Introduction From The Editor, Jenny M. Martin

Virginia English Journal

No abstract provided.

Simplified But Not The Same: Tracing Numeracy Events Through Manually Simplified Newsela Articles, Ellen C. Agnello

Numeracy

New York-based education startup Newsela has quickly gained popularity with K-12 educators in the six years since its launch. Its website boasts that it serves 90% of schools in the United States including the 1.5 million teachers they employ and their 20 million students. But what makes it so popular? Teachers are drawn to its Common Core-aligned informational texts which facilitate content-area connections while exposing students to important current events. Likely the most appealing aspect of the platform is its compatibility with differentiation, as it makes available five iterations of each article at varying levels of complexity or Lexile which …

Using Hip-Hop Culture To Engage In Culturally Relevant Literacy Instruction, Mokysha D. Benford, Jacqueline D. Smith

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

The COVID-19 pandemic along with Black Lives Matter have both cast a spotlight on inequities that exist racially, and the glaring disparities in the digital divide that exist in our culture today. With student demographics changing across the nation, these issues have created a need for educators to effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population that is and continues to change. Schools and classrooms need to be culturally responsive using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and learning styles of diverse students to make learning more engaging and effective more than ever. Culturally responsive literacy instruction bridges the gap …

Exploring Actions Toward Supporting English Language Learners In A Rural Remote Secondary Setting, Annamarie Valdez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ESL students make a small population in rural, remote secondary schools. One ESL student can have a profound impact on the academic measures taken on state accountability tests. The gap between an ESL student’s achievement and that of native English-speaking peers is disproportionate. The actions of principals and campus leaders directly impact the teacher’s ability to support English language learners’ (ELL) ESL needs. A problem exists on what principals and campus leaders can do to help ESL students’ needs in a rural, remote secondary setting. The purpose of this exploratory single case study was to identify the actions campus leaders …

Enhancing Cultural And Linguistic Responsiveness In Argument Writing Pedagogy Through Effective Adaptations For English Learners: Insights From C3wp Resource Analysis And Three Experienced Teachers’ Practices, Katelyn Walsh, Katey Robinson, Rachel Deacon, Zuzana Tomaš

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article examines recommended adaptations for English Learners (ELs) in the nationally-recognized C3WP argument writing program through the lens of effective EL literacy practices and culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy. We present an analysis of C3WP EL tips and EL notices and argue that when evaluated from the second language literacy and linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy perspectives, the C3WP program could be enhanced by adding guidance for 1) specific instructional supports designed to increase ELs’ access to the resources and 2) helping teachers leverage these learners’ multicultural and multilinguistic capital. To help imagine how such effective additional guidance could …

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 …

In Community With Students As Changemakers, Robyn Orozco

Claremont Graduate University School of Education Teacher Education

The purpose of reflection is to analyze experiences in order to raise questions, decide what works best, and be in a constant state of learning and growing as a person. This ethnography is a written account of my journey as a first year teacher and social justice educator in which I share stories, artifacts, and ongoing reflection of myself and my teaching practice. Through this reflection, I explore my background and positionality, connections made with students, and sensemaking of various practices in my classroom. In addition, I describe our shared class experience of examining social issues and the power of …

Letter From The Editor, Shannon Tovey

Georgia Journal of Literacy

Editorial by Shannon Tovey, Editor-in-Chief

A Comparison Between Preschool Teachers’ Read-Aloud Techniques With Fictional And Informational Picture Books In Small Groups, Ariel Robinson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Relatively little is known about preschool teachers’ read-aloud techniques with informational picture books. The purpose of this investigation was to identify similarities and differences between preschool teachers’ read-aloud techniques with fictional stories, which are commonly read in preschool, and informational texts. Instrumental case study and purposive sampling were employed to investigate the reading techniques of two White female teachers in one preschool classroom as they read in small groups with children two-and-a-half to five years old. In terms of similarities across genres, teachers made personal connections, prompted children to interpret pictures, used multimodal instruction, and differentiated instruction. In terms of …

Teachers’ Perspectives About Students’ Productive Textual Engagement In Social Studies, Jacquelynn S. Popp, Paula Di Domenico, Joanna Makhlouf

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Because close reading and critical analysis of multiple sources is central to social studies, understanding teachers’ perspectives about productive textual engagement is imperative. This comparative study explored twelve 5ththrough 11th-grade social studies teachers’ perspectives about supporting students’ textual engagement via think-aloud interviews. Teacher-participants read hypothetical vignettes representing four paradigms of instruction with texts in social studies classrooms. Participants ranked the vignettes, provided reasoning about their value, and reflected on their own practices in relation to the paradigms. Participants placed higher value on fostering students’ historical literacies and civic literacies than on supporting students’ content-area literacies or traditional content acquisition. There …

"Are We Excavating Today?" A Portrait Of Vocabulary-Enhanced Intervention Practices, Deborah Kardane

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This case study focused on the design and implementation of a third-grade vocabulary-enhanced reading intervention for below grade–level readers. The activities aimed to simultaneously engage students in tending to phonological, orthographic, syntactical, and semantic elements of new vocabulary words while also taking into account the vital role that collaboration and social interaction play in student learning. Descriptive statistics were integrated with qualitative methods focusing on language use in order to paint a complete portrait of students’ and teachers’ experiences with revised instructional practices. Findings suggest vocabulary instruction in an intervention setting can encourage student collaboration and social interaction while providing …

Editorial Review Board Vol. 60 Issue 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

(Re)Defining Writing Instruction: Implementing An Anti-Racist Approach To Writing Instruction And Assessment In The Secondary English Classroom, Emily Wisniewski

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The traditional writing workshop model and assessment practices commonly used in secondary classrooms are systematically racist and harmful to the development of young writers. To counter the damaging effects of racially discriminatory practices in secondary writing classrooms, educators must review and redefine their pedagogical approaches to create a safe, anti-racist environment for all students. By centering the scholarship of Felicia Rose Chavez and Asao Inoue, this thesis establishes a model of anti-racist pedagogy in the secondary classroom to help educators dismantle white supremacy in writing instruction and assessment so that students are empowered to find their voices without the fear …

Understanding Competency Based Learning For Reading Literacy, Sri Aurobindo Society, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER India

Competency-based learning, unlike curriculum-based learning, emphasizes a student-centred approach to education. It is heavily driven by experience and discovery rather than lecture and memorization. The focus of competency-based learning is on what students understand and how they apply what they learn in real-life situations rather than what they remember. This learning framework for reading literacy is an effort to introduce competency-based learning to classroom teaching and learning in India to prepare Indian students for the rapidly changing future. It provides resources that can be used by schools and teachers for supporting secondary school students to acquire reading literacy and is …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions Of Benchmark Reading Assessments, Marie N. Derby Ed. D.

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Abstract

This study examined the case of 22 mid-Atlantic K-5 public school teachers’ conceptions of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment Systems 1-3. The Namaste School District delivers ELA curriculum through reader’s and writer’s workshop. Triangulated data showed that participants held varying conceptions of the F&P. Specifically, they shared similar conceptions regarding the importance of one-on-one time with students, the amount of time it takes to administer the assessment, and the subjectivity of the F&P results. Results of this study provided similar results to other studies of teachers’ conceptions of assessment and adds to the literature debate regarding …

The Exclusive White World Of Preservice Teachers’ Book Selection For The Classroom: Influences And Implications For Practice, Helen Adam, Anne-Maree Hays, Yvonne Urquhart

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on a study of the children’s book preferences of 82 Preservice teachers (PSTs) at one Western Australian University. The study found PSTs preferred older books published during their own childhood or earlier. Further, representation of people of colour was limited to only 8 of 177 titles listed by PSTs. Key influences on their preferences were their personal favourite books and those used by mentor teachers during practicum experience. The outcomes of this study have implications for curriculum development and implementation of Initial Teacher Education courses, and in turn, for equitable outcomes of the future students of PSTs.

Second Language Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Pedagogical Practices, Collaborations, And Relationships With Other Teachers Through Professional Development, Simone Smala, Robyn M. Gillies, Katherine Mclay, Huong Ngyuen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on the relationship between language teacher practices and their collaborations with other teachers through professional development. The paper argues that there is a link between the disposition to use evidence-based practices in language teaching, and ongoing reinforcement of such practices through dialogic exchange in professional practice sessions. Furthermore, the paper understands the learning and development of such disposition as a career-long endeavour, first encountered in quality teacher education programs and then continued by committing to ongoing professional development. Survey data were collected from a group of language teachers from various second languages in primary and secondary schools …

Preservice Teachers’ Use Of The Technology Integration Planning Cycle: Lessons Learned, Kristi Tamte Bergeson, Beth Beschorner

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Preservice teachers (PSTs) often feel unprepared to utilize digital tools in meaningful ways that support learning in the elementary classroom. It is imperative that teacher preparation programs provide support in this area so that children can learn to use digital tools to communicate in the 21st century. Previous research suggests that the Technology Integration Planning Cycle (TIPC) can support teachers in making wise decisions related to the use of digital tools to support a literacy goal. In the present study, the authors examined how the TIPC can be used with PSTs as they develop technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and …

Using A Smart Phone To Learn Spanish: Does It Work And Will Students Use It?, Andrew J. Demil, Alysha Assaf, Ryan Cragun

The Coastal Review

Over time, mobile devices have penetrated the classroom, requiring new and beneficial ways to implement classroom instruction. Research suggests that Short Message Service (SMS) based instruction is an effective tool for acquiring second language (L2) vocabulary and idiom knowledge (Hayati, Jalilifar, & Mashhadi; Lu,). Additionally, studies have found that students believe that mobile learning (m-learning) is beneficial to acquiring a second language (Cavus & Ibrahim; Hayati, Jalilifar, & Mashhadi; Lu, 2008). This study examined whether m-learning can lead to Spanish vocabulary familiarity and if sentence comprehension outperforms reading definitions. Participants were 29 native English speakers studying Spanish as a second …

More Than One Story: A Bioecological Model Of Elementary Educators’ Perceptions And Representations Of Diversity, Angela Curfman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Classroom teachers have long employed children’s literature in the classroom. Exposure to children’s literature offers a plethora of gains and benefits. Through the usage of children’s literature, critical thinking skills are fostered and factual information is obtained (Hancock, 2000). Varied cultures, linguistic backgrounds, families with diverse socio-economical, and academic backgrounds constitute our public school classrooms. Children’s literature provides readers an opportunity for self-affirmation; therefore, they often seek a mirror in books, (Bishop, 1990). The thoughtful selection of children’s literature in the classroom is essential. Through the lens of Bishop’s (1993) metaphorical notion of books as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass …

Esperanza Rising And Identity: Exploring Literature And Self In Upper Elementary School, Emma Fuller

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Upper elementary students benefit from exposure to windows and mirrors in literature. The term “mirrors” refers to when students can relate to characters and situations, and see their own lives valued in an academic context. Mirrors are important for representation in schools because it allows students to reflect on their own learning. “Windows” allow students to see a perspective into other people’s lives. They are important because they encourage reflection on different ideas and empathy among students. One of many literary works with strong “windows” and “mirrors” is Pam Munoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising. In this Senior Project, I focused on …

Multi-Tiered System Of Supports: A Case Study Examining Effective Mtss Implementation At The Middle School Level, Amy Marlowe

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This dissertation was designed to examine the effectiveness of Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) implementation at the middle school level. MTSS is a comprehensive framework for targeting educational support for all learners, providing academic, behavioral, and social services. A case study design was used to analyze the stakeholder experiences of the impact of MTSS implementation on a group of sixth- and seventh-grade students. Qualitative data were collected to analyze the personal experiences of the teachers’ professional development, collaboration, implementation, and understanding of their roles in regards to the MTSS process. This case study provides insight into a middle school making …

Perceptions Of Classroom Teachers On Read-Aloud Practices Implemented Within The Elementary Setting, Kimberly J. Perry

Doctor of Education Dissertations

A problematic imbalance of academic discrepancies continues to exist within our schools today, leading to school failure for many of our students. Teachers must be prepared to provide effective instructional methods that increase the reading outcomes for all students. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the perceptions of elementary teachers, as compared to observable data, regarding the implementation of teacher read-aloud opportunities within the classroom setting. This dissertation analyzed and compared how elementary classroom teachers described their read-aloud practices to the tangible practices implemented in their classrooms, in order to determine a relationship between perception and …

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …

From Critical Self Reflection To Cultivating Equitable Literacy Classrooms: Educators Creating Pd As They Move Forward With Hope, Elisabeth Spinner, Emily Sommer, Naitnaphit C. Limlamai, Anna J. Roseboro, Lynne Lesky, Kim Stein, Rick Kreinbring, Shelley Esman

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Though teaching has felt discouraging at times throughout the past year, this article looks at how a group of educators used a book club to not only maintain a hopeful outlook, but also learn more about antiracist teaching. Their work has benefited not only their personal journeys, but also their classrooms and school districts.

Learning From The History Of Language Oppression: Educators As Agents Of Language Justice, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, Ferial Pearson

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

There is a long history in this country of language oppression that has led to policies currently in place that affect the way educators are asked to teach. Therefore, educators must understand national and local language policy to know how it affects their students and how they can perform their duties as educators. Even though the U.S. does not have an official language, states have enacted language policies through court decisions and legislation. These policies have led to students being denied access to English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual education programs, resources, and accommodations, all of which lead …

Picking Up Steam: The Role Of Languages And Linguistics, Keith Mason

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

Languages and linguistics are powerful skills that enhance STEAM curricula and careers. A variety of approaches and methods to language teaching and learning inform educators how to proceed with the enhancement of STEAM programs. Linguistics, the science of language, can help STEAM students, especially within the science and mathematics components, because of its reliance on hypothesis formulation for scientific inquiry and data collection and analysis. Language, an important aspect of the human experience, elevates or picks up the STEAM experience.

Language Concordance In Medicine And The Need For Medical Schools To Require Taking A Foreign Language As An Intervention Method To Minimize Language Barriers In The U.S., Mary K. Yousif

Honors College Theses

During medical school future student doctors are exposed to a multitude of patients, both natives and non-natives. However, there is no course offering (such as a foreign language or culture class) provided within the curriculum that prepares them for these future interactions. With communication being one of the primary skills used in healthcare, it is imperative to discuss the effects it can cause on a patient if not established. Overall, the goal of this research is to conduct a literary investigation regarding this matter and educate the medical community about the importance of providing effective communication in medicine. This begins …

Evaluating A Speech Training Software Program Called Nativeaccent Based On Empirical Studies, Farideh Nekoobahr, Jacqueline Hawkins, Kristi L. Santi, Janeen R. S. Antonelli, Johanna Leigh Thorpe

Journal of English Learner Education

This article evaluates a Computer-Assisted Language Learning program called NativeAccent and demonstrates that the software is designed based on systematic instructional strategies and empirically-proven theories. The instructional strategies include an initial assessment, training sessions, a final reassessment, repeated measurement, graphic presentation and systematic and rigorous interpretive guidelines, and individualized dosage. The empirically-supported theories are rooted in the four research-based theories of Universal Design for Learning, Learning Science, Intelligent Tutoring System, and Automatic Speech Recognition. In matching the components of the four theories mentioned above to the design of NativeAccent and evaluating the software, the purpose is to help administrators, educators, …

The Power Of A Name: Nontraditional Names, Teacher Efficacy, And Expected Learning Outcomes, Lasonya L. Moore, Martha S Lue Stewart Dr., Dena D. Slanda, Anais Placencia, Meznari M. Moore

Journal of English Learner Education

Names serve as important identifiers and carry with them hopes for a generation as well as pride in one’s culture. A name is often an extension of one’s culture or language and represents their identity. With the increasing student diversity across our nation, many students in our K-12 public schools may have uncommon or nontraditional names. Public school teachers, who are predominantly White, may find these names unfamiliar, difficult to pronounce or difficult to spell. Despite a name’s unfamiliarity, classroom teachers must have the knowledge and disposition to create a space that signals to a student that their name is …