Education Commons^™

Supporting Multilingual Learners’ Reading Competence: A Multiple Case Study Of Teachers’ Instruction And Student Learning And Motivation, Melissa A. Gallagher, Jori S. Beck, Erin M. Ramirez, Ana Taboada Barber, Michelle M. Buehl

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Supporting students’ reading competence (i.e., their comprehension and vocabulary) is complex, particularly when working with multilingual learners, and involves implementing instructional practices to support their behavioral engagement in reading as well as their reading motivation. The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to examine changes in multilingual learners’ reading comprehension, academic vocabulary, reading engagement, and reading motivation after participating in a 7-week intervention called United States History for Engaged Reading (USHER) and then examine qualitative data to explain why these changes may have occurred. We found changes in the reading comprehension of MLs across all four teachers’ classes, …

Diversity, Dignity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Age Of Division, Discord, And Disunion: Stereotyping, Sexist, Hegemony In Education, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article addresses diversity issues related to language, gender, and culture. Topics include fundamental areas of research essential to the discussion on language diversity in the context of education with respect to equity, poverty, stereotype threat, Pygmalion Effect, non-sexist language, and Matthews Effect. The discussion on diversity and equity creates a space to think about issues of access, opportunity, voice, and equal participation within society and educational settings. Diversity among humans requires thoughtful considerations, accommodations, and differentiations in educational treatment, yet providing equal opportunities for growth and learning for all.

Writing The Rainbow: Facilitating Undergraduate Teacher Candidates’ Lgbtqia+ Allyship Through Multimodal Writing, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Julia Morris, Valerie Taylor

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This yearlong qualitative descriptive case study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of education faculty with pre-service elementary teacher candidates sought to disrupt heteronormativity and to increase candidates’ awareness and preparedness for inclusivity with future LGBTQIA+ elementary students. Central to our findings was that in researching and authoring multimodal texts addressing topics and concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community for their future classrooms, there was a shift in the perceptions and preparedness of the candidates toward working with children identifying as LGBTQIA+. However, we also encountered resistance and/or apathy that led us to develop an analytical framework for disrupting teacher candidate …

So, You Want To Attract And Retain Diverse Faculty???: An Autoethnography, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This is an autoethnography about epistemic injustice (i.e., diminished credibility as a knower) and resilience of an intersectional tenured faculty member who transformed harm into opportunities for rebuilding intellectual confidence and for exercising intellectual courage. Personal stories are used to examine and make explicit epistemic injustice harms by situating them within everyday contexts (Glesne, 2006). The purpose of this essay was to introduce theoretical perspectives with different language for improving discourses about an old challenge, racial bias, and to make explicit the types of harms experienced. Important research questions are posed for consideration by researchers. The stories shared in this …

Beyond Binary Gender Identities, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Camden Ross

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Judith Dunkerly-Bean and Camden Ross—parent and child—share their perspectives on how Camden, who is transgender, navigates a duplicitous existence in a Christian private school.

The Role Of Mobile Learning In Promoting Global Literacy And Human Rights, Judith M. Dunkerly-Bean, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

In this chapter the authors review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of e-readers and mobile phones most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone reading initiatives. Situated in human rights and utilizing the lens of transnational feminist discourse which addresses globalization and the hegemonic, monolithic portrayals of “third world” women as passive and in need of the global North’s intervention, the authors explore the ways in which the use of digital media provides increased access to books, and other texts and applications …

"What Color Are Our Hearts?" Challenging Social And Literacy Inequalities In An Elementary School Writing Club, Judith M. Dunkerly-Bean, Tom W. Bean, David Kidd, Elizabeth Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This longitudinal phenomenological study centers on an after-school writing club at an elementary school started by two high school English teachers and their students. Over the course of a school year, the writing club addressed local and systemic issues of inequality and facilitated the voice, agency and creative expression of the third to fifth grade students who chose to participate. Emerging trends and themes speak to the promise and possibilities of inter-age writing clubs that go far beyond traditional tutorial models. Rather than engaging in a banking method of tutoring, this project facilitates voice, agency and equality, as well as …

The Role Of Mobile Learning In Promoting Literacy And Human Rights For Women And Girls, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

In this chapter the authors review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of e-readers and mobile phones most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone reading initiatives. Situated in human rights and utilizing the lens of transnational feminist discourse which addresses globalization and the hegemonic, monolithic portrayals of “third world” women as passive and in need of the global North’s intervention, the authors explore the ways in which the use of digital media provides increased access to books, and other texts and applications …

How Mobile Learning Initiatives Can Empower Women, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The Sustainable Development Goal 5 provides a call to action to promote gender equality and to empower women. This article responds to that call by providing insight into how mobile learning initiatives have been used to support that aim. A critical analysis is conducted of studies in the past decade to review what strategies have been effective in empowering women. The analysis revealed that initiatives were targeted towards three areas: Education, health, and financial empowerment.

Findings show that in certain topics women should play an active role to further the empowerment process. This article also aligns with Objective 4 of …

Fostering Habits Of Mind: A Framework For Reading Historical Nonfiction Illustrated By The Case Of Hitler Youth, Kaavonia Hinton, Yonghee Suh, Maria O'Hearn, Lourdes Colón-Brown

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A disciplinary literacy approach encourages students to engage with nonfiction in a way that allows them to consider discipline-specific tasks associated with understanding the past and exploring the world around them. In this article, we offer a three-part framework ELA and social studies teachers can use when fostering students' responses to historical nonfiction and encouraging investigations of the past. This article introduces each part of the framework, using Hitler Youth (2005) by Susan Bartoletti. We discuss Hitler Youth in two ways. We first illustrate how Bartoletti used the three habits of mind in her writing and then list ways in …

Advances In Promoting Literacy And Human Rights For Women And Girls Through Mobile Learning, Helen Crompton, Judith Dunkerly-Bean

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This article is taken from a larger review of extant research from a chapter titled “The role of mobile learning in promoting global literacy and human rights for women and girls” from the Handbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media. In this article we review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of mobile phones and e-readers most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone and reading initiatives. Utilizing key human rights publications and the lens of transnational feminist discourse, which …

A Diachronic Overview Of Mobile Learning: A Shift Toward Student-Centered Pedagogies, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This chapter provides a brief historical overview of the technology contributing to mobile learning (mLearning) and the concomitant progression towards student-centred pedagogies. To begin, mLearning is defined. The theoretical, pedagogical and conceptual underpinnings of it are then explained, with a focus on the technologies and the pedagogies of each decade, from the 1970s and Kay’s futuristic vision of a mobile learning device, to today’s mobile learning technologies that have surpassed Kay’s vision.

Historical Fiction In English And Social Studies Classrooms: Is It A Natural Marriage?, Kaavonia Hinton, Yonghee Suh, Lourdes Colón-Brown, Maria O'Hearn

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The authors report outcomes of a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort through a study group developed to make connections across content areas (English and history/social studies) and grade levels (middle school, high school, and college).

Shannon Hitchcock: A New Voice In Historical Fiction, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Integrating Disciplinary Literacy Into Middle-School And Pre-Service Teacher Education, Jaime Colwell, David Reinking

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This case describes a summary of a formative experiment, a framework specific to educational design research, simultaneously conducted in a middle-school history classroom and a university social studies methods course. The purpose of the study was to refine an intervention to promote disciplinary literacy in history. The intervention provided middle-school students and pre-service teachers with explicit strategies to promote disciplinary literacy, while participating in a collaborative blog project engaging them in disciplinary literacy. Conclusions suggest practical consideration for implementation of disciplinary literacy into history. The case outlines the five phases of the formative experiment and briefly overviews modifications made during …

"Dreams Hanging In The Air Like Smoke": A Personal Reflection Of Factors Influencing Enrollment And Persistence In Higher Education, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Dynamics Of No Child Left Behind Policy Impacting Reading Education Practices In Kindergarten In The United States Of America, Guang-Lea Lee, Joanne K. Sullivan, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The Commonwealth of Virginia is used as a representative case to illustrate the implication of federal policy on reading education practices in kindergarten in the United States of America. While Virginia follows the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy, it allows local school districts to create innovative instructional and assessment practices that can match the needs of each child. Teachers in Virginia experience a wide range of emergent reading skills in kindergarten inclusive classrooms filled with children of diverse backgrounds and abilities. However, highly qualified teachers try to meet the state Standards of Learning through working side-by-side with children. …

Finding Her Voice: A Conversation With Allison Whittenberg, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Sweet Thang. Life Is Fine. Hollywood & Maine. These are all books by poet and dramatist Allison Whittenberg. These novels are about young black women coming to terms with who they are intellectually, emotionally, and culturally. Critics say Whittenberg’s young adult fiction is well written, and they praise the way she crafts convincing dialogue and moving narration ( Jones, 2009 ; Rochman, 2008 ; Brautigam, 2006 ; Hutley, 2006 ). They also commend her for offering readers an opportunity to see characters grapple with issues they are concerned about. For example, Martin (2006) points out that in Sweet Thang , …

Choosing My Best Thing: Black Motherhood And Academia, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Scholars argue that White feminist theoretical undertakings concerning mothering are not appropriate for studying Black mothers because they rarely take race and culture into consideration (Collins, 1991; Joseph, 1991). Collins (1994) argues that the experiences of Black mothers are paramount to any inclusive discussion about mother/child relationships. Scholars who have turned their attention to the Black mother often do so via literary works and/or criticism (see, for example, Crews, 1996; Morrison, 1987; Wade-Gayles, 1984; Washington, 1990; Williams, 1986) or in reality (Collins, 1991, 1994; Roberts, 1997a). However, a computerized search for studies on the Black mother produces literature …

Emerging Theoretical Models Of Reading Through Authentic Assessments Among Preservice Teachers: Two Case Studies, Eileen S. Oboler, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This two-part study examines the emerging understanding of the reading process among preservice teachers (PTs), enrolled in a teacher preparation course on diagnostic reading. The study focuses on the use of reading assessment tools to understand the process of reading, while using reading inventories for diagnostic as well as pedagogical purposes' PTs' self-reflections support a developing insight into the reading process. Through the process of inquiry and self-reflections, PTs discovered critical issues related to literacy, namely, metacognition, prior knowledge, cultural factors, instructional implications, and content area reading. These findings have implications for the teaching of reading as inquiry-based instruction, enabling …

Sharon M. Draper: Reaching Reluctant Readers, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Following Tradition: Young Adult Literature As Neo-Slave Narrative, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Angela Johnson: Award-Winning Novels And The Search For Self, Kaavonia M. Hinton-Johnson, Angela Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

It was over a decade ago when Rudine Sims Bishop (1992) prophetically dubbed Angela Johnson as possibly one of "the most prominent AfricanAmerican literary artists of the next generation" (616). At the time she had four picture books to her credit, but the following year she would publish her debut young adult novel, Toning the Sweep. From there, a number of other award-winners would follow and the total of young adult books would increase to eleven and counting. To date, Johnson has three Coretta Scott King Awards, a Michael L. Printz award, and the "Genius Grant" on her list of …

Language Use And The Oral Tradition In Aaya (African American Young Adult) Literature, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In elementary school my favorite teachers taught me that the language used in my home was incorrect, incoherent, and inappropriate. My second grade teacher Ms. Hull, a tall, thin, dark-skinned woman, stands out among the others. I can still see her hovering over us. “Was!” Ms. Hull shouted, “not wuz. Your tongue is lazy.” “You be what?” she’d ask in disgust with one hand on her hip. When this happened, I was sure to get yelled at and lectured. To avoid such humiliation, I quickly learned to, as we said in my neighborhood, “talk proper.” Shame nagged at …

Effects Of On-Site Reading Clinical Tutoring On Children's Performance, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This research was conducted to study the effects of field-based clinical tutoring on struggling readers. Struggling readers from two grade levels, 3rd and 5th were randomly divided into two groups. One group received individualized tutoring in reading for a semester from apprentice reading clinicians (graduate students in Reading Program) and the other group did not. There were 13 sessions of one hour each per week. The reading performance of students in the two groups was compared on the two available measures in the school, (1) letter grade and (2) STAR results (a computerized diagnostic reading assessment program). Observational and anecdotal …

The Government's Efforts To Improve Reading Of Young Children, Lea Lee, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Reviews four major federal initiatives to improve early reading and literacy programs in the U.S.: Title One Reading program, the Reading Excellence Act, Even Start Family Literacy Program, and the Leave No Child Behind Act. Concludes that these expensive reading programs have not been very successful.

What's Up Wif Ebonics, Y'All?, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This paper examines the controversy surrounding the use of Ebonics among African American students in schools in the United States, with a twofold purpose: (1) to focus on the primary function of language as a tool of communication that varies in its use according to the social context; and (2) to provide suggestions to teachers of ways to support students' acquisition of standard English without devaluing the nonstandard variants they may have learned in their homes and communities. The discussion is highlighted in the paper with classroom stories, anecdotes, and vignettes. The paper contains the following sections: Introduction; The Ebonics …

Kidwatching Going Beyond The Language Of The Test, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A study examined the linguistic forms in the discourse of speakers during a language test to indicate why they use certain specific forms over others. Ten children were given the Grammatical Analysis of Elicited Language--Simple Sentence Level Test (GAEL), a language proficiency test for hearing-impaired children in the age group of 4 to 8 years. Three students were videotaped during administration of the test, and the other students' final responses (omitting the intermediate discourse) were recorded. Some of the test items on which the maximum number of children deviated from the target response were analyzed for common traits and classified …

Role Of Imitation In Language Assessment Tests, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A study investigated whether imitation plays a significant role in the acquisition of grammar. Three 6- to 8-year-old hearing-impaired children were administered the Grammatical Analysis of Elicited Language--Simple Sentence Level Test (GAEL), which is designed to evaluate hearing-impaired children's use of grammatical aspects of spoken and/or signed English. Subjects' verbal responses to the "imitated" component (in which subjects were asked to say just what the tester said) of the GAEL were transcribed and analyzed. Results indicated that imitated speech is neither longer nor grammatically more advanced than non-imitated, spontaneous speech. Findings suggest that the children produced "unique" language structures to …