Research in FFCA

The following published studies (listed with most recent first) were completed by various researchers in partnership with FFCA.  Click on the title to view the full article.

Reading is not just Something, It is Everything: Using Collaborative Inquiry Twinned with Generative Dialogue for School Improvement in Elementary Classrooms

Joan Burke & Marilyn Chaseling (2022). This paper reports on a four-year study where campus leaders used collaborative inquiry twinned with generative dialogue to facilitate teacher growth in order to improve the teaching and learning of reading in a school where reading results were already strong. The paper contributes to the school improvement literature by capturing the two main cycles-of-inquiry that emerged during the study. It also found that teachers improved their teaching and assessment of reading through: their intentional teaching of phonemic awareness, fluency and comprehension; offering students choice in their reading materials; and ensuring their assessment practices were based on standard criteria applied across all classrooms. This study concluded that when visionary leaders facilitate collaborative-inquiry twinned with generative dialogue, school improvement can occur.

 

Reducing the Object Control Skills Gender Gap in Elementary School Boys and Girls
Dwayne P. Sheehan, Karin Lienhard, & Diala Ammar (2020) conducted this study aimed to understand the effect of a customized physical education (PE) program on object control skills (OCS) in third grade female students, and to compare their skills to their male counterparts. This research suggests that a six-week all-girls intervention program reduces the variance in OCS proficiency in pre-adolescent boys and girls.

 

Gross Motor Competence and Peak Height Velocity in 10-14 Year-olds
Dwyane Sheehan & Karin Leinhard (2019), in a longitudinal research study involving FFCA, evaluated gross motor competence and growth spurts in Canadian youth. Peak height velocity (PHV) occurred at a significantly younger age in the girls than the boys and growth rate during PHV was significantly greater in the boys than the girls. Gross motor competence outcomes were significantly above the North American normative scores over the measured time period. After the occurrence of PHV, strength, strength/agility, and gross motor skill significantly decreased in girls, and running speed/agility significantly decreased in boys. This finding emphasizes that motor competence in pre-adolescent children may suddenly decrease after their growth spurt.

 

An Evaluation of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in an Elementary School QDPE Program - Dwayne Sheehan
Dwayne Sheehan (2017), in partnership with FFCA’s Southwest Elementary Campus, conducted a study to determine if elementary school students could attain 50% MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) during PE class time when led by a kinesiology trained Physical Education specialist.

 

From Thought, to Words, to Print: Early Literacy Development in Grade 2
Hetty Roessingh & Susan Elgie (2014), in partnership with FFCA’s elementary campuses, undertook a study exploring how printing, spelling and vocabulary choices influence the quality of writing at the end of Grade 2.

 

A Look at Grade 2 Writing: Successes and Challenges in Early Literacy Development
Hetty Roessingh (2013), in partnership with FFCA’s elementary campuses, explored how a strong foundation in the skills of printing and spelling are found to be key components in early literacy development to the end of Grade 2.

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