Education Commons^™

Book Review: How Education Policy Shapes Literacy Instruction: Understanding The Persistent Problems Of Policy And Practice, Nicole Hertz

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Abstract: This review of How Education Policy Shapes Literacy Instruction: Understanding the Persistent Problems of Policy and Practice, edited by Rachael Gabriel, explores the most pressing educational concerns and their relationship to history and policy, written by scholars from all over the country, such as retention, intervention, early childhood and English language literacy acquisition, and coaching. With the current Science of Reading (SoR) movement and all the related laws that are being passed throughout the United States based on current educational reform measures, this review explores the relationship to past, present, and future literacy legislation, through a historical lens, …

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 …

Incorporating Books As Strength-Based Examples Of Characters With Dyslexia, Vera Sotirovska, Margaret Vaughn

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Incorporating books that facilitate inclusive understandings of dyslexia can be a challenging yet important pedagogical approach to promoting equitable practices. As realistically portrayed characters and stories provide a way for students to see not only themselves but also others, and enter different worlds, the need for multiple representations of children with dyslexia is necessary when working to create equity-oriented classrooms. First, we discuss strategies on how to select and use books with diverse representations of individuals with dyslexia. Next, we provide book selection criteria to guide teachers in curating their own classroom libraries with similar texts. Finally, we include activities …

Testing The Knowledge Of Early Childhood Educators, Dianne S. Mccarthy

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Teacher certification exams are supposed to assess if a student is likely to succeed in teaching. What if an exam seems to be inappropriate? This article is an inquiry of the New York State Content Specialty Test for Early Childhood Candidates, particularly the math section. It raises the issue of whether we are asking the right questions and ascertaining the right data to decide if someone has the appropriate math knowledge and is ready to teach math to young children.

Writing And Reading Connections: Giving Value To Both Sides Of The Same Literacy Coin, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos, Penelope Wiese, Adalea Davis

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The purpose of this article is to comment on ways that writing-reading connections can take place enhancing reading comprehension and composition. Drawing from a genre-based instructional approach, examples are provided to explain such connections in the process of (a) a rhetorical analysis conducted on writing prompts and prior to reading, (b) examination of writing purposes and genres for writing and reading, (c) read alouds for retelling and monitoring meaning making, and (d) of critical reading for reviewing purposes and determination of clarity of written ideas. The article concludes with guidelines for classroom teachers and recommendations for the implementation of the …

Coaching Teachers Under Duress, Cathy A. Toll

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

At a time when teachers are feeling exceptional amounts of duress, literacy coaches often feel ineffective. However, coaches can be more important than ever when their collaborations increase teachers’ self-efficacy, resiliency, and success with students. This article provides six simple rules that literacy coaches can use to enhance their work and strengthen the effectiveness of their teacher partners: be realistic, respond to teachers, adjust the scale, keep eyes on the prize, make a difference, and stop the spiral. Rooted in theories of complex adaptive systems and research on the needs of teachers in times of stress, the suggestions herein provide …

Utilizing Video-Based Pedagogical Action Research To Transform Teacher Practice In Elementary And Secondary Classrooms, Kimberly A. Lebak

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This article introduces a video-based pedagogical action research model for primary and secondary teachers. The video-based pedagogical action research model incorporates video as a self-reflective tool to provide opportunities for teachers to utilize concrete artifacts in each phase of the pedagogical action research process. Sixty-seven practicing teachers participated in this qualitative study. Teacher self-reflections completed during the evaluation phase of the process and school administrator surveys were analyzed to evaluate impact of participation in the process. Results provide preliminary evidence that the implementation of the model can lead to shifts in how teachers think about their practice and ultimately lead …

Individualized Clinical Coaching With Bug-In-Ear: Enhancing Fidelity Of Implementation Of Behavior Specific Praise Among Novice Teachers Of Students With Developmental Disabilities In Rural Classrooms, Dennis P. Garland Ph. D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Five novice special education teachers in rural classrooms received individualized clinical coaching (ICC) via the Internet to increase their use of behavior specific praise (BSP) with their students who had developmental disabilities (DD) during clinical supervision. Web cameras provided opportunities for the teachers to be observed during their regularly scheduled classroom teaching. The participants received brief coaching prompts through a wireless earpiece that they wore while teaching. A single subject multiple baseline across participants design was used to determine if a functional relation existed between the ICC and the rate of BSP use per minute for each of the participants. …

Writing Instruction In The Middle Grades: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry Of Teacher Perceptions And Practices In South Korea And The United States, Carrie Eunyoung Hong, Geon-Ah Choi

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Despite its importance in promoting student academic achievement and career development, writing pedagogy has received little emphasis in research and professional development efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions and practices of writing in the middle grades from a cross-cultural perspective. 16 middle-grade teachers from South Korea and one state within the United States were recruited for a semi-structured interview. Transcripts of the interview responses were analyzed, using a constant comparison method. The findings showed that teachers’ instructional practices in writing were contextualized with their personal and professional knowledge and experiences. Country specific patterns were found …

"To Get Free": How A Black Girl’S Ways Of Being And Knowing Inform A Literacy Teacher’S Multimodal Pedagogies In An Alternative Secondary Context, Delicia Tiera Greene Ph.D.

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This qualitative inquiry examines how a White literacy teacher learns from and with a Black girl through multimodal composing in an out-of-school, alternative learning context. Data collection instruments include field observations, teacher planning sheets, teacher reflections, and researcher feedback. Multimodal Literacy Pedagogy and Black Girls’ Digital Literacies drove this study. Critical Discourse Analysis was employed to interpret the data. This inquiry accounts for the factors that reposition the role of a literacy teacher while working with a Black girl’s digital story development process. This inquiry found a literacy teacher’s multimodal pedagogies were shaped by a Black girl’s: (1) home, community, …

Review Of The Vulnerable Heart Of Literacy: Centering Trauma As Powerful Pedagogy., Zipporah Galimore

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (2019), Elizabeth Dutro provides educators with heart-felt, inquiry-based strategies for using trauma as pedagogy in literacy classrooms. This book describes how to situate both educators and children to provide testimony and be critical witnesses in an effort to allow life knowledge, empathy, and wisdom be brought to classroom learning experiences. Dutro uses classroom vignettes and student work samples to illustrate how the concept of trauma as pedagogy can be applied across genres. Experiences and examples of literacy instruction in children's work from several elementary classrooms, from second grade through …

Assessment Literacy: Implications For The Literacy Professional, Bobbie Kabuto, Sinead Harmey

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This article explores how the general term of assessment literacy can be specified to the area of reading through the lens of the informal reading inventory, Qualitative Reading Inventory-5. This article will investigate the common misconceptions that teachers, who were enrolled in a graduate program to become state-certified specialized literacy professionals, had when conducting and interpreting the QRI-5. The data that will be presented is from a project that examined the theories that undergird informal reading inventories, and how teachers understood these theories. We will then include recommendations for improving assessment literacy for developing specialized literacy professionals.

Supporting And Sustaining Specialized Literacy Professionals In Teacher Leadership Positions, Thea Yurkewecz

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Specialized literacy professionals (specialists/coaches/coordinators) are enacting leadership roles that influence how school communities interact and collaborate to change instructional practices. These positions involve multiple responsibilities highlighted in the standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals (International Literacy Association, 2017). This manuscript extends from the investigation of three specialized literacy professionals from one school community identified by their administrators as teacher leaders. After three years in these positions, each identify the structures, resources, and types of support that were critical to the sustainment of their leadership positions within their school district. This study informs the literacy community on the specific and …

Effects Of Providing Individualized Clinical Coaching With Bug-In-Ear Technology To Novice Educators Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders In Inclusive Secondary Science Classrooms, Dennis P. Garland Ph. D., Lisa A. Dieker Ph.D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have been reported to benefit greatly from participating in general education science classrooms, yet also present behaviors making them least likely to be included. In this study, three novice middle school science teachers received individualized clinical coaching (ICC) with bug-in-ear (BIE) technology to increase their use of three-term contingency (TTC) trials among students who had EBD in inclusive science classrooms. Researchers used a multiple probe across participants single case design (Gast, 2010) to examine the percentage of the teachers’ completed TTC trials for managing student behaviors, the rate of correct student responses among …

Learning While Building: Enhancing Opportunities For Teacher Candidate Development Within Professional Development Schools Through Programmatic Analysis, Valerie Widdall 7532451, Andrea Lachance, John M. Livermore

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of differing models of practicum placements on teacher candidates’ (TC’s) abilities to practice teaching skills and receive feedback on their teaching. Within the Professional Development School (PDS) model TCs were placed as cohorts in a single PDS site with at least one college faculty member assigned as a liaison, and within the Traditional model TCs were placed across a variety of schools without college faculty connected to the various school sites. Teacher candidates completed a survey with Likert scale and open-ended items to measure TCs’ perceptions of how much time they spent teaching lessons …

The Demise Of Creativity In Tomorrow's Teachers, Elizabeth Alexis Bloom 4345947, Kjersti Vanslyke-Briggs

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In the last several years a good deal of public discourse was devoted to describing the effects that more than two decades of education reforms, the last iteration of which was known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), has had on teaching and learning. It is widely argued that coupling teacher evaluations with students' test scores, enforced standardization, and over-reliance on testing for measuring achievement results in a deadened curriculum hyper-focused on math and ELA achievement, divorced from lived experience, the arts, sciences, and history (Ravitch, 2013). The specific focus of this study was to examine the consequences of …

Inquiry-Based Learning: Student Teachers’ Challenges And Perceptions, Alain Petro Gholam Dr.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a student-centered approach driven by students’ questions and their innate curiosity. IBL was introduced and effectively implemented in the general secondary teaching methods course at the American University in Dubai. The study made use of a mixed methods approach. It was guided by two research questions: 1). What factors hinder the implementation of IBL in the student teachers’ classrooms? 2). Why do student teachers favor the use of IBL in their classroom? Eight student teachers enrolled in the general secondary teaching methodology course at the American University in Dubai (Fall 2017) participated in the study. First, …

Facilitating Pedagogies Of Possibility In Teacher Education: Experiences Of Faculty Members In A Self-Study Learning Group, Jason K. Ritter, Rachel Ayieko, Christie Vanorsdale, Sandra Quiñones, Xia Chao, Christopher J. Meidl, Laura Mahalingappa, Carla K. Meyer, Julia A. Williams

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This collaborative self-study explores how seven members of a Faculty Self-Study Learning Group (FS-SLG) attempt to foster cultures of inquiry with teacher candidates. In so doing, we simultaneously describe a professional learning community of teacher educators engaging in reflective practice via the teaching, learning, and enacting of self-study methodology. Findings from this collaborative self-study highlight how we attempt to translate our own efforts to be more purposeful and reflective into our teacher education practice through modeling, as well as the tensions we felt in promoting a view of teaching as a process of critical inquiry. The discussion focuses on lessons …

Collaborating Online: Tools For Improving Teacher Preparation In Literacy, Jennifer Van Allen, Lenora Forsythe

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Teacher preparation programs face the continual challenge to provide experiences that foster collaboration between teacher candidates and go beyond the boundaries of particular programs and classrooms. Collaborative learning structures improve learner achievement, attitudes, engagement, satisfaction, and retention rates when interactions between learners are facilitated and fostered. These structures have the potential to foster genuine collaboration in which groups create products and processes that change individuals’ understandings and actions as well as those of the collective group. In this format, learning occurs not only from the instructor but from other classmates as well. Many agencies and professional associations are calling for …

Using Primary Sources In Content Areas To Increase Disciplinary Literacy Instruction, Salika A. Lawrence, Elise Langan, Julie Maurer

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This paper describes how a three-day summer workshop on using primary sources helped teachers increase the emphasis placed on disciplinary literacy when teaching social studies and history. Two specific issues in teacher education and practice are addressed. First, increasing teachers’ content knowledge of history topics can help them plan lessons that connect local and global events. Second, content area reading requires literacy practices, which are unique to disciplines. Therefore, teachers need to apply historical inquiry and disciplinary literacy methods in the curriculum.

Social-Emotional Learning (Sel) In A Field Course: Preservice Teachers Practice Sel-Supportive Instructional Strategies, Judy L. Sugishita

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This action research study examined social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies taught during a year-long elementary teaching credential field course to examine (a) what SEL strategies look like in practice, and (b) what training effects might be seen among twelve preservice student teacher (PST) participants. Part of a two-course clinical practice study, this paper focused solely on the research done in the field course during the 2013-2014 academic year. Drawing from program-based and integrated SEL literature, the strategies studied supported (a) active engagement in learning, (b) equitable access to instruction, including diversity and differentiated strategies, and (c) learner-centered classroom discipline. Frequency …

Conflicting Perspectives: A Comparison Of Edtpa Intended Outcomes To Actual Experiences Of Teacher Candidates And Educators In New York City Schools, Deborah Greenblatt

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The edTPA is a performance-based assessment of teacher candidates created by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) and nationally scored by Pearson Education. It is also promoted by American Association of Colleges of Teacher Educators (AACTE) as a “standards-based assessment.” As of the spring of 2018, the edTPA is used as a requirement for program accreditation or teacher candidate certification or program completion in 18 states.

This article analyzes the stated goals, objectives, and benefits made by SCALE and AACTE and compares them to data collected from interviews and open-ended questions with teacher candidates and teacher educators …

Data Diving Into “Noticing Poetry”: An Analysis Of Student Engagement With The “I Notice” Method, Scot Slaby, Jordan Benedict

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This paper explores students’ engagement in reading poems, examining data on their self perceptions of their confidence and competence in reading poems before, during, and after using the “I Notice” methodology as adapted from The Academy of American Poets’ unit plan, “Noticing Poetry” (Slaby, 2017). The data was collected over the course of a month from January 9 through January 30, 2018 and involved five classes of one hundred general English tenth grade students across three teachers’ classrooms at Shanghai American School’s Puxi High School Campus. Data indicates that the “I Notice” method and the “Noticing Poetry” unit and its …

Supporting Primary Students’ Story Writing By Including Retellings, Talk, And Drama With Strategy Instruction, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos, Sarah Munsell, Logan B. Robinson

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Story writing and story grammar have been studied extensively in an effort to improve students’ reading comprehension. Instruction on story structure and on elements of stories can improve the writing quality of students’ papers. This paper explains a process of supporting primary-grade students’ story writing. The approach is based on strategy instruction and incorporates talk and dramatic play as ways to support the development of characters, descriptions of characters and events, and dialogue between characters. Guidelines are provided and step-by-step directions for teachers to use this work with their students.

Assessing Teacher Concerns Regarding Response To Instruction And Intervention, Darlene Mckinney, Donald Snead

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

All individuals go through a process of change when implementing a new innovation. This descriptive study determines there is a difference in the stages of concern regarding Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI²), Tennessee’s design model for Response to Intervention, (RTI) for 87 teachers from 8 different schools in a county in Middle Tennessee. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) and the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) were used to gather results for this study. These differences in the stages of concern are described between faculty position sub-groups, teachers receiving Teacher Effect Data and those teachers not receiving …

Reading With Understanding: A Global Expectation, Mary Shea, Maria Anne Ceprano

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Abstract:

This article outlines the complexity of reading with understanding, what is required for full and deep comprehension, the state of affairs with regard to reading comprehension in developed countries, possible etiologies for low performances, and suggestions for instruction in specific skills and strategies to improve students’ demonstrated achievement in daily lessons as well as on global assessments. Recognizing the commonality of this concern among nations, a need to examine universally accepted tenets for successful reading comprehension as well as local etiologies that impede it becomes increasingly important. Such tenets are skills and strategies that address all of Irwin’s micro …

Dialogic Ground: The Use Of 'Teaching Dilemmas' With Prospective Teachers, Heidi L. Hallman, Thompson Deufel

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This article describes a method of storytelling that can assist novice teachers in moving toward “re-seeing” their stories of teaching not just as narratives of experience, but as sites for work to be done. The assignment novice teachers undertook as part of a methods class in the teaching of English language arts has the potential to be a catalyst for problem solving and decision making as teachers. We argue that telling one’s teaching stories in such a fashion helps novice teachers discover the layered and context-specific nature of schools and classrooms, as well as assists them in moving toward envisioning …

The Impacts Of Preservice Action Research In A Rural Teaching Residency, Ann K. Schulte

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Preliminary data was collected as part of the program assessment of a yearlong teaching residency program in rural California where preservice teachers conducted action research as the culminating activity for a Masters degree. Focus groups and survey data from program graduates were analyzed and compared to findings from the research literature. Themes from the data indicate that the residency program prepared graduates to feel confident about their ability to reflect on their teaching and to collaborate with other professionals. Graduates report that having conducted action research in their preservice program had many benefits to their experiences as a teacher of …

The Impact Of Service Learning On Pre-Service Teachers Preconceptions Of Urban Education, Sherri Weber

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Urban schools, especially those serving high minority, high poverty, and low performing students, are in desperate need of high-quality teachers, yet issues with retention, recruitment, and preparedness plague urban districts (Aragon, Culpepper, McKee & Perkins, 2014). Teacher educators are challenged to prepare teacher candidates to overcome misconceptions about urban schools. This study was designed to explore the effects that one sustained, supervised, course-based service learning experience had on preservice teachers’ preconceptions and attitudes towards urban education. Surveys were administered to 38 teacher candidates before and after their service learning experience at an urban charter school. Results were analyzed using paired …

Listening To The Voices Of Teacher Candidates To Design Content Area Literacy Courses, Ellen S. Friedland, Elizabeth G. Kuttesch, Susan E. Mcmillen, Pixita M. Del Prado Hill

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

While teacher candidates take courses which prepare them to deliver content in secondary content area classrooms, they often lack the knowledge necessary to help their future students learn discipline-specific information through the use of literacy strategies. In many cases, content area teacher candidates do not view themselves as literacy educators, believing instead that English teachers or elementary level educators are responsible for developing the reading and writing skills of students. However, development as teachers of literacy is possible. Through a content area literacy course taken as part of a teacher preparation program, secondary content area teacher candidates reported changes in …