Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Experiential Learning On Perceived Learning And Self-Efficacy In Literacy For Elementary Education: A Quantitative, Causal-Comparative Study, Tabbetha B. Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative, non-experimental study was to determine if there is a difference in reading self-efficacy and perceived learning among fourth- and fifth-grade inner city students who participated in experiential learning and those that did not participate in experiential learning. Experiential learning is considered an immersive method of ensuring that learners become well-experienced, immersed, and confident in their learning. Self-efficacy or how students feel about their learning is also an important factor in literacy retention and performance. The setting for this study was inner-city Northern Virginia. In this study, 163 fourth and fifth grade elementary students in …

Adolescent Autonomy In Book Selection, Katie Dredger, Zoe Mcdowell

Virginia English Journal

Books that have been on the shelves of classrooms in the commonwealth of Virginia are being removed by overzealous and misinformed parents and school board members. Supporting literacy development means allowing adolescents to read thought-provoking and edgy, high-quality texts, vetted by educated professionals, so that students can be critical curators and consumers of the wide range of media available today. Reading begets better reading, and varied texts build empathy for others. Improved literacy and empathetic criticality will benefit our commonwealth.

How Literacy Coursework May Change The Perspectives Of Preservice Speech-Language Pathologists: A Pilot Study, Robyn E. Becker

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

This pilot study investigated how perspectives of preservice speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may change after completion of a graduate course in literacy in a Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) program. Further, the study sought to reflect upon course design and instructional delivery practices related to the class. Data was collected via online survey completed by 21 volunteer CSD graduate students. The results suggested that students' perspectives may evolve over the course of a semester-long CSD literacy class in some areas related to the components of reading, misconceptions about literacy, and the social justice implications of access to quality reading programs. Using …

Fight, Flight, Freeze: The Impact Of A Dyslexia Simulation On Preservice Teachers, Carolyn Carlson

The Advocate

Teachers must have an understanding of dyslexia, including characteristics, assessments, and interventions, but also an understanding of the reactions the students may display when faced with these learning difficulties. In addition, teachers need to be aware of how their typical classroom practices may cause even further disruptions and challenges to the student rather than supporting them in their learning. This study asked preservice teachers to participate in the Experience Dyslexia simulation to gain new insight into not only the challenges faced by students with dyslexia regarding brain-based processing issues, but also how the classroom environment contributes to those difficulties. By …

Examining Systems To Improve Third Grade Literacy: Focus On Schools With High Poverty Index, Brenda Kelley

Theses and Dissertations

This improvement project was designed to ensure students enrolled in elementary schools with a high poverty index received literacy instructional strategies that promoted literacy achievement. When analyzing Graham County School data, I noticed third-grade students attending high poverty elementary schools were not achieving literacy success at the same rate as third-grade students attending low poverty elementary schools. An improvement team, consisting of myself, administration, and teachers at a high poverty elementary school implemented the improvement science framework to further study the root causes of this problem. Utilizing the six principles of the improvement science framework, problem focused and user centered, …

Connecting Family Funds Of Knowledge With Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum: A Strengths-Based Approach, Molly Kathleen Hamel

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study investigated the application of funds of knowledge research to supplement a Pre-Kindergarten curriculum in order to connect the previous knowledge and lived experiences of students and their families with the concepts and objectives of the classroom. The research combined funds of knowledge theory with social constructivism to form its theoretical framework. The research study used semi-structured interviews with parents to collect information about student and family funds of knowledge which the researcher used to supplement the existing curriculum with materials, activities, and experiences with which students were familiar. The findings revealed how enhancing existing curriculum with …

Developing Literacy Through Play, Molli Vanderjagt

Culminating Experience Projects

The loss of play in the classroom has had a significant impact on children’s foundational literacy skills. It has hindered children’s language development by reducing their verbal skills and language comprehension and decreasing vocabulary. Child development has not changed, and yet we continue to put more academic pressure on our youngest students. This project addresses the need for play in early education classrooms. It then provides research why play is important in developing foundational literacy skills, such as oral language and vocabulary, comprehension and recall and higher-level thinking, and possible classroom applications. The project concludes with a presentation for administrators, …

Coaching And Developing Non-Certified Instructional Staff In Key Literacy Practices, Holly Nicole Bigos

Culminating Experience Projects

Paraprofessionals are vital staff members of elementary schools that often provide small group instruction for struggling students to develop key literacy skills. Despite the critical contribution paraprofessionals can provide, schools often neglect to adequately train and develop these staff members to support students’ instructional literacy needs. This project explores the relevant history of paraprofessional staff in schools and the current need for increased development and support of these staff members. Additionally, modern sustainable solutions are explored to develop paraprofessional literacy knowledge and instructional skills for these vital staff members. Programming recommendations are grounded in adult learning theory, feedback and coaching, …

Parent Advocacy For Literacy Intervention: A Case Study Of Motivations And Experiences, Meghan Malloy

All Dissertations

While systems of support are used in schools to assist students’ academic growth, parents are not always informed of the support process or the academic goals set for their child (RTI Action Network, n.d.; Troisi, 2014; Weingarten et al., 2020). In the aftermath of the pandemic, students present a wide variety of academic needs (Lewis et al., 2021; Maldonado & De Witte, 2020), underscoring the importance of parent advocacy. In situations where a student needs additional supports, such as literacy intervention, the parent may become the child’s best advocate (Besnoy et al., 2015).

Using a multiple case study design, the …

Exemplary Middle Grades Teachers' Voices: Experiences With Using Texts For Instruction, Cheryl A. Richardson

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, educators in Tennessee have experienced changes in legislation that impact them daily. Laws that require educators to use curriculum materials from an approved list and that restrict teachers from supplementing these materials greatly impact student learning and success. This qualitative study examined exemplary middle grades language arts teachers' experiences with using texts and curriculum materials for instruction. Exemplary teachers in this study share their experiences with the use of texts and curriculum materials to meet the academic needs of their students.

Can Generative Ai Help Solve Functional Illiteracy?, George Goga

Artificial Intelligence, 2024-25

This two lecture module with an associated student assignment explores how technology can both support and complicate literacy development.

Lecture 1 “An Introduction to Functional Illiteracy and Generative AI” provides a foundational understanding of functional illiteracy, exploring its causes, impacts, and implications for education and society. This lecture sets the stage for understanding the intersection between functional illiteracy and AI, offering a critical perspective on how technology can both support and complicate literacy development.

Lecture 2 “Bridging the Literacy Gap Using Generative AI” focuses on practical strategies for leveraging generative AI technologies to enhance literacy instruction and address disparities in …

Methods And Metacognition: Teaching An Historically And Culturally Responsive Holocaust Unit, Katie Sluiter

Dissertations

While at least forty-seven states have legislation around teaching the Holocaust and/or genocide to secondary students (grades 6-12), this curriculum is typically housed in the social studies departments of most districts; however, there are many English language arts teachers who either choose to teach Holocaust literature alongside their social studies counterparts, or create stand-alone Holocaust units around both informational texts and literature.

This study centers around the author’s own Holocaust unit taught to eighth-grade honors ELA students in an urban, Title I school district. The unit is used as an artifact to examine two aspects of a successful unit on …

Engaging Home Literacy Environments: Building A Partnership Between School And Home, Robert E. Samuels Iii

Culminating Experience Projects

The reading proficiency levels of fourth grade students in the United States has been stagnant or declining for nearly two decades, an issue only amplified by school closures during the pandemic. Struggling third graders, including those at Fennville Elementary School, are beginning fourth grade without a solid grasp of their foundational reading skills These skills are necessary for accessing complex text in fourth grade and later. A lack of parental involvement and absence of an engaging home literacy environment has added to these reading deficits. This project analyzes educational theories and research to determine the importance of parent and family …

Reading Through Music: A Unit Of Study Designed For Secondary English Language Arts Students, Sean Adams

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that music can positively impact brain function, improving areas such as memory, attention, and language skills, which are critical for reading comprehension. This capstone explores the intersection of music and literacy, attempting to answer the following question: How can music inspire reading while enhancing reading comprehension and memory retention of the content for secondary students? In the curriculum designed for this project, students engage in a dynamic learning process integrating singing, piano practice, digital music creation using GarageBand, and reading poetry and a short story to promote robust comprehension and retention of content. The unit plan spans …

Increasing Diversity In Advanced Placement Classrooms Through Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Megan Volgren

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This thesis has been designed around the question: How can AP literature teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy to make changes to their curriculum to increase diversity in their classes? Most schools offer advanced classes for students, many of which offer opportunities for them to gain college credit while in school. Yet, these opportunities are not equitably distributed. Students of color are often absent from Advanced Placement (AP) classes. This thesis explores the reasons behind this inequality and considers some changes that can be made to promote equality in schools. The focus of the accompanying project is to create a unit …

Guide To Establishing A Classroom Library - With Racially Representative Considerations, Julie Sieben

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The capstone project came from the educational space of equity in literature. Within the scope of using a new English Language Arts curriculum and a growing classroom diversity, the research question sought was: How can teachers establish a classroom library representative of a racially diverse student population? In order to locate research and educator journal articles within the literature review portion of the capstone, three main topic areas were explored: racial representation, multicultural education, and social justice. Diving deeper into racial representation, these themes emerged: misrepresentation, under-represented and selective inclusion. Considering the research question, the exploration continued with multiculturalism often …

Translanguaging In The Multilingual Learning And Mainstream Classrooms: A Unit Of Study Designed For Elementary Multilingual Newcomers, Elizabeth Moklestad

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project aims to find answers to the research question, How can translanguaging be strategically utilized in elementary instruction for multilingual newcomers as they move between language and mainstream classrooms? The question stems from an increased number of multilingual newcomers entering schools in the U.S. This project offers a way to meet the needs of these students through an integration of language learning and content learning that values students’ home languages as a foundation for their learning. In this capstone, the author presents a review of literature on multilingual newcomers, multilingual learning program models, the theory and practice of …

Engaging Multilingual Learners Through Discussions And Writing Using Interactive Read Alouds In Early Elementary Education, Karen Manthe-Hogan

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The project aims to answer how English language teachers can support writing using a multicultural text set to engage early elementary Multilingual Learners. The research focuses on the needs of Multilingual Learners, the benefits of engaging students in discussion and writing, and the positive impacts of sharing multicultural literature. Using culturally responsive literature, the project builds engagement in conversations and writing. The curriculum project is designed as a supplementary writing unit for Multilingual Learners. The project may foster relationships with the students and create a sense of belonging, with discussion points and writing prompts built into the 12-book text set …

Beyond Credit: The Philosophy And Practice Behind A College Freshman Literacy Intervention Course, Jeremy Logsdon, Daniel Super

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

READ 101 is a college freshman literacy intervention course at a southeastern U.S. regional university created to increase student retention and persistence and to serve as an alternative to the traditional developmental reading model. READ 101 was created within a dedicated university infrastructure and is a credit-bearing course that counts toward student GPA and graduation requirements and is taught by full-time credentialed faculty. It utilizes a philosophy of intervention instead of remediation, requiring that instruction be based upon where students need to be rather than the level at which they currently read. READ 101 is structured around research-based literacy practices. …

Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Teaching In K-12 Education, Samantha Valenta

Graduate Teacher Education

Students of color have been historically underserved and underrepresented in the education system due to bias. To combat said racist system, teachers need guidance on how to teach their students of color in an equitable way. Every student deserves the chance to succeed. This paper synthesized multiple researchers’ findings over the effects of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching (CLRT) on students of color via qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies. The findings concluded that CLRT was beneficial to students and would increase their academic achievement via improving their mental health, engagement, behavior, and literacy. A cyclical correlation was found between all …

Considering Equity In Literacy Lessons That Integrate A Digital Tool, Kristi Tamte, Beth Beschorner

The Reading Professor

Teachers in the 21st century must be able to create conditions for justice within their classrooms and the broader educational system while simultaneously preparing children with the digital literacies that are necessary to be fully literate. Yet, there is evidence that many teachers are not prepared to do either. Thus, teacher educators have a responsibility to create conditions within teacher preparation that support pre-service teachers (PSTs) to do both. This research project aimed to design and test a framework that builds equity into the Technology Integration Planning Cycle (TIPC) to support PSTs' ability to advance justice within their practice while …

To Avoid Or Grapple With Tensions? Preservice Teachers Learning To Teach Literacy For Social Justice, Kathryn Struthers Ahmed

The Reading Professor

This nested case study explored the individual and environmental factors shaping preservice teachers' (PSTs') learning about teaching literacy for social justice while student teaching in urban, high-poverty schools. Grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory, findings show how the unique interplay of contextual factors led to different learning outcomes for PSTs, despite having similar experiences and perspectives on literacy teaching. Notably, when PSTs avoided tensions and contradictions between their student teaching placements and their university-based teacher education program, their learning towards the university's programmatic goals was constrained. However, when they opted to grapple with instructional tensions, their learning was more expansive. …

Learning Through Play At School Ukraine: Final Research Report (Ukrainian Version), Rachel Parker, Amy Berry, David Jeffries, Prue Anderson, Oksana Zabolotna

Student learning processes

The Learning Through Play (LTP) at School Research Study Ukraine was a four-year intervention study funded by the LEGO Foundation and implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Ukrainian Educational Research Association (UERA). The intervention was a two-year professional learning program that blended online, and face-to-face learning called the Teacher Innovative Play Program (TIPP). The TIPP was designed based on documented evidence that reports that teachers need opportunities to experiment and reflect to change practice. The study was guided by three research questions which were revised following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces …

Learning Through Play At School: Ukraine, 2019-2024 (Ukrainian Version), Rachel Parker, Amy Berry, Kellie Picker, David Jeffries, Prue Anderson, Oksana Zabolotna

Student learning processes

The Learning Through Play at School Research Study Ukraine was a four-year longitudinal intervention study funded by the LEGO Foundation and implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Ukrainian Educational Research Association (UERA). The study was implemented between 2019 and 2024, during COVID-19 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces. Despite, at times, insurmountable challenges, the professional learning intervention was successful in supporting most teachers to progress from a surface level understanding of learning through play to a deep level. In addition, almost all children’s literacy and social-emotional skills grew significantly from start …

Experiences Of Educators With Libraries And Educational Technology To Close The Literacy Gap: A Phenomenological Study, Pamela Madina Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to discover how educators view the use of school libraries with educational technology’s contribution to the development of literacy skills of learners in K12 learning environments. The theoretical framework that guided this research study was Vygotsky and Leont’ev’s Activity theory. The central research question for this study was How do educators describe their professional experiences with school libraries and educational technology? Purposive and Snowball sampling methods were used to select the sites and the 12 participants located in rural, urban, and suburban K12 public school districts that educate K5 learners across Central …

Blended Genres: Pairing Picturebooks And Poems Across The Curriculum, William P. Bintz

Michigan Reading Journal

Abstract

This article reports on an action research project conducted by a teacher educator in literacy education as part of a graduate course entitled Reading and Writing across the Content Areas. The purpose of the project was to actively engage graduate students, all of whom were pre-service and in-service teachers, in a course-related project in which students developed and implemented blended genres across the curriculum. It begins by situating blended genres within the traditional notion of paired text as a curricular resource and instructional strategy to support the process of intertextuality. It provides a brief overview of the course-related …

Safeguarding Learning Before, During, And After Emergency Remote Teaching, Carol Ann Paul, Lisa Reason

Michigan Reading Journal

This qualitative study explores 25 elementary educators’ experiences after Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) and examines the role of technology and face-to-face (f2f) interactions in the literacy classroom. Teachers in the study found substantial learning lags and extreme difficulty getting students reacclimated back into the classroom postpandemic. While they found technology to be adequate for differentiation and instant feedback, they noted the importance of f2f interaction for building relationships, social and emotional learning (SEL), reading, language, and fine motor skills. Aligned with Duke and Cartwright’s (2021) Active View of Reading Model, the study’s results advocate integrating SEL and literacy instruction, along …

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogical Practices In Early Literacy Classrooms: A Qualitative Case Study Of Two Kindergarten Classrooms, Elizabeth Carlton Phd

Dissertations

Students who attend school possess their own “funds of knowledge” from their home life and prior experiences (Moll et al., 1992). Yet, learners from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds are not viewed from a strengths-based perspective but rather a deficit perspective. The deficit perspective perpetuates the oppression and marginalization of students of color and multilingual students. Using a qualitative comparative case study research design, the study is rooted in the tenets of Critical Pedagogy (Freire, 2000), Critical Literacy, and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy as it sought to uncover insights into asset-based instructional strategies that allow multilingual learners opportunities to participate equitably …

Self-Study Portfolio Evi Francey Kampouri Lagonik, Evi Francey Kampouri Lagonik

Master of Education in Teacher Leadership Portfolios

No abstract provided.

Shifting The Balance: 6 Ways To Bring The Science Of Reading Into The Upper Elementary Classroom- A Review, Mary-Jo Morse

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In recent weeks, the New York State Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her “Back to Basics” plan to improve reading achievement in New York State. As part of her plan, Governor Hochul has proposed that millions of dollars be allocated in the state’s budget to train “20 thousand teachers in Science of Reading Instructional best practices and announced an expansion of SUNY and CUNY’s microcredentialing programs for teachers focused on the Science of Reading.” (Hochul, 2024). With the Science of Reading becoming a major component in reading instruction, this new text, Shifting the Balance: 6 ways to Bring the Science of …