2.1 A narrative review of literature regarding class size in online

Ncpea publications

Editors

• Janet Tareilo, Stephen F. Austin State University
• Brad Bizzell, Virginia Tech

Associate Editors

• Beverly Irby, Sam Houston State University
• Rosemary Papa, Northern Arizona University
• Thomas Valesky, Florida Gulf Coast University
• Theodore Creighton, Virginia Tech

About the Authors

• Beverly J. Irby, Texas State University System Regents' Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, College of Education, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. Dr. Irby has a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a double minor in math and science from Delta State University, Mississippi. Her masters and doctoral degrees are in curriculum and instruction from The University of Mississippi. Her primary research interests center on issues of social responsibility, including women's and gender issues, bilingual and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) education administrative structures, curriculum, instructional strategies, and international education. She is the author and/or co-author of more than 150 refereed articles, chapters, books, including curricular materials for Spanish-speaking children; additionally she is co-author of several research articles related to ELL's growth or classroom observation that have appeared in International Journal of Education Leadership Preparation, Research in the Schools, and American Educational Research Journal. She has two books with NCPEA Press that she has co-edited, and she has authored papers in three books for NCPEA Press. She developed the science components of the DLM Early Childhood Program for SRA McGraw-Hill. In higher education, Dr. Irby has taught research at the masters and doctoral level. Among her awards, she is the recipient of the AERA and RWE Willystine Goodsell Award, the Texas Council of Women School Executives Margaret Montgomery Leadership Award, and the Diana Marion-Garcia Houston Area Bilingual Advocacy Award. She is the co-developer of a 21st century leadership theory, The Synergistic Leadership Theory, which is inclusive of diverse voices. Dr. Irby has garnered in funding for grants and contracts in access of $20,000,000. These funds were awarded by the U.S. Department of Education via Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), Office of Special Education Research, TRIO, Institute for Educational Sciences (IES) via Texas A&M Research Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). At the international level, Dr. Irby is working as PI in an international English language acquisition study for teachers and students using high technology. This 18-month study is sponsored by the Intercontinental Development Bank and the Costa Rica and the United States America Cooperation (CRUSA).
• Rafael Lara-Alecio, Professor of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, earned his B.S. from University of San Carlos, Guatemala, his M.A. from University of Del Valle, Guatemala, and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in Educational Psychology (specialty--Instructional Psychology). He has been a faculty member since Fall, 1991, with research focusing on academic oral language and literacy development, assessment, and evaluation for students K-12 and with published work in English and Spanish in top tier journals. He is the Director of Bilingual Programs and developed the undergraduate and masters and doctoral programs in bilingual education. Additionally, he developed the first two courses in English as a second language for all undergraduate teacher education candidates. He serves on national and international editorial review boards. Though there are multiple language acquisition theories, his published theory on bilingual classroom pedagogy remains the only one in the field since 1994 with an accompanying, validated observation protocol. His research efforts have garnered over $20,000,000 for TAMU or for public schools from the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), National Science Foundation, Office of English Language Acquisition at the United States Department of Education, Texas Educational Agency (TEA), and Intercontinental Development Bank and Costa Rica/USA Foundation. He is one of the three individuals to ever receive significant funding from the IES to investigate differences in program types for English Language Learners K-3 via a longitudinal randomized trial study. Recently, he was recognized by the Texas Association for Bilingual Association as the Higher Education Honoree for 2010. TAMU leadership includes: Council of Principal Investigators, Director of Bilingual Programs, past Faculty Senator, past Assistant Head, and numerous committees. He is a past Chair of the Bilingual Research Special Interest Group (SIG) for the American Educational Research Association and the Research and the Evaluation SIG for the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) and developed the Parental Training Strand in 2009 for the NABE.