Kimberly Dupont, MetLife Fellow
Kimberly Dupont is a certified Speech Language Pathologist at an elementary school in Virginia.
She has also worked as a second and third grade teacher for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe.
Kimberly earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts Degrees from Ball State University.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from George Mason University.
Kim co-directs (with MetLife Fellow, Mark Smith) the Teachers Network Leadership Institute (TNLI) Affiliate for the Education Study Group.
She has presented her previous research on the use of sound field systems in inclusion classrooms with MetLife Fellow Ann-Bailey Lipsett at the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Schools Conference in 2007 and the Speech Language and Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) conference in 2008.
Previous Research Includes:
Research Title: Use of a Sound-Field System to Support Language Development in a Culturally Diverse Kindergarten Classroom Research Year: 2009 Research Classification: Student Support/Enrichment Research Summary: Our research question was “How does the use of a sound-field system impact oral language production in an inclusive kindergarten classroom?” Before we installed the sound-field system in this inclusive kindergarten classroom, we asked each child to draw and tell a story about something that he or she did or something that happened to him or her. We recorded each child’s oral presentation and documented the number of complete sentences contained in the story. The sound-field system was then installed in the classroom to facilitate instruction with the reduction of ambient noise. After several months, we repeated the procedure. We found that after being in a classroom with a sound-field system, students’ sentences increased in length from 5.8 to 6.13 words. In the spring students spoke with both simple and compound sentences, while in the fall they had only used short, simple sentences. Students improved their use of regular past tense verbs. The use of single word utterances and phrases decreased as well. In the fall students frequently repeated words or phrases, but in the spring this was not observed. We believe these gains are facilitated by the sound-field system, as well as expected maturation and typical development.
Research Title: Morphological Marker and Verb Tense Acquisition With Use of a Sound-Field System Research Year: 2008 Research Classification: Support Services to Schools Research Summary: We continued our 2006-2007 research on using a sound-field system in an inclusion classroom. Past research focused primarily on the impact a sound-field system has on behavior and overall achievement in the classroom. While conducting this research we made anecdotal observations on how the sound-field system improved some children’s development of morphological markers and verb tense acquisition. Students just beginning to learn English seemed to be acquiring these language skills faster than students who do not use a sound-field system. The same observations were made for students in special education programs. We choose to specifically focus our research on the acquisition of these skills by comparing a primary inclusion classroom that was using the sound-field system and one that was not using the sound-field system. Before placing a sound-field system in a classroom we took writing samples from students in each class to obtain baseline data. We also took anecdotal data on student use of morphological markers and verb tenses. We were unable to finish our research this year and plan to continue during the next school year. As we prepare for next year, we will write grants to acquire more advanced sound-field systems.
Research Title: Meeting the Inclusive Classroom Challenge with Research Year: 2007 Research Classification: Student Support/Enrichment Research Summary: An Elementary School Teacher Research Team comprised of a Speech-Language Pathologist and general education classroom teacher monitored student behavior and success in a classroom with 17-19 students with a range of learning abilities, English language development, and socio-economic status. We examined the current research in the field and applied what we learned to the classroom environment. We recorded student behavior at times when the teacher was using the FM sound system, and when the teacher was not. We interviewed the students to find their preference for the system. We visited another elementary school to observe other classrooms with a sound system installed. We have consulted with and obtained information about a variety of sound field systems. We learned: 1) Has a positive influence on the student behavior in the classroom, particularly for students who struggle to maintain attention. 2) Has a positive influence on classroom community due to allowing the teacher to remain calm and maintain control. 3) Reduces vocally abusive behaviors of educators. 4) Infrared sound systems have a superior quality and performance than the FM system used in our study. 5) Supports the early phonological awareness of students, particularly those learning English for the first time.
