Education Commons^™

A Pulse On Language Equity In First-Grade Urban Classrooms, Deborah N. Kuether

Theses and Dissertations

Students of color are the majority in many U.S. urban public schools, yet U.S. education policy and practice continue to be centered largely on White, middle-class, monocultural, and monolingual norms of educational achievement (Alim & Paris, 2017). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to learn more about the teacher decision-making process and the extent to which first-grade mainstream teachers include culturally and linguistically sustaining practices during literacy instruction. Evidence using the foundations of the critically conscious teacher framework (Joseph & Evans, 2018) and of the role of language and culture as a medium in teaching and learning (de Jong …

Literacy 4 Brown Girls An Explorative Study Centered On The Identity And Literacy Of African-American Girls, Jendayi Mbalia

Theses and Dissertations

The academic needs of African-American girls too often are not linked to their intersecting identities. These interlocked identities often go unseen, thus are rarely addressed in K-12 schools. Specifically, their identities are neglected in some of their English Language Arts classrooms through the sole use of hegemonic literary practices. Literacy 4 Brown Girls was implemented at Midwest School for twelve weeks. The overall purpose of this case study was to explore the ways in which a literacy collaborative, designed with the identities of African-American girls in mind, could impact the identity construction and literacy skill growth of twelve, African-American girls …

A New Approach: Closing The Writing Gap By Using Reliable Assessment To Guide And Evaluate Cross-Curricular Argumentative Writing, Jody Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Educational standards emphasize cross-curricular literacy and complex skills at the secondary level. These standards align to the heightened priority of argumentative writing across disciplines. With increasingly complex and shifting writing expectations, assessment practices need to be implemented to mirror these expectations. Two primary components to effective assessment are the ability to inform teaching and improve student learning. This study is designed to test the reliability of a process-oriented rubric as a tool to evaluate argumentative writing in the cross-curricular context, and as a tool to guide classroom practices based on student readiness.

The purpose of this study is to observe …

Discovering Regalos: A Case Study Of Saint Anne's Middle School, Nicole Jenks May

Theses and Dissertations

Saint Anne's Middle School is a Catholic, bilingual, bicultural, middle school for girls that participates in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program. This case study explored reading and language arts as experienced in the school through the lens of a school library media specialist. The students’ social, emotional, and intellectual needs appeared to be met at the school for the most part. The school also exhibited best practices for teaching reading at the middle school level to bilingual students. However, to improve reading, the school would want to consider changing the school’s focus from reading comprehension to reading engagement so …