RESEARCH
INTERESTS
CHRISTOPHER SCHATSCHNEIDER
My research interests
lie in two related areas. First and
foremost, I am interested in the
individual differences children exhibit when they learn to read. How children (and adults) obtain meaning from
arbitrary symbols is fascinating to me.
Additionally, the ability to read accurately and fluently is
critical
for children to do well in school and beyond.
Secondly, I am interested in bringing new and better research
designs
and statistical methodologies to the field of individual differences in
reading
research. More federal research dollars
are being spent to investigate questions surrounding reading
development, and
it is increasingly apparent that these federally funding studies are
meant to
provide scientifically based information that will inform policy at a
state and
national level. It has become
increasingly critical that the information that is provided by
researchers be
of the highest quality. The research
many of us are engaged in is directly impacting the lives of children
and the
practices of schools.
Our lab is currently
involved in 5 currently
active research
projects. Many of the projects are
collaborative efforts with other researchers and practitioners from
other
universities.
1) This project is a
large longitudinal study
looking at
approximately 1300 children that are currently enrolled in "high
risk" schools in the state of New York (at SUNY Albany with Donna
Scanlon and Frank Vellutino). We are currently looking at different ways we
can improve the reading abilities of children in these schools. We randomly assigned 15 schools to one of
three treatment conditions (professional development for the teachers,
tutoring
for children who are lagging behind, and a third condition that
combines both
professional teacher development with tutoring.
There is also a historical control condition.
This project started its 4th year (of a 5
year grant) in September of 2004. Our
lab is responsible for entering the data shipped to us from Albany,
cleaning it, and analyzing the results.
This study is funding by NICHD.
2) This project is
currently running in Syracuse
(with Benita Blachman) is looking at
different
components of reading instruction in 8 schools.
Schools are randomly assigned to two different tutoring
conditions
across 2 years. This grant is in its
second year starting in September 2004.
Our lab is responsible for training the Syracuse
site in data management and we are also responsible for the statistical
analyses. This study is funded by IERI
(Inter-agency Educational Research Initiative, which is a consortium of
NICHD,
NSF, and IES).
3)
This project is a
behavioral genetics grant being run with Steve Petrill at Penn
State. This
grant is looking at environmental
factors that influence reading development in a set of identical and
fraternal
twins. This grant started its third year of five years in April 2004. Our lab is responsible for training the Penn
State site in data
management and
we are also responsible for assisting with the statistical analyses. This project is funded by NICHD.
4)
Math Disabilities
Project (with Lynn and Doug Fuchs at
Vanderbilt). The project is
investigating math problem solving (MPS) difficulties in 1200 third
grade
children in Nashville. One aspect of the grant is to investigate the
relationship between the development of math skills and reading skills. This grant started its second year of a five
year grant in April of 2004.
5)
Preschool
Project. This project, being run with Chris
Lonigan of Florida State
as Principal investigator, is studying different methods of instructing
preschool children in early literacy skills.
This project started its second year in September 2004