Researcher Dr. Kenn Apel posted this on the SPELL-link'd PASS forum. Any assistance or leads would be greatly appreciated I am in the final year of my 3-year research grant that is developing a morphological awareness test. This coming academic year, I am looking to expand my data collection to include school districts outside of my immediate area (i.e., outside of SC). As for one of those sites, I am hoping to collect data in the Chicago and/or surrounding areas (e.g., Evanston). To do this, I need two tasks to occur. First, I need to hire an individual who would be willing to serve as the site supervisor in his/her area. This person will ensure the project is completely correctly and with fidelity. S/he also will oversee 3-4 research assistants. Details are on the attachment. Second, I need district permission. This is becoming trickier and trickier nowadays because so many districts (and schools within those districts) are so focused on passing the state test. Any “pull” that a person has to help with this process would be wonderful. Thank you for “listening” to my request. Kenn Professor and Chair University of South Carolina Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) 1705 College St., Room 215 Columbia, SC 29208 803-777-8114 803-777-3081 (fax) Knowledge of Orthographic Learning Lab (Kool2) 1) We are entering Year 3 of the grant project next year (starting in the Fall). For this coming year, the main focus is on reliability and validity of the morphological awareness tasks we have honed over the last 2 years. So, we will be administering those MA tasks. We provide all measures and forms needed. 2) Originally, I was not scheduled to test kids outside of SC, but I have enough carryforward funds to allow us to do that. We want to increase our number of participants to ensure our results represent a larger snapshot of first through sixth grade students across the country. 3) I can pay the site supervisor $15,000 to help with the process. 4) We also would hire about 3-4 local RAs to help collect data. They would get $12/hour for about 20 hours per week for an estimated 25 weeks (actually, I don't think they will be needed for 25 weeks to collect the data- I need to go back and figure that out). We would work with the site supervisor and other contacts to find those folks. 5) All of the team (site supervisor, RAs) would need to have TB tests and background checks (all districts pretty much require this). We would pay for those. 6) We would need to obtain district and then principal-level permission to test in the schools. We have all of the paperwork for that. 7) There would be participation incentives for the teachers who help us/allow the team to test the kids. We pay $5/student and an extra $20 for the teacher (so, if she has 5 kids, she gets $45). She would get a "Visa-like" card. We say it is to help her buy materials for her classroom, but I don't check on that and I don't really care. 8) I or my project coordinator (Alexis Mitchell) would fly out to "train" the site supervisor/the RAs on the measures. The site supervisor's main responsibility is to ensure the RAs are collecting data correctly. It also would be nice if the supervisor collected some data, just so the RAs know how important it is to be diligent/detailed. 9) The idea is to get school/district permission early Fall/school year so testing can start shortly after that. 10) We THINK the project will take about 3-4 months to do all the training of the team and the collection of the data. The LEARN Lab at Northwestern University You and your child are invited to participate in a research study about reading!! The LEARN Lab (http://learnlab.northwestern.edu ) is conducting a Is your child: • Between 7 and 11 years old • Speaking English as their primary language at home (and exposed to English before age 1) How To Participate: • You and your child would come to Northwestern University in Evanston for about 2 hours of reading assessment activities. • Your child may also be invited for an EEG brainwave measure (about 1.5 hours) after completing the reading assessment. EEG is a child-friendly and non-invasive way of measuring the brain. EEG is safe and uses no radiation. We will record the EEG brainwaves while your child listens to speech sounds, reads some letters, or watches a movie.• These visits can be scheduled at your convenience, on weekdays, weekends, or holidays. • You and your child will be compensated with a $25 gift card per visit for your participation. Contact Information If you are interested or have any questions, please contact: LEARNlab@northwestern.edu or 847-868-2255 We look forward to working with you! Dr. Elizabeth Norton and the LEARN Lab team at Northwestern University This study was reviewed by the Northwestern University IRB #STU00205493 Title: The brain basis of letter-sound integration and its relation to reading skills in children |
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