Doctoral Students
Shira Blicher
I have a B.Ed. and a teaching certificate from Levinsky College, and an M.A. in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa. In the upcoming year, I will begin my Ph.D. on the effects of emotional state and emotional comprehension on reading comprehension among good and poor comprehenders, under the supervision of Prof. Michal Shany and Prof. Tami Katzir.
During the past three years, as a research assistant for Prof. Michal Shany, I have worked on developing reading comprehension assessment tests. As an implementation coordinator at the University of Haifa Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa, I coordinate and manage teacher training programs based on the Edmond J. Safra-Haifa Model of assessment and intervention processes to promote literacy among poor readers. I am also a lecturer in these programs. In addition, I am involved in the implementation of the reading acceleration program developed at the Edmond J. Safra Center and in facilitating the Center’s Mobile Unit for the Advancement of Learning, which provides evaluations for children from low socio-economic backgrounds.
M.A. thesis title:
The prediction of reading comprehension by trait anxiety and knowledge and rumination about reading difficulties among eight- to ten-year-old poor readers and their mothers. Supervised by Prof. Michal Shany.
Publications
Blicher, S., Feingold, L., & Shany, M. (2016). The role of trait anxiety and preoccupation with reading disabilities of children and their mothers in predicting reading comprehension. Journal of Learning Disabilities. [Epub ahead of print.]
Conferences:
Blicher, S., Galili, K., Kaspersky, R., & Shany, M. (2015). The Edmond J. Safra-Haifa Model: Empowerment and training for learning disabilities in the Israeli education system. Poster presentation at the International Conference of Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning Abilities and Disabilities, in memory of the late Prof. Zvia Breznitz, at the University of Haifa.
Blicher, S., & Shany, M. (2014). The prediction of reading comprehension by trait anxiety and knowledge and rumination about reading difficulties among eight- to ten-year-old poor readers and their mothers. Poster presentation at the 8th Annual Conference of the Israeli Association for Literacy and Language, at the University of Haifa.
Kama Galili
I hold a B.A. with honors in Psychology from Bar-Ilan University and an M.A. in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa. I am currently a Ph.D. student at the end of the first research phase, awaiting approval for proposed research in the domain of reciprocal change in the relationships between teachers and their students with reading difficulties during intervention.
I work as a lecturer in in-service training of regular and special education teachers. In addition, I work with undergraduate and graduate students as well as primary school children at several learning disability evaluation and tutoring centers. In the past few years, I have also worked as a coordinator in a reading empowerment project in schools, through the University of Haifa Edmond J. Safra Center.
M.A. thesis title:
Modality effect (spoken vs. written) on the ability to learn new words: A comparison of Ethiopian children coming from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. children with a background of higher exposure to written language.
Publications
Breznitz, Z., Shany, M., & Galili, K. (2012). Teacher training and intervention programs: Scientific results. In Report to the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation (Breznitz, Z.).
Breznitz, Z., Shany, M., & Galili, K. (2013). Teacher training and intervention programs: Scientific results. In Report to the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation (Breznitz, Z.).
Conferences:
Shany, M., Galili, K., & Blicher, S. (2015, May). The Edmond J. Safra-Haifa Model: Empowerment and training for learning disabilities in the Israeli education system. Poster presented at Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning: Abilities and Disabilities, International Conference In Memory of Prof. Zvia Breznitz).
Reading fluency: Assessment and intervention. Lecture on behalf of the University of Haifa as part of a reading comprehension course for national language instructors in the special education system, at the Ministry of Education in Tel Aviv (April 2016).
Reciprocal change in the relationships between teachers and their students with reading difficulties during an intervention program. Poster presented at the 2nd Doctoral Students Conference at the Faculty of Education (March 2015).
Reading Acceleration Program, the Edmond J. Safra Model. Two lectures on behalf of the University of Haifa as part of a course for national language instructors in the special education system, at the Ministry of Education in Tel Aviv (April 2014).
Theoretical and practical principles for vocabulary development in school. Lecture at a seminar in the Edmond J. Safra Center for Brain Research of Learning Disabilities (December 2011).
Modality effect (spoken vs. written) on the ability to learn new words: A comparison of Ethiopian children coming from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. children with a background of higher exposure to written language. Paper presented at the annual Israeli Speech Therapists Conference, Tel Aviv, Israel (February 2011).
The influence of mode of display on the ability to learn new words: Comparison between Ethiopian children who come from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. their peers who come from a background of written culture. Lecture delivered as part of the Literacy and Language Conference (March 2010).
Geva, E., Katzir, T., Galili, K., Shany, M., & Biemiller, A. (under review). Learning novel words by ear or by eye? An advantage for lexical inferencing in listening versus reading narratives in fourth grade. Journal of Educational Psychology
Bluma Segal
I have a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology-Anthropology from Bar-Ilan University and an M.A. in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa. Since 2009, I have worked as a lecturer at Beit Berl College’s Special Education Program and Continuing Education for Teachers, and as a coordinator for the practical training program in learning disability diagnostics for M.A. students.
Currently, I am in the second year of my Ph.D. studies and my proposal has been approved. I study the engagement of mothers and their children in reading, with a focus on the associations between socio-economic background, reading engagement, and effects on reading comprehension.
M.A. thesis title:
Demographic aspects and literacy in Ethiopian families and their influence on written language development of their children in first and second grades.
Conferences:
Segal, B., Shany, M., & Share, D. (2005). Demographic aspects and literacy in Ethiopian families and their influence on written language development of their children in first and second grade. Presentation at the summer conference of The Israel Association for Literacy and Language.
Zofit Fleishon
I hold a B.A. with honors in Behavioral Sciences from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a teacher's certificate in Special Education from the David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem. I also hold an M.A. in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa.
Three years ago, I started my Ph.D. on the contribution of visual processing skills to reading development in the Hebrew orthography. My research involves a one-year longitudinal study from kindergarten to the end of first grade, under the supervision of Prof. Michal Shany and Dr. Shelley Shaul.
During the past three years, I have worked as a guide for the Israeli Ministry of Education, in the field of learning disabilities and language education for students in special education, and as a didactical assessor. In the past year, I have also served as a coordinator for the national language program known as "Shalhevet," which promotes assessment and intervention processes among poor readers in special education classes. Also, for the past five years, I have lectured about learning disabilities, inclusion, remedial teaching, and learning strategies at the Israeli "Pisga" centers for teacher training, the Israeli Open University, and the Holon Academic Institute of Education. I also worked as a pedagogical manager and served as the head of the diagnosis and treatment center at the "Nitzan" organization’s center for children with learning disabilities and ADHD in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Thesis title:
The effects of methylphenidate on the draw-a-person test among boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Supervised by Prof. Emanuel Tirosh (Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology) and Prof. Avi Karni (Edmond J. Safra Center Brain Research Center for the Studies of Disabilities, University of Haifa).
Conferences:
Fleishon, Z., Shany, M., & Shaul, S. (2015). The contribution of visual processing skills to reading development in the Hebrew orthography: A one-year longitudinal study from kindergarten to the end of first grade. Poster presented at the 2nd Doctoral Students Conference at the University of Haifa Faculty of Education.
Fleishon, Z., Shany, M., & Shaul, S. (2015). The contribution of visual processing skills to reading development in the Hebrew orthography: A one-year longitudinal study from kindergarten to the end of first grade. Poster presented at the Israeli Association for Learning Disabilities Specialists ("Edgal") conference at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Education.
Nurit Leibovich
I participated in a pre-doctoral research program at the University of Haifa Department of Learning Disabilities and wrote a thesis under the supervision of Prof. Michal Shany on reading instruction in the holy language among boys from the studying in the 'Cheder’ . My current doctoral research on the issues faced by the parents of these students when they have reading difficulties is being supervised by Prof. Michal Shany and Prof. Rivka Eisikovits.
Thesis title
How parents from ultra-religious society cope with their child’s difficulties in reading acquisition: A qualitative research.
Supervised by Prof. Michal Shany and Prof. Rivka Eisikovits.
Publications
Leibovich, N, (2012). Documentation of reading instruction in the ‘Cheder’ in the ultra-religious society. An M.A thesis completed at the department of Learning Disabilities. Supervised by Prof. Michal Shany.
Leibovich, N., Shany, M., & Eisikovits, R. (2015). How parents from ultra-religious society cope with their child’s difficulties in reading acquisition: A qualitative research. Poster presented at the 2nd Doctoral Students Conference at the University of Haifa Faculty of Education.
Conferences:
Leibovich, N., Shany, M., & Eisikovits, R. (2015). How parents from ultra-religious society cope with their child’s difficulties in reading acquisition: A qualitative research.
Poster presented at the 2nd Doctoral Students Conference at the University of Haifa Faculty of Education.