Education Commons^™

Literacy Instructional Coaching Practices In Writing And Writing Instruction: An Exploration Of K–6 Teachers' Perspectives, Jadelyn Abbott, Katherine Landau Wright, Hannah Carter

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify if and how K–6 teachers perceive that their literacy instructional coaches influence their writing teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a parallel convergent mixed-methods design with survey data. The authors used thematic analysis to identify patterns within short-answer responses.

Findings

K–6 teachers receive little literacy coaching specific to writing. However, when they do receive coaching, they believe it benefits their writing instruction. Sustained coaching through the coaching cycle, frequent collaborations, and support with writing instructional resources and strategies were reported as the most influential writing coaching practices.

Research limitations/implications

Sample size was …

A Meta-Analysis And Quality Review Of Mathematics Interventions Conducted In Informal Learning Environments With Caregivers And Children, Gena Nelson, Hannah Carter, Peter Boedeker, Emma Knowles, Claire Buckmiller, Jessica Eames

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purposes of this study included conducting a meta-analysis and reviewing the study reporting quality of math interventions implemented in informal learning environments (e.g., the home) by children’s caregivers. This meta-analysis included 25 preschool to third-grade math interventions with 83 effect sizes that yielded a statistically significant summary effect (g = 0.26, 95% CI [0.07, 0.45) on children’s math achievement. Significant moderators of the treatment effect included the intensity of caregiver training and type of outcome measure. There were larger average effects for interventions with caregiver training that included follow-up support and for outcomes that were comprehensive early numeracy measures. …

Preservice Teachers’ Preparedness To Teach Writing: Looking Closely At A Semester Of Structured Literacy Tutoring, Hannah Carter, Jadelyn Abbott, Katherine Landau Wright

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Preparing preservice teachers (PSTs) as teachers of writing has gained attention in recent years, but little is known about their preparedness when engaging with student writers over extended periods. We examine PSTs’ preparedness to teach writing within a structured literacy tutoring experience to better understand the skills and knowledge of PSTs related to teaching writing. Results indicate PSTs contextualized writing instruction, considered clients’ affect around writing, and used data to inform writing lessons. PSTs were also grappling with specific pedagogical considerations related to writing instruction, offering implications for teacher educators and researchers.

Differentiating Reading Profiles Of Children With Specific Comprehension Deficits From Skilled Readers: A Systematic Review, Daibao Guo, Luxi Feng, Tracey S. Hodges

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The primary goal of the present systematic review was to examine the criteria and measures used for assessing students with specific comprehension deficit (SCD), who have adequate decoding skills, but still perform poorly on reading comprehension assessments. From a systematic review of 32 studies, we found four predominant selection approaches for classifying students with SCD and a wide range of measurements of reading skills used to distinguish students with SCD from skilled readers. In addition, to develop a reading profile for students with SCD, we performed a meta-analysis to quantify the characteristics of SCD by comparing their reading skills to …

What’S The Purpose?: A Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Purposes For Reading In Secondary Classrooms, Dianna Townsend, Hannah Carter, Rachel Knecht

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Supporting the wide range of readers in secondary disciplinary classrooms can involve a number of helpful scaffolds and instructional routines, and the role of reading purpose may be particularly important. Research suggests that reading purposes impact reading processes and outcomes, and also that disciplinary experts have discipline-specific purposes for reading. In this qualitative-dominant, mixed-methods study, five high school classrooms were studied to explore what kind of purposes teachers establish for reading in the disciplines and how students perceive those reading purposes. Teachers’ (n = 7) reading purposes and related instruction were explored via observations and interviews, and high school …

A Collaborative Self-Study Of Supervisors In A University-Based Literacy Clinic: Exploring Tensions In Support, Feedback, And Conflict Resolution, Hannah Carter, Jadelyn Abbott, Lauren Herzberg, Annie Hindman, Pam Swainston

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article reports on a collaborative self-study conducted by five supervisors in a universitybased literacy clinic. Over two semesters of mentoring elementary teacher candidates, we met weekly and reflected biweekly. The purpose of this research was to identify the tensions that supervisors were contemplating as they mentored and supervised candidates. Our findings indicate that we were grappling with ways to 1) provide candidates with equitable support; 2) guide candidates, rather than tell them what to do; and 3) confront conflict. By detailing the ways we reflected on and explored these tensions, we include suggestions for teacher education supervision and teacher …

Coding Protocol: Early Math Interventions In Informal Learning Settings: Attention To Literacy, Hannah Carter, Gena Nelson, Peter Boedeker

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this document is to provide readers with the coding protocol that authors used to code 51 studies that met inclusion criteria for a systematic review. This systematic review focused on how literacy is incorporated into informal math intervention studies for children in preschool to third grade. We investigated what types of literacy activities were integrated, how literacy was a part of data sources collected, and in what ways literacy was mentioned explicitly by authors in research reports. We coded studies in this systematic review to answer the following research questions: (1) How is literacy incorporated? (2) What …

A Rationale For Integrating Writing Into Secondary Content Area Classrooms: Perspectives From Teachers Who Experience The Benefits Of Integrating Writing Frequently, Hannah Carter, Dianna Townsend

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teachers navigate ongoing accountability pressures that target writing in each content area, yet little is understood about their experiences with or their rationales for integrating writing into content area lessons. While previous research describes writing in U.S. secondary classrooms and explains barriers to writing integration, this study investigates teacher decision making to determine why teachers in various content areas are integrating writing. Using a multicase study design, we explored teacher reflections to discern the reasons why teachers chose to integrate writing frequently. Four teachers, one from each primary content area (mathematics, English language arts, science, social studies), reflected on their …

Examining Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions And Understanding Of Visual Literacy Instruction, Lin Gou, Daibao Guo, Eun Hye Son

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the importance of promoting visual literacy in content instruction, there is scant research investigating pre-service teachers’ perceptions and understandings of visual literacy instruction. To fill these research gaps, we developed a unit in a literacy methods course that integrated visual literacy and social studies instruction for preservice teachers. In this qualitative study, we analyzed 65 elementary and secondary pre-service teachers’ reflections after the unit. Findings revealed that a majority of pre-service teachers developed a positive attitude toward visual literacy (instruction), demonstrated better understanding of visual displays (ViDis) and visual literacy skills, and recognized the advantages of using ViDis for …

Variations In Project-Based Course Design, Eun Hye Son, Tara Penry

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Project-based learning (PjBL) is seeing increasing scholarly interest and pedagogical use in higher education, but instances of PjBL do not necessarily seek the same educational outcomes. Using the grounded theory method, the authors plot five courses in a PjBL program on a matrix of course design characteristics ranging from Fixed to Flexible and Individualistic to Cooperative. They describe four major variations of PjBL based on this matrix. Recognizing that PjBL courses vary in their use of student choice and student collaboration, the authors make recommendations for assessment researchers and for teachers wishing to develop new strategies that fit their institutional …

Factors Associated With Novice General Education Teachers’ Preparedness To Work With Multilingual Learners: A Multilevel Study, Qizhen Deng, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Kara Mitchell Viesca

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examined factors linked to novice general education teachers’ perception of their preparedness to work with multilingual learners in the classroom. Using a multilevel modeling approach, we examined factors at the teacher and school levels using two AY 2015 to 2016 datasets: The National Teacher and Principal Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection from the Office of Civil Rights. The results show that teacher perception of preparedness was positively associated with teacher education courses on working with multilingual learners, supports received during the first-year teaching, and the number of multilingual learners …

The Preservice Teacher Self-Efficacy For Writing Inventory (Ptswi): A Tool For Measuring Beliefs About Writing, Tracey S. Hodges, Katherine Landau Wright, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teachers are often underprepared to teach writing, which can negatively impact the performance and attitudes of their students. In teacher preparation programs, one goal should be to specifically develop future teachers of writing. Focusing on self-efficacy beliefs, increasing preservice teachers’ confidence and preparedness for teaching writing could yield positive impacts on classroom writing instructional practices. Currently, tools to quantitatively measure self-efficacy for writing and writing instruction in preservice teachers are sparse, thus limiting teacher educators’ ability to understand the efficacy of writing instruction. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to gather evidence of score validity and reliability of …

Shy And Outgoing Preservice Teachers And Their Responses To Hypothetical Problem Behaviors In The Classroom, Qizhen Deng, Irina Patwardhan, Kathleen Rudasill, Guy Trainin, Stephanie Wessels, Julia Torquati, Robert J. Coplan

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study explored the relations among preservice teacher shyness (shy, average, outgoing) and their responses towards hypothetical children displaying classroom problem behaviours (shy/quiet, exuberant/talkative) in the classroom. Participants were 335 elementary preservice teachers attending a Midwest university in the United States. Preservice teachers completed self-reports of shyness and responded to hypothetical vignettes depicting different classroom behaviours. Among the results, shy preservice teachers reported lower self-efficacy and less tendency to use warm/supportive and social-learning strategies as compared to their more outgoing counterparts. Shy preservice teachers also had lower tendency than average teachers to refer to high-powered strategies when dealing with …

Word Walls In Social Studies: One Solution To The "Vocabulary Conundrum", Dianna Townsend, Ashley Baxter, Annie Keller, Hannah Carter

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Julia Kearney and Lori Bingham (pseudonyms), two middle school social studies teachers in a large urban school, have a problem. They want to have their students asking and exploring important questions about American history, and they want them to have the vocabulary knowledge needed to do so. While Julia and Lori recognize the rich linguistic resources their students bring to their classrooms, they also recognize the intense vocabulary demands of social studies. Julia and Lori recently participated in a professional learning initiative to develop research-based approaches for building students’ academic vocabulary knowledge in social studies. They learned about the potential …

The Impact Of Visual Displays On Learning Across The Disciplines: A Systematic Review, Daibao Guo, Erin M. Mctigue, Sharon D. Matthews, Wendi Zimmer

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current systematic review aimed to investigate in what ways the incorporation of visual display tasks benefits K-12 students’ content-area learning. After screening 1693 articles at abstract level and a systematic evaluation of methodological quality, we synthesized 44 articles for this review. The qualitative synthesis of the studies is organized by categories of interaction with visual displays (ViDis), instructional support, and types of knowledge and learning. Overall findings indicate the simple inclusion of visual displays does not guarantee a positive learning effect. More detailed findings distinguish three categories of ViDis: author-provided, student-filled-in, and student-created visual displays. Furthermore, we discuss …

Self-Efficacy And Attitudes For Vocabulary Strategies Among English Learners And Native Speakers, Qizhen Deng, Guy Trainin

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examined university students’ self-efficacy and attitudes for employing vocabulary strategies in four learning contexts. The contexts are characterized by input modality (reading vs. listening) and purpose (academic vs. leisure). Another goal was to compare the self-efficacy and attitudes between English learners (ELs) and native speakers. A total of 112 participants responded to four short scenarios by rating their self-efficacy and attitudes toward employing vocabulary strategies under each scenario. Among the results, students reported higher self-efficacy using morphological analysis and dictionary use when reading and higher self-efficacy to seek help when learning for academic purpose. There were no differences …

Do You Get The Picture?: A Meta-Analysis Of The Effect Of Graphics On Reading Comprehension, Daibao Guo, Shuai Zhang, Katherine Landau Wright, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although convergent research demonstrates that well-designed graphics can facilitate readers’ understanding of text, there are select situations where graphics have been shown to have no effect on learners’ overall text comprehension. Therefore, the current meta-analytic study examined 39 experimental studies published between 1985 and 2018 measuring graphics’ effects on readers’ comprehension. We first quantified the overall effect on reading comprehension. Then, we considered interactions with learners’ characteristics, graphic types, and assessment formats. Our analysis revealed that the inclusion of graphics had a moderate overall positive effect (Hedges’s g = 0.39) on students’ reading comprehension, regardless of grade level. Regarding graphic …

Assessment Of Dispositions In Program Admissions: The Professional Disposition Competence Assessment—Revised Admission (Pdca-Ra), Curtis Garner, Brenda Freeman, Roger Stewart, Ken Coll

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tools to assess the dispositions of counselor education applicants at the point of program admission are important as mechanisms to screen entrance into the profession. The authors developed the Professional Disposition Competence Assessment—Revised Admission (PDCA-RA) as a screening tool for dispositional assessment in admissions interviews. In this study, 70 participants engaged in a video-based training protocol designed to increase the interrater reliability of the PDCA-RA. An intraclass correlations coefficient was calculated as an index of interrater reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated for internal consistency, and Fleiss’ kappa, free-marginal kappa, and percent of agreement were calculated for absolute agreement. Calculations …

Using Think-Alouds To Support And Enhance English Language Learners' Comprehension Of Multimodal Texts, Daibao Guo, Eun Hye Son, Katherine Landau Wright

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research has demonstrated that elementary students may not be skilled interpreters of multimodal science texts (McTigue & Flowers, 2010). This challenge may be enhanced for English language learners (ELLs), whose language skills are still developing. Therefore, in this qualitative case study, we implement think-aloud protocols to understand three striving ELL readers’ comprehension processes and use of comprehension strategies. Then we collaborated with three pre-service teachers to design individualized comprehension instructions. After 7-weeks of intensive tutoring, findings show students were able to use a greater variety comprehension strategies. Classroom implications are discussed to provide best instructional practice for striving ELL readers.

Critical Analysis Of Research On The Impact Of Visual Literacy For Learning: Strengths, Weaknesses And Recommendations For Improvement, Daibao Guo, Wendi Zimmer, Sharon D. Matthews, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current systematic review aimed to investigate in what ways the incorporation of visual display tasks benefits K-12 students’ content-area learning. After screening 1693 articles at abstract level and a systematic evaluation of methodological quality, we synthesized 44 articles for this review. The qualitative synthesis of the studies is organized by categories of interaction with visual displays (ViDis), instructional support, and types of knowledge and learning. Overall findings indicate the simple inclusion of visual displays does not guarantee a positive learning effect. More detailed findings distinguish three categories of ViDis: author-provided, student-filled-in, and student-created visual displays. Furthermore, we discuss …

“Opening The Window To A World Wider Than Our Little Classroom”: The Importance Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Hannah Carter, Melissa Bradford

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Diversity in today’s classrooms must be considered and valued to create effective learning environments. Through surveys (N=83) and interviews (N=10), this mixed methods study examined in-service elementary teachers’ beliefs about culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) – more specifically, self-efficacy and outcome expectancy, as related to CRP. Results showed that teachers not only have highly positive outcome expectations for CRP quantitatively, they also explain specific benefits of CRP – relationship building, student achievement, and learning beyond the curriculum. Teachers were efficacious implementing CRP related to general good teaching practices, such as developing relationships and building trust with students. However, they were less …

Developing And Examining Validity Evidence For The Writing Rubric To Inform Teacher Educators (Write), Tracey S. Hodges, Katherine Landau Wright, Stefanie A. Wind, Sharon D. Matthews, Wendi K. Zimmer, Erin Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assessment is an under-researched challenge of writing development, instruction, and teacher preparation. One reason for the lack of research on writing assessment in teacher preparation is that writing achievement is multi-faceted and difficult to measure consistently. Additionally, research has reported that teacher educators and preservice teaches may have limited assessment literacy knowledge. In previous studies, researchers have struggled to provide strong evidence of validity, reliability, and fairness across raters, writing samples, and rubric items. In the present study, we fill several gaps in the research literature by developing a rubric, the Writing Rubric to Inform Teacher Educators (WRITE), which utilizes …

A Validation Program For The Self-Beliefs, Writing-Beliefs, And Attitude Survey: A Measure Of Adolescents' Motivation Toward Writing, Katherine Landau Wright, Tracey S. Hodges, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent findings reveal clear evidence that students’ low performance on writing tasks is often related to problems with motivation. Writing curriculum and interventions produce varying effects on adolescents’ writing outcomes, and such variations may be mediated by motivation. However, without a valid tool for measuring students’ motivation towards writing, these effects cannot be quantified. In this study we present the results of our multi-study validation program for the Self-Beliefs, Writing-Beliefs, and Attitude Survey (SWAS). This measure is designed for monitoring students' motivation towards writing, as well as identifying variables that mediate student achievement. We first addressed substantive validation through a …

What Do Middle Grades Preservice Teachers Believe About Writing And Writing Instruction?, Tracey S. Hodges, Katherine Landau Wright, Erin Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

After third grade, students’ motivation and enjoyment of writing begins to wane, and this trend continues through most of their education. Middle grade students especially need high-quality writing instruction; however, many teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to teach writing. To combat these issues, teacher preparation programs should understand how their preservice teachers feel about writing and teaching writing. The present study surveyed 150 middle grade preservice teachers to determine their self-efficacy beliefs about writing and writing instruction. Results indicate that preservice teachers valued writing, but did not feel confident with many specific aspects of writing instruction.

Finding Our Place In The Third Space: The Authority Of Not Knowing As Becoming In School-University Partnership Work, Hannah Carter, Jennifer Snow, Sara Digrazia, Sherry Dismuke

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

School-university partnerships have been a space for simultaneous renewal and teacher development for decades (Darling-Hammond, 1994; Goodlad, 1994; Teitel, 2003). As a case in point, this article takes a deeper look at how school- and university-based teacher educators experience professional growth and negotiation of partnership contexts, roles, and responsibilities. Recognizing the complexity of teacher development across the professional lifespan, and the tensions of school-university partnership work, we explore the diverse roles and positions from which we come to the work of clinical supervision and school partnership work. To highlight the varied levels of development and professional growth in these hybrid …

Searching For Spellcheckers: What Kids Want, What Kids Need, Brody Downs, Tyler French, Katherine Landau Wright, Maria Soledad Pera, Casey Kennington, Jerry Alan Fails

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Misspellings in queries used to initiate online searches is an everyday occurrence. When this happens, users either rely on the search engine’s ability to understand their query or they turn to spellcheckers. Spellcheckers are usually based on popular dictionaries or past query logs, leading to spelling suggestions that often better resonate with adult users because that data is more readily available. Based on an educational perspective, previous research reports, and initial analyses of sample search logs, we hypothesize that existing spellcheckers are not suitable for young users who frequently encounter spelling challenges when searching for information online. We present early …

Writing-To-Learn In Secondary Science Classes: For Whom Is It Effective?, Katherine Landau Wright, Tracey S. Hodges, Wendy K. Zimmer, Erin Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although many agree that writing can make a unique contribution to learning, harnessing that contribution is difficult, particularly in the middle grades. The purpose of this study was to measure the efficacy of a feasible writing-to-learn intervention in Grade 6–11 science classes. We focused on middle school students because this group has been least responsive to writing interventions in previous research. We conducted an 8-week intervention in which students completed short metacognitive and longer argumentative writing tasks. Our results indicated that overall students’ ability to engage in scientific rhetoric improved, and we identified minimal difference in the growth of middle …

A Content Analysis Of Visuals In Elementary School Textbooks, Daibao Guo, Katherine Landau Wright, Erin M. Mctigue

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although visual complexity is increasing and graphics are essential to support readers’ comprehension of disciplinary texts, visual literacy receives scant attention. Research suggests that effectively instructing students to interpret discipline-specific graphics would yield better comprehension. However, before this line of inquiry can be enacted, we must determine the characteristics of graphics in contemporary content textbooks. Therefore, this content analysis evaluated graphics within third- and fifth-grade science and social studies textbooks. We coded 3,844 graphics by type and function and compared findings between disciplines using chi-square and post hoc comparison tests. Overall, graphics were coded into 9 major types (photographs being …

Priorities For Vocabulary Intervention Design Using Texting: Data To Examine The Critical Role Of Language Learners' Behaviors And Perceptions, Jia Li, Qizhen Deng

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examined the role of university English language learners' (ELLs) behavior and perception of a texting-based instruction intervention on their academic vocabulary acquisition. This article reports on the data pertaining to 108 ELLs from six undergraduate classes taking two comparable undergraduate courses on content-based English for Academic Purpose (EAP). The data include (1) the performance of the control and intervention groups on pre-and post-intervention tests on target vocabulary and academic vocabulary, (2) a pre-intervention survey of participants' technology use, and (3) a post-intervention survey of participants on learning behavior during the intervention and their perception of the intervention. Data presented …

Transacting With Characters: Teaching Children Perspective-Taking With Authentic Literature, Tracey S. Hodges, Erin Mctigue, Katherine Landau Wright, Amanda D. Franks, Sharon D. Matthews

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study builds upon established best practices in narrative comprehension instruction by redesigning a story map, to both retain the benefits of text structure instruction, while also facilitating students to reach deeper levels of character-based comprehension. We entitled our revised story map the Chart for Multiple Perspectives (CHAMP). Using the CHAMP, we provided a 15 day, one-on-one tutoring intervention to four 3^rd grade students (three intervention, one control). Drawing upon developmental theories regarding perspective-taking, the students used the CHAMP to consider the characters at multiple levels. The research design of this exploratory, mixed-methods research was single-subject design with …