03/16/2023
By Cassandra McCallum
The School of Education invites you to attend an Ed.D. Dissertation Defense by Nicoleta Filimon on “Using an Instructional Protocol to Increase the Literacy Achievement of Secondary Students with Limited or Interrupted Education (SLIFE)”
Date: March 29, 2023
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: This will be a virtual dissertation defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact Eleanor_abrams@uml.edu to request access to the Zoom link.
Dissertation Chair: Johanna Tigert, Ph.D., Associate Professor Curriculum & Instruction, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee:
- Jack Schneider, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Phala Chea, Ed.D., Scholar in Practice, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Abstract:
This study seeks to examine factors contributing to the low literacy achievement of students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) at the secondary level, institutional data illustrating this problem in a particular context (Newcomer Academy), as well as a possible solution addressing this problem, namely implementing a specific instructional protocol. This protocol features carefully sequenced strategies that enable SLIFE at the secondary level to identify, recognize, and internalize components and patterns of academic writing, culminating in the ability to produce multi-paragraph responses featuring textual evidence. This study was guided by the following research questions:
- How does a highly structured instructional protocol, the adapted Writing with Colors strategy, meet the literacy needs of adolescent SLIFE?
- From the perspective of SLIFE, how effective is the adapted Writing with Colors instructional protocol at helping students improve their literacy skills?