Janice R Sammons

Interests

No activities entered.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Podhajski, B., Mather, N., Nathan, J., & Sammons, J. (2009).

  Professional development in scientifically based reading instruction: teacher knowledge and reading outcomes.

  . Journal of learning disabilities, 42(5), 403-17. doi:10.1177/0022219409338737
  More info

  This article reviews the literature and presents data from a study that examined the effects of professional development in scientifically based reading instruction on teacher knowledge and student reading outcomes. The experimental group consisted of four first- and second-grade teachers and their students (n = 33). Three control teachers and their students (n = 14), from a community of significantly higher socioeconomic demographics, were also followed. Experimental teachers participated in a 35-hour course on instruction of phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency and were coached by professional mentors for a year. Although teacher knowledge in the experimental group was initially lower than that of the controls, their scores surpassed the controls on the posttest. First-grade experimental students' growth exceeded the controls in letter name fluency, phonemic segmentation, nonsense word fluency, and oral reading. Second-grade experimental students exceeded controls in phonemic segmentation. Although the teacher sample was small, findings suggest that teachers can improve their knowledge concerning explicit reading instruction and that this new knowledge may contribute to student growth in reading.
• Kroese, J. M., Mather, N., & Sammons, J. (2006).

  The Relationship between Nonword Spelling Abilities of K-3 Teachers and Student Spelling Outcomes.

  . Learning Disabilities: a Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(2), 85-89.
  More info

  This study was conducted to explore how teachers' spelling abilities relate to student outcomes. The results indicated that the students enrolled in classrooms where the teachers had the lowest knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships made the least growth in spelling development. These findings suggest that both teacher knowledge of phoneme-grapheme relationships, as well as their own abilities to apply this knowledge, may influence teaching effectiveness.
• Mather, N., Sammons, J., & Schwartz, J. (2006).

  Adaptations of the Names Test: Easy‐to‐Use Phonics Assessments

  . The Reading Teacher, 60(2), 114-122. doi:10.1598/rt.60.2.2
  More info

  In 1990, Cunningham developed a Names Test as a quick and easy screening tool for teachers to obtain information about a student's decoding skills. In 1994, Duffelmeyer, Kruse, Merkley, and Fyfe added 10 names to the original Names Test and developed a comprehensive scoring matrix to increase diagnostic information from the test, based on error patterns. The purposes of the present study were twofold: To administer the augmented Names Test to a sample of students and then reorder the first and last names by difficulty level To create a downward extension of the Names Test that would be more appropriate for use with first- and second-grade students, as well as with struggling readers
• Sammons, J. R., & Mather, N. (2006).

  Book Review: Measurement and Assessment in Teaching

  . Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24(3), 296-298. doi:10.1177/0734282906286619

Proceedings Publications

• Kroese, J. M., Richards, A. M., Rhein, D., & Sammons, J. R. (2000, November 2000).

  Spelling Response Patterns and Development in Children in Grades 1 and 2.

  . In Paper presented at the International Dyslexia Association Conference.
  More info

  A study investigated the development of spelling in 17 children over a 2-year period. All participants were drawn from a larger cohort which was part of an ongoing research project (Project RIME: Preparation in Reading Instructional Methods of Efficacy) funded by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. All children were administered 25 spelling words taken from the Developmental Spelling Analysis at the beginning (pre) and at the endApost) of the school year. In the current study, the 17 children were tested in both first and second grades. On the basis of scores obtained on the Spelling Rating Scale during the pretest, participants were divided into good, average, and poor spellers. The smaller cohort of 17 children was divided into these groups at the beginning of first grade and, again, at the beginning of second grade. The spelling patterns of all participants were analyzed using the expanded analyses (Letter Name and Within Word forms) . An average error word score was calculated for each participant; additionally, total scores for error patterns which appeared to be orthographic and phonemic were computed. Results indicate that the pattern of errors for the three groups in the first grade evidenced more phonemic errors than orthographic errors. In the second grade this pattern changed for the average and good spellers, but the poor spellers continued to display more phonemic errors than orthographic errors. Data in the current study support the findings of the previous study in the project. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 Spelling Response Patterns and Development in Children in Grades 1 and 2. By Judith M. Kroese, Ann M. Richards, Deborah Rhein and Janice R. Sammons Paper presented at the International Dyslexia Association Conference (Washington, DC, November 2000) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY