News

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.

Kate Riedell successfully defended her dissertation, Understanding Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment within Eighth Grade Science Classrooms for Special Needs Students, in December 2016. Kate is now working as a Research Analyst at First 5 LA. Although we will miss her in our weekly meetings, we’re certain she has an immensely successful future ahead. Congratulations, Dr. Riedell!

Fourth-year PhD student (now PhD candidate!) Eve Ryan successfully defended her dissertation proposal this month. Eve will begin collecting her first wave of data in the upcoming months. Congratulations, Eve, and good luck as you begin your dissertation!

Our research group is excited to welcome three new students for this academic year. Marlen Quintero will join us to begin her PhD, and Carla Kekejian and Rak Qijun Yang will join our Master’s program. Good luck to everyone in the new school year!

Fifth-year PhD student Anne Blackstock-Bernstein was recently awarded the Prize in Memory of Leigh Burstein from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Anne will be honored at this month’s convocation in recognition of her achievement. Congratulations, Anne!