intervention, Peppermint and Eucalyptus
Essential Oil
Days of the
Week
Total Hours of
Sleep Previous
Night
Total frequency
students were
provided with
verbal cues to
wake and
participate
Levels of
Alertness
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
5
4
6
7
6
3
2
1
1
1
High
High
High
High
High
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Phase A: Implementation of Placebo, water
Days of the
Week
Total Hours of
Sleep Previous
Night
Total frequency
students were
provided with
verbal cues to
wake and
participate
Levels of
Alertness
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
6
6
4
5
4
9
6
11
5
12
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
Figure 1: The Effects of Aromatherapy on Alertness in an Inclusion Setting
Eff e cts of Aroma t he r apy on Alert n ess in an Inclusi o n
Setting
14
12
10
Fr e
qu
en
8
cy
6
4
2
0
P h a se
A
Se ri es1
Mo n da
T u esda
Wed n e T hur sd
y
y
sd a y
ay
13
8
11
7
F rid a y
12
P h a se
B
Mo n da
T u esda
Wed n e T hur sd
y
y
sd a y
ay
3
2
1
1
F rid a y
1
P h a se
A
Mo n da
T u esda
Wed n e T hur sd
y
y
sd a y
ay
9
6
11
8
P ha s e s
REFERENCES
Llmberger Josef, et.al., (2001). The Influence of Essential Oils on Human
Attention. I: Alertness. Oxford Journals,26(3),239-45.
123
F rid a y
12
Reiner, Victoria Anisman. (2007, May). Essential Oils for ADD and ADHD.
Retrieved April 2,2008, from http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/
article.cfm/essential_oil_for_add_and_adhd.
Reiner, Victoria Anisman. (2008, March). Essential Oils and the Brain. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/essential_oils
_and_the_brain.
124
Teaching an AD/HD Child
A Case Study on Teaching an AD/HD Child with
Special Reference to
Southwest Laurens Elementary
Tammy Gibson
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
When I became on educator eight years ago, I found Attention Deficit/
Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) to be a very intriguing subject. Parents and
teachers often have very strong opinions about how to handle students who
show symptoms. These opinions are often very different and, if not approached
in a professional manner, can damage a parent/teacher relationship. When my
oldest son was in the third grade, his teacher and I discussed the fact that he
had a very hard time focusing on his class work. For example, he was easily
distracted by colorful maps, etc. while looking for a specific page number. As
the year progressed, she began to notice other signs that pointed to AD/HD.
The teacher and I kept in close contact throughout the year, but it was not
until the beginning of his fourth grade year that he began to take medication
to help him control his attention deficit disorder. My interest in AD/HD was
truly piqued as a result of this experience and I began to collect information
and teaching tips on AD/HD in hopes of helping other parents and teachers
understand more about the signs and symptoms of AD/HD and how to teach
these students. Rather than focusing my research on my personal child, I chose
to direct the case study on a female student in my classroom at Southwest
Laurens Elementary. I examined the opinion and knowledge of the general
public regarding AD/HD, as well interviewed fellow teachers to gain an
understanding of how equipped they feel to teach students with AD/HD. I also
interviewed my student’s mother and first grade teacher.
CONTEXT
Southwest Laurens Elementary is located at 1799 Highway 117 in Rentz,
GA, on approximately 49 acres of land. The facility was completed in the
summer of 2000. The school serves the communities of Rentz, Cadwell, Cedar
Grove, St. Johns, and Dexter, as well as the entire southwest rural areas of
Laurens County. The school houses students pre-kindergarten through fifth
grades and has a current enrollment of 1,079 students. Southwest Laurens
is a Title I school, with 66% of the population considered economically
125
disadvantaged. Most of the students come from a working class poor type
of family as compared to a welfare poor family. Southwest Laurens was
SACS accredited in 2000 and 2005. Sara (pseudonym used to protect her real
name), the subject of my case study, is a member of my second grade Early
Intervention Program (EIP) classroom. She lives with her single mother
and two brothers—one older and one younger than herself—in a nearby
community.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that attention deficit/
hyperactivity disorder has on various facets of a child’s life such as parents,
siblings, school, and society. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)
is a condition that affects children and adults and is characterized by problems
with attention, impulsivity, and over activity. Statistics show that between 3-7
percent of school age children and between 2-4 percent of adults are affected
(National Resource Center on AD/HD, 2007). Before I became an educator, the
term attention deficit /hyperactivity disorder had very little significance to me.
I knew that medical doctors and researchers were constantly seeking ways to
treat people with the disorder. I knew that parents and teachers were always
trying different strategies and “tricks” to get children to pay attention in class
and do better in school. Parents struggled with the decision to use medication
or not. What was the big deal? Don’t we all have trouble paying attention
every once in a while?
As I completed my teaching degree and was placed in my very own
classroom, I began to see firsthand the struggles students with AD/HD faced,
as well as the challenges to the teachers who must teach these students. I
became one of the many teachers who searched for ways to keep students on
task. My information file folder labeled “ADD” grew thicker with each passing
year as I collected articles, checklists, and other materials related to AD/HD.
Although I sometimes felt a certain child exhibited the AD/HD characteristics
I had read about, I was often too timid to speak out. I did not feel that I had
the experience or knowledge to bring up such a hot topic. During my oldest
son’s second grade and third grade years, I began to notice little things that
he would do. Funny little events like leaving the kitchen with his cereal bowl
in hand instead of putting it in the dishwasher or going to the refrigerator to
get some milk but leaving his toy behind in the refrigerator. My husband just
laughed and passed them off as “a boy thing” while I began to think back to my
ever-thickening information file folder. The impact of these little idiosyncrasies
really hit home academically in third grade. My son’s grades began to fluctuate.
Upon talking with his teacher, I discovered that he was having trouble focusing
126
on his class work. While the class would be searching for the correct page
number, a map or other material would catch his eye and he would forget about
finding the page number. He was often in his own little world until the teacher
pulled him back to reality. Timed math facts were also a problem. The teacher
and I both agreed that it sounded like AD/HD. Every time I approached my
husband about the possibility he would turn a deaf ear. We all survived my
son’s third grade year and his teacher is still a close friend. My gentle nudging
continued and my husband began to come around. He even began keeping
his own anecdotal notes. Our family physician confirmed that my son indeed
suffered from AD/HD. He was placed on medication and we began to look
for new ways to help him organize his thoughts, his schoolwork, and even his
personal belongings. My experience has given me a better perspective as to
the struggles parents face whether or not their child has an “official” medical
diagnosis of AD/HD. I am better equipped to talk with parents because I can
tell them about my experience.
Although much of my decision of choosing AD/HD as a research topic
was based on my experience with my son, I chose to focus my research on a
female student in my classroom who exhibited some of the same characteristics
I saw in my own son. Also, by choosing a student rather than my son, I felt
that the potential bias would be greatly reduced. Since AD/HD affects girls
differently than boys, I was able to approach the research with an open mind
and without preconceived ideas. Girls with AD/HD often go undiagnosed
because they are less likely to exhibit hyperactivity. The research will be
limited to my child and to the students in my classroom at Southwest Laurens
Elementary. Parents and teachers of students were or were not interviewed.
My assumptions are that: Instruction and discipline for AD/HD children is
different than for children without AD/HD; teachers feel ill-equipped to teach
children with AD/HD; and schools provide support for students with AD/HD.
Definition of Terms
1. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): a condition
affecting children and adults that is characterized by problems
with attention, impulsivity, and over activity (National Resource
Center on AD/HD, 2007).
2. Early Intervention Program (EIP): the purpose of the Early
Intervention Program is to provide additional instructional
resources to help students who are performing below grade
level obtain the necessary academic skills to reach grade level
performance in the shortest possible time (Georgia Department
3. of Education, 2007). Also, their AD/HD is often overlooked.
(GenneX Healthcare Technologies, 1999).
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Research Questions
As a result of my real-life experience, I developed the following questions
that will be used to direct my research:
1.
How is parental discipline different for a child with AD/HD?
2. Are parental instructions given differently for a child with AD/
HD?
3. How are siblings of an AD/HD child affected?
4. Do teachers receive sufficient training to handle students with
AD/HD?
5. Does the school have adequate resources to educate students with
AD/HD?
6. What is society’s perception of and attitude towards people with
AD/HD?
LITERATURE REVIEW
I chose to review professional literature related to three specific areas of
my research. The areas included in my research relate to the following: parental
and family involvement associated with AD/HD children; AD/HD children in
school; and society and AD/HD.
Parental and family involvement associated with AD/HD children
Parenting a child with AD/HD is no easy task. It has been my experience,
both personally and in the classroom, that one parent, usually the mother,
recognizes signs that point to AD/HD. The other parent, usually the father,
does not agree. Often disputes result over how to discipline the child. Dr.
Thomas Brown (2005) relates to the parents’ roles as “the enforcer” and “the
marshmallow.” “The enforcer” emphasizes that loving the child means making
reasonable but firm demands on the child so that he/she can learn the right
the thing to do. “The marshmallow,” although equally worried and loving, feels
that home is the one place where the child should be accepted and supported
just the way he/she is and not be constantly punished. The ADD/ADHD
Behavior-Change Resource Kit (Flick, 1998) did not specifically address the
need for parents to be unified when parenting a child with AD/HD. However,
the book did refer to the fact that parents will often feel guilty or blame
themselves for the child’s inability to pay attention or for the misbehavior. My
128
experience leads me to conclude that both parents must work together in
agreement in order to help the child overcome or manage AD/HD. It is also
important that siblings be educated and involved in dealing with AD/HD and
its impact on the family. “The more a sibling understands that the AD/HD
behavior of his or her sibling is not done to be purposefully annoying, the more
accepting and supportive the sibling can be” (McNeal Pediatrics, 2007).
AD/HD children in school
In his book, Attention Deficit Disorder, Dr. Thomas Brown (2005) refers
to two students who have trouble academically. The students have difficulty
with class work, yet both were successfully involved in activities outside the
classroom that required their direct attention for prolonged periods of time.
I have seen these same characteristics in my son. He can sit for hours playing
video games or watching television. It amazes me that he can remember a
variety of football plays or the names and jersey numbers of professional
athletes yet cannot remember what he was told to get from the pantry seconds
earlier. Likewise, Sara does not have difficulty focusing on certain activities
if they interest her. The ADD/ADHD Behavior-Change Resource Kit
(Flick, 1998) says it is not the fact the AD/HD children cannot attend. The
trouble is that they try to attend to everything. In The Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology, Flake, Lorch, and Milich (2007), report the findings of a
study conducted with two sets of children. Younger children (4-6 years) and
older children (7-9 years) with and without AD/HD watched two “Rugrats”
television programs, once with toys present and once with toys absent. When
the toys were present, children with AD/HD retold less coherent stories than
the children without AD/HD. These findings confirm Flick’s (1998) statement
that children with AD/HD try to attend to everything.
It is extremely important for parents and teachers to work together
when dealing with an AD/HD child. An article by Diana Reeves (2007)
suggests that teachers may not have the ability to focus on one or two children
exclusively, although it is in their best interest to do so. I am of the opinion
that you can focus your attention on the child or children in a positive way by
keeping anecdotal notes and meeting with parents or you will focus on the child
in a negative way due to misbehavior or poor classroom performance. Either
way they will receive your attention. In my experience, no matter how difficult
it is to find the time or nerve to meet with parents, a proactive investment goes
a long way in letting the parents and child know that you support them and
will make every effort to help the child be successful in the classroom.
Society and AD/HD
Often students with AD/HD are very intelligent and creative. However, an
129
article by Mary Marcus (2007) in USA Today reported the findings of a
study by experts from Indiana University, The University of Virginia, and
Columbia University. The study conducted interviews of more than 1300
adults and the following results were reported: 85% of those interviewed
believed that doctors overmedicate children with AD/HD; more than half
believed that medications “turn kids in to zombies”; 31% believed children with
AD/HD pose a danger. I feel that society in general is very uninformed when
it comes to AD/HD. I was of the same opinion until I became a teacher and
later the parent of a child with AD/HD. The students with AD/HD that I
have known are indeed very intelligent. They do not pose a danger to anyone.
Will Canu (2007) reported for The Journal of College Counseling that AD/
HD is associated with increased accidental injury. A study of a group of male
college students with a predominantly inattentive type of AD/HD showed that
they placed less emphasis on job safety than did their peers when considering
their professional direction. Although our society frowns on people with AD/
HD, where would we be without the efforts of such AD/HD people as Orville
and Wilbur Wright, Henry Ford, and George Patton?(Nutrition Health Center,
n.d).
METHODOLOGY
Participants
The participants of the case study included a female student (to be
referred to as “Sara”) in my second grade EIP classroom at Southwest Laurens
Elementary and her mother. Randomly selected teachers at Southwest Laurens
also participated in the research. The average amount of teaching experience
among the surveyed teachers was 12 years. A survey was also conducted
among the general public (people not associated with the field of education),
which included housewives and a welder. The average age among the surveyed
general public was 44 years of age.
Instrumentation (See Appendix)
An interview was conducted with Sara’s mother. The researcher generated
all questions on the interview. The purpose of the interview was to gain a
better understanding of Sara’s AD/HD diagnosis and the events leading
her mother to seek medical help. Questions were also asked regarding the
relationship between Sara and her siblings. A researcher-generated survey
was given to randomly selected teachers at Southwest Laurens to solicit their
feelings on such items as whether or not the school provides adequate support
to students with AD/HD and their teachers and parents. Teachers were also
asked about how equipped they felt to teach students who are diagnosed with
130
AD/HD. Various people (referred to as the “general public”) were surveyed.
These were people who did not work in the field of education. The purpose of
the survey was to determine the knowledge of the general public regarding
AD/HD. Another method of instrumentation that I used during the research
process was observation. I observed Sara involved in a variety of classroom
activities and made anecdotal notes as documentation for my research.
These notes proved to be very beneficial when examining areas of Sara’s
development.
Procedures
Prior to conducting any research activities, I requested and was granted
permission by my principal to conduct research in my classroom at Southwest
Laurens Elementary. According to Georgia College and State University
guidelines, all the necessary forms and paperwork (which included the
permission form from my principal) were submitted to the Institutional
Review Board (IRB). My research began around the first of October after
the IRB granted its approval for me to conduct my research. A participant
permission form was sent home with Sara for her mother to sign. Due to
scheduling difficulties, the interview with Sara’s mother was conducted over
the telephone. The surveys to Southwest Laurens teachers were randomly
placed in their school “mailboxes” with instructions to return the permission
form and survey separately to the researcher’s mailbox by a given deadline.
Surveys to the general public were distributed and collected by a member of
the researcher’s family. Upon receiving permission from Sara’s mother for Sara
to participate in my research, I began to conduct observations into Sara’s stages
of development, how she interacted with peers, homework patterns, etc.
RESULTS
The first step of my research involved observing Sara. Sara is a
typical seven-year-old girl. She is frequently absent and her work is rarely
completed within the three-day time frame allowed for makeup work. Sara
is quiet in the classroom, but makes friends easily. When given a choice of
working in a group or working alone, she will most often work with other
students. I observed a change in Sara when she worked with other children.
She became very bossy and wanted things to go her way. In looking at Eric
Erikson’s Stages of Social Development, Sara is in the beginning stage of
Industry Versus Inferiority (or Competence) Stage. In this stage, Sara has
learned to relate to her peers according to social rules. She is progressing
from free play to a more structured type of play. Evidence of this stage is
demonstrated in the way she interacts with her classmates and by the fact that
131
they often make up games and play activities with their set of rules. I felt Sara
was only in the beginning of this stage because she is not self-disciplined
enough to bring in her homework on regular basis and she is struggling to
master skills in the areas of reading and math. Examining the area of Sara’
cognitive development, I found her to be in the beginning phase of the concrete
operational stage as described by Jean Piaget. An example of mastery at this
level is understanding that since 4+4=8, then 8-4 must equal 4. This is one of
the skills we are working on in second grade. Sara still has trouble identifying
the correct answer to similar problems. I feel she will master this skill by
the end of second grade. She is also progressing in the area of the ability to
understand things from another person’s point of view. I have observed her
while the students are working in small groups and she listens to others better
at the end of the research as compared to when the research was begun. Sara’s
moral development falls under Stage 2—Individualism and Exchange. In this
stage of moral development, an individual’s point of view and actions are
based on how their own personal needs can be met. Children begin to push the
limits of rules. This was interesting to me because over a two-week period Sara
received two bus discipline forms. When questioned about her actions, her only
response was a shrug of the shoulders. It seems she was more concerned with
her actions at the time than the future consequences of her actions.
For the next step in my research I wanted to survey teachers at Southwest
Laurens to solicit their thoughts and feelings regarding teaching students
with AD/HD. 66% of the teachers surveyed felt they were equipped to teach
students who are diagnosed with AD/HD. Most teachers are required in a
bachelor’s program to take a course dealing with teaching exceptional children.
However, very little is mentioned in the course about teaching students with
AD/HD. In the survey, 100% of the teachers felt that students with AD/
HD required special modifications in the regular classroom setting. When
questioned about whether or not Southwest Laurens provided adequate support
to students with AD/HD, only 30% of teachers felt the students received
the support they needed. 100% of surveyed teachers felt that parents did not
receive adequate support nor did teachers receive ongoing support and training
in the area of teaching students with AD/HD. I was also curious as to how
much knowledge people that were not associated with the field of education
had about AD/HD. A survey of the general public revealed that most people
are familiar with AD/HD. 66% of the people felt that children with AD/HD
are often troublemakers; however, 100% of them agreed that the students did
not need to be in a special education class and were not a danger to people
around them.
The final step of the research project consisted of two interviews—one
with Sara’s mother and another with Sara’s first grade teacher. Sara’s mother
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was very familiar with AD/HD because Sara’s older brother has also been
diagnosed with AD/HD. Sara was diagnosed in first grade when her teacher
became very concerned with her low grades and inability to focus on her work.
She was placed on a low dosage of medication and her grades improved. Still,
she “barely passed” the first grade. Her mother stated that she gets along well
with her brothers (except for the usual sibling rivalry). When giving Sara
directions, her mother gives one-step directions and has Sara look her directly
in the face. Since Sara has a younger brother, giving one-step directions is also
beneficial to him. One of the biggest struggles between mother and daughter
is over homework. Sara is very strong-willed in this area and often refuses
to complete her homework. Although she misses recess due to not returning
homework, it does not seem to bother her. Sara’s first grade teacher noted that
she appeared to have a “don’t care” attitude about her schoolwork and was often
lackadaisical. Her teacher also noted that Sara’s grades improved after she was
placed on medication, but were still barely passing. Sara’s reading level was
below that of the average first grader. Sara was placed at the front of the room
where she could be easily redirected.
CONCLUSION
Based on analysis of the observations, surveys, and interviews, Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a diagnosis that is not easily understood.
Each child is affected differently. Teachers and parents must work together
to insure the success of every child. This research has caused me to examine
classroom modifications, ways of giving directions, and offering positive
feedback more frequently to Sara and other students who exhibit signs of AD/
HD. Students with AD/HD respond better to one-step directions and often
benefit from looking directly at the speaker. Often, modifications made for AD/
HD students are advantageous for other students in the classroom as well. This
is also true for siblings of AD/HD children. Steps taken to help organize the
belongings and thoughts of an AD/HD child can be used as teaching tools
to help siblings organize their personal belongings and thoughts. According
to the teacher surveys, most teachers feel equipped to teach students with
AD/HD, but they also see a need for ongoing training and support. It was
also evident from the survey that Southwest Laurens needs to implement a
support system for teachers, as well as parents, of children with AD/HD. The
general public was surprisingly well informed on the subject of AD/HD. The
most perplexing statistic was that students with AD/HD are often seen as
troublemakers. I feel this decision was based on the fact that hyperactivity is
the most outstanding and well-known characteristic of AD/HD.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
After conducting this study, I recommend the following plan of action: 1)
Teachers at Southwest Laurens work together to create a list of modifications
that have proven to be effective in the classroom for students with AD/HD.
Such a list would be valuable to veteran teachers and new teachers; 2) Teachers
receive ongoing professional staff development training in the area of AD/
HD and how to successfully teach AD/HD students; 3) A support system
for parents of students with AD/HD be established at Southwest Laurens to
enable parents to feel empowered to help their child be successful in his/her
school career; 4) A support system be established for students with AD/HD
where they receive pointers and advice on how to manage their AD/HD and its
effects on class work, homework, relationships, etc.
Appendix A: Parent Interview Questions
*Note: According to research, the term AD/HD is used to refer to
students with Attention Deficit Disorder who may or may not exhibit
hyperactivity.
1. How old was your child when he/she was diagnosed with AD/HD?
2. What led you to seek a medical diagnosis?
3. How do instructions to your child with AD/HD differ from
instructions to your other child/children?
4. Tell me about the child’s interactions with siblings? Are the
siblings aware of the differences in the way you discipline or provide
instruction to the AD/HD child?
5. Tell me about how AD/HD affects your child in relation to his/her
academic performance and/or interaction with teachers.
Appendix B: Survey Questions for Teachers
In an effort to fulfill the requirements for my Applied Research II course at
Georgia College and State University, I am doing a case study on Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. As a fellow educator, your input is very
valuable to my research and all information is strictly confidential. Before
beginning, please indicate the grade you currently teach and the number of
years of teaching experience. Read each of the following statements and use
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a check mark to select Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree
based on your experience.
Teaching experience__________ (# of years)
Currently teaching __________ grade
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
1. I feel equipped to
teach students who
are diagnosed with
AD/HD.
2. Students with
AD/HD do not
require any special
modification in the
regularcelassroom
setting.
3. Our school provides adequate support to students with
AD/HD.
4. Our school provides adequate support to parents of
students with AD/
HD.
5. Teachers are
provided ongoing
training and support
regarding AD/HD.
Appendix C: Survey Questions for General Public
Hello. My name is Tammy Gibson. I am a teacher at Southwest Laurens
Elementary and also a Graduate student at Georgia College and State
University. In an effort to fulfill the requirements for my Applied Research
II course at Georgia College and State University, I am doing a case study
on Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). Your input is very
valuable to my research and all information is strictly confidential.
135
Before beginning, please indicate your age category. Then read each of the
statements and use a check mark to select Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or
Strongly Disagree based on your experience.
Please indicate your age group:
18-25 _____ 26-35 _____ 36-45 _____ 46-55 _____ 56-65 _____ 66+
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Disagree
_____
Strongly
Disagree
1. I am familiar with
the diagnosis AD/
HD.
2. Children with
AD/HD are often
troublemakers.
3. Children with
AD/HD are a
danger to the people
around them.
4. Children with
AD/HD are not
very intelligent.
5. Children with
AD/HD need to be
in a special education
class.
REFERENCES
About,Inc. (2007). Psychology.Retrieved December 4, 2007, from http://psychology.about.com.
Brown,T. (2005). Attention deficit disorder. New Haven: Yale UP.
Canu, W. (2007). Vocational safety preference of college men with and without attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: an exploratory study. Journal of College Counseling, 10 (1), 54.
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Child Development Institute,LLC. (2007). Stages of social emotional development in children and teenagers Retrieved November 12, 2007, from http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com.
Flake,R., Lorch,E., & Milich, R. (2007). The effects of thematic importance on story recall. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35(1), 43-53.
Flick, G. (1998). ADD/ADHD behavior- change resource kit. New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education.
GenneX Healthcare Technologies. (1999). Estronaut: A forum for women’s health. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from www.estronaut.com.
Georgia Department of Education.(2007). Early intervention program. Retrieved December 3, 2007, from http://public.doe.k12.ga.us.
Marcus, M. (2007, April 30). Public perceptions harsh of kids, mental health. USA Today. Life Section, pg 7d.
National Resource Center on AD/HD. (2007). Children and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Retrieved June 20, 2007, from CHADD: www.chadd.org.
Nutrition Health Center. (n.d). Attention deficit disorder. Retrieved July 1, 2007, from www.add-adhd-help-center.com.
McNeil Pediatrics. (2007). Concerta: tips for the ADHD household. Retrieved June 30, 2007, from www.concerta.net.
Reeves, D. (2007). Alternative solutions for managing behavioral disorders.
Retrieved June 29, 2007, from www.earlychildhoodnews.com.
Wikipedia. (2007). Theory of cognitive development. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org.
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138
ActivBoard Instruction and Increasing Reading Skills
ActivBoard Instruction: Does it
Increase Reading Skills?
Denita Hall
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purpose of my research project was to involve students in interactive
activities using the ActivBoard in order to guide practices that may lead to
increased reading skills. My research project involved an ActivBoard group
and a control group. Each group consisted of twenty second grade students
in separate classes but taught at the same elementary school. The ActivBoard
group engaged in active learning using guided practices incorporating the
ActivBoard into the reading curriculum. Each group completed four pre- and
posttest reading quizzes, two CRCT reading tests, and two STEEP reading
fluency tests. I conducted this study over a two month period. The results of
my research project are inconclusive. While the ActivBoard group showed
sharp improvement between the pre- and posttests, the control group also
showed moderate improvement. It should also be noted that my sample size
is small and may not allow the level of statistical power necessary to detect
differences between the treatment group and control group in any of the
quizzes and especially in the standardized tests. Further research with larger
sample sizes is required in order to make more definitive conclusions on the
effects of the ActivBoard on students’ reading performance.
INTRODUCTION
One of the goals of the No Child Left Behind act is to integrate
technology into instruction to potentially improve student achievement (Schut,
2007, p.17). Another imperative goal is that students build a solid foundation in
the area of reading. “Reading is fundamental to success in life. It’s that simple.
Reading opens the door to virtually all other learning. Basically, you have to
be able to read to succeed. Poor literacy leads to unemployment, poverty, and
crime” (Zimmerman & Hutchins, 2003, p.4). The importance of early reading
should not be underestimated because children who struggle with reading in
early grades tend to fall behind their peers throughout the school years and
their academic achievement in other content areas also suffers (McIntyre,
Petrosko, Jones, Powell, Powers, Newsome, & Bright, 2005).
I feel it imperative for students to be exposed to as many techniques as
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possible to encourage them to read. Students often become unmotivated to read
unless reading is presented in ways other than using the basal reader. Reading
needs to become an exciting part of students’ early learning. As a teacher, I
need to present reading skills in a way that is both challenging and motivating.
I find that the ActivBoard motivates my students to learn. They become
actively engaged in learning. Many countries such as Mexico, China, and the
United Kingdom are incorporating interactive whiteboards (or ActivBoards)
into their instruction. “The U.S. needs to provide whiteboard technology in
order to have our students compete in a global economy” (Starkman, 2006, p.2).
With the implementation of more interactive whiteboards, I feel the classroom
will become part of the technology wave.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Instruction Using Basal Readers
I observe that students often become bored with the regular reading
program and become apathetic to reading. Using a basal reader as the only
form of reading is not motivating to some students, but it is still the dominant
means of reading instruction in the United States. Tyner (2004) argues that
basal readers must be used flexibly in order for them to be effective and that
when basal readers are used as the means for the total reading program, they
often become less effective. In other words, basal readers were never meant
to be used as the instrumental materials for a complete reading program,
but only as a starting point (Tyner, 2004). Similarly, textbooks are used to
supplement lectures and to strengthen learners’ conceptual understanding and
knowledge. Therefore, classroom instruction is often centered on textbooks
(Mott, Benus, & Neal, 2007). However, research suggests that effective
teachers exercise varying techniques and strategies to maximize each student’s
potential (Stronge, 2007). Research also suggests that students whose teachers
constantly develop and integrate inquiry-based problem-solving, hands-on
activities, and evaluation methods assessing critical thinking skills consistently
outperform their peers whose teachers rely solely on textbook-based materials
(Stronge, 2007). Hoff (2003) once argued, “We do our kids a disservice by
choosing one pedagogy and using it all the time” (p.8).
Incorporation of Technology
An ActivBoard is best described as “a one giant computer screen that
the teacher can manipulate with a variety of tools, enabling them to present
slides, take notes, and do a host of other things (Villano, 2006, p.2). It can be
used in conjunction with a variety of visual and audio tools to enrich students’
learning experiences. The ActivBoard can be a valuable medium for students to
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learn new materials.
First, the ActivBoard can be used together with graphic organizers,
which are tools that students may use to help organize and remember key
ideas. Graphic organizers help students memorize key concepts because they
serve as blueprints or maps that translate abstract ideas into more visible and
concrete information (Burke, 2005). There is no doubt that visual learners will
directly benefit from using graphic organizers. Research shows that kinesthetic
learners may also benefit from completing graphic organizers through drawing
and moving around (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollack, 2001). When graphic
organizers are used in the reading curriculum, they can assist students in
retaining information that is presented on an ActivBoard.
In addition, through the use of an ActivBoard, students are also allowed
to listen to their reading using an audio CD. These CDs seem to motivate
students to follow along while listening to the text. Common wisdom tells
us that hearing text read aloud improves students’ reading ability (Holum &
Gahala, 2001). With the ActivBoard, children can either listen to the audio
version of a book while following along silently with the text version or they
can practice reading the text aloud while listening to the audio version. In
summation, the ActivBoard is a flexible tool that can be used along with other
forms of technology to improve reading skills and may potentially be helpful
for students with different learning styles.
Use of Technology and Active Learning
Many schools are investing in a variety of forms of technology in order
to prepare students for the future. Classrooms at every level are changing as
technology is incorporated into the curriculum. Technology is often seen as
a vehicle for meeting the diverse needs of students by providing them with
enriched learning opportunities (Rakes, Fields, & Cox, 2006). Villano (2006)
states:
Among the old-school resources that the digital age is making
obsolete or at least less consequential, count the chalkboard. For
decades, the chalkboard was the focal point of all instruction, the big
screen on which teachers wrote out and directed lesson after lesson
after lesson. Today while chalkboards still exist, they are losing their
status as the classroom centerpiece – districts are now investing in
technology to modernize classroom displays. (p.1)
As its name suggests, an ActivBoard (or interactive whiteboard) facilitates
active learning. When the ActivBoard is used, students exhibit enthusiasm and
a desire to gain knowledge. “The most powerful aid to understanding is active
involvement” (Tate, 2005, p.xiv). Today’s learners are expected to synthesize
and apply knowledge regularly; passive learning, therefore, cannot meet the
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demands put on the learner (Brown, 2004). In keeping with the constructivist
learning theory, communication and visualization tools such as the ActivBoard
help create an active learning environment in which collaboration and
interactions among learners occur frequently in socio-cultural contexts (Rakes
et al., 2006). The findings of a study on ActivBoard by Wall, Higgins, and
Smith (2005) reveal that the ActivBoard is effective in improving learning
quality by reinforcing concentration and attention and in motivating classroom
participation through a combination of color and movement. The same study
also found that the use of ActivBoard may influence pupils’ views of learning
toward seeing learning as a more visual and verbal-social process. Hall and
Higgins (2005) attributed students’ positive views toward the ActivBoard
to its versatility “that they are a conglomeration of all previous educational
technologies, that is, chalkboard, plain whiteboard, television, video, overhead
projector and personal computer but with the added advantage of being able to
interact with various elements of these media (p.106).
METHOD
Participants and Setting
The study included forty second grade students from two different
classes within the same elementary school. This elementary school houses
kindergarten through third grade students. There are approximately
1,500 students with 125 instructional staff members. The school’s ethnic
demographics consist of 34% black, 62% white and 4% other nationalities.
Demographic data for the school area shows that 35% of the households
are single-parent homes and 5% of the citizens live below the poverty level.
Thirty-three percent of the poverty population is white and 62% of the
poverty population is black. The school system provides 60% of its students
with free or reduced lunches. Students are grouped heterogeneously in classes
in each grade level. The two classes that were chosen to participate have a
similar class make-up. Each class had twenty students that participated in
the study. These students’ level of academic achievement is representative of
that for the whole school, and only one student out of forty did not pass the
Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) the previous school year. The
school is designated as a Title I School. Title I funds have made it possible to
provide substantial technology resources. All classrooms have an ActivBoard,
a DocCam (document scanning device used in education much like an overhead
projector), at least three multi-media computers, a computer for the instructor,
and a DVD/VCR player.
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Instrumentation
The control group and the ActivBoard group were evaluated using four
in-class quizzes and two standardized tests. The in-class quizzes were based on
stories taken from the Open Court Reading Series. Each in-class quiz consisted
of sixteen questions. Five of the questions involved vocabulary presented
in the story, and the other nine involved comprehension questions based on
the story. The standardized tests involved in this study were the Georgia
Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) Benchmark and System to
Enhance Educational Performance (STEEP). Only the reading sections of each
of the standardized tests were used for the evaluation in this study.
Research Procedures
Permission to begin this study was given by the Georgia College & State
University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the school principal. A letter
of explanation and a permission slip were sent to the parents of each of the
student participants. Research began when all forms had been returned. The
students were given the CRCT reading benchmark and the STEEP test before
giving the first in-class quiz. Each class was given a pretest over the story
“Fossils Tell of Long Ago.” At the completion of the pretest, the control
group orally read and discussed the reading story. After the completion of
the discussion, students were given a posttest over the story. The ActivBoard
group was given the same pretest. Students then participated in the following
activities involving technology: the students viewed and listened to the
same story as the control group via the ActivBoard using an audio CD. The
students then completed a graphic organizer (Appendix A) on the details
and elements of the story using the ActivBoard. The next activity involved
vocabulary (Appendix B) in which the students actively participated in using
the ActivBoard. Students orally discussed the author’s purpose. Upon the
completion of these activities, the students were given the same posttest as the
control group. These activities continued for four consecutive weeks during
which students read and were tested on a total of four stories. On the fifth
week and after the completion of the fourth posttest, students were given
the same CRCT reading benchmark and the same STEEP reading test. The
results of these tests were recorded and evaluated to determine if ActivBoard
activities increased reading achievement.
Data Source and Analysis
Data sources included CRCT Benchmark Tests, STEEP, and pre- and postinstructor-designed reading quizzes. Benchmarks were developed using content
CRCT standards and provided the “framework for teaching and assessing key
concepts because they are more specific and concrete than most standards”
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(Burke, 2005, p.6). STEEP is a research-based response to any intervention
program that guides users to match an appropriate intervention to the needs
of struggling learners. STEEP uses a standard protocol approach to quickly
identify the type of intervention needed in reading or math for students not
achieving benchmarks (STEEP, 2007). These quantitative data were subjected
to inferential statistical analysis, in particular, multivariate and univariate
analysis of variances.
RESULTS
Tables 1 and 2 display the descriptive statistics for the four in-class quizzes
and two standardized tests (Benchmark CRCT and STEEP) by treatment
group and time of the test. For both the ActivBoard group and the control
group, the posttest scores were significantly higher than the pretest scores.
The disparity between the pretest and posttest scores was especially large
for the ActivBoard group on the four quizzes. The reason for the disparity in
the pretest scores between these two groups is unknown but could possibly
be attributed to the fact that my class was more comfortable with my way of
grading and realized that I would not include the pretest scores into their final
reading score. On the other hand, the control group was not familiar with my
grading techniques. Even though their teacher stated that the pretest scores
would not be included in their final grade, the students in the control group
could have been more anxious about my grading techniques and their overall
grade. The students in the ActivBoard group also scored much higher than
the control group students on the posttests of the four quizzes. However, the
posttest scores for the ActivBoard group were also much more spread out than
those for the control group. Students in the ActivBoard and control groups
scored more similarly on the pretest of Benchmark CRCT and STEEP. The
ActivBoard group scored higher than the control group on both the pretest
and the posttest of Benchmark CRCT. The ActivBoard group scored slightly
lower than the control group on the pretest of STEEP, but they scored
somewhat higher than the control group on the posttest of STEEP.
Two mixed two-way (2*2) MANOVAs were performed in order to
compare the pretest and posttest means in any of the quizzes and standardized
tests between the students in the ActivBoard group and the control group.
The between-subject variable in this case has two levels: treatment condition
and control condition. The within-subject variable also has two levels: pretest
and posttest. Tables 3 and 4 summarize the overall MANOVA results using
Wilks’ Lambda. The MANOVA analyses indicate that there was a statistically
significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores for both the four
quizzes (λ = 0.25, F = 56.19, df = (4, 35), p =<0.001) and
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the two standardized tests (λ = 0.87, F = 5.53, df = (4, 35), p = 0.01). The
same MANOVA analyses also show that there was a statistically significant
difference between the ActiveBoard group and the control group on the
posttest of the four quizzes (λ = 0.63, F = 10.82, df = (4, 35), p =<0.001).
Students in these two groups, however, did not perform significantly different
on the posttest of the two standardized tests (λ = 0.93, F = 2.80, df = (4, 35),
p =0.07).
Seven two-way ANOVAs for the scores of each of the quizzes and
standardized tests were also conducted. Since a total of seven null hypotheses
were tested in this single analysis, a more conservative statistically significance
level of .01 was used rather than the conventional critical level of .05.
Tables 5 and 6 summarize the results of the ANOVA analyses. The twoway ANOVAs again show that there was a statistically significant difference
between the scores on the pretest and posttest for all the four quizzes and on
both standardized tests. However, statistically significant difference between
the ActivBoard group and control group was only found in the quiz after the
story “Hope” (F = 24.55, df = (1, 38), p < .001). In other words, students in the
ActivBoard group did not perform significantly better than the students in the
control group on all the three remaining quizzes, nor on the two standardized
tests. I also found a statistically significant interaction effect between the
treatment condition and occasions of the test for all the four in-class quizzes.
This interaction effect can be explained by the disparity in the improvement
rates between the ActivBoard group and the control group on the four quizzes.
In other words, students in the ActivBoard group made sharp improvement
from the pretest to the posttest, whereas the students in the control group
made relatively moderate degree of improvement.
Additional ANOVA analyses incorporating the two demographic variables
were conducted. No statistically significant difference was found between the
performance of male and female students or the Caucasian students and the
African American students. There were also no interaction effects between the
treatment condition and either of these two demographic variables on all the
four quizzes and both standardized tests. The results of these ANOVA analyses
were omitted from this final report.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this research project was to guide practices using
ActivBoard that may lead to an improvement in reading skills. I conducted
this study over a two month period. The results of my research project were
inconclusive. While the ActivBoard group showed sharp improvement between
the pre- and posttest, the control group also showed moderate improvement.
145
The ActivBoard group scored higher than the control group on both the
pretest and posttest of Benchmark CRCT but slightly lower than the control
group on the pretest of the STEEP. The ActivBoard group scored somewhat
higher than the control group on the posttest of the STEEP. Evaluating
true comparisons of the two groups were very difficult when you are not
in control of both groups. Each group had different teachers with different
teaching methods which posed a threat to the outcome of this study. I feel the
test scores on the pretest in the ActivBoard group were much lower since my
students realized that these tests would not be incorporated into their final
grades. The control group was given the same information but I feel that their
teacher placed more emphasis on achieving a higher grade on the pretest. The
classroom teacher of the control group was instructed not to have students
participate in ActivBoard activities during this research. The students in
control group did not participate in ActivBoard activities between the pre and
post reading tests. However, the control group students did participate in some
ActivBoard activities beyond the timeframe of this research. Also, there were
limitations involved in the sample size of my study. My study only involved
two classrooms of twenty students each. This sample size is too small and
may not allow the level of statistical power to detect differences between the
treatment group and control group in any of the quizzes and especially in the
standardized tests. Further research with larger sample sizes is needed in order
to make more definitive conclusions on the effects of ActivBoard on students’
reading performance.
The students that were involved with the ActivBoard activities did show
a larger improvement in reading on the posttest. I feel the activities involving
graphic organizers were helpful for the visual and kinesthetic learners in my
class. The organization of story elements and vocabulary activities appeared to
help the students retain information needed for the completion of the weekly
posttest (Burke, 2005). Students appeared to pay closer attention to the story
when an audio CD was used compared to oral reading of the basal. I feel my
ActivBoard group benefited from hearing the story on CD which might have
had a positive effect on reading scores on the posttest (Holum & Gahala, 2001).
When my students were engaged in ActivBoard activities, the enthusiasm of
the students was high. Students that were involved in the ActivBoard activities
seemed to be more motivated as compared to those in the control group (Hall
& Higgins, 2005). Larger studies will need to be done in order to examine
students’ attitudes toward ActivBoard use (Wall, Higgins, & Smith, 2005).
Qualitative research methods may also help us gain further insights about the
effects of ActivBoard on students’ attitudes toward reading or toward learning
in general. These potential psychological and emotional impacts of ActivBoard
on student learning are crucial and should be examined along with students’
146
test scores.
For future studies, I feel a longer time span should be used. Two months
was probably not a sufficient period of time to see real improvement. Also, this
research should not be limited to one grade level. ActivBoard is a relatively
new technological innovation, so more research studies need to be conducted
to test its effect. This study was promising in that both groups improved in the
reading scores. I feel students would benefit from more research studies on the
effects of ActivBoard (Schut, 2007).
Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations for the Four Quizzes by Treatment Group
and Time of the Test
Time of
Test
Experimental Group
Pretest
Post-test
Control
Group
Pretest
Post-test
n
Fossils Tell
of Long
Ago
M
SD
20 13.85 13.10
20 7935 22.60
Butterfly
Seeds
Statue of
Liberty
New Hope
M
M
M
SD
SD
SD
19.15 11.33 20.10 11.96 16.15 08.66
84.40 24.73 82.05 17.26 84.25 17.61
20 34.70 24.09 40.30 18.18 30.05 17.81 27.95 12.39
20 40.90 22.18 50.10 18.08 54.10 16.44 37.90 12.67
Note. The score range for all the four quizzes from 0 to 10
147
Table 2: Means and Standard Deviations for the Benchmark Test and STEEP by
Treatment Group and Time of the Test
Benchmark
CRCT
M
SD
STEEP
Time of Test
n
M
SD
Experimental
Group
Pretest
20
80.50 11.80
101.80 33.35
Post-test
20
88.25 10.55
124.35 38.44
Control Group
Pretest
20
72.50 16.20
105.30 38.16
Post-test
20
84.50 13.85
118.40 36.34
Note. The score range for Benchmark CRCT is 0-100; the score range for
STEEP is 0 – 275.
Table 3: Summary of Mixed MANOVA Results of the Four Quizzes by Treatment
Group (Between-Subject) and Time of the Test (Within-Subject) (n=40)
Source
Wilks’
Lambda
Treatment 0.63
Test
0.25
Interaction 0.43
F
df1
df2
p
10.82
56.19
23.99
4
4
4
35
35
35
<.001
<.001
<.001
Table 4: Summary of Mixed MANOVA Results of the CRCT Benchmark and
STEEP by Treatment Group (Between-Subject) and Time of the Test (WithinSubject) (n=40)
Source
Wilks’
Lambda
Treatment 0.93
Test
0.87
Interaction 0.9
F
df1
df2
p
02.80
05.53
01.04
4
4
4
35
35
35
.07
.01
.36
148
Table 5: Summary of Mixed Two-Way ANOVA Results of the Four Quizzes by
Treatment Group (Between-Subject), and Time of the Test (Within-Subject) (n=40)
Variable
Source
df
F
p
Fossil
Test
Treatment
Interaction
Test
Treatment
Interaction
Test
Tretment
Interaction
Test
Treatment
Interaction
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
112.65
2.39
77.05
117.03
01.89
63.88
286.85
04.20
55.71
283.31
24.55
157.26
<.001
=.131
<.001
<.001
=.178
<.001
<.001
=.047
<.001
<.001
<.001
<.001
Butterfly Seeds
Statue of Liberty
Hope
Table 6: Summary of Mixed Two-Way ANOVA Results of the CRCT Benchmark
and STEEP by Treatment Group (Between-Subject), and Time of the Test (WithinSubject) (n=40)
Variable
CRCT
Benchmark
STEEP
Source
Test
df
1
F
24.53
p
<.001
Treatment
Interaction
Test
Treatment
Interaction
1
1
1
1
1
02.52
01.14
60.06
.001
4.22
.063
.029
<.001
.915
.047
149
Appendix A: Graphic Organizer (used with each story on the ActivBoard)
Main Idea
Appendix B: Vocabulary Activity (an activity for each story was completed on
the ActivBoard) for “Fossils Tell of Long Ago”
Drag and Drop the vocabulary word that completes each sentence:
1. The sap hardened and became a fossil called ________________.
My mother has a necklace made of a stone called ________________.
2. The fish became a ________________.
The boys found a ________________ of a leaf buried in their yard.
3. They have all died out. We say they are ________________.
Dinosaurs no longer live on the earth. They are ________________.
150
4. It dropped into the swampy forest soil which is called
________________.
________________, or swampy forest soil, contains many treasures
for scientists.
5. The ancient ________________was a kind of elephant.
We saw the skeleton of a ________________at the museum.
amber fossil extinct peat mammoth
amber fossil extinct peat mammoth
REFERENCES
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Burke, K. (2005). How to assess authentic learning. Thousand Oaks: CA Corwin Press.
Hall, I., & Higgins, S. (2005). Primary school students’ perceptions of interactive whiteboards.Journal of Computer Assisted Learning,
21(2), 102-115.
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Hoof, D. J. (2003). Large scale study finds poor math science instruction. Education Week,23(1), 8.
iSTEEP(1997). STEEP: System to enhance educational performance. Retrieved July 2, 2007, from http://www.isteep.com.
Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollack, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
McIntyre, E., Petrosko, J., Jones, D., Powell, R., Powers, S., Newsome, F., & Bright, K. (2005). Supplemental instruction in early reading: Does it matter to struggling readers? Journal of Educational Research, 99(2),
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99.
Mott, M. C.,Benus, M. J., & Neal, L. (2007). Media rich paper: Enhancing reading comprehension through touch user interface technology. Technology and Learning, 28(2), 2-7.
Okan, Z. (May, 2007). Towards a Critical Theory of Educational Technology. Paper presented at the 7th International Educational Technology (IETC) Conference, Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Rakes, G., Fields, V., & Cox, K. (2006). The influence of teachers’ technology use on instructional practices. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(4), 409-424. Schut, C. (2007). Student perceptions of interactive whiteboards in a biology
classroom. Unpublished master’s thesis, Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio.
Starkman, N. (2006). The wonders of interactive whiteboards. T.H.E. Journal, 33(10), 36-38.
Stronge, J. H. (2007). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tate, M. L. (2005). Reading and language arts worksheets: Don’t grow dendrites. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corbin Press.
Tyner, B. (2004). Small-group reading instruction: A differentiated teaching model for beginning and struggling readers. Newark: Delaware: International Reading Association.
Villano, M. (2006). Picture this! T. H. E Journal, 33(16), 16-20.
Wall, K. , Higgins, S., & Smith, H. (2005). The visual helps me understand
the complicated things: Pupils views of teaching and learning with interactive whiteboards. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(5), 851- 867.
Zimmerman, S., & Hutchins, C. (2003). 7 keys to comprehension: How to help your kids read it and get it! New York: Three Rivers Press.
152
Benefits and Barriers of Collaborative Teaching
What are the Benefits and Barriers of
Collaborative Teaching in the
Inclusion Model?
Patricia Holsey
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to identify the benefits and barriers
of collaborative teaching in the inclusion model. It was assumed that the
findings of this study would provide teachers with information on how to
utilize effective collaborative practices in order to obtain positive results for
both regular and special education students. Forty teachers who have had prior
experiences with the co-teaching model completed questionnaire written on
a Likert scale; eight of them also participated in a semi-structured, individual
interview. The results of this study indicate that in general, both special and
general education teachers had a positive experience with co-teaching. The
overwhelming majority of the teachers also believe that sufficient teacher
training, appropriate pairing, and volunteering are crucial factors that will
contribute to the success or failure of the co-teaching model. In order to reduce
or remove the various challenges and barriers related to co-teaching, adequate
training in co-teaching should be provided before teachers are actually assigned
to co-teach.
INTRODUCTION
With an increasing number of students with disabilities being served in
the general education classrooms, there is a need for special education teachers
in this setting (Rice, Drame, Owens, & Frattura, 2007). As stated by the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), this school reform plan requires states
to set high standards for all students and holds schools accountable for the
results. NCLB includes significant new accountability measures for all public
schools. It is based on the ambitious goal that ALL children will be proficient
in reading and math by 2014. The law requires that all children be taught by
“highly qualified” teachers. The law also emphasizes improving communication
with parents and making all schools safer for students (Cole, 2006). Although
NCLB and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (2004) are
explicit in their views that the key to success for students with disabilities lies
153
in access to the general curriculum, the issue has engendered substantial and
often heated debates in the field of education (Hardman & Dawson, 2008).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research was to identify the benefits and barriers of
collaborative teaching in the inclusion model. It was assumed that the findings
of this study would provide teachers with information of how to utilize
effective collaborative practices in order to obtain positive results for both
regular and special education students in the inclusion settings. In particular,
two sets of research questions guided this study:
1. What are special and general education teachers’ views of
collaborative teaching or co-teaching? How are their views compared
to each other?
2. What factors contribute to the potential success or failure of the coteaching or collaborative teaching model? How can the challenges and
barriers be reduced or removed?
LITERATURE REVIEW
More than two decades ago, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Education, Madeline Will, indicated certain problems with the
service delivery system of special education. She proposed a consolidation of
categorical programs and general education to create an educational system
that acknowledged and taught to the individual differences of all children in
the general education classrooms with joint accountability and responsibility
between the special and general education teachers. Educators, policymakers,
and parents continue to look for a universal understanding of Will’s vision
(Cole, 2006).
Although the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975)
originally focused on the national discussions about how to guarantee access to
education for students with disabilities, the release of A Nation at Risk in 1983
extensively broadened the debate on the federal role in educational policy. With
threatening and at times provocative language, the National Commission on
Excellence in Education declared that U.S. public schools were not making the
grade (Hardman & Dawson, 2008).
In 2001 President Bush passed into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
The law stipulates statewide systems of accountability based upon challenging
academic standards and assessment systems with content aligned to those
standards. As a result of this law, data on students with disabilities is now
readily available and is being compared to those obtained from the previous
years. Furthermore, NCLB has provided the impetus for special education and
154
general education teachers to work together in new and different ways (Cole,
2006).
According to Scruggs, Norland, McDuffie, Mastropieri, Graetz, and
Gardizi (2005), because of the increased diversity in twenty-first century
classrooms, there are a rising number of students with disabilities who
are integrated in the general education class environment. As a result,
collaboration has become widely practiced in today’s schools. Associated with
this enlarged collaboration is the emergence of various models of collaboration
or co-teaching. The major goals of the collaboration or co-teaching model
include increasing access to a wider range of instructional options for students
with disabilities, enhancing the participation of students with disabilities
within general education classes, and enhancing the performance of students
with disabilities.
There have been some reports of positive benefits of collaboration in the
inclusion setting. It is noted that the voluntary participants tended to report
more positive perception of co-teaching than the ones who were assigned to
their positions. More positive perceptions were also linked to administrative
support, additional planning time, and related beliefs about teaching and
mutual respect of one another (Scruggs & et al., 2005).
In accordance with Rice, Drame, Owens, and Frattura (2007), support
for co-teaching varies significantly among school districts and buildings,
from clear administrative support for co-teaching to separate case loads and
a lack of physical proximity. The authors stated that in their research it was
reported by general education teachers that their most effective co-teaching
relationships were with special education teachers who had strengths in the
following specific areas: professionalism; ability to meet student needs; ability
to accurately assess a student’s progress; ability to analyze teaching styles;
ability to work with a wide range of students; and knowledge of, or interest in
developing knowledge of course content.
Not only must researchers present success stories in their findings, but
they must also tell stories about the failures experienced by implementers who
attempted to serve in the collaborative or co-teaching model. These stories will
help identify the factors that enhance and impede attempts to move beyond
merely cosmetic changes that plague efforts to improve instruction for all
students (Trent, 1998). Co-teaching can be a challenge even for the competent,
veteran teachers (Rea & Connell, 2005). According to Scruggs et al. (2005),
some barriers included circumstances in which students with disabilities did
not have access to high levels of direct skill instruction and interaction with
teachers. Only a small amount of time was provided for special education
teachers to deliver or modify instruction. Overall, general education teachers
were identified as content specialists, and all the special education teachers, at
155
some point, took on the role of instructional aide. When teachers co-teach,
they rarely assess all the components identified as important for co-teaching,
such as using a variety of instructional models and co-planning, which in
turn have a negative impact on student performance. Differences in individual
teaching styles, behavior management, and ideas about class preparation are
also reported as barriers to the success of collaboration or the co-teaching
model.
The key element of co-teaching is how to determine what instructional
techniques or strategies are the most efficient and effective in meeting students’
academic needs (Murawski & Dieker, 2004). It is a continuing process to
determine these instructional techniques to ensure collaboration or co-teaching
is successful for both teachers and students.
Although co-teaching models have increased greatly, there are still
disagreements on the specific features required, such as the precise roles and
responsibilities of both the general and special education teachers and the best
way to determine the effectiveness of co-teaching. Recent literature reviews on
co-teaching have concluded that efficacy data provide only limited support for
the use of co-teaching programs (Scruggs et al., 2005).
METHOD
Research Design
A cross-sectional survey and personal interviews were the two major data
collection tools used in this study. The survey questions were administered in
a period of one to two days. Some teachers received their surveys via email,
whereas others received a paper copy in their school mailbox. The personal
interviews were conducted over a period of two to three days in a private
setting. Some interviews were conducted in my classroom, while others took
place in the classroom of the teacher interviewee.
Participants
The study was conducted at Baldwin High School located in middle
Georgia. This school is a Title 1 school with an enrollment of 1,355 students
and consists of grade levels ninth through twelfth. According to the 20052006 State of Georgia K-12 Public Schools Annual Report Card for Baldwin
High School, there are five administrators, 113 other full-time personnel, and
three part-time personnel. Of these full-time and part-time personnel, there
are thirty-four males and eighty-two females. Their certification levels are as
follows: fifty-two with four-year Bachelor’s, fifty-three with five-year Master’s,
seven with six-year Specialist’s, and two with Doctoral degrees. The racial
demographics of this school’s faculty are twenty-nine blacks and eighty-seven
156
whites. The years of experience for the faculty at this school varies from less
than a year to over twenty years.
The faculty members surveyed and interviewed were those who were
involved in the collaborative teaching model in an inclusive setting. A
purposive sampling with a maximum variation design was used in this research.
The sample included teachers representing a wide range of demographics
such as first year teachers involved in the co-teaching model, veteran teachers
involved in the co-teaching model, male and female co-teachers, male and male
co-teachers, female and female co-teachers, and educators of different ages and
ethnic backgrounds. Forty teachers participated in the survey part of the study,
among which eight participated in semi-structured individual interviews. The
years of experience with co-teaching or collaborative teaching in an inclusive
setting range from one to four among these teachers.
Instrumentation
Two major instruments, a questionnaire on co-teaching and an interview
schedule, were used in this study. The co-teaching questionnaire was written
on a Likert scale with options ranging from strong agree, agree, disagree, to
strongly disagree. The score reliability of this instrument will be presented in
a later section in conjunction with the report of the major findings. In addition,
teacher participants were also asked to share their thoughts and experiences by
answering questions designed by the researcher through an interview. There
were a total of ten interview questions.
Data Analysis
Teachers’ responses to the survey were first summarized using descriptive
statistics and then subjected to multivariate analysis of variance. The interview
data were subjected to content analysis with an aim to identify common themes
and patterns.
RESULTS
Responses to the Co-Teaching Questionnaire
The original twenty-one-item survey was subjected to content analysis.
Some items were combined in order to reduce the twenty-one items to a
manageable set of variables. Seven variables emerged: team harmony and
efficiency, collaborative decision-making, classroom management, student
progress, benefits of co-teaching, administrative support, and use of teaching
models. The team harmony and efficacy scale consists of eight items; the
collaborative decision-making scale consists of six items with the classroom
management scale consists of three items. The first two scales demonstrated
157
excellent score reliability; the classroom management scale demonstrated
slightly problematic, but not unacceptable, score reliability. The fact that the
classroom management scale contains only three items may contribute to its
lower score reliability. The reliability coefficient corresponding to each of
the three scales is reported together with the descriptive statistics in Table 1.
The rest of the items each represents a different theme, and therefore, is not
combined with any of the other items.
Descriptive statistics show that teachers who completed the survey held,
on average, a positive view toward co-teaching in the inclusion setting. On all
of the seven variables, teachers’ average ratings were above the midpoint of
the designated score range. The ratings given by the special education teachers
were slightly higher than those given by the general education teachers, but
the two sets of ratings are highly comparable with each other. Multivariate
Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) results confirmed the comparability of the
ratings given by the special education and general education teachers (λ =
0.88, F = 0.60, df = (7, 32), p = 0.752). In addition, no statistically significant
differences were found among teachers who taught different school subjects (λ
= 0.49, F = 1.18, df = (7, 32), p = 0.291).
The results of the correlational analysis between the study variables and
years of teaching experiences, and between the study variables and years of
teaching in the inclusion setting, are summarized in Table 2. There was a
positive correlation between years of teaching experience and all the study
variables except administrative support. In other words, teachers with more
experience tend to hold slightly more positive views toward co-teaching in the
inclusion setting than less experienced teachers in terms of team harmony
and efficacy, collaborative decision-making, increased student progress, and
reduced classroom management problems. Teachers with more experiences
also tend to hold stronger beliefs in the benefits of the co-teaching model and
in the possibilities of using diverse teaching models in the inclusion setting.
However, none of the above correlations were statistically significant. Similar
patterns were found between the study variables and years of teaching in
the inclusion setting. Teachers with more experience in the inclusion setting
tend to have slightly more positive views toward co-teaching than those
with less experience in the inclusion setting on all the study variables except
administrative support. On the other hand, teachers with less experience in
the inclusion setting seemed to believe that they received more support from
the school administration. However, only team harmony and efficiency was
significantly correlated with years of teaching in the inclusion setting; even
this correlation was not particularly strong. The results of this study should
be interpreted with caution. The participants of this study taught at the same
school and agreed to participate in the survey voluntarily. In addition, the
158
sample size was small. Furthermore, some of the variables were measured by
only one item.
Interview Results
Four major themes emerged from the interview responses. First, being
aware of some of the problems with this co-teaching model at my school, I
was somewhat surprised but pleased to hear many positive comments about
co-teaching and the enthusiasm expressed by the teachers throughout the
interviews. For example, when asked whether they would select to return
to the resource classroom, all but one teacher interviewees said no. Similar
results were found when teachers were asked whether they believed the
inclusion model to be beneficial for both the regular education and the special
education students. All but two teacher interviewees believed so. For example,
one special education teacher shared, “having two teachers to help students
is beneficial, also students watching team work in action.” Another regular
education teacher echoesd that “yes, I believe the regular education students do
benefit from having the extra teacher in the classroom; they are allowed to get
individualized assistance.”
Second, voluntary participants tended to report more positive attitudes
toward co-teaching than those who were assigned to their positions. This is
consistent with the findings from previous studies (Scruggs & et al., 2005).
For example, one special education teacher who volunteered to co-teach stated,
“I have been pleased in my co-teaching experience. I have learned a lot from
my co-teacher dealing with the content.” On the contrary, a teacher who was
asked to fill in the position of another teacher who suddenly resigned shared
a different experience: “I am very much a fan of the collaborative mode, but
my personal experience was disappointing due to lack of communication,
differences in philosophy, and work ethics, etc.”
The third theme that emerged from the interview was appropriate pairing.
Many teacher interviewees believed that co-teachers should not be thrown
together. For example, one teacher put it this way, “in my mind, I know that
the model can work very well, but the pairing has to be right.” When the
regular education teacher and the special education teacher show respect and
trust toward each other and share responsibilities, the co-teaching experience
typically is positive. For example, one special education teacher said, “I enjoy
this setting. My regular education teacher has been willing to accept me and
make the classroom ‘ours.’ I have been a part of a team. The students are aware
that there are two teachers—not a parapro.” Quite the opposite, a regular
education teacher expressed the following mentality, “I do not share a room.
The collaborative teacher comes in at his convenience and leaves at the bell,
oftentimes before several students. I do the vast majority of the teaching and
159
the students know that it is my class and my classroom!” Not surprisingly, this
regular education teacher did not have a positive experience with co-teaching.
Shared responsibility is also an important contributor to the success of coteaching. For example, both of the following teachers expressed very positive
attitudes toward collaborative teaching. One of them recalled discussing
students and their progress and how to present class materials with her coteacher. She said, “We are both in charge of grading, entering grades, and
make copies.” The other teacher recalled similar experiences, “we share all
classroom responsibilities, so no one person has all the work. We have worked
well together and discuss any areas of possible disagreements before they
become problems.”
The final theme that emerged from the interviews is how the barriers and
challenges regarding co-teaching in an inclusive setting can be reduced or
removed. Sufficient training was the most commonly mentioned solution to
the various potential problems that are likely to occur during co-teaching. For
example, one teacher interviewee suggested, “training for first time teachers
before school starts.” Another teacher echoed, “put teachers together in time
enough to build a relationship before school starts.” Unfortunately, all the
teacher interviewees in this study received some form of ad-hoc training in
co-teaching or collaborative teaching after they had already been assigned to
co-teach. In addition, several teachers who were able to get along with their
co-teachers also believed that keeping the co-teaching team together all year
around would help deal with the various challenges with co-teaching. The
teacher who was reluctant to give up control in his classroom commented, “I
believe the problems stem from lack of knowledge, motivation, and willingness
to improve the collaborative model.” This argument is quite common among
all of the teacher interviewees; all seemed to believe that a collaborative
teaching model could be modified to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of my research was to investigate the benefits and barriers of
collaborative teaching in an inclusion setting. It was assumed that the findings
of this study would supply teachers with information of how to develop
effective collaborative practices in order to obtain positive results for both
regular and special education students in an inclusion setting.
Nationwide, schools are adopting the collaborative teaching model in
an inclusion setting. It is mandated by the NCLB Act of 2001. Much of
the literature review pertaining to this topic revealed that many systems all
over the country have experienced tremendous success, but many have also
experienced extensive problems. The successes and failures of the schools
160
involved in the inclusion model were considerably similar. It is crucial for both
general and special education teachers to know some of the key factors that
contribute to the success or failure of the co-teaching model in order to help all
the students meet the academic standards.
The responses to the survey questions and interviews most undoubtedly
shed some light on what it takes for the co-teaching or collaborative teaching
model to work. All of the participants agreed that it is imperative that coteachers are provided time to get acquainted, as well as enough time to make
decisions about delivering instructions and managing their classrooms. In
other words, they all agreed that the most important element for the success
of the co-teaching model is that time for training is provided for all who
are involved. In addition, matching general education teachers with special
education teachers who shared a similar educational philosophy and teaching
style will likely to increase the chance of a successful co-teaching experience.
Many of the teachers also acknowledged that there are different models of
co-teaching. Some reported that they are comforted with one model, whereas
others reported that they may use a different model each day.
This research has been very helpful for me because I have struggled with
some of the same barriers in this setting. Now that I have conducted research
on this subject and have new ideas of how to be successful in a collaborative
model setting, I plan to take heed to some of the suggestions and advice
provided by participants and share this information with my co-workers. I
know this will be an ongoing practice as we look for ways to make using the
collaborative model in an inclusion setting better (Murawski and Dieker, 2004).
161
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Study Variables (N=40)
Special
Ed
Team
Harmony &
Efficiency
Collaborative
DecisionMaking
Classromm
Management
Student
Progess
Benefit of
Co-Teaching
Administrative
Support
Use of
Teaching
Models
General
Ed
N
Score Range Reliability
of
(Cronbach
(Cronbach
Items α)
α)
M 25.71 M 24.95 8
SD 2.31 SD 3.70
8-32
0.82
M 19.14 M 18.11 6
SD 1.68 SD 2.83
6-24
0.81
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
M
SD
6
3-12
0.61
1
1-4
NA
1
1-4
NA
1
1-4
NA
1
1-4
NA
9.24
1.09
3.38
0.50
3.14
0.48
3.14
0.57
3.10
0.44
M 8.84
SD 1.83
M 3.16
SD 0.38
M 3.11
SD 0.46
M 3.05
SD 0.52
M 3.05
SD 0.52
Table 2: Bivariate Correlations (Pearson’s r) between Study Variables and Years of
Teaching Experiences (n=40)
Team Harmony & Efficiency
Collaborative Decision-Making
Classromm Management
Student Progess
Benefit of Co-Teaching
Administrative Support
Use of Teaching Models
162
Years of
Teaching
Years in
Inclusive
Setting
0.25
0.14
0.17
0.10
0.12
-0.05
0.12
0.32*
0.18
0.28
0.13
0.27
-0.19
0.15
REFERENCES
Cole, C. (2006). Closing the achievement gap series: Part III. What is the impact of NCLB on the inclusion of students with disabilities? Education Policy Brief, vol. 4, n11) Bloomington, ID: Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana.
Hardman, M. L., & Dawson, S. (2008). The impact of federal public policy on curriculum and instruction for students with disabilities in the general classroom. Preventing School Failure 52, 5-11.
Murawski, W. W., & Dieker, L. (2004). Tips and strategies for co-teaching at the secondary level. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36, 52-58.
Rea, P. J., & Connell, J. (2005). Minding the fine points of co-teaching. The Education Digest, 71, 29-35.
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164
Differentiated Instruction: An Analysis
Differentiated Instruction:
One School’s Survey Analysis
Dianne James
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purposes of this study are to investigate teachers’ perceptions of
differentiated instruction and its implementation in day-to-day teaching
within the classroom. A small sample of thirty-seven middle school teachers
participated in this study. Thirty-three of them completed a fifty-item
survey and four participated in a semi-structured individual interview.
The findings support the premise that teachers know what differentiated
instruction is theoretically or conceptually, but may not be implementing the
corresponding strategies in their classrooms. One important implication of
this study is that future staff development should continue to reinforce the
necessity of differentiated instruction, correct the various misconceptions
about differentiated instruction, and provide adequate training for the actual
implementation of differentiated instruction.
INTRODUCTION
Differentiated instruction is widely known as a method of teaching that
meets the diverse needs of students. However, little information is available
concerning the actual execution of differentiated instruction in the classroom
by teachers. Many educators pay lip service to the idea of meeting the needs of
all students and teaching them in ways that best enable them to learn; however,
in reality, the majority of teachers still teach in the same way by aiming down
the middle (Irujo, 2004).
This study is designed to investigate teachers’ perceptions of differentiated
instruction and how the concept of differentiated instruction is translated into
day-to-day teaching within the classrooms. Questions that the study seeks to
address are:
• What are teachers’ views about differentiated instruction?
• Can teachers make distinctions between individualized instruction and
differentiated instruction?
• Are teachers differentiating instruction or are they “teaching to the
middle”?
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An assumption of this research is that the teachers surveyed have a basic
understanding of differentiated instruction because in the past two years
differentiated instruction was a topic for staff development at the school in
which this study occurred.
LITERATURE REVIEW
As Tomlinson (2001) describes, “In a differentiated classroom, the teacher
proactively plans and carries out varied approaches to content, process, and
product in anticipation of and response to student differences in readiness,
interest, and learning needs” (p. 7). It is a technique and response to help
students learn instead of tedious and repetitive teaching. Differentiation
starts with the teacher’s mindset that a student of any age needs active
involvement with and support from adults who care to help them construct
a worthy life (Tomlinson, 2001). This method of teaching does not suggest
that a teacher has to be all things to all individuals all the time (Tomlinson,
2005). However, it does require a teacher to master a reasonable range of
approaches to teaching so most students find mastery of learning as often as
possible. A teacher’s response to varied readiness levels relates to a teacher’s
professionalism. An expert teacher is attentive to varied learning needs and
grows into a competent, creative, and professional educator (Tomlinson,
2000). Educators who are responsive to the increasing diversity among the
student population in today’s classrooms believe that “classes should include
students of diverse needs, achievement levels, interests, and learning styles,
and instruction should be differentiated to take advantage of the diversity, not
ignore it” (Jackson & Davis, 2000, p. 23).
There are many challenges for implementing differentiated instruction in
today’s classrooms. A teacher who differentiates his or her instruction faces
the challenge to provide learning environments and opportunities that exclude
no child (Anderson, 2007). When nontraditional students are also included
in a school’s most rigorous classes (VanSciver, 2005), the implementation
of differentiated instruction becomes even more challenging. Moreover, not
only do teachers answer to parents, but they also answer to lawmakers and
the business community who demand results with unsupportive admonitions
(VanSciver, 2005), thus putting added pressures on the teaching profession.
These various challenges limit teachers’ abilities to achieve teaching
effectiveness in a classroom where differentiation becomes the center of the
instruction. Therefore, while teachers indicate the belief that differentiation
would benefit student learning, “research suggests the infeasibility argument
is winning in teachers’ struggles of conscience” (Tomlinson, 2002, p. 8).
Tomlinson also states:
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While most teachers persist with single-size approaches to instructing
diverse students populations, both research and everyday observation provide
ample evidence that many students are ill-served in such classrooms. We
are repeatedly disappointed by test scores indicating a shortfall in student
achievement. More disappointing is the number of students from varied
economic and cultural backgrounds and achievement levels who become
disenchanted with learning because school has failed to connect with them as
individual learners (p. 9). Consistent with Tomlinson’s argument, it is often
observed that the typical pupil sits through notes and lectures, completes
worksheets, and then takes a test over the memorized materials. The
classrooms were quiet except for the instructor’s lecturing. The teachers chose
content, duration of study, and accessibility for student learning. It was an
effort to ensure that all children receive an equivalent level of education (Levy,
2008). This is how most teachers are educated themselves; however, this is not
differentiation.
Teachers hold various misconceptions about differentiated instruction.
Tomlinson (2001) emphasized that differentiated instruction is not
individualized instruction, chaotic instruction, homogeneous grouping, or
tailored instruction. In addition, teachers can be skeptical of differentiated
instruction believing that if differentiated instruction is used, students will be
ill prepared for standardized tests, students will assign unfair workloads among
themselves, or even students may eventually fail to survive in the real world.
Moreover, some teachers believe that credits should not be given for learning
if a student has not demonstrated the same knowledge level as the other
students in the same class and that there is only one approach to differentiating
instruction (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, & Gable as cited in Wormeli, 2005).
Finally, other misconceptions about differentiated instruction include that
differentiation is an approach only for students with disabilities, to tack on
adaptations to pre-developed lessons, to change pieces of the lesson for one or
two students, or another disconnected model for teachers to implement and
fit into the school day (Kluth, 2000). These misconceptions impede teachers
from effectively implementing differentiated instruction and must be corrected
in order to facilitate teachers’ transitions from the more familiar one-size-fitsall teaching to differentiated instruction. Teachers need to be warned of the
possible negative consequences of adhering to the ineffective one-size-fits-all
teaching that can result in boredom for some students and failure for others.
Teaching to the middle means that the needs of a growing number of students
will not be met (Rock, et al., 2008). With the implementation of the No Child
Left Behind Act, failure is not an option and teachers can no longer aim down
the middle and teach content in only one way. Educators must to be proactive
and creative in their teaching styles.
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As defined by Tomlinson (2001), a differentiated classroom is marked by
a repeated rhythm of whole-class preparation, review, and sharing, followed
by opportunity for individual or small-group exploration, sense-making,
extension, and production. It is essential to realize that successful learning
involves the use of strategies which themselves are learned, and individuals
learn best when the content is meaningful to them. From years of experience,
most teachers make modification in small but significant ways throughout the
school day. The challenge for teachers is to embrace the concept on a scale and
scope to positively enhance student achievement (Tomlinson, 2001). Baglieri
and Knopf (2004) stated, “Differentiated instruction drives the spirit of the
classroom and school community toward critical reflection and disrupts the
inequalities currently prevalent in our schools and our society” (p. 528). Studies
indicate the need for differentiated instruction to enhance student learning and
to close the achievement gaps, but it is not easy for teachers to change from
classroom procedures that are comfortable and familiar to them. The projected
outcomes of this study are that teachers teach to the middle and provide
individualized instruction instead of using differentiated instruction. The
theory of differentiated instruction is known at a more superficial level, but the
depth of the philosophy is not practiced.
METHOLODGY
Participants
The targeted participants for this study were fifty-seven certified teachers
for the 2007-2008 school year at Bonaire Middle School. Of the fifty-seven
teachers, thirty-seven filled out the survey sent to them via e-mail. Four of the
returned surveys were not usable because of significant missing responses to
multiple items. In addition, two returned surveys contained missing responses
on one of the items. Simple mean imputation procedures were applied to the
missing items on these two surveys. A total of thirty-three teachers’ surveys
were entered for further analysis. Teachers with varying certification levels and
years of experience participated in the survey. This included certified academic,
non-academic, and special education teachers. The same teachers of varying
experience levels were selected for the interviews. As Figure 1 in Appendix C
shows, eight of the participants have a bachelor’s teaching degree, twenty-one
of the participants have a master’s degree, and eight of the participants have a
specialist’s degree. I obtained a 66% response rate overall, however, I can only
use 59% of my colleagues’ responses for statistical analysis.
Bonaire Middle School is located in Bonaire, which is on the urban fringe
of Warner Robins, Georgia, a medium-sized city. The total student population
for Bonaire Middle School is 848 students based on the statistical information
168
from the Georgia’s Department of Education (2007). Of the 848 students,
66.3% are white, 27.1% are black, 2.5% are multi-racial, 2.0% are Hispanic, 2.0%
are American Indian, and 1.9% are Asian/Pacific Islanders (Figure 2). Public
School Reports (2007) reveals that 238 students are eligible for free lunches
and seventy students are eligible for reduced-priced lunches, hence 36.3% of
the student population are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches.
Research Design
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in this study in order
to obtain a more complete picture of teachers’ views about differentiated
instruction and the implementation of this method in their classrooms. I
emailed a closed-ended survey written on a Likert scale to a small sample
of fifty-seven middle school teachers via the website surveymonkey.com
(Appendix A). The respondents completed the survey anonymously without
providing written explanations, and tracking of responses were automatic with
the Survey Monkey program.
In addition, four pre-selected semistructured, retrospective personal
interviews with open-ended questions were conducted, and I recorded the
answers to the questions. The questions were primarily opinion-, sensory-,
and knowledge-based. I scheduled appointments with four teachers for the
interviews and asked all of them the same set of questions (Appendix B). Both
quantitative and qualitative data were collected in order to triangulate findings
from different research methods (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2006). The survey instrument was multi-faceted. As stated above, teachers
were asked to complete an anonymous survey written on a Likert scale. The
survey was used to seek opinions concerning differentiated instruction and the
implementation of this teaching method within the classrooms. Questions were
divided into six categories: demographics, lesson design and implementation,
content, procedures, communication, and learning.
Validity and Reliability of the Instrument
Since factor analysis was prohibited by the small sample size, item analysis
was chosen as the most appropriate approach to validating the instrument.
The original instrument contained fifty-six items with five of these items
requesting demographic information about the teachers. The last item of
the survey was an open-ended question soliciting additional comments from
respondents. A copy of the survey in Appendix A shows that the remaining
fifty items were written on Likert scales with choice options ranging from
rarely occurs, sometimes occurs, often occurs, and very frequently occurs. The
fifty items were subjected to item analysis to examine score reliability. Item
retention and deletion decisions were guided by two criteria. First, items with
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negative discrimination coefficients (negative item-total correlation) were
deleted from further analysis. Second, items with excessively low discrimination
coefficients (item-total correlation < 0.15) were also deleted.
The Lesson Design and Implementation Scale retained nine of ten original
items (omitting statement thirteen due to a lack of clarity), and the scores
maintained adequate internal consistency as measured by Crobach’s α = 0.71.
The Content Scale retained all ten original items and yielded an acceptable
Crobach’s α = 0.76. The Procedure Scale and the Learning Scale were more
problematic and generated questionable, but not totally unacceptable reliability
scores at 0.67 and 0.63 respectively. The Procedure Scale retained all of its
original twelve items, and the Learning Scale retained all of its original nine
items based on the above-mentioned decision rules. Finally, the Communication
Scale retained all of its original eight items, but yielded a low reliability as
measured by Crobach’s α = 0.48. This scale was deleted (omitting statements
thirty-five through forty-five) from further analysis because of its low internal
consistency.
Data Analysis
SPSS, a statistics software package, was used to analyze the numerical data
obtained from the survey. Qualitative data from the interviews were compiled
to look for common patterns and themes. The interview questions and surveys
were analyzed individually, and if applicable, were compared against each other
to find commonalities or discrepancies.
RESULTS
Survey Results
The years of teaching experience were correlated with the following
aspects of differentiated instruction: Lesson Design and Implementation,
Content, Procedure, and Learning. No statistically significant correlation was
found between years of teaching experience and any of the other variables,
although more experienced teachers tend to use the strategies listed in the
Content (r = 0.11, ns) and Procedure (r = 0.13, ns) scales slightly more
frequently. On the other hand, less experienced teachers tend to use the
strategies listed in the Lesson Design and Implementation (r = 0.14, ns) and
Learning (r = 0.07, ns) scales slightly more frequently. Descriptive statistics
of the study variables for academic content-area teachers, special education/
collaboration teachers, and connection (elective) teachers are presented
separately as illustrated below in Table 1.
The descriptive statistics show teachers reported frequent use of all the
strategies listed in the Lesson Design and Implementation, Content, and
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Learning Scales. The average scores for all three types of teachers were higher
than the midpoint of the respective scales. The least frequently used strategies,
as reported by all three types of teachers, were those associated with the
Procedure Scale.
Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was performed to
investigate whether there were statistically significant differences among these
three types of teachers in their use of differentiated strategies. MANOVA
result indicates these three groups of teachers were not significantly different
from each other in their levels of usage of the differentiated strategies included
in the survey (λ = 0.77, F = 0.73, df = (4, 28), p = 0.691). Four univariate
analyses of variance were also performed, and their results were consistent
with that of the multivariate analysis of variance. These findings (as illustrated
in Table 1), however, were interpreted with extreme caution because they
are based on a very small sample as illustrated in Figure 3 in Appendix C. In
addition, six of the thirty-three teachers were connection teachers, and three
of the survey participants were special education/collaboration teachers. The
homogeneity of variance assumption was not violated in this case according to
the Box’s test (F = 0.74, df = (15, 320), p = 0.747), even though the number of
teachers in each group was significantly different from each other.
With further investigation, three specific statements were analyzed
individually from the survey. These statements target common misconceptions
teachers may have about differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2001). Table 2
(see Appendix and Figures) represents a cumulative frequency distribution of
the responses to the statement “I individualize instruction as much as possible,”
found in the Content area of the survey (Appendix A). The frequency of
individualizing instruction for teachers who participated in the survey was at a
97% occurrence. One teacher rarely individualizes instruction.
The second statement, “Instruction is individualized” (Table 3), is also
located in the Content area of the survey (Appendix A), and is similar to the
previous statement, but asked in a different manner. Although the distributions
of answers were different, the results were similar. One teacher rarely
individualizes instruction, while thirty-two teachers report this as occurring
sometimes, often, or very frequently.
The third statement, “I ‘teach to the middle’ to reach the majority of
students” was also evaluated (Table 4). This statement is located in the
Procedures area of the survey (Appendix A). Five teachers, or 15%, reported
teaching to the middle rarely occurs while twenty-eight teachers or 85%
showed teaching to the middle sometimes occurs, often occurs, or very
frequently occurs.
In addition, I compared two statements from the survey that depict
differentiated instruction, and two statements that do not use descriptive
171
statistics. The statements that represent differentiated instruction were
“Teaching practices match the needs of the student” and “I use cooperative
learning.” The two statements that do not represent differentiated instruction
were “I ‘teach to the middle’ to reach the majority of the students” and
“Instruction is individualized.” The mean scores reveal a lower average for
teaching to the middle, 2.21, and individualized instruction, 2.55. The score
variability for these items as measured by the standard deviations was at σ =
0.74 and σ = 0.75 respectively. The two statements that reflect differentiated
instruction received higher average scores of 3.00 and 2.94 respectively with
similar standard deviations (Table 5).
Interview Results
A qualitative approach was taken to analyze the interview data in order
to gain insights into teacher perceptions about differentiated instruction. The
individualized participant responses demonstrated that each participant held a
uniform perspective about the importance of differentiated instruction.
Although there were several apparent trends among the participants, two
distinct differences pertaining to participant responses became evident at the
completion of the interviews.
The first difference is how the participants defined differentiated
instruction. Two of the four participants defined differentiated instruction
as each child having an individual learning style or learning differently.
The other two participants interviewed defined differentiated instruction
as different teaching strategies or using instruction to meet the needs of a
variety of students. On the survey, open-ended comments revealed six of the
seven respondents believed every teacher should use differentiated instruction
because of children’s differences. The surveys did not mention differentiated
instruction meaning students learn differently. The six respondents stated that
differentiated instruction meant a teacher was addressing student differences.
The second difference was how the participants determined how well
students learned in their classroom and how they reached a conclusion about
the children’s learning. Two of the four interviewees stated that children learn
well in their classrooms and they knew this because of the scores from the
Georgia Criterion Reference Competency Tests (CRCT), grades from daily
class assignments, and low retention rates. These two teachers used concrete
measurements to determine learning in their classrooms. On the other hand,
one participant answered that she knew children learned well in her classroom
because she had good relationships with them and they tell her or show her
when she asks. She offered no examples of how she did this in her classroom.
The fourth participant stated that learning in her classroom was “up and down”
based on the emotional states and academic weaknesses of the students.
172
These latter two participants made no mention of concrete measurements to
determine learning.
DISCUSSION
The results of the data were anticipated. Teachers appear to have the
same knowledge about differentiated instruction and share frequent uses of
all the strategies listed in Lesson Design and Implementation, Content, and
Learning Scales (Table 1). Excluding connection (elective) teachers, academic
content-area and special education teachers use the Procedure Scale strategies
frequently (Table 1). This conclusion is supported with the MANOVA analysis
that also indicated the three groups of teachers were not significantly different
from each other in their levels of usage of the differentiated strategies (λ =
0.77, F = 0.73, df = (4, 28), p = 0.691). Since there was a disparity of the
number of teachers among the three groups, a Box test was performed. The
homogeneity of variance assumption was not violated (F = 0.74, df = (15,
320), p = 0.747). With the survey statement posed to the thirty-seven middle
school teachers, I did not find any significant differences or correlation between
any groups or across any variables. In the interviews, I asked the teachers if
differentiated instruction was a fad and all four participants stated emphatically,
“No.” As stated by Rock et al. (2008), “Differentiating instruction is not a
passing fad: it is a revolution – a fundamentally different way to teach students
with diverse learning and behavioral needs” (p. 39). The participants who
answered the questionnaires also emphasized the need for different methods
that were needed for optimum learning, giving students the best opportunity
for success.
Two statements (twenty and twenty-five) from the survey (Appendix A)
were highlighted during data analysis, both concerning teachers’ perceptions
about individualized versus differentiated instruction, in order to address
the second research question. Of the thirty-three surveys analyzed, 97%
of the teachers marked that they sometimes, often, or very frequently use
individualized instruction. Tomlinson (2001) argues that differentiated
instruction is not individualized instruction. If a classroom of twenty-five
students has twenty-five different assignments, the teacher would be exhausted
(Tomlinson, 2001). The purpose is to maximize the capabilities of the students,
not exhaust the teachers. As Anderson states,
It integrates what we know about constructivist learning theory, learning
styles, and brain development with empirical research on influencing factors
of learner readiness, interest, and intelligence preferences toward student
motivation, engagement, and academic growth within schools (as cited in
Tomlinson & Allan, 2000).
173
Different lessons do not mean individualized lessons in a classroom.
Statement thirty-seven was particularly examined to address the third
research question, i.e., whether teachers are teaching to the middle or
differentiating instruction. When evaluating the responses to this statement,
I found that 85% of the teachers sometimes, often, or very frequently teach
to the middle. This one-size-fits-all approach to teaching increases students’
frustration about learning, thus contributing to low test scores (Rock, et
al., 2008; Tomlinson, 2001). This method of teaching is not differentiated
instruction. Differentiation is responsive teaching rather than one-size-fits-all
teaching (Tomlinson, 1999).
In comparison, I also carefully examined the statement addressing the
opposite from teaching to the middle, i.e., teaching practices that match
the needs of the students. The teaching to the middle statement described
earlier had a mean score of 2.21, which is lower than the mean score of 3.00
for the item indicating just the opposite. Similarly, the statement opposite
of individualized instruction, which is using cooperative learning, was also
selected for further analysis. The mean scores were 2.55 for individualized
instruction and 2.94 for cooperative learning (Table 5). This shows that the
teachers surveyed match their teaching with the needs of the students more
than teaching to the middle and use cooperative learning more than
individualized instruction, showing their preferences for differentiated
instruction in their responses (Levy, 2008).
In the open-ended comment section of the survey, one respondent
discussed that she is a hands-on teacher, with projects and activities occurring
daily in her classroom. Many of her classes are chaotic, but she feels the
students achieve a lot of work. It is interesting to note that she commented
that it only works “if I don’t get too controlling…trying to keep everyone
on the same page.” Differentiated instruction is not keeping “everyone on the
same page.” Instead, it is meeting students where they are when they come into
the classroom (Levy, 2008; Tomlinson, 2001). Another participant responded,
“Each child is different, and they need to know that they are special and you
are concerned about their individual needs.” The educational philosophy in
a differentiated classroom emphasizes that cultivation of teacher-student
relationships is essential as well as letting each student’s voice heard and valued
(Baglieri & Knopf, 2004).
Unfortunately, there were limitations to this study. The data may not
transfer to schools in different socio-economic areas. The middle school used
for this study is predominately white as illustrated in Figure 2. The survey
does not represent the entire teacher population at the middle school (Figure
3), with only thirty-three of the fifty-seven teachers participating. The survey
would have been more effective if it had been pre-tested on a small sample
174
of teachers to clarify certain statements or change the wording. Possibly this
pre-test would have prevented the deletion of the Communication statements
on the survey. The survey took less than ten minutes to complete, which
the participants appreciated, but the lack of two-way communication may
have prevented accurate ratings by the participants. Since the survey was
transmitted electronically, fewer teachers may have completed it that would
otherwise have filled it out if the paper were lying on their desks as a reminder.
Only one out of five teachers asked would not participate in the interview
session due to time constraints. Another drawback to this mixed-methods
study was the time and energy necessary for completion; thus, classroom
observation data that can be crucial for examining the actual implementation
of differentiated instruction are not available.
Implications of the Study
The implications of the study are multi-faceted. It is apparent that
teachers know the philosophy of differentiated instruction, but may not be
consistently implementing the strategies in their classrooms. Too narrow an
approach will fail students and teachers because it “confuses technical adequacy
with artistry” and “confuses compliance with thoughtful engagement” (Rock
et al., as cited in Tomlinson 2000, p. 11). There is no doubt that research
supports the use of differentiated instruction (Rock, et al., 2008), but I am
not confident teachers actually implement the strategies of differentiated
instruction. The middle school administrators, who had a part in deciding the
specific areas to investigate in this study, share this view. As stated by Anderson
(2007), teachers need to investigate applications of differentiation “toward
instructional planning and implementation of lessons through action research
projects, professional conference presentations, and other projects” (p. 52).
An aspect of differentiated instruction needing further research is that
of teachers allowing students to have a voice that is heard and valued in their
educational process (Baglieri & Knopf, 2004). There were statements to be
rated about student voice, but as the Communication section on the survey
had very low reliability, it was eliminated from any form of analysis. Teachers
need to realize differentiated instruction is a shared responsibility for both the
teachers and the students. As Tomlinson (2004) states,
I believe the richest and most responsive classrooms are those in which
responsibility for developing both the individual and the group is a shared
endeavor. Thus differentiation is neither a thing the teacher does nor a way the
child functions in order to improve his or her state of affairs. It is a learned way
of thinking about “being” that honors and contributes to the uniqueness and
the possibilities of each person in the group, as it honors and contributes to the
success of the whole. (p. 189) The findings support the premise that teachers
175
share adequate knowledge about differentiated instruction, but the area of
implementation needs further investigation.
The results of this study will be shared with the administration at the
middle school so future staff development topics of study will continue to
reinforce the necessity of differentiated instruction and the implementation
of the philosophy in the classroom. An area of specific interest is the
misconceptions about differentiated instruction. Although the results will be
used with caution because of the small sample size in this study, it is my hope
that more guidance and training will be available to correct ill-conceived ideas
and enhance classroom performance for our students and teachers.
Table1: Means and Standard Deviations for Study Variabke by Types of Teachers
Lesson Design and Implemenation
(score range: 9-36, 9 items)
Academic Content- Area
Connection
Special Education/Collaboration
Content
Connection
Procedure
(score rnge: 12-48, 12 items)
Connection
Learning
Connection
176
n
M
SD
24
6
3
29.17
30.50
32.33
3.28
3.89
3.51
24
6
3
32.33
34.45
35.67
3.10
2.65
5.13
24
6
3
28.67
26.87
29.67
4.23
7.63
3.06
24
6
3
29.92
31.67
34.00
3.40
2.73
3.61
Differentiated Instrution: An Analysis
Table 2: Frequency Distribution of Survey Statement 20 (n = 33)
Rarely Occurs
Sometimes Occurs
Often Occurs
Very Frequently Occurs
f
%
Cumulative %
1
11
15
6
3
33
46
18
3
36
82
100
Rarely Occurs
Sometimes Occurs
Often Occurs
f
%
Cumulative %
1
17
14
6
3
52
33
12
3
55
88
100
Rarely Occurs
Sometimes Occurs
Often Occurs
f
%
Cumulative %
5
17
10
1
15
52
30
3
15
37
97
100
Table 5: Descriptive Statistics of Teachers’ View of Differentiated Instruction
(n = 33)
Teaching practices match the needs of the student.
I “teach to the middle” to reach the majority of students.
I use cooperative learning.
Instruction is individualized.
M
SD
3.00
2.21
2.94
2.55
0.71
0.74
.079
0.75
Appendix A: Differentiated Instruction Questionnaire
Differentiated Instruction Survey
Thank you for completing this questionnaire. The responses are
anonymous. The results will be compiled in a research paper to fulfill
requirements to complete my six-year degree in education. Your
177
assistance in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Demographics
1. Select the choice that best describes you:
Male or Female
2. Select your current certification level:
Education degree (T4), Masters degree (T5), Specialists (T6),
Doctorate in Education, Leadership, or TAP
3. Teaching experience in years:
less than 1 year, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26+ years
4. Grade(s) currently teaching: (mark all that apply)
6, 7, 8
5. Content(s) you are currently teaching: (mark all that apply)
Math/MAE/AC, Language Arts/Spanish/Honors, PE, Chorus,
Band, Computers/Technology, Science/Honors, Social Studies,
FACS/AG, Special Education, or Collaboration Class
Lesson Design and Implementation
Directions: The following are statements about differentiated instruction.
Please indicate to which each state statement characterizes your teaching
philosophy by marking the appropriate response.
6. The instructional strategies and activities respect students’ prior
knowledge and the preconceptions inherent therein.
Rarely Occurs Sometimes Occurs Often Occurs Very Frequently Occurs
7. The lesson was designed to engage students as member of a
learning community.
8. Your lessons encourage student to seek and value alternative
modes of investigation or problem solving.
9. The focus and direction of the lesson are often determined by
ideas originating with students.
10. Assessment and instruction are inseparable.
11. The best way to assess knowledge is by paper and pencil tests.
12. Learning activities are varied.
13. Student achievement data and student work samples are analyzed
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14. to make instructional decisions.
15. I use multisensory teaching approaches.
16. Curriculum is developmentally appropriate and sequential.
Content
17. The lesson involves fundamental concepts of the subject.
18. I anticipate problems that might arise when teaching the
curriculum.
19. The lessons promote coherent conceptual understanding.
20. I have a solid grasp of the subject matter content inherent in the
lessons.
21. I individualize instruction as much as possible.
22. I am comfortable with the content that I teach.
23. I connect learning to the various academic disciplines through
integrated curriculum.
24. Instructional strategies focus on meaning.
25. I expect students to take ownership of their learning.
26. Instruction is individualized.
Procedures
27. I know my students learning profiles.
28. I display student work.
29. I know students are engaged when the classroom is quiet.
30. I use power point presentations for student notes.
179
31. I use activity sheets.
32. I use cooperative learning.
33. Special education teachers’ expertise are incorporated into
interdisciplinary units.
34. Peer tutoring is used.
35. My teaching practices match the needs of the students.
36. I lecture as students take notes.
37. I assign student worksheets.
38. I “teach to the middle” to reach the majority of the students.
Communication
39. I question students to trigger divergent modes of thinking.
40. The majority of discussion in my classroom is among the
students.
41. Student questions and comments often determine the focus and
direction of classroom discourse.
42. I have high expectations for ALL students.
43. I expect students to respect each other and their opinions.
44. I believe in excellence and equity for my students.
45. I use small groups for instruction.
46. I believe students should have a voice in my classroom.
Learning
47. I am aware of developmental needs of middle school students.
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48. All students have the opportunity to succeed in my classroom.
49. Tutoring is used to reach struggling students.
50. I pre-assess regularly to know what students already know.
51. Students with disabilities should be included in regular education
classrooms.
52. I like an organized, but chaotic classroom environment.
53. I teach to the CRCT.
54. I value what my student’s believe about learning.
55. The metaphor “teacher as listener” describes me.
56. I act as a resource person, working to support and enhance
student investigations.
Appendix B: Interview Questions
1. What specific aspects of your teaching please you the most?
2. How well do students learn in your classroom? How do you know
3. How is learning the same or different for each student?
4. What does differentiated instruction mean to you?
5. Do you feel that differentiated instruction is another fad?
6. Other Notes:
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Figure 1: The certification levels for teachers at Bonaire Middle School from The State
of Georgia (2007).
Level of Teacher’s Certification
Figure 2: Demographics of Bonaire Middle School Student Body 2007-2008.
Bonaire Middle School Demographics for 2007-2008
B onaire Middle S chool Demographics for 2007-2008
66.3%
700
600
500
400
27.1%
300
562
200
2.2%
100
16
0
Total
Percent
Asian/Pacific
Islander
230
Black
2.0%
2.5%
0.2%
17
21
2
Hispanic
White
Multi-Racial
American
Indian
16
230
17
562
21
2
1.9%
27.1%
2.0%
66.3%
2.5%
0.2%
E thnicity
182
Figure 3: Relationship between total number of teachers at BMS and teachers who
participated by their content area of teaching.
Comparison of Total Teachers Versus Participating Teachers
C o mpar is o n o f T o tal T eac h er s
vs . P ar tic ipatin g T eac h er s
40
38
30
24
20
12
10
0
7
3
6
Academics
Connection
Total
38
12
Special Education
7
Participants
24
6
3
REFERENCES
Anderson, K. M. (2007). Differentiating instruction to include all
students. Preventing School Failure, 51(3), 49-54.
Baglieri, S., & Knopf, J. (2004). Normalizing difference in inclusive teaching.
The Corinthian: The Journal of Student Research at GCSU.
Fraenkel, J., & Wallen, N. (2006). How to design and evaluate research in education (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Georgia Department of Education. (2006). Enrollment by race, ethnicity, gender, and grade level (PK-12). Retrieved July 24, 2008, from
http://app.doe.k12.ga.us/owsbin/owa/fte_pack_ethnicsex.display_
proc.
Irujo, S. (2004). Differentiated instruction: We can no longer just aim down the
middle. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://www.coursecrafters.
com.ELLOutlook/2004/sept_oct/ELLOutlookITIArticle2.htm.
183
Jackson, A., & Davis, G. (2000). Turning points 2000, educating adolescents in the 21st century: A report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. New York: Teachers College Press.
Kluth, P. (2000). Tools for schools: Differentiated instruction – a tool for all students – resource materials. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/sate/resourcesdiffinstr.pdf.
Levy, H. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: Helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House, 81(4), 161-164.
Public School Report (2007). Public school information for Bonaire Middle School, Bonaire, GA. Retrieved July 17, 2008, from
http://schools.publicschoolsreport.com/Georgia/Bonaire/
BonaireMiddleSchool.html.
Rock, M., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., & Gable, R. (2008). REACH: A framework for differentiating classroom instruction. Preventing School Failure, 52(2), 31-47.
Schumm, J., & Vaughn, S. (1991). Making adaptations for mainstreamed students: General education teachers’ perspectives. Remedial and Special Education, 12(4), 18-27.
The State of Georgia – Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. (2007).
Report card for teacher certification. Retrieved July 24, 2008, from
http://reportcard2006.gaosa.org/k12/persfiscal.
aspx?TestType=pers&ID=676:296.
Tomlinson, C. (2005). Traveling the road to differentiation in staff development [Electronic Version]. Journal of Staff Development, 26(4), 8-12.
Tomlinson, C. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Tomlinson, C. (2000). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades: ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document
184
Reproduction Service No. ED443572).
Tomlinson, C. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
VanSciver, J. H. (2005). NCLB fitfully fits differentiated instruction. The Education Digest, 37-39.
185
186
Influence on Students’ Mathematical Abilities
An Action Research Study of the Influence of
Cultural and Cognitive Characteristics on
Students’ Mathematical Abilities
Ashley Johnson
Dr. Karynne Kleine
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
In recent years, there have been a number of studies regarding
mathematics instruction. Specifically, efforts to address the achievement gap
across the United States have been discussed and still the contributing factors
and possible solutions have either been unacknowledged or partly recognized.
Hence, the need for such research is critical and imperative to educating
persons of the matter that exists within mathematics education today.
This study was conducted in a natural setting in which cognitive and
cultural characteristics were explored in order to identify how such differences
amongst students influence their exhibition of mathematical abilities. In
particular, literature regarding cognitive style, culture in the classroom, and
teacher preparation were consulted in order to establish a foundation for this
study.
The research conducted and the implications that follow are significant
to the discipline of mathematics and perhaps more importantly to teachers
seeking to educate today’s diverse group of students of mathematical concepts.
Hence, the implications of this study are of great value and necessary for
improving education at the national level as well as individual practices for
mathematics instructors as well.
PREFACE
The following work is evidence of much time spent reading literature and
conducting research in the classroom. My interests in this project came about
from my aspiration to be a part of changing education at the middle level. In
the past two years, I have taken many educational courses as well as acquired
over 1200 hours of teaching in the field, which is the groundwork for my
interest in cultural and cognitive differences prevalent in young adolescents.
Hence, I was grateful to my professor, Dr. Kleine, for suggesting that I
participate in the honors and scholar’s project.
My research began with a question that I had about middle level education
and specifically, my practice. This question would serve as the guide for my
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research and would be referenced throughout the process to ensure that the
results of my work were significant to all who share concerns and/or interests
similar to my study. After formally identifying a question that was significant
to my practice, the discipline of mathematics, and to education generally, I
worked closely with Dr. Kleine to write the literature review and methodology
for this study. During this process, I also consulted two fellow scholars’
students to review my work biweekly and discuss the next steps of the study.
This joint and collaborative aspect served a critical role in the study in that
it allowed me to produce a more comprehensive study. After completing the
literature review and methodology, I collected data in a natural middle school
setting in which I interviewed teachers and conducted reflective conferences
with student participants. Following the data collection process, I began my
analysis of the data in which I looked for commonalities in teacher and student
responses, significant notes evolving out of the data, and any other information
that appeared to be noteworthy to the study. Finally, I worked with Dr. Kleine
to identify the implications of the study and write my final reflection.
The study well serves educational purposes and begins to answer
questions associated with mathematics education on a national level. However,
the fact that it raises questions about education and mathematics instruction
particularly is more important.
Advice to Future Scholars Students
My advice to future Scholars students would be to take advantage of all
the opportunities available at this institution, including participating in the
Scholars program, as well as going on to publish your work. Although the
process of writing a thesis, presenting, and possibly publishing are rigorous
and time demanding tasks, the feeling of accomplishment when finished is
even greater. Moreover, the wealth of knowledge and experience gained is vast
and makes you distinct from others that leave your department with similar
degrees.
If I were to do this project again, I would begin with a better plan for how
the research would be collected and analyzed in order to meet all deadlines.
In addition, I would make sure that I allotted enough time to conduct a more
thorough analysis of the data as well as prepare for publishing my work.
Nonetheless, I am grateful for the chance to present my work, which has in and
of it self led me to a better understanding of my own work and the process
of conducting research. I would also encourage future students to work with
a supervising professor as well as individuals that participate in a similar field
so that there are a variety of perspectives to contribute while conducting the
research as well as a large support system.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to begin by thanking Dr. Kleine, my mentor leader, for
providing me with this opportunity. It is unquestionable that her faith in
my abilities, high expectations and standards for learning, and noteworthy
mentoring has had an impact on my research and teaching practice that is
immeasurable. In addition, her commendable proofreading skills played an
essential role in my success.
Secondly, I would like to thank my fellow colleagues, Bridget Snooks,
Meghan Strickland, and Ashley Chesnut for helping me ask the right questions
and develop reflective practices, both of which were essential to my process in
conducting this research. I am appreciative to them for taking the time to help
me although their schedules were busy and the to-do lists were never-ending. I
could not have completed this project without their efforts.
Finally, I would like to express gratitude to the young adolescents that
inspired me to do this type of work. Their willingness to learn and cooperation
in the study has been the driving force behind my research. The need for more
research relevant to educating all young adolescents is great and I am thankful
in having played a part in increasing awareness of such matters at the middle
level.
INTRODUCTION
For over a decade now, there have been discussions and publications that
describe the achievement gap that exists in America. In the year 2004, The
National Assessment of Educational Programs (NAEP) and the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) issued a report that illustrated the
achievement gap that plagues the nation. The report indicated that in 1990,
there was a 33-point gap between the scores of African American and
Caucasian students on the eighth grade level mathematic assessments whereas
by the year 2000, scores the gap had grown to a 39-point difference. The report
also indicated that African Americans are not the only minority population
that appeared to lag behind as regards to mathematical performance. The
same report indicated that Latino students were 28 points behind Caucasian
students in 1990 and 33 points behind a decade later. The authors of the NAEP
and NCES reports went on to elaborate that in the year 2003, of the fourth
and eighth grade students tested, African American and Mexican American
students were found to perform on average, statistically, three years behind
Caucasian students in mathematics and language arts. It can be noted then
that one of the most significant manifestations of problems directly affecting
American schools today can be attributed to the widening achievement gap in
the area of mathematics between Caucasian and minority students (Johnson &
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Kritsonis, 2006).
In response to this dilemma, I posed the question: How do students’
experiences outside of school (their culture) influence the cognitive style they
apply in school generally as well as to mathematics learning in particular? In
efforts to answer this question, I consulted literature pertaining to cognitive
style, abilities and processes that are needed to perform in mathematics, and
cultural traits of both African American and Caucasian students. Moreover,
to seek the explanation for the widening achievement gap I also consulted
literature on current teacher preparation programs as well as mathematics
curricula.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Cognitive styles
Research literature is replete with discussions on the necessary cognitive
style and abilities for individuals to successfully perform in the area of
mathematics. Saracho (2003), in the article entitled Matching Teachers’ and
Students’ Cognitive Style, defines cognitive style as the manner in which one
receives, arranges, processes, and accepts new information. Saracho specified
an important dimension of cognitive style, which she determined was the most
informative: the dimension of field dependence or independence. She identified
this as the most important dimension because of its association with an
individual’s perceptual style, personality, intelligence, and social behavior and
thus well-describes a person’s mode of perceiving, remembering and thinking
as they apprehend, store, transform, and process information (Saracho, 2003).
Saracho also identified and described two types of cognitive styles that were
further categorized as field dependent (FD) and field independent (FI). Since
there is a range to the styles that she identified, it is best to think of the degree
of field independence/dependence characteristics as forming a continuum onto
which most individuals’ cognitive styles would be found.
Table 1, found in the Appendix and Figures section, provides a more
detailed account of Saracho’s description of the difference between field
dependent and field independent individuals. The table indicates that
field dependent individuals appear to be more social, more practical, and
concrete learners, while field independent individuals appear to be less
social, more analytical, and abstract learners. FD individuals appear to
recognize wholes; that is, they look at an entire picture, foreground and
background simultaneously, unlike FI individuals, who have the tendency
and ability to look at parts of a picture separate from what surrounds
it. This characteristic identifies a distinct and critical difference between
the two types of cognitive styles that have implications for learning.
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Research shows that in order for one to be successful in the learning and
application of mathematics, one must have the ability to recognize parts first
rather than wholes (Rowser & Koontz, n.d.). Furthermore, Rowser and Koontz
also found that African Americans tend to respond to new concepts and or
ideas in the holistic manner of a field dependent individual. This is noteworthy
because it happens to be in opposition to the way that mathematical knowledge
and skills are most easily acquired. Moreover, other researchers have found
that being able to reason logically and use mathematical operation requires the
capacity to think sequentially, process information in lists, and have analytical
and reasoning knowledge and skills (Barber, Barber, & Kitchens, 1991).
While cognitive styles vary across race, there is a body of research to
suggest that African Americans tend to learn in a style similar to that of a field
dependent individual (Hunt, 1993). Hunt hypothesized that African American
culture facilitates and supports the development of a field dependent learning
style for those growing up within the culture. He further suggested that the
call for unity and harmony that is found predominantly in African American
cultures, but not in Western cultures, could explain the holistic cognitive
processing approach prevalent in African Americans. Saracho’s (1993) work
supports Hunt’s claim in the sense that aspects of African American culture
are organized in a circular fashion as opposed to the linear representation seen
in Western cultures. It is likely then, to some degree, that African Americans
do exhibit a particular cognitive style that can be described as holistic, if not
directly field dependent. Hunt further reminds us that the field dependent
cognitive style that is critical for learning and applying mathematics runs
counter to the field dependent style that most African Americans employ. It
is apparent that there is a need to review current educational practices used
in teaching mathematics to African Americans and to those who use a field
dependent cognitive style for learning.
Mathematics as language
Joan Kenney (2005) opens her book Literacy Strategies for Improving
Mathematics Instruction with a detailed account of how mathematics is a
language in and of itself. She further describes how vocabulary, comprehension,
reasoning, inference, symbol, and pattern exist in mathematics and explains
how an individual must be able to note and apply all of the above. Kenney
goes on to critique the current model of teaching mathematics due to
its misalignment with assessments that are used to measure students’
mathematical abilities. For many teachers, mathematics is simply a matter
of cueing up procedures for students, who then perform the appropriate
calculations; however, on both standardized and teacher-constructed
assessments, students often are not able to interpret the problems. With no
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instruction as to how to process and arrange a problem for a solution, students
fail because many have not developed the necessary skills for them to problemsolve without guidance (Kenney, 2005).
Teachers that instruct in such a cueing up manner, that is, those who
teach procedural knowledge (how to, linear, not situation-specific) as opposed
to conceptual knowledge (what it means, networked, context-bound), do
a disservice to mathematics pupils. Wiest (2002) defines the mathematics
instruction utilized by most math teachers today: “Currently mathematics is
taught in a fashion that denotes that it is a universal language rather than a
cultural one leaving many people at a disadvantage” (p. 51). Therefore, teaching
mathematics procedurally would be inadequate for the students for whom
context is a very important part of their ability to process information.
A related language and culture issue impinging on the widening
mathematics achievement gap is reading instruction. A missing component of
the mathematics curriculum for a number of years has been that of teaching
reading in the mathematics classroom. Kenney (2005) informs readers of how
math texts contain more concepts per sentence and paragraph than any other
type of text. The argument of mathematics as a language both supports and
highlights the problem many African Americans encounter as they learn and
practice mathematics. Data issued in reports from NAEP (2004) and NCES
(2004) describing the achievement gap that exists between Caucasian students
and their minority counterparts demonstrated that African American students
not only lag behind their peers in the area of mathematics but in language arts
as well. If African American students do not acquire the knowledge and skills
in language arts and reading, and if mathematics is defined as a language, it
seems that the language gap is affecting the mathematics gap.
Teacher preparation and instructional practices
What roles do teachers and their instructional practices play in the
widening achievement gap? Literature reveals that an individual’s cognitive
style and learning preference are not the only contributing factors to the
achievement gap in the United States. The gap is not solely attributable to the
learner, but possibly to the teacher. Therefore, literature on teacher preparation
and instructional practices informed this study.
Instructional practices are related to teacher quality because teachers
who are highly qualified have both strong pedagogical knowledge and strong
mathematical knowledge (Johnson & Kritsonis, 2006). Unfortunately, the
tendency is for the high-quality teachers to be assigned to majority-populated
schools. It is a common occurrence for students in schools with a large
minority student body and low-income populations to have fewer highly
qualified teachers than schools that have large Caucasian populations (Gates,
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1998). Johnson and Kritsonis further demonstrate that approximately 33%
of high school math students in high minority schools and 30% of students
in high poverty schools are taught by instructors who do not hold a teaching
license nor were majors in mathematics. In contrast, approximately 7% of
high school students in low minority and low poverty schools are taught by
teachers without a license or a major in mathematics. In essence, minority
students and students of poverty are less likely to be instructed by persons
with strong pedagogical and content pedagogical knowledge. Moreover,
Johnson and Kritsonis (2006) suggest that many minority students do not
experience instructional practices consistent with recommendations suggested
by the National Council Teachers of Mathematics, the preeminent professional
organization dedicated to mathematics instruction.
Another possible deficiency in the state of instructional practices employed
by many teachers is the mismatch between the teachers’ and students’ cognitive
styles and/or characteristics (Saracho, 2003). Saracho, among others, argues
that individuals tend to present information through a cognitive style that
reflects their preference; this may not align with the preferred processing style
of learners, creating situations that inhibit learning. Hunt (1993) supports
this claim by stating, “Educators who neglect to adapt teaching strategies
to different cognitive styles may be placing some students at risk” (p. 25).
Furthermore, Hunt suggests that educational environments should be diverse
enough to meet multiple cognitive styles.
Recognizing and understanding culture in the classroom
According to Hunt (1993), culture is a collective consciousness of a
community with its own unique customs, rituals, communication style,
childrearing patterns, and social organization. This definition is critical because
it provides support that each culture then has its own set of values, beliefs,
and behaviors that guide the lives of its members. One’s cultural background
then provides a lens that shapes how one looks at the world and views oneself
(Wiest, 2002). Therefore cultural background, to some degree, has an influence
on the manner in which individuals learn and demonstrate their knowledge.
Koontz and Rowser (n.d.) stress the idea of “culture-fair” curriculum as
a possible solution to close the gap between African American and Caucasian
students’ achievement levels. “Culture-fair” is a curriculum that acknowledges
and accepts the differences between and amongst cultural groups and then
promotes their acceptance by developing and implementing a curriculum that
is relevant to all students, thereby enabling them to have a successful academic
career as measured by state and national assessments. This position acquires
further support through the finding that the more familiar the instruction is to
the students’ way of life, the more likely it is that the teacher will be able
193
to teach the individual (McCollough, 2000). Thus, understanding cultural
and cognitive differences should be especially important to educators. If the
educational system is oriented for those with field independent cognitive styles,
many of whom fit a distinct cultural profile, those who utilize field dependent
cognitive styles and have other cultural characteristics will be placed at a severe
learning disadvantage.
Implications from the literature
Application of mathematics requires an individual to be able to think
in a particular context, make reasonable inferences, and use logic to analyze
and evaluate information. As it stands today, many students do not (and
perhaps cannot) perform well in mathematics. This may be due to the lack
of congruency between their cognitive style and the cognitive style that is
better suited for learning mathematics. Fierro (1997) adds to this sentiment
by suggesting that every child has a set of cognitive abilities and a learning
style that can be traced back to his/her native tendencies and environmental
experiences. In conclusion, there still exists a widening achievement gap
between minority and Caucasian students and such a gap remains a national
issue and concern (Johnson & Kritonsis, 2006). African American students
continue to lag behind their peers in the areas of mathematics and language
arts, and the future does not appear to suggest any sudden increases in
performance without interventions such as a better understanding of how to
address the problem. The study outlined below was an attempt to investigate
this phenomenon.
METHODOLOGY
In order to investigate the influence of cultural and cognitive
characteristics on the ways in which students exhibit their mathematical
abilities, data was collected in a variety of modes from a selected group of
participants in order to yield a sound and valid interpretation. The first
considerations were the participants in the study, the length of time that
was to be allotted to the study, as well as utilizing a means for allowing a
representative sample of participants. All participants were purposefully
selected to account for noteworthy variables embedded in the questions that
propelled the study. As a student teaching intern for the 2007-2008 school year,
it was important that I be able to carry out the study while conducting my
other duties. Therefore, all study participants either attended or taught at Oak
Hill Middle School located in Baldwin County and were currently placed in or
taught seventh grade mathematics. The timeframe allotted for the data
collection period was three weeks. The site for this study was determined
194
not only because of its convenience but for its ability to produce a more
representative sample of participants needed to increase the validity of the
research and the results that follow. Wiersma and Jurs (2005) defined this type
of selection process as purposeful sampling in which participants and study
site is chosen for their characteristics relative to the phenomenon under study,
rather than being selected randomly. The importance of using a representative
sample for this study has been noted as being critical to the effectiveness
of the data collection process and hence the reasoning for selecting student
participants that differ through their current performance in mathematics class,
reading ability, age, race, ethnicity, and nationality. Teacher participants were
purposefully selected, in that they worked with the students who were being
studied and were able to contribute to and explain student responses more
thoroughly, which allowed for a more thorough analysis of the data. The data
collection process took place over three weeks, at which time all participants
had been selected and all modes of data collection had been utilized.
Interactive methods were used in gathering data. In particular, video
observations, audio-taped student and teacher interviews, video-taped
reflective conferences with students, and samples of student work were used
as modes of data collection. Video observations were selected as a form of
data collection in that they 1) could be referenced more than once, 2) provided
a more accurate account of what occurred at any given point of time, and 3)
allowed multiple approaches of analysis to be used in interpreting the data.
The video observations were reviewed multiple times in order to note different
aspects of the task and for the allowance of multiple approaches to explore
the ways in which participants worked the task. The videos also provided a
more truthful account in that one participant was not mistakenly identified as
another, potentially rendering the interpretation invalid. Lastly, a video-taped
observation allowed for multiple approaches to the analysis of the data that
would not have been ordinarily granted in an observation without record. For
example, the videos were initially analyzed to consider cultural characteristics
and in another instance they were analyzed to note cognitive characteristics
and how they influenced the student’s performance.
Interviews with both students and teachers were conducted so that
more perspectives were considered instead of a single viewpoint. Specifically,
students and teachers were asked open-ended questions about instruction,
mathematical difficulties in the classroom, and personal standpoints about
mathematics in general. The data from the interviews was analyzed for trends
and also any range of differences among the responses. The interviews were
recorded so that they could be reviewed many times, thus leading to a thorough
interpretation of the data.
This study involved the study of the relationship between cultural and
195
cognitive influences on students’ mathematical abilities In order to research
the topic completely, conferences of the students’ reflective process while
working on the mathematical task were conducted to assist the students in
their elaboration of thinking on their written work. For example, while the
students were working on various tasks, questions such as “Why did you
choose to do this first” or “What is your reason for choosing to divide in
this instance but not in another instance.” Using prompts to stimulate recall
during problem solving incidents yielded data of greater breadth and depth of
response than if the students were merely asked after the fact to explain their
reasoning for completing a task in a particular order or style. The purpose
of videotaping the conferences was to allow for multiple reviews, which were
needed to ensure a legitimate and thorough interpretation of the data.
Samples of student work were collected to provide solid evidence of
student ability and performance. The samples were categorized and analyzed
based on the cognitive processes that the task either required or stimulated
patterns and trends noted within student responses to interview questions,
and any other pattern that emerged out of the analysis of the data. Lastly, the
data collection methods utilized were thought to be the most adequate ways
in which to investigate the study. Moreover, each method was chosen with
the hope that it, combined with other methods, would lead to a more accurate
account of what happened during the investigation thus enabling a more
defined, valid, and significant interpretation to be made.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Teacher participants
I began my research by interviewing all of the seventh grade teachers
at Oak Hill Middle School, as they were the instructors of the student
participants. The four instructors were diverse in their educational
backgrounds and teaching experiences, though all were relatively youthful male
and female teachers with a medium amount of experience. When aggregated,
the four math instructors shared 25 years of teaching. All of the instructors,
with the exception of one, held a Georgia teaching certificate that would deem
them as highly qualified to teach mathematics.
During their individual interviews, teachers were asked a range of
questions regarding their knowledge and understanding of what knowledge,
skills, and dispositions are necessary for the teaching and learning of
mathematics, the manner in which he/she believed students are at a
disadvantage or advantage in learning mathematics, influences that contributed
to either the prohibition or inhibition of students’ abilities in mathematics,
and lastly their instructional practices as to how do they accounted for student
196
differences in the classroom.
When asked the question, “What skills are required for an adolescent
to be successful in learning and practicing mathematics,” teacher responses
were similar in that they all noted the ability to perform basic operations such
as adding, subtracting as well as problem solving, reading comprehension,
analytic, and reasoning skills. The responses indicated the teachers’ content
and pedagogical content knowledge in that they understand that mathematics
requires a number of skills and abilities in order for students to be successful
in learning mathematics. To some degree, the teachers implied that field
independent learners would have to be able to utilize the skills necessary to
learn mathematics more so than field dependent learners.
Secondly, the teachers were asked to identify any factors that would either
inhibit or prohibit an individual from acquiring the necessary knowledge and
skills they determined as being necessary to learn mathematics. Teachers
provided explanations that included home environment, student affect, lack of
mathematical learning experiences, and cognitive abilities in their responses. It
is important to note that each teacher gave as the most important contributing
factor the student’s culture, and in particular, his/her home environment. In
this response, the teachers distinctly conveyed, consistent with the literature,
that one’s culture has an influence on one’s mathematical abilities.
Thirdly, instructors were asked to identify cultural inhibitors or cognitive
characteristics that hinder students from learning mathematics. Cultural
inhibitors included lack of exposure to language and mathematics material as
well as the adoption of beliefs in reference to the value of education. Cognitive
inhibitors stated were the inability to make connections amongst concepts, low
reading comprehension skills, concrete (rather than abstract) thinking patterns,
failure to make generalizations, and incapacity to view ideas out of context.
Again, the teachers identified characteristics of field dependent or holistic
learners as being those that have difficulty in learning mathematics due to their
cultural and cognitive learning style.
Finally, teachers were asked to comment on their instructional practices.
In particular, they were asked, “Given the factors that you identified in the
earlier questions, are there any strategies or efforts that you have made as a
teacher of mathematics to enable all students to learn mathematics?” Teacher 1
said that she provides one-on-one instruction, teaches metacognitive strategies
that enable students to be aware of how they learn, and differentiates her
learning plans to account for the different modalities and learning styles that
exist. Teacher 2 said that he reinforces basic skills on a daily basis and uses
individualized questioning techniques to scaffold (provide a bridge to promote
understanding) individual learners. Teacher 3 said that she begins with what
the students know before introducing new concepts. In addition, she begins
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instruction with tasks that require the learner to think concretely before being
asked to think abstractly about a new concept or idea. Teacher 4 indicated that
she uses graphic organizers to help students learn vocabulary and teaches
procedures such as study skills and test-taking strategies to assist her students.
It is evident by the range of responses as well as the nature of some responses,
that half of the teachers instruct in a manner that would not assist field
dependent students in learning mathematics. These teachers focus on teaching
basic skills and procedures rather than emphasizing teaching students concepts
and how to solve problems or reason. All of the teachers have over 80% African
American students, yet only half of them teach in a manner that is responsive
to the needs of the field dependent students. These data clearly illustrated the
notion that mathematics instruction today is not reflective of the cognitive
style that many African American students employ.
Student participants
The twelve student participants were all seventh grade students at Oak
Hill Middle School and varied by gender, age, race, mathematical performance,
and reading ability. There were an equal number of male students and
female students. Two students were biracial, one female and one a male. Four
students were African American with an equal number of females and males.
Two students were Hispanic, male and female. The remaining four student
participants were Caucasian, two males and two females.
The average reading level for the students was between a third grade level
and eighth grade level with one outlier, a student that read on the eleventh
grade level. The current math averages amongst the students ranged from
the lower fifties to high nineties. Finally, the students’ most recent Criteria
Referenced Competency Test results supported the range of abilities amongst
the students both individually and as a cultural group in both mathematics and
language arts (see Table 2).
The students were given a mathematical task in which student knowledge
and understanding of content and computation can all be measured and
assessed. The description and details of the task are listed below.
Mike and Larry are making three rectangular tables for the school
system – one for the elementary school, one for the middle school, and
one for the high school. The dimensions for the middle school’s table
are 4 feet wide and 6 feet long. The elementary table must be half the
size of the middle school table. Since the high school table is going in
the media center, it must be three times as large as the middle school
table. Show as many proportional relationships among the tables using
words, tables, and graphs as you can. Predict the dimensions for a
college table that is twice as big as the high school table and twice the
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area of the new table.
The problem detailed above required that students know and understand
the mathematical terms within and associated with the task, know and utilize
the formulas for identifying the area of a rectangle, construct both symbolic
and numeric equations, display data in the form of words, tables, and graphs,
and make predictions based on the existing information that is either given or
has been constructed by the student.
While completing the tasks, students were asked questions as they worked
as well as prior to beginning and after they completed the task. The first
question was designed to measure student affect as it pertains to mathematics.
Students were asked to rate their confidence level in their ability to complete
the task after reading the instructions. Fifty percent of the students said that
they were somewhat confident; thirty-three percent indicated that they had
very little confidence in their ability, and the remaining two students concluded
that they did not have any confidence in their ability to complete the task. After
answering this question, students were asked to identify the first step they
would take to solve the problem and explain why. Three students said that
they would read the problem again to identify what information was provided
and think about what steps were needed to solve the problem. The other seven
students indicated that they would write down the information given in the
problem and attempt to solve the problem. Here was the first indication that
the students possessed different cognitive styles, which would account for their
ability to perform at a higher level than others. The students that said they
would read the problem again proved to be the only students that either neared
completing the task without help or successfully completed the task. Other
differences observed in the students while working included their attitudes
towards the task, comprehension and recall of information, knowledge of
mathematical terms, ability to organize and display data, and awareness of
ability or self.
In general, student affect was not particularly high for any of the students
as the worked on the task. In fact, five of the students became frustrated to the
point where they would have liked to stop working. Only two of the students
exhibited excitement or contentment when they neared the end of task and
determined the right solution.
Another noteworthy aspect of the study was the collection of data that
enabled me to identify the levels at which student know, understand, and were
able to recall information that pertained to the task confronting them. In
efforts to identify the degree to which students were able to do this, I asked the
students to recall the requirements of the task and describe the ways in which
they attempted to solve the problem. Student responses yielded that the
majority of the students could not fully account for what they had been asked
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to do in the task or the steps that they had taken to work the problem. The
level of reading comprehension was particularly low for all of the students.
Since only three students provided a detailed description of what they were
asked to do in the task and listed the steps in chronological order that they had
taken in order to work the problem I surmised that reading comprehension
inhibited their success. This was revealed through the students’ inability to
recall information in order to organize data sequentially.
Mathematics can be described as a language in itself and in order for
one to successfully work within the discipline one must know and understand
the terms and symbols that are used within the content. It is imperative that
students be able to recall the definitions of content terms while reading in
order for the student to fully understand the task as a whole and further
decipher what is being asked of them. Seven out of twelve of the students
requested the definition or clarification of more than four of the mathematical
terms within the task. The group of seven students consisted of all four
of the African American students, the two biracial students, and one of the
Hispanic students. It is important to note that although none of the Caucasian
students requested information about the mathematical terms, not all of them
understood the terms to the degree to which they could perform the requested
action.
One of the skills necessary for one to be able to learn and practice
mathematics is that of analytical thinking, that is the ability to arrange,
process, organize, and store information sequentially, in lists, or diagrams that
represent relationships amongst data sets. When the students were asked to
describe the proportional relationships that existed among the tables using
words, tables, and graphs they were essentially being asked to organize and
reorganize the information into different representations. Using tables and
graphs required them to use more analytical processes as opposed to writing
the relationship in words to create a sentence. All of the students were able
to create a table to display the data; however only one of the students was
able to accurately construct a graph to display the data. In addition, only four
of the students—the Hispanic male, both African American females, and one
Caucasian female—chose to represent the relationship using words.
Lastly, the ability of learners to identify and utilize strategies that are
essential to their success in mathematics must be developed and maintained.
That is, an individual’s metacognitive awareness is an important factor in one
being able to learn mathematical concepts, construct understandings that
evolve out of knowing the concepts, and perform the skills and operations
associated with the discipline. The students were asked to identify the measures
that they had taken that helped them to solve the problem as well as the skills
that they used. In their responses, students said they needed to know what the
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“words” meant, how to perform basic operations such as adding, subtracting,
and multiplying, and how to think about the problem in different ways in
order to explore all possible solutions. They seemed to acknowledge the
elements that would enable their success. However, they did not possess the
elements and therefore were generally not successful in solving the problem.
In general, factors that accounted for the small number of students that were
able to successfully solve the problem included students’ affect, low reading
comprehension ability, insufficient knowledge of vocabulary terms, inability to
perform basic operations, lack of ability to process and organize information
sequentially in the form of lists, tables, and/or graphs, and incapacity to make
valid predictions based on what is known or given in a problem.
Summary of Findings and Reflection
Mathematics, more so than other content areas, is a cumulative discipline.
The knowledge, skills, and understandings build on one another and the
concepts embedded in the discipline interweave and link to each other in more
ways than one. Mathematics, as defined by the National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics (n.d.), is a study of patterns and relationships; a science and
a way of thinking; an art, characterized by order and internal consistency;
a language, using carefully defined terms and symbols; a tool. Here we
see that mathematics then does not primarily focus on arithmetic skills or
computation; instead, the focus of mathematics is a process. In contrast to the
way mathematics needs to be learned and taught, teachers have dedicated much
of the curriculum to adding, subtracting, and other operational tasks in order
to ensure that students arrive at the correct product or answer rather than
focusing on teaching students how to think about math in a manner that allows
for the arrival at a more sound and valid solution. As noted earlier, two out
of four of the mathematics teachers have found it necessary for them to drill
the students through basic skills practice and assessments. Could the students
not practice their skills through the learning of new concepts or solving
word problems? It seems more of their instructional time is consumed with
ineffective practices such as teaching skills in isolation and without context,
especially considering that this method has been proven unsuccessful for many
in recent years.
It exists today that many African American students, due to their culture,
employ a particular field dependent cognitive style that has been inadequate
in assisting them to learn mathematics. If this is the given and such strategies
have yet to be identified that will automatically change one’s cognitive style,
then we must assume that the most reasonable and just solution would be for
math educators to change their instructional practices. That is, we should
better align our instructional practice to the cognitive style of the students
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we serve. Saracho (1993) discussed matching teachers’ and students’ cognitive
styles when she stated, “Recognition of [the discrepancies between teacher
and learner that exist in the classroom] and acknowledgment of their effects
must be dealt with when planning and implementing any classroom learning
experiences” (p. 170). The effects of the interactions between the teachers
and students’ cognitive styles must be considered in selecting instructional
strategies and establishing an environment conducive to learning. When
teachers were asked in what ways they accounted for the differences amongst
students in their classes, only one of the teachers identified ways in which it is
apparent that she understood that the learners are different and was aware of
how she designs her lessons and structures her curriculum to address student
differences. The lack of recognition and acknowledgement of differences by
the teacher participants in this study plays a possible role in the students’
inability to learn mathematics.
Another contributing factor to the students’ lack of performance might be
linked to their affect regarding mathematics. On average, the students indicated
that they had very little confidence in themselves prior to beginning work
on the task; in addition, they exhibited little enthusiasm or excitement while
working. Research shows that when students are enthused and engaged in a
lesson, learning tends to take place. Implications of this are that instruction
needs to allow for the students to become active and engaged in the lesson, thus
creating an atmosphere that establishes anticipation and excitement as opposed
to dullness and boredom these students expected when learning mathematics.
While not necessarily related to cognitive or cultural styles, this finding further
supports the notion there is a misalignment between mathematics instructional
practices and those that would be effective for the majority of the students.
Interestingly, both teachers and students lacked in their ability to reflect
upon their practices and explain how those practices affect their performance.
Metacognition and reflection are both critical components that exist within
individuals that practice mathematics effectively. Both metacognition and
reflection enhance the individuals’ ability to think critically and increase
their overall thinking and reasoning skills, analytical abilities, and reflective
thought process. Addressing these two skills then must be incorporated in to
the teacher’s practice as well as his/her instruction so that the students’ have
opportunities to develop these skills.
Additionally, students in mathematics classrooms should be engaged in
tasks that enable them to become mathematically literate to the degree that
allows them to fully understand how what they are learning can be connected
to other things and in particular, can be connected to their life and applied to
the world that surrounds them. In essence, they can be assisted in moving
along the continuum from field dependent learning to field independent
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learning as they are exposed to strategies that enable them to judge the
important aspects of a situation. It is only though the thinking and reflective
process that students can acquire the understanding of mathematics and
themselves that is needed for them to be successful within this discipline.
Attempting to close the achievement gap then begins with preparing
teachers to instruct students that are both field-dependent and fieldindependent processors. It starts with accepting and rewarding field-dependent
learners as they are instead of punishing them for what they are not. It
continues with equipping learners with the dispositions and knowledge they
need to move them through the learning continuum, which is done by the
instructor through the types and number of learning experience he/she
provides for the learner. The goal and solution then is to make instruction and
assessment learned-centered so that they reflect the needs of the student and
gradually move the learner to where he/she needs to be in order to perform
at the highest level. Teachers must do this through the decisions they make
through scaffolding and modeling rather than through to labeling, tracking,
and punishment that often takes place in the educational system today.
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Table 1: Characteristics of Field-Dependent and Field-Independent Individuals
Field-dependent individual
Field-independent
Rely on the surrounding perceptual
field
Experience their environment
in a relatively global fashion by
conforming to the effects ofthe
prevailing field or context
Perceive objects as separate from the
field
Can abstract an item from the fashion
by conforming to the effects of the
surrounding field and solve problems
are presented and reorganized in
different contexts
Are dependent on authority which
leads them to depend on their own
standards of and values
Are oriented towards active striving
Experience an independence from contexts authority
Search for facial cues in those
around them as a which leads them
to depend on their own source of
information
Are strongly interested in people
Get closer to teh person wih whom
they are interacting
Have a sensitivity to others that
helps them to acquire social skills
Prefer occupatioms that require
involvement with others
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Appear to be cold and distant
Are socially detached by have analytic skills
are insensitive to others, lacking
social skills
Prefer occupations that allow them to
work by themselves
*Note: Copied from p. 154
Table 2: Reading level of student participants
Reading Level of Student Participants
REFERENCES
Fierro, D. (1997). Is there a difference in learning style among cultures? Retrieved July 20, 2007, from http://www.eric.org/.
Gates, D. (1998). Diversity issues in teaching: Cultural sensitivity in the classroom. Retrieved on July 20, 2007, from http://www.eric.org/.
Hunt, S. (1993). Cultural Perspectives and Thinking: The African American Thinker in the Classroom. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://www.eric.org/.
lblCopyrightyear. (2000). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from http://www.nctm.org/.
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Johnson, C. & Kritonsis, W. A. (2006). The Achievement Gap in Mathematics:
A Significant Problem for African American Students. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://www.eric.org/.
Kenney, J. M. (2005). E. Hancewicz, L. Heuer, D. Metsisto, & C. Tuttle, Eds. Literacy Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction. Alexandria, VA: association for supervision and curriculum development.
Kitchens, A. N., Barber, W. D., & Barber, D. B. (1991). Left brain/Right brain Theory; Implications for developmental math instruction. Review of Research in Developmental Education, pp. 3-5.
Koontz, T. Y., & Jacqueline, R. F. (2006). Inclusion of African American Students in Mathematics Classrooms: Issue of style, curriculum, and expectations. Retrieved on July 20, 2007, from http://www.eric.org/.
McCollugh, S. (2000). Teaching African American Students. Clearing House, 74, pp. 5-7.
Saracho, O. N. (2003). Matching Teachers’ and Students’ Cognitive Styles. Early Child Development and Care, 173, pp. 161-173.
Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. G. (2005). A. E. Burvikovs, Ed. Research Methods in Education (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Wiest, L. (2002). Multicultural Mathematics Instruction: Approaches and Resources. Teaching Children Mathematics, 91, pp. 49-54.
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Effectiveness of Using “Read Alouds”
The Effectiveness of Using “Read Alouds”
in Teaching Reading
Meagin Miller
Faculty Sponsor
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to research how effective “read alouds” are
in the teaching of first graders at Springdale Elementary School in Macon,
Georgia, to read or read more effectively.
CONTEXT
I am currently a first grade teacher at Springdale Elementary School in
Macon, Georgia. I have been teaching first grade for the past five years in this
school. I am very connected to this school since I attended Springdale from
first through sixth grade and am now teaching with several of my former
teachers. The support I have received encouraged me to further my education
with a Master’s degree in 2004 and a Specialist degree in 2007, both in early
childhood education. As a part of my specialist degree I received my reading
endorsement. My education courses and teaching first grade for five years has
intrigued me into the process of teaching reading.
Springdale Elementary School is a public school located in northern
Bibb County. Housing grades pre-kindergarten through fifth, Springdale
serves 601 students. The population of Springdale varies little. Of the 601
students served, 332 are Caucasian, 216 are African American, 28 are Asian,
12 are Hispanic, and 13 are multiracial. About 36% of our students are served
through the free and reduced lunch program. As for attendance, we had only
1.9% of our population missing over fifteen days of school. In that statistic,
4.2% of our economically disadvantaged students were among those missing
more than fifteen days of school. Springdale has 93.6% of students meeting
or exceeding standards on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT)
for Georgia in Reading/English Language Arts for the 2006-2007 school year.
Our first grade had 94% of students meeting or exceeding standards on the
CRCT during the same academic year.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
“Read alouds” have been said to be the single most important thing that
parents and teachers can do to help children learn to read and love it. I am
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going to examine the effectiveness of using “read alouds” to develop fluency,
comprehension, and motivation in first graders. I think it is common
knowledge that reading to a child will provide an enjoyable experience with
reading, therefore helping to motivate them to read. I don’t think that people
know what an impact reading aloud can have on a child’s comprehension
and fluency. My goal in this study is to provide teachers and parents
with appropriate strategies for using “read alouds” to develop fluency,
comprehension, and motivation. “Read alouds” are a required element to Bibb
County’s balanced literacy program but, in my experience, it is the one that is
forgotten the most. I feel that this element is an easy way to influence a child’s
reading ability.
“Read alouds” can often be mistaken as a waste of educational time in
the classroom. This study is meant to identify and evaluate reading practices
associated with reading aloud to elementary school students. It is also meant to
provide justified reasons for using “read alouds” as a teaching tool to increase
achievement in comprehension, fluency, print awareness, and vocabulary.
There are three sub-problems that I intend to examine in determining the
effectiveness of “read alouds”: Do “read alouds” help students comprehend
reading material, affect students’ motivation to read, and help students develop
fluency? These sub-questions will enable me to examine the effect of “read
alouds” on each element of reading. The information I gather will give me
insight into the ways in which to make “read alouds” more effective. This
study is limited to the first grade students in my homeroom at Springdale
Elementary School in Bibb County.
Some terms that will be helpful in understanding all elements in this study
include comprehension, fluency, and read aloud. Comprehension is the ability
to understand or get meaning from text. Fluency is the ability to read with
expression and intonation. A “read aloud” refers to modeled reading, an activity
in which the teacher reads a selection out loud to a group of students, usually
an entire group activity.
There are several assumptions included in this study. The first is that
reading aloud does develop fluency when presented in the correct manner. The
second is that “read alouds” do affect students’ motivation to read. The third is
that “read alouds” do help students to comprehend reading material. The last
assumption is that the read aloud is intriguing and of appropriate level to the
students involved.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Reading aloud to children is often regarded as one of the most important
things you can do to help your child become a successful reader. There are
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several issues that became prominent in the research on “read alouds.” The
issues that I am investigating are the impact that “read alouds” have on
comprehension, fluency, and motivation, in other words, why read aloud?
Shapiro (1997) states that children who listen to “read alouds” have a
chance to work on skills such as correct pronunciation and listening skills. In
my experience, correct pronunciation allows children to read more fluently and
therefore comprehend more. “Simply reading to children isn’t enough for them
to excel as readers” (Terblanche, 2002, p.4). This statement makes so much
sense to me in that, as a teacher, I cannot just pick up a book, read it and put it
down. There has to be discussion in order to make a good “read aloud.” Overall,
Temple, Ogle, Crawford, and Freppon (2008) say that children who have had
extensive “read aloud” experiences before starting school have an important
advantage. If this is true, think of all the advantages they will continue to have
if their teachers read aloud to them in school.
Research suggests that reading aloud to children has an impact on their
comprehension. Two authors, Guignon (2002) and Moen (2004), agree that
helping children make connections with their own experiences aids them in
their comprehension. My experience with first graders shows me that this
idea is definitely the truth. A six year old does not have a problem relating
an aspect of a story to something that has happened to them, therefore
making it easier for them to remember the story. “Read alouds” help young
readers in comprehension in several other ways as well. According to Sipe
(1998, p. 378), “‘read alouds’ offer the possibility of scaffolding the child’s
meaning construction as it is in the process of being constructed.” As well as
scaffolding, the teacher can create a sense of community by facilitating the
support the students receive from their classmates in using new comprehension
strategies (Taberski, 1998).
Another wonderful impact that “read alouds” have on students is the
increase in fluency that can occur. Terblanche (2002) argues that “read alouds”
provide a way for teachers to model how good readers read with intonation
and fluency. In my first grade classroom, I can attest to this fact. When I read
aloud and have my student point out which words are accented and why, they
try to use these clues when they are reading. I “am pointing out for them what
is important and interesting in books” (Temple et al, 2008, p.171). This leads
to their greater understanding of how intonation and expression create a more
meaningful story.
Both discussion and reading with expression lead to the third impact
that “read alouds” have on students: motivation. Terblanche (2002) states
that children develop a positive attitude toward books because of their
understanding of the stories. I agree, as my students are much more motivated
to read after they have been intrigued by what I’ve read aloud to them. Miller
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(2002) also agrees, “reading aloud motivated kids to learn to read” (p. 29).
Miller (2002) continues, “I’m showing my love and enthusiasm for reading and
learning, I’m sharing my thinking and inviting children to join me and I’m
encouraging and expecting my students to do the same in their reading” (p. 42).
By showing excitement with reading my students also get excited, motivating
them to find books that will provide that excitement for them.
Research indicates that reading aloud to children of all ages has many
benefits. Comprehension, fluency, and motivation are only a few of the aspects
of creating good readers that can be enhanced by reading aloud. According
to Debbie Miller (2002), “success begets motivation” (p. 43). Success in
comprehension and fluency, which is made possible partly through “read
alouds,” motivates students to read. This, in my opinion, is the ultimate goal of
teachers and parents alike. In conclusion, reading aloud “is a powerful way to
encourage children to become readers” (Bicker et al, 1999, p. 283).
METHOD
The participants in this study were first grade students and their parents
as well as teachers at Springdale Elementary School. Springdale Elementary
employs five first grade teachers (including myself); the other four completed
an eight-question survey on their views and teaching practices in regard to
“read alouds” as well as signing consent forms. There are eighty-eight first
grade students among the five first grade classes at Springdale Elementary.
Nineteen of those, in my homeroom, were sent a permission form and survey
in regard to reading aloud at home. Eleven of the parents granted permission
for their children to participate in the study and returned the ten question
survey.
Several methods for gathering information were included in this study.
My first method was a survey to the parents of the first graders in my
homeroom which included questions about their reading practices at home
(see Appendix 2). My second method was a survey to the other first grade
teachers that included questions about their teaching practices in regard to
reading aloud in their classroom (see Appendix 1). My other methods of data
collection included observations of reading ability during regular classroom
activities and data analysis of scores recorded on the Developmental Reading
Assessment, which gives scores in reading engagement, comprehension, and
fluency.
Permission was obtained from the Springdale Elementary School principal
to conduct research using the above-mentioned instruments. Permission
to conduct the study was also granted by the Georgia College and State
University Institutional Review Board. I began the research by sending home
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the consent forms and surveys to each family in their weekly signed papers.
With this I included a note to return the consent form and survey in the signed
paper folders as soon as possible. I also passed out the teacher surveys at a
grade level meeting and asked for them to be returned as soon as possible.
After receiving consent forms back from the families, I began observations
of student attitudes toward reading as well as comprehension strategies and
fluency while reading. At the end of my observation period, I conducted the
Developmental Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2) on those students and analyzed
the data in regard to the data I received on the surveys.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Most of the results I received on the parent survey were very similar. 91%
of parents stated that they read aloud to their children at home, 55% began
before the age of one, 18% between ages one and two, and 18% between the
ages of two and three. 73% of parents talk about the different parts of the
book, point to the words, and encourage their children to ask questions and
make connections. 82% of parents talk about the pictures, read with expression,
ask questions while reading the story, and ask open-ended questions.
The first grade teachers all responded that they read to their classes
more than three times a day but only sometimes prepare ahead of time for the
“read aloud.” Each teacher teaches many different comprehension strategies
through their “read alouds,” such as making connections, building schema, main
ideas, comparing, inferencing, and questioning. These teachers also taught
fluency through reading aloud by modeling, echoing, repetition, exaggerated
expression, and phrasing. All four teachers felt that reading aloud from
different genres of books motivates their students to want to learn to read.
My observations and analysis of DRA2 results yielded many differences
among those students whose parents granted permission for participation. 67%
of students prefer to read over being read to and 92% can tell about a favorite
book that they have either read or someone read to them. 42% of students are
reading at a pre-primer level, 42% at a primer level, and 16% at an almost end
of first grade level. 50% are very motivated to read on their own as evidenced
by always having a book and wanting to take Accelerated Reader Tests. Picture
cues and sounding out are the main strategies used by all of the students
involved in the study. When retelling a story to show comprehension, 58% of
students remember to include all major events from the beginning, middle, and
end but all students struggle with using character names when retelling. As for
fluency, 50% are fairly fluent and demonstrate this through reading in phrases
while the other 50% read word by word. Running records indicate that 42%
monitor their reading and make self-corrections while the other 58% do not.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
The results of my study were not surprising. The students at Springdale
consistently score high on the Georgia standardized tests in the area of
reading. This information gives parents and teachers the justification to look at
the reasons behind our high test scores. I strongly believe that the amount of
reading aloud that our students experience plays a role in this accomplishment.
Therefore, parents and teachers need to use the opportunity when their
children are young and impressionable to influence them toward books.
Parents and teachers of all ages could benefit from the information
presented in this paper. The research that is quoted in the review of literature
backs up the fact that reading aloud is a very important part of a child’s
reading development. Based on this information I have two recommendations.
First, a parent information session, that clearly defines good practices for
reading aloud to children, should be available. This would include tips on
questioning that builds comprehension, how to make sure the books you are
choosing are appropriate for the age child you are reading to, and activities to
do to increase fluency. Second, a cheat sheet (a list of reminders) for teachers
would be most beneficial since reading aloud is often a spur of the moment
activity in the classroom. Teachers need to have information handy, such as
on a bookmark. This should include reminders on how to create the most
productive “read aloud” experience.
CONCLUSION
The majority of the parents and all of the first grade teachers at
Springdale are very willing and ready to read and discuss books with
their children. The teachers do a much better job of discussing specific
comprehension strategies with their students. The students demonstrated
a lack of ability to use character names in retelling the story while 42% of
them demonstrated a need to learn what to include in a retelling. Monitoring
comprehension strategies are a necessary item to be taught to first graders
who are learning to read. The best way to accomplish this goal is through
modeling your adult thinking while you are reading to the child.
“Why do you make your voice sound like that?” asked a first grader during
a classroom “read aloud.” This summarizes the need to use different voices,
expressions, and inflections while you are reading to children. They begin to
understand that what they are reading tells a story and that there are different
characters in that story. “Read alouds” provide an excellent opportunity for
modeling fluency and expression. My observations indicate that through
modeling students do begin to pick up on the tools necessary for being a good
212
reader.
Motivation is the third factor that is highly influenced by reading aloud
to children. All of the students whose parents read aloud to them at home
were very excited and willing to describe a favorite book and talk about that
book. By choosing books of interest to that child, you are intriguing them
into the world of books. Reading aloud can also show them that they can find
out information that is interesting to them through books. In my experience,
first graders want to pick books that you as the parents or teachers think are
exciting. My students often ask to check out the books that we have read in
class or that the media specialist has read to them.
My research clearly shows that most first grade parents and teachers at
Springdale spend a lot of time reading to their children. This in turn gives our
students an advantage on the reading front, they are much more motivated to
pick up books, comprehend what they are reading, and use expression while
reading aloud The main area that needs work is their ability to retell stories
with more detail and read more fluently, or in simpler terms comprehension.
Appendix A: Teacher Survey on “Read Alouds”
1. About how many times a day do you read aloud to your class?
1-2
2-3 (25 % -1) 3-4 (75% - 3) 4-5 more than 5
2. Do you prepare ahead of time before you read aloud?
Yes No
Sometimes (100% - 4)
3. Which comprehension strategies do you teach through “read alouds”?
Respondent 1 – making connections, asking questions, drawing
inferences, synthesizing information, and determining the most
important ideas
Respondent 2 – schema, connections, visualizing, prediction,
inferencing, summarizing, questioning, comparing
Respondent 3 – main idea, compare this story to…, summarizing,
facts, retelling
Respondent 4 – asking questions, inferring, identifying the most
important characters and theme of the story
4. In what ways do you teach fluency through “read alouds”?
Respondent 1 – by modeling reading fluency and expression, using
echo and choral reads, using character voices, repetition, teaching
phrasing, dialogue, vocabulary, rhythm, alliteration, repeat readings
Respondent 2 – demonstrating phrasing and expression,
characterization through voice change
213
5.
6.
7.
8.
Respondent 3 – by example, by repetition
Respondent 4 – modeling fluency, echoing, repetition, exaggerated
expression, vocabulary
Do you feel that reading aloud to your class motivates them to read?
Yes (100% - 4)
No
Do you vary the types of books you read aloud by reading fiction,
non-fiction, poetry, or chapter books?
Yes (100% - 4)
No
Do you read expressively by changing your voice for different
characters?
Yes (100% - 4)
No
Do you make sure your read aloud is on the correct level for
comprehension for you students?
Yes (100% - 4)
No
Appendix B: Parent Survey on “Reading Alouds”
1. Do you read aloud to you children?
Yes (91% - 10)
No (9% - 1)
2. If so, when did you start reading aloud to your children?
0yrs – 1yr (55% - 6)
1yr – 2yrs (18%-2)
2yrs – 3yrs (18%-2)
3yrs – 4yrs
4yrs – 5yrs No Answer (9% - 1)
3. Do you talk about different parts of the book such as the front, back,
title page, or last page?
Yes (73% - 8)
No (27% - 3)
4. Do you point to the words as you read?
Yes (73% - 8)
No (27% - 3)
5. Do you talk about the pictures?
Yes (82% - 9)
No (9% - 1)
No Answer (9% - 1)
6. Do you read expressively by changing the sounds of your voice for
different characters?
Yes (82% - 9)
No (18% - 2)
7. Do you encourage them to ask questions about the story?
Yes (73% - 8)
No (18% - 2)
No Answer (9% - 1)
8. Do they ask questions about the story while you are reading?
Yes (82% - 9)
No (18% - 2)
9. Do your children make connections to what you reading with
something in their own life?
214
Yes (73% - 8)
No (27% - 3)
10. Do you ask open-ended questions about what you are reading?
Yes (82% - 9)
No (18% - 2)
REFERENCES
Bickart, T. S., Jablon, J. R., & Dodge, D.T. (1999). Building the primary
classroom – A complete guide to teaching and learning. Portsmouth,
NH: Heineman.
Georgia Department of Education (2007). 2005-2006 Adequate Yearly Progress for Springdale Elementary School. Retrieved November 13, 2007, from http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2006/overview.
asp?SchoolID=611-1105-c-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.
Guignon, A. (2002). Reading Aloud-Are Students Ever Too Old? Education
World.com.
Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning –Teaching comprehension in the
primary grades. Portland, MA: Stenhouse Publishers.
Moen, C. B. (2004). Ten To-Do’s for Successful “read alouds”. Book Links, 1013.
Shapiro, A. (1997). Overcoming the Obstacles to Teaching Children - How to
Read and How to Enjoy reading. English Teachers Network Israel.
Sipe, L. R. (1998). The Construction of Literary Understanding by First
and Second Graders in Response to Picture Storybook “read alouds”.
Reading Research Quarterly, 33, 376-378.
Taberski, S. (1998). How “read alouds” show Comprehension Strategies.
Instructor – Primary, 107.
Temple, C., Ogle, D., Crawford, A., & Freppon, P. (2008). All children read –
Teaching for literacy in todays diverse classrooms. Boston: Pearson.
Terblanche, L. (2002). Read alouds: Do They Enhance Students
Ability to Read? Retrieved November 13, 2007, from http://
www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_
storage_01/0000019b/80/1a/14/9a.pdf.
215
216
General Education and Students with Disabilities
Has Increased Time in General Education Classrooms Resulted
in Increased Passing Rates on the Georgia Criterion-Referenced
Competency Test (CRCT) for Students with Disabilities?
Annette Prince
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of coteaching on the academic progress of students with learning disabilities.
Twenty-two second to fifth grade students with learning disabilities and sixtyseven special education teachers participated in this study. In the first part of
the study, pass-fail rates on the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test
(CRCT) for the twenty-two students were compared across two academic years.
Results indicate that the pass rates for the reading and math part of CRCT
were lower after the students were included in the co-teaching model; however,
the differences in both pass rates were not statistically significant. In the second
part of the study, special education teachers’ responses to a seven-item survey
were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance.
The results show that over 90% of the sixty-seven special education teachers
surveyed acknowledged the different needs among the students identified
with different types of learning disabilities, and believed that they should be
assigned to either the co-teaching or the compartmentalized setting based on
their unique individual needs and ability levels.
INTRODUCTION
Educational reform is changing the way students with disabilities (SWD)
are being educated and assessed. Is this reform beneficial to SWD or is it
handicapping them more by spotlighting their failings and by assessing
their academic prowess with test aligned to regular achievement standards
formulated for students of average or above average intelligence? Are we using
standardized tests for the purpose they are designed for? Are we measuring
understanding and practical applications of knowledge? Or are we simply
assessing students’ test taking skills? Although this paper mostly deals with
the newly implemented co-teaching model, as a special education teacher, I
feel that the legitimacy and validity of the standardized tests lie at the root
of many critical issues and policies concerning the education of students with
disabilities.
217
LITERATURE REVIEW
Many standardized tests discriminate again students with disabilities by
their design (Disabilities Rights Advocates, 2001). Test developers set the
norms for standardized test scores based on the performance of a sample
population. This sample population, does not however, include students with
disabilities nor does it take into account the impact or use of accommodations
(Cortiella, 2008), not to speak of the biases and confusions some of the test
questions may entail (Kohn, 2004).
Special education teachers are fully aware that students with disabilities
perform poorly on standardized tests when compared to their non-disabled,
same age peers. However, simply placing students with disabilities in regular
classrooms and evaluating them with the same grade level assessment
does not take away their disabilities (Henley, McBride, Milligan, & Nichols,
2007). On the contrary, the negative consequences of standardized tests for
students with disabilities are loud and clear: “a high stakes test is just one
more affirmation for children with disabilities that they are inadequate, often
resulting in stigma of failure, lowered self-esteem, anxiety, and an increase in
the number of students dropping out of school and the loss of educational
advancement and career opportunities (Albrecht & Joles, 2003, p.87 as cited
in Henley et al., 2007). Therefore, over-reliance on results from standardized
tests is disproportionately negative in its impact on SWD (Cortiella, 2008).
The high quality learning of all students should in fact be based on multiple
measures and indicators, not on the results of one assessment that only
provides a snapshot of a student’s academic performance during one week of
the academic calendar.
Public Law 94-142, i.e. The Education for all Handicapped Children Act,
was passed in 1975. This act mandates an appropriate education to all students
with disabilities. Please note that the emphasis here is appropriate. It did not,
however, state that all children regardless of severity of disability would be
subject to full inclusion in the general education setting, nor did it state that
all students would be assessed by standardized tests alone (Ballard, 1987). On
the contrary, the act underwent several changes in 1990, one of which was a
change of its name from The Education for all Handicapped Children Act (P.L.
94-142) to The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, P.L. 101476). Under this revised legislation, specific regulations were put into place
to ensure that testing and evaluation of SWD would not be based on a single
measure or indicator.
Legal and sociopolitical perspectives are both important in their
subsequent roles of defining and refining special education and its ethical best
practices. Yet neither completely uncovers the fundamental essence of
218
special education as a research-backed intervention that is instruction-based
and designed for the prevention, compensation and elimination of impending
obstacles that would hinder SWD from fully participating in the general
classroom setting (Howard, 2003). Special education as a research-backed
intervention should not be interpreted with a one-size-fits-all mentality.
If we look back in history, we will indeed discover that the question of
where and how SWD should be educated did not start with the 2001 enactment
of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In fact, Lloyd Dunn raised this same
question in 1968 in his seminal paper, “Special Education for the Mentally
Retarded-Is Much of It Justifiable?” In response to Dunn’s inquiry, education
leaders adopted the pull-out model also known as resource services. This new
trend of removing students from traditional day classes to inclusion in the
general population via resource services maintained its momentum until the
mid-1970s. In her article entitled “Where Should Students with Disabilities
Receive Education Services? Is one Place Better than Another?,” Naomi
Zigmond directed our attention to some of the most common issues that face
administrators, educators, and parents alike. In particular, Zigmond leads
us to question: is this a push for equality in best practices for students with
disabilities or are we chasing yet another costly fad in education?
Students with disabilities have been profoundly impacted by the mandates
of NCLB. Theoretically, the conceptual gains of exposure to the general
curriculum within the general classroom setting should be astounding. In
reality, the ramifications are not only frightening but highly presumptuous in
terms of the actual academic benefit for students with disabilities. Although
research suggests that co-teaching could be a viable method to meet the
demands for highly-qualified teachers and to match the needs of individual
learners with tailored instruction, students with disabilities are being placed
in the general education setting and exposed to grade level curriculum in
order to be taught by presumably content area specialists that are “highly
qualified” (Nevin, 2006). However, these presumptuous “highly qualified”
content area specialists often have very limited knowledge about how to teach
a child with a disability and typically have had no more than one introductory
course in special education (Henley et al., 2007). Students with disabilities are
spending more time in the general education setting as a result of the push for
accountability and the glamorized benefits of the co-teaching delivery model.
However, the research base for the co-teaching model is scant. A meta-analysis
conducted by Murawski and Swanson (2001) revealed that only a few studies
collected evidence for the impact of co-teaching on student achievement,
and that even fewer studies reported data on the actions of the co-teachers
themselves. Therefore, it is no surprise that a review of the miniscule research
on the newest service delivery models in special education would conclude that
219
their implementation has at best a moderate positive impact for SWD and no
amount of co-teaching will eliminate a disability (Zigmond, 2003).
In the six years since the enactment of NCLB, it has become evident that
there are many flaws in its policies. Many educators feel that the assumptions
made throughout are fictitious and unattainable, consequences are inadvertent,
and implementation has been slipshod at best. NCLB has created many
involuntary and inauspicious costs for students and educators alike. “The push
or be pushed mentality” associated with achieving Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) and the fear accountability evokes in administration has left students
with disabilities shackled with questionable practices of instruction and
assessment.
The NCLB legislation has distorted the overall concept of public
education as we knew it. Many educators and parents have been left wondering
whether this adaptation is nothing short of a “thief robbing” our nation’s
children of a meaningful education in an effort to meet unattainable mandates.
Instructional programs across the nation have been eliminated or distorted
beyond recognition as a result of the educational reform movement.
Many states are scrambling to meet mandates required by the NCLB
legislation of 2004. In a report by the National Association for Secondary
School Principals (NASSP, 2006), it was found that none of the nation’s states
have been able to meet the “quality-goal” designated in the act. As a result, it
is estimated that at least one-half of the states are facing the possibility of
receiving reductions in federal funding for educational programs (as cited in
Henley et al., 2007). Our nation’s disabled children have experienced the wrath
of NCLB and many casualties lie in its wake.
There are other deficits associated with high-stakes testing that are not
as obvious as others. Some of which are increased class sizes for students
with disabilities, increased caseloads for educators of special needs students,
decreased abilities for educators to provide individualized instruction,
inadequate access to remediation, and increased grade retention (Kohn 2004).
High-stakes testing has left behind the students that need the most assistance
to become viable members of the society.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
This study was designed to explore the potential academic benefits
or harms for students with disabilities who received the core curriculum
instruction in the general education classrooms facilitated by special education
teachers through various co-teaching models. CRCT scores of SWD over a
two year span were subject to statistical analysis to see if additional time spent
in the general education setting resulted in higher pass rates on the CRCT.
220
Also evaluated were the opinions of sixty-seven special education teachers on
the relative effectiveness of the co-teaching model through a 7-item survey
written on a Likert scale. Two particular research questions guided this study:
(1) Has increased time in general education classrooms resulted in higher pass
rates on standardized tests for SWD? (2) How do special education teachers
think of co-teaching?
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Twenty-two special education students (i.e., SWD) who were enrolled in
second through fifth grades at a rural elementary school in Georgia served as
the participants of this study. All of these students were attendants at the same
school the previous year and did not study under any co-teaching model for
the 2006-2007 school year. During this past school year, the SWD were served
in a self-contained or resource setting for all academic areas identified on their
individualized education plans (IEPs). These research participants then studied
under one or more models of co-teaching with instruction delivered by a
certified special education teacher and a certified general education teacher for
the following (2007-2008) school year.
Sixty-seven out of a total of one hundred and fifty special education
teachers in the entire school district responded to a blind electronically
distributed survey. Their years of experience teaching SWD ranged from one
to thirty. Special education teachers at all grade levels from kindergarten to
twelfth participated in this part of the study.
Data Sources
Two major data sources for this study were (a) the pass-fail rates for the
2007 and 2008 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, and (b) a seven-item
survey written on a Likert scale with options ranging form “strongly disagree”
to “strongly agree.”
Data Analysis
The pass-fail rates for the 2007 and 2008 CRCT reading, English/
language arts (ELA), and math sections for the twenty-two SWD were first
summarized using descriptive statistics and then subjected to statistical
significance testing for comparing two proportions. Special education teachers’
responses to the seven-item survey were also summarized using descriptive
statistics and then subject to multivariate and univariate analysis of variance.
It should be cautioned that the pass-fail rates across the two academic
years were not be directly comparable even though they were from the same
group of students. In order to test the impact of co-teaching on the academic
221
performance of SWD, one will need to conduct a true experiment in which
two groups of SWD of equivalent initial abilities are assigned to either the
co-teaching environment or the self-contained environment. However, the
conditions required for this kind of true experiment were impossible to be met
for this study. Therefore, regardless of the results, this study was not designed
to attribute the difference in student performance across the two academic
years solely to the effects of co-teaching. Instead, the purpose of this study is
to track the academic progress of a group of SWD during a transition period
from the self-contained, resource service model to the co-teaching, inclusion
model, and hopefully, shed some lights on whether immediate progress is
evident or absent after the adoption of the new teaching model and what
implications the results are for policy making and actual practices.
RESULTS
Comparisons of CRCT Pass-Fail Rates between 2006-2007 and 2007-2008
Pass and fail numbers and percentages for the twenty-two special
education students on the CRCT reading, English/language arts (ELA), and
math tests are presented in Table 1 (see Appendix and Figures). Four of
the twenty-two students were enrolled in the fifth grade in the 2006-2007
academic year, ten in the fourth grade, five in the third grade, and three in the
second grade. These twenty-two students were all promoted to the next grade
level for the 2007-2008 academic year. Since second graders do not take the
ELA test, only 19 students’ scores were available for this particular test. The
pass rates for both reading and math decreased from the 2006-2007 school year
to the 2007-2008 school year. The pass rate for reading decreased from 82% to
68%; the passing rate for math took even a deeper slump from 50% to 32%. The
ELA pass rate for the 2007-2008 school year was only slightly higher than that
for the 2006-2007 school year. Hypothesis tests for comparing two proportions
showed no statistically significant differences in any pair of pass-fail rates (z =
-1.07 for reading, p > .05; z = 0.45 for ELA, p > .05; z =1.21 for math, p > .05).
However, these results should be interpreted with extreme caution because
they were based on a small sample of students. Therefore, there might not be
sufficient statistical power to detect significant differences in the pass rates
between these two academic years. The descriptive data alone raised some
concerns over the potential impact of the co-teaching model for this group of
special education students especially in their math achievement. The results of
this small-scaled study indicate that longitudinal studies comparing test scores
over a longer period of time with larger student samples are needed in order
to draw further conclusions about the effects of co-teaching on the academic
achievement of SWD.
222
General Education and Students with Diabilities
Survey Results
Sixty-seven out of one hundred and fifty special education teachers
responded to the original eight-item survey, forty-two of which were
elementary teachers, fourteen were middle-grades teachers, and eleven were
high school teachers. The survey was written on a Likert scale with response
categories ranging from strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree
(4), and strongly agree (5). One of the survey items were deleted from further
analysis because it was considered not related to co-teaching. The remaining
seven items were subject to further statistical analysis (see Appendix and
Figures).
The frequency distributions of the teachers’ responses to each of the
seven questions are displayed in Table 2 (see Appendix and Figures). This
data shows that the teachers tend to take a very moderate stance and avoid
extreme opinions on five of the seven items on the survey, except for items 3
and 4. Item 3 asked the teachers whether they agreed that all the students with
special needs should be placed in the co-teaching classroom settings. Item 4
asked the teachers whether they agreed that all the students with special needs
should be placed in the compartmentalized settings. For both items, less than
5% of the teachers who responded to the survey agreed or strongly agreed
that all the students with special needs should be placed in either setting. On
the other hand, more than 90% of the teachers who responded to the survey
disagreed or strongly disagreed with either of the approaches. In other words,
teachers who responded to the survey acknowledged the different needs among
the students identified with different types of learning disabilities and believed
that they should be assigned to either the co-teaching or compartmentalized
environment based on their special needs.
I also correlated teachers’ responses to each of the seven questions
with their years of teaching experiences. I found that there was virtually
no relationship between teaching experiences and responses to the survey,
with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from -0.10 to 0.1. Descriptive
statistics for the seven survey items are presented in Table 3 (see Appendix and
Figures). The statistics are depicted separately for elementary, middle-grades,
and secondary teachers. The descriptive statistics show that the responses
to the seven questions were highly comparable across these three subgroups
of teachers. Multivariate analysis of variance (MAONVA) confirmed the
comparability among the three subgroups of teachers (λ = 0.74, F = 1.38, df =
(7, 59), p =0.174). Seven separate univariate analyses of variance were also
performed on each of the seven survey items, and the results for these analyses
were also consistent with the MANOVA findings, indicating that there was
no significant difference among teachers from different grade levels in their
responses to the survey. The descriptive statistics also confirmed the findings
223
based on the frequency distributions: the teachers who responded to the survey
as a group held a fairly neutral or moderate opinion toward five of the seven
survey questions except for items 3 and 4. For items 3 and 4, the teachers on
average instead expressed a strong disagreement.
In summation, the teachers who responded to the survey, on average, were
uncertain about whether general education and special education teachers can
effectively address students’ needs through differentiation (item 1), whether the
academic achievement of the students with special needs will improve under
the co-teaching model (item 2), whether the co-teaching model effectively
responds to students’ individualized education program (item 5), whether
students with special needs actively participate in class activities in the coteaching environment (item 6), or whether co-teaching has the potential to
reduce the discipline problems (item 7). Meanwhile, the teachers seemed to be
quite certain that students with special needs should not be treated the same as
general education students and assigned to a single classroom setting; instead,
students with special needs should be assigned to either the co-teaching or the
compartmentalized setting depending on their particular needs. This result
suggests that the teachers who responded to the survey did not believe in a
universal, cross-the-board policy for inclusion.
CONCLUSION
The results of this research have made known that while co-teaching may
be an effective academic avenue for some SWD, it is not the best conduit for
all. The special education teachers who participated in this study shared this
common wisdom and believed that different assignments need to be made based
on individual academic needs and ability levels. We must also keep in mind
that some academic and many functional skills are undoubtedly better suited
to specialized instructional models combined with co-teaching settings for
strengthening academic skills and achieving age appropriate peer socialization.
The decreased pass rates on the standardized tests in reading and math
for the students involved in this research project were compelling. However, it
must be taken under consideration that the students were not subjected to the
equivalent test for consecutive years but assessed with materials concurrent
with grade level. Longitudinal studies tracking the effects of co-teaching on
SWD over a longer period of time and experimental studies directly testing
the effect of co-teaching are needed in order to reach more decisive conclusions
about co-teaching. In addition, more studies in the future need to focus on the
actual implementation of co-teaching and the potential benefits of teacher
preparation and professional development with an emphasis on co-teaching.
224
Appendix A: Co-Teaching Survey
How many years have you been teaching? _____________________
What grade level do you teach?
_____________________
Please rate the following statement:
1. Do you feel that you and the general education teacher are effectively
addressing the needs of all students through differentiation?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
2. Has academic achievement of special needs students improved under
the co-teaching model?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
3. Should all students with special needs participate in only, co-teaching
classroom settings?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
4. Should all students with special needs participate in only,
compartmentalized instructional settings?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
5. Do you feel that you are able to effectively address the objectives from
the students’ IEP in the co-teaching setting?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
6. Are your students actively participating in the general classroom
setting during co-teaching?
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Table 1: Percentages of Pass and Fail for 2007 and 2008 CRCT Reading, ELA, &
Math Scores
2007
Reading
ELA
Math
2008
Reading
ELA
Math
Pass N
Pass %
Fail N
Fail %
18
11
11
82%
58%
50%
4
8
11
18%
42%
50%
15
12
68%
63%
7
7
32%
37%
7
32%
13
68%
225
Table 2: Frequency Distribution of Responses to the Survey Items (N=67)
Response
Categories
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5
Item 6
Item 7
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
0
2
3
0
0
3
5
5 5
5
5
2
3
14
29
20
2
30
43
21
3
0
16 24 24 36
23 34 28 42
26 39 11 16
2 3 2 3
3 5
2 3
3 5
2 3
32 47 33 49
29 43 30 45
26
16
18
4
39
24
27
6
13 19
23 34
23 34
3 8
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Survey Items by Grade Levels
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4
Item 5
Item 6
Item 7
Elementary
(N=42)
M
SD
Middle
(N=14)
M
SD
Secondary
(N=11)
M
SD
3.21
3.26
1.67
1.64
3.00
3.19
2.98
2.79
3.29
1.79
1.64
2.93
3.29
2.79
3.00
2.82
1.73
1.64
3.64
3.18
2.82
0.87
0.80
0.69
0.62
1.04
0.94
0.81
0.89
0.91
1.05
0.93
1.07
1.33
1.12
0.78
0.98
0.65
0.67
0.92
0.75
0.75
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Disability Rights Advocates, LD Access Foundation, Inc (2001). Do no harm.
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Kohn, A. (2004). Test today, privatize tomorrow. Education Digest, 70(1), 14-
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228
Building Relationships with Middle School Students
Building Relationships with
Middle School Students
Bridget C. Snooks
Dr. Karynne Kleine
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
This study examines the aspects of relationship building that are
necessary for implementing a curriculum that is developmentally responsive
to the needs of middle school students. To understand what teacher qualities
are responsible for building strong, positive relationships with middle school
students, students and teachers at a middle school in central Georgia were
surveyed. In these surveys students and teachers ranked the importance of
characteristics found in middle level education literature that are necessary
for building strong, positive relationships with students. The results from the
students and teachers were compared to see if the students and teachers valued
the same characteristics. The highest ranked characteristics were then used to
analyze videotapes of four seventh grade classes. The characteristics served as
a checklist for examining the interactions between the teachers and students.
The results of the surveys and videotapes illustrated that there was some
discrepancy between student and teacher expectations regarding relationships.
Also, the videotapes showed little evidence that any of the desired teacher
characteristics were being exhibited. The data showed that teachers and
students both ranked “holding high expectations for all students” as the second
most important characteristic of five. This result was noteworthy, because
it showed that students recognize when teachers hold high expectations for
them; this was not a teacher characteristic that went unnoticed. It was also
striking that female student and teacher participants valued upholding high
expectations more so than their male counterparts.
From these results it seems that there may not be a particular set of
teacher characteristics that make for strong, positive relationships between
teachers and students. This study suggests that the relationships are easier
if teachers and students share the same expectations of relationships. This
investigation also implies the need for more of a whole-child focus in middle
school and less emphasis on standardized testing. Another recommendation
suggested by this study is the necessity for teachers to be reflective
practitioners who continually examine their philosophy and practice.
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INTRODUCTION
Reflecting on my time in a middle grades education cohort, I began to
grapple with serious questions about the needs of young adolescents. What
sort of relationships should I have with the students I teach? How do I get
ten- to fourteen year-olds to open up to me? Why do I want them to? What
benefit, if any, does building relationships with students offer? How do I meet
the needs of the students I teach? With these questions in mind, I identified
an inherent need to address the basic, developmental requirements of young
adolescents by creating meaningful relationships with them. I chose to examine
this phenomenon more closely by investigating my practice as I set about
creating relationships with students and assisting them in creating them with
each other.
In answering the question, “What aspects of relationship-building are
crucial for implementing a curriculum that is responsive to adolescent needs?,”
I hoped to discover the means to create a community of learners where every
child feels that his physical, social, emotional, cognitive, psychological, and
moral needs are met. I consulted literature regarding the needs of young
adolescents in order to understand the characteristics of curriculum that must
be present to fulfill the developmental requirements of middle school students.
With regard to a developmentally responsive curriculum, there are particular
aspects of relationship building found in the literature that can be categorized
under two broad headings: (1) ways of connecting with students and (2)
teacher attributes.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Characteristics of developmentally responsive curriculum
For decades middle grades advocates have spoken about the need to give
students the opportunity to delve into a curriculum that responds to their
needs. This may seem like a daunting task. First one must consider what
exactly the curriculum in a school includes. Glatthorn (1990, as quoted in
Stevenson, 2002) stated that curriculum in the broad sense is “the complete set
of educational experiences offered” rather than simply the courses available at
a school, or a manual handed to the teacher on the first day of school (p.188).
Examining Glatthorn’s position, one concludes that curriculum includes
everything that happens during school hours. Teachers then have multiple
opportunities to reach their students during the school day, not just during
class time. Thus the approach to curriculum most appropriate for middle level
learners would be one that allows for their development in many domains (not
just academic) and through a variety of experiences, not just those limited to
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classroom content instruction.
After decades of research with young adolescents, Stevenson and Bishop
(2005) identified needs of middle school students that can be fulfilled through a
curriculum that makes learners feel valued. This is an overlooked point in many
standards-based curricula, but Stevenson and Bishop affirm that “students who
demonstrate personal efficacy in school and in their relationships with peers
and adults exhibit some essential traits: competency, responsibility, affiliation,
awareness, and ethical perception of self ” (p.108). Vatterott (2007) agreed that
curriculum should satisfy these same requirements with two of its targets
being “to assist students in the development of identity and to assist students
in defining their role in the adult world” (p.119). The development of identity
includes competency, awareness and the ethical perception of self, while
definition of role in the adult world encompasses responsibility and affiliation.
All these traits are imperative to cultivate when creating a developmentally
responsive curriculum for middle school students. With these aspects in mind,
the idea of relationship-building should be approached. Because the question
that produced this investigation considers the characteristics of relationshipbuilding that foster a developmentally responsive curriculum, it was
necessary to find aspects of relationship-building that produced these feelings
experienced by students in developmentally responsive settings. Using what is
known about developmentally responsive curriculum, how should one go about
building relationships with middle school students?
The Ethic of Care
As a framework for this study, educational philosopher, Nel Noddings’
theory of the “Ethic of Care” serves as an umbrella that covers multiple
aspects of relationship building. Noddings (1984) suggested that the ethical
ideal of caring is caring “done out of duty and not out of love,” which is
the sort of caring traditionally done by teachers (p.80). The ideal is a caring
relationship between teacher and student where the teacher is the “one-caring”
and the student is the “cared-for.” Acknowledging one’s duty is an advanced
skill, because one must recognize his/her moral obligation to care. “Everything
we do, then, as teachers, has moral overtones. … The one-caring as teacher
nurtures the ethical ideal” (p.179). The sense of duty felt by teachers and the
moral overtones of education serve as a basis for the aspects of relationshipbuilding to be discussed later.
As a theory, Noddings’ ethic is questioned by some scholars. Vatterott
acknowledges that noteworthy scholars in the field of middle level education
suggest that a focus on caring takes away from the academic expectations of
school as well as dilutes the curriculum (2007, p.116-17). Even though some
reject the idea of caring as the ethical ideal, others find the theory compelling.
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In “Quality Programs that Care and Educate,” Smith (1996) states that “the
prevailing view that care is somehow inferior to education ignores the fact that
no meaningful distinction can be made between care and education for young
children” (p.331). Though middle grades students are not young children,
this arbitrary boundary between care and education seems relevant enough to
consider the possibility that the two could and should be linked for educational
levels beyond the primary school. In fact, Noddings has argued, “The primary
aim of all educative effort is the nurturance of the ethical ideal” (1984,
p.173). Noddings’ theory indicates that building relationships is the central
purpose of education. With this connection made, the two broad categories
of relationship-building can be organized to explain which relationship
characteristics are related to the traits students exhibit from a developmentally
responsive curriculum.
Ways to connect with students
With the Ethic of Care as a theoretical bridge, connections can be made
between characteristics of developmentally responsive curricula and aspects
of relationship building. Rogers (1967) indicated that successful facilitation
of “significant” learning depends on “certain attitudinal qualities which exist
in the personal relationship between the facilitator and the learner” (p.3).
Likewise, Mawhinney and Sagan (2007), indicate the power of relationship
building thirty years later. According to their “The Power of Personal
Relationships,” the characteristics that encourage relationship building fit into
two categories: ways to connect with students and personal attributes of the
teacher (Mawhinney & Sagan, 2007, p.461). Keeping in mind the developmental
needs of young adolescents, one might examine the features of relationship
building.
In a recent study of teacher-student relationships (Mawhinney & Sagan,
2007), researchers found “knowing your students and allowing them to
know you” serves as a means for connecting with students. Similarly, Rogers
(1967) suggested that “realness in the facilitator of learning” is important for
relationship-building. “It is quite customary for teachers rather consciously to
put on the mask, the role, the façade, of being a teacher, and to wear this façade
all day removing it only when they have left the school at night” (p.4). “Putting
on the façade” then discourages any real connection between the teacher and
student.
Secondly, Mawhinney and Sagan found “reestablishing contact and high
expectations” important in relationships with students (p.461). They indicated
that after a negative communication with a student, “if that student is ever
to feel a sense of belonging again, the teacher must somehow have a positive
interaction with the student around some other issue” (p.461-2). This sense of
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belonging refers to what Stevenson and Bishop (2005) identified as a need of
all young adolescents: affiliation. Stevenson and Bishop indicated that affiliation
with the curriculum is crucial, but “the significant relationships… created”
contributed to feelings of affiliation (p.109).
As well as reestablishing contact after a negative communication,
teachers must hold high expectations for all students. Mawhinney and
Sagan (2007) indicated that “high expectations are a crucial ingredient in
personal relationship-building” (p.462). Correspondingly, Lumpkin (2007)
showed “caring teachers establish clear and realistic expectations for the
quality of class participation, homework assignments, individual and group
projects, collaborative learning experiences, problem-solving exercises, and
examinations” (p.159). Regarding high expectations, Beal and Arnold (2005)
expressed that “these intentions involve seeing and appealing to the best in
young adolescents in all their diversity, making sure that those expectations
are achievable, realistic ones, and promoting ways to help them realize their
potential in every realm of development” (p.43). Having high expectations
does not simply mean raising the standards. It involves the sense of helping
students recognize their potential, or competence, as Stevenson and Bishop
(2005) would refer to it: “successful students identify themselves by the things
they do well, and they relish in opportunities to do those things” (p.108). Thus
holding high expectations that develop students’ sense of competence and
using developmentally responsive curriculum allow teacher and student to
identify and illuminate student capability in certain areas.
Rogers (1967) identified additional ways to connect with students, namely
that teachers should prize their students. Prizing involves “caring for the
learner but a non-possessive caring. It is acceptance of this other individual as
a separate person, having worth in his own right. It is a basic trust--a belief
that this other person is somehow fundamentally trustworthy” (p.6). A person’s
ability to prize implies post-conventional moral reasoning. Teachers who prize
their students care about them without being told by an authority figure to
do so. Because most people never reach Kohlberg’s post-conventional level of
moral development, prizing is a skill that many teachers may not possess. If
teachers can reach this level and have the ability to prize the students then they
are able to help students’ develop their ethical perception of self. When the
teacher prizes or trusts her students, their “natural inclination toward moral
ideals” strengthens (Stevenson & Bishop, 2005, p.110). Prizing is a means by
which teachers can meet the need of ethical perception of self by helping
students “regard themselves as good people of high moral standing” (p.110).
This type of valuing offers a powerful means for teachers to build relationships
with young adolescents.
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Qualities of teachers that enhance relationships
Grounded in Noddings’ Ethic of Care can be found a charge for teachers
who use a responsive curriculum and wish to build relationships with learners.
In the model, “Noddings (1992) suggested that caring teachers (a) model caring
behavior to their students, (b) engage students in dialogues that lead to mutual
understanding and perspective taking, and (c) expect as well as encourage
students to do the best they can given their abilities” (Wentzel, 1997, p.412).
By modeling caring behavior, teachers can respond to a student’s need to
assume adult responsibilities. As a model, the teacher shows the student that
the duty of caring is a rite of passage to adulthood. Engaging in dialogue can
be viewed as meeting the young adolescent need of awareness. If it is common
practice in a classroom to engage in discourse and take multiple perspectives
regarding information presented, students should be more aware. Encouraging
students to do their best gives rise to a sense of competency in certain areas of
expertise.
Not only must teachers be caring, but they must be understanding as
well. “When we speak of ‘understanding’ on the part of teachers, we are
referring primarily to empathy” (Mawhinney & Sagan, 2007, p.463). Empathy
is generally defined as putting oneself in another person’s shoes or taking the
perspective of another. Noddings (1984) disagreed, describing her process for
empathy as “I receive the other into myself, and I see and feel with the other.
I become a duality” (p.30, emphasis added). For Noddings, empathy is more
than taking the perspective of another. It is being able to feel exactly what
that person is feeling even as one remains herself. Empathy is understanding
without judgment, and it is an important teacher attribute as well. “When the
teacher has the ability to understand the student’s reactions from the inside,
has a sensitive awareness of the way the process of education and learning
seems to the student, then again the likelihood of significant learning is
increased” (Rogers, 1967, p.8). If the teacher can empathetically understand the
student, a personal relationship between the two is made easier.
Using these frameworks of developmentally responsive curriculum and
important aspects of relationship-building, including ways to connect with
students and teacher qualities to guide my study, I sought to discover which
of these qualities suggested in the literature are important to teachers and
students. Once identified I also tried to determine how frequently teachers at
a central Georgia middle school where I have worked for nine months exhibit
the qualities that teachers and students deem to be important for building
relationships.
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Building Relationships with Middle School Student
METHODOLOGY
Positive teacher-student relationships provide the foundation for successful
academic interactions in the classroom. Because relationships are crucial, this
study sought to investigate which aspects of relationship-building are most
important in the middle school setting. This study took place from February 1
to April 1, 2008 at a middle school in central Georgia located on the outskirts
of a mid-sized city. I chose to conduct this investigation at this site because I
was completing my teaching internship at this school. This setting was ideal
for the investigation because like many middle schools, the stated expectations
of the school require teachers to build positive relationships with the students.
If all teachers hold and act on these beliefs, this school should have been a
model for exceptional student-teacher relationships and thus a suitable site for
this study.
Student participants
Because the purpose of this study was to understand the elements of
relationships between teachers and students at the middle level, I chose
to examine and gain two different perspectives on relationships. The first
perspective was the middle school student perspective. The students at
this particular school served as a convenience sample, because I completed
my teaching internship there. According to Fraenkel and Wallen (1990), a
convenience sample “has a major disadvantage in that the sample will quite
likely be biased” (p.75). Therefore I made efforts to minimize such biases. One
bias might have been a student responding to questions based on experiences
with a particular teacher. To manage the effects of this bias I included
perspectives of students with different teachers by surveying students from
sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. With these different perspectives, the
likelihood that the information reflected a prejudice against a particular teacher
was slim. With approximately 560 students attending this middle school, the
forty students surveyed comprised about 7% of the school’s population.
To determine which students in each grade would complete the survey,
I distributed consent forms to all students at the school. The first students
in each grade level to return their signed consent forms were the subjects of
this study. Again, this is a sample of convenience that is not a biased sample.
Creswell (2002) indicates that researchers using convenience sampling “cannot
say with confidence that [the sample is] representative of the population.
However, the sample can provide useful information for answering questions
and hypotheses” (p.167). For the purposes of this study, I wanted to understand
the phenomenon of relationships between students and teachers in this
particular setting, so it is not a deficiency that the sample is not representative
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of the middle school student population.
Public middle school teacher participants
The second perspective I considered is that of the middle school teacher.
All teachers at this middle school, thirty-six in total, were asked to participate
in this investigation. As mentioned earlier, the school’s mission statement and
goals support the building of positive relationships between teachers and
students. If all teachers adhered to these goals, they should be models in the
ways of building positive relationships.
Data Collection Methods
To understand the perspective of each group of stakeholders pertaining
to relationships, I utilized a survey method. Thirty-nine students and eight
teachers each completed a survey in which they ranked the characteristics
of relationship building that were most important to them. For instance,
characteristics of teachers such as being genuine, holding high expectations for
all students, trusting students, caring about students, withholding judgment
about students, and understanding students were included in the survey.
Each participant ranked from most important to least important the five most
valuable teacher characteristics of importance to the individual. The surveys
also included demographic information such as age, gender, grade level, and
years of teaching experience. This information helped me recognize trends in
responses in the analysis portion of this investigation.
In order to gauge where this middle school was in its ability to form
strong, positive teacher-student relationships, I videotaped the interactions
between teachers and students in four seventh grade classrooms for one
55-minute class period each. Using a checklist of the most important
qualities teachers must possess to form positive relationships with students as
determined by the surveys of teachers and students, I indicated which aspects
were present in each class. There was also an area on the checklist to add other
elements of relationship building that were present in the video but were not
listed as those that are most important from the surveys and interviews.
Data Analysis Methods
The data collected in the student and teacher surveys were compiled to
ascertain the five most valued aspects of building relationships for each group,
teachers and students. The five most frequent aspects as rated by the teachers
and the top five student aspects were compared to look for congruity between
the expectations of teacher and students with regard to relationships. Analysis
of these findings showed whether or not the social needs in the interactions of
students and teachers at this central Georgia middle school were being met.
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An evaluation of each videotape with the checklist painted a picture of what
the relationships between students and teachers at this school were like. This
evaluation can be used to help to diagnose any problems that the teachers have
and to help them improve their practices as middle level teachers. The findings
from the study can guide all teachers to look more deeply into the relationships
they have with their students to make sure that the social needs of the students
are met.
Analysis
To analyze the data collected, I organized the information from the surveys
and videotape checklists into tables. These tables clearly showed trends in the
data. Table 1 (see Appendix and Figures) shows the demographic information
for all of the students surveyed. This information was organized by grade level
and showed that approximately one third of responses came from each of the
three grade levels surveyed.
Table 2 (see Appendix and Figures) displayed the student responses from
the surveys. Totals at the bottom of each column indicated how much value
each group, students and teachers, placed on these characteristics.
To obtain this total value, the numbers in each column were added. If
there was a blank cell in the table, the value for that cell was a 6. Because
the person taking the survey did not value that characteristic enough to
rank it, then it was less important than characteristics ranked one through
five. Because five was the least important characteristic, a characteristic not
ranked rates at a higher number, so each blank cell was ranked as a 6, the
highest number. To make it clear for students to complete the survey, the most
important characteristic had the lowest total value, while the least important
characteristic has the highest total value.
Similar to Table 1, Table 3 displayed the demographic information for
the teachers, while Table 4 demonstrated the teacher responses to the surveys
(see Appendix and Figures). Totals for these charts were determined using the
same method that was used with Table 2. Tables 2 and 4 were compared to
recognize similarities and differences between the characteristics of teachers
that each party values. Tables 1 and 3 supplemented Tables 2 and 4, and they
allowed for recognition of trends in gender, grade, age, and experience.
Tables 5, 6, 7, and 8 (see Appendix and Figures) were frequency tables
of the relationship-building characteristics that each teacher, A through D,
exhibited during the 55-minute class period on the videotape. Each tally mark
represented one occurrence of the desired characteristic.
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RESULTS
After careful consideration of all of the data collected, it was apparentthat
there was a discrepancy between the expectations of teachers and the
expectations of students regarding their relationships at school. The results
from Table 4 can be ranked in the following order from most important to
least important qualities necessary for building relationships: (1) cares about
the students, (2) holds high expectations for all students, (3) is genuine,
(4) understands the students, (5) withholds judgment of the students, and
(6) trusts the students. The results from Table 2 read a bit differently. The
following were the teacher qualities the students valued in their relationships
with their teachers from most to least important: (1) understands the students,
(2) holds high expectations for all students, (3) cares about the students, (4)
trusts the students, (5) withholds judgment of the students, and (6) is genuine.
These findings presented many similarities and differences for consideration.
First, it is noteworthy that both teachers and students very much valued
a teacher holding high expectations for all students. It was interesting that
students recognized the need for high expectations from their teachers. Based
on the literature I consulted, it appeared that holding high expectations meant
recognizing students’ potential and helping them reach that potential. The
notion of high expectations seemed to be something that teachers took an
active role in while the students were simply affected by chance, not by their
own volition. My findings challenge my original expectations. These survey
results suggested that students do recognize when their teachers hold high
expectations for them, and they appreciate when teachers do. If both teachers
and students recognized the need for holding high expectations of all students,
this naturally would seem to be a characteristic that is necessary for these
teachers and students to form strong, positive relationships. Similarly, both
parties ranked the characteristic of caring about students among their three
most valued choices. This similarity may raise more questions than answers.
Even though both teachers and students ranked caring about students
within their three most important positions, it was puzzling to note that
the teachers valued caring about students higher than all other qualities of
teachers, and the students only ranked this same characteristic as number three
out of six. Why is there such a difference in these expectations? Do teachers
value caring about students too much? Do students value their teachers’
caring too little? Rereading literature about the Ethic of Care, these questions
challenged me to think about possible reasons for this difference. Because
caring is a rite of passage to adulthood, it may be that the students are not
developmentally ready to see the value of caring. They may not have enough
life experience to appreciate the value of caring. Also, the discrepancy in this
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value may stem from differences in the demographics of the teachers and the
demographics of the students. This middle school supports about 50% of its
students on a free or reduced lunch plan. Typically, in education, the percentage
of students receiving free or reduced lunch serves as an indicator of poverty.
The teachers at this school are predominantly middle class citizens. Because
people living in poverty often hold different values than do those from the
middle class, this might explain why the students have a different perspective
on the necessity for a teacher to care about the students. Another possibility
might be that teachers valued caring about their students too much.
Since it was noteworthy that the primary value of the teachers was not
the primary value of the students, it was important to note that the most
important quality of a teacher from the students’ perspective was that the
teacher understands the students. This result was at odds with the teacher
ranking. The teachers ranked “understanding the students” as number four.
Calling upon Stevenson and Bishop’s (2005) characteristics of developmentally
responsive curriculum, their theory might be an explanation for the finding
that students valued the characteristic of “understanding the students” so
highly. When a teacher conveys true empathy to a student, she is affirming
him and making him feel a sense of affiliation with her. However, the question
remains: Why do teachers value understanding the students less than all of
the other qualities? My first inclination was that the teachers may not want to
try to understand the students, because it takes much time and effort to do so
as Noddings suggested when she notes how uncommon the skill is. Moreover,
from my experiences with teaching students how to empathize, I recognized
that it is a difficult skill to master and takes a great deal of practice to be able
to understand another person. It is possible that some of these teachers may
not have had enough practice with empathy or perhaps may not even have the
capacity to understand young adolescents so different from themselves.
Another valuable discovery resulted from the videotapes of the four
seventh-grade teachers. Using the ranking of the characteristics from the
surveys, I was able to use the topmost characteristics as a checklist to analyze
the data on the videotapes. After watching carefully for these indicators, I noted
that Teacher A was genuine three times, withheld judgment one time, and
understood the students two times. Teacher B held high expectations twice
and trusted the students once. Teacher C was genuine four times. Teacher D
did not show any of these characteristics. Each of these observations lasted
55 minutes. In nearly four hours of observation only thirteen instances of
relationship building behaviors occurred.
It was intriguing that the teachers as a whole valued caring about the
students most, but I saw no evidence of caring for the students during my
analysis of the videotaped data. The number of incidences of teachers
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being genuine was also of interest to me. I saw seven incidences of teachers
being genuine, but the students value being genuine the least of all six
characteristics. This seemed to show that the teachers are not exhibiting the
characteristics that the students value most, and they are not exhibiting the
characteristics that they value most.
CONCLUSIONS
Before I began this research project, I expected the results that did
indeed emerge. Based on observations I had made in different middle schools,
I assumed that there would be a discrepancy between teacher and student
expectations for relationships. In fact, these assumptions inspired this
investigation. However, there were many aspects of these results that I did not
expect.
For example, I did not expect the students to see the need for teachers to
have high expectations, so I did not foresee them putting such a high value on
this characteristic of teachers. Also, I did not expect for female students to
choose holding high expectations as the most important characteristic more
so than did males. Of the ten students who chose high expectations as their
top choice, eight were females and two were males. Similarly, all four of the
teachers who selected high expectations as their top choice were female. It
would be worthwhile to investigate whether there is a statistical correlation
between gender and preference for high expectations as the most important
aspect of teacher behavior.
Future Considerations
Originally I had planned to obtain another perspective that would broaden
this study and allow me to draw more conclusions. Unfortunately, I was not
able to get any insight into the way teacher preparation programs groom
their teacher candidates to build relationships with students. If I were to
conduct this research project again, getting this vital perspective would be
one of the changes I would make. The interviews with preparation program
representatives would provide some background as to why teachers relate with
students in particular ways.
Additionally, I would change the way I collected the data about teachers
and students. It would be much more fruitful to interview the teachers and
students to understand the reasons behind the beliefs teachers hold and the
practices they use. Also, it would offer a greater sense as to why the students
value the characteristics that they value. To make this study more objective,
I would change the way I analyzed the videotapes. To check for the favored
characteristics in the practices of teachers, I was the only person to evaluate
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whether or not a characteristics was displayed. The observation would be much
more objective if more than one observer watched each video and checked for
the desired characteristics. These observers would likely need to analyze the
videotapes separately so as not to influence the other’s evaluation.
In reference to the literature collected, I feel that this study has reiterated
much of what these theorists indicated. Stevenson and Bishop (2005) suggested
that students that feel content with the relationships they have with peers and
teachers exhibit the following traits: “competency, responsibility, affiliation,
awareness, and ethical perception of self ” (p.108). To be developmentally
responsive, teachers must build strong, positive relationships with the students
they teach. From my investigation into the relationships between teachers
and students at this middle school, I found that the expectations of teachers
and students regarding relationships are not the same. Therefore, these
relationships are not as strong as they could be. If the relationships are not as
strong as they can be, the curriculum is not as developmentally responsive as it
needs to be.
My question “What aspects of relationship-building are crucial for
implementing a curriculum that is responsive to adolescent needs?” has not
been answered. If these results can be reproduced in other places, this study
might suggest that there is not a particular set of characteristics for building
relationships that must be present to have a curriculum that is developmentally
responsive. The results from this investigation indicated that the elements may
vary, but the teachers and the students have to have the same expectations
of the relationship in order for the relationship to meet the needs of the
young adolescent. Also, the teachers must practice what they believe. If
their philosophies about relationships are not in line with their actions, the
curriculum, as far as relationships are concerned, cannot meet the needs of the
adolescents.
From this investigation I have learned much that will inform my practice
in the future. More and more I recognize the need for reflection on my practice.
I also realize the need to have a clearly defined teaching philosophy. If my
expectations for my teaching are not clear, then I will not be able to evaluate
my practice. The purpose of reflection should be to check if my philosophy
and practice are in accordance with one another. In the past I have reflected on
issues from the field that I found problematic. In the future I hope to focus more
on evaluating my actions as they relate to my philosophy. If I am grounded in
my philosophy, then I should always seek to change my inappropriate actions
and let my philosophy stand firm.
I also recognized the need for my idea of strong, positive relationships to
be the same as the ideas my students have about our relationships. For me, this
means that I have to take the time to get to know what my students value
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in a relationship. I cannot expect us to have the same values if I do not ever
inquire about their values. This led me to believe that before any instruction
takes place, I should spend time building strong, positive relationships with the
students I teach. Also, I need to allow the students to have time to get to know
each other and what the other students value in relationships, so they can have
the same opportunity for building strong relationships.
These same recommendations hold true for the field of education. I feel
that all teachers should be spending more time getting to know their students
and forming relationships with them. Due to the stresses of the No Child Left
Behind Act and the standardized testing movement, it has become difficult for
teachers to take the needed time to truly form a bond with each student. These
stressors include, but are not limited to, meeting Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) to receive funding from the government and teaching all year toward
a test that serves as an evaluation of both teachers and students. If policy
makers took into account the needs of the students beyond their academic
achievement, the policy makers would recognize that schools could produce
better-rounded citizens. If the focus of educational policy shifted to a wholechild movement, emphasizing the social, emotional, physical, and psychological
needs of the students, then teachers would have the time to form relationships
with their students because creating positive relationships would be one of the
standards that must be achieved.
Along with a revolution in the way policy makers view education, I would
recommend that all teacher preparation programs instill in their graduates a
reflective habit of mind. Because reflection is not effective when it is mandated
by an authority figure, this would have to be an internalized disposition that
all educators would realize before beginning their careers. If all teachers
were truly reflective practitioners, then they would recognize the need for
continually evaluating their actions. They would see that they cannot improve
if they do not have a strong philosophy of education that is frequently
compared to their practices. Reflection implies action, and teachers would be
making progress toward being better teachers through their reflective efforts.
242
Table 1: Student Demographic Information
1
2
3
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Grade
Age Sex
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
11
11
12
12
11
11
11
13
12
13
12
F
F
M
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
Grade Age Sex
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
12
13
12
13
14
12
13
13
14
13
13
12
12
14
14
12
13
M
F
M
F
F
F
F
F
M
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
Grade
Age Sex
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
13
14
13
14
13
14
14
14
14
14
14
M
F
F
M
F
M
M
F
M
F
M
Table 2: Student Survey Responses
Genuine High
Trust
Expectations
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
4
3
4
4
4
5
1
1
5
1
1
1
4
5
2
6
2
3
5
3
Cares
5
1
4
3
5
2
1
243
Does UnderNot
standing
Judge
3
3
2
3
5
2
2
2
4
3
2
1
3
Other
Table 2: Student Survey Responses (continued)
Genuine High
Trust Cares Does
Expectations
Not
Judge
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
4
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
1
2
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
1
2
4
1
5
1
3
3
5
3
4
2
5
5
5
3
4
4
3
1
5
3
3
5
1
5
3
5
5
2
3
5
4
2
2
4
4
2
4
1
3
5
3
1
4
3
2
2
1
1
3
2
2
5
3
2
2
3
4
1
1
1
5
1
5
2
4
4
5
3
4
4
4
4
1
5
1
4
1
2
1
1
3
5
4
1
5
3
244
1
5
3
5
3
4
UnderOther
standing
2
4
3
4
1
3
2
2
2
2
2
4
3
4
5
1
2
5
5
3
1
2
Makes
learning
fun
2Helps
students
Table 2: Student Survey Responses (continued)
Genuine High
Trust Cares Does UnderExpectations
Not
standing
Judge
Total
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
3
5
5
3
1
2
3
1
5
5
5
183
126
128
4
3
2
4
3
2
5
4
4
4
5
4
4
2
2
3
127
145
2
1
1
3
1
1
2
Other
1Work
ethic
110
Table 3: Teacher Demographic Information
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Age
# of yrs.
Teaching
# of yrs.
Teaching
4-8 grade
Gender
41-50
41-50
41-50
41-50
41-50
41-50
41-50
41-50
11-20
1-3
6-10
11-20
11-20
1-3
11-20
>20
11-20
1-3
6-10
11-20
11-20
1-3
6-10
4-5
F
F
F
F
F
M
F
F
245
Table 4: Teacher Survey Responses
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
5
2
2
4
2
2
1
1
1
1
3
5
3
8
1
5
Total
Genuine High Trust Cares Doesn’t UnderExJudge
standpectaing
tions
27
20
4
3
4
41
3
3
2
1
1
1
4
4
5
4
5
2
3
19
37
Table 5: Teacher A Videotape Frequency Table
Genuine
High Expectations
Trusts
Cares
Withholds Judgment
Understands
III
I
II
246
Other
Other
4Teacher
holds
students.
accountable
4Teacher
builds
rapport
5Teacher
respects
different
learning
abilities
2
2
3
5
2
3
29
Table 6: Teacher B Videotape Frequency Table
Genuine
High Expectations
Trusts
Cares
Withholds Judgment
Understands
II
I
Table 7: Teacher C Videotape Frequency Table
Genuine
High Expectations
Trusts
Cares
Withholds Judgment
Understands
III
Table 8: Teacher D Videotape Frequency Table
Genuine
High Expectations
Trusts
Cares
Withholds Judgment
Understands
REFERENCES
Beal, C. & Arnold, J. (2005). High expectations for every member of the
learning community. In T. O. Erb (Ed.), This we believe in action: Implementing successful middle level schools. Westerville, OH: NMSA.
Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (1990). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
247
Lumpkin, A. (2007). Caring teachers: The key to student learning. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 43, 158-160. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from the ERIC database.
Mawhinney, T. S., & Sagan, L. (2007). The power of personal relationships. Phi Delta Kappan, 88, 460-464. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from the ERIC database.
Noddings, N. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
Rogers, C. R. (1967). The interpersonal relationship in the facilitation of learning. In R. R. Leeper (Ed.), Humanizing education: The person in the process (p. 1-18). Washington, D.C.: The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, NEA.
Smith, A. B. (1996). Quality programs that care and educate. Childhood Education, 330-336.
Stevenson, C. & Bishop, P. A. (2005). Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory. In T. O. Erb (Ed.), This we believe in action: Implementing successful middle level schools. Westerville, OH: NMSA.
Stevenson, C. (2002). Teaching ten to fourteen year olds (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bacon and Allyn.
Vatterott, K. (2007). Becoming a middle level teacher. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
Wentzel, K. R. (1997). Student motivation in middle school: The role of perceived pedagogical caring. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 411-419. Retrieved August 8, 2007, from the Academic Search
Complete database. 248
The Effectiveness of Teaching Math Using Manipulatives
The Effectiveness of Teaching Math Using
Manipulatives in the Fourth Grade at Southwest
Laurens Elementary
Denise D. Taylor
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
I have taught math at Southwest Laurens Elementary for the past twenty
years, my first twelve years as a second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade
Title I teacher and my last eight years as a self-contained regular education
fourth grade teacher. For all twenty years I have taught at least one math class.
One concern I have often had with the math curriculum at my school was the
exclusion of many math manipulatives either because of lack of funding or
because of the required time for preparation of lessons and instruction when
including manipulatives. In this research project, I explored the importance of
manipulatives and whether they actually do make a difference in the learning
of mathematical concepts. Based on my observations, I found that students
tend to be motivated and enjoy math more when using manipulatives. They
became actively engaged in learning new concepts. I found that there was much
more communication between students instead of just between the students
and the teacher. I also noticed more higher order questions being asked and/
or explored. Finally, pretest and posttest scores indicated that the learning of
math concepts was significantly improved when teaching using manipulatives.
CONTEXT
Southwest Laurens Elementary School (SWLE) is a public, rural school
located in Laurens County, Georgia. The school has been in existence for
about 50 years and serves a population of approximately 1,000 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade. The present facilities were built in the year
2000. SWLE is a Title I school in which 67% of its students are eligible for
free or reduced lunch. The school has the lowest socioeconomic level students
in the county. Most of the parents are classified as “working poor,” not “welfare
or government-aided poor.”
SWLE’s student body is 73% Caucasian, 21% African American, 3%
Hispanic, and 2% multiracial. The school offers an After-School Program to
help working parents of latchkey children. It also offers Saturday School to
help students meet NCLB (No Child Left Behind) guidelines/standards and
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also to help better prepare children for passing the CRCT. “Bubble students”
(those who barely passed) and those who failed CRCT the previous year are
especially encouraged to attend. The technology program at SWLE continues
to advance each year. There are two computer labs, one for students to attend
one period every eight days as part of their rotation classes and one that is a
laptop computer lab which also includes a Promethian Board. Teachers may
sign up for this when they want all students to have access to the Internet
or when they have planned a lesson for the interactive board. Also, the
administration have annually purchased Promethian Boards for individual
classrooms. Five to ten boards have been added each year for the past three
years.
Besides the computer lab, other rotation classes include music, physical
education (PE), art, and counseling (character education). Other supplemental
programs in the school include a migrant program, ESOL (English to Speakers
of Other Languages), Gifted, and Special Education (including the county
program for Severe and Profound).
In 2000 SWLE became accredited through the Southern Accreditation of
Colleges and Schools (SACS). We were reaccredited in 2005 and have made
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) each year with the exception of two since
AYP has been a requirement of the state of Georgia, including this previous
school year 2007. SWLE was named a Title I Distinguished School in 2004
and was recognized as a school that was “Beating the Odds” by the Georgia
Partnership for Excellence in Education in 2003-2004.
I have taught math at Southwest Laurens Elementary for the past twenty
years, my first twelve years as a second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade
Title I teacher and my last eight years as a self-contained regular education
fourth grade teacher. For all twenty years I have taught at least one math
class. During all those years, SWLE and my job teaching SWLE students has
always been one of the greatest passions in my life. Also, the effective teaching
of math has always been an important goal for me as a teacher. The math
curriculum over the past 20 years has been in a cycle. When I first started
teaching, math was taught in units; then it changed to scripted lessons (i.e. the
textbook spelled out exactly what the teachers should do and say). Although
progressive in nature, these lessons were not organized in units. Now the cycle
is repeating with the emphasis on unit instruction.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
The problem addressed in this research is to determine if using
manipulatives increases the effectiveness of teaching math concepts in fourth
grade. A manipulative is defined as any object that enables a student to work
250
hands-on to discover the answer to a problem or to understand math concept.
Examples include rulers, geoboards, base ten blocks, tiles, pattern blocks, etc.
Because my school, SWLE, has had very low math scores over the past several
years, more effective teaching of math is a strong priority. As part of the SACS
team in 2000 and 2005 and as part of the Quality Assurance Team (school
improvement) in 2005, I had a part in examining our school’s weaknesses
and strengths and determining the areas on which our school needed to
focus. After examining 4th grade math CRCT scores, our team discovered a
significant weakness. Scores were lower in math than all other subject areas.
This discovery lead the Quality Assurance Team to choose math as an area in
the curriculum on which we needed to focus. We determined that our scores
were slipping in this subject, specifically in problem solving and retention
of facts. Our SACS plan for 2005 included specific strategies which would
be implemented over the following five years. These strategies included the
implementation of grade level fact drills to be given daily and bimonthly grade
level meetings to discuss strategies for teaching math, particularly the new
Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) as well as accountability for aligning
lesson plans with the new GPS.
For the past seven years, our school has been using a textbook series that
had scripted lessons and very little instruction with manipulatives. For the
2007-2008 school year, a new textbook series was adopted which supports the
teaching of math in units and includes a set of manipulatives for each fourth
grader. As lead teacher for fourth grade, I sensed a need for staff development
that would help teachers make this transition between these two methodologies
for teaching math. Also, I was concerned that all teachers had not “bought
in” to the idea of using the manipulatives that came with new textbook
curriculum.
The study will be limited to fourth graders only at Southwest Laurens
Elementary (SWLE). A larger number would have given a more general
understanding of the overall population. The study will be limited to a four
to six week period. It is also limited in the sense that I will be doing the actual
teaching instead of just supervising. Involvement in the process could cause
a biased position or inability to view the situation from an objective point of
view.
With my 20 years of experience in teaching Mathematics, I believe that
the fourth graders in the study will be fundamentally ready for learning new
concepts. I also am assuming that the teacher’s personality and teaching style
will remain the same for teaching with or without manipulatives. My final
assumption is that math manipulatives will be available for each student.
I believe this research is very significant because it will personally help me
become a more effective math teacher for my own students at SWLE. Even
251
though I often used manipulatives in my own classroom when I first started
teaching, the math program which I have taught over the past seven years did
not include the use of many manipulatives.
At SWLE, the percentage of fourth grade students who met or exceeded
standards in math on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT)
in 2005 was 76. All other subject percentages were at least ten percentage
points higher. As a matter of fact, for the past five years, the math percentage
for meeting or exceeding the standard has been the lowest percentage of all
the other subjects, including Reading, English Language Arts, Science, and
Social Studies (SWLE, 2006). Our school, SWLE, needs to change its teaching
strategies for teaching mathematical concepts. Based on test scores, the current
method used to teach math is failing. Therefore, this research will motivate
all parties involved, including students, teachers, parents, administrators
and board members, to use the results to develop more effective teaching of
math concepts. This motivation may lead to more resources for teachers and
students, more time for teacher training and planning, more coordination
between involved parties, more participation by other teachers and higher test
scores on the CRCT.
Discovering the best way to teach math has always been important. Math
is an integral part of each person’s life and is a necessary life skill, especially
in today’s fast-paced world of technology, finance, and science. It recently
became even more important in Georgia as the new Georgia Performance
Standards (GPS) were implemented in fourth grade math during the school
year 2007-2008. Another reason this research needs to be addressed became
apparent after the latest national test scores were published. According to the
2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 24% of tested
Georgia students were less than basic in math, 47% were at the basic level, 26%
were at the proficient level, and 4% were advanced. Thirty-three other states
had higher scores than Georgia (U. S. Department of Education, 2005). Based
on these results, Georgia students are behind in the area of mathematics and
effective teaching of mathematics is an important concept that needs to be
explored again and again.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The use of manipulatives, or concrete materials, has been debated for
decades. The debate continues to this day. With our nation in need of more
effective teaching practices in America’s math classrooms (Carlson, 1992), with
the state of Georgia ranking in the bottom twenty percent in the nation on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in fourth grade math
(U. S. Department of Education, 2005), and with my own school’s fourth
252
grade math scores on the CRCT being lower than all other subjects for the past
five years (SWLE, 2005), I feel that more research is necessary and teachers,
particularly at my school, need to take note of this research.
Manipulatives in the mathematics classroom include such items as
base-ten blocks, counters, three-dimensional geometric models, tangrams,
geoboards, spinners, and fraction rods (NCTM, 2000). One math program
that makes strong use of math manipulatives is the Mathematics Their Way
program. Author of this program, Mary Baratta-Lorton (1995), believes in
using manipulatives to demonstrate a concept and allowing the students to
perform the concept. Only after the concept is understood does the teacher
demonstrate the symbolic notation of the concept with the students. According
to Baratta-Lorton (1995), by giving the students a hands-on form of the
problem, the students have a method to relate the math to real life. Students
are no longer just working with numbers or with a formula that they really do
not understand. The teacher is helping students build real life experiences that
allow the student to work out problems himself and, therefore, understand the
concept behind the symbols and/or numbers.
Like Baratta-Lorton, I too believe that manipulatives are the key to
connecting abstract mathematical concepts and real life experiences. Based on
my experience in the classroom with my fourth graders, I have found that when
children are introduced to a new concept and make a connection in their minds
with their own lives, the concept becomes real and useful and is assimilated for
use. This theory of learning is best explained by Jerome Bruner.
Jerome Bruner (1992), greatly influenced by the work of Piaget, provided
evidence suggesting the need for firsthand student interaction with the
environment. He believed that students should be developers of their own
knowledge, not passive recipients of the teacher’s knowledge. Bruner saw
that learning the structure of knowledge helps students develop memory,
comprehension, and transfer of learning. “The idea of structure in learning
leads naturally to a process approach in which the very process of learning
(how one learns) becomes as important as the content of learning (what one
learns)” (Post, 1992, p. 11). Content knowledge is important, but there needs to
be a balance between the teaching of content and the teaching of process.
Bruner (1992) suggests an important model for demonstrating modes
of representational thought: enactive (hands-on or direct experience), iconic
(use of visual aids), and symbolic (use of abstract symbols). He believed these
modes should be interactive in nature, with the child freely moving from
one mode to another. He also felt that a key to readiness for learning was
an enlarging perspective of how a child views the world. He often referred
to Piaget, saying that children need to be helped to progressively pass from
concrete thinking (i.e. manipulatives) to the use of more conceptually adequate
253
thought. To summarize his ideas, he believed “a rich and meaningful learning
environment coupled with an exciting teacher who involves children in
learning as a process that creates its own excitement” (Post, 1992, p. 12) is the
key to readiness for learning.
Based on Piaget’s and Bruner’s theories for learning, most commercial
textbooks will never provide enactive experiences. They are exclusively
iconic with pictures of objects and tasks and symbolic with the symbols to be
associated with those objects or tasks. Post states:
Mathematics programs that are dominated by textbooks are
inadvertently creating a mismatch between the nature of the learner’s
needs and the mode in which mathematical content is to be assimilated
or learned…This evidence suggests that children’s concepts
basically evolve from direct interaction with the environment. This
is equivalent to saying that children need a large variety of enactive
experiences. Yet textbooks, because of their
very nature, cannot provide these. (Post, 1992, p. 12)
Post (1992) also points out that manipulatives are just one part of a complete
program for effective teaching of mathematical concepts. Other modes
are also important, including pictorial, verbal, symbolic, and real-world
situations. As a mathematics teacher for the past twenty years, I agree with
this philosophy of teaching math. Also, like Heddens (n.d.) and Post (1992),
I also believe teachers must be careful to use manipulatives properly so that
students make connections to the one real world and do not learn that there
are two mathematical worlds, one that is manipulative and one that is symbolic.
Heddens (n.d.) stated, “All mathematics comes from the real world. Then
the real situation must be translated into the symbolism of mathematics for
calculating.” Manipulatives and symbols are in the same world expressing the
math concept in different ways. They should be used to bridge the gap from the
concrete to the abstract, not separate the two (Riverdeep Interactive Learning
Limited, 2001).
Bratina (n.d.) warns that manipulatives should complement, not replace,
other teaching strategies. He also warns that manipulatives should not interfere
with learning mathematics. He believes that overuse of manipulatives at the
expense of other strategies will not help students understand abstract concepts
but may lead them to avoid learning them. His main concern was for upper
grades.
In another report, Marlow and Inman (1997) state that “teaching in the
elementary school often suffers from two conditions: (1) a lack of time spent
on the subject and (2) passive teaching strategies which rely on textbook
use.” They emphasized the importance of direct experiences in a child’s
understanding of new materials and indicated the need for change in teacher
254
education. In other words, they felt that all math teachers should receive
inservice or advanced courses on “hands-on learning” (Marlow and Inman,
1997). Until teachers are taught what they should be doing, conducted studies
and documented research will not change their teaching methods. My position,
like Bratina, Marlow and Inman, is that manipulatives can be a very important
part of an academic program; however, they must be a complement, not a
substitution, and they must be used correctly and with the right purpose.
Sowell (1989) combined the results of sixty studies to compare the effects
of using more abstract instruction with the effects of using manipulatives.
His conclusion is that “mathematics achievement is increased through the
long-term use of concrete instructional materials and that students’ attitudes
toward mathematics are improved when they have instruction with concrete
materials provided by teachers knowledgeable about their use” (Sowell,
1989). In other words, “students’ attitudes toward mathematics” are their
motivation toward learning and enjoying mathematics and is an important
part of being able teach math more effectively. One possible solution to our
problems with motivation in math is the addition of manipulatives. According
to Heddens (n.d.) and Sowell (1989), interest in mathematics is aroused when
students become actively involved in manipulating materials. I wholeheartedly
agree with this sentiment since I have seen for myself the excitement in my
classroom when manipulatives are being utilized.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has
recommended the use of manipulatives since the publication of the NCTM
standards in 1989. However, studies have found that teachers are still limited
in their use of manipulatives and this use diminishes even more as students
enter higher grades (Hatfield, 1994). When asked why manipulatives were not
being used, teachers cited a lack of materials, discipline problems, and lack
of preparation time for teaching using manipulatives (Marlow and Inman,
1997). I agree that these are hurdles for many teachers; however, teaching math
concepts more effectively has become such a critical issue for my school, my
state, and my country that these hurdles must be jumped and more effective
teaching practices of mathematics must be put in place for our children to
make gains in this very important and critical subject.
METHODOLOGY
I collected data in two ways for my action research: classroom observations
and pretest/posttest. Each of these methods gave me different insights
about the use of manipulatives in my fourth grade classroom. The use of
observations helped me to see the motivational and social aspect of using
manipulatives. While teaching the lessons with and without manipulatives,
255
I made observations to determine differences in class atmosphere, inclusion
of real world concepts, student involvement, engagement in the lessons, and
overall communication, including comments, questions, gestures, and body
language by students. The use of a pretest and posttest helped me to calculate
the effectiveness of manipulatives on learning math concepts, specifically
geometry concepts. The effectiveness of teaching was measured based on how
much the students learned.
I divided my classroom of twenty-six students into two equal groups
with thirteen in each group. (I ended up with twelve in each group because one
student did not return his parent permission form and one student was not
present during the instruction time for the units in the research project.) One
group was taught with the addition of manipulatives; one group was taught
the same material but without manipulatives. While each group was taught,
the other group was out of the room reading in the school library. Students
were grouped as evenly as possible according to ability based on previous test
scores. The current fourth grade standard math curriculum was used, the
specific content being geometry. The assessment was a teacher-made shortanswer test that served as both the pretest and postest (see appendix). After
administering the pretest, both groups were taught a chapter on lines, angles,
and rays. During this chapter, students in the manipulatives group worked with
a variety of manipulatives for the various lessons including clay to demonstrate
vocabulary, rulers and protractors to draw and measure angles, clocks, etc. The
group without manipulatives was taught the exact same lesson but without
the use of manipulatives. After one and one half weeks of instruction the
posttest was administered and recorded. Next, a second pretest was given and
a second chapter was taught. This chapter focused on plane and solid figures.
The group with manipulatives used geoboards, construction paper, rulers, etc.
while the group without manipulatives did not. After about one and one half
weeks of instruction, the posttest was given. A comparison of the results of
the pretest and posttest for both chapters was analyzed to see if the addition
of manipulatives to the math curriculum made a significant difference in the
learning of math by students.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Classroom Observation Results
The first method I used to collect data for my research was daily classroom
observations, which I made while teaching the math units. Class atmosphere,
inclusion of real world concepts, student involvement, engagement in the
lessons, and overall communication, including comments, questions, gestures,
and body language by students.
256
1.
Group without manipulatives
Summary of observations: Overall this group of students was
quieter, more sedated, and had fewer questions than the group with
manipulatives. When they did have questions, they were mostly
directed to me, with little discussion going on between students. Most
questions were “yes/no” type questions and involved little higher
order thinking. Examples of a few of the questions that were asked
included “Mrs. Taylor, what’s the difference in a parallellogram and
a rhombus?,” “A square is a rectangle?,” and “Do I have to use capital
letters when I name a line?” Overall, fewer comments were made.
Body language was more sedated with less movement and noise in the
classroom. Class atmosphere as well as student attention was positive,
with no problems in the area of discipline. Students paid attention and
seemed to be engaged mentally but not physically or socially.
Analysis of observations: The lessons taught without manipulatives were
teacher-centered lessons. I was in control the entire time and my students
were mimicking or following my lead. I had all the answers, and they
were “sponges” soaking up that information. Because the information was
delivered to them, they simply had to memorize it, and not think critically
about it. The class was more organized with little disruptions. Students
stayed in their desks mostly and were able to focus on the teaching and
their own work without distraction, which would be a positive point for
this type of teaching.
2.
Group with manipulatives
Summary of observations: This group of students was much
more talkative, excited, and inquisitive than the group without
manipulatives. Although some questions were directed at me, a lot
of questions, suggestions, comments, and discussion took place
between the students as well. Examples of these questions include
“Do you know how to make a parallelogram?,” “Why wouldn’t this
be a rhombus?,” “Watch how I can make two quadrilaterals from one
rubber band,” “I wonder what shape I could make on this geoboard if
I had three (rubber bands),” and “Hold this so that I can fold it into
that shape.” Conversation was common between teacher and student
and between student and student. Often these conversations involved
more higher order thinking based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Body
language was often active and animated with much more noise and
movement in the classroom.
Analysis of my observations: The lessons taught using manipulatives
forced students to have to think more about the new concepts. They not
257
only took in the information but then had to assimilate and apply that
information to a concrete activity. Because they were forced to apply the
new information, more questions came up and therefore more conversation
took place. These questions were higher order because when new ideas
were applied to concrete activities, new problems arose that needed to
be addressed. The questions and comments between students as they
worked using the manipulatives helped students to learn from each other,
not just from the teacher. As students worked with the manipulatives
and each other, additional meanings of the new concepts were developed
and assimilated in the students prior knowledge. For example, after the
lesson on polygons, groups of two used rubber bands and geoboards to
make different shapes of octagons. I overheard one student exclaim to
the another as he watched her, “Oh! So that’s an octagon, too? I thought
all octagons looked like stop signs.” That student had just added a new
meaning to the concept of polygons and had assimilated that new meaning
into his prior knowledge about octagons.
Pretest/ Posttest Results
The Tables 1 and 2 show the results of the pretest and posttest of the
groups with and without manipulatives, respectively (see Appendix and
Figures). There were a total of forty-eight items on two tests (twenty-three
items on the test over lines, rays, and angles and twenty-five questions on the
test over solid and plane figures). There were twelve students in each group. I
recorded what each student did on each question, including correct, partially
correct, wrong, and blank.
By multiplying the number of test items by the number of students in
the group, I got a total of 576 attempted questions. For each group I got the
total number, divided by 576, and got the percentage of questions that were
answered that way. I followed the same procedure for correct, partially correct,
wrong, and blank. This procedure was followed identically for both groups and
for both pretest and posttest results. Table 3 shows my findings (see Appendix
and Figures).
After analyzing my data located on Table 3, I found that both sets of
students (those with and those without manipulatives) drastically improved
between the pretest and the posttest. The most dramatic change was in the
number of correct answers. Both groups demonstrated great improvement in
the number correct, but the group with manipulatives improved two percent
more. The number of partially correct answers decreased 5.6 percent more
for students without manipulatives. The number of wrong answers decreased
by 1.8 percent more for students with manipulatives, and the number of blank
answers decreased by 6.4 percent more for students with manipulatives. This
258
last difference was the greatest and indicates a greater confidence in the subject
matter on the posttest than on the pretest.
For the final results, the correct and partially correct answers were
combined as well as the wrong and blank answers so that I could get an overall
comparison of the right and wrong answers between the two different groups.
These results (see Table 4) indicated that students who had manipulatives
incorporated in their lessons answered 8 percent more correctly and 8.2 percent
less incorrectly than students who had not had manipulatives incorporated into
their lessons.
CONCLUSION
Based on my results and analysis of those results, I conclude that the
addition of manipulatives to math instruction in fourth grade at SWLE
does have a significant positive impact on the effective learning of new math
concepts. This conclusion was reached based on the overall higher percentage
of correct and partially correct test items and lower percentage of wrong and
blank test items for students who had been taught with manipulatives versus
those students who had been taught without.
Teaching with manipulatives did require more preparation time by the
teacher and more instruction time for the students. Also, when students
were working with manipulatives, there was more noise and movement in
the classroom. However, I also concluded that the addition of manipulatives
in math instruction did help students to become actively engaged in their
learning. This conclusion was reached based on observations made during
instruction. Students with manipulatives showed more excitement, asked more
higher order questions, discussed concepts more with each other as well as
the teacher, and were actively involved during the instruction time. Comments
and observations demonstrated students assimilating the new concepts into
their prior knowledge as well. Although I did not test retention, I believe this
active engagement in the learning process will also increase retention of new
concepts for students because of the better assimilation of those concepts in
prior knowledge.
Therefore, I conclude that incorporating the use of manipulatives in the
fourth grade math instruction at SWLE will likely improve our CRCT scores
and will better prepare our students for future instruction in fifth grade.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As a veteran teacher of math in the elementary classroom for twenty
years, I have always held the belief that the more students participate in
259
hands-on activities, the more likely they are to get real-life meaning from new
concepts and, therefore, the more likely they are to effectively learn those
concepts and assimilate them into their knowledge base. After reviewing the
literature on manipulatives and their part in the effective teaching of math,
I believed even more in the practice of using manipulatives. And now after
accumulating and analyzing my own data from my own classroom and forming
some conclusions based on that data, I have reaffirmed my original belief in the
use of manipulatives for the effective teaching of math. Therefore, based on all
of this data, I recommend the following:
First, the information I have gathered in this research project needs to
be made known to the teachers and administrators at Southwest Laurens
Elementary. These teachers need to accept and “buy in” to the idea that the
time, effort, and expense required to incorporate manipulatives into the math
curriculum at our school is well worth it all. I plan to share this research with
my administration and hopefully they will agree to share it with the other
teachers. Because using manipulatives would be considered by most to require
more planning and more expense, many teachers will need encouragement
and evidence of success before they will actually try to implement the use of
manipulatives more in their classrooms.
Second, as was mentioned in the review of literature, teachers must
understand that the use of manipulatives is not to replace any other methods
but is to supplement those other methods. Therefore, there may be a need to
change scheduling to include more math time. As I taught the two groups for
my research, I found that I needed much more time for my students working
with manipulatives than I did for my students not working with them. I
recommend that our administration examine our schedule for the next school
term and allow or require more time in math to accommodate the inclusion of
manipulatives.
Third, I am now interested in the retention of math concepts and am
curious to see if retention improves when students use manipulatives as one
method of learning new concepts. Therefore, I am recommending that this
research project be continued. I would like to retest the concepts covered in my
research later on in the school year in order to see the rate of retention in both
groups.
My final recommendation is for me personally. Now that I have seen
firsthand how adding manipulatives to my math instruction can make a positive
difference in the learning of new math concepts for my fourth graders, I
must continue to use this method of instruction whenever possible. I do not
intend to replace any of my other instruction; however, I would like to use
manipulatives as a supplement to help students get a concrete understanding
of new concepts before moving on to abstract understanding. I intend to add
260
math centers in my classroom to help with the organization and time factors
that have been named as problems when using manipulatives. It is my hope
that this research project will significantly affect me as a teacher and positively
influence my teaching strategies and my students’ success in the math
classroom.
261
Appendix A: Pre Test and Post Test
262
263
264
Table 1: Results of Pre Test/Post Test I and II for Students Without Manipulatives
Student #
Correct
Pre
Test
Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
9
2
5
12
11
9
5
4
2
0
62
Post
Test
29
22
32
35
38
45
40
42
38
44
32
31
428
Partially
Correct
Pre
Test
8
4
11
8
14
9
13
11
11
9
12
9
119
Wrong
Post
Test
9
5
8
6
5
1
4
2
6
3
5
10
64
Pre
Test
11
9
21
11
6
7
12
9
9
5
8
9
117
265
Post
Test
9
21
6
7
5
1
4
4
4
1
9
6
77
Blank
Pre
Test
28
33
7
27
21
20
12
19
23
30
26
30
276
Post
Test
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
7
Table 2: Results of Pre Test/Post Test I and II for Students With Manipulatives
Student #
Correct
Pre
Test
Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
7
10
5
6
6
1
4
3
7
2
4
5
60
Post
Test
38
46
33
35
24
28
35
39
44
31
43
41
437
Partially
Correct
Pre
Test
12
9
4
5
7
8
9
8
8
3
5
12
90
Post
Test
7
0
4
6
10
7
12
6
1
9
4
3
69
266
Wrong
Pre
Test
8
4
10
28
12
7
3
10
6
10
13
6
117
Post
Test
3
2
11
7
12
13
0
3
3
8
1
4
67
Blank
Pre
Test
Post
Test
21
25
29
9
23
32
32
27
27
33
26
25
309
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
Table 3: Comparative Results of Use With and Without Math Manipulatives
%
Correct
%
Partially
Correct
%
Wrong
%
Blank
Pre
Test
Post
Test
Pre
Test
Post
Test
Pre
Test
Post
Test
10.8%
74.3%
20.7%
11.1%
20.3%
13.4%
47.9%
1.2%
% Gain/ 63.5%
Loss w/0
Manipulatives
63.5%
-9.6%
-9.6%
-6.9%
-6.9%
-46.7%
-46.7%
Students
w/
Manipulatives
10.4%
75.9%
15.6%
12.0%
20.3%
11.6%
53.6%
0.5%
% Gain/
Loss
w/ Manipulatives
65.5%
65.5%
-3.6%
-3.6%
-8.7%
-8.7%
-53.1%
-53.1%
Students
w/o
Manipulatives
Pre
Test
Post
Test
Table 4: Researching the Use of Math Manipulatives to Improve Learning
Final Results
% Correct/Part. Correct
Pre Test
Students w/
Manipulatives
% Gain/Loss
Students w/o
Manipulatives
% Gain/Loss
Post Test
% Wrong or Blank
Pre Test
Post Test
26.0%
87.9%
73.9%
12.1%
61.9%
31.5%
61.9%
85.4%
-61.8%
68.2%
-61.8%
14.6%
53.9%
53.9%
-53.6%
-53.6%
267
REFERENCES
Baratta-Lorton, M. (1995). Mathematics their way. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Bratina, T. (n.d.) Learning tiles. University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL. Retrieved 6/27/2007, from http://www.unf.edu/~tbratina/flash/
algebratiles_teachers.htm.
Carlson, C. G. (1992). The metamorphosis of mathematics education. (ED364403). NewJersey.
Hatfield, M. M. (1994). Use of manipulative devices: Elementary school cooperating teachers self-report. School Science and Mathematics, 94, (6), 303-309.
Heddens, J. W. (n.d.). Improving Mathematics Teaching by Using Manipulatives.Retrieved 6/27/2007, from www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~
fllee/mathfor/edumath/9706/13hedden.html.
Marlow, L. & Inman, D. (1997). Status report on teaching in the elementary school: Math, science, and social studies. Paper presented at a meeting of the Eastern Educational Research Association, Hilton Head, SC, February 1997.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (1989). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: author.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. (pp. 70 and 172) Reston, VA: author.
Post, T. R. (ed.) (1992). Teaching mathematics in grades K – 8: Research methods.( 2nd Edition). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited. (2001). Tangible math correlations: Correlations for West Virginia content standards in mathematics. Cambridge, M. Retrieved 6/27/2007, from
http://www.riverdeep.net/math/tangible_math/tm_tools/
correlations/westvirginia/tm_wv_algebra_i.jhtml.
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Southwest Laurens Elementary. (2006). Self-study for continued accreditation: School improvement planning report 2005-2006. Rentz, GA: Laurens County Board of Education.
Sowell, E. J. (1989). Effects of manipulative materials in mathematics instruction. Research in Mathematics Education, 20, (6), 498-505.
United States Department of Education. (10/14/2005). The nation’s report
card: Mathematics 2005 state snapshop reports for mathematics 2005.
Retrieved 6/19/2007, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
pdf/stt2005/2006454GA4.pdf.
269
270
The Effects on Low-Achieving Students’ Performances
The Effects of Prep Classes on Low-Achieving
Students’ Performance on the Georgia High School
Graduation Test (GHSGT)
Debbie Wilbon
Dr. Rui Kang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine whether participating in
test prep classes would increase low-achieving students’ performance on
standardized tests. Two hundred and ninety-three eleventh grade first-time
test takers of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) enrolled at
a Title 1 high school in middle Georgia participated in this study. One hundred
and twenty-seven of them attended an intensive test prep class over a time
frame of eighteen months. Their performance on the GHSGT was compared
to a control group of one hundred and sixty-six eleventh grade first-time test
takers who did not attend the prep classes. The overall results show that the
prep-classes might have a small effect on students’ achievement in the math
part of the GHSGT. The prep classes’ effect on the students’ language arts
performance was very minimal. Even after the prep classes, achievement gaps
still existed in math between economically disadvantaged students and the rest
of the students and among the gifted, general education, and special education
students.
INTRODUCTION
Georgia law, O. C. G. A., section 20-2-281, was passed in 1991 and
mandates that curriculum-based assessments be administered to eleventh grade
students for graduation purposes. In order to receive a high school diploma,
students must be able to pass standardized assessments in language arts,
mathematics, science, and social studies. The outcomes of these graduation
tests in turn affect a school’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status, which is
one of the cornerstones of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), signed into
law in 2001. In order to meet AYP standards, each subgroup of students (this
includes students with disabilities, Limited English Proficient (LEP) students,
all major racial and ethnic subgroups, and students from low socio-economic
backgrounds) in every school, as well as at the district level, must achieve
certain level of success rates as established by NCLB and the Georgia
271
Department of Education. Schools that do not meet AYP in the same subject
areas (including English or mathematics) for two or more consecutive years
are placed in “needs improvement” status with rising consequences for each
successive year (Peterson, 2007; Shaul & Ganson, 2001). Baldwin High School
(BHS), the school at which this research was conducted, has not made AYP
consistently for the past several years partially due to the failing scores on the
Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) of students from some of
the subgroups specified above. Subsequently, BHS is currently a Title I “needs
improvement” school desperately in need of higher success rates on GHSGT
to meet the criteria of AYP.
At BHS, a design team of teachers were assigned the task of developing
strategies to help students pass the GHSGT. The design team decided that it
was essential for the following needs to be addressed:
1. Identify the students in the subgroups who are failing
standardized tests.
2. Identify how many of those students need to pass to make AYP.
3. Put an intervention in place to help them pass the GHSGT.
Many researchers in recent decades studied the effects of interventions or
strategies designed for students who tend to perform poorly on standardized
achievement tests. A distinct feature among these strategies is their emphasis
on retention and retrieval of information (Hong, Sas, & Sas, 2006). Teaching
students to use strategies enhances their test-preparation and test-taking skills,
thus increasing their chances to succeed in the standardized assessment (Hong
et al., 2006). Studies reveal that students who practice test-taking strategies
have a greater chance of achieving higher test scores. It was recommended
that all BHS students be enrolled in a test prep class. The overall curriculum
for the test prep class emphasized retaining and retrieving information by
requiring students to spend approximately two-week rotations in an 18-week
time frame on each subject; by reviewing overall concepts, themes, and/or
ideas; and by learning and developing test taking strategies, such as identifying
context clues, main ideas, eliminating wrong answers, and being prepared.
Most importantly, the curriculum for the test prep class required students to
practice taking tests from previous GHSGT published at a GHSGT website
- usatestprep.com. The test prep class also required students to reach a level
IV on KEYTRAIN (a computer-based program), an online version of the
previous GHSGT exercises. Previous research has shown that frequent,
regular assessments can also help educators diagnose students’ strengths and
weaknesses and design instructional strategies accordingly (Wolf, 2007).
272
The Effects on Low-Achieving Students’ Performance
LITERATURE REVIEW
Even though the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 is primarily a
law for students in regular education, it also constitutes a federal commitment
that all students, including those with disabilities, will receive genuine access
to the general education curriculum. Schools and school districts are to be
held directly accountable for the learning progress of all students, explicitly
including students with disabilities. NCLB mandates that schools include
all students with disabilities, as well as students in the general education
curriculum, in an assessment and accountability system. The law also requires
schools to report the learning progress of students with disabilities each
year separately from that of other students. NCLB refers to the minimum
acceptable increase in performance measures as AYP (Allbritten, Mainzer, &
Ziegler, 2004). Under NCLB, each student should be offered a high-quality,
standards-based educational opportunity in order to earn a regular education
high school diploma that prepares him or her for college and/or a career.
In other words, the AYP provision of NCLB requires that school districts
demonstrate each year that all students are making progress toward proficiency
in the general curriculum. If a school fails to make AYP toward proficiency and
graduation goals within a specified timeline established by their states, NCLB
requires that schools and districts take action to improve the situation and or
provide students with alternative educational options. AYP toward academic
and graduation goals is the central measure of success or failure for high
schools like BHS under NCLB. Accordingly, achieving AYP has become the
dominant goal of high school reform in the low-performing high schools like
BHS (Balfanz, Legter, West, & Weber, 2007). High schools that make AYP are
viewed as on track and successful. Those that do not meet AYP are viewed as
struggling and in need of additional reforms, different reforms, or intervention
strategies to help students succeed, such as the graduation test prep class.
This act is designed to identify schools that are consistently failing to serve
poor and minority students and instigate school-based and systemic remedies
so that all students are provided with access to a high-quality, standardsbased education and to earn a regular education high school diploma. In other
words, at the high school level, the intent of NCLB is to identify high schools
where students are not achieving proficient levels of academic skills and/
or graduating with a regular high school diploma in the standard number of
years.
Relevant to this research, the NCLB Act requires Georgia (and all states)
to test high school students in mathematics, language arts, social studies, and
science starting in the eleventh grade. Since students’ GHSGT scores strongly
affect a school’s AYP, NCLB requires that the state education department
273
to use test score data to measure each school’s AYP toward the goals set by
Georgia’s accountability systems (Allbritten et al., 2004). With standardized
testing and increased rigor in curriculum demands, students with disabilities
who traditionally struggle have a very slim to no chance of passing all of
the components on the GHSGT. Without a test prep class, many students
are forced to qualify for only a certificate of attendance or a special education
diploma.
METHOD
Participants and Setting
This study took place at Baldwin High School (BHS), located in middle
Georgia. BHS is a Title 1 high school which houses grades nine through
twelve with approximately 1,500 students enrolled each year. About 63% of the
students are African American, 33% are white, and 3% other races. The school
comprises a disproportionate number of special needs students which make up
about 24% of the school’s population, and over half (60%) of the students at
BHS are considered economically disadvantaged. The student participants of
this study were two hundred and ninety-three eleventh grade first time test
takers of the GHSGT. The demographic composition of the study participants
is presented in Table 1 (see Appendix and Figures).
Research Design
This research adopts a quasi-experimental design. The control group was
composed of one hundred and sixty-six students who were not enrolled in a
test prep class. The experimental group consists of one hundred and twentyseven students who chose to participate in the GHSGT prep class prior to
taking the graduation test. Both groups of students took the EOCT tests
during the ninth grade; therefore, the EOCT scores were used as covariates
in this study. Students who were enrolled in a test preparation class prior to
the graduation test were compared to students who were not enrolled in a test
preparation class after adjusting for their initial differences. The eleventh grade
first time GHSGT takers from both groups were tested in March 2008, with
scores were available in April.
Data Sources and Analysis
The two major data sources are the GHSGT scores and the EOCT scores.
The scores were first summarized using descriptive statistics. Then ANCOVA
tests, with the GHSGT scores as the dependent variable, their corresponding
EOCT sores as the covariate, and the attendance of the prep classes as the
independent variable, were conducted in order to investigate whether the
274
differences between the experimental group and the control group in their
performance on the GHSGT were statistically significant. Additional twoway ANCOVA analyses were also performed to determine whether there
were interaction effects between any of the demographic variables (e.g.,
socioeconomic status and instructional set) and the attendance of the prepclasses.
RESULTS
Originally, two hundred and ninety-six students were included in this
study. Three of these students were eliminated from further analysis because
of missing EOCT scores. The descriptive statistics for the GHSGT and EOCT
language arts and math scores are displayed in Table 2 (see Appendix and
Figures). These descriptive statistics show that the students who participated
in the prep classes scored higher in all of the four tests than those who did not
participate in the prep classes. Two one-way ANCOVA tests, with the GHSGT
scores as the dependent variable, their corresponding EOCT scores as the
covariate, and the attendance of the prep-classes as the independent variable,
were conducted in order to investigate whether any of the differences shown
in Table 2 were statistically significant. ANCOVA results show that there was
a statistically significant difference between the students who participated in
the prep classes and those who did not in terms of their GHSGT math scores
with a very small effect size (F = 10.31, df = (1, 290), p= .001, η2 =.034).
The GHSGT language arts scores for these two groups of students were
not significantly different from each other (F = 0.01, df = (1, 290), p= .94, η2
<.001). In addition, ANCOVA results show that the prep class participants
scored significantly higher than the non-prep students in both EOCT language
arts (F = 359.29, df = (1, 290), p<.001, η2 =.553) and EOCT math portions (F
= 252.65, df = (1, 290), p< .001, η2 =.466), with much larger effect sizes.
Additional two-way ANCOVA analyses were performed to see whether
there were interaction effects between any of the demographic variables and
the attendance of the prep classes. No statistically significant interaction
effect was found. However, these analyses indicate that there was a statistically
significant difference between the students who received free and reduced
lunch and those who did not in terms of their GHSGT math scores with a
very small effect size (F = 6.77, df = (1, 288), p= 0.01, η2 =.023). The average
GHSGT math score for the economically disadvantaged group was 524.54; that
for the remaining students was 535.72. In addition, students under different
instructional sets also scored significantly differently from each other in the
math part of the GHSGT (F = 16.05, df = (1, 286), p< .001, η2 =0.101). The
average GHSGT math score for the gifted students was 554.43; that
275
for the general education students was 526.86; that for the special education
students was 501.40. It should also be noted that including instructional sets
as the other independent variable significantly attenuated the effect of the
prep-classes on the students’ GHSGT math performance. This finding can be
explained by the different patterns in the attendance of the prep classes among
students under different instructional sets. Specifically, only seven out of the
fifty-four gifted students participated in the prep classes, whereas twentythree out of the twenty-five special education students participated in the prep
classes. No statistically significant difference was found in student performance
on the language arts part of the GHSGT in terms of any demographic
variable. In addition, no statistically significant difference was found between
male and female students or between the African American and Caucasian
students.
CONCLUSION
The overall results show that the prep classes might have a small effect on
students’ achievement in the math portion of the GHSGT. The prep classes’
effect on the students’ language arts performance was very minimal. For both
GHSGT language arts and GHSGT math scores, students’ EOCT scores
accounted for much larger variances in their performance on the GHSGT
than the attendance of the prep classes. In other words, students who scored
higher in the EOCT language arts and math also tended to score higher in the
GHSGT language arts and math. Even after the prep classes, there were still
achievement gaps in math between economically disadvantaged students and
the rest of the students and among the gifted, general education, and special
education students.
Two additional educational implications worth mentioning here emerged
during the research process; both are beyond simply analyzing the quantitative
data. First, many educators agree that standardized test results should be
used for identifying areas in the curriculum that need improvement, not
for holding students accountable for causing the schools not making AYP
(Holmes, 2006). Since the numbers of special needs students vary widely, it is
difficult to hold all the schools accountable for a uniform set of criteria such
as AYP. NCLB’s mandates often force states and schools to hold students and
teachers accountable for unreasonable high-stakes, such as having to pass the
standardized tests to move from one grade to the next or passing all parts of
the graduation test to earn a high school diploma (Allbritten et al., 2004; Mac
Irver, 2007; Porter, Linn, & Trimble, 2005).
NCLB established ambitious goals for increasing student learning and
attaining equity in the distribution of student performance. Schools must show
276
they are making AYP toward the goal of all students achieving proficiency
in mathematics and reading/language arts by the year 2014. In addition,
schools must assure that all traditionally low-achieving subgroups of students
make the same progress, including students representing various ethnic and
racial groups, students who are economically disadvantaged, students with
disabilities, and students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). With its
attention to close the gap and brining those who have traditionally been left
behind to proficiency, many of NCLB’s ambitious goals fall short in reality
and some of the negative consequences cannot be overlooked (Choi, Seltzer,
Herman, & Yamashiro, 2007; Porter et al., 2005).
Secondly, many prep class teachers emphasize in their own reflections a
fact long known by the teachers and parents alike: both regular and special
education students learn the most and the best from well-qualified, caring,
and competent professional educators (Allbritten, 2004). When asked about
whether they believe in the effectiveness of such prep classes, teachers all agree
that if a teacher does not feel as compassionate about teaching the class, he or
she will not likely to have students to score as well as those whose teachers do
demonstrate a passion to teach the class. Perhaps the question of having prep
classes or not should not be the issue, but selecting highly qualified teachers to
facilitate such classes (Gimbert, Bol, & Wallance, 2007).
277
Table 1: Summary of Demographic Characteristics of Study Participants
(Total N=293)
Study Variable
N
Prep
Non-Prep
Female
Male
White
Black
Other
Free/Reduced Lunch
Other
Gifted
Regular
Special Education
127
166
161
132
98
183
12
156
137
54
214
25
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Test Scores by Treatment Conditions
GHSGTLA GHSGTMATH EOCTLA
EOCTMATH
217.68
(26.71)
520.20
(19.58)
70.62
(9.47)
71.90
(11.00)
246.14
(24.27)
542.28
(20.35)
83.68
(7.58)
83.09
(7.63)
Non-Prep
Students
M
SD
Prep
Students
M
SD
REFERENCES
Allbritten, D., Mainzer, R., & Ziegler, D. (2004). Will students with disabilities be scapegoats for school failures? Educational Horizons, 82(2), 153-160.
Balfanz, R., Legter, N., West, T. C., & Weber, L. M. (2007). Are NCLB’s
278
measures, incentives, and improvement strategies the right ones for the nation’s low-performing high schools? American Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 559-593.
Choi, K., Seltzer, M., Herman, J., & Yamashiro, K. (2007). Children left behind in AYP and non-AYP schools: using student progress and the distribution of student gains to validate AYP. Educational measurement: Issues and Practice, 26(3), 21-32.
Gimbert, B., Bol, L., & Wallance, D. (2007). The influence of teacher preparation on student achievement and the application of national standards by teachers of mathematics in urban secondary schools. Education and Urban Society, 40(1), 91-117.
Holmes, T. C. (2006). Low test scores plus high retention rates equal more dropout rates. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42(2), 56-58.
Hong, E., Sas, M., & Sas, J. C. (2006). Test taking strategies of high and low mathematics achievers. The Journal of EducationalResearch, 99(3), 144-155.
Mac Iver, M. A. (2007). What reform left behind a decade of change at one urban high school. Education and Urban Society, 40(1), 3-35.
Peterson, P. (2007). The case for curriculum-based, external examinations that have significant consequences for students. Peabody Journal of Education, 82(4), 645-666.
Porter, A., Linn, R. L., & Trimble, C. S. (2005). The effects of state decisions about NCLB adequate yearly progress targets. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 24(4), 32-39.
Shaul, M., & Ganson, H. (2001). The No Child Left Behind act of 2001: The federal government’s role in strengthening accountability for student performance. Review of Research in Education, 29, 152-165.
Wolf, P. (2007). Academic improvement through regular assessment. Peabody Journal of Education, 82(4), 690–702.
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280
Health Sciences
Health Sciences
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282
“Oh! Dr. Kinsey!”
“Oh! Dr. Kinsey!”:
The Life and Work of America’s Pioneer of Sexology
Mikella Procopio
Dr. Scott Butler
Faculty Sponsor
INTRODUCTION
Alfred Kinsey’s two most famous books Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female characterized the sexual behaviors
of thousands of Americans. The content of these texts shocked the nation
and initiated public discourse on one of the last great taboos in our society.
Sex was a controversial topic of discussion in the mid-twentieth century and
many researchers had flirted with sex research as it related to hygiene, or as
we would refer to it today, the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
But for all the research that was available, no one really knew what people
did sexually. Kinsey took sexual behavior to task. He interviewed thousands
of Americans to discover and report not what people were supposed to do,
but what they were actually doing. The publication of his findings and his
testimony to the outdated nature of 1950s sex laws started a discourse on
sex that is still alive and well today. Looking back, Kinsey’s work has not
only influenced our culture, laws, and public opinion, but it set the stage for
generations of sex researchers to come.
Childhood and Education
Alfred Charles Kinsey was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on June
23, 1894. His family lived there until he was ten years old. During that time,
Kinsey suffered a variety of childhood illnesses that affected his health for
the rest of his life. Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy, one of Kinsey’s most recent
biographers notes, “Not just measles and chicken pox and the other ills of
childhood which, a delicate child, he had in abundance, but diseases now largely
confined to Third World countries—rickets and rheumatic fever” (GathorneHardy 5). The rickets left Kinsey with a curved spine and the rheumatic fever
contributed to the heart problems that eventually killed him.
Kinsey’s two most recent biographers present very different pictures
of Kinsey’s childhood. Gathorne-Hardy and James H. Jones both portray the
young Kinsey as an isolated boy who was frequently bullied by his peers and
his father. Jones creates an elaborate series of inner demons that supposedly
resulted from this difficult childhood experience and plagued Kinsey for the
rest of his life. Gathorne-Hardy, however, only attributes Kinsey’s pronounced
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habits and attitudes, exhibited later in life, to these experiences of his early
years.
Kinsey’s father, Alfred Seguine Kinsey, worked at the Stevens Institute
of Technology nearly all his life. “In 1886, when he was fifteen, his own father,
a carpenter, placed him as a lowly shop assistant in the Stevens Institute of
Technology. Kinsey Senior remained here his entire working life of fifty-five
years, grimly grinding his way up until eventually in 1908 he became a full
professor” (Gathorne-Hardy 4). Gathorne-Hardy goes on to say that Alfred
Seguine Kinsey never really had the respect of the students and, in order to
compensate, was known to be particularly egotistical.
Gathorne-Hardy and Jones both found Kinsey’s social class
throughout his childhood to be particularly meaningful throughout his adult
life. Gathorne-Hardy claims that the middle class status Alfred Seguine Kinsey
worked so hard for was treasured, but or someone who has worked their way
up to the middle class may be fearful of losing that status. The Kinseys were
at the border of the middle class when they moved to a new neighborhood
in South Orange. “Mellville Woods had become a middle-class enclave in a
prosperous neighborhood where practically all except the Kinseys owned their
homes” (Jones 26). This is why Kinsey Senior saw that his family fell within
strict middle class social norms of behavior.
One method of maintaining a middle-class identity was through
religious belief. Kinsey’s father was a self-ordained Methodist minister and
strictly enforced dogmatic rule in his family.
The Kinseys belonged to a group of Methodists so strict they could, doctrine apart, have been described as Calvinists. And of all that little
group of Hoboken Methodists, Alfred Seguine Kinsey was the sternest, the strictest, the most unforgiving. The effects of Kinsey’s
religious upbringing were fundamental to his character and affected
his whole life. (Gathorne-Hardy 7)
The influence of such a strict upbringing was evident in Kinsey’s brutal work
schedule, precise routines, and general intolerance for frivolity as an adult. The
restrictive nature of adherence to class roles and his father’s interpretation of
religion reinforced each other to create an incredibly repressive environment
against which Kinsey eventually rebelled.
Kinsey’s upbringing influenced him in other ways as well. People mentioned most frequently about young Alfred was his shyness.
The Kinseys had very few friends…The effects of years of isolation through illness, with few if any close friends, the feeble role models of ordinary social life, all to be reinforced, combined to make this—the
small talk of society—an area which Kinsey refused, often with
considerable impatience, to enter. (Gathorne-Hardy 8)
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Not until Kinsey became active in Boy Scouts and eventually the YMCA did he
really begin to interact with other people, though even then, he still maintained
at a distance by serving as the leader, guide, and instructor. The last role was
one he would readily adopt at every opportunity in his adult life.
Another way in which the young Kinsey found fulfillment was in
nature. Once his family moved to South Orange his health greatly improved,
and Kinsey began to spend time on his own outdoors. The recent PBS
documentary on Kinsey describes Kinsey’s relationship with nature: “Nature
gives Alfred Kinsey an area in which he can define himself ” (Kinsey PBS). It
did not take long for Kinsey to bring science along with him on his outdoor
excursions. His high school biology teacher, Natalie Roeth, was a very powerful
influence in introducing Kinsey to science and was instrumental in encouraging
his early success:
[H]is first scientific paper written when he was about sixteen. It had
a faintly lugubrious, Thurber-like title, What do birds do when it Rains? But
it was the result of hours of careful, and presumably wet observation and was,
to Natalie Roeth’s excitement, as well as his own, published in a nature journal.
(Gathorne-Hardy 27)
Once equipped with the scientific method, Kinsey began a course he would
follow for the rest of his life. After his first publication, the next step on this
path was college.
Kinsey Senior wanted his elder son to become an engineer, a
respectable career choice that would firmly entrench Alfred Charles Kinsey
in the middle class. To that end, he pushed Kinsey to attend Stevens Institute
of Technology. “For Kinsey, the thought of becoming an engineer was
abhorrent. His desire for a career that could combine biology and the outdoors
was heartfelt and pressing. It rested on intense curiosity, intellectual passion,
and much more” (Jones 88). Kinsey had firmly established his identity as a
biologist by this point and had no desire to go to Stevens, but he had not yet
established his independence enough to defy his father’s strict authority. Kinsey
attended Stevens for two years struggling with a curriculum he did not enjoy.
Eventually Kinsey found the courage and means to pursue his own desires and
goals. In 1914, Kinsey transferred to Bowdoin where he pursued biology and
psychology. “Kinsey was graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin in June
1916 with a B.S. degree” (Christenson 29). Kinsey then studied at Harvard
University’s Bussey Institute on scholarship. While there, his research focused
on the taxonomy of gall wasps. He would continue to study gall wasps for
decades after he earned a Sc.D. in 1919. He took a ten-month trip around the
country to collect gall wasps before beginning his job as a professor of zoology
at Indiana University in Bloomington (IU).
Kinsey’s early years were difficult physically and emotionally, but once Kinsey
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discovered scientific inquiry, he began to make up for lost time. Something
about science connected with Kinsey and became a part of his identity. Science
slowly took over for the religious and even class ideology of his childhood. As
Jones explains:
Science was not merely his profession; it had become his religion.
Science was a moral issue, a matter of right and wrong. When he
vowed to uphold the highest canons of scientific rigor, with no
thought to the cost in time or labor, Kinsey sounded like some bornagain Christian dedicating his life to Christ. (Jones 204)
There were, then, some elements of his evangelical upbringing that Kinsey
could not shake. His method of teaching was the lecture that sounded more
like preaching than teaching. In ideology, however, the shift from religion to
science was complete. “Repeatedly, Kinsey the scientist would side with biology
when it conflicted with accepted social mores” (Morantz 149). This ability to
logically and systematically approach topics served Kinsey very well in his
eventual studies of sex.
Sex and Sexuality
Kinsey’s early education was limited, at best, when it came to sex. The Kinsey
household was not an environment conducive to frank discussions of sexuality
and such things were not discussed in schools. As Jones notes, “[d]eprived of
a sex education in school, Kinsey did not receive one at home, at least not in
the formal sense” (Jones 68). The only education Kinsey received regarding sex
was through his involvement with the Boy Scouts and the YMCA.
Although sex hygiene courses were not included in the curriculum
of Columbia High School, the moral agenda advanced by social
hygienists was adopted by the two youth organizations that touched
Kinsey’s life daily: the YMCA and the Boy Scouts. Both regarded
sex education as a vital part of their program for training boys to
become men. To safeguard Christian character, the YMCA and the
Boy Scouts instructed boys to abstain from premarital intercourse and
masturbation alike. (Jones 69)
While there are letters between Kinsey and friends that serve as evidence
that Kinsey did not uphold the latter instruction, he definitely abided by the
former. According to Gathorne-Hardy, Kinsey remained a virgin until well
after his marriage to Clara Bracken McMillen in June of 1921. “Kinsey told a
close friend that he had been unable to make love to his young wife until they
got back to Bloomington [from their honeymoon hiking trip]. This must
have come as a bitter blow after the long years of acute sexual frustration”
(Gathorne-Hardy 59). According to both Gathorne-Hardy and Jones, the
problem was both a physical barrier with Clara and general anxiety and
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ignorance.
Kinsey had a complicated relationship with sexuality from a young
age. Both Gathorne-Hardy and Jones argue that Kinsey was a very sexual
individual. The deeply religious and repressive household he grew up in
condemned any form of sexual expression. Masturbation, therefore, was
proclaimed a sin. Since Kinsey had no premarital sexual experience, he was left
with no acceptable avenue for the expression of his sexual feelings and desires. This had a profound influence on his later work.
For years he tried, this highly sexed young man, to force the boiling
lava flow of sexual feeling underground. … The most basic force
behind his sex research was deeply personal and extremely simple and
it lies here: that no one else should have to suffer as he had suffered.
(Gathorne-Hardy 24)
The frustration and pain Kinsey experienced were powerful motivators. Along
with the intellectual curiosity and scientific methodology, Kinsey would
eventually deconstruct the social mores that had been so repressive.
Jones argues that the drive to conduct sexual behavior research springs from an
internal demon. Jones claims that Kinsey suffered from the stigma surrounding
his sexuality: “Beginning with childhood, Kinsey had lived with two shameful
secrets: he was both a homosexual and a masochist” (Jones 4). While GathorneHardy acknowledges Kinsey’s sexual experiences with men, he does not come
to the conclusion that Kinsey was a homosexual. Discussing Kinsey’s love and
sex life, Gathorne-Hardy says:
Kinsey was to fall in love three times in his life, and twice it was with
people whose relationship with him was that of pupil/follower to
leader/counselor; all but one of his known sexual affairs were with
men or women younger than himself. The single exception was with a
woman over sixty when he was about fifty-five. (Gathorne-Hardy 27)
Kinsey’s sexual partners were both male and female, as were the individuals he
loved, which is a strong argument against the rigid
homosexuality Jones ascribes to the researcher. Even Jones himself presents
damning evidence against his own argument:
While his attraction to men no doubt vitiated his sexual interest in
Clara, Kinsey was able nevertheless to maintain a sexual relationship
with her until near the end of his life. He remained deeply devoted
to her throughout their marriage. Indeed, with no disservice to
language, he never stopped loving her. Nor she him. (Jones 394)
While the use of the term homosexual in today’s society may hold a variety of
meanings based on the perspective of the speaker, Jones appears to use a rather
strict definition in labeling Kinsey. Given that Kinsey had romantic and sexual
relationships with both men and women throughout his sexually active life,
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Jones’ claim is invalid. There is a term in current sexuality discourse
that, while anachronistic, would more accurately describe Kinsey’s sexuality
and that is bisexual. The descriptive error in stating Kinsey’s sexuality might
not make much of a difference except that this is the argument that Jones
uses to undermine the legitimacy of Kinsey’s research. A misuse of the term
homosexual to categorize Kinsey undermines the invectives Jones issues
against him. Thus, it is important to have a clear understanding of what
Kinsey’s sexuality was to evaluate its potential influence on his own research as
well as the research of those who wrote about him.
Personality
There are many aspects of Kinsey’s personality that had a direct
bearing on his research. Some of Kinsey’s particular eccentricities helped him
push forward on one of the largest sexual behavior studies ever conducted.
Others, however, may very well have contributed to the cessation of funding
and the inability to acquire replacement sources of funding for the very same
research. Gathorne-Hardy notes that many of Kinsey’s pronounced personality
traits were already evident in his childhood. “A particularity of Kinsey’s
character until quite late on was that where many people change with time,
dropping elements, refining, Kinsey just became more and more definitively
what he was” (Gathorne-Hardy 30). Perhaps the only area in which this is not
evident is communication. Kinsey was a shy, reserved child, yet by adulthood,
Kinsey had a very different communication style. John Money explains:
The cumulative effect of Kinsey’s way of communicating with
people could not have been better calculated to antagonize. He
appeared to assume for himself the role of an almighty who, in his
superior wisdom, knew all, and had the special prerogative of passing
judgment. (Money 321)
This perception of Kinsey follows from an encounter with him at an
academic conference. There is a distinct difference between Kinsey’s style of
communicating in lecture versus conversation. Gathorne-Hardy recounts the
perspective Kinsey’s staff had on his personality:
At the same time, they remembered his sudden warmth, his smile
when he returned from a trip—‘How are you?’ ‘You felt it was meant,’
said Pomeroy. Kinsey was unfailingly polite. He was a kind man
and if they had a genuine grievance he would listen and comply.
(Gathorne-Hardy 219)
This ability to be both incredibly self-assured and attentive to others helped
Kinsey interact with a wide variety of people in taking sex histories. Kinsey
was known to be a chameleon, able to take on the traits the interviewee needed
to feel at ease and share his or her sexual history.
288
Kinsey’s unique personality characteristics extended far beyond his
communication style. It may be that Kinsey either did not realize the extent
to which his research would influence society or he just did not care. Jones
seems to think that Kinsey simply thought the best of people. “Kinsey honestly
believed that if people knew the facts, they would rid themselves of guilt and
shame. Few assumptions better illustrate the optimism of the man or the age
that produced him” (Jones xii). Along with the optimism Kinsey harbored was
an enthusiasm for research. “Kinsey’s delight in the wonders of nature and
his insatiable curiosity were infectious. Everything interested Kinsey” (Jones
212). Kinsey’s pure excitement translated into devotion to the work. “The man
was thorough, no doubt about it, and he was obsessive about his work. He
drove himself continually, dashing all over the country to lecture and record
interview” (Boyle 185). It was not just Kinsey’s interest in or enthusiasm for
the research that drove him so hard. Jones argues that what ultimately drove
Kinsey was a desire to excel.
Kinsey had to be the best at everything he did. Throughout his life,
he showed a passion for complex and difficult activities, but he could
never be satisfied with being merely good at something. As Gebhard
observed, “This man had a real demon on his back. He had to excel,
and if he couldn’t excel in an area, he wouldn’t have anything to do
with that area. … He had this real obsession that he had to excel.”
(Jones 37)
While it is impossible to determine what instilled this powerful desire to
succeed in Kinsey, there are several factors that may have, logically, played
a part. The middle-class work ethic of Kinsey’s childhood would be an easy
source of influence. There may even have been some desire to surpass his
father’s achievements. Whatever the cause, Kinsey’s drive served his research
well and simultaneously drove him to the grave.
Another characteristic Kinsey exhibited in childhood that became
more prominent as he aged was collecting. Kinsey began collecting dried
flowers as he first ventured out into nature as a child. Then he moved on to
collecting records, snakes, gall wasps, and eventually sex histories and erotica.
Gathorne-Hardy identifies a clear motive for Kinsey’s collecting. “By collecting
something… you also control it. To collect anything is a way of imposing
control” (Gathorne-Hardy 30). For someone coming out of a very repressive
environment where everything is beyond one’s control, it would make sense
that regaining control of small things would be comforting, even necessary.
Indeed, Jones explains how collecting served several purposes for Kinsey.
“But collecting itself was important to Kinsey, and in time this interest would
become an obsession. The adult Kinsey would transform his collecting into a
science, combining personal need and professional identity to good advantage”
289
(Jones 40). Since his work so conveniently overlapped with his personality
traits, the pursuit of his research served to develop these traits more distinctly
in the adult Kinsey. In this way, Kinsey’s work is somewhat responsible for the
honing of personality traits Gathorne-Hardy described.
Early Research
Kinsey’s research interests when he arrived at IU were focused on
the gall wasps he had been studying at Harvard. At every opportunity Kinsey
traveled the country collecting gall wasps. He also encouraged people he met in
his travels to send galls to him in Bloomington.
Everywhere he went Kinsey recruited amateurs to help collect galls
for him. As his work progressed he corresponded with gall experts
abroad and got them to help as well. He gradually drew together a
network of over a hundred people sending him galls from all over
America and from various places round the world. (Gathorne-Hardy
78)
Kinsey ended up collecting well over a million of the tiny insects. Just
collecting them, however, was not very good science as Gathorne-Hardy
explains. “But of course it was what he did with his thousands upon thousands
of galls that mattered; Kinsey’s real quality as a scientist didn’t truly emerge
till he returned home” (Gathorne-Hardy 78). In fact, when Kinsey returned to
Bloomington he began putting all those wasps underneath a microscope.
Kinsey was, as always, systematic in his approach to the gall wasps. GathorneHardy explains his technique:
Every single specimen was examined by Kinsey under a dissecting
microscope; twenty-eight difference measurements were taken,
recorded and correlated, and from these the species deduced,
variations, order of descent, relationships… To speed the note-taking
he developed a shorthand/positional code whereby a few simple
symbols took on a separate meaning from their position on a small
page. (Gathorne-Hardy 80)
Not only did this system allow Kinsey to collect data, characterize an entire
species, and write two books on the subject, but it gave Kinsey a good idea
of how to record large quantities of information quickly. This procedure
foreshadows the more complicated sex history documentation system that
Kinsey developed later in life.
For all the joy that studying and classifying gall wasps brought to
Kinsey, his contribution to the world of science was not on par with his idol,
Charles Darwin. It was a very select group of individuals who had any interest
in Kinsey’s publications or first book. The publication of Kinsey’s second book
on gall wasps found him at the end of the gall wasp project. In 1938, Kinsey’s
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focus shifted to sex.
Sex was, coincidentally, a hot topic on the IU campus at the time.
In response to rising rates of venereal disease, students at colleges across
the country were calling for accurate information on sex. While IU offered
a hygiene course, the information offered was representative of the available
research; most of it was morality disguised as scientific fact. When the
administration began searching for someone to coordinate the new marriage
course, Kinsey’s name was mentioned. At that point, he was a middle aged,
happily-married father and a biologist who had been studying gall wasps for
the last two decades. As Robert T. Francoeur explains:
All this right-wing respectability made Alfred Kinsey the perfect
candidate in 1936, when Indiana University officials were looking for
a professor to chair a faculty committee that would be entrusted to
design the first interdisciplinary course on sexuality and marriage to
be offered at any American university... (Francoeur Part III 50)
Once he got the job, Kinsey started researching data on human sexual behavior
in part to teach the course with the most accurate information, and in part to
satisfy his own curiosity. He was completely dissatisfied with all the published
studies so he began to perform his own research. He began by taking the sex
histories of students who came to seek advice from him after class. Thus began
an avenue of inquiry that Kinsey would follow until his death. According to T.
C. Boyle:
His career as a sexologist began in 1938, when he was in his 40s and
had accomplished about all he could with his gall wasps and was
looking for some other outlet for his uncontainable energy. In those
days, sex was little discussed or studied in the university, aside from
the bland, euphemistic “Marriage and Family” courses that did more
to obfuscate the subject than cast light on it. (Boyle 182)
Kinsey’s course was designed to cast as much light as possible on the sexual
components of marriage. In his typical matter-of-fact, scientific manner, Kinsey
presented everything he knew and could discover about human sexuality.
Kinsey electrified the assembled students by announcing at the outset
that there were only three types of sexual abnormality—abstinence,
celibacy and delayed marriage—and he absolutely stunned them by
showing slides of sexual intercourse…all while lecturing on about
vasoconstriction and clitoral stimulation in the driest, unmodulated
scientist’s voice. The course was a sensation. (Boyle 182)
Kinsey continued to seek the answer to the question of what people do
sexually. When students came to him for advice, he answered their questions as
best he could, but more often than not, he did not have answers to their
concerns regarding “normal” sexual behavior.
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Kinsey had stumbled upon a completely new field of study and found
that the tools he had developed to study gall wasps were exactly what was
needed to study human sexual behavior. First, he needed to start collecting
data. Regina Markell Morantz explains his rationale, “[b]efore men could think
scientifically about human sexuality, they needed facts about actual behavior.
The link between behavior and the ‘biologic and social aspects’ of people’s sex
lives demanded exploration” (Morantz 149). Kinsey’s strategy followed that he
used in collecting galls and was to gather enough histories that any statistical
analyses would be significant. This goal of statistical analysis set him apart
from previous sex researchers.
Turn-of-the-century sexology pioneers like Sigmund Freud, Richard
Krafft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis and T.H. van de Velde knew nothing
about statistics. Practically all their conclusions about what was
normal or typical sexual behavior came from their experiences in
treating sexually dysfunctional and emotionally disturbed patients.
(Francoeur Part II 52)
Kinsey designed his own research with a correction to the methodology of his
predecessors in mind. Another way in which Kinsey’s approach to acquiring
sexual histories was innovative his straightforwardness. Kinsey believed that
he was more apt to get honest responses if he was up front with interview
participants.
Most of the questions that were posed in these early surveys were
worded so discreetly the respondents could easily miss their meaning,
or else detect the “right” answer the questioner expected and wanted.
In some cases the questions were blatantly loaded. One example: “Has
anyone ever tried to give you the mistaken idea that sex intercourse is
necessary for the health of the young man?” (Francoeur Part II 52)
Kinsey refused to couch potentially uncomfortable questions in overtly biased
or moral terms. This openness and willingness to talk about sexual issues was
incredibly unusual at that time. In fact, Gathorne-Hardy points out a rather
frightening occurrence not long before the development of IU’s marriage
course. “In 1934, the Columbia Broadcasting Company refused to allow New
York State health commissioner Thomas Parran to give a talk on VD because
he wished to use the words syphilis and gonorrhea” (Gathorne-Hardy 95).
Kinsey began developing a questionnaire that would encompass all possible
areas of human sexual variation. He wanted to know what people were doing,
so he was going to ask. While he adjusted the content of the questionnaire for
several years, “[f]ully 400 of the 521 items covered in the final version of the
sex history were already in his mid-1939 questionnaire” (Francoeur Part III
51). He also adopted his system of using symbols in specific locations for gall
wasp data recording for sex history data recording. This enabled him to record
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massive quantities of data very quickly and without interrupting a
conversation or losing eye contact with an interview subject for extensive
lengths of time.
It did not take long for word of Kinsey’s sexual investigation to
spread, helped in no small part by Thurman Rice, the professor of the hygiene
course that had been the only previous marriage course offered to students.
Rice attended one of Kinsey’s lectures and was mortified when Kinsey showed
slides of sexual intercourse. Rice took the matter up with Herman Wells, the
then President of IU, who was a strong advocate of freedom of research.
Rice was disappointed when Wells failed to disband Kinsey’s course. “Wells
proposed to do nothing, so Thurman Rice set out to rouse opposition wherever
he could. By 1940, he was publicly attacking Kinsey in lectures in Indianapolis”
(Gathorne-Hardy 132). Eventually, more complaints surfaced, and in 1940,
Wells gave Kinsey the option of continuing to teach the marriage course or
continuing to gather sex histories. Kinsey was not pleased to be forced into
choosing one project over another, but he decided to continue his research.
Sex Research and The Kinsey Reports
Before long Kinsey began looking beyond the IU campus for sex
histories. Kinsey developed a habit of encouraging his interview subjects
to send their friends and other contacts to him. He also sent out thank
you cards encouraging participants to recommend others. Through this
network of students and other contacts, he branched out to different social
groups. Eventually, this practice led him to Chicago where he found an entire
subculture already in existence. “Kinsey’s entrée into the underworld of
Chicago male homosexuals was a young homosexual in Bloomington who was
friendly with a group of young gay men who lived in a boarding house in Rush
Street” (Gathorne-Hardy 133). Once Kinsey gained access to the homosexual
community in Chicago, he was able to branch out even further to groups of
sexual minorities in other cities. Over time, Kinsey developed a “sexual map
of America” (Gathorne Hardy 301) from the histories he travelled the country
to collect. Kinsey’s initial sample of histories came from college-educated,
middle- to upper-class individuals since people from these groups were the
easiest for Kinsey to find and interview. In order to ensure a sufficiently diverse
and representative sample, however, Kinsey needed to find individuals from the
lower class. To this end, Kinsey started collecting histories in prisons. One of
the most difficult tasks in interviewing prisoners, as might be expected, was
earning their trust. Through his unwavering commitment to confidentiality,
frankness, and earnest interest in their stories, Kinsey was able to obtain sex
histories from inmates in the Indiana State Penal Farm to prisoners in San
Quentin.
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He always got on well with prisoners. Perhaps something in him
responded to anyone who came up against authority. But his solemn
promise of absolute secrecy carried particular weight in the context
of patrolling warders and strict administrators. (Gathorne-Hardy
165)
Kinsey had always been a bit of an outsider and the experience of rebelling
against his strict, authoritarian father probably made it much easier for him
to identify with the inmates. Another factor that influenced Kinsey’s affinity
for prisoners was the injustice he identified in many of their circumstances.
As his data was beginning to show, many of the sex offenders he encountered
had been convicted of crimes based upon sexual acts that a majority of the
population had done. Kinsey listened with a sympathetic ear to the tales of
these prisoners and he did whatever it took to get accurate and complete sex
histories from them. His dogged determination served him well with both
prisoners and the general public:
Between 1937 and 1947, Kinsey averaged two histories a day and
fourteen a week. Recording a single sex history could take several
hours. Research was Kinsey’s life blood. Even today, with our
sophisticated computers and polling techniques, Kinsey’s massive
effort in gathering sex histories remains unmatched. (Francoeur Part
II 53)
Clearly, Kinsey’s technique was successful, but what, exactly, was he doing that
worked so well?
Kinsey was not impressed with the research that preceded his. He
was determined to collect the most accurate and representative data possible.
Kinsey had been talking to people about their sexual behaviors for years by the
time this project took shape. He had developed interview habits and techniques
that he felt confident resulted in clarity, accuracy, and honesty. Continuing to
collect data through interviews offered other benefits besides Kinsey’s personal
comfort. Paul Gebhard notes, “[i]f a question, no matter how carefully written,
can be misconstrued, it will be” (Gebhard 46). Using written surveys places the
decision-making power in the hands of the respondents. Any question found
to be distasteful or confusing can be ignored and is open to misinterpretation.
While there are definite benefits to data collection via questionnaires, for
Kinsey, the complications far outweighed any potential gains. He would stick
to interviews. And there were other benefits to this decision. While the social
environment of the time may not have been as repressive as the environment
of Kinsey’s childhood, there were still things that just were not discussed.
What Kinsey offered his research subjects was an opportunity to confess their
behaviors without fear of reproach. Gathorne-Hardy highlights the difference
between unbiased scientific inquiry and the other available options.
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The Church, however, was unable to reassure its supplicants that what
they confessed to were not indeed sins. Psychiatrists and analysts
often called them neuroses. Only Kinsey could completely fulfill the
need to be accepted-to be loved in fact. No wonder he made… this
extraordinarily powerful, dynamic,tested over centuries, the very base
of his entire structure. (Gathorne-Hardy 179)
While Kinsey’s interviews were not designed as therapy, it is easy to imagine
how comfort could be drawn from placing one’s own sexual behaviors in the
context of what other people did.
Kinsey’s early success collecting gall wasps informed his decisions
regarding the collection of data on sexual behavior. He took a sort of shotgun
approach here and attempted to create a questionnaire that would cover every
possible avenue of human sexual expression. Kinsey’s next procedural decision
would spark strong reactions in both critics and supporters.
Because this wasn’t even psychiatry, you see. It wasn’t, that is, passive.
Kinsey came on like a prosecuting attorney. Not did you, but when did
you: not have you, but how often have you—all the D.A.’s bad cop/bad
cop ploys and insinuations. That he got these people to talk at all—
this was 1938, this was 1939, this was 1940 and al the 1940s: this was
when men wore hats and women looked like telephone operators, their
flower styles and print arrangements like those dumb sexual displays
in nature, the bandings and colorful clutter on birds, say, who do not
even know that what they are wearing is instinct and evolution…was
largely a matter of flourishing his seventy-six-trombone science like
the metallic glint of a flashed badge, using science, always Science,
capitalized and italicized too, like a cop pounced from a speed trap,
pulling them over to the side, badgering, hectoring, demanding…
(Stanley Elkin 50)
The flair of Elkin’s colorful description aside, Kinsey’s method changed the
way sex research was conceptualized. Intent on avoiding biasing his data by
asking leading questions, he placed the burden of denial on the respondent.
Kinsey’s critics often note that his fervor pushed him to the other extreme.
Instead of feeling pressure to deny a behavior because of the interviewer’s
transparent bias, participants would have felt the pressure to admit to
behaviors they had not participated in to appear normal. Ultimately, a choice
had to be made and Kinsey’s decision set him apart from those who had come
before him.
Even the most basic assessment of scientific rigor demands some
verification that investigative techniques used are, in fact, reliable. Given that
Kinsey was breaking new ground in sex research, he carefully analyzed his
methodology.
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Kinsey used several different checks to try to test the reliability
of his data, a summary of which is as follows: 1. Retakes to see if
the interviews are consistent over time; 2. Comparison of spouses
to see if they agree; 3. Comparison of other sex partners, such as
homosexuals, prostitutes, etc. to see if they agree; 4. Comparison of
results of one interviewer against those of another interviewer; and
5. Hidden cross-check questions in the interview. As a result of these
checks for validity, Kinsey found that some of his data seemed highly
accurate and other aspects of his data were not so accurate. The
following types of data declined in accuracy in the following order: 1.
Incidence figures (apparently highly accurate) 2. Vital statistics (age,
occupation, etc.) 3. Frequency figures (rate of outlet, etc.) 4. First
knowledge of sex phenomenon (least accurate). (Palmore 68)
Another potential problem in trying to determine the sexual practices of an
entire nation is obtaining a representative sample. Since his study relied on
volunteers, who are, by definition, self-selected, and an individual’s sexual
behavior was considered a private matter that many are uncomfortable
discussing, obtaining a randomized sample of individuals and ensuring
adequate rates of participation would be unlikely, if not impossible. In order
to address the issue of volunteer bias in his study, Kinsey sought groups
of people that were drawn together by factors unrelated to sex. He would
approach the leader of a group, obtain their sex history, and convince the
leader to bring the rest of the members of the group in to give their histories.
In the end, a quarter of his total sample came from these so-called 100%
groups. Kinsey analyzed the data provided from these groups separately from
the rest of his data and did not find significant differences in the behavioral
patterns. This practice, like many others, is not without its drawbacks. Paul
Robinson places some of those disadvantages in perspective:
Moreover, the groups from which Kinsey actually obtained hundred
percent samples did not, by his own admission, constitute a cross
section of the total population. Nonetheless, I think one must agree
that the hundred percent principle was an ingenious solution to the
problem of selectivity in a voluntary sample. (Robinson 49)
All of these measures would be thoroughly investigated by Kinsey’s critics,
but it is important to note that Kinsey did consider and address these issues
from the beginning of his research. While he was breaking new ground in
research content and technique, he was not completely flying by the seat of
his pants. Kinsey had a solid background in scientific inquiry and applied that
background to this project.
As time went on and Kinsey’s network of contacts expanded, he began
taking histories at an impressive, but brutal rate. If he was to continue
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gathering data from all the available subjects, Kinsey needed help. The
selection of other researchers to perform interviews was tricky. Kinsey had
been discussing sex with a diverse group of people for years, and he developed
ways to make those discussions easier for people. “Equally as important as the
comprehensive nature of Kinsey’s questionnaire was his skill in getting people
to talk about their most intimate experiences” (Francoeur Part III 51). Kinsey
knew exactly what he was doing in interviews, and any member of his team
that was to interview subjects had to have the same competence. In effect,
“Kinsey wanted all interviewers to be replicas of himself ” (Gathorne-Hardy
238). There was also a very specific image Kinsey wanted his staff to convey.
The members of his team must be accepting and approachable to individuals
from any social class. They would also have to be able to adapt their interview
to the specific educational and cultural customs of the subject.
It was claimed that a few highly trained interviewers can use a flexible
interview utilizing whatever method of approach suited the case best,
at the same time being able to recognize invalid answers on the basis
of his experience in the field and thus obtain more valid results than
the public-opinion type surveyor with his fixed set of questions and
approaches. (Palmore 67)
Thus, his interviewers had to be comfortable interacting with people from a
range of social classes and cultural groups. These are not easy traits to learn,
or teach. Kinsey had to find people who already possessed most of these
abilities and portrayed the desired image. Both Gathorne-Hardy and Judith A.
Allen comment on his strict requirements:
He felt all interviewers should be happily married (a lot of people
suspected someone not married) yet still be able to leave home for
half the year, something Mac regarded as really “a contradiction in
terms.” Also, people would feel that a woman with the intense interest
in sex that interviewing implied would be better (safer) constrained in
the home. In fact, a later Kinsey staff member, Cornelia Christenson,
was trained and did some interviewing…but in the context of the
1940s Kinsey was probably right. (Gathorne-Hardy 238)
Demanding that interviewers be happily married parents, he
was acutely aware that exclusive homosexuality was a minority
experience. He believed that homosexual staff could not achieve
rapport with diverse social groups, here anticipating the impact of
cultural norms on research outcomes despite personally rejecting
those norms.” (Allen 12)
Both homosexuality and bachelorhood were disqualifiers for any potential
team members. Kinsey wanted to present a conservative, trustworthy image
and married men most effectively accomplished that end. Kinsey’s refusal to use
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women as interviewers has been particularly criticized. Masters and Johnson,
whose work on sexual physiology followed directly from Kinsey’s work
advocated using two-member teams, with each gender represented. “Material
of sexual connotation has been elicited from study subjects more effectively
and accurately by interview teams with both sexes represented than by singlesexed interrogation” (Masters and Johnson 22). It may seem more effective
to attempt to use staff members who had traits in common with the subjects.
A homosexual staff member, then, would have a particular advantage in
interviewing homosexual subjects and women would be better interviewers
of other women. Kinsey rejected this idea on the grounds that there was no
way to find an interviewer that each subject could identify with based on one
particular trait.
Kinsey was also very concerned with the attitude of his interviewers.
They had to be just as open-minded and accepting as Kinsey himself could
be. Any overt adverse response to the information revealed in an interview
could taint all the data collected. Kinsey did everything in his power to
encourage acceptance in his team. He suggested and enabled homosexual
and extra-marital sexual behaviors so that his interviewers could empathize
with respondents. Eventually, the already close-knit team became “a group of
interacting open marriages…” (Gathorne-Hardy 168). The sexual practices
of Kinsey’s team members were no more publicized than Kinsey’s own, but
they undoubtedly contributed to the tolerance and understanding required
to perform comprehensive sex histories. Indeed, Gathorne-Hardy remarks,
“[b]ut the real point is, they were a completely dedicated band locked by a
charismatic and administratively gifted leader into an enormous and dramatic
task” (Gathorne-Hardy 219). This intimate group of highly trained and highly
skilled researchers, led by Kinsey, would complete such a large and complex
study of human sexual behavior that it has not been replicated in sixty years.
The Reports
A decade after he began asking questions about people’s sexual practice for his
marriage course, Kinsey released the first of two volumes that would present
Americans with an unexpected view of their own sexuality. Both Kinsey’s male
and female volumes were written with an audience of scholars in mind. Stanley
Elkin explains:
And the reports themselves as aseptic, as bland, the hot stuff cooled
down into charts, graphs, the point something decimals of neutrality.
Masters and Johnson undreamed of yet, all their wired protocols of
flesh, the special lenses uninvented, the down-and-dirty genitalia like
locations, sets, special effects, the body’s steamy skirmishes and star
wars (sic). (Elkin 53)
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It took over 16,000 pages for Kinsey to present and analyze his data from the
interviews. He did not want to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors that
had previously conducted research to reinforce moral or religious standards.
“He claimed repeatedly that his function was not to make moral judgments
but to record behavior. And that was what he did, obsessively, always hot
on the trail of one more history, one more sheet of data to add to his everaccumulating files” (Boyle 185). By the time the male volume was published,
Kinsey and his team had collected 12,000 histories. In fact, the dedication of
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male reads, “To the twelve thousand persons
who have contributed to these data and to the eighty-eight thousand more
whom, someday, will help complete this study” (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin Male
iv). Kinsey had set a goal of collecting 100,000 histories to complete his study
of sexual behavior. The goal was far too grand to be attained in his lifetime,
but Kinsey continued taking histories until his death.
When he died, in 1956, there were eighteen thousand such histories
in his files, eight thousand of which he had personally taken. Which
makes him a kind of intellectual Casanova, a scientific Don Juan,
whatever the boozy, set-‘em-up-Joe, torch song and torch singsong
equivalencies are for the ear’s voyeurism, all the scandals of the heart
and head, all the gossip of the imagination. (Elkin 50)
Despite the lengths of the reports, Kinsey did not include all of the data he
had in either volume. In fact, Kinsey had planned to publish seven more books,
each of them addressing one specific aspect of sexual behavior.
The male and female reports emphasized the trends Kinsey and his
team observed in sexual behavior, one of which was class-dependent. “And his
argument, generalized and oversimplified, goes, approximately, like this: The
lower levels screw, the upper levels sublimate” (Elkin 55). Kinsey’s data showed
that upper class individuals (defined by educational level) delayed intercourse
longer than their lower class counterparts. Instead, they participated in more
masturbation and petting for sexual gratification. The other major trend
presented in the Kinsey Reports was the extent of variety in sexual behaviors.
Just like the individual variation in gall wasp characteristics, people all had
unique sexual histories. “Consistent with Kinsey’s earlier writings, both
volumes emphasized the behavioral range of sex activity. This prompted
Kinsey to question formerly accepted norms” (Morantz 151). With one eye on
the conclusions, he drew from the data, Kinsey took a critical look at society
and the laws regulating it. What he found was a striking disparity in what
people did sexually and what people thought they did sexually.
Kinsey’s conclusions were presented through the lens of his own
pluralistic perspective. Every scientist approaches research with bias just as
every critic approaches published findings from their own perspective, informed
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by bias. Bias is an unavoidable fact of reality and humanity. This does not
discredit the institution of science or research, but bias is one aspect of the
institution that must be evaluated. Kinsey’s claims to be completely objective
indicate a noble goal, but one that was ultimately, inherently, unattainable.
Despite his innovative methods and controversial findings, he
ostensibly refrained from policy pronouncements, depicting himself as
a neutral, objective, and disinterested scientist. Yet, his responsiveness
to pleas for help, especially from those fighting drastic and draconian
legislation or seeking decriminalization of practices related to
sexuality which Kinsey regarded as victimless belied his objectivist
self-representation. (Allen 2)
Kinsey’s analyses and subsequent proclamations regarding society’s unrealistic
perception of sexual behavior did not go unnoticed by his critics both in
academia and in the popular culture his works were quick to suffuse.
Initial Responses
The Kinsey Reports, despite their length and density, quickly grabbed
the attention of the American public. While there had been some press
coverage of the male volume before its publication, once the book was released,
discourse spread like wildfire. Kinsey became a household name, and suddenly
people everywhere were talking about sex.
Thanks to Kinsey and his associates, sex was out of the closet, to
be discussed at dinner tables and debated at symposia. The report’s
dry presentation of facts about the way men lived (or at least, the
way some men lived) went a long way toward eroding the prevailing
hypocrisy, and the tremors reverberated for years. (Edwards 34)
Since Kinsey’s work came from such a seemingly straight-laced scholar, the
topic of sex was given legitimacy. The general public did not approach the
reports with the scientific rigor of academics. Some academics were concerned,
then, that the ideas presented to the public would corrupt a vulnerable
population.
Though many critics shared the Progressive faith that the truth
would make men free, they resisted applying this conviction to sex
research. In this instance the truth was dangerous and might help
destroy the American value system. Reinhold Niebuhr passionately
argued this point of view when he declared that Kinsey’s assumptions
represented ‘a therapy which implies a disease in our culture as
grievous or more grievous than the sickness it pretends to cure.’
(Morantz 155).
Other intellectuals saw the reports as a perpetuation of a traditional, historical
perspective that was now supported by specific data.
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The Report will surprise one part of the population with some facts
and another part with other facts, but really all that it says to society
as a whole is that there is an almost universal involvement in the
sexual life and therefore much variety of conduct. This was taken for
granted in any comedy that Aristophanes put on the stage. (Trilling
72)
One way or another, scientists were being called upon to respond to Kinsey’s
findings and the implications he drew from them. The information in the
reports was quickly becoming part of a cultural phenomenon. Kinsey and his
findings were being discussed in homes, grocery stores, break rooms, and on
the radio. Sex was a private matter and suddenly a scientific researcher gave
sex enough legitimacy to be discussed in public.
The first book reporting Kinsey’s findings, Sexual Behavior in the
Human Male, was published on January 6, 1948. “The report was a runaway
sensation, selling two hundred thousand copies in two months and staying
on best-seller lists for more than a year. Yet The New York Times would not
advertise it” (Francoeur Part III 52). It included a lot of information that was
surprising to the general public. Kinsey’s report on the exact percentages of
American males who had paid for sex, cheated on their wives, and masturbated
was surprising enough, but the most shocking information was Kinsey’s data
on homosexual activity. Gathorne-Hardy explains, “Kinsey is famous for three
statistics: 37%, 10%, and 4%” (Gathorne-Hardy 259). Of Kinsey’s male sample,
37% had some homosexual experience to orgasm, 10% had been more or less
exclusively homosexual in their experiences for at least three years at some
point in their lives, and 4% had been exclusively homosexual for their entire
lives. In addition to this data, Kinsey created a broader conceptualization of
sexuality classification.
The Male Report introduced a heterosexual-homosexual rating scale
which measured and individual along a continuum from complete
homosexuality to complete heterosexuality by considering both
overt behavior and psychic response. This scale represented Kinsey’s
discomfort with dichotomous classifications and his determination
to investigate behavior independent of a preconceived notion of
normality. (Morantz 151)
Using the Kinsey scale, as it would come to be known, allowed for people
to identify their own mix of sexual experiences on a continuum that was
then divided into seven points. A zero on the Kinsey scale was completely
heterosexual and did not have homosexual desires or experiences. A six on the
Kinsey scale was completely homosexual and did not have heterosexual desires
or experiences. A three was someone who experienced homosexuality and
heterosexuality equally, in short, a bisexual. Kinsey’s classification system
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was not as rigid as the dichotomous heterosexual or homosexual system. In
fact, one’s number, based on the Kinsey scale, could change over time if one’s
sexual desires or expressions changed. According to Martin Duberman in
the PBS documentary of Kinsey’s life, “We’re talking about a body of theory
that stresses the fluidity of human sexual desire” (Kinsey). Kinsey accepted
then presented to the world the idea that sexual desire is not fixed and can
change. This concept has influenced both the push for a greater understanding
of desire and its relationship to sexual orientation in our society as well the
movement supporting compulsory heterosexuality.
The second book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, was released
August 20, 1953. There were notable differences in the perception of female
sexuality between the male and female volumes. In the male volume, “[t]
here is a distinct, not quite anti-female feeling, but certainly impatience with
women for not being as enthusiastic or responsive as men would like them to
be” (Gathorne-Hardy 258). Once the female volume was released, Kinsey had
come to some conclusions regarding the differences of expression in male
and female sexuality. Kinsey began to understand how women functioned
differently than men. “They became aware of physical need only when actually
locked in their lover’s arms. This explained female passivity, female abstinence,
female resistance to variety” (Gathorne-Hardy 348). The notion that women
and men are different is not new, but having the histories of how thousands
of women responded to sexual desires and situations finally began to explain
those differences. One of Kinsey’s other tasks in writing the female volume was
to evaluate and incorporate any possible improvements to his methods. Jones
explains the steps Kinsey took to accomplish this.
Taking aim at some of the most serious criticisms that had plagued
the male volume, Kinsey worked hard to refine his numbers. To
improve the sample, he removed prisoners and many lower-class
subjects, and he cleaned up most of the minor statistical errors that
had annoyed reviewers the first time. While these changes helped, it
would be wrong to conclude that they constituted any sort of drastic
revision. (Jones 683)
Kinsey, then, was not going to undermine the validity of the interview and
overall process in order to satisfy some of his critics. He would not make
overwhelming changes to the program, just minor ones that did not involve
significant or damaged groups: “The Female volume was subjected to relentless
criticism. Kinsey’s second report was a direct indictment of the double
standard, demonstrating that women, indeed white American women, were
almost as sexually active before and outside of marriage as men were” (Allyn
422). Initially, Kinsey’s honesty and helped him assert his dominance within the
field. Indeed, the response to the female volume was swift and deliberate.
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“Shortly after it was published, the female volume inspired political reaction
and efforts to support it” (Allyn 423). The initial support of the female volume
would soon give way to vicious criticisms, some of which are still echoed by
reviewers today.
Hitting the Wall
While Kinsey’s research was officially funded by the Committee
for Research in Problems of Sex under the National Research Council, the
money actually came from the Rockefeller Foundation. Kinsey never missed an
opportunity to emphasize his connection to the very powerful and respected
Rockefeller Foundation.
Kinsey had not made matters easier for himself or his cause. He had,
for example, insisted on crediting the Rockefeller Foundation as a
source of funding, a policy discouraged by the foundation and for that
reason had not been done in the earlier Rockefeller-supported studies.
This deliberate decision of Kinsey to do so gave his opponents a
larger and extremely wealthy target to attack, and attack they did.
(Bullough 182)
In the end, this move cost him dearly. Kinsey’s books had started such a huge
wave of open sexual discourse and garnered him so much publicity that he
became an obvious target for conservative politicians. This, in turn, made the
Rockefeller Foundation a very large, very public target.
The Rockefeller Foundation faced political pressure from
conservatives in Congress to terminate Kinsey’s funding.
Representative B. Carroll Reece ordered an investigation of the
Foundation’s finances. In 1954, the Foundation cut off virtually all
money for the Kinsey Institute’s research. (Allyn 423)
In the post-World War II, atmosphere of suspicion and fear aroused by the
cold war, any aberrant behavior or independent thought became grounds
for accusations of communist ideation. Within the realm of sexuality, the
“communist threat” label was even more readily assigned.
McCarthyites made unmistakable analogies between Communism
and all non-procreative or non-marital sexual expressions, smudging
together those targeted for their alleged Communist sympathies
and those persecuted for sexual ‘perversions.’ By criticizing the
scapegoating of homosexuals, Kinsey became vulnerable to charges
of being a communist. Kinsey’s research agenda and reform
advocacies thereby became effectively ‘Communist’ within the slippery
delineations of Cold War domestic politics. (Allen 13)
The report from the Reece committee was ultimately revealed to be largely
staged, but this did nothing to save Kinsey from his funding predicament.
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Kinsey had so thoroughly bound himself to the Rockefeller Foundation that it
was nearly impossible for him to procure other sources of funding to continue
his research.
Gradually a consensus emerged that the Reece committee had been
little more than an annoyance. But this was not entirely accurate.
There was one clear-cut casualty, and his name was Alfred Charles
Kinsey. The withdrawal of the Rockefeller Foundation’s support under
fire threw him into a tailspin from which he never recovered. (Jones
737)
It did not help that asking for money was not something easy for Kinsey to do.
Jones argues that this stems from his childhood responsibility of procuring
store credit for his mother. Whatever the reason, his repeated and failed
attempts to secure alternate funding completely demoralized Kinsey. He put
the royalties from the male and female volumes back into the project, but that
income would not sustain the project long enough to reach his ultimate goal of
one hundred thousand sex histories.
Kinsey’s approach to statistics was very simple; get a large enough
sample size and the patterns observed will be representative of the entire
population. In large part, this stems from his training and experience working
with gall wasps. Unfortunately, Kinsey’s sample was neither large enough to
overcome statistical challenges nor was it representative of its own accord.
Many of his critics initially focused on statistical problems and his unique
methodology.
As we shall see, to dismiss methodology as a side issue in dealing
with Kinsey is to miss the point. This is strange, for when the reports
appeared they encountered strong criticism not only from religious
groups and conservatives but from scientists and liberal social
observers like Lionel Trilling and Dorothy Dunbar Bromley. (Levine
428)
Since Kinsey was not a statistician and did not consult a statistical expert
regarding his study, the Committee for Research in Problems of Sex sent a
group of American Statistical Association statisticians to review and report
on Kinsey’s study. Kinsey was not pleased and referred to the team as “totally
cerebral, totally unrealistic academics…” (Gathorne-Hardy 375). Such
criticism coming from someone who was, himself, an academic and a scientist
was particularly harsh. In the end, the group of statisticians led by William
Cochran produced a 331-page analysis of the statistics employed in the male
volume. According to Jones, the findings of the group were decidedly in
Kinsey’s favor. They admitted that there was no way Kinsey could have avoided
the use of a non-random sample. Indeed, in their judgment, the peculiar
problems associated with sex research made statistical analysis extremely
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difficult” (Jones 659). Kinsey was not the first researcher to study sex, but
the scope and approach of his project was definitely unique. Since Kinsey’s
research was so groundbreaking, many of the statisticians’ criticisms focused
more on how to improve that methodology in future studies.
In addressing areas for improvement in future studies, the statisticians
validated Kinsey’s techniques, then suggested potential changes and evaluated
those proposed by critics. “The interviewing methods used by KPM may
not be ideal, but no substitute has been suggested with evidence that it is an
improvement. KPM’s checks were good, but they can afford to supply more”
(Cochran, Mosteller, Tukey 37). This diplomatic analysis did not extend to all
the issues addressed in the report. In fact, the statisticians were particularly
critical of Kinsey’s delivery and commentary on the data he presented.
Many of their most interesting statements are not based on the
tables or any specified evidence, but are nevertheless presented as
well-established conclusions. Statements based on data presented,
including the most important findings, are made much too boldly
and confidently. In numerous instances their words go substantially
beyond the data presented and thereby fall below our standard for
good scientific writing. (Cochran et al. 38)
Since it took until 1954 for the statisticians’ report to be published, many other
critics offered analyses of the works. Kinsey’s sampling technique repeatedly
came under fire.
It was often pointed out that the sampling was not a proportional
representation of the total population. … In rebuttal to this criticism,
it was pointed out that Kinsey used an ‘experimental sample’ rather
than a ‘representative sample.’ An ‘experimental sample’ was said to
have the advantages of being able to be weighted to give an over-all
average which is all a ‘representative sample’ can do, plus being able to
give a finer description and distinction of the smaller groups on which
it is based. (Palmore 66)
In the end, critics of the time identified areas of weakness in the reports but
did not undermine the validity of the findings.
Kinsey’s 95 percent may only be 91 percent. He may not have equally
good samples by all the groups to deal with. He may be criticized on
this point or that. But all such criticism together, even if they were
all justified, would still leave his major conclusions –unchallenged.
(Palmore 68)
Even after decades of visiting and revisiting Kinsey’s methods, his conclusions
have not been undermined.
For some forty years, scientists of all persuasions have scrutinized
and analyzed the two Kinsey reports. Some conclusions are close
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to unanimous. According to Edward Brecher, author of The Sex
Researchers, ‘Whatever their shortcomings, the Kinsey data remain
today the fullest and most reliable sampling of human sexual behavior
in a large population…’ (Francoeur Part III 52)
Whether through some unique combination of funding and situational factors
or sheer grit and determination on Kinsey’s part, his work stands alone. While
many of his findings have been, to greater or lesser degrees, verified, no one
has been able to conduct a survey of size and scope that equals Kinsey. Even so,
the criticisms of his groundbreaking research and its statistical methodology
are many.
The statistical realm of the reports was not the only avenue of
criticism. Critics with a more social or psychological background inquired
about the absence of the emotional component of sexual expression. Kinsey
did not locate the biological functions of sexual activity within the context
of love. Critics were outraged. “Many of Kinsey’s contemporary reviewers
criticized Kinsey for omitting various aspects of human sexuality from his
study. They indicted him for ignoring love, emotion, and the qualitative
analysis of sexual activity” (David Allyn 414). To his critics, Kinsey’s biologic
approach to sexuality was dangerous. Without the social, moral, and even
religious context a culture maps onto sexual behavior, it is condensed to base
physical drives. Kinsey’s use of orgasm as the measure of sexual expression
and satisfaction does, indeed, focus on the strictly physical response. “Kinsey’s
detractors feared that his premises implied an animalistic philosophy of
sex devoid of emotional and social content. They accused him of a crude
behaviorism that failed to place sexual activity within the larger context
of human values” (Morantz 157). But Kinsey’s refusal to address sexual
behaviors from the perspective of and in the terms of love was not the most
controversial of his choices.
Psychoanalysts were particularly critical of Kinsey’s approach to
the investigation of sexual behavior and the complete lack of psychoanalysis.
Gathorne-Hardy finds that their criticism is warranted. “One of the most
noticeable things in both the Male and Female volumes is Kinsey’s unconcealed
hostility to and contempt for, psychoanalysis and in particular, Freudian
psychoanalysis” (Gathorne-Hardy 252). This oppositional attitude towards
Freudian ideas is made even more problematic by Lionel Trilling’s assertions
about the theoretical debt Kinsey owed to Freud. “The way for the Report was
prepared by Freud, but Freud, in all the years of his activity, never had the
currency or authority with the public that the report has achieved in a matter
of weeks” (Trilling 72). It is not clear if Trilling is indicating that Freud
should have had more influence with the public or that Kinsey should have had
less. In either case, Kinsey’s work was viewed by most psychoanalysts as
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incomplete. For them, the failure to address the role of the unconscious in
influencing sexual reporting was a major lapse in judgment.
Kinsey’s greatest critics were psychoanalysts who felt that Kinsey
and his associates lacked a basic understanding of the unconscious.
Psychoanalysts demanded to know how researchers could trust at
face value statements made by subjects about their sexual histories
when Freud had shown how the unconscious repressed and distorted
memory. (Allyn 419)
Kinsey had training in psychology, however, and had studied Freud’s
work before beginning his own studies. In the end, he determined that the
psychoanalytic assertions regarding the unconscious were irrelevant to his own
work. Robinson explains:
Kinsey, on the other hand, took an entirely matter-of-fact view
of human sexual experience. It might, he allowed, be the source
of considerable grief, but it utterly lacked the demonic potential
attributed it by Freud. Consequently, he refused to entertain the
notion that repression might compromise the reliability of his data.
(Robinson 45)
In refusing to consider the psychoanalytic perspective to his research, Kinsey
again limited the focus of his project. The additional result of that decision
was that his analyses were left open to strong critiques by psychologists.
By eliminating social, psychological, and emotional aspects of sexual
behavior from the scope of his research and isolating physical expression,
Kinsey was able to focus an already massive project. It is unreasonable to
expect one study to investigate every aspect of sexuality and find all the
answers. That said, it is equally important that critics identified the areas
of weakness in Kinsey’s reports. The weak areas in Kinsey’s study provided
excellent starting points for future research which reinforces the scientific
process on a large scale. Data is collected and analyzed, conclusions are drawn
from it, and its deficiencies are investigated by projects that follow. Those
projects are then subjected to the same criticism. Without this system of
verification and improvement, Kinsey’s work would have been left to the realm
of moralistic social commentary. As it stands, Kinsey’s research has spawned
countless avenues of inquiry in a wide variety of fields. It has also drawn
criticism from authorities in various fields.
More Recent Critiques
The response to Kinsey’s work by religious groups was initially very
positive. For one reason or another, discussions of the implications of Kinsey’s
work and sexuality in general were permitted, and sometimes even encouraged,
by religious leaders. This was not always the case as Jones notes: “Most
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religious leaders praised Kinsey’s research and welcomed his data, arguing
that it was better to have the facts than to remain ignorant, even if that meant
society would have to reevaluate its sexual mores” (Jones 575). As the years
have passed, however, the response of the religious and socially conservative
to the Kinsey books has become decidedly more negative. Francoeur cites
examples of this attitude in the government:
Religious right-wingers and ultra-conservative politicians may charge
that Kinsey was a fake and a pervert determined to turn America into
a nation that endorsed bisexuality and sex with children. ReaganBush pawns may try to ignore the challenge of Kinsey’s unique and
invaluable surveys by refusing to follow them up with new surveys.
But Kinsey and his surveys have with stood the test of time to remain
landmarks in our understanding of human sexuality. (Francoeur Part
III 52)
One of the leading right-wing critics of Kinsey’s work is Judith Reisman. She
has criticized the Kinsey findings as fraudulent and insists that any social or
legal change that has considered Kinsey’s work supporting evidence must be
undone:
In sum, the American Law Institute should revisit all uses of Kinsey’s
skewed data and the data from his disciples, and their disciples, etc.,
in the ALI-MPC. Moreover, a neutral task force should initiate a full
and open public investigation of the impact of Kinsey’s false data on
our nation’s laws, the military, our schools, churches, the news and
entertainment media,
academia, our families—all of our cultural,
political, and religious institutions. Once the facts are gathered, the
task force should draft the needed corrections to our current legal
system (Reisman 259).
Reisman views the Kinsey reports as flawed in every regard. Any work of
science or law that has evaluated Kinsey’s findings as relevant is tainted by
Kinsey’s erroneous assumptions and results and is, therefore, also suspect.
There are multiple problems with this perspective, the first of which is a lack
of support by other scholars that Reisman’s claims are founded. Francoeur’s
commentary is particularly insightful:
It defies logic and common sense to think that the officials at Indiana
University, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Research
Council, who supported and funded his research, and the thousands
of scholars around the world who have scrutinized the Kinsey reports
for the past forty years, have all missed the shocking evidence of
fraud, perversion and homosexual/ pedophile conspiracy Reisman and
Eichel charge Kinsey with. Respectable scholars and scientists would
prefer to ignore these absurd charges. (Francoeur 119)
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Reisman also cries foul in Kinsey’s research and data presentation techniques.
She does not acknowledge the validity or reliability of Kinsey’s interview
technique; she argues that Kinsey is operating under false pretenses and his
true purpose is to achieve his own sexual agenda. There is, Reisman claims,
substantial evidence of this in the two books. Unfortunately, the methods
Reisman uses in order to criticize Kinsey are highly suspect themselves.
Francoeur points out:
In his review of the Reisman/ Eichel book in the SIECUS Report,
sexologist and educator Vern L. Bullough points out that the writers
‘attempt a smear job based on inadequate evidence and invented
data.’ He goes on to point out that the authors change the meaning
of their source material by merging sentences together so that they
appear to support their theories… ‘This quotation required the
merging of sentences from pages fifty-four, sixty-four, and seventyone, and creates a total distortion of the actual meaning of the text.’
(Francoeur Part I 118)
There is a fine line in academia between editing someone else’s work for space
constraints or relevance and manipulating the meaning of what was actually
said. In criticizing Kinsey for sloppy reporting and inaccurate data gathering,
the critic must use only the most rigorous methods. An effective argument
against Kinsey will not contain the same errors the author claims Kinsey
committed.
Another substantial problem with Reisman’s view and her arguments
that every social change influenced by Kinsey should be undone is the nature
of social change. One cannot simply flip a switch and undo shifts in societal
perceptions overnight. In fact, undoing Kinsey’s influence may not ever be
possible. Reisman argues that if we merely undid everything that Kinsey’s
reports did, we would find ourselves back in a utopia in which nuclear families
reigned supreme, homosexuality did not exist, and bad things never happened
to good people. Stephanie Coontz’ work on the ways in which the image of the
“traditional” family structure and sexual morality of the 1950s, idealized by
Reisman, was not so traditional after all: “The 1960s generation did not invent
premarital and out-of-wedlock sex. Indeed, the straitlaced sexual morality
of nineteenth century Anglo-American societies, partly revived in the 1950s,
seems to have been a historical and cultural aberration” (Coontz 184). Coontz
further argues:
Today’s diversity of family forms, rates of premarital pregnancy,
productive labor of wives, and prevalence of blended families, for
example, would all look much more familiar to colonial Americans
than would 1950s patterns. The age of marriage today is no higher
than it was in the 1870s, and the proportion of never-married people
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is lower than it was at the turn of the century. Although fertility
has decreased overall, the actual rate of childlessness is lower today
than it was at the turn of the century, a growing proportion of
women have at least one child during their lifetime. Many statistics
purporting to show the eclipse of traditional families in recent years
fail to take into account our longer life spans and lower mortality
rates. (Coontz 183)
Coontz analysis of the social changes regarding families, sexual behaviors, and
the complicated interaction of the two undermines Reisman’s idealized vision
of the past. Even if the inaccurate conservative society Reisman put forth as
a social ideal had existed, the idea that we can somehow undo the influence
of sexual pluralism engendered by Kinsey’s work is impossible. Striking any
reference to Kinsey and his work from the laws and social understanding will
not transport our society back in time to a better day. Coontz argues that
societies grow and change and learn and that process of development cannot
be undone:
We will not solve any of the problems associated with the new family
terrain by fantasizing that we can return to some land before time’
where these demographic, cultural, and technological configurations
do not exist. Women will never again spend the bulk of their lives at
home. Sex and reproduction are no longer part of the same land mass,
and no amount of pushing and shoving can force them into a single
continent again. This is not to say that we should simply ignore the
problems raised by shifting realities. Many problems, however, are not
inherent in the changes themselves, but in the choices that have been
made about where to draw new boundaries or how to respond to the
transformations. (Coontz 204)
While the accusations Reisman makes are largely unfounded and her call to
overhaul and restructure modern society in the idealized image of 1950s
morality is impossible, her criticisms of Kinsey are important. Without
such extreme and unsettling claims about the nature of Kinsey’s work and
potentially unethical research methods, Kinsey’s work would stand as fact
without verification. While Reisman’s work is largely manipulative and
incendiary, it motivates people to think critically and evaluate what they
are being told in the Kinsey reports. Unfortunately for Reisman, these
reevaluations do not lead researchers to the same conclusions she has reached.
Francoeur highlights the differences:
Sexologists today do reinterpret the Kinsey data in a more refined and
sophisticated way. But they never suggest that Kinsey was a fraud who
inflated his statistics of homosexuals in order to make American [sic]
a homosexual nation of child molesters! (Francoeur 119)
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Kinsey’s work, and all sexuality research, will continue to be evaluated for
validity and reliability as new statistical approaches are attempted. Because the
works were so influential to modern sex research, scientists will return to them
and analyze the successes and shortcomings of Kinsey’s techniques in order to
develop and use the most accurate and reliable methods available to study sex.
The critiques of Reisman and those like her have encouraged the continual
reexamination of Kinsey’s work, but they fail to undermine the integrity and
accuracy of his findings.
In addition to the attacks on Kinsey’s research, recent scholars have
called into question Kinsey, the man, as well. Jones, one of Kinsey’s most
recent biographers, actually studied The Institute for Sex Research while
pursuing a Ph.D. at Indiana University. Jones was at the epicenter of Kinsey’s
groundbreaking work, yet Jones inexplicably presents an account of Kinsey
utterly at odds with previous biographers and those who knew him. GathorneHardy, was writing his biography of Kinsey, at the same time as Jones, came
to fundamentally different conclusions about this powerful historical figure.
Gathorne-Hardy comments on Jones’ work from the outset of his own book:
“Jones belongs to what one might call the Kenneth Starr school of biography.
That is, he decided to mount his attack since that is what his book in the end
amounted to, from Kinsey’s private sexual behavior” (Gathorne-Hardy viii).
It is impossible to place Kinsey’s sex life in a vacuum, and Gathorne-Hardy
acknowledges that Kinsey’s sexual practices did influence his work, though
not to the degree that Jones asserts: “With Kinsey, sex is central. Wherever we
know something of his sexuality it is at once apparent that while it hardly ever,
if ever, impaired his integrity as a scientist, it had a decisive effect on his work”
(Gathorne-Hardy 19). The disconnect between his other biographers and Jones
is startling and bears evaluation.
Jones has a masterful grasp of language, and his book Alfred C.
Kinsey: A Public/Private Life is full of evidence to that fact. When it comes
to criticizing Kinsey, Jones uses the most charged language possible. He
creates suspicion and scandal in every aspect of his discussion and every
characterization of Kinsey. For Jones, bias is not something to acknowledge,
but a tool to furtively wield on the unsuspecting reader. If the account of
Kinsey provided by Jones is the only one received, a hypercritical and largely
unsupported perception of Kinsey will develop. Gathorne-Hardy, rather
verbosely, but with excellent insight, explains the problems in Jones’ technique:
It is difficult to characterise the atmosphere of a book without lengthy
quotations, but early on, the language of Jones’ biography indicates
that something more than mere distaste for its subject is
operating. You may remember that, in connection with Voris, I said it
seemed likely, given Kinsey’sidealistic attitude to nudity, that the
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Kinseys had been to nudist camps - an innocent enough activity.
Faced with the same evidence, Jones came to the same conclusion,
but he puts it like this: ‘Suspicion lingers that he was speaking from
experience,’ and Jones goes on to imagine, on no evidence at all, that
Kinsey is suggesting group sex. On the marriage course Kinsey’s
poor, duped students ‘thought he truly cared about their problems.’
(Kinsey’s real concerns, according to Jones, again, on no evidence
at all, were prurience and to see if other people shared his sexual
‘demons.’) Kinsey is not allowed to lecture to them without ‘sneering,’
if he pays a bill he’s a ‘check grabber’; he is not allowed to express
pleasure at good reviews but is ‘unable to resist tooting his own horn’
or ‘boasting’ about them; good reviews, which in any case he ‘rigs,’
thereby ‘corrupting peer review’; if Kinsey is pleasant at some point
he as a ‘congenial façade’ concealing the domineering, driven man
‘lurking’ within; he ‘postures’ as objective, but actually the Female
volume only has ‘the trappings of heavy-duty science,’ while in fact
Kinsey’s ‘private demons came dangerously close to howling in public.’
These ‘demons,’ which weave in and out continually, howling and
pursuing the reader as they are supposed to have pursued poor Kinsey
from about the age of fifteen, are ‘masochis[tic]’ and ‘homosexual
[sic].’ We saw, from Jones’ own evidence, that Kinsey was neither
a masochist [n]or a homosexual in the sense Jones’ book uses the
terms. These are not the only instances where Jones stretches to
breaking point the meaning of words in a way not compatible with
scrupulous scholarship. (Gathorne-Hardy 364)
Jones’ presentation of Kinsey’s life and influence is full of such charged
commentary. Seemingly indiscriminately, Jones attacks every aspect of Kinsey’s
life to support the image of Kinsey as a man driven by twisted desires to
change social perceptions and reaffirm his own sexuality. While there are, of
course, valid points raised in Jones’ work, it must be read with a critical eye and
with caution.
Reisman also criticizes Kinsey on the allegation that he was a
pedophile. A documentary produced by the Family Research Council also makes
these accusations, referring to Kinsey’s research as, “criminal experimentation
on children funded by the taxpayer” (The Children of Table 34). Data from the
male volume is analyzed and questions are raised about the validity of Kinsey’s
findings. The documentary asks, regarding the children represented by this
data, “Did their parents know they were being used in sessions with avowed
pedophiles?” (The Children of Table 34). The question seems a valid one, but it
assigns a level of responsibility to Kinsey that he simply did not have. Most of
the information Kinsey published about childhood
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sexuality comes from the detailed journals of one man’s sexual experiences.
That one man is Kenneth S. Green also referred to as Rex King. GathorneHardy explains, “In fact, he lifted large chunks of Green’s pre-adolescent
material, and it furnished a considerable proportion of Chapter 5, ‘Early Sexual
Growth and Activity,’ in the Male volume. The question arises—should he
have done this?” (Gathorne-Hardy 222). The obvious answer now, of course, is
no. At the time, however, the lure of otherwise unattainable data was difficult
to resist. One of Kinsey’s staff members firmly believed that Green’s data
should not be included in the report: “he [Nowlis] thought it was scientifically
disreputable. Kinsey totally and flatly disagreed with him. Dickinson and
Legman, working with Green on the penis monograph, vouched for his
scientific accuracy. The material was unique and was impossible to replicate”
(Gathorne-Hardy 222). Kinsey collected data from sex offenders of all varieties
since the laws regarding sexual behavior were so strict. The illicit nature of
the activities Green reported was not sufficient to override Kinsey’s belief
in their scientific relevance. Reisman denies any validity in child sexuality
research. “Kinsey often expressed elitist right to unlimited, uncontrolled
‘scientific research’ into everyone’s sexuality, including that of children from
birth” (Reisman 36). Reisman even goes so far as to claim that children have
no sexuality. “Would God so mock His people so as to, or nature, the animal
world, make little children ‘sexual’ when an early libido could cripple the child’s
development?” (Reisman 149). While contesting an argument worded thusly
would result in an unavoidable questioning of God, the evidence that children
masturbate themselves with no ill effect would suggest that the issue of
childhood sexuality is not as dire as Reisman suggests.
As for the ethical issues surrounding pedophilia, Kinsey’s views left
him open to criticism by the religious right. Gathorne-Hardy addresses these
views:
This also raises the further question of Kinsey’s attitude to childadult sex in general. At its most basic, Kinsey saw sex as simply
a matter of physiological reactions and sensations which were
fundamentally pleasant. It followed that anything else, or anything
adverse (guilt, fear, dislike, inhibition), had to be learnt and were
human and social additions which had nothing inherently to do with
any sexual act itself. Theoretically, therefore, as far as Kinsey was
concerned, there was nothing automatically wrong with child-adult
sex. (Gathorne-Hardy 223)
This does not mean that Kinsey supported a free-for-all attitude towards
sexual behavior, or any sort of sexual abuse. In fact, Gathorne-Hardy provides
information about Kinsey’s perspective that would have mitigated Reisman’s
critique if considered: “It should go without saying, but should nevertheless
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perhaps be said, that Kinsey was fiercely against any use of force or compulsion
in sex” (Gathorne-Hardy 223). If Kinsey was not so emphatically against the
use of force in sexual behavior, Reisman’s claims would be damning, indeed.
As it stands, with Kinsey’s incredible opposition to violating consent, he would
never support behaviors that were determined to be harmful to children.
Both Reisman and Jones are outspoken critics of Kinsey as a human
being and as a scientist. Their negative evaluations of the man have fueled each
other and resulted in two strongly divided schools of thought. Reisman and
Jones question the techniques and methodology of Kinsey’s research and they
condemn the man himself. While there are occasional concessions to validity,
they remain suspicious and blatantly adversarial to the notion that Kinsey’s
work was at all valid. Other researchers and historians acknowledge that
Kinsey’s alternative sexuality undoubtedly influenced his decision to pursue sex
research and may have informed his conclusions, but they do not undermine
the validity of his life or his research on these grounds. It is a struggle indeed
to evaluate the extent one’s bias influences one’s work and at what point the
influence is so powerful that the work is no longer meaningful.
As sexuality is understood today, aspects of a person’s very identity
are determined by their sexual desires and behaviors. It is very important to
note, however, that people are not defined solely by their sexuality. Sexuality is
merely one of the many characteristics that make up a personality. From this
perspective, Kinsey’s sexuality, the heterosexual, homosexual, masochistic, and
the arguably debauches aspects of that sexuality influenced who he was and
how he viewed the world, but they did not define the man, and they did not
define his work.
Kinsey as Reformer
While Kinsey’s initial investigation of sexual behavior may have been
driven by a desire to know and understand the diversity of a particular human
behavior, the subsequent reforms and advocacy Kinsey supported were much
more personally driven. “And the social-sexual reforms derived not just from
the humane side of his character but from his highly sexed (highly bisexually
sexed) nature and its grievous frustration till he was twenty-seven” (emphasis
original) (Gathorne-Hardy 409). It was also important for Kinsey to maintain
the intellectual legitimacy of studying sex. Allyn explains the conflict between
Kinsey’s objective scientific perspective and his personal one:
Kinsey was well aware that scholars who study sex faced two
problems: sex did not seem to be worthy of serious investigation, yet
paradoxically various forms of sexual behavior were often denounced
as evidence of serious psychological, social or moral decay. Kinsey
wished to defend the study of sexual behavior, but he also wished to
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present himself as an objective scientist. (Allyn 411)
Kinsey’s determination to find and present the reality of sexual behavior led
to gross changes in societal perspectives, whether he intended it to or not. It
is difficult to determine the extent to which Kinsey intended to change social
and legal perceptions of what is normal with the publication of the male and
female volume. With that said, Kinsey definitely advocated reevaluating our
preconceptions of sexual norms in light of his data. Boyle discusses Kinsey’s
perspective on so-called normal sexual behavior:
By demonstrating the variety of human sexual activity, Kinsey was
able to assert that there is no ‘normal’ behavior, and this did open
society up to a less prejudicial view of certain sexual practices. To
Kinsey, all sex acts between consenting parties were equal and equally
valid, and though he presented himself as a disinterested scientist, he
was in fact a reformer outof the Progressive Era and an advocate for
sex. (Boyle 184)
Both Jones and Gathorne-Hardy note that Kinsey often lectured to students,
academic organizations, and even social groups about his findings and their
practical application. In these venues, Kinsey was able to present his data and
emphasize the variety in the sexual behaviors people reported. This assessment
of behaviors without regard to legal or moral proscriptions enabled Kinsey to
identify what people were doing sexually whether or not it was legal. When
he found that many common sexual behaviors were illegal, he sought to align
the laws with the social morality already in place. To this end, “Kinsey offered
testimony, reports, answers, and briefing materials to legislatures considering
sex offenders and offenses in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and California” (Allen 4). Allen also explains that
Kinsey turned a critical eye towards the criminal justice system and became an
advocate for legal reform:
By failing to reflect reality, the law was substantially unenforceable,
creating ‘all kinds of injustice, conniving, police graft, and other such
things.’ By attacking the selective and inconsistent enforcement of
criminal law, Kinsey effectively accused police, prosecutors, district
attorneys and the press of unethical conduct. (Allen 24)
Striving to imbue sex research with academic and social legitimacy and
ensuring that people were treated equally under the law despite their sexual
practices were not, however, Kinsey’s only lasting contributions.
Kinsey’s research greatly influenced the field of sexology. While
sexology as a discipline had been around long before Kinsey started taking sex
histories, it had not gained the notoriety and social support that Kinsey’s work
brought it. While subsequent researchers still had to address issues of stigma
surrounding their work, the topic had been broached by a legitimate scientist
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in this country with great success. Elkin explains, “Dr. Masters himself the
first to admit that if it weren’t for Kinsey and Indiana University, Washington
University would never have permitted Virginia Johnson and himself to have
begun their astonishing investigations and observations of the physiology
of sex…” (Elkin 53). The research to which Elkin referred was presented in
the 1966 book Human Sexual Response. Other academics note that Kinsey’s
success enabled the pursuit of sexual studies in other fields: “Kinsey paved the
way for modern approaches to sex therapy” (Morantz 162). Additionally, Boyle
notes Kinsey’s research and popular appeal business: “Indeed, Hugh Hefner has
cited Kinsey as one of his chief inspirations in launching Playboy” (Boyle 184).
Kinsey’s influence has been pervasive. His research was so well-known and
respected that future work involving sexuality did not have to work as hard to
establish legitimacy.
The Sexual Revolution and Beyond
The sexual revolution of the 1960s has been attributed to a number
of social and political factors, one of which is Alfred Kinsey. Some researchers
attribute the success and popularity of Kinsey’s books on human sexual
behavior as the straw that broke the camel of sexual repression’s back. Indeed,
it would make sense to conclude that Kinsey’s work, published less than two
decades before the revolution began had something to do with the whole
process. The problem arises when there is an assumed causative relationship
between the publication of Kinsey’s data and perceived large-scale changes in
sexual practices. Owen Edwards notes, “But to suggest that the book launched
what came to be known as the sexual revolution would not be accurate. Just
because everybody began talking about sex did not mean they did very much
more about it, and sexual behavior changed little in the 50’s” (sic) (Edwards
34). While it may not seem a significant difference to say that Kinsey opened
the door to let the sexual revolution take place, instead of saying that Kinsey
launched it, there is a distinct difference in the agency ascribed to him. It would
be a mistake to say that one man caused the entire cultural shift in beliefs about
sexual expression, but he certainly played an important part. David Allyn
explains:
Scholars have noted that Kinsey’s efforts paved the way for the work
of Masters and Johnson and contributed to a post-war climate of
‘openness’ about sexual behavior. In effect, Kinsey’s studies signaled
the final triumph of scientific candor over the nineteenth century
‘conspiracy of silence.’ Furthermore, Kinsey’s quantitative approach
advanced what Paul Robinson has called the ‘modernization of sex,’
and Kinsey’s discussion of homosexuality inspired both the homophile
movement of the 1950’s and the anti-homosexual moral panic of the
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same decade (Allyn 405).
Other researchers have argued that Kinsey’s influence did not end with the
sexual revolution. Indeed, the importance of discourse to the current social
attitudes and issues of sexuality is undeniable. Coontz places the sexual climate
of today in the context of discourse in the past:
Even more disconcerting for many has been the unprecedented
openness, even exhibitionism, about sexuality. This has gone far
beyond the ‘coming out’ of gays and lesbians during the 1970s
or the refusal of young heterosexual couples to keep their sexual
activity secret from their parents. Today, talk-show guests parade the
most intimate details of their sex lives before audiences; neighbors
videotape a couple having sex in an apartment where the blinds have
been left open; and reporters research the minutia of public figures’
sexual behavior and preferences. (Coontz 198)
Today we talk about sex just as much as Americans did when the Kinsey
reports were first published, though the content of our discussion has evolved.
Now, it takes the form of which sexual practices are strange enough to be
portrayed on popular television shows such as CSI, and an obsession with the
sexual exploits of celebrities and politicians from the latest Hollywood star’s
sex tape scandal to the recent confirmation of John Edwards’ extramarital
affair. From the controversial issues of gay marriage, sex education in schools,
and how, exactly, our laws define abortion; sex continues to be discussed and
researched.
There are numerous avenues for research on sex, but there are a few
dedicated strongholds of sex research. The Kinsey Institute for Research
on Sex, Gender, and Reproduction was originally founded by Kinsey as the
Institute for Sex Research. Still located on the beautiful Indiana University,
Bloomington campus, the Institute is home to some of the foremost experts on
human sexuality. The Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
(IASHS) is located in San Francisco and offers advanced degrees in several
areas of human sexuality. Janice Irvine says of the IASHS: “the Institute
for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality…was formally incorporated
as a graduate program in 1976. Since its inception, it has provided academic
training in sexology and serves as a clearing house for sexual information”
(Irvine 84). The success and rigor of Kinsey’s original study, despite its flaws,
set the stage for the continued pursuit of sexual knowledge by these and other
such institutions. There are even academic organizations such as the Society for
the Scientific Study of Sexuality, which publishes journals of sex research and
hosts conferences to foster discussion on recent research findings.
Not long ago, Hollywood produced a movie about Kinsey’s life. The
tagline for the award-winning 2004 movie was surprisingly apt. As the
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romotional movie posters boldly encouraged: “Let’s talk about sex.” That is
precisely what Alfred Kinsey accomplished. In his interviews with individual
Americans, his lengthy books explaining his findings, and the publicity
surrounding the whole project, Kinsey got America talking about sex. He
presented a new view of sexual behavior that was not based in moralization,
but in an unwavering acceptance of individual variation. Though Kinsey
did not live to see it, his work encouraged the openness necessary for and
characteristic of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the gay rights movement
of the 1970s, and the general social acceptance and awareness of sexual
variation today. By approaching an investigation of sexual practices from a
taxonomist’s perspective, Kinsey also opened the door for other scientists
to study this integral part of the human existence. Today sex is presented
everywhere in our culture and science does its best to keep up with changing
understandings of sexual behaviors, attitudes, physiology, and orientation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank The Kinsey Institute for Sex, Gender, and Reproduction
for the generous use of their library in researching this project.
REFERENCES
Allen, Judith A. (2002). Testifying to Cold War sexualities: Alfred Kinsey as
an expert witness 1949-55. Bloomington, IN: Storrs, CT: Indiana U:
Berkshire conference on the history of women.
Allyn, David. (1996). Private acts/public policy: Alfred Kinsey, the American
law institute and the privatization of American sexual morality.
Journal of American Studies. 30, 405-428.
Boyle, T.C. (2004, January). Dr. Sex. Playboy. 182-185.
Bullough, Vern L. Science in the bedroom. New York: BasicBooks, 1994.
(1994). The children of table 34: the true story behind Kinsey’s infamous sex
research. The Family Research Council.
Christenson, Cornelia V. Kinsey: A Biography. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1971.
Cochran, William G. Frederick Mosteller, John W. Tukey. Statistical problems
of the Kinsey report on sexual behavior in the human male: a report
of the American statistical association committee to advise the national research council committee for research in problems of sex
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Washington, D.C.: The American Statistical Association, 1954.
Coontz, Stephanie. The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap. New York: BasicBooks, 1992.
Corry, John. Not a Revolution, More a Way of Life. The American sexual dilemma. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 1972. 116-120.
Edwards, Owen. From Kinsey to Koop. Memories. Spring 1998: 34-35.
Elkin, Stanley. Alfred Kinsey: the patron saint of sex. Esquire. 100(6), 48-56.
Francoeur, Robert T. (1992, July). Kinsey forty years later part I: attacks on
Kinsey. Penthouse forum. 48+.
Francoeur, Robert T. (1992, August). Kinsey forty years later part II: the need
to update. Penthouse forum. 48-53.
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with a purpose. Penthouse forum. 48-52.
Gathorne-Hardy, Jonathan. (1998). Kinsey: sex the measure of all things.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Gebhard, Paul H. (1978). Sexuality in the post-Kinsey era. Eugenics Society
(15th ed.). London. 45-57.
Irvine, Janice M. (2005). Disorders of desire: sexuality and gender in modern
American sexology. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Jones, James H. (1997). Alfred C. Kinsey: a public/private life. New York:
Norton.
Kinsey, Alfred C., Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin. (1948). Sexual
behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company.
Barak Goodman and Joe Maggio (Directors). (2005). Kinsey. [Motion picture].
PBS: American Experience. DVD. WGBH Educational Foundation
and Twin Cities Public Television.
Levine, Alan J. (1994, February). Errorogenous zones? Kinsey’s sexual
ideology. The world and I. 427-439.
Masters, William, Virginia Johnson. (1966). Human sexual response. Boston: Little, Brown.
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Money, John. (2002, September). Once upon a time I met Alfred C. Kinsey.
Archives of sexual behavior. 31(4). 319-322.
Morantz, Regina Markell. (1983). The scientist as sex crusader: Alfred C.
Kinsey and American culture. Procreation or pleasure?: sexual attitude
in American history. Malabar, Fla.: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co., 145-168.
Palmore, Erdman. (1972). “Kinsey received.” The American sexual dilemma.
New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 63-70.
Reisman, Judith A. (2003). Kinsey: crimes and consequences: the red queen
and the grand scheme. 3rd ed. Crestwood, Kentucky: The Institute for
Media Education, Inc.
Robinson, Paul. (1989). The modernization of sex: Havelock Ellis, Alfred
Kinsey, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press.
Stevens, Kenneth R. (1975). United States v. 31 photographs: Dr. Alfred C.
Kinsey and obscenity law.” Indiana Magazine of History. 71(4). 299318.
Trilling, Lionel. (1972). Kinsey denied. The American sexual dilemma. New
York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 71-82.
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Literary
Literary
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“Esperanza, en suma”
“Esperanza, en suma” de una nueva vida mexicana en
Pedro Páramo
Rebekah Clark
Dr. Myron Alberto Ávila
Faculty Advisor
A partir de la victoria mexicana en la Guerra de Independencia contra
España que terminó en 1821, los campesinos de la nación tuvieron que empezar
una lucha nueva contra el sistema de caudillos elitistas. A pesar de muchas
revoluciones, la destrucción del caudillismo afligió a México por décadas. En
Pedro Páramo (1955), Juan Rulfo creó una novela, influida por experiencias
personales que también muestra los efectos de la Revolución Mexicana y
propone la esperanza de una edad nueva, sin la opresión de los caudillos.
Porque tanto la vida de Rulfo como la historia de México tienen un papel muy
importante en sus escritos, este trabajo examina ambas, siguiendo con una
evaluación de Pedro Páramo como un retrato histórico de la sociedad mexicana
durante y después de la Revolución. Se aprecia así que con esta novela, Rulfo
produjo una obra pionera de vanguardia que, al incorporar y recrear eventos
biográficos e históricos, sugiere vital la “esperanza, en suma” de ese México
revolucionario.
Para entender el retrato histórico que presenta Pedro Páramo, haré una
síntesis de la biografía de Rulfo y la historia mexicana; para luego explorar
la novela y su conexión histórica. Rulfo nació en 1918, en el estado rural de
Jalisco, México, un territorio lleno de pobreza y miseria (Rulfo 16). Puesto que
México fue arruinado por la Revolución, “el pequeño Rulfo crece así en una
región empobrecida” (Lorente-Murphy 14); y en un ambiente de inestabilidad
política y guerra que se convertiría en la atmósfera de sus obras (“Juan Rulfo
(1918-1986)”). Durante su juventud oía “cuentos que describían la violencia
de crímenes y de guerras” (Garganigo 527). Rulfo afirma que “[y]o tuve una
infancia muy dura, muy difícil. Una familia que se desintegró muy fácilmente
en un lugar que fue totalmente destruido” (Jiménez de Báez 35); que vivió en
“una zona de devastación. No sólo devastación humana, sino de devastación
geográfica” (35); y que su niñez transcurrió ante la “fuerte crisis del alto
liderato del país” (253).
Como gran parte de su niñez, la Revolución Mexicana tuvo un impacto
profundo en Rulfo. Una serie de conflictos internos se inició en 1910 a causa
de la insatisfacción popular con el gobierno que favoreció a los terratenientes,
resultando en que “los beneficios de la prosperidad no habían alcanzado a los
grupos más pobres de la sociedad” (“Revolución Mexicana”). En la sociedad
campesina de México, “el acceso o no acceso a [la tierra] es el eje que moviliza
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la historia de estos pueblos” (Jiménez de Báez 88). Iniciada a causa de la “injusta
repartición de la tierra” (95), la Revolución se manifestó como “un movimiento
de insurgencia por la tierra, de emancipación económica y de afirmación de la
nacionalidad” (Lorente-Murphy 17). Los campesinos querían derechos y “un
cambio en el gobierno de privilegiados” (18).
La sublevación resultante, sangrienta, enfrentó a los caciques locales y sus
aliados militares con los campesinos descontentos que exigían una reforma
agraria. Sin embargo, una vez logradas, las reformas agrarias siguieron
favoreciendo a los caciques; y los campesinos “[perdieron] el acceso a la
tierra que es su medio de producción” (Jiménez de Báez 253). Rulfo creía que
“la revolución no [había solucionado] el problema del campo, que [seguía]
en manos de latifundistas” (Rulfo 17); y que más bien, había sido “una acción
fallida [porque] los problemas sociales candentes por los que se había iniciado
la Revolución permanecían intactos” (Lorente-Murphy 20-21). A causa de la
injusta división de la tierra, los sectores más radicales lucharon hasta 1920, mas
“las revueltas militares y las situaciones de violencia esporádica prosiguieron
hasta 1934” (“Revolución Mexicana”). Esta era de violencia influyó mucho
la escritura de Rulfo. Él tenía una visión negativa de la revolución en la que
“tantas veces primaron sobre todo los intereses particulares de sus caudillos”
dejando a los campesinos desanimados (Rulfo 17). Desde una edad muy joven,
Rulfo habría presenciado hambre, enfermedad y muerte.
Otro evento en la historia de México que impresionó mucho al autor fue
la Guerra Cristera, que duró desde 1926 hasta 1928. Esta rebelión surgió
cuando los jesuitas combatieron el establecimiento de una república soberana
que requería “la eliminación de los privilegios feudales de esa Iglesia Católica
que estaba impidiendo el desarrollo económico de la nación” (“La rebelión
cristera”). La gente reaccionó “en contra de la Iglesia como institución feudal,
como extensión de una política caciquista” (Lorente-Murphy 92). En contra de
la separación de Iglesia y Estado proclamada por la Constitución de 1917, los
grupos radicales intentaron “reestablecer un Estado teocrático” (“La rebelión
cristera”). Describiendo la región donde Rulfo creció, Elena Poniatowska
asevera que “era [una] zona de agitación y de revuelta, [en la que] no se podía
salir a la calle [y donde] entraban los Federales a saquear y luego entraban
otra vez los Cristeros a saquear” (Lorente-Murphy 77). A causa de esta
violencia, la gente se vio obligada a abandonar sus pueblos y su tierra.
Para Rulfo, la Guerra Cristera provocó grandes sufrimientos y costó miles
de vidas, incluyendo las de su propia familia. La Revolución “destruyó miles de
hogares en los que los niños vieron morir a sus padres, quedando abandonados,
solos” (Lorente-Murphy 79). Rulfo sufrió la pérdida de ambos padres antes
de cumplir diez años. Su padre y su tío fueron asesinados durante la guerra,
ausencias que según algunos críticos inspirarían el tema de la búsqueda del
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padre que marca Pedro Páramo (“Juan Rulfo (1918-1986)”). Para añadir a su
tragedia familiar, su madre murió de un infarto en 1927 (Garganigo 527). Las
muertes en su familia lo sumergen en la soledad, un tema que aparece con
frecuencia en sus obras. Tras las muertes de sus padres, vivió en el orfanato de
Luis Silva, en Guadalajara, de 1928 a 1932. Marcado por la muerte violenta de
su padre y esa ausencia paternal, Rulfo tuvo que definirse solo. Esta búsqueda
de la identidad “no significa sólo la búsqueda de la identidad personal, sino
también […] la búsqueda de la identidad nacional o cultural” en un tiempo
caótico (Lorente-Murphy 79). Este sentimiento de inseguridad predominó
durante la lucha violenta por el poder.
Durante esta época de guerras en México, los sufrimientos de los
campesinos fueron prolongados por la persistencia del caudillismo. Aunque
la intención de la Revolución fue crear reformas justas sobre la división de
la tierra, perduró la opresión de los caciques. Los países latinoamericanos
tenían “problemas sociales terribles, de contrastes tremendos entre la gran
riqueza y la gran pobreza” (Jiménez de Báez 36). La gente campesina fue “una
raza sofocada por la perdurable proyección del feudalismo agrario” (LorenteMurphy 99). Por mucho tiempo, la vida rural mexicana sufrió los estragos del
hambre y la violencia.
Después de haber examinado la historia y la vida de Rulfo, es posible argüir
y examinar la conexión que existe entre éstas y su novela. Con la influencia
trágica de su vida personal y la experiencia dolorosa de todo México, su estilo
de escribir también ayudó a cambiar el rumbo de la novela en Latinoamérica.
Las obras de Rulfo “revelan una actitud trágica y estoica hacia la vida”
(Garganigo 527) resultando de la violencia de la vida rural mexicana. Según
Octavio Paz, Juan Rulfo es “el único novelista mexicano que nos ha dado una
imagen—en vez de una descripción—de nuestros alrededores físicos” (“Juan
Rulfo (1918-1986)”). Como muchas de las obras latinoamericanas de este
tiempo, las obras de Rulfo tienen “una corriente crítico-social” (Garganigo
511) en que comentan los problemas de la sociedad, tales como la violencia y la
dominación de los caciques. Su novela Pedro Páramo es “una revelación crítica
de la degradación social resultante de regímenes políticos que persisten en
concentrar el poder en una minoría irracional” (Lorente-Murphy 102).
Comenzando en 1947, Pedro Páramo tuvo una larga gestación que
terminó en 1954 con la ayuda de una beca del Centro Mexicano de Escritores
(“Nota Biográfica”). Desde su publicación original en 1955, se han producido
veinticinco ediciones de Pedro Páramo y la novela se ha traducido a dieciocho
idiomas (Tuck). Rulfo alude “frecuentemente al ambiente rural de donde
han surgido sus historias” (Rulfo 15). Críticos como Silvia Lorente-Murphy
consideran a Pedro Páramo como una representación del México abatido de la
revolución y la post-revolución; ya que con la influencia de guerras destructivas
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en la vida de Rulfo, los “campesinos pobres, cuyas vidas transcurren en una
forma primitiva y miserable,…reaparecen en [Pedro Páramo] captados con
finísima percepción” (Lorente-Murphy 14). Con referencias biográficas e
históricas, en efecto, Rulfo presenta un “retrato auténtico” de México y, por
extrapolación, de toda Latinoamérica, en el que plasma las dificultades de la
vida campesina y la violencia de los movimientos revolucionarios.
Pedro Páramo da inicio cuando Juan Preciado, su narrador, viaja al pueblo
de Comala con el único objetivo de buscar a su padre, Pedro Páramo, a quien
nunca ha conocido. Mostrando sus pensamientos idealizados sobre el encuentro
con su padre, Juan Preciado dice, “comencé a llenarme de sueños, a darle vuelo
a las ilusiones” (65). En Comala, Juan Preciado averigua que su padre ya ha
muerto y que era el cacique local que manipula a toda la gente para satisfacer
sus propios designios. La noción del tiempo entonces se hace difusa; el pasado
se mezcla con el presente de tal manera que los muertos de Comala—o sus
espectros—entonces comienzan a comunicarse con Juan Preciado y a hablar
de su padre. Sobre Pedro Páramo y su poder, dos sacerdotes dicen que “[e]
s lástima que [las tierras de Comala] estén en manos de un solo hombre” y,
porque es tan poderoso, dudan que “en este caso intervenga la voluntad de
Dios” (141). Su queja denuncia el control total del caudillismo; Pedro Páramo
ejemplifica a un cacique todopoderoso y egoísta que abusa de la gente que
trabaja en sus tierras para sobrevivir. Sólo considerando sus deseos, Pedro
Páramo “causó tal mortandad” después de la muerte de su propio padre y “[d]
esalojó sus tierras y mandó quemar los enseres” (149) de muchos pobladores
en su desesperación por el amor frustrado de una mujer, Susana. Aunque podía
tener a cualquier mujer, Pedro Páramo se enamora de Susana cuando era
niño y “nunca quiso a ninguna mujer como a ésa” (149). A causa de la muerte
de Susana, un caprichoso y egoísta Pedro Páramo permitió que “la tierra se
[quedara] baldía y como en ruinas” (149). La destrucción de sus tierras resultó
en la salida de mucha gente de Comala.
En la historia de Pedro Páramo se representa así el caciquismo duro
de México que dio paso a la Revolución de los campesinos. Los caciques
oprimieron a los campesinos hasta que no aguantaron más y se rebelaron. Los
campesinos de Comala proclaman, “[n]os hemos rebelado contra el gobierno
y contra ustedes porque ya estamos aburridos de soportarlos” (167). Aunque
Pedro Páramo finge apoyar su causa liberacionista, es en verdad un cacique
codicioso y les da dinero “nomás para sus gastados más urgentes” (169).
Utilizando la Revolución “a su conveniencia”, Pedro Páramo “hábilmente simula
colaborar con los revolucionarios para que no le saqueen la hacienda” (LorenteMurphy 85-86). La novela describe la violencia de las guerras del momento
indicando que “[l]legaron unos heridos a Comala” a causa de la Revolución
(171). Comala es una representación del “México de post-Revolución, arruinado
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y sumergido en el escepticismo más grande, donde los vivos no se diferencian
de los muertos y el futuro aparece cerrado” (Lorente-Murphy 87). La
devastación a causa las guerras fue aumentada por la opresión de los caudillos
en las tierras rurales a lo largo de México.
Pedro Páramo representa el caudillismo extremo en que los caciques se
aprovechan del “nexo dependiente entre el patrón y sus subordinados” (Jiménez
de Báez 158); y el mismo Rulfo dijo que en su novela quiso “presentar un
cacique que es una característica de México” (33). Explotando a los campesinos,
Pedro Páramo es “un cacique cruel que durante muchos años tiranizó la
comarca apoderándose, a veces con astucia, a veces con violencia, de todas las
tierras” (Lorente-Murphy 68). El poder caprichoso de Pedro Páramo es más
evidente tras la muerte de Susana, cuando declara, “[m]e cruzaré de brazos
y Comala se morirá de hambre” (187). La amargura del cacique causó el
sufrimiento de toda la gente que dependía de él. Porque la voluntad de Pedro
Páramo controla el pueblo, su abandono de Comala provoca gran pobreza
y falta de comida. Comala, un pueblo que era una “vista muy hermosa de una
llanura verde […] se convierte en ruinas sin la ayuda de Pedro Páramo”
(Lorente-Murphy 66, 68). Describiendo el desierto que es Comala a causa de
su padre, Juan Preciado dice, “[a]quello está sobre las brasas de la tierra, en
la mera boca del infierno” (Rulfo 68). El nombre del pueblo tiene un sentido
de ironía, puesto que es tan caliente como un comal, pero le falta la comida.
Como su nombre lo implica, Pedro Páramo ha convertido la tierra en un
terreno rocoso, yermo y desamparado. La novela muestra en el microcosmos de
Comala un caudillismo que arruina y destruye la nación entera: simbólica de la
situación en México, Comala es un valle calcinado en el desierto, afectado por
el hambre, que recrea el infierno de la carestía y la mortandad nacionales. Con
la incorporación de dichos eventos, esta novela representa las dificultades de la
vida campesina en la sociedad rural mexicana en manos caudillistas.
Si bien describe la violencia y el sufrimiento de la vida, empero, en Pedro
Páramo todavía se provee esperanza para el pueblo mexicano. La eventual
muerte de Pedro Páramo representa el fin del caudillismo y “en el mundo
patriarcal que representa Pedro Páramo desaparece toda posibilidad de
resurrección” (Jiménez de Báez 103). Pedro Páramo muere desmoronándose
“como si fuera un montón de piedras” (Rulfo 195); y su muerte definitiva
muestra el fin de su poder y la opresión e implica el fin de una generación
maldita. A pesar de que la población entera de Comala ha muerto, el padre
Rentería dice que “[h]ay esperanza, en suma. Hay esperanza para nosotros,
con nuestro pesar” (90). Así, aunque las almas en Comala vagan sin descanso a
causa de sus pecados, persiste la esperanza de que gente nueva pueda reavivar al
pueblo. Aun en la eventual muerte de Juan Preciado, se reitera simbólicamente
la esperanza de una época nueva. Dorotea, la mujer que está enterrada junto a
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Juan, comenta que “[a]llá fuera está lloviendo” (130), indicando así la promesa
de una renovación vital. No se puede cambiar el pasado de un pueblo, pero el
autor afirma que “[la] lluvia que cae sobre las tumbas de Comala es un claro
indicio de que aún es posible la esperanza” (Rulfo 47). La lluvia acaba con el
páramo, provee fecundidad, renueva el ciclo de la vida, trayendo la esperanza de
que surja de nuevo la “llanura verde” (66) que existía antes de la destrucción del
caudillo.
De la misma manera, Rulfo propone la esperanza de una época nueva
para los campesinos mexicanos con Pedro Páramo. A través de la inclusión de
eventos históricos y biográficos, Rulfo crea en su novela un retrato del México
en que vivió, durante la revolución y la post-revolución. Como un ejemplo del
admirable talento de autores latinoamericanos de la vanguardia, Rulfo mostró
que, a pesar de los eventos más terribles en la vida, todo lo puede superar el ser
humano. Así como eventualmente las revoluciones de los campesinos mexicanos
triunfaron con la caída de los caudillos, y muy a pesar de que éstas resultaron
fallidas; en Pedro Páramo Rulfo propuso que aún existía la esperanza de un
México que algún día se vería libre de opresiones caudillistas. Siempre “[h]ay
esperanza, en suma”.
OBRAS CITADAS
Garganigo, John F. Huellas de las literaturas hispanoamericanas. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Jiménez de Báez, Yvette. Juan Rulfo: Del Páramo a la Esperanza. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1990.
“Juan Rulfo (1918-1986).” Books and Writers 2002. 14 de marzo, 2008 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rulfo.htm>.
Lorente-Murphy, Silvia. Juan Rulfo: Realidad y mito de la Revolución Mexicana. Madrid: Editorial Pliegos, 1988.
“Nota Biográfica.” Página Oficial 2001. 14 de marzo, 2008 <http://www.
clubcultura.com/clubliteratura/clubescritores/juanrulfo/home.htm>.
“La rebelión cristera.” Instituto Schiller 2001. 14 de marzo, 2008
<http://www.schillerinstitute.org/newspanish/InstitutoSchiller/
Literatura/Sinarquismo/rebcristera_mx.html>.
“Revolución Mexicana.” Diario Yucatán, 14 de marzo, 2008 <http://www.
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yucatan.com.mx/especiales/revolucion/20119900.asp>.
Rulfo, Juan. Pedro Páramo. Ed. José Carlos González Boixo. Madrid: Cátedra, 1993.
Tuck, Jim. “The few, the proud, the work of Juan Rulfo.” Mexico Connect 2000. 14 de marzo, 2008 <http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/
jtuck/jtjuanrolfo.html>.
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Return of the Redeemed
Return of the Redeemed:
Charlie Wales in Fitzgerald’s
“Babylon Revisited”
Ashleigh Eisinger
Dr. Allen Gee
Faculty Sponsor
There is no question that Charlie Wales has made mistakes in his past. He
has lived in excess, wasting time and money on drinking and childish games,
eventually costing him more than francs and months. After losing his wife to
the grave, his child to the control of his sister-in-law, and his sense of self to
a sanatorium in an attempt to overcome his alcoholism, Wales returns to Paris
where we encounter him in the beginning of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon
Revisited.” Critics question whether “Charlie is … ‘the old Wales,’ as his former
friends call him, or the new” (Male 273). Despite their reservations, Charlie is
indeed a changed man, one who has control over his past and is now ready to
spend his time and money on what matters most to him – his daughter.
Critics cite the fact Charlie does not gain custody of his daughter, Honoria,
as a sign of his “inevitable” doom, stating that his lust for both the past and
present worlds keeps him from obtaining the household and family that he so
desires (Davison 193). Despite this claim, it is Marion, Charlie’s sister-in-law,
who keeps his daughter from him. Unconvinced of his change, Marion searches
for any reason to refuse Charlie his daughter, having “lived for a long time with
a prejudice… [that] had turned to hatred for him” (Fitzgerald 1667). This
hatred is the only reason that Charlie is not successful in retrieving Honoria
from Marion’s care. Although he is denied this time, and although critics say
otherwise, Fitzgerald hints to his audience that Charlie will be successful in the
future, his steadfastness in his newfound sobriety and moderate living the key
to the happiness that he longs for.
Charlie Wales is indeed a reformed man, having left his alcoholism and
outrageous spending behind him. He is first seen at the Ritz Bar, inquiring after
friends from his past and learning that all of these men, save Duncan Schaeffer,
are either broke or in sanatoriums, as was Charlie himself. This shows the
end of an era that, unlike many of his former friends, Charlie has come
back from fully recovered. By giving the Peters’ address to the barman and
allowing himself to be accessible to Duncan, Charlie is showing resoluteness
in his sobriety and his conquering of the past, refusing to skulk away silently
by facing up to anything that Duncan can bring. Charlie is also under the
impression that Duncan will be changed the way that he is; Fitzgerald tells us
“Charlie had left his address for the purpose of finding a certain man”
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(1669), and, upon spotting Duncan drunk alongside Lorraine Quarrels, another
“[ghost] out of [Charlie’s] past” (1663). One can be sure that this was not the
kind of man Charlie believed he would encounter.
Duncan and Lorraine make more than one appearance in the piece, first
drunkenly disrupting Charlie and Honoria’s lunch, then barging into the
Peters’ household unannounced, ultimately upsetting Marion and leading her
to deny Charlie custody of Honoria. On both occasions, although taken by
surprise, Charlie handles the situation with as much control as one may have
over other people, politely declining their invitations to dinner and motioning
to his daughter when they begin to speak of inappropriate things. When
Duncan and Lorraine show up at Marion and Lincoln’s house, Charlie shoos
them away as delicately and quickly as possible: “‘Come and dine. Sure your
cousins won’ mine. See you so sel’om. Or solemn.’ ‘I can’t,’ said Charlie sharply.
‘You two have dinner and I’ll phone you’” (Fitzgerald 1671). While unable to
control the reactions of Lincoln or Marion, Charlie does take control of the
situation and assert himself to Duncan and Lorraine, proving to both them
and the Peters’ that when the past barges in suddenly, he will be able to put it
down without temptation to backslide. Charlie’s reaction to Lorraine, a woman
whose “passionate, provocative attraction” used to call to him, is also proof
in how he has changed. Although Charlie is still aware of this attraction, he
shows little regard for Lorraine, dismissing her pneumatique at his hotel and
appearing distracted when in her presence, more taken with Honoria than with
her: “Listening abstractedly to Lorraine, Charlie watched Honoria’s eyes leave
their table, and he followed the wistfully about the room, wondering what they
saw” (Fitzgerald 1664).
Many critics cite the fact that Charlie left his address for Duncan at the
Ritz Bar as proof that, despite his cleaning up, Charlie wants to remain in the
past world as well as the present. Roy Male states that “Fitzgerald… insists
upon the reader’s seeing more clearly than Charlie does. For the trouble with
Charlie is that he still wants both worlds,” adding that, “[t]he harsh fact is
that if he had not stopped in the Ritz Bar in the first place, had not tried to get
in touch with Duncan Schaeffer, he would have won back his daughter” (276).
Carlos Baker insists that his telling Marion that “it was nice while it lasted”
(Baker 271), combined with his leaving the Peters’ address for Duncan, proves
that he has not put his past entirely behind him because he is still in love with
it. Richard Allen Davison asks “why… Charlie at the very beginning of the
story … plant[s] the seed of his own destruction by leaving the Peterses’
address with the Ritz barman after inquiring about former acquaintances,
willing accomplices from his period of dissipation?” (195). Davison seems,
however, to answer his own question, mentioning that Charlie is “horrified by
[Duncan and Lorraine’s] drunken disruption… at the Peterses’ apartment”
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and “deeply disturbed by [their] unwelcome intrusion into the loving intimacy
of his luncheon with Honoria” (194). For someone who allegedly wants to live
in both worlds, Charlie certainly seems to have a problem when those worlds
collide, “horrified” and “deeply disturbed” at the people from his past appearing
in his present. Also, Charlie never seeks Duncan and Lorraine out to socialize,
ignoring Lorraine’s pneumatique and refusing to give them his hotel address
after encountering them for the first time during his lunch with Honoria. In
fact, the only time that Charlie seeks out his past is after they barge into the
Peters’ residence and cost him his daughter, therefore, leading the reader to
believe that Charlie is not seeking out the players of his past in order to live in
it, but to make them aware of what they have cost him so far.
While Charlie looks back at that period of his life somewhat fondly,
remembering wealthy Americans then as “a sort of royalty, almost infallible,
with a sort of magic around [them]” (Fitzgerald 1661), he does not want to
return, telling the barman at the end that “I lost all I wanted in the boom”
(Fitzgerald 1672), those things he wanted referring directly to the home and
family that he so longs for now. Without Honoria in his household, Charlie is
free to go back to his wild ways for the next few months after the story is over.
But because Charlie has sincerely changed, making Honoria and family-life his
only real desire, he will continue to refuse that second drink and will avoid the
Duncans and Lorraines and Bricktops’ all in order to share the rest of his life
with his daughter.
There are other signs to indicate that Charlie has put his drunken past
behind him and is now focused entirely on building a home for Honoria. After
his first visit to the Peter’s house, Charlie heads out “to see Paris by night with
clearer and more judicious eyes than those of other days” (Fitzgerald 1661).
He takes in a show, then heads down to Montemartre, his old stomping ground
in the days that “came along one after another, and then two years were gone,
and everything was gone, and [he] was gone” (Fitzgerald 1660). Charlie passes
by Bricktop’s “where he had parted with so many hours and so much money”
as well as another, unnamed club that he used to frequent, but when he sticks
his head inside and finds them unchanged he “withdr[aws] quickly” thinking
“You have to be damn drunk” (Fitzgerald 1661). His avoidance of these once so
appealing places leads us to believe that Charlie has, indeed, moved on.
One of the more ridiculous critical claims is that Charlie does not want
Honoria -that “what he was begging for subconsciously [was] Marion’s
rejecton of his plea for [his daughter]” (Toor 162). If this is so, why does
Charlie make a trip to Paris in the first place? Couldn’t he have easily
communicated with his daughter via letter? Toor does say that “one part of
him… wants his Honoria (honor) back, but in the deeper man, the guilt-ridden
one, he knows he doesn’t deserve her” (156). But Charlie does not seem to
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carry guilt around; he is ready to admit to Marion that he locked Helen out in
the snow and is forthcoming with the fact that he was living in excess, both of
which show signs of a man who is not particularly proud of his past but lives
on despite it. Even when Marion attempts to shame him over Helen’s death,
Charlie answers with sorrow, not guilt: “‘Helen died of heart trouble,’ Charlie
said dully” (Fitzgerald 1667). This last adverb, “dully,” is the key, guilt being
such a permeable emotion that it would have changed this last adjective were
it present in his response. Charlie has come to terms with his past, meeting it
face to face in many forms during the length of the story, and, therefore, is not
wishing that Honoria be kept from him on account of guilt.
Charlie also shows how he has conquered his past by taking a drink a
day. Like his situation with Duncan, he does not ignore his past by denying
alcohol altogether. Instead he takes control through applying moderation,
taking one drink a day in order to maintain conscious of his past problems
while continuing to maintain the upper hand. Throughout the story, Charlie
maintains his one-drink-a-day regiment keeping true to his resolve and never
faltering at the temptation of being offered a second drink, even when his
brother-in-law offers it to him: “‘Don’t you want a cocktail before dinner?’
Lincoln asked. ‘I take only one drink every afternoon, and I’ve had that.’ ‘I hope
you keep to it,’ said Marion” (Fitzgerald 1661).
Charlie explains his idea to his in-laws, stating: “I haven’t had more than a
drink a day for over a year, and I take that drink deliberately, so that the idea of
alcohol won’t get too big in my imagination” (Fitzgerald 1665) allowing both
the Peters’ as well as the audience to understand that, while he is still drinking,
he is doing so in a controlled manner as opposed to the excessive manner which
lost him Honoria.
Richard Davison believes that Charlie’s one drink a day ritual does not
allow him to control his past, but rather “contains both the past and the present
and threatens in itself to poison the future” (196). But Charlie’s one drink a
day is nowhere near the excessive drinking he exercised in the past, making it
more a part of the present and the future than of the past. While it may seem
that Charlie cannot let go of an old habit, Charlie’s move from drinking until
he was drunk to taking one drink a day is a more concrete way of him having
left the past behind him, taking only the memory along to remind him of what
that excess cost him. By taking one drink a day, Charlie is keeping the idea of
the past from “get[ting] too big in [his] imagination” (Fitzgerald 1665), both
acknowledging his past and exerting control over it, showing that he will not
romanticize it and go back to his life of excess. Charlie is a changed man and
exercises his one drink a day rule in order to maintain his new lifestyle.
Wealth is another element of the past that Charlie exercises control over,
using his money to fulfill the wants and needs of family members instead
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of squandering his money on frivolous things as he did in the past. Instead
of tipping a thousand-franc note for a song, Charlie focuses his spending on
his daughter - buying her dolls and toys and taking her to a vaudeville show.
He even thinks about helping to “get Lincoln out of his rut at the bank”
(Fitzgerald 1670), not offering money to Duncan or Lorraine but to the family
that he is indebted to for the care of his daughter. Even after Marion denies
him Honoria, Charlie is controlled and focused on his family, resigning to “send
Honoria some things; he would send her a lot of things tomorrow” regretful
“that this was just money – he had given so many people money…” (Fitzgerald
1672). Charlie wants to use his wealth to the benefit of his daughter but knows
that it would take much more than that to build the family he wants.
Critics see Charlie’s wealth or his spending of that wealth as yet more
evidence that he has not changed his ways, using his money to buy material
things or to prove his power because he cannot have the home-life that he
wants with Honoria. Toor states that Charlie’s thought of “get[ting] Lincoln
out of his rut at the bank” (Fitzgerald 1670) is less about generosity and
family and more about jealousy over the family-life that Lincoln has: “a warm
homelife that Charlie envies, children who love him, a neurotic wife, yes, but a
reasonable contentment” (156). But Charlie is not found so wanting, having at
least one of those things already in Honoria and, at the time, the promise of
gaining custody over her again, Duncan and Lorraine not having made their
appearance at the Peters’ house just yet. Therefore it is highly unlikely that
Charlie is attempting to make Lincoln jealous because he secretly wishes to
have a neurotic wife to the likes of Marion, but rather that he is wondering if
he could generously help out a friend and family member, using his wealth to
benefit those close to him instead of wasting it as he has done before.
Critics also say that Charlie’s spending on Honoria is his way of avoiding
having to deal with her, instead “turn[ing] back to the new old ways and
instead of dealing with people, deal with things” (Toor 162). David Cowart
states that the tragedy of the story is that Charlie fails “to recognize … the
radical incompatibility of his money and the home he seeks” (21) saying that
Charlie “lasps[es] back into blindness about the limits of money, fail[ing] to
achieve the insight reserved for the reader: that by some cruel irony of fate
a real home, though proof against even the mean spiritedness of a Marion
Peters, is incompatible with wealth” (24-25). Charlie’s wealth will enable him
to “be both parents to [Honoria]” (Fitzgerald 1662), allowing him to provide
for her where he may not have been able to were he not wealthy. In the scene
that most criticize, at the end of the book, Charlie resigns to sending Honoria
“things” because he cannot have more at that moment, Marion’s temper
seeming too outrageous for him to push for more contact with his daughter. In
this case, Charlie is doing the smarter thing by making his presence known in
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inoffensive ways, still keeping in contact with Honoria by doting on her while
not offending Marion any more than he can help in hopes that, the next time he
comes to the Peters’, he will leave with his daughter in tow.
Even in examining Marion, the character who condemns Charlie the most,
one must still conclude that Charlie is a new man. Like the critics, Marion,
Charlie’s sister-in-law and Honoria’s guardian, refuses to believe that Charlie
has changed, her “dislike… evident in the coldness with which she spoke [to
Charlie]” (Fitzgerald 1661). She continuously remarks on his drinking and
being in bars as well as his spending habits and the amount of money that he
is making now, insinuating that he has not changed his ways or that, if he has
redeemed himself and gained control over his past vices, that he will fall into
old habits regarding booze and money soon enough: “‘How long are you going
to stay sober, Charlie?’ she asked. ‘Permanently, I hope.’ ‘How can anybody
count on that?’” (Fitzgerald 1665). When Charlie tries to prove himself
financially able to provide for Honoria, Marion again comments angrily,
showing her distaste for him and her insistence that he has not changed his
ways: “‘I suppose you can give her more luxuries than we can,’ said Marion.
‘When you were throwing away money we were living along watching every
ten francs… I suppose you’ll start doing it again’” (Fitzgerald 1666). Marion is
willing to go to any length to cast doubt on Charlie’s reform. Despite her antics
and disbelief, Charlie is a new man who does not and will not go back to his
past behaviors.
Marion shows her prejudice in this piece, blaming Charlie for Helen’s
death and going so far as to discount any of Helen’s own decisions that could
have possibly lead to her death or to the reactions of Charlie on that night
that she “remembered so vividly” (Fitzgerald 1667). When Charlie mentions
Helen while attempting to explain his excessive drinking of years ago, Marion
interrupts him, saying “‘Please leave Helen out of it. I can’t bear to hear
you talk about her like that’” (Fitzgerald 1665), completely disregarding any
debauchery that Helen may have willingly participated in. In regard to Helen’s
death, Marion considers Charlie responsible; “‘I can’t help what I think!’ she
crie[s] out suddenly. ‘How much you were responsible for Helen’s death, I
don’t know. It’s something you’ll have to square with your own conscience’”
(Fitzgerald 1667). Even while speaking this quote, Marion has already
decided in her mind that Charlie is entirely to blame. Lincoln attempts to
come to Charlie’s defense, saying “‘Hold on there… I never thought you were
responsible for that,’” and Charlie confirms his thoughts: “‘Helen died of heart
trouble,’” but Marion cannot keep from blaming Charlie: “‘Yes heart trouble.’
Marion spoke as if the phrase had another meaning for her” (Fitzgerald 1667).
In this line, Fitzgerald insinuates that, to Marion, “heart trouble” meant trouble
in matters of the heart, the reader’s cue stated earlier in Marion’s “disbelief of
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her sister’s happiness” (Fitzgerald 1667).
Marion also shows her prejudice by being constantly disagreeable when it
comes to Charlie. While in meetings with him over the possible exchange of
Honoria, Marion seeks out opportunities to be offended over Charlie’s actions
or words, even going so far as to be affected when she normally would not. One
instance of this is during her second meeting with Charlie as he is speaking of
why he now deserves custody over his daughter:
“‘I’m functioning, I’m behaving damn well, so far as –’
‘Please don’t swear at me,’ Marion said.
He looked at her startled. With each remark the force of her dislike became more and more apparent… But he pulled his temper down out of his face and shut it up inside him; he had won a point, for Lincoln realized the absurdity of Marion’s remark and asked her lightly since when she had objected to the word ‘damn’” (Fitzgerald 1666).
Twice she insists that she doesn’t understand what he’s talking about
while Lincoln, her own husband, seems to understand perfectly well. After
Charlie describes his theory of taking one drink a day “so that the idea of
alcohol won’t get too big in [his] imagination” he asks, “You see the idea?”
(Fitzgerald 1665). While Lincoln agrees, answering with “I get you,” Marion’s
reaction is snippy and short, allowing the reader to hear the contempt in her
voice: “‘No,’ said Marion succinctly” (Fitzgerald 1665).
Marion shows her dislike for Charlie in another instance, retorting sharply
at one of Charlie’s few attempts at winning her understanding, possibly her
sympathy: “‘[I]f we wait much longer I’ll lose Honoria’s childhood and my
chance for a home.’ He shook his head, ‘I’ll simply lose her, don’t you see?’…
‘Why didn’t you think of all this before?’ Marion asked” (Fitzgerald 1666).
These examples show that, despite Charlie’s best attempts at courtesy, Marion
is always ready to strike, trying to provoke him into losing his temper and,
therefore, giving her a reason to deny him his daughter. Regardless of Charlie’s
obvious change in behavior, Marion refuses to see him for what he is: a new
man.
It is clear by her actions that Marion is steadfastly against Charlie in any
way, shape, or form, Fitzgerald telling us as much in the text where he inserts
two perspective shifts allowing the audience to hear Marion’s thoughts and
to experience her feelings. The first of these shifts occurs on page 1667, after
Charlie admits that he had “worked hard for ten years” then “got lucky” in
the market, insisting that his spending won’t get out of hand as it did before.
Fitzgerald then gives the audience insight into Marion’s point of view, telling
us that:
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[P]art of her saw that Charlie’s feet were planted on the earth now,
and her own maternal feeling recognized that naturalness of his
desire [to have Honoria in his household]; but she had lived for a long
time with a prejudice – a prejudice founded on a curious disbelief in
her sister’s happiness, and which, in the shock of one terrible night,
had turned to hatred for him… circumstances made it necessary for
her to believe in tangible villainy and a tangible villain. (Fitzgerald
1667)
The second shift occurs further down on the same page, allowing the
audience to see the way in which she tries to provoke Charlie’s temper in order
to appear somewhat justified in denying him what he wants: “Then, in the
flatness that followed her outburst, she saw him plainly and she knew he had
somehow arrived at control over the situation. Glancing at her husband, she
found no help from him,” (Fitzgerald 1667). Upset that she was not successful
in her attempt, she reacts hysterically, effectively ending Charlie’s ability to
successfully ask for custody of his daughter. Through giving the audience
glimpses of Marion’s inner thoughts, Fitzgerald allows us to see that Marion
dislikes Charlie from the start and, due to this prejudice, would do anything
necessary to keep him from getting what he wants, even if it is his own
daughter.
Critics claim that Marion’s behavior, while not entirely justified, is directly
associated with Charlie’s actions, insinuating that he is getting only what he
deserves. Carlos Baker states that, at the point just before Duncan and Lorraine
arrive, “Even Marion seems at last to have ‘accepted the inevitable’” (Stories
398) and that “[t]he wall that Marion has erected against [Charlie] has fallen
now” (273). But “Marion [has] locked Charlie out psychologically as totally
as Charlie locked Helen out physically” (Hostetler 113) and although she may
have resigned to allow him to have his daughter, Marion has not forgiven
Charlie for the sins she has held against him for so long.
Norman Hostetler argues that, instead of just holding his past against
him, Marion is “defensive and destructive towards [Charlie], who [is] seen as
[a] change [agent] and therefore threatening toward the system with which
the former identif[ies]” (115), but this is inaccurate because Marion refuses to
see Charlie as changed, which is precisely the reason she continues to bring up
his past and audibly doubts his recovery.
Kevin Jett focuses more on Lincoln, claiming that his “indecisiveness
and domestic impotence all contribute to Charlie’s setback” (6) and that both
“Marion and Lincoln Peters… have control over the direction Charlie’s life will
take” (7). This point is wrong on both accounts, Marion being the sole guardian
of and, as made obvious in the text, the decision-maker for all things regarding
Honoria. Jett’s argument also falters in assuming Lincoln’s assertions would
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alter the outcome of Charlie’s situation, Marion’s upset causing Charlie to
lose his chance at obtaining Honoria. If Lincoln were to assert himself, it is
doubtful that Marion would listen and, one can gather from the story, it is
much more likely that she would respond to him in the same manner she seems
to respond to anyone who opposes her: by doing anything possible to keep
what they want from them.
It is apparent that, despite what is best for Honoria, Marion refuses to put
her into Charlie’s custody, keeping her to punish Charlie for what she believes
he is responsible for: the unhappiness and death of her sister.
Critics prove to be the ultimate pessimists when it comes to Charlie’s
future, asserting that “[a]lmost masochistically, Fitzgerald has placed
Wales in an atmosphere of an impending doom,” a doom later described as
“inevitable” (Davison 193-194). Baker believes it to be stemmed from Charlie’s
past, claiming that the reader feels sympathy for Charlie, “who tries so hard
to measure up, only to be defeated by a past that he can never shed” (269).
Although these critics are quick to label Charlie as “Down and Out,” Fitzgerald
does not distinctly say that his main character will forever be unfulfilled.
Marion seems to have gotten the last word this time but Charlie is indeed a
new man and he will persevere towards what matters to him most: regaining
custody of Honoria and rebuilding his family.
Despite his immediate failure to obtain Honoria, Fitzgerald assures his
audience that Charlie will eventually succeed in gaining the family that he so
desires, giving us textual hints to lead the reader to this conclusion. After
Charlie has lost Honoria, at least for the next six months, he finds himself
in the Ritz bar again, the same place he was at the beginning of the story.
Although he can only send Honoria gifts tomorrow, and although this is “just
money,” he refuses the offer of a second drink and thinks that “they couldn’t
make him pay forever” (Fitzgerald 1672). Critics have said that this is an
ironic statement on Fitzgerald’s part, but, in a piece devoid of irony, that is
highly unlikely. It is much more likely that Fitzgerald includes this statement
in order to show that, like his alcoholic situation, Charlie will overcome his
adversities, Marion hopefully being a less threatening foe than alcoholism
and overspending. This fact gives readers a clue that, although the chips are
down now, Charlie will keep trying for Honoria, maintaining his sobriety and
focusing on her until the day that he can have her in a home of their own.
While Charlie has certainly acted badly in the past, drinking and spending
in excess, one should conclude that he has come out of that era as a reformed
man, confronting his past on a daily basis and controlling it through focusing
on what is really important: the family and home-life that he longs for. While
critics claim that Charlie still longs for both worlds, his refusal to chase the
past, as well as his refusal to drink or spend in excess, lead the reader to know
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that the only world Charlie longs for consists of a home including himself and
Honoria. While Toor says that guilt keeps him from obtaining Honoria, textual
examples point to Marion, who refuses to see Charlie as the new man that he
is. Marion does her best to upset Charlie, looking for any excuse to deny him
his daughter and, when she finds it in Duncan and Lorraine’s visit, critics say
that Charlie has no hope of ever gaining the family he so wants. Fitzgerald
tells us otherwise in his text, allowing readers a glimpse of hope in Charlie’s
determination to continue living in moderation in order to, one day, have the
family that he wants and deserves.
REFERENCES
Baker, Carlos. “When the Story Ends: ‘Babylon Revisited.’” The Short Stories
of F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Approaches in Criticism. Ed. Jackson
Bryer. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1982. 269-77.
Cowart, David. “‘Babylon Revisited’: The Tragedy of Charlie Wales.” Journal
of the Short Story in English 3 (1984): 21-8.
Davidson, Richard Allen. “Art and Autobiography in Fitzgerald’s ‘Babylon
Revisited.’” F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives. Eds. Jackson Bryer,
Alan Margolies and Ruth Prigozy. Athens, GA: U of Georgia P, 200.
192-202.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Babylon Revisited.” 1931. The Norton Anthology of
American Literature. Gen. Ed. Nina Baym. 6th ed. Vol. D. New York:
Norton, 2003. 1658-72.
Hostetler, Norman. “From Mayday to Babylon: Disaster, Violence, and Identity
in Fitzgerald’s Portrait of the 1920’s.” Dancing Fools and Weary
Blues: The Great Escape of the Twenties. Broer, Lawrence, and
Walther, John D. Eds. Bowling Green, OH: Popular, 1990. 110-19.
Jett, Kevin. “Overturning the Verdict: Revisiting Fitzgerald’s Charlie Wales.”
Lamar Journal of the Humanities 23.2 (1997): 5-19.
Male, Roy R. “‘Babylon Revisited’: A Story of The Exile’s Return.” Studies in
Short Fiction 2 (1965): 270-77.
Toor, David. “Guilt and Retribution in ‘Babylon Revisited.’” Fitzgerald /
Hemingway Annual 1973. Ed[s]. Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Clark, C.
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E. Frazer Jr. Washington D.C.: Indian Head, 1974. 155-64.
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342
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry: From Strong Statements
to a Strong Cause
Michael George
Dr. Janet Clark
Faculty Sponsor
Justice, domestic tranquility, a common defense and the blessings of
liberty are all established by the Constitution of the United States of America.
Without the Revolutionary War, these blessings of liberty would have been
crushed under the heel of the British Empire; and without Patrick Henry
and his address to the Virginia House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, there
would not have been a Revolution, and there certainly would not have been
any semblance of the United States of America. Through his unique use
of style, rhetorical questions, and emotional appeal Patrick Henry’s speech
“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” stands as one of the greatest rhetorical
contributions to freedom and liberty of the 18th century.
Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech is considered to be
one of the primary motivations behind the Revolutionary War. The events
preceding this historic revolution include the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act,
Patrick Henry’s “If This Be Treason” speech, the Townshend Acts, the Boston
Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give
Me Death” speech, and the initial battle of Lexington and Concord. With only
two speeches being attributed to the birth of America, and both having been
presented by Patrick Henry, one can safely assume that this man was influential
not only upon the minds of men, but upon the face of the globe as well.
Before his entry into colonial politics, Patrick Henry gained public
notoriety as a fiery lawyer and orator. This success was not achieved without a
fair amount of failure. Having failed as both a shop keeper and a farmer within
seven years, Henry set his sights on law in 1756 and was certified to practice
law in 1760. Having gained experience and empathy for the locals and their
hardships as a result of his past failed endeavors, Henry quickly established
a highly successful country clientele. His experience in business and farming
provided him with the experience necessary to relate with his clients while
his family’s educated background provided him with the knowledge necessary
to succeed as a lawyer and as a politician. Having been tutored by his father, a
county justice, from a very young age, Henry was well versed in both the law
and politics from a very young age. This background allowed him the ability
to not only argue his cases eloquently, but also to argue them in a manner
that everyone present from the highest educated to the hard laborer would
understand and be motivated by his message.
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Fearing the personal liberties of the colonists to be at risk, Henry spoke
at the Virginia House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775 in defense of those
liberties. In the eyes of “many of the wealthy, respectable, conservative
planters, Henry has come close to treason in many of his utterances” (Young
346). Despite these allegations, Carter Glass, a contemporary Virginia Senator
states in a speech given at the Patrick Henry Bicentennial Celebration that:
“Patrick Henry was misinterpreted and misunderstood. Even Thomas Jefferson
at one time thought he was guilty of apostasy. But that was not true, because
Henry never identified himself with any political party. He was for liberty”
(Carter 688). Not only did Henry have to contend with claims of apostasy
during his address to the Virginia House of Burgesses, he also had to address
a newly elected session president who was outwardly opposed to revolution as
well as preceding speakers who were in favor of compromise and consolation
rather than conflict (Beeman 64). During the three days preceding his address,
speakers such as Edmund Pendleton spoke before the House offering such
“resolution[s] that asserted colonists rights without calling for violence”
(Beeman 64). During a time in which speech against the crown was treasonous,
Henry’s call for violence was nothing short of suicidal. With the aristocrats
of the time alleging treason against one of America’s greatest proponents,
one must think that leaders of rebellious parties such as Henry are just what
America needed: those who were willing to risk not only their careers but their
lives for her sake. Henry stood up and quite literally blasphemed the crown, all
for hopes of a better world for their fellow man.
Delivering this address to the Virginia House of Burgesses was no
coincidence. The first pieces of legislation in colonial America were passed
in Virginia, and more specifically, the Virginia House of Burgesses. It is only
fitting that the final words to spoken on the revolution occurred in this historic
monument to the legislative body of the colonies one month before the first
shot of the war was fired at the battle of Lexington and Concord. Audience
members of interest included such notable patriots as George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson. Henry was not the first to speak that fateful day in March,
but was the last in a precession of speakers imploring the House to cooperate
with the crown. Following such men is not easy for any speaker, but Patrick
Henry is “the greatest orator that ever lived,” and his coming speech would
cement him as such (Glass 689). After having witnessed this speech through an
open window, Colonel Edward Currington “reportedly exclaimed, ‘Right here
I wish to be buried’ – a desire his widow later satisfied” (Cohen 702). Having
been so moved with patriotism for his budding country and the men associated
with it, Colonel Currington wished to be interred on the spot at which he
witnessed the initial steps in the birth of his newfound country. He was not the
only audience member moved: “another listener remembered feeling ‘sick
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Patrick Henry
with excitement.’” (Cohen 702). Henry not only swayed the audience with his
intellectual and emotional appeals, he infused them with an intense passion
and patriotism for their young country. Such emotional responses to Henry’s
orations are what have propelled him to the fame and notoriety he still holds to
this day.
With sentence length ranging from the lengthy, highly formatted sentence
to sentences comprised of a single word Henry quickly and easily notifies his
audience as to the statements of increased importance. The first example of
how this works can be found in the following excerpt:
“But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and,
therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those
gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do, opinions of character very opposite
to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve”
(Henry 95).
Should Henry have comprised his speech entirely of sentences of this caliber,
his style would have surely overshadowed his message. By following this
sentence with the simple, strong, assertive, declaration “This is no time for
ceremony,” Henry quickly reigns in his audience (Henry 95). The sharp
contrast of these sentences illustrates Henry’s ability to reach those of the
highest intellect along with those of the simplest minds all the while getting
his message across in the strongest manner possible. The sheer force of
Henry’s vocabulary contained in this style makes his point for him. What
separates his speech from countless others is the way in which he highlights
such forceful assertions. By preceding this sentence with one containing forty
seven words and six sentence breaks Henry sets the shorter sentence apart in
his audience’s mind. The stark contrast alone is enough to heighten the shorter
sentence’s importance, even without its forceful vocabulary. Henry’s style
allows for the establishment of ethos, pathos and logos simultaneously.
Henry’s choice of vocabulary is intertwined with his style. While
his longer sentences carry on with such neutral words as “gentlemen,”
“entertaining,” and “sentiments” his shorter statements tear down predicated
norms and exposes them as blights against the existence of liberty. His first
use of such a sentence perfectly illustrates this technique. His statement
“This is no time for ceremony” completely destroys his previous comment
politely asking for his audience’s attention by demanding for their focus. Such a
command abolishes the decorum of the gathered representatives, immediately
placing the room into a heightened sense of awareness. In a House governed
by ceremony, such a statement certainly draws credence for what is to follow.
To establish his credibility as a speaker, his ethos, Henry recognizes and
respects the opinions of those that have addressed the House before him in the
lines “different men often see the same subject in different lights; and,
345
therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen”
(95). Having established his credibility, Henry then seeks to establish his logical
appeal, his logos, by stating his intent to provide his own unique opinion. By
establishing his ethos before his logos, Henry has informed his audience of
his respectability as a speaker and therefore has granted himself the ability
to begin offering opinions. Ethos and logos are both important in getting the
audience to listen to the material, but what makes Henry’s address to timeless
is his emotional appeal, his pathos. Henry’s ability to reach an audience hostile
to his ideas and not only persuade them but empower them to action is possible
through his manipulation of emotion.
Henry’s next use of such style also brings his use of rhetorical questions
into use. As he implores the representatives present to consider the actions
taken in the past to appease the British Empire, he augments this question with
another, more specific rhetorical question: “And what have we oppose to them?
Shall we try argument?” to which he answers for them with his short, succinct
response, “Sir, we have been trying that for the past ten years” (Henry 96).
Rather than directly commenting on the proposals of those who addressed the
House before him, Henry reduces their pleas of compromise and consolation to
a single statement of defeat. The language compacts countless hours of debate
and proposed resolutions to a succinct statement of failure. Having introduced
this statement with a pair of questions, Henry validates his assertion with
historical precedent. Not leaving the subject without further provocation, he
asks the following rhetorical question: “Have we anything new to offer on
the subject?” (96) To which he replies with the single word, “Nothing” (96).
This single word lays the foundation upon which Henry will erect his edifice
of emotion later in this speech. After this sharp declaration, Henry makes
use of his pathos in two additional rhetorical questions: “Shall we resort to
entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find that have not been
already exhausted?” (96). These rhetorical questions bolster Henry’s logos by
referencing the failed attempts at peace in the past while also drawing upon
the hurt and distrust that the colonists have been harboring against the crown
for many years. This line of questioning provides Henry with the ammunition
necessary to propel his audience into patriotic fervor. Having reminded them
of their past attempts at civil discourse with their British oppressors, he begins
to outline their only possible course of action: revolution.
To inspire his audience into the emotional state necessary for such action,
Henry continues to use his style as a means in which to affect his audience’s
emotions. His control over the audience’s emotions is what grants his speeches
such astounding power. After witnessing one such speech, George Mason
remarks “your passions are no longer your own when he addresses them”
(Wilstach 84). His speech begins to exponentially gather emotional weight
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Patrick Henry
with the utterance of the sentence: “Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive
ourselves longer” (96). This sentence draws upon every man, woman and
child’s desire for justification. Everyone wants to be right, and this sentence
plays to this desire. Here, Henry tells his audience that they have known the
correct course of action all along, the only thing that has prevented their
action was the imposition of deceit. This intellectual and emotional appeal
primes his audience for one final reference to the failed actions of old which
have done nothing to establish freedom and liberty in the colonies. The
vocabulary of degradation present in the passage:
“we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne,
and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands
of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted;
our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; out
contempt, from the foot of the throne”
seeks to remind the audience of the failed attempts at diplomacy but also
remind them of the tyranny and oppression wrought by the crown upon them
(Henry 96). Once Henry has convinced his audience of diplomacy’s failure, he
begins to fan the flames of revolution in their hearts and minds.
Before his call to arms, Henry educates his audience to what it means to
truly be free: “If we wish to be free – if we mean to preserve inviolate those
inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending – if we
mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long
engaged” (96). This sentence serves to inform the audience as to the true nature
of freedom. By using such lofty prose and vocabulary as “inestimable” and
“noble” Henry portrays freedom as a universal good of which all men should
aspire. Defining the struggle for freedom as the “noble struggle” for “those
inestimable privileges” Henry insures that his audience is aware of the goals in
which his coming plan of action will hope to achieve.
The use of repetition in two key areas in his cry for revolution insures
that his audience will rise up and stand against the British. The first instance
of such repetition is found in his call to arms. After having proven the need for
action in light of failed resolutions, Henry exclaims, “we must fight! I repeat
it, sir, we must fight!” (96). Repeating the words “we must fight” is not only a
call to arms, but a call to brotherhood (96). The “we must” call the audience to
stand together in defense not of a wish, not of a passing fancy, but of a right,
something that must be protected at all costs. Here in these words, Henry
plants the seeds of patriotism which will erupt upon the second use of such
repetition.
Another appeal to the brotherhood and patriotism of the colonists is
evident in the excerpt: “Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of
liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by
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any force which out enemy can send against us” (96). This description of the
colonists is another example of how Patrick Henry uses emotion to rally
supporters to his cause. Not only does Henry appeal to the colonists’ strength
of character, he also appeals to the strength of their cause. Referring to the
establishment and defense of liberty as a “holy cause,” Henry appeals to his
audience’s sense of religious obligation. Furthering this sense of religious
obligation, Henry informs his audience that “we shall not fight our battles
alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations” (96).
Henry bolsters his audience with the revelation that the battle is not won by
“the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave” (96). This sequence
of emotional and religious appeals demonstrates the full extent of Henry’s
ability to control the emotions of his audience.
As he looks out on his audience, Henry assures them of victory not only as
a reward for their strength alone, but also for their vigilance and bravery. But
to those who are unwilling to fight, he reminds them “there is no retreat, but
in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking can be heard
on the plains of Boston!” (97). Here Henry likens the oppression of the British
Empire to that of the cold, hard chains of slavery. As a consolation to such
pacifists, Henry informs them that the coming conflict is inevitable. Nearing
the roaring climax of his speech, Henry calls forth the seeds of patriotism to
gloriously erupt and flourish within their hosts with the words: “The war is
inevitable – and let it come! I repeat it, sit, let it come!” (97). Having reassured
his audience of their valorous traits, Henry challenges fate, and demands it
descend upon the young colonies. Now armed with their emblazoned sense
of brotherhood and patriotism, his audience is now fully equipped with the
necessary physical and emotional influences to make a stand against the British
Empire. With the inferno of patriotism burning within them, the Virginia
House of Burgesses and the colonies as a whole stand alongside “the Nobel
Patriot’ and [pledge] “the last Drop of their blood” in his defense” and in
defense of the ideals of freedom and liberty set forth in his cry, “give me
liberty, or give me death!” (Cohen 715).
A mere 27 days later on April 19, 1775, the first shots of the
Revolutionary War were fired at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It is no
coincidence that initial skirmish of the war that would give birth to the United
States of America was fought shortly after the impassioned words of the great
orator Patrick Henry. After ten years of fiery debates and failed resolutions,
Henry stands before the Virginia House of Burgesses and rallies the hearts,
minds and souls of the delegates present to offer their lives and the lives of
their neighbors and sons in the defense of liberty. Claiming two check points
on the road to revolution as his own, Henry not only establishes but confirms
himself as one of the greatest patriots and orators of the United
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Patrick Henry
States of America. Despite having received negative reviews from Thomas
Jefferson early in his career “by 1793 Patrick Henry has become a kind of
living legend. His oratory moved even the ultra-rationalist Thomas Jefferson
to wax romantically “‘He appeared to me to speak as Homer wrote’” (Doyle
292). Additional praise as to Henry’s oratory ability can be found in the words
of Founding Father George Mason: “He [Patrick Henry] is by far the most
powerful speaker I have ever heard . . . But his eloquence is the smallest part
of his merit. He is, in my opinion, the first man upon this Continent, as well in
abilities as public virtues” (Wilstach 85). Henry’s ability to quickly and firmly
establish ethos, logos and pathos grants him the near immediate attention of
his audience. Once he controls their attention, he then manufactures deeply
emotional aspects of patriotism through the establishment of brotherhood
and an appeal to spiritual obligations. Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or
Give Me Death” speech fully defines all that America stands for: brotherhood,
patriotism, religious obligation, freedom and liberty.
During my time researching and explicating Patrick Henry’s speech, I fell
in love with my country all over again. With each reading of his speech, I could
physically feel the patriotism radiating from his words. Basking in the warm
glow of patriotism, I could not help but smile and think, “This is what it means
to be an American. This is how someone stands up and risks their very being
for something they believe in, something that is essential, something that is
right.”
Patrick Henry’s speech was crafted with the specialized purpose of
moving the Virginia House of Burgesses to risk not only their lives but their
very existence in the defense of liberty. Despite the fact that this speech was
performed in 1775 to address the direct threat of subjugation at the hands
of an oppressive empire, it still serves to remind Americans to this day that
the virtues and freedoms given to us by God are meant to be defended no
matter the cost. Today, people are more concerned with maintaining the
status quo, not about doing what is right. Many today will all too gladly
trade their precious liberty for comfort and perceived security: and to them I
say, remember the words of Patrick Henry, when faced with the tyranny of
oppression stands strong and demands “give me liberty, or give me death!”
REFERENCES
Beeman, Richard R. Patrick Henry: A Biography. New York: McGraw Hill,
1974.
Cohen, Charles L. “The ‘Liberty or Death’ Speech: A Note on Religion and
Revolutionary Rhetoric.” The William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd Ser.,
349
38.4 (Oct 1981): 702-717.
Doyle, Christopher L. “The Randolph Scandal in Early National Virginia,
1792-1815: New Voices in the “Court of Honour.” The Journal of
Southern History 69.2 (2003): 283-318.
Glass, Carter. “If Patrick Henry Were Alive Today.” Vital Speeches of the Day.
2.22 (Aug 1936): 688-689.
Henry, Patrick. “Liberty or Death.” Great Speakers and Speeches. Ed. John
Louis Lucaites. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1989. 9597.
Wilstach, Paul. Patriots off Their Pedestals. New York: Braunworth & Co.,
1927.
Young, Rowland L. “An Appeal to Arms and to the God of Hosts.” American
Bar Association Journal. 61.3 (1975): 345-346.
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What’s With The Love Below?
Bianca Longmire
Dr. Beauty Bragg
Faculty Sponsor
Is hip hop dead? We began to ask ourselves this question many years after
the hip hop culture emerged. Due to the sudden shift in function from social
protest and community building to gross commercialism, the images of black
masculinity within the hip hop world began to change, and people began to
wonder about the viability of hip hop’s existence. But how can an entire culture
that is ever changing and constantly shifting be cast to an eternity of nonexistence? The question in itself would imply that those who critique the hip
hop cultural form have the power to give it life or death. On the contrary, the
very reason hip hop lives today is because of the artists and their critiques on
society. Only when the two stop working in conjunction with each other will
hip hop “die” so-to-speak.
According to hip hop scholar Tricia Rose, “Hip hop is a cultural form that
attempts to negotiate the experiences of marginalization, brutally truncated
opportunity, and oppression within the cultural imperatives of AfricanAmerican and Caribbean history, identity, and community” (Rose 21). At the
start of the hip hop movement rap lyrics were subliminally political and full of
protest. This was the start of much confrontation between society and those
excluded from the hip hop community. Members of this community wanted
change, and they wanted it now. The messages within the early stages of hip
hop were often overtly political. Hip hop mogul Grandmaster Flash set the
precedent for this cultural movement of protest (George 46). His hit song
“The Message” is the headliner of hip hop lyrical protests, and is known for its
famous line “Don’t push me, cause I’m close to the edge/ I’m trying not to lose
my head.” There were other artists who were associated with a more serious
side of hip hop, such as the Zulu Nation. Although the reputation of hip hop
has moved toward the negative side, this group was interested in attempting to
produce a movement for positive identification of Africans (George 45).
Rap music is the most marketable component in hip hop culture, which as
a result has produced job opportunities within urban communities in a postindustrial economy. As an art form it is “situated at the crossroads of lack and
desire, so that hip hop emerges from the deindustrialization meltdown where
social alienation, prophetic imagination, and yearning intersect” (Rose 21).
Unfortunately, contemporary rap music is linked to negative traits, such as
materialism, sexism, and misleading images of African-American men. These
images eventually lead to the divisions of commercial artist and political
rappers. But, to be consistent with the ideal function of hip hop culture, rap
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music should balance the realities of commercialism and protest.
Defining Commercial Black Masculinity
As the hip hop culture evolved, the audience expanded from a
predominantly African-American/Latino audience to include a larger segment
of suburban whites. In the book Why White Kids Love Hip Hop, Bakari Kitwana
argues that “hip hop videos packaged Blackness into a three-minute snap shot”
and “were critical cogs in the wheel that moved hip hop from the margins to
the center of American youth culture” (Kitwani 41). Rap music provided an
appealing attitude of defiance to youth audiences looking for an escape. The
image of black men became attractive to suburban youth because of the unique
qualities of “cool” commonly associated with them.
In his essay on the sociological construction of African-American men,
Robin Kelley describes the tendency to define, “being ‘cool’… as a peculiarly
black expression of masculinity” (Kelley 123). Sociologists argue that black
“cool” is solely about men and how they cope with their disempowerment
in racial and economic hierarchies. In this construction, “cool” is defined as
possessing money and being sexually dominant. Within this construction
men are able to obtain their “coolness” by being criminals and sexually
exploitive. According to Kelley’s argument, those who accept this definition
of black male culture as “cool” culture erase black diversity, ignore other kinds
of agency, and, completely remove the idea of pleasure within black male
culture. However, this simplified image of “cool” appeals to youth because
of its ability to fit in with assumptions of black identity. Due to the high
rate of consumption of hip hop products and images credited to youth, this
interpretation of black masculinity circulates widely throughout society.
Within the hip hop world the “cool” aesthetic is manifested in the image
of a thug and has spilled over into media representations as well as black male
youth self-perception. The “cool” image has become a staple symbol amongst
men in hip hop culture. Whether it’s demonstrated by who can buy the most
cars, sell the most drugs, or get the most girls, the outside appearance of
masculine authority matters the most. The media promotes this image by
primarily portraying black males as villainous, emotionally calloused, and
misogynistic. Popular hip hop channels MTV and BET only help to further
support this image by their countless music video images of flashy, baggyclothes-wearing male thugs who disrespect women.
The focus on sexual domination reveals another criterion in defining black
masculinity. In historical terms, “masculinity is associated with the use of the
body, not the mind” (Collins 176). The harder the man looks and the more
“thugged” out he appears, the more a man he is seen to be. As a consequence,
well respected women are absent from hip hop imagery because
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of their supposed domestic responsibility to society. While real men are thugs,
real women are hyper-sexualized objects whose duties are to cook and clean.
There is no room for men acting in the woman’s role for “hip hop culture is
homophobic; and real men ‘dog women’” (Prince 60). This homophobia and
misogyny are built upon the idea that black men in the arena of hip hop have
worked many years to protect their identity as men.
Within society in order for a male to display his authoritative power
he must gain acceptance by way of materialism. As result, within hip hop,
masculinity conforms to the mold of the commercialized image. The artist
flaunting his material possessions serves as external sign to the rest of
society that he too can achieve the “Power Dream.” Hip hop has always been
a patriarchal culture that is geared to men more than women. The media as a
whole is charged with defining the image black masculinity. “Images matter,
and just as those of black femininity changed in tandem with societal changes,
those of Black masculinity are undergoing a similar process” (Collins 151).
By way of outward appearance and “flossing” their material items, they prove
that they, too, may climb the social ladder. With this flashy lifestyle set as
the foundation, early artists contributed to the trend amongst contemporary
rappers. This lifestyle also began to establish a particular type of physical
image within the black community.
Although it is seen negatively, this image helps bring black males to a
common ground with one another on terms they set for themselves. Patricia
Hill Collins demonstrates that these terms are class specific. She states, “…
The depiction of thug life in hip hop remains one of the few places Black poor
and working-class men can share their view of the world in public” (Collins
159). Lacking access to other forms of economic power and social esteem,
to be a “gangsta” or thug shows power and helps them gain respect amongst
the community. Hip hop artists have been afraid to step outside this image in
fear that they would lose respect; but artist Andre Benjamin’s soft core image
contradicts the stereotypes of the hip hop man.
Who is this Andre 3000?
Hip Hop artist Andre Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, is a rebel
rapper who steps outside the physical cast of black masculinity to market
his music. Stylistically, Andre 3000 has a quirky, unique, old school type of
image. From the moment we step into the album we hear a one of a kind
classical ballad, reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, which immediately establishes
an expanded version of hip hop masculinity. Accompanying this introduction
we get a second taste of Andre with a mixed melody of Sinatra alongside an
unexpected psychedelic guitar segment. Through his music, he steps outside of
the box with a one of a kind style. The absence of vibrating bass
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beats and thoughtful lyricism separates him from the others within the rap
genre. Although Andre 3000 has stepped outside the norms of the hip hop
image, his lyrical concepts share some of the same thematic concerns of his
fellow rappers. The self-produced album The Love Below (counterpart album
to OutKast duo member Big Boi’s Speakerboxxx) delves into the complex
structure of black masculinity as it illustrates how sexuality and gender
roles are enlaced into the multiple facets of hip hop culture. The Love Below
represents how both creative musical structure and social and commercial
context are pieced together to construct the identity of the hip hop culture.
As the album unfolds, Andre 3000 presents two models of masculinity, one
being the hyper-masculine type of hip hop culture and the other exhibiting
totally unfamiliar behaviors and attitudes of black masculinity. The first
persona, Ice Cold, represents the typical commercialized, “hard,” male that
is most often displayed throughout hip hop. The other persona, Andre 3000,
displays a more idealized image that includes the exalting of women (in the
excerpt “God,” he discovers God is a woman), as well as seeking a true partner,
which contradicts the normal characteristics of using a woman solely for
sexual purposes.
Symbolic Sex
Sex has become the staple symbol of hip hop culture. Commercial hip hop
culture has been geared toward “masculine perspectives” more than feminine.
Typically, the narratives emphasize men’s power—especially sexual power—
over women’s. From this perspective women must rely on sexual manipulation
and self-objectification in relationships with men. Additionally, while women
are presented primarily as sexual objects, they are also subject to denigration
for the same sexual behaviors that men are praised for.
Both the bad girl image and the denigrating portrayal of women taking
advantage of men are seen in the song “Roses.” In this song, a gold-digging
woman, Caroline, is put on “Front Street” for her mistreatment of men. The
irony of the situation is that women who use sex as a route to gain economic
power are looked at negatively, while the men are praised for their ability
to attract women because of their money. Although in this song, Caroline
is physically attractive, her outward traits do not give her power over men
because at the end of the day she is only woman, whose main value is as sexual
object. In the following lyrics from “Roses,” Andre 3000 signifies that girls who
are after guys only for money are perceived as tramps or “hoes.”
“Well she’s got a hottie’s body, but her attitude is potty
When I met her at a party, she was hardly acting snotty
I said shorty would you call me
She said “Pardon me, are you ballin’?”
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I said “Darling, you sound like a prostitute pausing”
Oh so you one of them freaks
Get geeked at the sight of an ATM receipt”
As the lyrics convey, women who overstep the passive roles assigned to
them through the social construction of femininity will risk being cast aside.
This double standard constrains women’s sexual agency while reinforcing the
social construction of masculinity by emphasizing the idea that women are
sexual beings meant for the pleasure of men.
Women continue to be objectified through men’s emotional disconnection.
From the “thug” male perspective power is displayed through sexual conquest
and the accumulation of material possessions rather than through emotionally
fulfilling relationships. In his autobiographical novel, From Pieces to Weight,
Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, explains this unequal relationship to a friend: “You
wanna be in love, you can go ahead and be in love. I’d rather be in money” (75).
50 Cent states this in reference to a girl he was dating and his sense that his
hustle was far more important than any girl who could show him affection.
Illustrating the male perspective common in commercial hip hop, the hit
song “Hey Ya,” describes a hit and run type of love. Andre 3000, in his “Ice
Cold” persona, declares that “separate’s always better/ when there’s feelings
involved.” Although there are no problems in their relationship and his “baby
don’t mess around/ because she loves [him] so,” being single is still a far
better alternative to the potential emasculation of a committed relationship.
So he continues to “fight the feelin’’ which seems to complicate relationships
between men and women. Getting involved is not his intention, as he proclaims
that he “don’t want to meet your daddy/ just want you in my caddy/ don’t
want to meet your momma/ just want to make you cumma.” Furthermore, the
vulgarity at the end of this rhyme reiterates that sex is the primary reason for
being with women.
Another song, “Spread,” displays this same view of women, stating:
“I’m too young to be
Settling down
Quick to change my mind tomorrow
so now can I borrow your timid torso
more so than your soul
And this beat gotta be how I roll
f**k the rhythm
Tuck the rhythm
Under you bosom
You’re the prism”
In these lyrics the persona publicly states that he is “too young to be/
settling down” and that he can easily move from one woman to another. The
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focus on the torso reduces the whole woman to a part, an object that he can
appropriate to demonstrate his own sexual power. On the other hand, the last
lines “tuck the rhythm/ under the bosom,/ you’re the prism” seems to present
an alternative perspective that calls on the audience to reflect on the many
dimensions of emotional positions available to men.
A Woman’s Worth
If we examine those songs on The Love Below, that are written from the
perspective of the Andre persona, one finds that they reflect an expanded view
of the designated roles of men and women in hip hop. In them men recognize
that women are an asset to the man’s existence and they are seen as sources
of emotional pleasure rather than just sexual objects. For example, “Behold a
Lady” is a song that shows this respect for the woman who upholds herself in
the streets. Honoring the woman as a lady contrasts with the typical identities
associated with women in the hip hop world. As the title implies, the song
recognizes the lady as a counterpart to the man, describing her as “the yin to
[his] yang.”
Finally, “Prototype,” a ballad track, is a lyrical ode to women that displays
a more inclusive notion of black masculinity. In contrast to the song “Spread,”
which displays a more physical attraction to women, in this slow jam, the
Andre 3000 persona constructs the idea of a man willing to be emotionally
involved. The song provides a counter to the representation of sex used to
signify power rather than for emotional satisfaction. With the lyrics, “I think
I’m in love again/ today must be my lucky day baby/ you are the prototype,” he
reiterates his love and desire for a pleasurable intimate experience not meant to
do anything but comfort the two engaged in it. The fact that sexual pleasure is
not the primary goal of rappers is important because it counteracts the image
that sex is the driving force within the hip hop community.
So what’s really with The Love Below?
Andre 3000’s work on The Love Below clearly illustrates how sexuality and
gender roles continue to impact the images associated with the hip hop world.
The dual connotations of the title—the physical “love” which resides below the
belt versus the emotional expression of love hidden below the surface of hip
hop masculinity—implies that the concerns of the hip hop world will continue
to focus on sexuality but not be defined by sexuality alone. As the culture
continues to flourish, the styles will continue to evolve, but thematic concerns
will always “reflect and speak to the political and social world of inner city
communities” (Kelley 131). At the same time, by asking us to rethink the social
construction of masculinity, the work shows that “…expressive cultures are
not simply mirrors of social life or expressions of conflicts, pathos,
356
and anxieties”; they may also shape it (Kelley 131). With his diamond-selling
album, Andre Benjamin has proven that audiences are ready to embrace the
hip hop culture’s many layers and complex representations of masculinity that
are deeper than drug dealing, theft, and promiscuous sexuality common in rap
music shown by the media.
REFERENCES
Bakari, Kitwana: Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wanksta, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America. New York: Basic Civitas, 2005.
Benjamin, Andre (a.k.a. Andre 3000). The Love Below. LaFace Records, 2003.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. New York: Routledge, 2005.
George, Nelson “Hip Hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth” That’s the Joint! Forman, Murray, and Mark A. Neal, eds. New York: Routledge, 2004. 45-55.
Jackson, Curtis (a.k.a. 50 Cent). From Pieces to Weight. New York: Pocket Books, 2005.
Kelley, Robin D.G. (1997) “Looking for the ‘Real’ Nigga: Social Scientists Construct the Ghetto.” That’s the Joint! Forman, Murray, and Mark A. Neal, eds. New York: Routledge, 2004. 119-136.
Prince, Robert J. Jr., comp. “Hegemony, Hope, and the Harlem Renaissance: Taking Hip Hop Culture Seriously.” 12 Dec. 2007. Northern Seminary
in Lombard. 30 May 2008.<http://proxygsu-geo1.galileo.usg.edu/
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fh&AN=27761039&site=ehost-live>.
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The Wise Blood of Enoch Emery
Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted in Volume 10 due to an error in
Volume 9. We offer our sincere apologies for our mistake.
Susan Presley
Dr. Marshall Bruce Gentry
Faculty Sponsor
Some readers regard Enoch Emery of Wise Blood as a shallow, comic,
even demonic character because of his seemingly meaningless rituals, his
grotesque actions, and his secular state of living. In a lecture to the NEH
Summer Institute “Reconsidering Flannery O’Connor” at GCSU in July
2007, Michael Kreyling described Enoch as “obviously deranged” and “only
a molecule away from becoming Dick Hickock in In Cold Blood.” Enoch
actually shares qualities with many common eighteen-year-old boys and
is not the disturbing character many critics claim he is. Readers too easily
have overlooked Enoch’s important role in the novel, because they have not
considered the potential of this character who has “wise blood” (44). Enoch
possesses the qualities of self-knowledge, resilience, and initiative, traits that
come from his wise blood. Enoch’s wise blood serves as a spiritual compass in
his life and enables him to connect with and try to help others, prepare for his
future as a productive adult, and overcome his difficult childhood.
Unlike the self-absorbed Hazel Motes, Enoch consistently reaches out to
other human beings. This quality separates Enoch from Hazel Motes, who is on
a self-destructive journey toward blind faith and redemption, takes advantage
of other people throughout his journey, and obsesses over creating his Church
Without Christ and meeting the shallow, blind preacher Hawks. While Hazel
attempts to be a preacher in a new Church Without Christ, he fails to notice the
lonely young boy named Enoch who follows him and describes his loneliness.
Because he is unable to express his feelings and connect with others, Hazel
is inferior to Enoch and his persistent efforts to associate with people. Susan
Srigley suggests that Hazel embodies the opposite of O’Connor’s “ethical
vision” that “human beings are created in the image of God and that this
spiritual image is what connects human beings to each other through love” (63).
According to Srigley, Hazel represents man absolved from his responsibility
to God and his desire for redemption. Therefore, Hazel also represents man
who is spiritually separated from his fellow human beings (63). Srigley focuses
on Hazel in her study of the novel and excludes Enoch, who does not separate
himself from others. Although he frequently experiences rejection, Enoch
perseveres in his desire to make friends and find his place in the world, as I will
demonstrate later.
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Enoch’s fidelity to his wise blood, which helps him survive each day, is
an example of an honorable form of blind faith, although not in a traditional
Christian form. Like Christians who believe they possess blind faith, Enoch
never doubts his wise blood and relies upon it to give him guidance and the
courage to face the world he has been forced into as a lonely eighteen-yearold boy. Many people believe that O’Connor’s depiction of Hazel Motes’s
spiritual journey in Wise Blood reflects the author’s affirmation of blind faith,
which is also a central concept of her Catholicism. Because these critics do
not view Enoch as a man with any form of a spiritual awareness, they believe
that Enoch’s belief in his wise blood merely reflects the shallowness and the
irrelevance of modern man. To some critics, Enoch’s assuming the identity of
a gorilla is the final sign of a man who is uniting with the secular world and
reverting to a primitive state of existence. Sarah Gordon describes Enoch as
the character “who follows his instincts backward to the bestial” (90). Although
Ralph C. Wood undertakes a thorough study of Wise Blood in his work
Flannery O’Connor and the Christ-Haunted South, he basically ignores Enoch
Emery. O’Connor provides a careful study of this young man from a broken
home who is sensitive, has a colorful personality, and overcomes obstacles
that would hinder most people. This understanding should cause critics to
reconsider Enoch’s worth, instead of dismissing him as a pawn in this story.
Enoch is a young man who searches for meaning in his life and for his
place in the world, and he is not unique in his quest. In 1952, the same year that
Wise Blood was published, Paul Tillich, a prominent Protestant theologian,
explored the state of modern man’s existence in his work The Courage to
Be. Tillich discusses many issues that Enoch faces in the novel: anxiety, selfaffirmation, neurosis, a life without meaning and, ultimately, the courage to face
these issues and act. The title of Tillich’s work is from his definition of “the
ethical act in which man affirms his own being in spite of those elements of
his existence which conflict with his essential self-affirmation” (3). Despite a
difficult childhood filled with betrayal and disappointment, Enoch daily affirms
his existence by participating in the real world with all of its daily mishaps
and misunderstandings. Tillich also identifies what he terms the “anxiety of
meaninglessness”: This condition stems from “the loss of an ultimate concern,
of a meaning which gives meaning to all meanings. This anxiety is aroused by
the loss of a spiritual center, of an answer, however symbolic and indirect, to
the question of the meaning of existence” (47). Through his efforts to connect
with others and assist them with their personal quests, Enoch searches for
meaning in his life.
Tillich’s “anxiety of meaninglessness” can easily apply to the majority
of the characters in Wise Blood; among them, significantly, Enoch seeks to
resolve the anxiety by heeding his intuition and acting on his instincts. Enoch’s
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actions throughout the novel are those of a young man who reaches out to
society and looks for meaning in a world where modern religion has failed
him. Enoch is actively involved in the real world, even when he receives little
reward for his actions. While critics have focused on Enoch’s compulsions,
a term associated with anxiety and neurosis, Tillich sees the value in such
traits and views these as a means to overcome the threat of nonbeing (67).
He writes, “The neurotic is more sensitive than the average man to the
threat of nonbeing. And since nonbeing opens up the mystery of being . .
. he can be more creative than the average” (67). Enoch’s seemingly hollow
rituals, grotesque actions, and wise blood may be closer to religious mystery
and spirituality than most critics will admit. As a well-rounded reader of
contemporary theology, O’Connor was not only aware of Tillich, but she
expressed admiration for this progressive Protestant theologian, who was also
a friend of Maryat Lee. In an unpublished letter to Maryat Lee on 1 Mar. 1958,
which is located in O’Connor’s correspondence files in Special Collections at
Georgia College & State University, O’Connor explains that she learned about
Tillich’s theology through reading essays by such Catholic theologians as M.
C. D’Arcy and George H. Tavard. In a letter to Betty Hester on 22 Nov. 1958,
O’Connor refers to Tillich and laments the state of contemporary Catholic
theologians:
I am surprised you don’t know anything about the crisis theologians;
in any case don’t make a virtue of this ignorance for it is not. They
are the greatest of the Protestant theologians writing today and it
is to our misfortune that they are much more alert and creative than
their Catholic counterparts. We have very few thinkers to equal
Barth and Tillich, perhaps none. This is not an age of great Catholic
theology. (HB 305-06)
Perhaps, through Enoch’s character, O’Connor is incorporating Tillich’s
philosophy as she describes this young man who possesses so many of the
qualities that Tillich explores in The Courage to Be.
Enoch Emery is a young man who, at the age of eighteen, possesses a
remarkable gift of self-knowledge and confidence in his wise blood. He is aware
of how his past has shaped his life, and he is capable of articulating what he
believes and does not believe. From the numerous traumatic experiences in his
eighteen years, Enoch has enough maturity to recognize what he believes, what
he does not believe, and where danger lurks. Upon meeting Hazel Motes and
learning that he is pursuing the blind preacher Asa Hawks, Enoch immediately
recognizes what Hawks represents and distances himself from him, accurately
referring to him and his daughter as “hicks” who are into the “Jesus business”
(23). He attributes his views to his four weeks at the Rodemill Boys’ Bible
Academy where he was sent by the welfare woman: “Jesus, four weeks and
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I thought I was going to be sanctified crazy” (23). The reader can infer that
the welfare woman who “traded” (23) him was responding to Enoch’s truancy
from school. In those four weeks at the academy, Enoch learned just enough
to realize that being forced to memorize scripture and recite platitudes is an
almost meaningless exercise. The welfare woman may have found more positive
results if she had sent her ward of the state to a public school where Enoch
could learn functional academic skills, obtain an education, and prepare for the
future.
Enoch is attentive to his surroundings and tries to help others who lack
focus on important, although sometimes mundane, matters. Hazel is so focused
on his pursuit of Hawks that he is oblivious to such life and death matters
as traffic. Enoch yells to warn him about obeying traffic laws when crossing
the street (24). As Enoch continues to follow Hazel and notices that they are
catching up with the Hawkses, he can predict what will happen next based
upon experience: “I bet we’ll be at some meeting singing hymns with her and
her daddy if we don’t watch out” (26). At the young, impressionable age of
eighteen, Enoch is perceptive enough to recognize a shallow preacher and to
know that he does not want to be near such a person and his ideas. Enoch also
recognizes that Asa Hawks’s daughter, Sabbath, is a “kid” (32) and does not
categorize her as a female he would like to meet. Hazel, on the other hand,
engages in sex with this young teenager.
Despite being raised in a broken home, Enoch is a resilient young man
who has begun to overcome his past, hoping to become a productive member
of society. He never knew his mother and lived an itinerant life with his father
who was a construction worker (25). Enoch cries to an unsympathetic Hazel as
he describes his journey to Taulkinham and his father’s role in his move: “I ain’t
but eighteen year old an’ he made me come and I don’t know nobody, nobody
here’ll have nothing to do with nobody else. They ain’t friendly” (32). Despite
being thrust into the city after being neglected throughout his life, Enoch
immediately sought and found employment at the city zoo (32). Enoch does not
wait on other people to provide for him. Although he is a lonely boy who has
not had the benefit of a good childhood with supportive parents, he displays
resiliency by going to work, where he is punctual (44), and attempting to make
friends with people and assisting them. Although he is only eighteen, Enoch
has enough maturity to recognize and admit that he is lonely. Many lonely
young people and adults are not even aware that they lead lives of desperation.
Instead, they wander around confused, unemployed, and vengeful. Enoch
repeats his speech to Hazel about how unfriendly the people are in the town
of Taulkinham and how lonely he is. Enoch describes his single room in the
boarding house: “I got me a room and there ain’t never nobody in it but me”
(31). Enoch responds to his loneliness in the most positive way possible: he
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develops a daily routine, is actively involved in the real world, and reaches out
to others in friendship.
Enoch’s instincts benefit him not only by advising him of potential
dangers and helping him to be resilient, but by causing him to turn the other
cheek when others harm him. While he is still in tears after confessing his
loneliness to the uninterested Hazel, Hazel responds to Enoch by hurling
a stack of tracts at him. Hazel hits Enoch in the chest and the force of the
tracts knocks his mouth open. Instead of getting himself into a fight with
Hazel as many people would instinctively do, Enoch runs away from Hazel
(33). Later, when Hazel demands that Enoch give him the home address of
Asa and Sabbath Hawks, Hazel shakes Enoch until the young boy falls down.
Hazel finishes his assault by hurling a rock at Enoch, which wounds him on his
forehead (57). Enoch never seeks revenge on Hazel after these violent events.
Enoch also does not harbor resentment toward his father, despite his many
shortcomings. In his room at the boarding house, Enoch’s favorite picture
is of a small boy kneeling at his bed while saying, “And bless daddy” (75).
Perhaps this picture comforts Enoch, because this image of an ideal father is
his compensation for the lack of one in his childhood. This picture may also
remind him of his own father and of the unconditional love Enoch has for his
father, despite his shortcomings. This unconditional love that Enoch appears to
have for his father suggests that he is mature enough to forgive his father.
As the novel progresses, Enoch begins to display signs of maturity in his
personal life. He takes concrete initiatives: he begins to save money and spends
his salary only on rent and food. This is a positive change for Enoch who had
never saved money before and had even indulged in stealing in the past (73). He
also begins a practice of thoroughly cleaning his room at the boarding house.
His polishes his bed and chair so diligently that the gold layer disappears on
the old furniture. In his effort to brighten his home, Enoch spends his money
on drapes, gilt, and paint. The gold tint adds luster to Enoch’s home, including
the cabinet which he prepared to temporarily house the mummy (76). As a child
growing up in Savannah, Georgia, O’Connor lived in a home adorned in gilt.
According to Rena Patton, President of the Flannery O’Connor Childhood
Home Foundation, the first and second floors contain furniture and other
items, including a picture mold, which are painted with gilt; even O’Connor’s
baby carriage has gilt monogrammed on the carriage. While O’Connor readily
admits her identification with Enoch in several of her personal letters, she and
Enoch share yet another similarity: they lived in homes that were decorated
with gilt.
In addition to his efforts to brighten the appearance of his humble home,
Enoch looked to advertisements for inspiration, since he did not have role
models in his life. He was particularly drawn to an insurance ad featuring a
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“young man of the future” whom people waited in line to meet (108). Some
people find inspiration in advertisements and it would seem logical that a
positive image as the friendly insurance man shaking the hands of people
would interest Enoch. Due to his age, the gaps in his education, and his earnest
nature, Enoch may not understand the negative connotations that critics
associate with the positive ad of the insurance man.
Some critics of Enoch point to his daily rituals as evidence that he is
shallow and sacrilegious. After completing his shift at his job as a gatekeeper
at the zoo, Enoch regularly heads to the city park where he secretly watches
women in the swimming pool. Some people view Enoch’s ritual of spying on
women in bathing suits as a sign of Enoch’s paganism and his denial of the
existence of God (Martin 68). Most males tend to observe females when given
the opportunity, particularly in a public place such as a park where so-called
people watching takes place. Enoch’s ritual is due to the fact that he is a curious
teenage boy and not a pagan in denial of God. After meeting Hazel for the
first time, Enoch informs Hazel that he knows of a place where they could find
women. He states, “I heard about where there’s a house where we could have us
some fun. I could pay you back next week” (32). The narrator also notes that
Enoch has visited a brothel in the past (44). Hazel has relations not only with
the prostitute Mrs. Watts (18) but also with the underage Sabbath (96). The
only similarity these two characters have is that they have both visited with a
prostitute.
Enoch’s daily routine also includes a visit to the Frosty Bottle, where he
indulges in his daily chocolate milkshake and makes suggestive comments
to the waitress on duty, whom he believes is secretly in love with him (46).
Carter Martin views Enoch’s milkshake as the “grotesque pagan equivalent
of the sacrificial wine in Holy Communion” (68). He continues by linking the
milkshake and Enoch’s lewd comments to the waitress as further evidence of
Enoch’s pagan indulgences (68). Enoch’s ritual of patronizing the local soda
shop is certainly the same ritual that many teenagers of the 1950s shared.
Enoch could use some lessons in etiquette and respect for females, and if he
had been raised in a stable home with parents who taught him such manners,
he might be capable of making appropriate comments to females. It is not
unusual for a teenage boy to harbor a crush on a girl he mistakenly believes is
in love with him. Enoch certainly has plenty of time left in his life to work on
improving his social skills.
Many critics claim that Enoch is a secular individual who is devoid of
any spiritual foundation and that his daily rituals are a substitute for religion.
Timothy P. Caron suggests that Enoch should have been able to apply the
knowledge from his four weeks at the academy to the growth of his spiritual
life. Caron states that Enoch “is unable to convert the factual knowledge
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of Jesus he acquired” in the school “into a practicing Christian faith” (37).
Assuming that a typical teenage boy could be expected to absorb enough facts
within a period of four weeks at a stern, fundamentalist school to give him
a genuine faith is simply unrealistic. Martin contends that Enoch “professes
to know everything about Jesus because he has been to Rodemill Boys’ Bible
Academy” (194-95). Enoch’s unfortunate time at the academy gave him the only
religious experiences he has known. Enoch’s statements about Jesus reflect his
views about the religious dogma that was enforced upon him there. He never
claims that the academy enriched his spiritual or his academic life. Kreyling
states that Enoch’s escape from the academy is a sign that he “prefers to remain
incorrigible and unrehabilitated,” although Kreyling does not explore the
circumstances surrounding Enoch’s placement in the academy. Enoch does not
display any signs in the novel of being either incorrigible or unrehabilitated.
Richard E. Hughes describes Enoch as a person who “gets entangled in easy
rituals, false formulas, God-searches that do not involve his real self ” (189).
According to Hughes, unlike Haze, who is traveling toward the sacred, Enoch
is traveling in the “opposite direction” and “afflicted with the allure of the easy
and the partial” (189). I think Enoch is a working citizen who has devised a
daily ritual for his free time, while Haze is an opportunist who uses people on
his journey that ends with his brutal death. Enoch does not use people or harm
others.
Enoch’s daily ritual also includes a visit to the animals at the zoo, whom
he professes to despise, but he appears to identify with their unnatural state
of captivity. The creatures are housed in cages that are heated in the winter
and cooled during the summer. Enoch resents and is envious of the care the
animals receive in the climate-controlled environment. He spits on a wolf in a
cage and expresses his contempt for the animals there (53). Some people view
this particular ritual as evidence that Enoch is evil. I think Enoch’s behavior,
while cruel, is not so atypical for a boy who has not been nurtured or raised
by people who have taught him to respect all forms of life. Perhaps as Enoch
matures into a responsible adult, he will learn to respect and love animals. The
captive animals may also symbolize something more to Enoch. The two bears
at the zoo who spend their days in a cage facing each other are in an unnatural
state. For Enoch, the captive animals are another sign of the unnatural state
of life he sees in Taulkinham, along with the unfriendly, strange people he
encounters.
Most readers are disgusted as they read about Enoch’s stealing the
mummy from the museum, housing it in his self-made tabernacle, and
ultimately delivering it to Hazel to serve as the “new jesus” (80) that Hazel
seeks. Critics focus on this act as more evidence that Enoch is a pagan who has
found a god in his own mummified and unresurrected image (Martin 70).
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They also see this act as a hollow gesture. As Currie explains, Enoch steals the
mummy “because he needs a god, and any god will do” (141). However, Enoch
does not display any signs of an evil intention when he performs this deed. He
appears earnest in his desire to assist Hazel in his quest to find a new jesus.
Unlike Hazel, whose experiences leave him callous and jaded, Enoch still has
the quality of innocence in him and truly believes that Hazel is seeking a “new
jesus” (80). Furthermore, Enoch is uneducated, has not been exposed to critical
thinking skills, and takes Hazel’s rhetoric literally.
Enoch’s seemingly grotesque act of stealing the mummy from the
museum is not a shallow act of irreverence or stupidity. While Hazel spends
his days talking about the need for a “new jesus,” (80) Enoch is an activist
who visualizes Hazel’s object of desire and seeks to find it. After he steals the
mummy, he brings the bundle to his home where he places the bundle in the
tabernacle he had constructed. He treats this object with reverence as though
it is a holy object (98). As he walks to Hazel’s home while dressed in disguise,
he carries the bundle in his arms and delivers it to Sabbath Hawks who answers
the door while Haze is asleep. Enoch does not want any credit for this action
as he hands the bundle to Sabbath who treats the mummy with care as though
it is her child (103-04). After Hazel awakes and discovers Sabbath treating the
mummy so caringly, he immediately destroys and throws away the new jesus
(106). Although Enoch is unaware of the significance of his deed, Enoch’s
action of stealing the mummy to serve as the new jesus exposes the fallacy of
the message of Hazel’s Church Without Christ and is a criticism of Haze’s
vacuous message. Enoch assists Hazel in his journey toward repentance by
believing the message and by trying to help him find the object of his search.
In a letter to Carl Hartman in 1954, O’Connor reflects on the importance of
Enoch’s wise blood in completing the important task of identifying the truth
behind Hazel’s message: “Enoch, with his wise blood, unerringly lights on what
man looks like without God and obligingly brings it for Haze to have a look at”
(920). Once Enoch completes this task, he does not look back or dwell on it. He
moves on with his life.
Critics of Enoch also dismiss him as a “Horatio Alger figure” who is
shallow and pursues a popular vision of the American success story (Dyer
6). Because Enoch represents such a stereotype to them, these critics believe
he is not worthy of serious consideration. Kreyling attacks not only Enoch’s
character, but also his job: “Enoch is no messiah and not even much of a John
the Baptist. He still ends up working for the city” (Kreyling). Because Kreyling
does not elaborate after making this statement, one can infer that he is speaking
condescendingly about people who work for the city and suggesting that
working for the city represents the secular world. Martin describes Enoch as a
“thoroughly ridiculous country bumpkin” whose personality traits are not to
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be taken seriously (194). Martin’s attack on Enoch is not only unfair, but it is
an attack on anyone who has not been fortunate enough to be raised in a loving,
middle-to-upper-class home where children can be educated and taught social
graces. People who are poor do not have the resources to lead sophisticated
lives. In contrast to these critics, O’Connor describes in such rich detail the life
of a poor young man who struggles to survive on his own. Perhaps, through
Enoch, O’Connor is revealing her sympathy with the plight of the poor.
Another critic, Ronald Emerick, contends that Enoch signifies “modern
man separated from religious faith and reduced to an animalistic state” and,
by becoming Gonga, “he loses his essential humanity and becomes an animal,
an ‘it’. . .” (36). However, if Enoch’s critics would look beyond the physical act
of wearing the gorilla suit and consider his motivations, they would view the
final scene as another example of Enoch’s altruistic qualities. Enoch admires
and remembers positive role models he sees and tries to emulate them. When
he attends the picture show and watches a series of movies, he observes the
baboon, Lonnie, who is the star of a movie called Lonnie Comes Home Again.
This baboon is a hero who saves orphans from their burning home. Lonnie
takes many risks as he saves the children and, at the conclusion of the movie, is
awarded a medal by a pretty girl. Enoch is so overcome after watching this film
that he races out of the theater and collapses outside (79). After reading the
advertisement for the “Giant Jungle Monarch and a Great Star,” Enoch is eager
to meet what he expects will be another nice animal in Gonga the Gorilla (100).
With his heart racing in anticipation of meeting Gonga, Enoch finally builds
up the courage to step forward when it is his turn. Enoch repeats the familiar
speech of his life story that he recites whenever he introduces himself: “My
name is Enoch Emery. I attended the Rodemill Boys’ Bible Academy. I work at
the City zoo.” And he adds, “I seen two of your pictures. I’m only eighteen year
old but I already work for the city. My daddy made me com . . .” (102). Enoch’s
voice cracks on the same place it always does when he introduces himself. The
gorilla shocks Enoch by responding with an insult: “You go to hell” (102).
Embarrassed, Enoch immediately runs away. Although Enoch is shaken by the
surprisingly hateful response from Gonga, he decides to take action. In keeping
with his youthful, though naïve, optimism, Enoch plans to right a wrong and
become the new Gonga—the compassionate gorilla who wants to impress and
befriend people, just as Lonnie the baboon did in Lonnie Comes Home Again.
He manages to overpower Gonga and steal the gorilla suit, bury his own
clothes, and assume his new identity (110-11) as a “Great Star!” (100).
Some critics view this final scene of Enoch in the gorilla suit as a pseudoawakening experience for him. By wearing the gorilla suit, Enoch assumes
a new identity as an ape and becomes a “dehumanized and depersonalized”
human being (Gregory 63). Although Enoch is a teenager, and teenagers often
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do silly, daring things, some people say that his act indicates that Enoch’s
wise blood “is without wisdom and has played him false” and that his life is
without meaning (Gregory 64). Caron even goes so far as to say that Enoch’s
transformation from man to gorilla endorses pernicious Southern stereotypes
about race:
But the translation of Enoch Emery from man to gorilla reveals
Wise Blood’s deferral to prevailing Southern opinions on race.
The South’s racist images of blacks as sub-human beasts lurk just
beneath the surface of this scene. By the end of the transformation,
Enoch is a black, shaggy brute completely ruled by base or ‘animal’
desires. In attempting to demonstrate that all humans urgently need
a regenerative encounter with Christ, O’Connor creates a portrait
precariously close to the white South’s stereotypical menacing black
male. (39)
Alan Henry Rose defines Enoch’s final scene in the novel as the “final
objectification of Emery’s evil instincts” and describes Enoch as being
“transformed into a black bestial form” (123). Emerick claims that Enoch
has “destroyed his old identity and adopted a new one,” and, in the process,
represents “modern man separated from religious faith and reduced to an
animalistic state” (36).
I think Enoch’s critics place excessive emphasis on what could be a typical
teenage prank rooted in curiosity or, in Enoch’s case, a sincere desire to turn
a bad situation into a good one. When he approaches a couple and attempts to
greet them while wearing his new gorilla suit, Enoch is surprised by rejection
as the frightened couple flees (112). While Enoch did frighten the young couple
on the hill as he approached them in the costume, he did not harm anyone
during his journey, except for the people in charge of Gonga who lost their
gorilla suit. Significantly, we do not have any more information about Enoch
after he puts on the gorilla costume.
Enoch is a sensitive boy who lives a structured life, and it is quite possible
that he returned home that evening after being rejected as a gorilla, and
resumed his daily routine the next morning with his job at the zoo. Enoch, like
most people, seeks friends and a comfort zone. Since his brief stint as a gorilla
brought him only rejection, his past behaviors in the novel indicate that he will
return to his familiar, secure life. Enoch learned many lessons from his difficult
childhood and, after his four weeks at the Rodemill Boys’ Bible Academy, he
learned that it was prudent to distance himself from the “Jesus business” (23).
His experience with stealing the mummy and trying to be the new, friendly
Gonga can provide Enoch with the opportunity for more lessons to help shape
his future. Perhaps his life will even take a turn for the better as a result of
these experiences, and his spiritual life will grow from the wise blood he relies
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upon as an eighteen-year-old boy trying to survive.
Enoch’s critics also assert that he is an individual who relies completely
on his instinct, his wise blood, which causes him not to think and instead live
a life in which he blindly follows his compulsions. Emerick states that Enoch is
“the victim of his compulsions which he cannot resist. He is a slave to his wise
blood, a special intuitive knowledge which he has inherited from his daddy and
which determines most of Enoch’s actions in the novel” (34). He also claims
that Enoch is aware that his wise blood sometimes causes him to “perform
mysterious and irrational acts” (34). Kathleen Feeley identifies the source of
Enoch’s wise blood as “diabolical” and a “negative counterpart of the blood of
Redemption” (66). John V. McDermott continues the attack on Enoch’s selfreliance. He describes Enoch as “the man of unwise blood” (163) who avoids
the act of thinking and only uses his eyes to see life on the surface (163-64).
I think if Enoch were a slave to his compulsions and never thought deeply
about anything, he would be incapable of keeping his job, paying his bills, and
following the laws of society. Some of his peers in the novel have difficulty
with such important matters.
Enoch is an easy target for most critics who quickly point to his daily
rituals, his theft of the mummy, and his stint as a gorilla as proof that he is
stupid and evil. However, two critics, Melody Graulich and Marshall Bruce
Gentry, give Enoch the benefit of the doubt and see him as a young man on a
journey that is not so different from Hazel’s. Although Graulich and Gentry do
not dismiss Enoch as most critics do, they do not explore Enoch’s childhood in
depth or connect his past experiences with his approach to life as an eighteenyear-old. Graulich states that, although Enoch is a comic character, O’Connor
uses him in important and solemn ways in the novel (74). Although Enoch’s
faith is a “perverse” one, Graulich says, he possesses the ability to “recognize
and accept mystery” (75). Graulich continues by stating that Enoch’s wise
blood is an obscure method O’Connor uses to reveal the power Christ has over
every man (76). Because Enoch accepts the instructions from his wise blood
without question, he is an example of faith and serves in the novel as a “double
act of revelation” (76). However, she also states that Enoch’s type of religion
is “instinctive and self-concerned” (74). While Enoch certainly relies upon his
instinct and his intuition to help him survive, he is far from “self-concerned”
in his way of life. Although his wise blood helps him survive each day and
make decisions, Enoch is an altruistic character who reaches out to and tries
to help others throughout the novel. Enoch, of course, has been poorly served
by organized religion and has been betrayed by his caregivers. Remarkably, he
is a resilient individual who is not hardened by the many betrayals in his life.
Although Enoch may not appear to be a person with a Christ-centered spiritual
life, his altruistic actions are not merely secular ones.
369
Gentry argues that Enoch and Hazel are both on complementary
paths toward redemption. While Hazel uses the grotesque as a tool for his
redemption, Enoch in the gorilla suit also employs this tool in his journey
(125). Both characters reduce their versions of religion to a physical level, due
to their life experiences, and Enoch serves as Hazel’s disciple throughout the
novel (136-37). Gentry also states that Enoch uses the grotesque in a positive
manner because of the separation of his unconscious from his conscious mind
(138). The abrupt ending of Enoch’s story can be a positive sign for the young
man’s future (140). At the end of the novel, Enoch is alive and conceivably
could lead a productive life. While Graulich and Gentry both approach the
concept of redemption, a traditional religious concept, they do not consider the
possibility that Enoch reflects existential courage.
Readers and critics who dismiss Enoch as a secular, pagan character on the
periphery of the novel fail to notice the value of his wise blood. While other
characters in Wise Blood lead lives of deception and harm others, Enoch is the
character who is a contributing citizen and takes action when he determines it
is necessary, even if he does not always understand the purpose of his actions.
Enoch is a much more complicated person than many critics will admit. In one
of her letters, O’Connor expresses her confidence in Enoch’s actions and his
wise blood. In a 1954 letter to Carl Hartman, O’Connor describes her process
in writing Wise Blood: “I wrote the book just like Enoch would have, not
knowing too well why I did what but knowing it was right” (919; O’Connor
to Hartman 2 Mar. 1954). O’Connor defines wise blood as a positive trait that
enables an individual to pursue and achieve a goal. She describes this trait to
Hartman: “Hazel and Enoch both have wise blood, which is something that
enables you to go in the right direction after what you want” (920). O’Connor
makes clear that Enoch’s wise blood is not a comical trait, but a trait that helps
him to do the right thing. Furthermore, O’Connor even reveals to Hartman
that she identifies with Enoch and possesses the same disposition as he.
While she was living in Connecticut with the Fitzgeralds in 1949, O’Connor
indicated her identification with Enoch. In a letter to Robie Macauley, she
describes Enoch’s disdain for the city life of New York:
Enoch didn’t care so much for New York. He said there wasn’t no
privetcy (sic) there. Every time he went to sit in the bushes there was
already somebody sitting there ahead of him. He was very nervous
before we left and somebody at the Partisan Review told him to go
to an analyst. He went and the analyst said what was wrong with
him was his daddy’s fault and Enoch was so mad that anybody should
defame his daddy that he pushed the analyst out the window. (886)
Perhaps Enoch, whom O’Connor so carefully and vividly depicts, is created
from O’Connor’s own personality traits and insights.
370
In what sense does Enoch Emery possess wise blood? Many critics do
not pause to consider the significance of Enoch’s reliance upon his wise blood
and the possibility that his wise blood is beneficial to him and to others. Enoch
identifies Hazel’s quest for a new jesus and, in his macabre actions, illustrates
the vacuity of Hazel’s message. He also was quick to see through the phony
blind preacher Asa Hawks, and to recognize the immaturity of his daughter,
Sabbath. Enoch is perceptive enough to realize that faith in God and the “Jesus
business” (23) are two mutually exclusive concepts. He never denounces his
faith in God and even refers to his calling upon Jesus in prayer to help him
escape the welfare woman without killing her. He prayed and, he believes, God
answered his prayer by giving him the courage to escape from her (26). Enoch
craves the friendship of others and is in touch with his emotions. He senses the
anonymity of the fast-paced world he has been forced into at the vulnerable
age of eighteen.
Enoch takes risks to confess his loneliness and to reach out continually to
others in friendship, even when he is ignored or treated negatively by others.
Enoch searches for ways to connect with people. In Gonga, he sees a positive
symbol of the popular mind and seeks to become a better version of that
being when the real Gonga proved to have feet of clay. Although Enoch is
very young and has an understandably naïve approach to religion and a naïve
version of Jesus, his wise blood has led him on a positive journey. By contrast,
Hazel’s journey ends with his descent into self-mortification and his needless
death.
As an artist, O’Connor was aware of the religious aspects of popular
culture. The writer depicted in Enoch Emery and Hazel Motes the human need
to find meaning in a society that had been poorly served by organized religion.
O’Connor may have viewed my interpretation as the opposite of her religious
views. She also may be surprised that I would link Enoch with the philosophy
of an existentialist Protestant theologian who is familiar to her and whom she
admires. However, without realizing the logic of her art, O’Connor may be
anticipating a changing religious consciousness that Tillich explores in The
Courage to Be. While Tillich revealed these concerns in the early 1950s, other
theologians would continue this discussion a few years later in the mid-1960s,
when the “Death of God” proponents addressed profound questions about
God’s role in the modern world. Wise Blood is set in a landscape that reveals
the collapse of modern religion. Just as Hazel attempts to deal with the void
intellectually, Enoch deals with the issues pragmatically. Enoch is an example
of someone who, in the face of betrayal and darkness, affirms God, although he
may not be mature enough to realize God’s presence in his life. As the activist
and altruist in Wise Blood, Enoch represents the modern man who seeks to
371
cope with his disappointments by surviving each day through his God-given
gifts of self-knowledge, resilience, and initiative.
REFERENCES
Caron, Timothy P. Struggles Over the Word: Race and Religion in O’Connor, Faulkner, Hurston, and Wright. Macon, GA: Mercer UP, 2000.
Currie, Sheldon. “Freaks and Folks: Comic Imagery in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor.” Antigonish Review 62-63 (1985): 133-42.
Dyer, Joyce C. “‘Something’ in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood.” Notes on Contemporary Literature 15.5 (1985): 5-6.
Emerick, Ronald. “Wise Blood: O’Connor’s Romance of Alienation.” Literature and Belief 12.4 (1992): 27-38.
Feeley, Kathleen. Flannery O’Connor: Voice of the Peacock. New York: Fordham UP, 1982.
Gentry, Marshall Bruce. Flannery O’Connor’s Religion of the Grotesque. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1986.
Gordon, Sarah. Flannery O’Connor: The Obedient Imagination. Athens: U of Georgia P, 2000.
Graulich, Melody. “‘They Ain’t Nothing But Words’: Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood.” The Flannery O’Connor Bulletin 7 (1978): 64-83.
Gregory, Donald. “Enoch Emery: Ironic Doubling in Wise Blood.” The Flannery O’Connor Bulletin 4 (1975): 52-64.
Hughes, Richard E. The Lively Image: 4 Myths in Literature. Cambridge: Winthrop, 1975.
Kreyling, Michael. Lecture to the NEH Summer Institute “Reconsidering Flannery O’Connor.” Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, Georgia. 16 July 2007.
Martin, Carter W. The True Country: Themes in the Fiction of Flannery
372
O’Connor. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 1968.
McDermott, John V. “Dissociation of Words with the Word in Wise Blood.” Renascence 30 (1978): 163-66.
O’Connor, Flannery. Flannery O’Connor: Collected Works. Ed. Sally Fitzgerald. New York: Library of America, 1988.
---. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor. Ed. Sally Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage, 1979. (Cited parenthetically as HB.)
---. Unpublished letter to Maryat Lee. 1 Mar. 1958. Flannery O’Connor’s Correspondence with Maryat Lee. Folder containing letters from Jan.—Dec. 1958. Special Collections, Georgia College & State University Library.
Patton, Rena. Telephone interview. 4 Oct. 2007.
Rose, Alan Henry. Demonic Vision: Racial Fantasy and Southern Fiction. Hamden, CT: Archon,1976.
Srigley, Susan. Flannery O’Connor’s Sacramental Art. Notre Dame: U of
Notre Dame P, 2004.
Tillich, Paul. The Courage to Be. New Haven: Yale UP, 1952.
Wood, Ralph C. Flannery O’Connor and the Christ-Haunted South. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.
373
374
Psychology
Psychology
375
376
Children’s Birth Orders
The Relationship between Children’s Birth
Orders and Their Social Competence
Christina Borne and Kimberly Mears
Dr. Tsu-Ming Chiang
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
The significance of sibling ordinal position as a determinant of behavior
has long been debated in both past and present literature. A correlation
between behavior problems in firstborn children and male children has been
suggested (Lahey, et al, 1980). The purpose of this study was to examine the
relationship between birth order and children’s social competence. Data of
forty-three head start children with ages ranging from 3 to 5, collected by a
larger study over 3 years, were used for analyses. Teachers of these children
were given a Social Competence Behavior Evaluation (SCBE, by Lafreniere) to
rate children’s social behaviors in the classrooms. Sibling data reported from
the parents along with SCBE scores were analyzed using a two-tailed Pearson
Correlation test. Though no significant sibling ordinal position effects were
found, the number of siblings and the age of first-born sibling were found to
be related to children’s behaviors.
INTRODUCTION
Sibling ordinal position effects, which are the differences that arise
between siblings of different birth ranks, have long been debated in both past
and present literature. Interest in this area can be traced back to the early
19th century and some data reveals significant differences while other data
reveals no differences at all. Schooler (1972) found almost no reliable evidence
for birth order effects among men living in the United States in the middle
1960’s. However, in Rosenblatt & Skoogberg’s cross-cultural study (1974)
found that firstborns are likely to receive more elaborate birth ceremonies
and, in childhood, to have more authority over siblings and to receive more
respect from siblings. In the past, some researchers have focused on the
gender of siblings while others have focused on the age differences between
siblings. These effects have been studied in correlation to such characteristics
as educational attainment, physical activity level, sex-role development,
achievement, and personality development. These studies have resulted in
many theories in explaining why the differences between birth ranks exist.
Researchers attribute these birth order effects to various reasons, such as
377
the inexperience of parents and to differential treatment from the parents,
specifically from the mothers. Baskett (1984) reported that mothers respond
differently to their first-born children than they do to their later-born children.
In addition to birth order being easy to observe, there are well-known
beliefs about people in different birth orders. For example, only-borns often are
considered to be selfish and spoiled. In a recent study of 196 undergraduate
students at Stanford University, Herrera, Zajonc, Wieczorkowska, and
Cichomski (2003) found that individual’s beliefs of birth rank may have
important psychology implications in forming stereotypes, and subsequently
result in social and behavior consequences. The results of the study revealed
that people characterized firstborns as the most intelligent, obedient, stable,
responsible, and the least emotional and only children were characterized as
being the most disagreeable. Middle-borns are believed to be the most envious
and the least bold and talkative and last-borns were characterized by being the
most creative, emotional, extraverted, disobedient, irresponsible, and talkative.
Furthermore, these studies are important in demonstrating how the perception
of birth ranks and the characteristics are believed to fulfill may change the way
people are treated. Therefore, birth order may potentially play a major role
in a child’s social development. Differences in the early social experience of
first-born and later-born individuals appear to underlie a range of behavioral
differences observed later in the lifespan.
It is difficult for the scientific community to reach a consensus on the
universal effects of sibling ordinal position because of the variation of results.
Although no definite conclusions have been determined, birth order remains
a popular topic of interest. Rodgers (2001) postulates that this interest in
behavior differences from birth order may stem from fact that everyone has
a birth order and has implications on parenting. Due to the inconclusive
results from both past and present literature in almost all areas, the purpose
of current research is to review the literature on the role of birth order in
social development and to examine the possible reasons to account for these
differences because children’s ordinal position may serve as an important
mediating factor for their emotional and intellectual development (Baskett,
1984). Children’s birth order is expected to be correlated with their social
competence, and the later born child is expected to be more social and peeroriented.
METHOD
Participants
The sample consists of 42 children participating in head start class, with
ages ranging from 3 to 5. The data collected was part of a larger study by
378
Chiang, et al. (2007, 2008). Of the 42 children, 19 were girls and 23 were boys.
The sample consisted of 15 first-borns, 16 second-borns, 3 third-borns, 6
fourth-borns, and 2 fifth-borns. The details of the sample can be found in Table
1.
Table 1: Number of Children and Their Birth Order Summary
BirthOrder * SexN Crosstabulation
Count
SexN
.00
BirthOrder
Total
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
5
6
2
5
1
19
SexN
1.00
10
10
1
1
1
23
Total
15
16
3
6
2
42
Procedure
The teachers of these children were given a Social Competence Behavior
Evaluation (SCBE, by Lafreniere, 1997), which focuses on the child’s adaptation
to and social functioning within his or her surroundings. The SCBE consists
of eight basic scales and four summary scales. The eight basic skills include
depressive-joyful, anxious-secure, angry-tolerant, isolated-integrated,
aggressive-calm, egotistical-prosocial, oppositional-cooperative, and dependentautonomous and the summary skills include social competence, externalizing
problems, internalizing problems, and general adaptation (SCBE, by Lafreniere,
1997). Parents were also asked to complete a parental survey including sibling
data and child-rearing practices. The sibling data reported from the parents
along with SCBE scores were analyzed using a two-tailed Pearson Correlation
test.
RESULTS
The Pearson Correlations were performed first separating gender as
a factor to examine gender effects in relation to birth order. Based on no
significant gender effects being found, the data was then combined. Additional
Pearson Correlation tests were again performed to document the birth order
effects as well as the number of siblings, specifically, the first born’s ages in
relation to social behaviors. The number of siblings were correlated with
379
Teachers’ SCBE ratings in subscales, AngTol (r = .337, p = .029) and OppCoo
(r = .326, p = .035) and in summary scale, External (r=.331, p = .032). In
addition, the first sibling age (older sibling) is related significantly to the
teachers’ SCBE subscales in AngTol (r = .408, p = .011), OppCoo (r = .398, p =
.013), DepAuto (r = .435, p = .006).
Agg Calm
Ego Pro
Opp Coo
Dep Auto
IsoInt
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Iso Int
AngTol
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Ang Tol
AnxSec
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Anx Sec
DepJoy
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Dep Joy
BirthOrder
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Birth Order
Figure 1: A Correlation Table of Children’s Birth Order and Teachers’ Social
Competence Behavior Evaluation, 8 Basic Scales
Correlations
1
.033
.088
.276
-.153
.157
.169
.253
.242
.
.838
.581
.077
.333
.320
.285
.106
.123
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.033
1
.908**
.351*
.799**
.222
.252
.409**
.633**
.838
.
.000
.023
.00
.158
.107
.007
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.088
.908**
1
.542**
782**
.406**
369*
562**
.764**
.581
.000
.
.000
.000
.008
.016
.000
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.276
.351*
.542**
1
.436**
.767**
.734
.872**
.690**
.077
.023
.000
.
.004
.000
.000
.000
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
-.153
.799**
.782**
.436**
1
.292
.335*
.449**
.620**
.333
.000
.000
.004
.
.061
.030
.003
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
380
Iso Int
Agg Calm
Ego Pro
Opp Coo
Dep Auto
DepAuto
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Ang Tol
OppCoo
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Anx Sec
EgoPro
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Dep Joy
AggCalm
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Birth Order
Correlations (continued)
.157
.222
.406**
.767**
.292
1
.818**
.815**
.465**
.320
.158
.008
.000
.061
.
42
.000
.000
.002
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.169
.252
.369*
.734**
.335*
.818**
1
.792**
.527**
.285
.107
.016
.000
.030
.000
.
.000
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.253
.409**
.562**
.872**
.449**
.815**
.792**
1
.702**
.106
.107
.000
.000
.003
.000
.000
.
.000
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.242
.633**
.690**
.620**
.465**
.527**
.702**
1
.123
.000
.764**
.000
42
.000
.000
.002
.000
.000
.
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
**. Correlaton is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
381
Figure 2: Figure 1: A Correlation Table of Children’s Birth Order and Teachers’
Social Competence Behavior Evaluation, 4 Summary Scales
Correlations
BirthOrder Social
Internal External General
BirthOrder
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
1
.
42
.070
.657
42
.101
.526
42
.280
.072
42
.163
.302
42
Social
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
.070
.657
42
1
.
42
.734**
.000
42
.384*
.012
42
.934**
.000
42
Internal
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
.101
.526
42
.734** 1
.000
.
42
42
.279
.073
42
.807**
.000
42
External
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
.280
.072
42
.384*
.012
42
1
.
42
.642**
.000
41
General
Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
.163
.302
42
.934** .807**
.000
.000
42
42
.642**
.000
42
1
.
42
.279
.073
42
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
382
Opp Coo
Dep Auto
N Sib
EgoPro
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Ego Pro
AggCalm
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Agg Calm
IsoInt
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Iso Int
AngTol
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Ang Tol
AnxSec
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Anx Sec
DepJoy
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Dep Joy
Figure 3: A Correlation Table on the Number of Siblings and The SCBE 8 Basic
Scales.
Correlations
1
.906**
.351*
.799**
.222
.252
.409**
.633**
-.006
.
.000
.023
.000
.158
.107
.007
.000
.971
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.908**
1
.542**
.782**
.406**
.369*
.562**
.764**
.074
.000
.
.000
.000
.008
.016
.000
.000
.640
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.351*
.542**
1
.436**
.767**
.734**
.872**
.690**
.337**
.023
.000
.
.004
.000
.000
.000
.000
.029
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.799**
.782**
.436**
1
.292
.335*
.449**
.620*
-.264
.000
.000
.004
.
.061
.030
.003
.000
.091
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.222
.406**
.767**
.292
1
.818**
.815**
.465**
.246
.158
.008
.000
.061
.
.000
.000
.002
.117
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.252
.369*
.734**
.335*
.818**
1
.792**
.527**
.203
.107
.016
.000
.030
.000
.
.000
.000
.198
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
383
Iso Int
Agg Calm
Ego Pro
Opp Coo
Dep Auto
N Sib
NSiblings
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Ang Tol
DepAuto
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Anx Sec
OppCoo
Pearson
Correlation
Sig.
(2-tailed)
N
Dep Joy
Correlations (continued)
.409**
.562**
.872**
.449**
.815**
.792**
1
.702**
.228
.007
.000
.000
.003
.000
.000
.
.000
.035
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
.633**
.764**
.690**
.620**
.465**
.702**
1
.228
.000
.000
.000
.000
.002
.527**
.000
42
.000
.
.146
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
-.006
.074
.337*
-.264
.246
.203
.326*
.228
1
.971
.640
.029
.091
.117
.198
.035
.148
.
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
42
**. Correlaton is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
DISCUSSION
After reviewing the data, we found that the more siblings a child has, the
more likely it is for that child to be reported as tolerant, cooperative, and to
externalize their problems. Furthermore, a child is more tolerant, cooperative,
and autonomous when he or she has an older sibling. The result may be
explained by the availability of opportunities for later-born children to interact
with older siblings than vise versa. Vandell, Wilson, and Whalen (1981) assert
that later-born children have the opportunity to model older siblings who
facilitate social interactions. Later borns may thus possess greater social skills
and are more successful in peer interaction than first born children (Ickes &
Turner, 1983). It has also been found that behavior problems are more common
in first-born male children (Lahey, Hammer,Crumrine & Forehand, 1980).
However, in the present study, no gender effect was found.
Baskett (1984) offers other reasons for these birth order differences. She
attributes the differences in birth ranks to the differing environments within
families. Baskett (1984) furthers this belief by asserting that a child may carry
out self-fulfilling prophecies by learning these beliefs from parents, which
384
could be a dangerous result of stereotypes associated with particular birth
ranks. Baskett (1985) further suggests that differential behavior from parents
may result in these differences as well. Some research has indicated that firstborn children received more responsiveness and social attention (including
physical and verbal) from their mothers and that later-born children who have
to compete with their older siblings for their mother’s attention (Berglund,
Eriksson & Westerlund, 2005). Therefore, combining a higher activity level
with less parental control may encourage first-born males to display more
aggressive behaviors in social interactions (Lahey, Hammer, Crumrine, &
Forehand, 1980).
In addition to these explanations as to why birth order differences occur,
Falbo (1981) suggests that the parents of first and only children are more
likely to be inexperienced with children, and thus set too high an expectation
for their children. There is evidence that first and only-born children receive
greater parental pressure for more mature behavior at earlier ages than do
later-born children. Therefore, first-borns are more thoroughly socialized than
later-borns, conforming more closely to parental standards (Laosa & Brophy,
1972).
In conclusion, after reviewing the literature on birth order and different
personality characteristics and examining the birth order effects on a sample,
we feel that more research is needed. The limitations of this research include
the sample size and the social class. The sample size is considerable small
and a relationship between social competency and birth order may be more
evident in a bigger sample. Furthermore, Rodgers (2001) explained birth order
effects through a theory known as admixtures. These admixtures, such as
socioeconomic status, are related to birth order effects and family size patterns
and can potentially confound the results of birth order studies. Falbo (1981)
expands on how social class can confound birth order results. He states:
Middle-borns are more likely to come from larger families than first
or last-borns. Furthermore, social class is negatively related to family
size. Consequently, if birth category is the only factor considered in
the data analyses, there is a good chance that the effects attributed to it
are really brought about by social class, family size, or both. (p. 122)
Schooler (1972) suggests that further studies should attempt to control these
confounding variables by matching participants by age, social class, and
family size. Even so, it still may difficult to determine a relationship between
birth order and other variables. Avila (1971) also offers some suggestions
for improving the research on birth order. She recommends that more
observational data is needed, more longitudinal and cross-sectional studies are
needed, more cross-cultural research is needed and finally, more research on
non-middle class families is needed in order to better establish the relationship
385
between birth order and other variables (Avila, 1971).
REFERENCES
Avila, B. H.D. (1971). A critical review of the approach to birth order research.
The Canadian Psychologist, 12(2), 282-305.
Baskett, L. M. (1984). Ordinal position differences in children’s family interactions. Developmental Psychology, 20(6), 1026-1031.
Baskett, L. M. (1985). Sibling status effects: Adult expectations.Developmental Psychology, 21(3), 441-445.
Berglund, E., Erikkson, M., & Westerlund, M. (2005). Communicative skills in relation to gender, birth order, childcare, and socioeconomic status in 18-month-old children. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46, 485-491.
Chiang, T., Anderson, M., Lesso, L., Newberry, C., Carlson, S. Hulteen, S.,
Carson, A., Stosik, K., & Flower, J. (2008). Successful Practices in
Coaching Children’s Social and Emotional Competence. A paper
presented at the 19th National Youth At Risk conference, March,
Savannah, Georgia.
Chiang, T., Douglass, S., Kite, K., & Barber, C. (2007). Emotional Coaching of
At-Risk Children’s Social Competence in Preschool Context. A paper
presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child
Development, Boston, MA. In a paper symposium chaired by Chiang,
T. Titled “Contextual Influences on the Youth’s Social and Emotional
Competence.”
Lahey, B.B., Hammer, D., Crumrine, P.L., & Forehand, R.L. (1980). Birth
order x sex interactions in child behavior problems. Developmental
Psychology, 16, 608-615.
Falbo, T. (1981). Relationships between birth category, achievement, and
interpersonal orientation. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 41(1), 121-131.
Herrera, N.C., Zajonc, R.B., Wieczorkowska, G., & Cichomski, B. (2003), Beliefs about birth rank and their reflections in reality. Journal of Personality
386
and Social Psychology, 85(1), 142-150.
Ickes, W., & Turner, M. (1983). On the social advantages of having an older,
opposite-sex sibling: Birth order influences in mixed-sex dyads.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 210-222.
Laosa, L. M. & Brophy, J. (1972). Effects of sex and birth order on sexrole development and intelligence among kindergarten children.
Developmental Psychology, 6, 409-415.
LaFreniere, P., & Dumas, J.E. (1995) Social Competence and Behavior
Evaluation, Preschool Edition (SCBE), Western Psychology
Association.
Rodgers, J.L. (2001). What causes birth order-intelligence patterns? American Psychologist, 56(6/7), 505-510.
Rosenblatt, P. C., & Skoogberg, E. L. (1974). Birth order in cross-cultural
perspective. Developmental Psychology, 10(1), 48-54.
Schooler, C. (1972). Birth order effects: Not here, not now! Psychological
Bulletin, 78(3), 161-175.
Vandell, D. L., Wilson, K. S., & Whalen, W. T. (1981). Birth-order and socialexperience differences in infant-peer interaction. Developmental
Psychology, 17(4), 438-445.
387
388
Science
Science
389
390
Immobilization of a Metalloporphyrin
Immobilization of a Metalloporphyrin in a
Sol-Gel Matrix
Daniel McCall
Dr. Rosalie A. Richards
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
Porphyrins have been employed in sensing devices over the past few
decades and more recently, as colorimetric sensors in aqueous solution.
Immobilization of metallated porphyrins in sol-gel matrices show promise
as reusable indicators of semi-volatile organic pollutants in waterway
treatment. We have fabricated a series of porphyrin/sol-gel monoliths to
identify the presence of specific functional groups in pollutants. The synthesis,
spectroscopy and functional properties of these materials will be presented.
INTRODUCTION
The health of the environment, including waterways, remains an area of
grave national and global concern. At Georgia College & State University,
the research students of the Oconee River Project routinely monitor the
levels of organic compounds in central Georgia, including the Oconee River
and the river basin. They monitor molecules natural to these environments
as well as those that are harmful. Samples are prepared for further analysis
on site and then brought back to the analytical laboratories at GCSU to be
analyzed using a traditional method known as gas chromatography–mass
spectrometry (GC-MS). Analysis of a sample using this technique produces a
“footprint” for the mass of each component in the sample that can be compared
to spectral libraries for compound identification. However, the maintenance
of this instrumentation is expensive and upkeep is labor-intensive and timeconsuming. Therefore, a cost-effective, alternative approach for routine
identification of organic materials in waterways is required. Consequently,
we have been designing a novel, reusable filter for the removal of organic
molecules. This technique utilizes sol–gels, materials that have found
application as ceramics and glasses in optics, electronics, and as sensors.
Interest in sol–gel processing began as early as the mid-1800s with Ebelman’s1
and Graham’s2 studies on silica gels. The silica-based sol–gels are colloidal
suspensions that can be gelled through condensation reactions to form a porous
solid of networked silicon-oxygen bonds. The rationale for using silica-based
sol–gels is based on the ability to manufacture gels with pore sizes that can
391
“trap” the desired organic materials in the pores. In fact, extensive work has
been done in an effort to understand the structure of silica sol–gels because
structural information is critical when adjusting the reaction parameters to
achieve various pore sizes and surface area for different applications.3 Further,
the gel can also be modified with a number of dopants to produce unique
properties, including color change in the presence of different substances. In
addition, when organic molecules are present in the silica sol–gel structure,
hydrogen bonds which inhibit condensation and slow the shrinkage of the
pore size, leaving larger pores.4 Consequently, the design of the sol–gel filter
was restructured in order to function in two ways: (1) for the identification of
organic pollutants and (2) for the remediation of pollutants from waterways.
To achieve this ambitious goal, we have doped sol–gels with porphyrins
(Figure 1), a large class of intensely-colored organic compounds widely known
as hemes in their function as oxygen carriers in blood. Porphyrins are cyclic
organic compounds composed of four alternating pyrrole rings between
methine bridges. The highly conjugated porphyrin macrocycle absorbs light
strongly in the visible region with an intense Soret band around 400 nm and
weaker Q-bands ranging in absorption from wavelengths of 450 to 700 nm.
As a result, porphyrins are extremely colorful compounds. Substitution at the
β- and γ-carbons with atoms or other functional groups is possible. Metal ions
may also be inserted into the center of the porphyrin. Substitution at these
positions or metallation affects the chemical characteristics of the porphyrin.5
Figure 1: Chemical Structure of Porphine
Porphyrins and their metal complexes are sensitive to changes in their
chemical environment and change color as a result.6 In fact, porphyrins have
been employed in sensing devices over the past few decades, and more recently
as colorimetric sensors in aqueous solution.6
When organic ligands bind to the metal center of the porphyrin (ligand
392
chelation), disruption of the metalloporphyrin’s conjugation causes visible
colorimetric changes to occur. Incorporating a porphyrin into the colloidal
inorganic sol–gel mixture via pre- or post-doping can modify sol–gels and
manipulate the
size of the pores. By fabricating metalloporphyrins with various functional
groups to aid in the immobilization and chemoresponse, this colorimetric
change can be utilized to identify certain semivolatile organic compounds. In
addition to the metalloporphyrin’s chelating properties, the ability to customtailor the surface area and porosity of the sol–gel matrix allows for both
identification and filtration of semivolatile organic compounds. The synthesis
and characteristics of a series of metalloporphyrin/sol–gel monoliths
(large crystalline samples) will be investigated in order to create a reusable
colorimetric sensor for aqueous solution analytes.
PROCEDURE
Tetrakis (4-N-methyl) pyridiniumylporphyrin manganese
(III) complex (MnTMPyP5+) (Figure 2), all free-base porphyrins
(tetracarboxyphenylporphyrin (H2TCPP), and tetrahydroxyphenylporphyrin
(H2THPP)) were purchased from MidCentury Chemicals.
Figure 2: Chemical Structure of MnTMPyP5+
Metallation of Free Base Porphyrins
The metalloporphyrin derivatives were synthesized by refluxing metal
salts of interest with the porphyrin for 24 to 48 hr as described herein,
393
using the method described by Adler et al.7 Insertion of manganese (II)
ions into H2THPP was accomplished by refluxing 0.125 g of the free-base
porphyrin in a 1:1 mixture of methanol: water for 48 hr in the presence of
excess manganese (II) chloride (0.1905 g) (Figure 3). Ultraviolet-visible
spectroscopy, with a Shimadzu UV2401PC, was used to monitor the reaction
and characterize the product. Spectra indicated that free base porphyrin
starting material remained in solution with the metallated product. Thin layer
chromatography (TLC) was used to investigate means of separating starting
material and product. Column chromatography was performed to separate the
two compounds. Methanol was used as the mobile phase and silica gel was used
as the stationary phase. Eluent fractions were collected and the concentration
of the free base porphyrin was determined via TLC. The manganese (II) ion
was presumably oxidized to manganese (III) once inserted into the tetraphenyl
porphyrin. The trivalent cation is commonly observed in the tetraphenyl
porphyrin. The manganese (III) complex (MnTHPP+) was collected as the
first fractions of eluent and its identity verified using ultraviolet-visible
spectroscopy. The compound was recrystallized from DMF, producing a 63%
yield.
Figure 3: Synthesis of MnTHPP+
The zinc (II) derivative of H2THPP was obtained using a similar
process. Excess zinc (II) acetate (0.5718 g) was refluxed for 24 hours in N,Ndimethylformamide (DMF) with 0.1225 g of the H2THPP free base (Figure 4).
The reaction was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The product, ZnTHPP,
was washed with DMF and air-dried. Chromatographic separation was not
necessary.
394
Figure 4: Synthesis of ZnTHP
Ligand-Binding Studies
Several amine ligands were chosen as model analytes for this investigation:
dicyclohexylamine, aniline, piperidine, and pyridine. Each ligand was added
separately to a methanol solution of each metalloporphyrin and colorimetric
changes were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy. Binding of
dicyclohexylamine to the metal center of MnTMPyP5+ causes a 16 nm blue
shift of the Soret band and a color change from maroon to green in solution.
MnTHPP+ was placed in neat solutions of dicyclohexylamine, ammonium
nitrate, and piperidine. No color change was observed. A color change was
observed when ZnTHPP was placed in neat piperidine and dicyclohexylamine.
The purple crystals of the ZnTHPP turned bright green.
395
Figure 5: Analyte-Porphyrin Complex Spectra
Immobilization
(a) Doping via Synthesis
(i) Tetramethylorthosilane (TMOS) Sol-Gels: Free-base porphyrins
H2THPP, H2TCPP, and the metal complexes, ZnTHPP, MnTHPP+, and
MnTMPyP5+ were immobilized separately in a sol-gel matrix using an acidcatalyzed synthesis method. The sol-gel was synthesized by combining 1 M
TMOS and 1.5 M methanol in a 25 mL vial (Equation 1). The solution was
then stirred for ten minutes. While the solution was stirring, an acid catalyst
−3
(1.5 M of water and 4 × 10 M HCl) was prepared. After ten minutes, the
catalyst was added dropwise to the solution, causing condensation to occur
(Equation 2).
(1)
Si(OCH3)4 + 4H2O ® Si(OH)4 + 4CH3OH
(2)
Si(OH)4 + Si(OH)4 ® (OH)3Si-O-Si(OH)3 + H2O (3)
(OH)2Si-O-Si(OH)3 + 6Si(OH)4 ® 6H2O + [(OH)3Si-O]3-Si-O-Si-
[O-Si(OH)3]3 The porphyrin dopant was then added to the solution. The solution was
stirred overnight causing polymerization to occur (Equation 3). The resulting
gel was cast the following day by pouring it into a container and covering
396
it with Parafilm to create an airtight seal so that the mixture could harden.
The covered mixture was allowed to sit overnight. After setting occured, the
Parafilm was punctured to aerate the mixture. The sol-gel was then dried
under ambient conditions.
(ii) Tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS) Sol-Gels: H2THPP, H2TCPP, ZnTHPP,
and MnTHPP+ were immobilized separately in a sol-gel matrix of TEOS
using the aforementioned acid-catalyzed synthesis method using different
concentrations of the reactants (1 M TEOS, 1.5 M methanol, 1.5 M water,
4 ×10 −3 M HCl). The porphyrin dopant was added to the solution. The
solution was stirred overnight and the gel was cast the following day.
(b) Doping via Evaporation
TMOS sol-gel monoliths were immersed separately in DMF solutions
6.4 ×10 −4 M ZnTHPP, 7.3 ×10 −4 M MnTHPP+,
6.9 ×10 −4 M H2THPP, and 6.2 ×10 −4 M H2TCPP. The DMF solvent was
of porphyrins:
then allowed to evaporate for 72 hours.
Behavior of Doped Sol-Gel
The doped sol-gels were subjected to various conditions involving a
variety of analytes. Solid and crushed synthesis-doped H2TCPP, H2THPP,
ZnTHPP, and MnTHPP sol-gels were subjected to vacuum filtration with neat
piperidine using a suction filter (Figure 6).
397
Figure 6: Suction Apparatus
The suction filter was composed of a hand-pulled buret affixed to a glass
funnel by a piece of heat-shrink tubing. The monolith samples were sealed in
a piece of heat-shrink tubing in order to provide a proper seal. The crushed
samples rested on the fiberglass plug. Powdered synthesis-doped H2TCPP,
H2THPP, and ZnTHPP sol-gels were immersed in dicyclohexylamine, aniline,
piperidine, and acetophenone in order to observe any color changes. The
evaporative-doped H2TCPP, H2THPP, ZnTHPP, and MnTHPP+ sol-gels were
also immersed in neat solutions of dicyclohexylamine, aniline, and pyridine.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Free-base prophryins have free hydrogens that are sensitive to pH.
Acidic conditions further protonate the prophyrin’s core nitrogens, whereas
basic conditions deprotonate them. Protonation/deprotonation disrupts the
porphyrin’s conjugation, leading to a color change. Insertion of a metal ion
into the prophyrin core allows analytes to complex to the metal and thus
disrupts the conjugation. A large disruption causes a change in the energy gap
between the porphyrin’s highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the
lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). The change in energy alters
the wavelength/frequency of light absorbed and transmitted, which causes a
colorimetric change. Previous literature cites manganese and zinc as potential
complexing sites.8,9 The process of metallating a porphyrin involves refluxing a
divalent metal salt with the free- base porphyrin. This reaction takes advantage
398
of the proton-metal equilibrium with the nitrogens. The reaction process is
monitored via ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Insertion of the metal into
the porphyrin core increases the symmetry of the porphyrin. The increased
symmetry reduces the number of different transitions, thus reducing the
number of q-bands from four to two. Immobilization of the porphyrins into
the sol-gel matrix is believed to take place via encapsulation, electrostatic
interactions, and/or covalent anchorage depending on the porphyrin being
used. Pore size is an important factor in the ability of the porphyrins to react
with analytes. If sufficient space is not available for a transition state to occur,
then no reaction will occur. For this reason TEOS sol-gels, doping reagents
that increase pore size, and alternate catalysts, are currently being investigated.
TMOS sol-gels and their synthesis-doped derivates have been characterized by
solid-state NMR thanks to a collaborative effort with the Georgia Institute of
Technology.
Porphyrin integrity
Tetrahydroxyphenyl porphyrin has been metallated to form the zinc and
manganese derivatives. Insertion of Mn (II) into the macrocycle was achieved
by refluxing MnCl2 and H2THPP (Figure 7a) in methanol for 48 hours. Upon
insertion of the manganese (II) cation, the Soret band red-shifted by 48.5 nm
(Figure 7b). Insertion of the zinc (II) cation was achieved in a similar manner
to the manganese. Zinc (II) acetate and H2THPP were refluxed in DMF for 24r
hours. Upon insertion of the zinc (II) cation, the Soret band red-shifted by 6
nm (Figure 7c).
Sol-gel integrity
Solid-state NMR studies were conducted with the various porphyrin
doped TMOS sol-gels and compared to a control TMOS sol-gel. 1H Magic
Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS-NMR) was used to study
the pure sol-gel and the sol-gels after the addition of H2THPP, H2TCPP and
the metal complex ZnTHPP via synthesis doping (Figure 8). The triplet
observed in the blank sol-gel is possibly due to methoxy groups, silanols, and
water. Broad singlets were observed in each of the doped sol-gels which could
correspond to an increased number of crosslinks. The minor peaks observed
around 20 and 15 ppm do not correspond to any chemical sites and are a result
of spinning sidebands.
13
C Cross-Polarization and Direct-Polarization Magic Angle Spinning
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (CP MAS-NMR and DP MAS-NMR,
respectively), and 39Si CP and DP MAS-NMR, were used to further investigate
the sol-gel porphyrin systems (Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12, respectively). 13C CP
MAS-NMR indicated the presence of silicon-bound methoxy groups in all
399
samples. The 13C DP MAS-NMR peaks correspond to methoxy-moieties with
an increased mobility, possibly from free methanol. The 39Si CP and DP MASNMR spectra indicate the extent of cross-linkage and polymerization that have
occurred within the silane. Doped porphyrins were not detected due to their
low concentration.
Figure 7: Absorbance spectra of (a) H2THPP (b) MnTHPP (c) ZnTHPP in DMF
(a) THPP
Soret Band:
423 nm
(b) MnTHPP
Soret Band:
471.5 nm
400
(c) ZnTHPP
Soret Band:
429 nm
401
Figure 8: 1H MAS-NMR spectra of TMOS, THPP-TMOS, TCPP-TMOS, and
ZnTHPP-TMOS
Figure 9: 13C CP MAS-NMR spectra of sol-gel, THPP-TMOS, TCPP-TMOS,
and ZnTHPP-TMOS (from bottom to top)
402
Figure 10: 13C DP MAS-NMR spectra of sol-gel, THPP-TMOS, TCPP-TMOS,
Figure 11: 29Si CP MAS-NMR spectra of sol-gel, THPP-TMOS, TCPP-TMOS,
403
Figure 12: 29Si DP MAS-NMR spectra of sol-gel, THPP-TMOS, TCPP-TMOS,
and ZnTHPP-TMOS (from bottom to top).
Figure 13: Syneresis (from left to right): Sol-Gel after 6 days, 9 days, and 14 days
A series of porphyrin/sol-gel monoliths have been produced. The
MnTMPyP5+-TMOS monolith was tested via analyte filtration using the
aforementioned method before pore-shrinkage known as syneresis was
complete (Figure 13).
The MnTMPyP-TMOS monoliths tested shattered and no color change
was observed, but no leaching of the porphyrin into the solvent was observed
either. The unused monoliths were allowed to dry further. The free base
porphyrin, tetracarboxyphenyporphyrin, tetrahydroxyphenylprophyrin zinc
(II), tetrahydroxyphenylporphyrin manganese (III), and the free base
404
tetrahydroxyphenylporphyrin have been doped into TMOS and TEOS sol-gels.
Filtration of the solid and powdered porphyrin/sol-gel monoliths
indicated little to no activity. Filtration of THPP-TMOS monolith with
piperidine produced an extreme color change from light green to orange. This
color change is believed to be caused by an acid-base reaction, deprotonation of
core nitrogens by piperidine. No other color changes were observed with any
of the synthesis-doped sol-gels.
The evaporative-doped sol-gels displayed a visible color change when
submersed in neat analyte solutions, but extreme leaching was observed. The
relatively nonpolar solutions dissolved the porphyrin from the surface of the
sol-gel. This would be unacceptable for application purposes.
SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK
A series of porphyrin doped sol–gel monoliths were produced using two
different methods—synthesis doping and evaporative doping—in order to be
used as colorimetric sensors of semivolitale organic compounds in aqueous
solutions. Preliminary samples of porphyrin doped and nondoped sol–gels
were characterized with solid-state NMR. The doped sol–gels were tested in
the presence of various analytes. No visible color changes were observed in
synthesis doped sol–gels, and no porphyrin leaching was observed. Evaporative
doped sol–gels displayed visible color changes, but extreme leaching was
observed. Neither of the current samples are adequate for the intended
applications. Further studies involving modified sol–gels with larger pore sizes
are currently underway.
Future projects could include complete characterization of the
metalloporphyrin/TEOS monoliths. Such characterization includes Brunauer,
Emmett, and Teller (BET) analysis for surface area determination, further
solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for elemental analysis and
pore size, UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe metalloporphyrin characteristics of
monoliths, and pollutant identification and filtration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
D.M. would like to acknowledge the Lisse Oconee River research
group, the Chemistry Scholars Award at GCSU, GCSU Kaolin Endowment,
Bo Xu, Johannes Leisen, and Dr. Haskell Beckham at the Georgia Institute of
Technology, and the Department of Chemistry & Physics at GCSU. R.A.R.
gratefully acknowledges support from GCSU Faculty Awards.
405
REFERENCES
[1] Ebelmen, M. 1846. Annales de Chimie et de Physique 1846.16:129.
[2] T. Graham, Journal of the Chemical Society. 1864. 17:318.
[3] Brinker, C. J. and G.W. Scherer. 1990. Sol – Gel Science:The Physics and
Chemistry of Sol– Gel Processing. San Diego: Academic Press.
[4] Higginbotham, C. P. et al. 2003. Materials Letters 57:3968.
[5] R. Richards, Dissertation University of Southern California, 1996.
[6]Suslick, K. S.; Rakow, N. A.; Sen, A. 2004. Tetrahedron 60:11133.
[7] Adler, A. D., F. R. Longo, F. Kampas, and J. Kim. 1970. Journal of Inorganic
Nuclear Chemistry 32:2445.
[8] Dunbar, A. D. et al. 2006. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110:16646.
[9] Leontiev, A. V., and D. M. Rudkevich. 2005. Journal of the American Chemical
Society 127:14126.
406
Synthesis of a Novel Gadolinium (III) Porphyrin
for Use as a Contrast Medium and
Photosensitizer of Tumors
Jack H. Owens, Jr.
Dr. Rosalie A. Richards
Faculty Sponsor
ABSTRACT
Photodynamic therapy and magnetic resonance imaging offer treatment
and relief by means of noninvasive administration and treatment of
therapeutic agents. To date, high uptake and selectivity has been demonstrated
by gadolinium-based contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging
of human tumors. The goal of this project is to develop a water-soluble
gadolinium porphyrin complex that combines this high uptake and selectivity
with significant photoresponsive properties. meso-Tetrakis(N-methyl-4pyridyl)porphyrin was brominated and gadolinium (III) ion was inserted to
yield GdTMPyPBr85+. Metallation was observed by UV/Visible spectroscopy
with peak Soret around 456 nm in water. The porphyrin’s behavior in buffered
solutions from pH 1 through pH 13 was investigated spectroscopically. The
novel, saddle shaped porphyrin showed water molecules bound to the Gd(III)
ion which is essential for MRI as well as a more positive reduction potential
E1/2 (~ –0.2 eV) than similar systems.
INTRODUCTION
The diagnostics industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United
States with processes ranging from blood analysis to imaging. Imaging plays
a role in the identification of systemic abnormalities in the body and does
so while being noninvasive, thereby limiting convalescence. A diagnosis of
cancer eventually leads to the deaths of one in three people in the western
world, making it the number two killer amongst adults. The most prevalent
treatments are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and while effective, are
accompanied by very unpleasant side effects that disrupt the patient’s daily
routine. New treatments are needed to not only circumvent these complications,
but to yield higher success rates in treating cancers. Photodynamic therapy
could be such a treatment.
407
Background
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a procedure based on the accumulation
of a photosensitizer in malignant or problematic tissue. A photosensitizer is
a chemical compound that electronically excites when exposed to light, and
transfers its energy to other molecules. Illumination of the photosensitizer
with light of an appropriate wavelength causes a photochemical reaction
that allows for site specific treatment destruction of desired tissue, called a
photodynamic effect. The first process of PDT involves light absorption by a
photosensitizer (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Electronic processes of a photosensitizer and oxygen1
Energy is then transferred from the triplet excited state to the ground
state is captured by triplet state oxygen, and oxygen was converted to a
short-lived excited singlet state. In order for the treatment to be effective, this
singlet oxygen (1O2) is required. Singlet oxygen varies from the stable triplet
oxygen (3O2) found in the atmosphere and consumed by many organisms and
is a powerful, relatively indiscriminant oxidant that readily destroys biological
molecules.1 Since energy is emitted from the light activated sensitizer to create
the highly reactive singlet oxygen, the process is described as photodynamic.
After activating the photosensitizer, degradation of cellular organelles occurs,
leading to necrosis or cell death.
For PDT to occur, a photosensitive compound (the photosensitizer) is
deposited in the target tissue and specific wavelengths of light are absorbed
by the compound. To date, research has centered on what chemical structures
can serve as the most effective photosensitizers. The best combination of
photosensitizer properties include (1) minimally toxicity outside of its excitable
wavelength, (2) quick and selective uptake by target tissues versus normal
tissues, (3) rapid clearance from normal tissue, absorption at long wavelengths
that can penetrate the target tissues (700 - 800 nm), and (4) stability in
injectable solvents. Ideal photosensitizers should also function as magnetic
resonance imaging contrast agents due to their selective properties.1,2
408
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cancer and Contrast Agents
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is used primarily in medical
settings to produce high quality internal images of the human body.3 Based
on the principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), the high resolution
without radiation is the primary reason that MRI garnered such interest
among medical professionals.4 The technique relies upon the detection of
spatially localized NMR signals of proton nuclei within a species and in
biological applications, these protons arise from water.5,6 High magnetic field
strength MRI is sensitive to molecular dynamics. This permits noninvasive
physical examination and total density of the target molecule to be
determined.7 Procedures using contrast agent administration have yielded
better results, better resolution, and a better knowledge of structurally related
relaxation mechanisms.8 The dominant source of contrast imaging is the
difference between proton relaxation times of water in normal and diseased
tissue. A contrast agent enhancement is obtained by one tissue having a higher
affinity for the agent than another.9 The use of MRI as a means of cancer
detection was initiated by the observation of prolonged relaxation times in
malignant tissue as compared to normal tissue.10,11 A portion of our work is
based on this concept.
Gadolinium Contrast Agents
Gadolinium is a lanthanide, has 64 protons, a spin quantum number
of S = , and a long electron spin relaxation (10-9 s). The variation in
quality of an MRI image signal is greatly magnified with Gd(III) ion and a
majority of first generation of commercial complexes rely on its favorable
physiochemical properties such as seven unpaired electrons, long electron
relaxation time, and nine coordination sites.12,13 The seven 4f electrons result
in a large magnetic moment, and as such, gadolinium exhibits its paramagnetic
properties at low concentration.14 Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism
occurring only in the presence of an externally applied field rather than that
of a magnet (ferromagnet). The water molecules coordinated to the Gd(III)
center make a direct contribution, and the surrounding solvent molecules
experience a paramagnetic effect when they diffuse around the metal center.
Like many lanthanides, when injected, gadolinium salts tend to hydrolyze to
form hydroxides which can lead to toxicity (LD50 = 0.1 mmol/kg ).15 When
a compound binds Gd(III) binds, it reduces the toxicity of the metal in vivo
while still permitting some water coordination. This behavior allows Gd(III)
ion to function as an MRI contrast media.16 At present, four gadoliuniumbased MRI contrast agents have been approved for clinical use although the
FDA has recently requested boxed warnings.17,18
409
Porphyrins
Our interest is in Gd(III) porphyrin complexes, since porphyrins and
porphyrin derivatives are being explored for applications as contrast media
and photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy.19,20 Structurally, porphyrins
are derived from the parent molecule porphine, comprised of four alternating
pyrrole rings with four methine bridges (Figure 2). Porphine has 22 Π
electrons, 18 of which contribute to the aromatic system. Porphyrins are
formed when porphine is substituted at the β, and γ carbons. Substitution at
the β-position can occur at any time after the actual porphyrin is synthesized.
Metal ions can be substituted for the hydrogens found within the porphyrin’s
core to form metalloporphyrins. These compounds are a class of aromatic
marcrocycles that are highly conjugated and exhibit optical spectra with a very
intense Π–Π* transitions around 400 nm. This transition is known as a Soret
band. Porphyrins also exhibit several less intense Q-bands in the visible region
between 500 and 700 nm21. It is at these wavelengths that can penetrate tissue.
Figure 2: Porphine
Porphyrins are good candidates for medicinal applications since they
are ubiquitous in nature and form the basis of hemoglobin, myoglobin,
cytochromes, and chlorophyll.22 Porphyrins exhibit characteristics peculiar
to efficient photosensitizers – light absorbance between 700 and 800 nm
which can allow for nearly 100% tissue penetration. The only porphyrinbased drug approved for photodynamic therapy is Photofrin.23 A typical 2
mg/kg dosage followed by irradiation with 630 nm light results in tumor
necrosis by the induced photodynamic effect. However, the drug is only
effective against a small number of cancers due to its lack of selectivity. It
also exhibits unpleasant side effects such as prolonged light sensitivity24 and
displays low solubility in aqueous injectable fluids. Yet, porphyrins can be made
water-soluble by substituting polar and ionic groups at the γ-carbons and
together with metallo-derivatives, can be absorbed and expelled by the body,
thus reducing treatment-related complications. In fact, water-soluble cationic
porphyrins have been employed as contrast agents and have demonstrated
effectiveness against gram-positive bacteria, Candida alibicans, and HIV-1.25,26
410
We are interested in combining the contrast and photosensitizing
properties of porphyrins with the paramagnetic properties of Gd(III) ion.
However, several reports have shown that the large ionic radius of Gd(III),
~108 pm, has resulted in unstable Gd(III) porphyrin complexes.27 While
most porphyrins are near planar, we have synthesized a novel octabrominated
porphyrin28 (Figure 3) that exhibits a puckered, saddle shaped-structure that is
large enough to form a stable Gd(III) complex.
Figure 3: Octabrominated porphyrin
CH3
+N
Br
Br
Br
H3 C
Br
N
N
+
N
N
Gd+
+
N
N
Br
CH3
Br
Br
Br
N+
CH3
Figure 4: Saddle-shaped porphyrin structure
In 1989, Sessler et al. reported the synthesis of Texaphyrin, an expanded
porphyrin (Figure 4), that forms a stable Gd(III) complex.30 It is currently
under review by the FDA as a drug for fighting cancers under a trade name
Motexafin®.30 Its physicochemical properties provided inspiration for the
synthetic work presented herein.
411
Figure 5: Texaphyrin
MATERIALS AND METHOD
The synthesis of the gadolinium complex of the octabrominated
porphyrin, GdTMPyPBr85+, was prepared via the synthesis of mesoTetrakis(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)porphyrin, H2TMPyPBr84+, using the method
of Richards et. al28 and reaction progress was monitored by absorption
spectroscopy using a Shimadzu UV2401PC. H2TMPyP4+ was purchased
from Frontier Scientific, Inc. Bromine (Br2), ammonium hexafluorophosphate
(NH4PF6), and tetrabutylammonium chloride (NBu4Cl) were purchased
from Sigma Aldrich. All materials and solvents were used without further
purification.
Synthesis of GdTMPyPBr85+
Copper(II) ion was inserted into H2TMPyP4+ by refluxing 1.75 x 10-4 mole
of porphyrin (0.239- g) with an equimolar amount of cupric acetate (.0401 g)
in 20 mL methanol for 2 hours (Figure 6). The reaction was monitored by UVVisible spectroscopy (Figure 7).
412
Figure 6: Synthesis of Cu(II) complex of H2TMPyP4+
Figure 7: Absorbance spectrum of H2TMPyP4+ with Cu TMPyP4+ overlaid (in
water)
Formation of the Cu(II) complex was necessary to protect core nitrogen
atoms from subsequent bromination. Metallation of H2TMPyP4+ was evidenced
by the replacement of four lower energy Q-bands by two, presumably due to
the D4h symmetry of the CuTMPyP4+ complex. The solution was cooled and
the solvent removed via distillation. The red solid was collected, air-dried and
used without further purification.
Approximately 0.20 g of the product was dissolved in 25 mL
dimethylformamide (DMF) and, while stirring, 11 mL of Br2 in DMF (1:10 by
volume) was added drop-wise for 1 hour. The red solution turned dark green
and was left to stir for another 24 hours. The reaction was quenched with 10
mL of water and the tribromide salt, CuTMPPyPBr8Br3, was collected by
413
suction filtration, washed with several aliquots of water, and left to air-dry
overnight (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Bromination of CuTMPyP4+
The CuTMPyPBr84+ was demetallated by dissolving the impure solid in 20
mL of concentrated sulfuric acid for 30 minutes (Figure 9). Demetallation by
other acids, such as perchloric and nitric acid resulted in incomplete removal of
the Cu(II) ion. The solution became dark brown in color and a red gas, likely
bromine from the tribromide anion, was released. The mixture was poured
over approximately 100 mL of ice to dilute the acid and to trap the energy
released by the reaction. Once the ice melted, excess of NH4PF6 was added,
rendering the porphyrin insoluble in solution and causing a precipitate to form.
The black solid, H3TMPyPBr85+, was collected by suction filtration, washed
with several aliquots of water, and left to air-dry overnight. The demetallated
species H3TMPyPBr85+ exhibits a very red-shifted Soret band at 497 nm in
water (Figure 10) and at 534 nm in acetone. This low energy, broadened Soret
band is characteristic of β-substituted porphyrins.32
414
Figure 9: Demetallation of H3TMPyPBr85+
Figure 10: Absorbance spectrum of H3TMPyPBr85+ in water
The gadolinium(III) ion was inserted into H3TMPyPBr85+ by refluxing
-5
4.0x10 mole (0.605 g) of porphyrin and equimolar (0.01371 g) gadolinium(III)
acetate in 25 mL of water for 24 hours (Figure 11). The black-brown solution
turned green and excess NH4PF6 caused a solid to precipitate. The solid was
collected by suction filtration and air dried.
415
Figure 11: Insertion of Gd(III) ion into monoprotic octabromoporphyrin
CH+3
CH+3
N
N
Br
N
NH
+
N CH3
N
HN
N
G d (O A c ) 3
Br
Br
+
N
H 3C N
Reflux in water
24 hr
+
Gd
N
+
N CH
3
N
N
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
+
H3
C
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
Br
+
+
N
N
CH 3
CH 3
5 Cl
-
G dT MP y P B r 8 5+
H 3 T MP y P B r 8 5+
λmax 497 nm in H 2 O
λmax 455 nm in H 2 O
The porphyrin was dissolved in water and revealed an absorbance
spectrum similar to that of the first row transition metals, pointing to the
potential stability of the complex (Figure 12).
Figure 12: Absorbance spectrum of GdTMPyPBr85+ in water
Porphyrin stability in a wide pH range was investigated further.
Figure 13 shows that porphyrin integrity maintained as evidenced by the
presence of the Soret band. No spectral changes were observed between pH 1
and 12 and any reduction in Soret intensity was due to dilution.
416
Figure 13: Absorbance spectra of GdTMPyPBr85+ in pH 1-12 buffers
However, at higher pH, the porphyrin precipitated from solution (Figure
14), presumably due to the porphyrin reactivity with hydroxide and/or Gd(III)
precipitating as the hydroxide salt.
Figure 14: Solution GdTMPyPBr85+ in pH 13 buffer
Typically, lanthanides form bis-porphyrin complexes that absorb in the
near-IR. 32 The GdTMPyPBr85+ did not exhibit such low energy absorbances,
providence evidence of a 1:1 lanthanide-porphyrin complex. Proton NMR
spectra of the Gd(III) complex were too broad to be discernable due to
paramagnetic nature of the ion. An intense water peak was observed via infrared spectroscopy for the dried compound, consistent with Gd(III) affinity
ligated for water molecule.
SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK
We have successfully synthesized the GdTMPyPBr85+ to harness its
417
potential as a contrast medium, and as a photosensitizer in PDT. UV-Visible
spectroscopy was used in analysis of synthetic complexes but elemental
analysis of the product is required. Proton NMR spectra indicated the
presence of a paramagnetic compound and solid-state IR showed the presence
of aqueous species, presumably due to water ligands at the Gd(III) center.
We have collected some preliminary data on the complexes interaction with
nitrogeneous ligends. We plan to characterize the product using higher
field- strength NMR. Our next steps will also involve investigation of the
photophysical properties of GdTMPyPBr85+, including phosphorescence
spectroscopy as well as porphyrin response as a contrast medium.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
JHO gratefully acknowledges his family, the Department of Chemistry and
Physics, and the Chemistry Scholars Program for support of his project. RAR
gratefully acknowledges Faculty Award Grants and the Science Education
Endowment at GCSU.
REFERENCES
1. The Porphyrin Handbook, Vol. 6, Applications: Past, Present, and Future;
Kadish, K.M.; Smith, K.M.; Guilard, R., Eds.; Academic Press: New York, NY,
2000.
2. Goldman, M. P. Photodynamic Therapy; Elsevier Science: Philadelphia, PA,
2005.
3. Stark, D.D.; Bradley, W.G. Magnetic Resonance Imaging; C.V. Mosbey: New
York, NY, 1988.
4. Roth, K.; NMR-Tomography and Spectroscopy in Medicine: An
Introduction; Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1984.
5. Chakeres, D.W.; Schmalbrock, P. Fundamentals of Magnetic Resonance
Imaging; Williams and Williams: Baltimore, MD, 1992.
6. Mansfield, P.; Morris, P.G. NMR in Biomedicine; Academic Press: New York,
NY, 1992.
7. Callaghan, P.T. Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Microscopy; Clarendon:
Oxford, UK, 1991.
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8. Chan, K.; et al. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2007, 251, 2428.
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Chemistry, and Behavior. In Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; Grant, D.M.; Harris, R.K., Eds; John Wiley & Sons:
Hoboken, NJ, 2003, pp. 2166–72.
10. Damadian, R.; Zaner, K.; Hor, D.; DiMaio, T. Physiol. Chem. Phys.1973, 5,
381.
11. Encyclopaedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; Grant, D.M.; Harris, R.K.,
Eds; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 1996.
12. Hutchison, J.M.; et al. J. Phys. E. Sci. Instrum.1980, 13, 947.
13. Weinmann, H.J. et al. Am. J. Roetgenol. 1984, 142, 169.
14. Morris, P.G. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Medicine and
Biology; Oxford University Press: Oxford, NY, 1986.
15. Thumus, L.; Lejeune, R. Coord. Chem. Rev. 1999, 184, 125.
16. Niendorf, H.P.; et al. Am. J. Roetgenol. 1984, 142, 625.
17. (a) Information on Gadolinium–Containing Contrast Agents. 23 May 2007.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 29 October 2008. <http://www
fda.org/cder/drug/infopage.gcca/default.htm> (b) Carr, D.H. Magn.
Reson. Imag.1992, 3, 17. (c) Tweedle, M.F. Invest. Radiol. 1992, 27, S2.
18. Information for Healthcare Professionals. Gadolinium–Containing Contrast
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20. Sessler, J.L.; et al. Inorg Chem. 1989, 28, 3390.
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419
22. Adler, A.D. The Chemical and Physical Behavior of Porphyrin Compounds
and Related Structures; New York Academy of Sciences: New York,
NY, 1973.
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York, NY, 2000.
1999. The Porphyrin Handbook: Vol. 6, p 161. 31 October 2008.<www.icpp.uh.edu/Documents/Porphyrin_Handbook_030305b.
pdf>.
24. Parkin, D.M.; Bray, F.I.; Devesa, S.S. Euro. J. Canc. Care. 2001, Suppl. 8, 25.
25. Lambrechts, S.A.G.; Aalders, M.C.G. J. Antimicrob. Ag. Chemother. 2005,
49, 2026.
26. Chen-Collins, A.R.M.; et al. BMC Infec. Dis. 2003, 3, 9.
27. Yan, G-P., Robinson, L., Hogg, P. Radiography, 2007, 13, 5.
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29. Henling, L. M., Schaefer, W. P., Hodge, J. A., Hughes, M. E., Gray, H. B.,
Lyons, J. E., Ellis Jnr, P. E. Acta Cryst. 1993, 49, 1743-1747
30. Motexafin Gadolinium Cancer Treatment product candidate. 2008.
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420
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The Corinthian, Volume 10, Spring 2009

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