Education Commons^™

Culturally Responsive Identity Project For A High School English Language Arts Classroom, Monique A. Plaster

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project is, what is necessary to empower and engage students in high school ELA classrooms to allow them to express themselves? It documents one teacher’s creation of an eight-week english language arts curriculum unit that will offer a method to engage students in self-discovery, self-expression, and cultural acceptance. The curriculum focuses on the concept of identity and integrates project-based learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and Understanding by Design, based on Wiggins and McTighe’s (2011) framework. The author documents the details of the unit and uses related research literature to construct meaning and validate the creation …

Heroes Like Harvey Milk: Using Lgbtq-Themed Literature To Promote Critical Literacy And Social Justice In Fifth Grade English Language Arts And Social Studies, Jamie Carmack

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this curriculum development project is to help practicing English Language Arts and Social Studies teachers in grade 5 construct and develop content-area curriculums that reinforce and support both critical literacy and social justice pedagogical frameworks for teaching and learning. This particular curriculum development project also addresses the ways in which English Language Arts and Social Studies teachers in grade 5 can use LGBTQ-themed curricular materials to not only promote critical literacy and social justice frameworks for teaching and learning but to also meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010) for English Language Arts, Ohio’s Learning Standards …

Collaborative Writing For Publication In Undergraduate Literature Seminars, Ellen Scheible

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Collaborative Writing for Publication in Undergraduate Literature Seminars

Memes As Means: Using Popular Culture To Enhance The Study Of Literature, Pamela Hartman, Jessica Berg, Hannah R. Fulton, Brandon Schuler

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Artistic response is the process by which readers create concrete representations of their transactions with a text through artistic means, including visual arts (e.g. drawing, sculpture, and painting), drama, and music. Research has shown that artistic response helps students form meaningful relationships with texts, as it is a tool that encourages students to enter, explore, make connections, and enjoy stories and characters. In this article we describe an artistic response strategy that we developed and implemented. Recognizing that today’s students often know and interact with the world through social media and memes, we draw on this cultural tool to leverage …

The Motivational Impact Of A Digital Student Response Tool During Text-Dependent Writing Instruction In A Concurrent Middle School Classroom, Lisa Marie Cobb

Theses and Dissertations

While the Common Core State Standards initiated the instructional shift that promoted technology to achieve a student-centered, process-oriented blended reading and writing classroom, the COVID 19 pandemic demanded innovative technology applications in K-12 public schools. This qualitative, phenomenological action research study explored the motivational effects of a digital student response system tool used to facilitate reading and writing instruction in a seventh-grade ELA concurrent classroom. Overall, using a student response tool to facilitate the text-dependent writing process positively impacted students’ self-determination.

Incorporating a digital student response tool as a facet of a formative assessment system promoted the efficient use of …

One Size Does Not Fit All: Addressing Adolescents’ Needs For Historically And Culturally Responsive English Language Arts Curriculum, Angela Mckellar

Culminating Experience Projects

In recent years, education initiatives have aimed to link school and teacher effectiveness to secondary students’ performance on standardized testing. Consequently, many schools have adapted curriculum to prepare students for the test. As a result, many publishers have filled a need by providing packaged or scripted curriculum seeking to streamline the education process. This project explores the ways in which English Language Arts (ELA) standardized curriculum influences secondary students’ motivation and teachers’ autonomy. An effective ELA curriculum must meet the diverse needs of all students and allow for teacher autonomy to modify curriculum when and where needed. To meet adolescent …

Essential Practices For Disciplinary Literacy Instruction In Secondary Classrooms, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

This article describes the role of student-centered, problem-based instruction, and it offers practical tips and resources for secondary English Language Arts educators in using effective problem frames for units of instruction.

Big Kids Need Books Too: Lessons Learned From Building Classroom Libraries At The Secondary Level, Jenelle Williams, Megan Kortlandt

Michigan Reading Journal

This article is intended to describe the rationale and process of creating and effectively using classroom libraries in middle- and high-school English Language Arts classrooms. The authors connect theory to practice, using research to guide decisions about book selection and teacher professional development that takes into account the unique affordances and constraints of using classroom libraries at the secondary level. Additionally, the authors include considerations for the current reality of remote, virtual, and blended learning scenarios.

The Role Of The Economy In Changing The Achievement Gap Between Different Racial And Ethnic 8th Grade Students’ English Language Arts Test Scores, Dominique Limprevil-Divers

Theses and Dissertations

There is a large achievement gap in literacy between Black and White students in the United States that has been found to be mostly due to both differing learning opportunities as well as to income levels. Meanwhile, much of the research on academic performance has focused on race with less attention on the income of the school neighborhood zip code as a mediating factor in test outcomes for racial/ethnic students. This research investigated trends in English Language Arts test scores compared to income in the surrounding communities among New York City schools’ racial/ethnic groups of middle school students; also, whether …