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Full-Text Articles in Education

Breaking Through The Noise: Literacy Teachers In The Face Of Accountability, Evaluation, And Reform, Catherine M. Kelly, Sara E. Miller, Karen Kleppe Graham, Chelsey M. Bahlmann Bollinger, Sherry Sanden, Michael Mcmanus Oct 2019

Breaking Through The Noise: Literacy Teachers In The Face Of Accountability, Evaluation, And Reform, Catherine M. Kelly, Sara E. Miller, Karen Kleppe Graham, Chelsey M. Bahlmann Bollinger, Sherry Sanden, Michael Mcmanus

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In an era of increased accountability, it is important to understand how exemplary teachers navigate the demands placed on them by their schools, districts, and states in order to support student learning aligned with their beliefs of effective instruction. To understand these negotiations, tensions facing exemplary literacy teachers were examined through a qualitative interview study. Participants included nineteen experienced PK-6th grade teachers from across the U.S. Results of the study indicate that teachers experience discrepancies between their beliefs and state and local mandates, and they discuss a variety of strategies for negotiating these discrepancies. Findings suggest that schools can support …


The Impact Of External Audience On Second Graders' Writing Quality, Meghan K. Block, Stephanie L. Strachan Oct 2019

The Impact Of External Audience On Second Graders' Writing Quality, Meghan K. Block, Stephanie L. Strachan

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The overarching purpose of writing is to communicate; as such, the intended audience is a critical consideration for writers. However, elementary school writing instruction commonly neglects the role of the audience. Typically, children are asked to compose a piece of text without a specific audience that is usually evaluated by the classroom teacher. Previous studies have found a relationship between audience specification and higher quality writing among older children; this study examines the impact of audience specification on young children’s writing. Using a within-subjects design, the study compared writing quality when second-grade students wrote for internal versus external audiences and …


Writing Across Campus: Using Authentic Writing Experiences To Help Pre-Service Teachers Learn To Teach Writing, Jennifer A. Knight, Meghan K. Block Aug 2019

Writing Across Campus: Using Authentic Writing Experiences To Help Pre-Service Teachers Learn To Teach Writing, Jennifer A. Knight, Meghan K. Block

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study demonstrates the impact asynchronous discussion boards had on cross-college preservice teachers writing and writing instruction understanding. Participants from two universities in writing methods courses participated in discussion boards to learn about writing instruction. Students in the groups not only asked higher-level depth of knowledge questions to each other, but they also began to focus their responses and comments about their future teaching and instructional practices. Students built a stronger community of writers than students in previous courses that read, responded, and replied to peers.


A Window Into Practice: Examining Elementary Writing Methods Instruction, Judy H. Paulick, Joy Myers, Alexa Quinn, Lori Couch, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Holly H. Robbins, Haley Sigler, Allison Ward-Parsons Mar 2019

A Window Into Practice: Examining Elementary Writing Methods Instruction, Judy H. Paulick, Joy Myers, Alexa Quinn, Lori Couch, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Holly H. Robbins, Haley Sigler, Allison Ward-Parsons

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

We know very little about what happens in elementary literacy methods courses, particularly those that focus on writing instruction. In this study, we offer a window into writing methods instruction, examining three pedagogies of practice used by experienced teacher educators (TEs) across one U.S. state —representations, decompositions, and approximations of practice (Grossman, Compton, Igra, Ronfeldt, Shahan, & Williamson, 2009). We found a variety of ways that instructors use these pedagogies of practice, both in isolation and in combination, in their instruction. We provide implications and suggestions for the support and development of elementary writing methods TEs.


Writing Conference Purpose And How It Positions Primary-Grade Children As Authoritative Agents Or Passive Observers, Lisa K. Hawkins Mar 2019

Writing Conference Purpose And How It Positions Primary-Grade Children As Authoritative Agents Or Passive Observers, Lisa K. Hawkins

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

A common practice in today’s primary-grade classrooms, teacher-student writing conferences are considered a vital component of instruction by accomplished writing teachers and advocates of process writing. Moreover, what teachers say and how they say it shapes those opportunities for student learning that are possible in classrooms. As such, building an understanding of the talk that ensues during primary-grade writing conferences, those purposes that such talk serves overall, and the significance of its pedagogical appropriateness is essential. Findings from a multiple-case study of conference enactment in both a kindergarten and a first-grade classroom illuminate the varying degrees of authoritative and dialogic …


Military Deployment In A Family: Children’S Literature As A Basis For Counseling Support, Aimee Tubbs, Ellie L. Young, Melissa A. Heath, Tina T. Dyches Mar 2019

Military Deployment In A Family: Children’S Literature As A Basis For Counseling Support, Aimee Tubbs, Ellie L. Young, Melissa A. Heath, Tina T. Dyches

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The authors summarize 30 children’s books that tell stories of a family member’s military deployment in order to identify books that could be used in bibliotherapy for children impacted by deployment. In this sample of books, the main characters are most commonly portrayed as feeling sad about a family member’s deployment. The most prevalent coping strategies are finding ways to stay connected to the deployed person and talking with an adult. An unexpected finding was a coping strategy of expressing pride in the family member’s military service.