Education Commons^™

Assessing Writing - What Doesn't Work, But Is Used Anyway, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

This is an excerpt from my book, Johnson, A. (2024). Being and becoming teachers of writing: A meaning-based approach. Routledge. It should be out in March/April of 2024.

https://www.routledge.com/Being-and-Becoming-Teachers-of-Writing-A-Meaning-Based-Approach-to-Authentic/Johnson/p/book/9781032355726

Structured Literacy Is Really Controlled Literacy: Units Of Study Is Not A Balanced Approach, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Literacy Teachers In The Making: A Look At Teacher Candidates’ Experiences As They Tutor Elementary Students, Hannah Carter, Jadelyn Abbott

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher candidates’ perceptions of their first experience teaching literacy. Using a case study design, this research spans two consecutive semesters and investigates 34 teacher candidates’ reflections as they engaged in structured tutoring in a university-based literacy clinic. Qualitative analyses of various reflections revealed that teacher candidates largely focused on planning and delivering quality instruction, understanding students and families, and contemplating what it takes to become a teacher. We found that over the course of the tutoring experience, candidates’ reflections shifted from (1) being micro-focused on details to focused on their student, (2) …

The Five-Step Writing Process, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

This is an excerpt from my book, Johnson, A. (2024). Being and becoming teachers of writing: A meaning-based approach. Routledge. It should be out in March.April of 2024.

https://www.routledge.com/Being-and-Becoming-Teachers-of-Writing-A-Meaning-Based-Approach-to-Authentic/Johnson/p/book/9781032355726

Content Area Language And Literacy, Saadia Ali, Margaret A. Berg

Open Textbooks & Reviews

Content Area Literacy courses have long been a requirement in teacher education programs for pre-service teachers for the secondary level and, sometimes, for the elementary level. The 2020 World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Framework takes a genre approach that aligns well with the traditional Content Area Literacy courses in teacher preparation programs. WIDA argues for an educational approach that fosters (a) equity of opportunity and access, (b) integration of content and language, (c) collaboration among stakeholders, and (d) a functional approach to language development. This textbook examines the elements that make up the Simple View of Reading with adjustments …

Understanding The Virginia Literacy Act, Candace Bechtold, Kimberly Bridges, David Naff, Joan A. Rhodes, Valerie Robnolt, Tara Davison, Suzanne Alexandre, Michael Crusco, Karli Johansen, Amber Butler, Allison Yandle, Jennifer Askue-Collins, Jean Samuel, Sharrie Merritte, Regina Frazier

MERC Publications

This research and policy brief from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) offers an overview of the Virginia Literacy Act. It is structured to explore the following questions: 1) What are the recent trends in reading achievement in Virginia? 2) What are the policy implications of the VLA for Virginia school divisions? 3) What does the research say about Science of Reading (SoR)? 4) What core instructional programs are approved to meet the VLA? It concludes with a series of key takeaways and recommendations.

Click here to listen to our podcast episode on the Virginia Literacy Act and click here …

Exploring Interdisciplinary Literacy Practices Supporting Youth Creativity, Critical Literacy, And Climate Change From An Interdisciplinary Perspective, Thomas W. Bean

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Norfolk, Virginia endures frequent tide- and rain-impacted flooding with king tides and flooding neighborhoods. The heavy rainfall envelops parking lots at the naval airbase, and plans are underway to create barrier sea walls that can be adjusted based on conditions. Given various dire predications for future sea level rise, Old Dominion University has created a “Maritime Consortium” aimed at bringing together interested faculty and students from a range of fields (e.g., oceanography, engineering, education, and other fields). At this stage the focus is on compiling a directory of interested parties. So far regular meetings have been held to learn about …

Research Bibliography For Philippine English (2008–2023), Kingsley Bolton, Priscilla T. Cruz, Isabel P. Martin

English Faculty Publications

The research bibliography presented here is intended to complement the earlier research bibliographies from Bautista on Philippine English (Bautista, 2004; Bautista & Bolton, 2008a). It includes 11 sections dealing with book-length studies of Philippine English, as well as book chapters and journal articles on such topics as code-switching, code-mixing and linguistic hybridization; critical linguistics; discourse analysis; language attitudes and intelligibility; sociolinguistic description; language policies; multilingualism and multilingual education; Philippine literature in English; Philippine English features; and summative perspectives. While the bibliography is essentially contemporary in orientation, this article also emphasizes the foundational contributions of earlier scholars in the field.

A Science Teacher’S Experiences When Fostering Intercultural Competence Among Students In Multilingual Classrooms: A Narrative Study, Uma Ganesan, Amanda R. Morales

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Increased globalization of the world economy, growth in human migration, and rapid devel-opments in science and technology have required people to develop intercultural commu-nication skills. Teachers play a crucial role in developing intercultural competence among students in our globalized, multilingual classrooms. The need for fostering collaborative discourse among students with diverse cultural and linguistic repertoires and building in-tercultural competence among students is a common blind spot in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics teacher praxis. This can inhibit efforts to cultivate safe and supportive learning environments for all students and can ultimately threaten multilingual student success. As part of a larger …

Academic Literacy In Enabling Education Programs In Australian Universities: A Shared Pedagogy, Charmaine Davis, Kathryn Lawson, Lisa Duffy

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Widening participation in higher education has led to the global expansion of universities, increased student and program diversity, and greater provision of flexible pathways into university. Critical to supporting a growing student body is helping all students develop their ability to communicate confidently and effectively in their academic communities. This research employs a collaborative benchmarking framework to explore academic literacy instruction in pathway or ‘enabling’ programs across nine Australian universities. While prevailing assumptions hold that such programs are overly diverse, the findings demonstrate that these programs have developed remarkably similar approaches; in particular, the investigation found that the programs all …

Where Are The Diverse Families In Australian Children’S Literature? Impacts And Consideration For Language And Literacy In The Early Years, Helen Adam, Sally Murphy, Yvonne Urquhart, Katira Ahmed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

A lack of representation of diverse families in children’s books can affirm insecurities and contribute to a sense of “otherness”. This study reports on the representation of family diversity in award-listed Australian children’s picture books. A critical theoretical framework was employed to analyse both texts and images. This study found a lack of diverse family structures in children’s books, especially LGBTIQA+, foster, step and blended families. This paper argues that to ensure inclusive and equitable literacy learning opportunities for all, educators need to go beyond award-listed books when selecting books for early literacy environments.

The Santa Ana Youth Media Project: Ypar And Media Advocacy, Jorge F. Rodriguez

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The Santa Ana Youth Media Project (SAYMP) was born during the summer of 2019 and grew from a need, expressed by youth, for more critical media literacy that could further amplify and focus on narratives that reflect how youth navigate their personal, cultural-social, and economic environments. Our media projects consist of intentional participative research and journalistic designs that document stories using tools such as narrative inquiry, Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and video/media production to visually capture the narratives of youth and community within the city of Santa Ana and its larger Orange County context. Our goal is to develop …

Fashion Around The Francophone World: A 20-Unit Lesson Plan For Teaching Students 7-12 How To Discuss Clothing In French, Justin Solheim

Honors Theses

This paper is the directions for a high school French world language curriculum at the novice-low level. The curriculum covers 20 class periods, or four weeks, and it uses a variety of pedagogical techniques and technologies to help students quickly learn and retain French vocabulary and grammar. Each class period is 40 minutes. The lessons use a variety of assessments and feedback to help students improve and allow the teachers to monitor student achievement. The following lessons focus on forming basic sentences and practicing the basics of subject-verb agreement, while teaching the vocabulary for different types of clothing in the …

An Illuminative Evaluation Of Two Models Of Reading Intervention Used In Middle Schools, Tachier M. Rezac

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Intervention research often investigates the curriculum or methods used to support learners, while less attention is given to the model of those interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two models of reading intervention, and to better understand how they are serving middle school students. Working from a critical pragmatic lens, I employed illuminative evaluation methods to investigate three research questions: (a) What are the demographic profiles of students enrolled in reading intervention in grades seven and eight; (b) What are the differences in gains for students enrolled in the traditional intervention and reading lab …

Challenges Encountered In The Implementation Of The National Literacy Acceleration Program (Nalap) In The Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, Ghana, Julius Arhin-Asamoah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The National Literacy Acceleration Program (NALAP) aims to enhance early grade primary school pupils' literacy rates, yet national evaluations reveal widespread deficiencies in reading proficiency in both the local language and English. This study examines challenges in implementing NALAP in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese district, Ghana, focusing on the teacher and resource-related issues. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed. The study covered 12 basic schools in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese district. In all, 61 respondents comprising 50 teachers and 11 circuit supervisors were involved in the study. The findings highlight teacher-related issues such as inadequate pedagogical practices, low motivation, …

Report Highlights: Evaluation Of Australia's Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Final Report, Debbie Wong, Hilary Hollingsworth, Prue Anderson, Payal Goundar, Agnes Mercer

Education Analytics Service

The Australian Government is supporting the Government of Lao PDR to undertake significant primary education reforms through its flagship Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR program (BEQUAL), including a new primary curriculum. Phase 1 of BEQUAL (2015-22) supported the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to rollout the new primary curriculum in schools, starting with Grade 1 (G1) in 2019. Specific teaching practices were introduced, including active learning, student-centred learning approaches, formative assessment, and a phonics approach to teaching reading. New practices were complemented by face-to-face orientation training and grants in BEQUAL target districts to strengthen communities of …

Report Highlights: Evaluation Of Australia’S Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Interim Report 1 (Lao Version), Hilary Hollingsworth, Debbie Wong, Elizabeth Cassity, Prue Anderson, Jessica Thompson

Education Analytics Service

The Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is undertaking significant primary education reforms, supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through its flagship Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos program (BEQUAL). The Australian Government has commissioned a study to investigate how the BEQUAL program is making a difference to improving teaching quality and student learning outcomes. This research is part of a multi-year study series undertaken by DFAT’s Education Analytics Service to investigate teacher and learning development initiatives in three countries: Lao PDR, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

Evaluation Of Australia's Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Summary Of The 2019 Baseline Report (Lao Version), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Education Analytics Service

In 2019, the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) introduced a new primary education curriculum to improve teaching quality and student learning outcomes. The Government’s Education and Sports Sector Development Plan 2021- 25 focuses on improving teacher knowledge and skills as a means to improve student learning outcomes. This report summarises baseline findings just prior to these significant curriculum changes. These changes are supported by the Australian Government through its Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos (BEQUAL) program. The Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has commissioned a study to investigate how BEQUAL is …

Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series. Evaluation Of Australia’S Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Final Report, Debbie Wong, Hilary Hollingsworth, Prue Anderson, Payal Goundar, Agnes Mercer

Education Analytics Service

The Australian Government is supporting the Government of Lao PDR to undertake significant primary education reforms through its flagship Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR program (BEQUAL). A key focus of these reforms is the rollout of a new national primary curriculum intended to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes for students. As part of a multi-year study series, the Education Analytics Service (EAS) investigated how the BEQUAL program made a difference to improving these teaching and learning outcomes.

Evaluation Of Australia's Investment In Teacher Development In Lao Pdr: Summary Of The 2019 Baseline Report, Yung Nietschke, Anna Dabrowski Phd, Aris Huang, Jeaniene Spink

Education Analytics Service

In 2019, the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) introduced a new primary education curriculum to improve teaching quality and student learning outcomes. The Government’s Education and Sports Sector Development Plan 2021- 25 focuses on improving teacher knowledge and skills as a means to improve student learning outcomes. This report summarises baseline findings just prior to these significant curriculum changes. These changes are supported by the Australian Government through its Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos (BEQUAL) program. The Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has commissioned a study to investigate how BEQUAL is …

Ecuadorian English Teachers’ Perspectives On Their Professional Development, Consuelo Marisol Gallardo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ecuadorian English Teachers’ Perspectives on Their Professional Development, Consuelo Gallardo, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, 2023

Professional development (PD) plays an important role in one’s ability to perform at a high level in a job (Mizell, 2010). As such, an increased emphasis on ongoing and varied PD opportunities to support educator’s professional growth has been described as an effective approach since it pays direct dividends for teachers’ self-efficacy and prepares them to help students surpass basic academic standards (Anderson, 2018; Borg, 2018; Tanveer et al., 2021).

However, PD opportunities for English teachers, who work at Ecuadorian public high schools (grades 8-13), …

High-Growth Elementary Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights elementary schools across the state whose students demonstrated high growth on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2023 in Math and ELA courses which include English, Writing, and Reading. Each table in this section presents the Top 20 schools for the noted subject area and school level. In addition, these tables include the region in which the schools are located, the grades served at the school, the weighted achievement score, and the content growth score in that particular subject. The level of the schools, …

"I'M Really Just Scared Of The White Parents": A Teacher's Perceptions Of Barriers To Discussing Racial Injustice, Shimikqua Elece Ellis, Christian Goering

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose - This study explores the perceived barriers that a Secondary English teacher faced when attempting to discuss racial injustice through young adult literature in Mississippi.

Design/methodology/approach- The authors rely on Critical Whiteness Studies and qualitative methods to explore the following research question: What are the barriers that a White ELA teacher perceives when teaching about racial injustice through The Hate U Give?

Findings- The authors found that there were several perceived barriers to discussing modern racial injustice in the Mississippi ELA classroom. The participating teacher indicated the following barriers: a lack of racial literacy, fears of discomfort, and an …

The Bilingual Literacy Development Model: A Holistic Way To Support Spanish-Speaking Children, Stephanie Wessels

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In the Bilingual Literacy Development Model: A holistic way to support Spanish-speaking children research study, I studied bilingual families over a 5-month period in their home environments through home visits. Drawing from data obtained through home visits, including interviews with mothers and observations of family literacy practices in the home environment, this study examines children’s bilingual literacy development. The findings are presented in an adapted Bilingual Literacy Development Model I created. The model was adapted from the work of researchers Leseman and de Jong (1998) and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system (1977, 1995), from which four facets were developed: literacy and …

Verb Strings And Other Weavings: An Exploration Of Grammatical Structures, Visual Arts, And Language Teaching, Mae Bash

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In language education, visual arts are sometimes used as a tool to inspire communication and convey cultural concepts. However, limited research has looked into the application of visual arts in the classroom for the exploration of linguistic patterns. Both languages and weavings are complex systems governed by distinct sets of rules, yet they still permit infinite unique productions. This project explores this relationship by presenting five bandweavings, each of which is designed based on the rules and structures of different languages. These weavings show that it is possible to connect art and language through practical, structural methods, not only abstract …

Creating Diverse And Engaging World Language Communities With(Out) Textbooks, Lucian Rothe, Jordan Gabbard

Faculty Scholarship

Textbooks have been a staple in many world language (WL) programs for decades. But how do current higher education efforts to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning spaces affect the use of commercial textbooks in WL classes? This report presents how a small German program at a large metropolitan university in the Southern United States redeveloped its program goals and materials to create engaging communities, address matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and adjust program practices based on constant evaluation. In doing so, it reflects on how textbooks have (not) been able to contribute to these objectives. Implications speak …

Word Choice: A Neglected But Key Skill For Ell Writers, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

With all of the urgent, critical issues confronting education in general, and literacy practices in particular, why write a column on something as obscure as word choice? Word choice (sometimes called vocabulary choice or diction) often drops to the bottom of the “To Do” list for English as a Second Language (ESL), English, bilingual, and language arts teachers. Even when teachers are able to focus on writing to begin with (writing development is often the first thing cut when lessons run over), teachers of English language learners (ELLs) are too preoccupied with teaching grammar, spelling, organization, syntax, genres, and building …

Explaining Students’ Attitudes Towards A Sustainable Future: Evidence From Sea-Plm 2019 Data, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Petra Lietz

Global education monitoring

This report, published by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Centre, discusses how students’ attitudes towards global issues are now crucial more than ever to build a sustainable world for future generations. The first section describes why students’ attitudes towards school and learning are important and how they are linked to the Educational Prosperity Framework (Willms & Tramonte, 2015). The second section highlights the literature about the key factors which can influence students’ attitudes towards school and learning and how they are related to students’ attitudes towards sustainable development. The third section discusses the methods used for analysing the relationships between …

Emi (English-Medium Instruction) In Cambodian Higher Education, Benedict Lin, Kingsley Bolton, John Bacon-Shone, Bophan Khan

English Faculty Publications

This article is based on empirical research carried out at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Cambodia, between 2018 and 2019. The research involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches. In the case of the former, the researchers conducted a large-scale survey of students involving 956 respondents, of whom 79 were postgraduate students, while the overwhelming majority were studying at the undergraduate level. The qualitative data collected in this project comprised detailed interviews with undergraduates studying at RUPP. The results of both types of data collection indicated that, although many students faced difficulties in studying through the medium of English, …

Emi (English-Medium Instruction) In Indonesian Higher Education, Kingsley Bolton, Christopher Hill, John Bacon-Shone, Karen Peyronnin

English Faculty Publications

This article reports on the investigation of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Indonesian higher education. Two separate but related studies were carried out. In Phase One, a mixed method approach using a questionnaire and interviews was used at a private university in Jakarta in order to gauge the responses of undergraduates studying a range of subjects through English. The results of Phase One suggested that the students at this university generally had high levels of proficiency in English and coped rather well with EMI. Phase Two of the study involved interviewing 17 educators across multiple institutions, and the results of this …