PATTON O. TABORS
Cambridge, MA 02138
patton_tabors@harvard.edu
Education
Doctorate in Education (1987), Harvard
Graduate School of Education, Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA
·
Concentration
in human development, child language, and second language acquisition
·
Qualifying paper: "The identification of categories of
environmental support available for second language acquisition in a nursery
school classroom." Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard
University, August, 1984
·
Dissertation: "The
development of communicative competence by second language learners in a
nursery school classroom: An ethnolinguistic study." Harvard
Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 1987
Post‑Masters,
Reading Education (1977), Lesley College, Cambridge, MA
·
Thirty
credit hours in the diagnosis and treatment of reading difficulties
·
Certification
as a reading teacher, Massachusetts
Masters, Elementary Education (1968), Syracuse University, Syracuse,
NY
·
Certification
as an elementary teacher, New York
·
Certificate
in methods in urban teaching
Bachelor of Arts (1966), Smith College, Northampton, MA
·
Major
in government, minor in African studies
Employment
Research Associate,
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA (1987-present)
·
Principal Investigator,
the Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of
Spanish-Speaking Children (2000-present)
·
Research
Coordinator, the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development (1987-present)
·
Instructor, Harvard
Graduate School of Education (2000-2001):
Module on "Bilingualism in Early Childhood: Second Language Acquisition at Home and in
Early Childhood Settings"
·
Research
Coordinator, the Head Start Language Diversity Project (1995-2000
·
Research
Coordinator, the Book Reading Project of the MDRC/Child Trends Embedded
Observational Study of Mother-Child Interaction (1992-2000)
· Member, Advisory Committee on Exempt Staff (ACES) (1992-1995)
Editorial Coordinator, Applied
Psycholinguistics, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
(1984-1987)
·
Managed the intake of manuscripts, communicated with
authors and publisher, and copyedited and proofread a quarterly, scholarly
journal
Freelance author, D.C. Heath,
Inc., Lexington, MA (1980-1982)
·
Developed
and wrote material for a sixth grade social studies textbook
Elementary school teacher, Cambridge Public Schools,
Cambridge, MA (1977-1980)
·
Taught
language arts, math and reading in fifth grade classroom (1977‑1978)
·
Taught
all subjects in a self-contained, multicultural classroom (1978‑1980)
Childbirth educator, Boston
Association for Childbirth Education (BACE),
Cambridge,
MA (1973-1976)
·
Taught
the Lamaze method of childbirth to expectant parents
·
President
of BACE, 1975-1976
Administrative
assistant to the Education Officer, U. S. Agency for International
Development, Dacca, East Pakistan (1969-1970, 1971)
·
Worked
with Pakistani students coming to college in the U. S.
·
Helped
administer aid program to educational institutions in East Pakistan
Elementary
school teacher, Syracuse Public Schools, Syracuse, NY (1967-1969)
·
Taught
all subjects in a self-contained inner-city sixth grade classroom
Other Professional
Activities
Member, Expert Panel on Early Reading First, Department of
Education, Washington, DC, February 4,
2002
Member, Advisory Panel on Literacy Leadership
Academies, Office of the Undersecretary for Elementary and Secondary Education,
Department of Education, Washington, DC, July 27, 2001
Design Consultant and Faculty Member, "Learning to Read and Write Project,” and HeadsUp! Reading, National Head Start Association, the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition, and Resources and Instruction for Staff Excellence, Inc. (1999-present)
Consultant, WGBH Educational
Foundation
Presented
information about vocabulary and second language acquisition to a conference on
"Parents on Lion" related to the program "Between the
Lions," Boston, MA, May 26, 1999
Member, Head Start Focus Group :
A discussion of effective approaches to increasing the literacy of Head
Start parents and staff, and to support the emergent literacy of children,
birth to five. Washington, DC, March
11, 1999
Member, Working Group
for Administration for Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and
Human Services, Sub-study to Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (1998)
Member, National Panel on Desired Results for the
California Child Development Division (1998-1999)
Consultant on the development of programming to teach Spanish to
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children,
Georgia Public TV (1998-99)
Consultant,
The Demonstration School, College of Education, University of Massachusetts
-Lowell, MA (1988-present)
·
Researched
and wrote a plan for a new trilingual preschool/primary school at the College
of Education
·
Continuing
member of the advisory board for the school
Tabors, P. Predicting language and literacy
development in a low-income population:
Age three to seventh grade.
Invited presentation at the Murray Research Center, Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Studies, Cambridge, MA, October 2, 2001.
Tabors, P. Early
childhood bilingualism. Invited
presentation to the members of the Massachusetts/Greater Boston Chapter at the
Reach Out and Read National Conference:
Pediatrics and Early Literacy, Cambridge, MA, June 2, 2001.
Tabors, P. Children
learning English as a second and foreign language. Invited presentation to
the parents of the Frobel International Schools, Taoyuan, Taiwan, May 25, 2001.
Tabors, P. Childhood
bilingualism. Invited presentation
for the Department of Early Childhood Education, Taidong Teachers' College,
Taidong, Taiwan, May 23, 2001.
Tabors, P. Childhood
bilingualism. Invited presentation
for the Department of Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics, National
Taipei University, Taipei, Taiwan, May 22, 2001.
Tabors, P. Childhood
bilingualism. Invited keynote
presentation for the Conference on English Language Teaching, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan, May
18, 2001.
Tabors, P. Discussant:
Building new knowledge brick by brick.
In Dickinson, D., Enhancing preschool literacy practices and
children's learning through in-service teacher education: The impact of the Literacy Environment
Enrichment Program (LEEP). Symposium presented at the annual meetings of the
American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA, April 13, 2001.
Tabors, P. The development of language and literacy
skills pre-K to 3rd grade.
Invited presentation for How do we best assess and teach all
students: Innovations in language,
learning, and assessment as a response to MCAS, Programs in Professional
Education Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education, March 8, 2001.
Tabors, P. & Páez, M. The Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of
Spanish-speaking Children. In
McCardell, M., & Garcia, G.
(Co-chairs), Biliteracy Research Institute, National Association
of Bilingual Educators, Phoenix, AZ, February 23, 2001.
Tabors, P. Supporting
best practice in preschool programs serving children learning English as a
second language. Invited
presentation for the Forum on Children and Families, Child and Family Policy
Center, New York University School of Education, New York, NY, February 14,
2001.
Tabors, P. Bilingualism in early childhood. Invited presentation at the National Head
Start Child Development Institute, Washington, DC, December 7, 2000.
Tabors, P. Discussant:. What are some concerns related to doing educational research with
young bilingual children? In M. Lopez (Chair), Continuities
and discontinuities in the assessment of young bilingual children: Lessons learned and future directions for
research. Symposium at Head
Start's Fifth National Research Conference, Washington, DC, June 28, 2000.
Páez, M. &
Tabors, P. Teachers' beliefs and
practices related to second language learning in Head Start classrooms. Poster presentation at Head Start's Fifth
National Research Conference, Washington, DC,
June 29, 2000.
Katz, J. & Tabors, P. Mother-child conversation during toy play as a source of early
literacy skills. Poster
presentation at Head Start's Fifth National Research Conference, Washington,
DC, June 29, 2000.
Ross, S., Roach, K.,
& Tabors, P. Motivational
resources, teachers' perceptions, and academic achievement among
low-income 6th and 7th
graders. Poster presentation at the
annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans,
LA, April 27, 2000.
Tabors, P. Home environmental support for language and
literacy development. In C. Snow (Chair), Predicting 4th
grade reading comprehension: The
critical importance of social precursors from home and during early childhood. Symposium presented at the annual
meetings of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA,
April 27, 2000.
Tabors, P. The development of language and literacy
skills pre-K to 3rd grade.
Invited presentation for Responding to MCAS 2000: Innovations in Language, Learning, and Assessment,
Programs in Professional Education Institute, Harvard Graduate School of
Education, March 1, 2000.
Tabors,
P. Discussant, Panel 3 (Research on
related areas of work), Taking stock of research on language development and
emergent literacy 'best practices' for preschool and kindergarten second
language learners. Early Childhood
Institute, National Association of Bilingual Educators, San Antonio, TX,
February 18, 2000.
Tabors, P. & Haine, R. Low-income mothers’ calibrated support during their children’s
early oral reading. In P. Tabors
(Chair), Constraints and beliefs: Influences of maternal and child
characteristics on interaction during book reading with toddlers, preschoolers,
and beginning readers from low-income families. Symposium presented at the VIIIth
International Congress for the Study of Child Language, San Sebastian, Basque
Country, Spain, July, 1999.
Tabors,
P. Early language and literacy development at home and school: Findings from the Home-School Study of
Language and Literacy Development. Invited presentation for the Icelandic
University College of Education, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 14, 1999.
Tabors,
P. Home support for literacy development: Findings from the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy
Development. Invited presentation for COST
A8: Learning disorders as a barrier to
human development: Reading, writing and
language development in the school years, Varmaland, Iceland, June 11,
1999.
Tabors,
P. The development of language and
literacy skills pre-K to 3rd grade.
Invited presentation for Innovations in Learning, Language, and
Assessment, Programs in Professional Education Institute, Harvard Graduate
School of Education, April 29, 1999.
De
Temple, J. & Tabors, P. Predicting
maternal-child literacy functioning at early school age. In R. Takanishi (Chair), Factors
associated with family functioning and child outcomes in welfare samples: Findings from observational studies of
mother-child interaction. Poster symposium presented at the biennial meetings
of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM, April 17,
1999.
Tabors, P. First and second language
acquisition: Links to literacy and Assessing
young second language learners in early childhood. Presentations to the conference on Critical
Issues in Urban Education: English
Language Learners and Special Education, Region IV Education Service Center,
Houston, TX, February 3-4, 1999.
Tabors,
P. Thinking about assessing young
second language learners. Invited
presentation for the Early Childhood Special Interest Group, at the meetings of
the National Association of Bilingual Educators, Denver, CO, January 28, 1999.
Tabors,
P. Second language acquisition in
early childhood: Implications for early
intervention. Invited presentation
to the CLAS Early Childhood Research Institute, Chicago, IL, December 6, 1998.
Snow , C., Dickinson,
D., Tabors, P., Smith, M., Porche, M., & Jordan, G. How parents and teachers can support
children's early literacy development.
Presentation at the National Association of Educators of Young Children
Conference, Toronto, Canada, November 20, 1998.
Tabors,
P. Second language acquisition in
young children. Invited
presentation to the Harvard Summer Institute:
English Language Learners and Disabilities, Cambridge, MA, July 22,
1998.
Tabors,
P. Language development: Critical links to literacy and schooling. Invited presentation at the Harvard Summer
Institute: English Language Learners
and Disabilities, Cambridge, MA, July 22, 1998.
Dickinson, D., Snow,
C., Roach, K., Smith, M., & Tabors, P.
Home and preschool factors affecting language and literacy
development in kindergarten.
Presentation at the annual meetings of the Society for the Scientific
Study of Reading, San Diego, CA, April 18, 1998.
Tabors, P. Becoming
(and staying) bilingual in early childhood. Invited presentation for the Early Childhood Special Interest
Group, at the meetings of the National Association of Bilingual Educators,
Dallas, TX, February 26, 1998.
Tabors, P. English language learners in early
childhood education classrooms:
Development, assessment, and strategies. Presentation at the National Association for the Education of
Yong Children's Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, November 15, 1997.
Tabors,
P. What teachers need to know: Developing effective programs for
linguistically and culturally diverse children and families. In C.
Alvarado & J. Edwards (Chairs), Voices of change: Issues of race, language, and culture in
higher education: Preparing teachers
for a diverse society. Symposium
presented at the sixth annual National Association for the Education of Young
Children’s National Institute for Early Childhood Professional
Development, Seattle, WA, June 27,
1997.
Tabors, P., Baker,
M., Caswell, L., Flavin, L., Kelly, R., & Wolf, A. Assessment of second language learners’
progress in learning English. Presentation at the National Head Start
Association’s Annual Training Conference, Boston, MA, May 31, 1997.
Tabors,
P. Including second language
learners in English language classrooms. Presentation at the National Head
Start Association’s Annual Training Conference, Boston, MA, May 30, 1997.
Dickinson, D.,
Tabors, P., & Roach, K. Predicting children’s fourth grade reading
comprehension using individual growth trajectories in vocabulary, decoding, and
decontextualized language. In A.
Spinillo & J. Oakhill (Chairs), Thinking about texts: Comprehension and
metalinguistic awareness. Symposium presented at the XIVth Biennial
Meetings of the International Society for
the Study of Behavioral Development, Quebec City, Quebec, August 14, 1996.
Tabors,
P. Children's story retelling from a
familiar book: Development of narrative
skills. Poster presentation at the
XIVth Biennial Conference of the International Society for the Study of
Behavioral Development, Quebec, Canada, August 13, 1996.
Tabors,
P., & De Temple, J. 'But ain't
no nasty word:' Mothers' use of
recitation style in picture book reading.
Presentation at the VIIth International Congress for the Study of Child
Language, Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 1996.
Tabors,
P. Second language acquisition and
preschool education: Research findings,
methods, implications, and future directions. Presentation for the Committee on Developing a Research Agenda on
the Education of Bilingual and Limited English Proficient Students of the
National Research Council Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and
Education and the Institute of Medicine Board on Children and Families,
Washington, DC, November 16, 1995.
Tabors,
P. What's book reading all about?: Interactions between low-income mothers and
their preschool-aged children. Invited
presentation as part of the series Exploring Human Relationships, the
Henry A. Murray Research Center, Radcliffe College, Cambridge. MA, November 7,
1995.
Tabors,
P. Second language acquisition in
early childhood settings.
Presentation at the 22nd National Head Start Association Annual Training
Conference. Washington, DC, April 19,
1995.
Beals,
D., & Tabors, P. Contextual
support for word learning in family mealtime conversation. Presentation at the biennial meetings of
the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis, IN, March 30,
1995.
Snow,
C., De Temple, J., Tabors, P., & Kurland, B. Literacy across two generations. Presentation at the
American Psychological Association meetings, Los Angeles, CA, August, 1994.
Hirschler,
J., Tabors, P., Herman, J., & Tith, V.
Language assessment in a trilingual school: A performance assessment.
Poster presentation at the annual meetings of the American Education
Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 6, 1994.
Beals,
D., & Tabors, P. Talk at
home: Extended discourse and rare
vocabulary use at mealtimes. Presentation at the annual meetings of the
American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 4, 1994.
Snow, C., Tabors, P.,
Nicholson, P., & Kurland, B. The
relationships between oral language skills and early literacy skills in
low-income children. Presentation
at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association, New
Orleans, LA, April 4, 1994.
Dickinson,
D., Beals, D., & Tabors, P. Home and classroom portraits: Head Start and
non-Head Start families and programs.
Poster presentation at the Second National Head Start Research Conference
in Washington, DC, November 6, 1993.
Tabors,
P., & Beals, D. Learning new
words from books: Context or
conversation? Presentation at the
National Reading Conference, Charleston, NC, December, 1993.
Snow,
C., & Tabors, P. Home influences on the development of literacy-related
language skills. Presentation at the biennial meetings of the Society for
Research in Child Development, New Orleans, March 27, 1993.
Tabors, P. Becoming a storyteller, becoming a
reader: Divergent pathways to literacy?
Presentation at the National Reading Conference, San Antonio, TX, December,
1992.
Snow,
C., & Tabors, P. Language skills
that relate to literacy development.
Presentation at the conference of the National Association of Educators
of Young Children, New Orleans, LA, November, 1992.
Dickinson,
D., Tabors, P., & Smith, M. Continuity
and change in oral language and print skills between kindergarten and first
grade. Presentation at the annual
meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April,
1992.
Gregory,
L., & Tabors, P. 'We was singing
and we was dancing': A cross-cultural analysis of black and white preschool
children's personal accounts.
Presentation at the Boston University Conference on Language
Development, October 19, 1991.
Dickinson,
D., & Tabors, P. Early
literacy: Linkages between home, school
and literacy achievement at age five.
Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, Chicago, April 7, 1991.
Tabors,
P. Co-construction and individual
performance in narrative tasks with preschoolers from low income families.
Presentation at the 1990 Boston University Conference on Language Development,
October, 1990.
Snow,
C., & Tabors, P. Parental vs.
child responsibility for the structure of oral narratives. Presentation at the 1989 Boston University
Conference on Language Development, October 15, 1989.
Tabors, P. ‘What did you guys do?’: An analysis of elicited reports by low
income mothers and their preschool children. Presentation at the Developmental Luncheon, Harvard University,
December 9, 1988.
Snow,
C., & Tabors, P. Development of
decontextualized language skills in low income preschool children.
Presentation at the 1988 Boston University Conference on Language Development,
October 22, 1988.
Tabors,
P. The double bind: Developing communicative and social
competence in a second language.
Presentation at the Second Language Research Forum, University of
Hawaii, March 4-6, 1988.
Tabors,
P. Environmental support for second language learners in a nursery
school classroom. Presentation at the Fifth Annual Ethnography in
Education Research Forum, School of Education, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA, April, 1984.
Media
Presentations
Tabors, P. Faculty member. Talking. A
nationally broadcast program for Heads!Up Reading. Sponsored by the National Head Start Association, the Council for Early
Childhood Professional Recognition, and Resources and Instruction for Staff
Excellence, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, January 31, 2002.
Tabors, P. Faculty member. Supporting second language learners. A nationally broadcast program for
RIFNet. Sponsored by Reading is
Fundamental, January 31, 2001.
Tabors,
P. Faculty member. Talking. A nationally broadcast program for Heads!Up Reading. Sponsored by the National Head Start Association,
the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition, and Resources and
Instruction for Staff Excellence, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, January 31, 2001.
Workshop Presentations
Tabors, P, Knight,
J., & DaCosta, C. Supporting
language and literacy development for all children. Workshop
presentation for the National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance
Network Training Meeting, Washington, DC, December 12, 2001.
Tabors, P. & Yedlin,
J. Teaching English language
learners in the mainstream classroom.
Workshop presentation for the Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, October
12, 2001.
Tabors, P. One child, two languages. Workshop presentation for the annual meeting
of the Association of Childhood Education International, Republic of China,
Taichung, Taiwan, May 20, 2001.
Tabors, P. One child, two languages. Workshop presentation for the annual meeting
of the Association of Childhood Education International, Republic of China,
Taipei, Taiwan, May 19, 2001.
Tabors, P. Working with young bilingual children and
their families. Workshop presentation
for the ninth annual Minnesota Family Literacy Conference, Family
literacy: The world language of
learning, Minneapolis, MN, February 28, 2001.
Tabors, P. &
Baigorria, C. Challenges and
opportunities in the multilingual classroom:
A workshop for pre-K and kindergarten teachers. Workshop presentation for the Cambridge
Public Schools, Cambridge, MA, June 27, 2000.
Tabors, P. Second language acquisition in early
childhood settings. Workshop
presentation for Neighborhood House Head Start, Seattle, WA, February 4, 2000.
Tabors, P. Second language acquisition. Workshop presentation for the Early Child