Education Commons^™

History Literacy And Visual Informational Texts: Scrutinizing Photographs Beyond Their Borders, John Bickford, Molly Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives prescribe, among other things, increases in students’ reading of informational texts and uses of diverse literacies. History educators must purposefully integrate informational texts with literacy strategies that facilitate historical thinking. Students are to analyze and scrutinize, not simply read or view. This paper refines previously suggested photograph analysis methods to consider a photographer’s influence both within and beyond the photograph’s borders. Our modification centers on the diverse, and hitherto unexplored, ways in which the photographer influences the viewer’s understanding of the photograph and the historical event that is captured. We offer informational texts and discipline-appropriate methods …

Historical Writing, Speaking, And Listening Using Informational Texts In Elementary Curricula, John Bickford, Dylan Dilley, Valerie Metz

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives have accentuated the significance of distinct instructional procedures and content. The (re)emphasis includes a strong focus on informational texts and diverse literacies, including writing, speaking, and listening. In short, history and social studies content will likely have a more prominent position within English/reading curricula. Beginning in the elementary grades, the required cognitive tasks foster historical thinking in age-appropriate ways. Students are to evaluate multiple texts representing diverse perspectives of the same event or era. Teachers, however, are not provided with practical curricular guides. To guide elementary educators, this research scrutinizes potential curricular supplements and proffers content …

Using History-Based Trade Books As Catalysts For Historical Writing, Speaking, And Listening In Elementary Curricula, John Bickford, Dylan Dilley, Valerie Metz

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives have aligned to compel change in elementary classroom curricula and instructional practice (Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2012; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [NGA & CCSSO], 2010; Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers [PARCC], 2012). An increased focus on informational texts and content area literacy are two significant changes intended to both facilitate and integrate historical thinking and historical content. For a subject that has struggled to maintain relevancy in elementary curricula, the social studies has a new, stronger position (Center on …

Examining The Historical Representation Of The Holocaust Within Trade Books, John Bickford, Lieren Schuette, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national education initiatives provide American students with opportunities to engage in close readings of complex texts from diverse perspectives as they actively construct complicated understandings as they explore complex texts. Opportunities for interdisciplinary units emerge as the role of non-fiction in English/language arts and informational texts in history/social studies increases dramatically. Trade books are a logical curricular link between these two curricula. The initiatives, however, do not prescribe specific curricular material so teachers rely on their own discretion when selecting available trade books. Scholarship indicates that historical misrepresentations emerge within trade books to varying degrees, yet only a …

Scrutinizing And Supplementing Children’S Trade Books About Child Labor, John Bickford, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives place an increased emphasis on both students’ exposure to diverse texts and teachers’ integration of English/language arts and history/social studies. The intent is for students to critically examine diverse accounts and perspectives of the same historical event or era. Critical examination can be accomplished through teachers’ purposeful juxtaposition of age-appropriate, engaging trade books and relevant informational texts, such as primary source materials. To guide interested elementary and middle level teachers, researchers can evaluate trade books for historical representation and suggest divergent or competing narratives that compel students to scrutinize diverse perspectives. Researchers can locate germane primary …

The Historical Representation Of Thanksgiving Within Primary- And Intermediate-Level Children's Literature, John Bickford, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This study examines the historical representation of Thanksgiving-based children's literature. It juxtaposes findings for primary- and intermediate-level readers and balances misrepresentations with primary sources.

Understanding Immigrant Children From Muslim Backgrounds: Issues And Challenges, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Immigrant children from Muslim communities come from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, speaking 60 different languages. Some of their religious beliefs, values, and practices created issues and challenges for teachers of these children. This article provides basic information about Muslim and Islamic practices, issues, and challenges Muslim immigrant children face in new country and in the school and offers some suggestions for teachers on how to understand Muslim immigrants.

Teaching Strategies Gold®: Assessment For Development And Learning Of Young Children, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Teaching Strategies Gold®: Assessment For Development And Learning Of Young Children, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Do Students In Montessori Schools Perform Better On Achievement Tests? A Taiwanese Perspective, Shamah Md-Yunus, Hsin-Hui Peng

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The study examines whether elementary school students in Taiwan who

had received Montessori education achieved significantly higher scores on tests of

language arts, math, and social studies than students who attended non-Montessori

elementary programs. One hundred ninety six children in first, second, and third

grade participated in the study. Children’s scores were measured by Elementary

School Language Ability Achievement Test (ESLAAT), Elementary School Math

Ability Achievement Test (ESMAAT), and Social Studies Ability Achievement

Test (SSAAT). One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that

students who had Montessori experience had a significantly higher score in language

arts in all three grade …

Examining The Representation Of Slavery Within Children’S Literature, John H. Bickford Iii, Cynthia W. Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Middle level teachers, at times, link historical content with relevant English literature in interdisciplinary units. Elementary teachers periodically employ history-themed literature during reading time. Interconnections between language arts and history are formed with developmentally appropriate literature for students. Historical misrepresentations, however, proliferate in children’s literature and are concealed behind engaging narratives. Since literacy and historical thinking are essential skills, children’s literature should be balanced within, not banished from, the classroom. Using America’s peculiar institution of slavery as a reference point, this article examines children’s literature, identifies almost a dozen areas of historical misrepresentation, and proffers rich primary source material to …

Trade Books’ Historical Representation Of Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, And Helen Keller, John H. Bickford Iii, Cynthia W. Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content is at the center of effective social studies teaching. Textbooks and children’s literature—both literary and informational—are prominent in elementary classrooms because of the esoteric nature of primary source material. Many research projects have investigated historical accuracy and representation within textbooks, but few have done so with children’s trade books. We examined children’s trade books centered on three historical figures frequently incorporated within elementary school curricula: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Findings revealed various forms …

Common Core, Informational Texts, And The Historical (Mis)Representations Of Native Americans Within Trade Books, John H. Bickford Iii, Lauren Hunt

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives have repositioned elementary teachers’ emphases. These mandates increase the frequency with which teachers utilize informational texts and students’ exposure to diverse perspectives of the same event or era. In short, history and social studies content will likely have a more prominent position within the incorporated literature in English/reading class. Teachers will intentionally supplement age-appropriate, engaging tradebooks with relevant, interrelated informational texts, like primary source material. To guide interested elementary teachers, we focused on tradebooks that centered on Native Americans, an oft-included topic in elementary curricula. We evaluated the tradebooks for their historical representation (and misrepresentation), located …

Historical Thinking And Common Core: Facilitating Adolescents’ Scrutiny Of The Credibility Of Slave Narratives, John H. Bickford Iii, Cynthia W. Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

History education researchers encourage teachers to intentionally integrate content, methods, and assessment in discipline-specific and age-appropriate ways. State and national initiatives prescribe such integration across curricula and within all areas of the social studies from early elementary through high school. The stipulation, however, does not provide a map for interested yet overwhelmed educators. This is especially true for elementary and middle level teachers as the majority of historical thinking research and methodological guides targets older students. To address this concern, we propose teachers fuse the content, methods, and assessment with specific historical thinking skills, or heuristics. We model our theoretical …

Common Core, Informational Texts, And The Historical (Mis)Representations Of Native Americans Within Trade Books, John Bickford, Lauren Hunt

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

State and national initiatives have repositioned elementary teachers’ emphases. These mandates increase the frequency with which teachers utilize informational texts and students’ exposure to diverse perspectives of the same event or era. In short, history and social studies content will likely have a more prominent position within the incorporated literature in English/reading class. Teachers will intentionally supplement age-appropriate, engaging tradebooks with relevant, interrelated informational texts, like primary source material. To guide interested elementary teachers, we focused on tradebooks that centered on Native Americans, an oft-included topic in elementary curricula. We evaluated the tradebooks for their historical representation (and misrepresentation), located …

Examining The Representation Of Slavery Within Children’S Literature, John Bickford, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Middle level teachers, at times, link historical content with relevant English literature in interdisciplinary units. Elementary teachers periodically employ history-themed literature during reading time. Interconnections between language arts and history are formed with developmentally appropriate literature for students. Historical misrepresentations, however, proliferate in children’s literature and are concealed behind engaging narratives. Since literacy and historical thinking are essential skills, children’s literature should be balanced within, not banished from, the classroom. Using America’s peculiar institution of slavery as a reference point, this article examines children’s literature, identifies almost a dozen areas of historical misrepresentation, and proffers rich primary source material to …

Historical Thinking And Common Core: Facilitating Adolescents’ Scrutiny Of The Credibility Of Slave Narratives, John Bickford, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

History education researchers encourage teachers to intentionally integrate content, methods, and assessment in discipline-specific and age-appropriate ways. State and national initiatives prescribe such integration across curricula and within all areas of the social studies from early elementary through high school. The stipulation, however, does not provide a map for interested yet overwhelmed educators. This is especially true for elementary and middle level teachers as the majority of historical thinking research and methodological guides targets older students. To address this concern, we propose teachers fuse the content, methods, and assessment with specific historical thinking skills, or heuristics. We model our theoretical …

Trade Books’ Historical Representation Of Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, And Helen Keller, John Bickford, Cynthia Rich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content is at the center of effective social studies teaching. Textbooks and children’s literature—both literary and informational—are prominent in elementary classrooms because of the esoteric nature of primary source material. Many research projects have investigated historical accuracy and representation within textbooks, but few have done so with children’s trade books. We examined children’s trade books centered on three historical figures frequently incorporated within elementary school curricula: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Findings revealed various forms …

Examining The Why: The Relevance Of Our Courses, Lauri J. Deruiter-Willems

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

If we want students to be truly engaged, not just doing enough to get a passing grade, we need to make sure they make a connection between our course content and their future.

Student And Faculty Expectations For Learning In Various Delivery Models, Lauri J. Deruiter-Willems

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The purpose of this presentation is to shed light on expectations and characteristics of both students and faculty with the hope of improving the learning experience for all by minimizing frustrations and clarifying each others roles. We do much of this already, but it’s nice to have a reminder, and maybe a different take on some ideas.

Initiating Historical Thinking In Elementary Schools, John H. Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

With an ever-expanding focus on reading and mathematics, many elementary schools have chosen to reduce time previously reserved for social studies. Elementary teachers who understand both the relevance of social studies content and the effectiveness of interdisciplinary teaching regularly incorporate applicable history-based children’s tradebooks in their curricula. Locating developmentally appropriate books is simple. Teaching history using children’s literature can be effective. It can be counterproductive, however, if the selected book is replete with historical misrepresentations. Teaching historical thinking in elementary school is problematic no matter what the teaching tool, and there are few methodological roadmaps for elementary teachers. Here, I …

Neoliberalism And University Education In Sub-Saharan Africa, James Ochwa-Echel

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This article reviews the history of university development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and discusses the impact of neoliberal policies. This will be followed by an examination of the problems facing universities in the region. The following questions will be explored: (a) Are the existing universities in SSA serving the development needs of the region? (b) Are these universities up to the task of moving SSA out of the predicaments it faces such as famine, HIV/AIDS, poverty, diseases, debt, and human rights abuses? Finally, the article argues that for universities to play a role in the development of the region, a …

Examining Historical (Mis)Representations Of Christopher Columbus Within Children’S Literature, John H. Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Effective teaching, while supplemented by best practice methods and assessments, is rooted in accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content. As a foundation for history content, elementary educators rely strongly on textbooks and children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction. While many researchers have examined the historical accuracy of textbook content, few have rigorously scrutinized the historical accuracy of children’s literature. Those projects that carried out such examination were more descriptive than comprehensive due to significantly smaller data pools. I investigate how children’s non-fiction and fiction books depict and historicize a meaningful and frequently taught history topic: Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments and misdeeds. Results …

What Will They Say About Me When I Am Gone: A Tribute To Robert "Bob" Hussey, Scott M. Ronspies

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

[Malaysia] Early Education And Development In Malaysia: Issues And Challenges In Providing A Framework For A Multiethnic Society, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This paper provides a brief overview of early education in Malaysia with focus on the issues and challenges in providing quality early education for a multiethnic society. Conflicting interests between majority and minority ethnic groups not only cause different educational outcomes and expectations for children and families but also create challenges to the government to provide quality and equality of education to all young children. Some suggestions for a framework for early education in Malaysia are discussed.

[Malaysia] Early Education And Development In Malaysia: Issues And Challenges In Providing A Framework For A Multiethnic Society, Shamah Md-Yunus

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This paper provides a brief overview of early education in Malaysia with focus on the issues and challenges in providing quality early education for a multiethnic society. Conflicting interests between majority and minority ethnic groups not only cause different educational outcomes and expectations for children and families but also create challenges to the government to provide quality and equality of education to all young children. Some suggestions for a framework for early education in Malaysia are discussed.

Portfolio Assessment: Practices In Special Education Teacher Education, Amy Rosenstein, Adelle Renzaglia

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Reform in teacher education has made teacher education preparation programs re-examine their current practices and makes changes in the assessment and instruction of teacher candidates. In the search for more authentic assessments of teacher candidate knowledge and abilities, portfolios have been offered as a viable option. After more than 20 years of portfolio use in teacher preparation programs, there is little empirical information on portfolio assessment use across special education teacher candidate preparation programs. The purpose of this study was to examine, using quantitative and qualitative methods, the practices, satisfaction, and issues associated with portfolio use across multiple institutions that …

The Diversity Dialogue: Rethinking Pedagogical Practices To Provide Hope For Pre-Service Teachers, Mildred M. Pearson Dr., Samantha Cantu

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This study examines how a diverse dialogue addresses cultural differences and social injustices and how cultural responsiveness helps teachers approach education more equitably. When teachers use a diverse dialogue, they are able to create a classroom curriculum that includes all voices, experiences, and activities and satisfies the needs of all learners. The study also suggests that teachers adjust their pedagogical practices to the ever-changing multicultural classrooms. Through an examination of best practices, teachers will be able to invest in more creative and diverse approaches that will not only benefit the individual student, but also the entire classroom. Applying positioning theory …

Cognitive Science: How Do Deep Approaches To Learning Promote Metacognitive Strategies To Enhance Integrated Learning?, Mildred M. Pearson Dr., Daniel P. Harvey Ii

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This research will examine how deep approaches to learning assist students in developing meta-cognitive strategies to enhance integrative learning. Research was gathered through two surveys using mixed methods, a triangulational study. Student data consisted of questionnaires with adaptations from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2011. The faculty survey was a questionnaire with adaptations from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). Results reveals faculty measure success in promoting deep learning within and out of the classroom; the transference of new knowledge is obtained through writing intensive assignments, class projects, portfolios, collaborative discussions, undergraduate research, conference presentations, and self-reflections.

Engaging Voices Of Disconnected Learners In Urban Environments, Mildred M. Pearson Dr., Agnes Virginia Williams

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Success in school is critical for urban youth. This study reports on ten coaches effort to engage urban high school students in social action projects in a charter school that adopted the Public Achievement model of civic engagement. The coaches, who were graduate students, worked with ten groups of six to twelve students who were required to participate. This study draws from fieldnotes and interviews of each coach and examines their experiences of helping students think critically about community issues. This calls for families, communities, and schools to build social networks; providing children with social capital necessary to achieve.