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Anne Blackstock-Bernstein was recently awarded two grants to conduct her dissertation research. The Language Learning Dissertation Grant and The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) Grant-in-Aid are helping to cover her recruitment and data collection costs.

Laura Rhinehart was also awarded the George Kneller Prize from the Department of Education. This prize is awarded annually to continuing graduate students whose work, among other criteria, may question traditional canon or display investment in teacher preparation.

Congratulations, Anne and Laura!

Members of the Language and Literacy Research Group will be presenting their work in April 2018 at the annual meetings of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and American Educational Research Association (AERA) in New York City.

At NCME, Alison Bailey and Richard Duran will present “Language in Practice as a Mediator of Valid Interpretations of Information Generated by Classroom Assessments among Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students” on Saturday, April 14th at 12:25-1:55pm in the Westin New York Times Square.

At AERA, Louise Wilkinson & Alison Bailey will present, “Commentary: How Language and Literacy Count for Teaching Mathematics in Schools, Especially for EL Students” in the event: Teaching and Learning Mathematics: How Language and Literacy Count for English Learner Students on Friday, April 13th at 2:15-3:45pm in the Millennium Broadway New York Times Square, Seventh Floor, Room 7.01.

Janet Cerda and Alison Bailey will present ” ‘Social Justice Is Access and Discussion’: Contexts for Regulatory Learning in a Dual-Language Classroom” in the event, Critical Conversations: Social Justice Practices for Overcoming Psychological Barriers in K-12 Settings on Monday, April 16th, at 10:35am-12:05pm in the  Millennium Broadway New York Times Square, Fifth Floor, Room 5.02.

 

Eve Ryan will be presenting her work at the annual meeting of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) in Chicago. She presents her paper, “When parents paint a picture of the out-of-school language support for elementary students in a bilingual program” on Sunday, March 25th at 9:10am in the Sheraton Grand Chicago, Illinois Boardroom.

Our research group is pleased to welcome two new PhD students, Alejandra Martin and Veronica Pedroza. We’re wishing you all the best in the school year!

Our research group recently said goodbye to Cindy Lee, Rak Qijung Yang, and Carla Kekejian, who received their Master’s degrees earlier this month. Best of luck to the three of you in your post-UCLA endeavors!

Congratulations to Cindy Lee, who recently competed as a finalist in UCLA’s Grad Slam competition, in which student research is awarded based on 3-minute presentations. The approach demands that students communicate their research concisely and effectively to a wide audience. Cindy advanced through all preliminary rounds by impressing audiences with her presentation entitled English Learners and Oral Language Anxiety: An Approach Using Lego® StoryStarter. Congratulations, Cindy!

Members of the Language and Literacy Research Group will present two posters and a paper showcasing some of this year’s work at the Western Psychological Association’s annual convention in Sacramento. Laura Rhinehart’s poster, “Can Early Interventions Focused on Executive Functions Improve School Readiness for At-Risk Children?” will be presented on Saturday, April 29, from 2:15-3:15 in the Grand Nave Ballroom Magnolia/Camellia. Laura Rhinehart and Alison Bailey will also present “Long-Term English Learners’ Performance on a Statewide Assessment of English Language Development” at the same session.

At 8:00 am on Saturday, Karla Rivera-Torres and Alison Bailey will present their paper, “How RFEP Students Use Metacognitive Strategies to Overcome Reading Challenges on the SAT” in the Bondi Room.

 

The 2017 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) conference will be held this week in Boston, where our research group member Laura Rhinehart will give a presentation with Q&A. Laura’s presentation, titled “Long-Term English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities: Implications for Policy and Practice,” will be on Friday, April 21 from 1:30-2:30 in Hynes 303. Further details and abstract can be found here.

Members of our language and literacy group, along with GSE&IS faculty co-authors, will present at the upcoming biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) in Austin, Texas.

Rachel Zwass, Karla Rivera-Torres, Alison Bailey, and Rashmita Mistry will present their poster, “‘Sociolinguistic Cognition’ Development in Dual-Language Immersion and English-Medium Programs: Complementary Narrative Approaches.” Their poster session, titled “Language, Communication,” will be held on Saturday, April 8 at 12:15 pm. The session is located in the Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 4.

Several members of our research group will present at this year’s meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in San Antonio, TX.

Anne Blackstock-Bernstein, Amy Woodbridge, Despina Pitsoulakis, and Alison Bailey will present the poster “Cross-Sectional Comparisons of Elementary Students’ Oral and Written Explanations about Academic and Non-Academic Tasks” in a poster session session titled, “Applied Research in School: Teaching and Learning.” Their presentation is Monday, May 1st at 10:35am in Hemisfair Ballroom 2 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

Anne Blackstock-Bernstein and Alison Bailey will present the paper “How Elementary Students Use Gesture to Enhance Verbal Meaning-Making in Procedural Mathematics Explanations” in a paper session titled “Promoting and Measuring STEM Learning.” Their presentation is Saturday, April 29th at 10:35am in Room 7C (River Level) at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.