Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Silva, Arlene E.

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    A quasi-experimental evaluation of reading and special education outcomes for English Language Learners in Instructional Consultation Teams schools
    (2007-07-10) Silva, Arlene E.; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The present quasi-experimental study used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to investigate whether the Instructional Consultation (IC) Team model differentially influences fourth and fifth grade state reading achievement test scores, and English Language Learner (ELL) student scores in particular. Correlations among student-, classroom-, and school-level variables and special education placement were also explored using HLM. Archival data from 11 IC Teams "treatment" schools and 17 nonequivalent "control" schools in a mid-Atlantic state were analyzed in both students-within-schools and classrooms-within-schools multilevel models, with appropriate controls specified for classroom and school compositional effects. Although students-within-schools HLM models of reading achievement were not significant, classrooms-within-schools models indicated that classrooms in IC Teams schools had significantly higher class average reading achievement test scores (ES = .36) compared to classrooms in control schools. Neither the students-within-schools nor classrooms-within-schools HLM models found IC Teams to differentially influence reading achievement for ELL students. In addition, classrooms-within-schools results indicate that classrooms in general and classrooms with higher percentages of ELL students tended to have lower percentages of students placed in special education in IC Teams schools. The presence of significant effects at the classroom level may indicate that the classroom is a better unit of analysis for investigating the effectiveness of the IC Team model during the first two to three years of implementation, when its greatest impact may be on teacher, as opposed to student, improvement. Despite its limitations, the present study represents the most rigorous investigation of the effect of IC Teams on student reading achievement to date, and serves as a foundation for future research using HLM to investigate the effects of the IC Team model on student and classroom outcomes.
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    English Language Learner Special Education Referral and Placement Outcomes in Instructional Consultation Teams Schools
    (2004-12-17) Silva, Arlene E.; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The present study serves as an examination and documentation of referral and placement outcomes of English Language Learner (ELL) cases in Instructional Consultation (IC) Teams schools. Archival data from 838 cases (12% of which were ELL cases) within five mid-Atlantic public school districts implementing IC Teams were analyzed for outcomes using logistic regression. Results included statistically significant differences in ELL versus non-ELL student initial team referral (IC or other prereferral intervention team) and ultimate IEP Team referrals. Initial referral concerns also differed significantly between ELL and non-ELL students. IC Teams were found to be more effective than existing prereferral intervention teams in decreasing the special education referrals of ELL and non-ELL students. The results of the present study serve as a foundation for future research in the areas of at-risk ELL students and their referrals to prereferral intervention teams and special education.