Education Commons^™

A Study Of Preservice Teachers' Preparedness To Teach Reading, Kelli Williams-Page

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Only 35% of fourth graders in the United States can read at the proficient level, and only 34% of eighth graders can read proficiently (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2022). The purpose of this study was to determine how preservice teachers (PSTs) describe their experience of the methodology of teaching reading in their literacy courses. In addition, what specific strategies for teaching reading do PSTs describe as the focus for their teaching reading preparation, and how do PSTs describe the potential of the strategies learned in their coursework to help them teach reading in their future positions? This study …

Imagination To Innovation: Design Thinking For Young Learners, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Publications & Research

Design thinking is the intersection of engineering design and social-emotional learning. Today’s learners must be empathetic problem solvers capable of defining problems and designing appropriate solutions to meet the needs of the user. In this session, participants will experience design thinking through literature-based scenarios appropriate for early learners. They will analyze and compare their own models to those of others and compose a lesson that will engage students in the design thinking process.

Toward A Theory Of An Integrated Theoretical Approach Of Literacy For Black Boys, Aaron M. Johnson

Michigan Reading Journal

In the education landscape the literacy of Black boys is viewed from deficit framing. Often, educators, politicians, and laypeople point to scores on standardized assessments such as the MSTEP, NAEP, ACT, SAT, and NWEA, these tests only tell a part of the story. The part of the story that those assessments do tell is the abject failure of schools’ ability to engage Black boys in school-based literacy and catapult them into proficient and advanced proficient reading levels. The part of the story that those assessments do not tell is the literate lives that Black boys lead. Furthermore, schools do a …

Digitally Rural: Identifying How Technological Inequity Impacts Rural Students In First-Year Writing Courses, Jo Anna M. Nevada

English Language and Literature ETDs

To teach composition in this era means to engage students with technology; it is all but an unspoken requirement at the majority of universities. This dissertation theorizes, however, that the imbricated use of technology in first-year writing (FYW) classrooms places rural students at an inherent disadvantage, with issues of inadequate technological proficiency and inconsistent access causing a substantial learning disparity between this student population and their urban peers. Through mixed-methods data analysis of student survey responses and final FYW course portfolios, this study reveals that the expectation of technological access and presumption of digital literacy is detrimental to rural student …

The Effects Of Research-Based Strategies On Reading Achievement Among English Language Learners, India Chantel Graden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to examine the results of phonics-based instruction versus guided reading instruction on reading achievement among minority students who are English Language Learners. This study is important because it addresses the gap in the literature that does not target research-based reading instructional strategies that are effective for English Language Learners separate from those that are observed as effective in students whose primary language is English. Archival data were obtained from 86 elementary school English Language Learners in the second grade at two Georgia suburban schools. The instrument used in this study is the …

Fostering Language Development And Literacy In Children From Birth To Two Years Old, Vanessa Vives

Honors Theses

This thesis explores what language is and how its development can impact literacy. It includes a brochure with practical tips for parents and guardians to foster language and literacy development in children from birth to two years old.

Examining Elementary Teacher Perceptions And Experiences Of Transitioning From Knowledge-Based To Inquiry-Based Social Studies Standards, Benjamin Stephen Pinnick

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Elementary educators are responsible for the earliest years of student learning in a public setting. The amount of content students are expected to master continues to grow in scope, and the methods that are utilized shift to align with educational research and social momentum. After a decade of Common Core policies, social studies education in elementary schools has become a deemphasized subject. Reading and math, as well as science, have taken a greater precedence in today’s classrooms.

Yet, expectations for the creation of knowledgeable and participatory citizens continue to serve as a goal in elementary schools. Conceptualization of citizenship form …

Wakanda: Opening The High School Classroom To Afrofuturism, Carrie M. Mattern

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Afrofuturism has a solid place in high school classrooms thanks to the current work of Ryan Coogler, but also to those who have been in this work for decades including the Mother of Afrofuturism herself, Octavia Butler, adrienne maree brown, dream hampton, and a litany of Black poets and artists. This article leaps inside an Afrofuturistic unit curated for high school seniors with feedback and insight from their teachers and also the students who buckled up for a journey through time, space, and place.

From Language To Literacy: Structural Features Of Acquired Languages Facilitating English Morphological Awareness, Erin N. Callahan

Selected Honors Theses

Morphological awareness is a crucial metalinguistic skill, specifically for English Language Learners (ELLs). Since languages differ widely in degree of orthographic opacity, degree of morphological fusion, and degree of morphological synthesis, this thesis sought to evaluate the impact of the structural features of other languages upon ELLs’ levels of English morphological awareness. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship between morphological awareness and perceived levels of literacy and oracy proficiency. Multilingual individuals responded to an online survey containing a morphological awareness task and a language history questionnaire. Each language represented in the sample was coded according to its structural features. Subsequently, …

Teaching Priorities As Both Durable And Flexible: Writing Pedagogy Classes Across International Contexts, Charlotte L. Land, Jessica Cira Rubin

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article developed from a year-long inquiry into our practices as writing teacher educators. As new university faculty in two different countries, we drew on a previous literature review project to identify enduring priorities for teaching writing pedagogy. We then analyzed our developing practices in these unfamiliar places, specifically noting what also felt flexible enough to work across contexts, leaving space for local adaptation. For each of our classes, we explore how we expressed those priorities: discussing teaching practices as connected with theories and discourses of teaching writing, supporting teacher-student experiences through a cycle of writing, and facilitating appreciative views …

Exploring Ungrading In An Elementary Writing Methods Course, Jen Mcconnel

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this reflective piece, I discuss what I learned when I began to implement ungrading practices in my institution's elementary writing methods course. Based on this ongoing experiment, I offer three suggestions for other teacher educators who are intrigued by ungrading but not sure where to start.

7 Hands-On Strategies For Struggling Readers, Elise Murray, Stacey Murray

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Struggling readers are found in almost every classroom across the world. With differing learning styles and abilities, teachers are encouraged now, more than ever, to be innovative when teaching foundational reading strategies. Within this article, readers are provided with a literature review of research and educational literature that discusses how multisensory, hands-on activities promote engagement and active learning for all students. The recommended seven hands-on learning strategies that can promote learning and support for struggling readers during literacy instruction include Build the Words, Feel the Words, Whole Body Letters, Five Finger Retell, Sight Word BINGO, …

Book Review Letting Go Of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction For White Students, Jeremy Hyler

Michigan Reading Journal

Race, racism, and literary whiteness are at the forefront of many conversations in education today. In Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students, authors Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides highlight what should be addressed in our classroom today to address race and racism.

Pronunciation Classes For Intermediate English Learners In The Literacy Program, May A. Her

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monterey County Free Libraries is a public government organization that provides a wide range of resources and services for residents of Monterey County including a Literacy Program that serves 52 learners who are eligible to participate in this capstone project. The macro problem that this project is related to is the increasing number of immigrant residents who do not have access to equal educational opportunities in Monterey County. The micro problem is that learners who have participated in the Literacy Program are not confident with their English pronunciation even after their initial tutoring sessions conclude. This project provided an educational …

The Effects Of Guided Reading In A Primary Montessori Classroom, Taylor Bates, Mary Brocklesby, Katie Mcgarrigle

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to decide if conducting guided reading instruction three times a week in a primary Montessori classroom would make an impact on reading levels among kindergarten students. The research took place over six weeks in a public Montessori school. The school is a Title One school located in a rural area of South Carolina. The population who participated in the study were 26 kindergarten students aged five to six from three different classrooms. Our intervention included using a variety of reading strategies such as pointing to each word, using picture clues, sounding out words, …

An Evaluation Of Educator Preparedness In Content Area And Disciplinary Literacies In The High School Classroom, Lauren E. Bernat

Dissertations

A secondary education debate that currently exists between the content area and disciplinary literacy is how content area and disciplinary literacy strategies and educator preparedness to teach those components to fit together to further student achievement. The purpose of my study was to evaluate if educators are prepared to teach content area and disciplinary literacy in high school content area classrooms. The context of this evaluation was to seek information from teachers and administrators about how literacy is integrated within high school classrooms in various communities across the United States. My study demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative data that reflect …

Need For Comprehension Remediation In A University-Based Online Reading Clinic, Patricia Ash

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

The significant areas of concern for this research include determining the most effective comprehension strategies that will address the needs of students who struggle with comprehension. There is no doubt that technology and alternative means of instruction have to be explored and used for education; however, the platforms must be evaluated with specific criteria to allow for seamless instruction and student interaction. Finally, this research will evaluate if the need for a reading clinic is one that school districts think needs to be filled.

Increasing Oral Reading Fluency Rate Of Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities Through Cooperative Learning, Kristin Stuffick

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

This study highlights the importance of focusing on student motivation and engagement to encourage an optimistic school and future education viewpoint. Student interest can be maintained by promoting student choice in their reading materials to align with individual interests and increase comprehension retention. The long-term implications of reading difficulties can affect individuals after middle school by lessening their chances of earning a high school diploma, leading to decreased annual income and increased reliance on government assistance throughout their lifetime.

Culturally Relevant Teaching For The 21st Century: The Success And Challenges Of Pre-Service Teachers When Using Technology In Critical Ways, Virginie Jackson, Stacy Delacruz, Dominique Harry

Georgia Journal of Literacy

This case study examined pre-service teachers' use of technology as they implemented culturally relevant literacy lessons while tutoring elementary students in their field placement sites. As we enter a new decade, we want our students to be future-ready with technology skills. Here, we present an examination of how pre-service teachers integrated culturally relevant teaching with technology along with a discussion of the tools and devices their students used. Findings provided evidence that as pre-service teachers experienced authentic and engaging learning experiences within a supportive space, they emerged equipped to teach in culturally responsive ways that supported student learning and deeper …

Using Generalizability And Rasch Measurement Theory To Ensure Rigorous Measurement In An International Development Education Evaluation, Louise Bahry

Doctoral Dissertations

Between the United States and Great Britain, over 30 billion USD was spent in 2018 on international aid, over a billion of which is dedicated to education programs alone. Recently, there has been increased attention on the rigorous evaluation of aid-funded programs, moving beyond counting outputs to the measurement of educational impact. The current study uses two methodological approaches (Generalizability (Brennan, 1992, 2001) and Rasch Measurement Theory (Andrich, 1978; Rasch, 1980; Wright & Masters, 1982) to analyze data from math and literacy assessments, and self-report surveys used in an international evaluation of an educational initiative in the Democratic Republic of …

“The Hidden Door That Leads To Several Moments More”: Finding Context For The Literacy Narrative In First Year Writing, Denise Goldman

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The literacy narrative has emerged as a useful genre in composition pedagogy because of the perceived bridge it provides between personal narrative and academic literacy. Although there remains disagreement among practitioners with regard to its purpose and efficacy, it continues to be a staple in the writing classroom because it has the potential to help students learn analytical skills while fostering investment through the features of a personal narrative. Recent efforts in the field, especially with regard to questions of transfer of writing, have focused on the benefits of genre and community discourse analysis as a means to help students …

Exploring The Experiences And Effectiveness Of Student Loan Entrance Counseling, Manoj Thekkadathu Oommen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student loan debt is one of the most pressing issues in the United States today. The rate of student loan debt in the United States continues to rise year after year, and the country is experiencing a crisis of increased student loan debt. A program that started with a budget of $15 million in 1965 to expand access to higher education has increased exponentially to over $1.5 trillion in student loan debt today. Students are ushered into the college experience often without possessing a firm grasp of basic financial literacy skills. Federal legislation mandates borrowers to take a 30-minute counseling …

Connecting The Dots Between Academic And Social-Emotional Learning With Literacy, Allison Phillippe

Michigan Reading Journal

This article emphasizes the importance of supporting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) with literacy instruction, which could benefit both the academic and emotional success of students in your classroom. Currently in education there is a growing rate of students who have experienced trauma and could greatly benefit from SEL (Price & Ellis, 2018). The ability to incorporate SEL into current literacy instruction can help ensure we are meeting the individual needs of each student. This article will begin by defining SEL and explain its growing importance in education today. Then, it will discuss how social-emotional and academic learning are connected. Finally, …

Impact Of An Emergent Reading Skills Intervention On Letter Recognition And Phoneme Identification In Pre-Kindergarten Children, Laura K. Simmons

LSU Master's Theses

Research in the field of early literacy has demonstrated that letter recognition and phoneme identification are two necessary components of emergent reading skills (Casbergue & Strickland, 2016). Emergent literacy refers to the reading and writing skills that young children develop prior to learning traditional literacy skills and has been linked to increased literacy achievement (Justice & Pullen, 2003). This study focused solely on emergent reading skills. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of a targeted multi-sensory intervention on the emergent reading skills of letter recognition and phoneme identification using a multiple baseline design (Kazdin, 2011). …

Uniting In A Reading Education Course To Support Mental Health Awareness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Latasha Holt, Teesha Finkbeiner

New Jersey English Journal

This article discusses a unique attempt to support pre-service teachers in a reading course as they grappled with abrupt changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A partnership raised awareness of mental health impacting pre-service teachers in the present and serving students in the future improving academic success.

Academic Literacy For Deaf Postsecondary Students Through Integrated Reading And Writing Instruction, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

Based on theoretical findings from the literature on the integration of reading and writing pedagogies used with hearing postsecondary students to advance academic literacy, this article offers a model of instruction for achieving academic literacy in developmental and freshman composition courses composed of deaf students. Academic literacy is viewed as the product of acts of composing in reading and writing which best transpire through reciprocal rather than separate reading and writing activities. Pedagogical practices based on theoretical findings and teacher experience are presented as a model of instruction, exemplified as artifacts in online supplementary materials and juxtaposed with practices used …

Poetry Beyond The Page: A Case For Spoken Word Poetry In Florida's Secondary Classrooms, Sarah Matherly

Senior Honors Theses

Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards, Florida’s most recent K-12 educational standards to promote literacy, lack the rising art of Spoken Word Poetry. However, Florida’s Department of Education should integrate Spoken Word into Florida’s Secondary curriculum. Spoken Word Poetry, by its definition, holds researched benefits that align with the B.E.S.T. Standard’s poetry recommendations and literacy-centered goals. In light of such benefits, Florida’s Department of Education should consider various Spoken Word poets and poems to include in Florida’s Secondary Curriculum, as well as explore the resources and integration methods included in this thesis for both teachers and students.

Teaching Our Past To Preserve Our Future: Ignorance And The Insurrection, Haleigh Jacocks

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

No abstract provided.

Pizza, Pages, And Family Engagement: A Simple Approach To Family Literacy Night, Jennie Baumann

Michigan Reading Journal

Family engagement in schools is a worthy but difficult pursuit. Between scheduling challenges, family needs, and other systemic factors, how can educators encourage family participation? This article details a simple practice using pizza, existing curriculum, and local resources as a way of working smarter to create a culture of family engagement around literacy.

Adaptation Of The Brockton High School Literacy Initiative To Elementary Schools In Jackson County, West Virginia, Sonya Jane White

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Implementing organizational change related to student achievement is a daunting task that requires buy-in, planning and support structures to ensure fidelity of implementation in the classroom over many years. Brockton High School’s Literacy Model demonstrated such a change is possible and sustainable. Elementary schools in Jackson County, West Virginia were given a mandate from their superintendent to implement the Brockton High School Literacy Model in the kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms in their schools. The immediate concern was how to successfully modify or adapt a high school model to be appropriate for students who were still learning to read and …