Research Interests
Broadly, I am interested in the literacy achievement of bilingual, immigrant, and English learning children in U.S. schools. To that end, my work targets the crucial role of oral language proficiency in predicting reading comprehension, and whether and how first language proficiency informs development of language and reading comprehension in the second. Toward praxis, I have co-developed an English vocabulary and comprehension intervention for fifth grade multilingual students, and I currently work with principals and teachers in the Boston Public Schools on a long-term initiative designed to promote reflective literacy instructional practice using collaborative discussions to promote language development, reading comprehension, and writing competence. Below is a description of the main lines of inquiry I pursue in my research.
Studies of literacy and cross-linguistic transfer
I have always been interested in the notion of cross-linguistic transfer. Since my days as a masters student, as a bilingual teacher, and as a doctoral student, my view was that transfer was magical and incomprehensible. Perhaps as a result, I've dedicated a good portion of my "pure" research endeavors to trying to understand what transfer looks like, the circumstances under which is it most likely to occur, and the instructional implications of correlational research in this area.
I've come to believe that the crux of the matter lies in the "más allá" of metalinguistic awareness (and orthography). Some things, like letter sounds, transfer because languages share a common sound-symbol relationship (like Spanish and English). Other things, like cognates, understanding prefixes and suffixes, and making conceptual connections, are metalinguistic and reflect an ability to attend to, and reflect upon, the properties of language. Such a skill is theorized to be supported by stronger degrees of bilingualism, which makes the whole endeavor somewhat circular, but still interesting.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Michener, C.M., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (in press). Features of instruction talk predictive of reading comprehension. Reading and Writing: An interdisciplinary journal
Proctor, C.P., Silverman, R.D., & Harring, J.R. (in press). Linguistic interdependence between Spanish language and English language and reading: A longitudinal exploration from second through fifth grade. Bilingual Research Journal.
Kieffer, M.J., Petscher, Y., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2016). Is the whole greater than the sum of Its parts? Modeling the contributions of language comprehension skills to reading comprehension in the upper elementary grades. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20, 436 – 454.
Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., & Silverman, R.D. (2015). Comparing reading profiles of biliterate Latino/a children in elementary school: Evidence from the simple view of reading. Miríada Hispánica, 10, 59 – 82.
Silverman, R.D., Coker, D., Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., Piantedosi, K.W., & Meyer, A.G. (2015). The relationship between language skills and writing outcomes for linguistically diverse students in upper elementary school. Elementary School Journal, 116, 103 – 125.
Silverman, R.D., Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., Hartranft, A.M., Doyle, B., Zelinke, S.B. (2015). Language skills and reading comprehension in English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual children in grades 2 – 5. Reading and Writing, 28, 1381 – 1405.
Leider, C.M., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2014). The biliteracy translation measure: Using written translations to index bilingualism and biliteracy in Spanish and English. NYS TESOL Journal 1, 9 - 24.
Silverman, R. D., Proctor, C. P., Harring, J. R., Meyer, A., Doyle, B., & Mitchell, M. (2014).Teachers' instruction and students' vocabulary and comprehension: An exploratory study with English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual students in grades 3-5. Reading Research Quarterly,49, 31 - 60.
Leider, C.M., Proctor, C.P., Silverman, R.D., & Harring, J.R. (2013). Examining the role of vocabulary depth, cross-linguistic transfer, and types of reading measures on the reading comprehension of Latino bilinguals in elementary school. Reading and Writing, 26, 1459 - 1485.
Proctor, C.P., Silverman, Harring, J., & Montecillo, C. (2012). The role of vocabulary depth in predicting reading comprehension among English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual children in elementary school. Reading and Writing, 25, 1635 – 1644.
Proctor, C.P. & Silverman, R.D. (2011). Confounds in assessing the associations between biliteracy and English language proficiency. Educational Researcher, 40(2), 62-64.
Proctor, C.P., August, D, Snow, C.E., & Barr, C. (2010). The interdependence continuum: A perspective on the nature of Spanish-English bilingual reading comprehension. Bilingual Research Journal, 33(1), 5-20.
Proctor, C.P. & Mo, E. (2009). The relationship between cognate awareness and English comprehension among Spanish-English bilingual fourth grade students. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 126-136.
Proctor, C.P., August, D., Carlo, M.S., & Snow, C.E. (2006). The intriguing role of Spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology 98(1), 159-69.
I've come to believe that the crux of the matter lies in the "más allá" of metalinguistic awareness (and orthography). Some things, like letter sounds, transfer because languages share a common sound-symbol relationship (like Spanish and English). Other things, like cognates, understanding prefixes and suffixes, and making conceptual connections, are metalinguistic and reflect an ability to attend to, and reflect upon, the properties of language. Such a skill is theorized to be supported by stronger degrees of bilingualism, which makes the whole endeavor somewhat circular, but still interesting.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Michener, C.M., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (in press). Features of instruction talk predictive of reading comprehension. Reading and Writing: An interdisciplinary journal
Proctor, C.P., Silverman, R.D., & Harring, J.R. (in press). Linguistic interdependence between Spanish language and English language and reading: A longitudinal exploration from second through fifth grade. Bilingual Research Journal.
Kieffer, M.J., Petscher, Y., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2016). Is the whole greater than the sum of Its parts? Modeling the contributions of language comprehension skills to reading comprehension in the upper elementary grades. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20, 436 – 454.
Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., & Silverman, R.D. (2015). Comparing reading profiles of biliterate Latino/a children in elementary school: Evidence from the simple view of reading. Miríada Hispánica, 10, 59 – 82.
Silverman, R.D., Coker, D., Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., Piantedosi, K.W., & Meyer, A.G. (2015). The relationship between language skills and writing outcomes for linguistically diverse students in upper elementary school. Elementary School Journal, 116, 103 – 125.
Silverman, R.D., Proctor, C.P., Harring, J.R., Hartranft, A.M., Doyle, B., Zelinke, S.B. (2015). Language skills and reading comprehension in English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual children in grades 2 – 5. Reading and Writing, 28, 1381 – 1405.
Leider, C.M., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2014). The biliteracy translation measure: Using written translations to index bilingualism and biliteracy in Spanish and English. NYS TESOL Journal 1, 9 - 24.
Silverman, R. D., Proctor, C. P., Harring, J. R., Meyer, A., Doyle, B., & Mitchell, M. (2014).Teachers' instruction and students' vocabulary and comprehension: An exploratory study with English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual students in grades 3-5. Reading Research Quarterly,49, 31 - 60.
Leider, C.M., Proctor, C.P., Silverman, R.D., & Harring, J.R. (2013). Examining the role of vocabulary depth, cross-linguistic transfer, and types of reading measures on the reading comprehension of Latino bilinguals in elementary school. Reading and Writing, 26, 1459 - 1485.
Proctor, C.P., Silverman, Harring, J., & Montecillo, C. (2012). The role of vocabulary depth in predicting reading comprehension among English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual children in elementary school. Reading and Writing, 25, 1635 – 1644.
Proctor, C.P. & Silverman, R.D. (2011). Confounds in assessing the associations between biliteracy and English language proficiency. Educational Researcher, 40(2), 62-64.
Proctor, C.P., August, D, Snow, C.E., & Barr, C. (2010). The interdependence continuum: A perspective on the nature of Spanish-English bilingual reading comprehension. Bilingual Research Journal, 33(1), 5-20.
Proctor, C.P. & Mo, E. (2009). The relationship between cognate awareness and English comprehension among Spanish-English bilingual fourth grade students. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 126-136.
Proctor, C.P., August, D., Carlo, M.S., & Snow, C.E. (2006). The intriguing role of Spanish language vocabulary knowledge in predicting English reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology 98(1), 159-69.
Intervention work
Intervention work has been consistent over the course of my work with bilingual learners. I started out I working with the Center for Applied Special Technology (www.cast.org) to develop a digitally-based intervention that targeted native English speakers as well as Spanish-English bilingual fifth graders in an effort to promote vocabulary and comprehension in English through text-based interactions. Supports were embedded that sought to leverage Spanish in the service of English language and reading acquisition. See 'Curricula' for instructions on accessing the Improving Comprehension Online (ICON) curriculum.
More recently (2013 - 2016), I continued my work with CAST and Samantha Daley of the University of Rochester as a subcontracted literacy specialist, funding 2 doctoral students to support CAST in developing and testing an online digital reading platform tested with ~600 struggling adolescent readers in middle schools across 11 school districts in the U.S.
The most significant intervention work I have conducted concluded in the 2016 - 2017 academic year with The CLAVES Intervention Project: Developing a Supplemental Intervention for Comprehension, Linguistic Awareness, and Vocabulary in English for Spanish Speakers. This 4-year grant (no-cost extension in 4th year) between BC and the University of Maryland (UMD), and school-based partners, built on findings from previous IES-funded projects. Rebecca Silverman at UMD and I worked with a devastatingly effective group of doctoral students and teachers to develop and test a multi-unit curriculum to support the language and reading development of Spanish- and Portuguese-English bilingual learners in 4th and 5th grade.
See more about these projects in the Curricula link on the site.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Louick, R., Leider, C.M., Daley, S.G., Proctor, C.P., & Gardner, G. (2016). Motivation for Reading Among Struggling Middle School Readers: A mixed-methods study. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 260 - 269.
Proctor, C.P., Daley, S., Louick, R., Leider, C.M., & Gardner, G. (2014). How motivation andengagement predict reading comprehension among native English-speaking and Englishlearning middle school students with disabilities in a remedial reading curriculum. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 76 - 83
Dalton, B., Proctor, C.P., Uccelli, P., Mo E., & Snow, C.E. (2011). Designing for diversity: The role of reading strategies and interactive vocabulary in a digital reading environment for fifth-grade monolingual English and bilingual students. Journal of Literacy Research, 43(1), 68-100.
Proctor, C.P., Dalton, D., Uccelli, P., Biancarosa, G., Mo, E., Snow, C.E., & Neugebauer, S. (2011). Improving Comprehension Online (ICON): Effects of deep vocabulary instruction with bilingual and monolingual fifth graders. Reading and Writing: An interdisciplinary journal, 24(5), 517-544.
Proctor, C.P., Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. (2007). Scaffolding English language learners and struggling readers in a multimedia hypertext environment with embedded strategy instruction and vocabulary support. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(1), 71-93.
For CLAVES
clavescurriculum.org/
For ICON
psi.cast.org/icon3/demo
More recently (2013 - 2016), I continued my work with CAST and Samantha Daley of the University of Rochester as a subcontracted literacy specialist, funding 2 doctoral students to support CAST in developing and testing an online digital reading platform tested with ~600 struggling adolescent readers in middle schools across 11 school districts in the U.S.
The most significant intervention work I have conducted concluded in the 2016 - 2017 academic year with The CLAVES Intervention Project: Developing a Supplemental Intervention for Comprehension, Linguistic Awareness, and Vocabulary in English for Spanish Speakers. This 4-year grant (no-cost extension in 4th year) between BC and the University of Maryland (UMD), and school-based partners, built on findings from previous IES-funded projects. Rebecca Silverman at UMD and I worked with a devastatingly effective group of doctoral students and teachers to develop and test a multi-unit curriculum to support the language and reading development of Spanish- and Portuguese-English bilingual learners in 4th and 5th grade.
See more about these projects in the Curricula link on the site.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Louick, R., Leider, C.M., Daley, S.G., Proctor, C.P., & Gardner, G. (2016). Motivation for Reading Among Struggling Middle School Readers: A mixed-methods study. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 260 - 269.
Proctor, C.P., Daley, S., Louick, R., Leider, C.M., & Gardner, G. (2014). How motivation andengagement predict reading comprehension among native English-speaking and Englishlearning middle school students with disabilities in a remedial reading curriculum. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 76 - 83
Dalton, B., Proctor, C.P., Uccelli, P., Mo E., & Snow, C.E. (2011). Designing for diversity: The role of reading strategies and interactive vocabulary in a digital reading environment for fifth-grade monolingual English and bilingual students. Journal of Literacy Research, 43(1), 68-100.
Proctor, C.P., Dalton, D., Uccelli, P., Biancarosa, G., Mo, E., Snow, C.E., & Neugebauer, S. (2011). Improving Comprehension Online (ICON): Effects of deep vocabulary instruction with bilingual and monolingual fifth graders. Reading and Writing: An interdisciplinary journal, 24(5), 517-544.
Proctor, C.P., Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. (2007). Scaffolding English language learners and struggling readers in a multimedia hypertext environment with embedded strategy instruction and vocabulary support. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(1), 71-93.
For CLAVES
clavescurriculum.org/
For ICON
psi.cast.org/icon3/demo
Language policy
What does it mean to be labeled as an English language learner? What does high stakes testing mean for bilingual children? Is it the school's role to promote heritage language maintenance in the service of improved English language outcomes? What do Common Core, WIDA, and other top-down standards-based approaches mean for the education of bilingual children? These are questions that rather vex me on a daily basis. They are hard to research, and frustrating to contemplate. This is an emergent line of inquiry for me, and one I hope to build on in the coming years.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Michener, C.M. Sengupta-Irving, T., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2015). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy within Monolingual Language Policy: Variability in instruction. Language Policy, 14, 199 - 220.
Brisk, M. & Proctor, C.P. (2012). Challenges and Supports for ELLs in Bilingual Programs. In Hakuta, K. & Santos, M. (Eds.). Understanding Language: Language, literacy, and learning in the content areas. Available at: http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/11-Brisk%20Bilingual%20Programs%20FINAL_0.pdf.
Proctor, C.P., August, D., Carlo, M.S., & Barr, C. (2010). Language maintenance versus language of instruction: Spanish reading development among Latino and Latina bilingual learners. Journal of Social Issues, 66(1), 79-94.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Michener, C.M. Sengupta-Irving, T., Proctor, C.P., & Silverman, R.D. (2015). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy within Monolingual Language Policy: Variability in instruction. Language Policy, 14, 199 - 220.
Brisk, M. & Proctor, C.P. (2012). Challenges and Supports for ELLs in Bilingual Programs. In Hakuta, K. & Santos, M. (Eds.). Understanding Language: Language, literacy, and learning in the content areas. Available at: http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/11-Brisk%20Bilingual%20Programs%20FINAL_0.pdf.
Proctor, C.P., August, D., Carlo, M.S., & Barr, C. (2010). Language maintenance versus language of instruction: Spanish reading development among Latino and Latina bilingual learners. Journal of Social Issues, 66(1), 79-94.
Teacher training and education
For the most part, I enjoy working with kids. They are fun, engaging, and extremely interesting. Recently, I have also become interested in working their teachers, who share many of the same qualities. Taking findings from my research with kids, I have been working with teachers in the Boston Public Schools to create teacher study groups designed to focus on quality literacy instruction that takes into account the linguistic heterogeneity of the student population in Boston. We are currently in the third year of a 3-year project creating curricula from the ground up that is meant to promote student discourse around academic text as a means of promoting language development and reading comprehension. Nascent and exciting work!
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Leighton, C.M., Ford-Connors, E., Robertson, D.A., Wyatt, J., Wagner, C.J., Proctor, C.P. & Paratore, J.R. (in press). Can we sit in a circle so we can all see each other?” Reasoning Together. The Reading Teacher.
Wagner, C., Ossa Parra, M., & Proctor, C.P. (2017). The Interplay between student-led discussions and argumentative Writing. TESOL Quarterly, 51, 438 – 449.
Beaulieu-Jones & Proctor, C.P. (2016). A Blueprint for Implementing Small Group Collaborative Discussions. The Reading Teacher, 69, 677 – 682.
Parra, M.O., Wagner, C., Proctor, C.P., Leighton, C.M., Robertson, D.A., Paratore, J.R., & Ford-Connors, E. (2016). Dialogic reasoning: Supporting emergent bilingual students’ language and literacy development. In C.P. Proctor, A. Boardman, & E. Hiebert (eds.), Teaching emergent bilingual students: Flexible approaches in an era of new standards (pp. 119 – 137). New York: Guilford
Rodriguez, C., Bolt, M., Wagner, C. J., & Proctor, C. P. (in press). Can we talk? Creating opportunities for meaningful academic discussions with dual language learners. Young Children.
THE ELICIT SITE
http://capricorn.bc.edu/elicit/
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Leighton, C.M., Ford-Connors, E., Robertson, D.A., Wyatt, J., Wagner, C.J., Proctor, C.P. & Paratore, J.R. (in press). Can we sit in a circle so we can all see each other?” Reasoning Together. The Reading Teacher.
Wagner, C., Ossa Parra, M., & Proctor, C.P. (2017). The Interplay between student-led discussions and argumentative Writing. TESOL Quarterly, 51, 438 – 449.
Beaulieu-Jones & Proctor, C.P. (2016). A Blueprint for Implementing Small Group Collaborative Discussions. The Reading Teacher, 69, 677 – 682.
Parra, M.O., Wagner, C., Proctor, C.P., Leighton, C.M., Robertson, D.A., Paratore, J.R., & Ford-Connors, E. (2016). Dialogic reasoning: Supporting emergent bilingual students’ language and literacy development. In C.P. Proctor, A. Boardman, & E. Hiebert (eds.), Teaching emergent bilingual students: Flexible approaches in an era of new standards (pp. 119 – 137). New York: Guilford
Rodriguez, C., Bolt, M., Wagner, C. J., & Proctor, C. P. (in press). Can we talk? Creating opportunities for meaningful academic discussions with dual language learners. Young Children.
THE ELICIT SITE
http://capricorn.bc.edu/elicit/