WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
Application for Funding
(Revised: October 2000)
RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH COMMITTEE
(Submit 13 copies to Committee Chairperson)
PROJECT TITLE: The Intervention and Research Program for the
Preservation of Tomorrow’s Children
PROJECT DIRECTOR: María D. Parrilla de Kokal
DEPARTMENT: Psychology
EMAIL ADDRESS: MAIL CODE: 1202 EXTENSION: 7622
OTHER PARTICIPANTS: María D. Parrilla de Kokal, Eric Amsel, Bill McVaughPaul Caldarella
PROJECT CATEGORY
Hemingway Vitality X
Instructional Improvement The signature of the College Curriculum Chair is required for instructional improvement proposals.
New Faculty
Research
FUNDS REQUESTED FROM RS&PG:$13,054
FUNDS COMMITTED FROM OTHER SOURCES:
source
1. Psychology Dept. Inkind $9420
2. Alan & Jeanne Hall Endowment $8500
3. Ogden Tree House/Community-OCSD/WSU President $3906
TOTAL$ 34,892
RS&PG REPRESENTATIVE: Julianne Arbuckle
Social Sciences 1202 RepresentativeCollege Mail Code
Comments:
PLEASE NOTE: In cases where funds are committed to the project, the signatures of the appropriate deans must be included. All proposals must be signed by the applicant’s department chair/program director.
DEPARTMENT CHAIR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
I am familiar with the project described herein, and I agree to provide departmental resources
(in-kind or actual dollars) if indicated.
ChairDepartment Mail Code
Comments:
PROGRAM DIRECTOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
Program DirectorDepartmentMail Code
Comments:
DEAN'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
(Required only if college resources are involved). I agree to provide resources (in kind or actual dollars) as indicated: Yes No .
DeanCollegeMail Code
Comments:
HUMAN SUBJECTS/ANIMAL USE AND WELFARE COMMITTEE APPROVAL:
(If applicable). The project described in this proposal was approved by the
committee:
Either provide signature below, or attach letter of approval to end of application.
ChairCollegeMail Code
The proposed course has been reviewed and approved by the Department Curriculum Committee.
______
Department Curriculum CommitteeDate
Comments:
BUDGET
Funds com-Funds com-Funds com- Funds req-
1.PERSONNEL RESOURCESmitted frommitted frommitted fromuested from
(Assistants, Consultants, andsource #1source #2source #3RSPG
Released Time + Benefits)
Project Coordinator 2900
Academic Support & Training5800
Treehouse Facility & Staff 3600
Consultant - Grace Huerta 2150
Research Planning Faculty 2900
Secretarial 2660
Translator 400
2.EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
Purchase & Distr. of Assess. 606
Video Equip. For Recording 2220
Tutorial & Reference Material 1700
Office Material & Postage 300
Office Space 720
Phone Line 150
Computer/printer 1300
Software for Assess. Scoring 520
3.TRAVEL
Family Travel to Treehouse 936
4.OTHER
Teacher Assessment Reimb. 990
Child Incentives (Prosocl beh) 2376
Parent Incentives 600
Childcare for Parent Training 432
Criminal Bureau of Investig. 120
Light refreshment Family Night 1124 376
TOTAL34892
BODY OF PROPOSAL
Expand the size of each of the sections below as required, but do not exceed 3 single-spaced pages. Supporting documents or materials should be included as addenda. PROPOSALS SHOULD BE WRITTEN CLEARLY AND SIMPLY.
PROJECT SUMMARY (ABSTRACT):
Trained WSU Psychology students will provide an academic and social skill intervention for 66 high risk Gramercy Elementary first graders through partnership with Ogden City School District (OCSD)Administration and Gramercy Elementary Teachers. Additional program support will be obtained through training parents in academic and social skill tutoring.
I.BACKGROUND.
The Ogden community has a number of concerns that WSU shares. Many children in Ogden City have multiple risk factors associated with academic failure and risk for delinquency. The poverty rate in Weber County is currently the highest of all of Utah counties as is the population of Hispanics/Latinos (personal interview with J. García, September, 2000).The Ogden City School District has 79% of children in their six inner city schools on free or reduced lunch (Standard Examiner, 1999). For example, at Dee Elementary School 95% of the students live at or below the poverty line. Among those with lower income, particularly minorities, 50% or fewer will graduate from high school, let alone attend college or receive some other form of vocational preparation (personal interview with J. García, September, 2000).
WSU shares Ogden City School District’s concern for and commitment to the education and betterment of the community. To this end, partnerships have been formed between Psychology and OCSD faculty, staff, and administrators to achieve the common goals of student academic success and future success in the community. Additionally, community support has been enlisted through the donated use of the Ogden Treehouse facility as well as through first graders’ parental involvement and interdisciplinary use of students in the Social Sciences as well as from WSU’s Estudiantes Unidos student organization.
II.PROCEDURES AND METHODS.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH/PROJECT
1. WSU students in this program (12) will learn about high risk populations in their community and be given an opportunity to ameliorate a simple factor of poverty, i.e. academic failure, through academic tutoring and teaching prosocial skills to targeted children through the schools. Students will also interface with parents, providing them with support for working with their children on these skills.
2. WSU students will experience the opportunity to practice skills utilizing theoretical learning, motivation, and cognitive constructs as well as research skills in a meaningful manner.
3. WSU students will become aware of the importance of their training and the need for their commitment to their community as potential instruments for societal change.
4. WSU students will have the opportunity to co-design, implement, and evaluate an academic and prosocial program for high risk first grade children and their families.
5. Gramercy first graders (66) children will feel a sense of importance and support for their learning journey.
6. Gramercy staff will receive needed support in their goal for first graders’ literacy and numeracy success through WSU students providing 8 hours of weekly intervention time.
7. Grammercy first graders’ parents will receive information and training in tutorial as well as in prosocial skills to enhance their successful involvement in their children’s educational process.
7. WSU will again strengthen its commitment to partnerships, interdisciplinary projects, and the local community in a positive fashion by continuing this project, tracking and supporting children’s success past this first year and through their completion of elementary school.
III.PROCEDURES AND METHODS TIME LINE
1. Appropriate WSU Psychology faculty will meet with appropriate students to create and train them to administer a survey tool that will facilitate understanding of the target high risk group Fall semester 2000.
2. Appropriate WSU Psychology faculty will meet with OCSD administrators to select a school with high risk children who could benefit from the intervention Fall semester 2000.
3. WSU Psychology faculty will meet with target school first grade teachers to work conjointly on the intervention plan Fall semester 2000.
4. Participating WSU students will sign up for Practicum and Special Projects and Research courses wherein they will be trained in research and tutoring and prosocial skills interventions and be cleared to work with children through the Criminal Bureau of Investigation January 2001.
5. A preliminary information dissemination meeting for parents wherein consent and assent forms will be signed for children’s participation and to administer the survey tool January 2001.
6. WSU students will begin tutoring and prosocial skill-building with Gramercy Elementary first graders at the end of January 2001 in 4 classrooms for 6 week increments of time. The tutoring will occur 2-3 times per week and both the prosocial training for children will occur weekly.
7. WSU Psychology students will initiate 6 weekly drop-in sessions for parents after school to train them in academic and social skill intervention for each of the 4 first grade classrooms beginning at the end of January 2001.
8. WSU Psychology faculty will host Family Empowerment nights with tutoring and social service skill-training for first graders’ parents and other interested family members beginning at the end of January 2001.
9. Research students will begin gathering baseline data beginning at the end of January through May 2001. This will be done through the use of videotaping and teacher and parent use of the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales to assess prosocial behavior rates. Additionally, Gramercy academic assessment information will be used for baseline academic data as well as to ascertain the effectiveness of the interventions.
10. Data analysis will be conducted in the Summer 2001 with results disseminated in Fall 2001. The analysis will consist of planned comparisons between groups on changes in academic and proposal skills from initial base-line (in January) to mid-test (in March) and from base-line to post-test (in May) assessments. From base-line to mid-test, three out of the four classrooms will have had an intervention (one classroom receiving the Social Skills training alone, one the Academic Tutoring alone, and one both components presented together). Between the base-line and post-test, two classrooms will have had both components of the intervention presented sequentially, one classroom will have just completed the intervention with the components presented simultaneously, and one classroom will have completed the intervention five weeks previously, again with the components presented simultaneously.
Data analysis will involve comparing the social and academic skills of children in the four classrooms at each of three time periods (pretense, mid-test, and post-test). This assessment will allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of each component of the intervention separately and in combination both immediately after the intervention and after a short-term (six week) delay.
IV. EVALUATION AND DISSEMINATION.
A multiple-baseline research design will be used wherein all 66 first grade child participants from the 4 Gramercy classrooms have the opportunity to receive both the prosocial skill training as well as tutoring with parental involvement. Group A will receive an academic intervention in the first 6 weeks followed by a social skills intervention for the next 6 weeks. Group B will receive a prosocial skill intervention in the first 6 weeks followed by an academic intervention for the next 6 weeks. Group C will receive both academic and prosocial skill interventions in the first 6 weeks followed by no intervention for the next 6 weeks. Finally, Group D will receive no intervention in the first 6 weeks followed by both academic and prosocial skill interventions for the next 6 weeks.
All children will receive academic assessments prior to the intervention, after 6 weeks of intervention, and at the end of the intervention. In those same time frames they will be assessed on their display of prosocial skills through videotaping, as well as through teacher and parental reports as noted by the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales. Additionally, teachers and parents will be surveyed for feedback about strengths and weaknesses of the intervention.
Data collected will be evaluated the summer of 2001 and results will be submitted for publication in a scholarly psychological or educational journal. Results will also be given to funding sources i.e., Hall Endowment, President Thompson, Hemmingway, and others who will assist us in exploring future long term funding sources. Several faculty members involved in this program plan to submit proposals to local, regional, and national professional organizations to share this interdisciplinary and partnership project with others in their respective fields of study. Faculty will utilize the results of the evaluation to identify project strengths and weaknesses thereby enabling us to improve the academic and social skills of children. This information will help us to work with another 1st grade group. Additionally, we will use this information as we continue tracking this group past the first grade.
WSU students will be evaluated on the use of their skills, relevant to their areas of study by faculty supervisors and through evaluation of assignments determined by their faculty supervisors.