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Full-Text Articles in Education

Moving Across Rural Spaces: A Content Analysis Of Contemporary Realistic Fiction Picturebooks With Rural Settings, Suzette Youngs, James A. Erekson, Christine Kyser Dec 2021

Moving Across Rural Spaces: A Content Analysis Of Contemporary Realistic Fiction Picturebooks With Rural Settings, Suzette Youngs, James A. Erekson, Christine Kyser

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Romanticized rural storytelling creates difficulties for rural children in finding mirrors, seeing people like themselves and places like their homes as principal characters and settings in picturebooks. The same romanticism likewise makes it unlikely for picturebook readers in cities and suburbs to find realistic windows into rural life. Despite children’s book publishers’ purposeful increases in realistic representations of children across racial and cultural groups in recent decades, realistic and diverse narratives within rural spaces remain underrepresented, if not invisible. Drawing on critical rural theory (Fulkerson & Thomas, 2014; Williams, 1973) and tenets of nostalgia and the rural idyll (Boym, 2001, …


Video-Based Discussions About Literacy Pedagogy: Face-To-Face Versus Online Formats, Poonam Arya, Tanya Christ, Ming Ming Chiu Dec 2021

Video-Based Discussions About Literacy Pedagogy: Face-To-Face Versus Online Formats, Poonam Arya, Tanya Christ, Ming Ming Chiu

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study evaluated the similarities and differences in 50 preservice teachers’ (PTs’) literacy pedagogy learning outcomes when they engaged in videobased discussions that were both face-to-face (F2F) synchronous and online asynchronous. Across PTs’ response sheets, 396 idea units were collected and coded to identify their reports of learning about literacy pedagogy and application of this learning to their subsequent literacy instruction. Multivariate, multilevel, cross-classification logit regressions were used to compare outcomes across formats. Findings include that PTs reported learning similar total numbers of ideas across both video-based discussion formats but reported applying significantly more ideas from learning in the F2F …


Upper Elementary And Middle School U.S. Teachers’ Views Of Grammar And Its Instruction, Janice A. Dole, Elizabeth Thackeray Nelson, Adrienne Lowe Pahnke, Elisabeth Dibble Rush Dec 2021

Upper Elementary And Middle School U.S. Teachers’ Views Of Grammar And Its Instruction, Janice A. Dole, Elizabeth Thackeray Nelson, Adrienne Lowe Pahnke, Elisabeth Dibble Rush

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this study was to investigate upper elementary (Grades 4–6) and middle school (Grades 6–8) teachers’ views of grammar and its instruction and to determine differences in their views about grammar, its instruction, and its importance to writing proficiency. Participants in this online study were 196 practicing teachers in eight school districts in one western U.S. state. Two thirds of the teachers in the study taught at the elementary level, and one third taught at the middle school level. When asked what they taught when teaching grammar, the large majority of these teachers reported teaching parts of speech, …


Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 3 Dec 2021

Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.


Critically Analyzing The Online Classroom: Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, And The Pedagogy They Produce, J.D. Swerzenski Sep 2021

Critically Analyzing The Online Classroom: Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, And The Pedagogy They Produce, J.D. Swerzenski

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Working from the crossroads of critical pedagogy and software studies, this study analyzes the means by which teaching technologies—in particular the popular learning management systems (LMS) Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas—support a transmission model of education at the expense of critical learning goals. I assess the effect of LMSs on critical aims via four key critical pedagogy concepts: the banking system, student/teacher contradiction, dialogue, and problem-posing. From software studies, I employ the notion of affordances—what program functions are and are not made available to users—to observe how LMSs naturalize the transmission model. Rather than present a deterministic look at teaching technology, …


Elementary School Library Collections: A Content Analysis Of Science Trade Books, Sandra W. Watson, Sheila F. Baker Aug 2021

Elementary School Library Collections: A Content Analysis Of Science Trade Books, Sandra W. Watson, Sheila F. Baker

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In this study, science trade books from the libraries of 10 elementary schools across the United States were evaluated using the modified Hunsader rubric for their overall quality pertaining to science content, literacy, and critical literacy criteria. Findings indicate that 62% of the books met the overall science content criterion, 99% met the overall literacy criterion, and 41% met the overall critical literacy criterion. The majority of science trade books in each school were life science books, and the majority of books across all schools were 18–23 years old, with many being much older. Implications and recommendations are provided.


Enhancing Teacher Delivery Of Behavior Specific Praise With Performance Feedback And Self-Monitoring, Ky’Aria Moses Aug 2021

Enhancing Teacher Delivery Of Behavior Specific Praise With Performance Feedback And Self-Monitoring, Ky’Aria Moses

Masters Theses

Teachers receive a number of professional development trainings and consultations to develop or enhance their repertoire in various evidenced based practices (EBP) and classroom management strategies. Nevertheless, teachers’ adherence to strategies learned during trainings often decline when external supports are removed (Codding et al., 2015; Oliver et al., 2015) which may lead to challenges in the consistent and accurate implementation of EBP in classroom settings (Shernoff et al., 2020). Performance feedback and self-monitoring have been used to address these challenges and promote teachers’ use and fidelity of EBP in the classroom (Scheeler et al., 2004; Oliver et al., 2015). The …


Examining The Underlying Structure Of Adult Literacy Practices At Home And Work, Melissa R. Killian, George Chitiyo, Nancy J. Kolodziej Ph.D., Ashley Akenson Aug 2021

Examining The Underlying Structure Of Adult Literacy Practices At Home And Work, Melissa R. Killian, George Chitiyo, Nancy J. Kolodziej Ph.D., Ashley Akenson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Adults have similar literacy habits as children, such as reading to gain knowledge or for enjoyment. However, when workplace literacy skills are considered, these practices are not always book related and usually involve informal communication such as collaboration between workers. This study used data from the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to examine adults’ literacy skills. A total of 39 adult literacy skills were examined to explore patterns among them, effectively reducing them to nine interpretable factors. Each factor focused on an area of literacy skills, such as work-related reading, educating others, and writing. The nine …


"It Opened My Eyes...": The Potential Of An Embedded Clinical Experience In Teacher Preparation, Danielle M. Hilaski, Nicole Maxwell, Jennie Jones Aug 2021

"It Opened My Eyes...": The Potential Of An Embedded Clinical Experience In Teacher Preparation, Danielle M. Hilaski, Nicole Maxwell, Jennie Jones

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Teacher candidates (TCs) often feel underprepared for their first teaching positions. Teacher education programs are, at least partially, responsible for the level of readiness of their graduating TCs. Fortunately, teacher educators have the capacity to positively change teacher education, creating a more effective, better prepared teaching force. Embedded clinical experiences connected to university literacy courses are one innovative approach to create more purposeful and engaging learning opportunities for TCs. TCs in an early childhood and special education program participated in an embedded clinical experience focused on reading and assessment, which allowed them to implement course content directly with elementary students, …


An Investigation Of Protagonists In Storybook Apps For Children, Todd S. Cherner, Nandita Gurjar Aug 2021

An Investigation Of Protagonists In Storybook Apps For Children, Todd S. Cherner, Nandita Gurjar

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Children’s literature has historically been rife with implicit biases and underlying themes, and few scholars have investigated the impact technology has had on those elements appearing in children’s literature. In response, this study used a content analysis methodology to evaluate 38 storybook applications (apps) for containing implicit biases and underlying messages related to the narrative’s protagonists. These storybook apps were designed for young children to engage on their iPads. Overall, the study found that the storybooks apps predominantly featured protagonists who were White, middle-class, able-bodied males. The researchers first provide their rationale for the study along with their theoretical framework …


Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 2 Aug 2021

Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 2

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.


Effects Of Behavioral Skills Training On Preservice Teachers’ Ability To Code Articles, Rena Vanderwall Aug 2021

Effects Of Behavioral Skills Training On Preservice Teachers’ Ability To Code Articles, Rena Vanderwall

Dissertations

The research-to-practice gap in education has been well documented over the decades (e.g., Abbott et al., 1999; Burns & Ysseldyke, 2009; Cook & Odom, 2013; van Ingen & Ariew, 2015). To best benefit PreK-12 student outcomes, educators must understand and implement scientifically based practices in their teaching (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq., 2015; Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., 2004). However, this task can be daunting. When presented with educational research, teachers often struggle with identifying the key information, as well as applying it to their …


Journey To The Professoriate: Exploring The Career Development Of African American Male Faculty In Counselor Education, Lacretisha Danielle Mcdole Aug 2021

Journey To The Professoriate: Exploring The Career Development Of African American Male Faculty In Counselor Education, Lacretisha Danielle Mcdole

Dissertations

Much of the existing literature on African American faculty in counselor education and supervision programs focuses on the challenges that confront them as racial minorities (Bradley & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Holcomb-McCoy & Addison-Bradley, 2005; Thompson, 2008; Turner & Myers, 2000). Findings from recent research studies have offered ways to support and guide African American faculty in combating racial discrimination and oppression within the academy (Jones-Boyd, 2016; Robinson, 2018). However, there are gaps in the literature about the personal and environmental factors that shape African Americans’ decisions to pursue the professoriate in counselor education and supervision, and factors that contribute to their …


Investigating The Relationship Between Departmental Support Structures, Self-Efficacy And Intention To Persist: An Examination Of Students' Experience In 19 Physics Graduate Programs Across The United States, Diana Sachmpazidi Aug 2021

Investigating The Relationship Between Departmental Support Structures, Self-Efficacy And Intention To Persist: An Examination Of Students' Experience In 19 Physics Graduate Programs Across The United States, Diana Sachmpazidi

Dissertations

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduate programs experience consistently high attrition rates. Moreover, persistent disparities exist in racial and gender representation. Women and People of Color are significantly underrepresented and have higher attrition rates than men and white and Asian American students. To date, little work is done to understand graduate student attrition or persistence. There is also a lack of information regarding the causes of demographic disparities in attrition. Most past studies in this context have focused on students' attributes, undergraduate preparation, and mentoring relationships. Moreover, student self-efficacy is a contributing factor for undergraduate student retention. Yet, there …


Investigating The Connection Between Teacher Professional Development And The Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett Jun 2021

Investigating The Connection Between Teacher Professional Development And The Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett

Dissertations

School districts across the country are facing increasing pressure to raise student achievement, specifically on state standardized tests (Buzick & Jones, 2015; Marsh & Farrell, 2015). Many states, including Michigan, connect teacher and administrator evaluations to student achievement (Revised School Code Act 451, 2003). The primary strategy school districts use to improve student achievement is professional development for its staff (Guskey, 2009). Professional development can consist of a variety of strategies to support educators in increasing their knowledge and skills, resulting in improved instruction and ultimately improved student achievement. This instrumental case study sought to explore how teachers experience the …


Institutional Changes In Western Michigan University For Incorporation Of Education For Sustainability, Saman Khan May 2021

Institutional Changes In Western Michigan University For Incorporation Of Education For Sustainability, Saman Khan

Dissertations

Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have the potential to be significant contributors in the pursuit of a sustainable world through the incorporation of Education for Sustainability (EFS). However, HEIs are entrenched with structures and values that are often resistant to change. The literature reveals that instructors’ beliefs and institutional contexts are the two main factors that impact the implementation of institutional change for sustainability education. Western Michigan University (WMU) has created new required curriculum “WMU Essential Studies” (WES) for undergraduate students and they have targeted sustainability as an essential learning outcome, by integrating and applying it in content courses. Using a …


Teacher Professional Learning In A Writing-As-Making Mooc, Vicki Mcquitty, Sarah Lohnes Watulak, Joseph Runciman Mar 2021

Teacher Professional Learning In A Writing-As-Making Mooc, Vicki Mcquitty, Sarah Lohnes Watulak, Joseph Runciman

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Teaching students to compose multimodal, digital writing is imperative in today’s world. Yet, few teachers feel prepared to effectively teach writing, particularly digital composing. This study investigated the design and implementation of an online professional development, Writing-as-Making Massive Open Online Collaboration(wmMOOC). In its design, wmMOOC drew upon elements of the maker movement, principles of connected learning, and the social practices of the National Writing Project. Results indicate that participants took ownership over their writing/making and learning processes and engaged in risk-taking—two necessary stances for creating effective digital compositions. However, they did not critically evaluate the traditional writing in their …


Foregrounding The Margins: A Dialogue About Literacy, Learning, And Social Annotation, Lauren Zucker, Jeremiah H. Kalir, Michelle L. Sprouse, Jeremy Dean Mar 2021

Foregrounding The Margins: A Dialogue About Literacy, Learning, And Social Annotation, Lauren Zucker, Jeremiah H. Kalir, Michelle L. Sprouse, Jeremy Dean

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Annotation, or the addition of a note to a text, enables readers-as-writers to make their thinking visible. This article, which is structured as a dialogue among four literacy educators, discusses the potential for social annotation to transform literacy learning, assessment, and teacher education. Collectively, the authors argue for social annotation as a vital and transformative practice in hybrid and post-pandemic education. The authors reflect on their personal and pedagogical uses of annotation, sharing related resources for educators across K-12 and higher education contexts.


Pedagogical Practices And Collaborative Conversations: Teacher Candidates’ Approaches For Supporting Students’ Motivation In Writing, Michelle M.Z. Ohanian, Ernest Solar, Kara J. Brady, Carolyn Cook, Barbara Marinak Mar 2021

Pedagogical Practices And Collaborative Conversations: Teacher Candidates’ Approaches For Supporting Students’ Motivation In Writing, Michelle M.Z. Ohanian, Ernest Solar, Kara J. Brady, Carolyn Cook, Barbara Marinak

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Writing is a multi-layered endeavor that calls on the writer to use their technical skills and rely on their emotional investment to realize a desired outcome. New practitioners need approaches for supporting students’ motivation and as well as skill development in writing. However, explicit attention to supporting students’ motivation to write has not been largely addressed in teacher preparation programs. The Motivation to Write Profile – College (MWP-C) instrument was developed to assess teacher candidates’ self-concept as a writer and value of writing. This qualitative study analyzed the open-ended responses of 96 teacher candidates to prompts related to self-concept as …


Cultivating Dialogic Reflection To Foster And Sustain Preservice Teachers’ Professional Identities, Katie Alford, Amber Jensen Mar 2021

Cultivating Dialogic Reflection To Foster And Sustain Preservice Teachers’ Professional Identities, Katie Alford, Amber Jensen

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article explores how two teacher educators cultivated dialogic partnerships in an English teaching methods course and during student teaching. The goal was to foster reflection and professional identity development among preservice teachers. We share our approaches to integrating dialogic journals into coursework and student teaching praxis and offer initial observations about ways we see dialogic reflection as a practice that can support and sustain preservice teachers through early teaching transitions and into their careers.


Decentering The Book(Room) And (Re)Centering Students’ Interest In Contemporary Issues: Theories, Questions, And Relevance, Annamary Consalvo, Katharine Covino, Natalie Chase Mar 2021

Decentering The Book(Room) And (Re)Centering Students’ Interest In Contemporary Issues: Theories, Questions, And Relevance, Annamary Consalvo, Katharine Covino, Natalie Chase

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article offers a framework by which teacher educators can offer novice teachers of English a way to open up the teaching of literature away from book-centric practices and toward those of inquiry. A six-step process, accompanied by a detailed example, is offered that acknowledges the traditional bookroom options and connects to the wide array of literary theories that can generate essential questions and move teaching away from atomized, right-wrong kinds of instruction and toward addressing issues of interest and importance to youth.


“Can I Write About What Happened To Me?”: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Audience And Purpose Of Students’ And Their Teachers’ Writing In An Age Of Accountability And Unrest, Kate Sjostrom Mar 2021

“Can I Write About What Happened To Me?”: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Audience And Purpose Of Students’ And Their Teachers’ Writing In An Age Of Accountability And Unrest, Kate Sjostrom

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Many teachers and administrators, feeling the pressure to produce high standardized test scores and meet state standards, have narrowed the variety of genres taught and resorted to prescriptive writing formulas, effectively stunting the writing and thinking development of students and future teachers, and foreclosing the opportunity for writing to do important personal and interpersonal work in a time of racial reckoning, alienation, and violence. In this context, the study’s author and a pre-service teacher participating in the author’s research study on writing teacher identity development grapple with just what the audience and purpose of students’—and teachers’—writing should and could be. …


The Evolution Of An Elementary Writing Workshop: Fostering Teacher Efficacy And Authentic Authorship In Young Writers, Jennifer Green, Kayla Steber Mar 2021

The Evolution Of An Elementary Writing Workshop: Fostering Teacher Efficacy And Authentic Authorship In Young Writers, Jennifer Green, Kayla Steber

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Building confidence and efficacy in young writers is critical to long-term academic success, but for many teachers, writing is a complex and challenging discipline to teach. This exploratory case study examines the evolution of a writing workshop in an elementary classroom and the partnership between an instructional coach and teacher. Observational data shed light on the phenomena of student motivation, teacher efficacy, and culturally responsive approaches to writing. Collaborative teaching methods and careful attention to the principles of writing workshop contributed to an enriching journey for the coach, the teacher, and her third-grade students. A portrait of their lived experiences …


Teachers’ Perspectives About Students’ Productive Textual Engagement In Social Studies, Jacquelynn S. Popp, Paula Di Domenico, Joanna Makhlouf Jan 2021

Teachers’ Perspectives About Students’ Productive Textual Engagement In Social Studies, Jacquelynn S. Popp, Paula Di Domenico, Joanna Makhlouf

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Because close reading and critical analysis of multiple sources is central to social studies, understanding teachers’ perspectives about productive textual engagement is imperative. This comparative study explored twelve 5ththrough 11th-grade social studies teachers’ perspectives about supporting students’ textual engagement via think-aloud interviews. Teacher-participants read hypothetical vignettes representing four paradigms of instruction with texts in social studies classrooms. Participants ranked the vignettes, provided reasoning about their value, and reflected on their own practices in relation to the paradigms. Participants placed higher value on fostering students’ historical literacies and civic literacies than on supporting students’ content-area literacies or traditional content acquisition. There …


Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 1 Jan 2021

Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.


Preservice Teachers’ Use Of The Technology Integration Planning Cycle: Lessons Learned, Kristi Tamte Bergeson, Beth Beschorner Jan 2021

Preservice Teachers’ Use Of The Technology Integration Planning Cycle: Lessons Learned, Kristi Tamte Bergeson, Beth Beschorner

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Preservice teachers (PSTs) often feel unprepared to utilize digital tools in meaningful ways that support learning in the elementary classroom. It is imperative that teacher preparation programs provide support in this area so that children can learn to use digital tools to communicate in the 21st century. Previous research suggests that the Technology Integration Planning Cycle (TIPC) can support teachers in making wise decisions related to the use of digital tools to support a literacy goal. In the present study, the authors examined how the TIPC can be used with PSTs as they develop technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and …


A Comparison Between Preschool Teachers’ Read-Aloud Techniques With Fictional And Informational Picture Books In Small Groups, Ariel Robinson Jan 2021

A Comparison Between Preschool Teachers’ Read-Aloud Techniques With Fictional And Informational Picture Books In Small Groups, Ariel Robinson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Relatively little is known about preschool teachers’ read-aloud techniques with informational picture books. The purpose of this investigation was to identify similarities and differences between preschool teachers’ read-aloud techniques with fictional stories, which are commonly read in preschool, and informational texts. Instrumental case study and purposive sampling were employed to investigate the reading techniques of two White female teachers in one preschool classroom as they read in small groups with children two-and-a-half to five years old. In terms of similarities across genres, teachers made personal connections, prompted children to interpret pictures, used multimodal instruction, and differentiated instruction. In terms of …


College Access For Prospective First-Generation High School Students: Parent Perceptions, Christopher W. Brown Ed.D, Alison Reeves Associate Professor, Laurel Puchner Professor Jan 2021

College Access For Prospective First-Generation High School Students: Parent Perceptions, Christopher W. Brown Ed.D, Alison Reeves Associate Professor, Laurel Puchner Professor

Journal of College Access

This qualitative interview study examined how parents of potential college-going first-generation students in one high school perceive and experience their access to resources and knowledge that would allow them to support their adolescents’ successful entrance into postsecondary institutions. The study found that the parents believe that high schools will help their children with college but that they underutilize the resources available and lack important social capital needed to help their students succeed.


Promoting Equitable College Access And Success: Exploring Critical Frameworks In School Counselor Training, Heidi Van Mastrigt, Joey Nuñez Estrada Jan 2021

Promoting Equitable College Access And Success: Exploring Critical Frameworks In School Counselor Training, Heidi Van Mastrigt, Joey Nuñez Estrada

Journal of College Access

This qualitative study employs a phenomenological research approach that examines the school counselor’s experiences and training. The purpose of this study is to explore if school counselors received training in critical race theory (CRT), culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSP), and social justice (SJ), and if they implement these theories in practice. Semi-structured interviews were used with eleven practicing school counselors. Thematic content analysis was used with a critical discourse lens to identify explicit and implicit themes within the data. The results indicate a lack of training in critical race theory (CRT), culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSP), and social justice. While some participants …