Education Commons^™

Beyond The Language-Literature Divide: Advanced Pedagogy For Training Graduate Students, Heather W. Allen

Heather Willis Allen

In this article, my objectives are 1) to discuss current practices and challenges related to the professional development of graduate students in foreign language departments as teachers; and 2) to provide a rationale for and description of a graduate seminar that serves to prepare future professors to develop students' analytical, critical, and argumentative capacities in the advanced undergraduate curriculum. It is my hope to encourage further discussion of integrative approaches to teaching foreign language at all levels by providing a concrete example of how graduate student professional development can include issues of language in advanced courses. A one-semester advanced foreign …

Enhancing Students' Science Content Knowledge Through Text Structure Awareness, Jamie Lynn Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teaching text structure as a tool to assist first grade students' understanding of science content in a unit of study on plants. A quantitative analysis was performed to reveal any difference in mean post-test scores between a control group and a treatment group. Results indicated that the treatment group students' science content knowledge was increased significantly more than students in the control group. Usage of specific text structure keywords did not increase. However, students did use synonyms of keywords. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

Using A Balanced Reading And Spelling Approach To Enhance The “Spell To Write To Read” Program For Preschool To Fifth Grade, Dawn A. Heer

All Graduate Projects

Reading is the foundation of much that society aspires to, even now in the age of technology. The teacher plays a key role in facilitating the learning of reading in an elementary school. By using a balanced reading approach through the use of spelling, phonics, writing and language, teachers will be able to apply user-friendly principles of reading with the curriculum, Spell to Write to Read. A handbook will be used to present this information during a workshop for teachers and para-professionals of preschool to fifth grade students.

Preservice Literacy Teachers In Transition: Identity As Subjectivity, Mindy Legard Larson

Faculty Publications

This research addresses the complexities of identity development of elementary and middle school preservice literacy teachers during their teacher education program using a poststructural feminist theoretical lens. This research investigated two questions: 1) How do preservice teachers develop their identity as teachers of literacy in the midst of authoritative discourses? 2) What kinds of strategies and discourses do preservice literacy teachers use to negotiate the competing discourses of literacy during student teaching? The results indicated that the identities of the preservice literacy teachers were in transition during their teacher education program and authoritative discourses were at work constituting their subjectivities …

Synthesizing Synthesis: A Unique Step Beyond Summary, Melissa A. Leblanc

Honors Projects

Analyzes the concept of synthesis, often referred to as a higher order thinking skill or an advanced form of reading comprehension strategy, and how the ability to synthesize can be incorporated into classroom and everyday life. Compares a survey of professionals to a model of how synthesis works to help generate methods for teaching students/thinkers to synthesize.

Writing Across The Curriculum: Designing Science Lessons Using The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences To Promote Literacy, Bonita E. Flournoy, Ollie Manley

Perspectives In Learning

As science teacher educators, whose task is to facilitate learning for teachers of science, we impress upon our pre-service teachers to engage their students in writing activities to promote literacy in science. One of the issues that our teachers frequently express in class is that students don’t like to read their textbooks or engage in traditional writing exercises. As we work with these pre-service teachers we assist them with developing a repertoire of strategies that can be used to engage students in reading and writing as they learn science. One way to actively engage students in reading and writing is …

An Opportunity Gap: Focusing On The Issue Of Boys’ Underachievement In School Literacy, Whitney Ann Cromwell

All Graduate Projects

Male students statistically have not been as successful as females on standardized test scores or literacy activities. The discrepancy between literacy achievement between boys and girls at the elementary level is cause for concern. This gap between the literacy achievement of girls and boys will continue unless we change the way we teach. "All educators share the common goal of providing equitable learning opportunities for every student in the classroom. Providing equitable opportunities for girls is a familiar topic; providing them for boys is a relatively recent issue, but one that is appearing with increasing urgency on education agendas around …

A Guidebook Of Resources And Interactive Literacy Activities For Use By Parents With Primary Students, Cheryl Ann Youngblood

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create a home Literacy Guidebook to increase children's reading and writing skills. By encouraging parental support at home through the use of children's literature and relevant activities, the lessons are intended to make learning fun and meaningful for children and their parents. Research reviewed supported the significance of the parents' role in literacy development at home and at school. Parents who read to their children and practice related activities contribute to their children's success in school. The guidebook includes children's literature selections, book lists for future readings, step-by-step instructions to guide parents through …

Improving Reading Acquisition In Elementary Boys, Rachel Ann Stork

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a guide for teachers and parents to improve reading acquisition in elementary-aged boys. The project will summarize current research and a brochure gives practical solutions for education professionals and parents to help increase the interest and acquisition of elementary boys in reading. Current literature and research shows an alarming problem in elementary boys' reading acquisition. This project analyzes best practices, brain research, and parent involvement that lead to improved literacy acquisition in elementary-age boys.

Research Digest Edition 2007/1 : Writing To Learn, Marion Meiers, Pat Knight

Research Digest

This edition of the Research Digest summarises key research studies that provide evidence of the potential of writing-to-learn approaches in improving student learning in a range of subject areas. The research tells us that writing-to-learn strategies can be used by any teacher, in all subject areas, and at all levels of schooling. Throughout the digest there are descriptions of a range of writing-to-learn strategies that demonstrate possibilities for classroom practice. This research digest is based on searches of a number of databases and bibliographic resources, including the Australian Education Index, ERIC, Education Research Complete, British Education Index and Scopus. The …

A Reading Apprenticeship Model For Improving Literacy: A Pre-Service Teacher Case Study, Divonna M. Stebick, Diana J. Pool, Jonelle Pool

Education Faculty Publications

A major challenge of today's standards-based assessment movement targets the need to address and improve the achievement of struggling readers. As teacher education programs must prepare content teachers to address the challenges of teaching students who lack reading skills, we need to prepare out pre-service teachers to help students make meaning while reading any text. To accomplish such a goal, comprehension instruction must be explicit, direct, and effective. As VanDeWeghe (2004b) notes, even though students may still need development as readers at the secondary level, there may be confusion surrounding where reading instruction is addressed in the secondary curriculum. After …

Reading At Risk, Mark Y. Herring

Dacus Library Faculty Publications

Reading may be in jeopardy as we advance along the information superhighway. Is literacy to be technology's first roadkill?

Educational Levels And Political Literacy: The Case Of Adults Enrolled In The Inea Program In El Paso,Texas, Carolina Pallares

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The political socialization process is ever-present in our daily lives. Traditional academic philosophies contend that one needs a formal education to achieve a high state of political awareness. This study challenges that traditional belief by proving that adults with little or no formal education can demonstrate a high level of political awareness.

The purpose of this study is to show that, absent a formal traditional education, individuals may be politically active and have an understanding of complex political issues. In order to test this hypoThesis, I interviewed participants enrolled in the Instituto Nacional de Educación para los Adultos, …

Phonological Awareness Instruction: Opinions And Practices Of Educators And Speech-Language Pathologists In West Virginia, Melinda J. Daniel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Research has shown phonological awareness to be a strong predictor of literacy. To support literacy development, a phonological awareness project was piloted in several West Virginia schools in 2001. This study compared WV educators based on employment setting (schools participating and those not participating in the phonological awareness project) and professional category (classroom teacher, reading specialist, speech-language pathologist) on answers to survey questions related to phonological awareness. Results showed no significant relationships between employment setting and responses. However, reading specialists reported spending more minutes per week providing phonological awareness instruction to children at risk for reading difficulty than did speech-language …

An Examination Of The Interaction Between Exemplary Teachers And Struggling Writers, Betty Ruth Sylvester

Education Faculty Publications

This study examined the interactions between teachers of writing and struggling writers. There were two main research questions: (1) What is the nature of the interaction between exemplary teachers of writing and struggling writers? (2) What arethe responses of struggling writers to exemplary teachers' scaffolding? To answer these questions, qualitative analysis was conducted on data. Two struggling writers were selected for the study based on their responses to the Writers Self-Perception Scale,writing samples, and teacher recommendation. Data collection included observation in two separate fourth grade classrooms during the writing block for 30 days. Data sources included audio-recording of writing instruction …

Becoming A Teacher Of Literacy: The Struggle Between Authoritative Discourses, Mindy Legard Larson, Donna Kalmbach Phillips

Faculty Publications

This study describes and analyzes the influence of an ideological conflict between a teacher education program and a school district upon one pre-service teacher’s emerging identity as a teacher of literacy. Using poststructural feminism as the theoretical framework and a single case study analysis, the study illustrates how the discourse of the school district’s scripted reading program and the discourse of the university’s comprehensive literacy positions Claire, the pre-service teacher. The data analysis demonstrates how being positioned between these two competing and authoritative discourses conflicts with her understanding of reading and reading instruction. Reflecting upon the data, the research becomes …

Prepared To Teach : An Investigation Into The Preparation Of Teachers To Teach Literacy And Numeracy, William Louden, Mary Rohl, Jennifer Gore, Daryl Greaves, Alistair Mcintosh, Robert White, Dianne Siemon, Helen House

Research outputs pre 2011

Teacher education in Australia is a large and diverse enterprise. There are more than 400 programs in 36 universities, enrolling a total of about 35,000 preservice teachers (DEST, 2003).

The labour market for newly graduating teachers, pattern of entry to teacher education, the range of courses offered, the place of literacy and numeracy in those courses, and the provision of school experience influence the quality of beginning teachers' literacy and numeracy teaching.

Putting Children In Charge Of Reading, Genan Anderson

Genan Anderson

Practical curriculum and family involvement ideas for preschool teachers to use to encourage and facilitate literacy and literature skills in children

The Literacy Lexicon, Susan Statkus

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Geoff Bull & Michele Anstey (eds) (2002). The Literacy Lexicon Second Edition, Prentice Hall.

The Role Of Nifl Content Standards And Casas Competencies In An Esl Adult Education Teacher’S Course Development, Mary Anne Sullivan

MA TESOL Collection

This project explores the relevance of the National Institute of Literacy (NIFL) Equipped for the Future (EFF) Content Standards to an Adult Education ESL Teacher’s course development and the prioritization of the CASAS competencies in an Adult Education ESL Teacher’s course development. It examines their role among other sources of input for teacher course development. And finally it concludes that the degree of implementation of the EFF Content Standards and CASAS competencies is dependent on the appropriateness to the context.

Nine Complementary Principles To Retain Adults In An Esol/Literacy Program, Edmund T. Hamann

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

The following list of principles is my attempt to share general recommendations to teachers of ESOL and/or limited literacy adults based on my specific practice running a bilingual family literacy program and confirmed by my more recent experience as a volunteer bilingual literacy teacher at the Asociación Latinoamericana (in Atlanta). Though I believe in bilingual classroom environments, I think the principles identified here are also pertinent to monolingual ESL environments.

How To Read Aloud To Deaf Children And Young Adults, Sue Livingston, Maureen Collins

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Who Is Teaching Our Children To Spell? The Literacy Crisis In Teacher Education., Owen F. Watts

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Anyone engaged in marking student essays at tertiary level today cannot fail but to be aware of the increasing inability of students to express themselves in grammatically correct and cogent argument. The problem is even more serious when is prevalent among those students who are studying to become teachers. Lists of "school-boy howlers" derived from the students' essays are no longer funny, rather they are symptomatic of a crisis in literacy that is facing the educational systems of the nation. Testing of students within the Faculty of Education at Curtin University has shown that passes in Year 12 English examinations …

Critical Thinking In Reading: A Whole Language Approach, Deborah Anne Adkins

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The importance of good instruction in reading education has long been recognized. What constitutes good instruction and what materials should be used have been the focus of much debate, however, over the years. Two relatively new movements in education have recently added fuel to that debate, namely the movements in critical thinking and whole language. The fundamental purpose of the thinking skills movement is the development of higher level thinking in students. In the area of reading this means that students should be challenged by questions and problems in literature which cause them to go beyond a literal understanding. They …

A Second Chance: Meeting The Needs Of Adult Learners, Elizabeth F. Fideler

New England Journal of Public Policy

Changing demographics and economic factors are focusing national attention on adult learning as a major resource for solving many of the nation 's social and economic dilemmas. However, adult learners, the poor especially, face obstacles to educational advancement even where tuition is waived or incentive grants are given. Despite the considerable recent growth of adult education, the vast number of those who need it the most are not as yet participating. This article examines adult-education practices and participation in general — in the areas of literacy, occupational education, and higher learning — and conditions in Massachusetts in particular. It explains …

Teaching Esl Literacy To The Functionally Illiterate Adult: Using Language Experience And Words In Color, Kimberly Gerould

MA TESOL Collection

This thesis attempts to arrive at a personal approach to teaching reading in English as a second language to functionally illiterate adults in a multilingual ESL classroom. There is a brief review of some of the research on teaching reading and on the reading process, as well as a review of the major teaching reading methodologies. Two approaches to teaching reading, the Language Experience Approach and Words in Color, are then focused on. The author suggests ways in which these two approaches can be adapted to the adult ESL classroom and integrated with other approaches. Finally, a series of concrete …

An Esl Program With Laotian Refugees, Patricia A. Ryan-Croes

MA TESOL Collection

This project is a report on an ESL program developed for and taught to a Laotian couple who arrived in Brattleboro, Vermont in December 1979. The program took place from January to March 1980. The purpose of this report is to present and discuss issues, incidents, suggestions and conclusions regarding the teaching of ESL to Laotian refugees which may be helpful to program organizers and teachers.

The first part of the report details the refugee couple's background before their arrival in Brattleboro. Next is a description of the process of organizing the program and establishing the classroom procedure. This is …

Methods And Materials For Esl Literacy, Ann Ebersole Strauch

MA TESOL Collection

Literacy education for adolescents and adults has been a perplexing problem for ESL teachers, who are generally unprepared for this specific type of instruction. Materials designed for native-English speakers are not suitable for ESL literacy instruction, and teacher-training institutions are not providing preparation for ESL literacy for prospective ESL teachers. Furthemore, very little research has been done on ESL literacy. In spite of this dearth of information and lack of suitable didactic materials available, substantial numbers of nonliterate students are seeking ESL instruction. This thesis addresses the need for methods and materials specifically intended for ESL literacy instruction.

Library research …