Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

How A Garden Hoe Changed My Literacy Life: A Story Of Teaching, Coaching, And Becoming, Kelsey J. Walker

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

In this dissertation, I explore how personal practical experiences teaching reading intervention impacted my own understanding of the role of a secondary literacy coach. Drawing on the concepts of dialogism and adult learning theory, I leveraged learning conversations to grow my own body of knowledge. The methodology of this study was done using narrative inquiry and autoethnography. This methodological blend allowed me to closely study myself as the primary participant with a unique positionality as a scholarly practitioner. I unpack the complexities, contradictions, and tensions of my lived experience through stories and vignettes set in a rural midwestern public school …

Non-Esl High School Teachers’ Instructional Training And Professional Development Needs And Their Emergent Bilingual Student Classrooms, Brynn Erin Caddell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. emergent bilingual student population continues to grow and is projected to increase nationwide. The growing population of students has specific academic and social needs that need to be addressed and provided for emergent bilingual students to be successful. This qualitative case study examined the instructional needs of high school non-English as a second language (ESL) teachers who serve emergent bilingual students and how the district can support the instructional practices of high school teachers in an urban school district in Texas. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of instructional training and professional development for secondary …

Equipping Teachers To Support Comic Literacy: An Analysis Of The Educational Potential Of Toon Book, Kayla Whitlock, Jewel Yoder Kuhns, Sara Kersten-Parrish Dr.

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Teachers frequently reach for leveled readers to help facilitate their guided reading groups; however, there can be limits in using these leveled readers. One such limit relates to enjoyment and engagement. An answer to this is using TOON books during guided reading time. TOON books are graphic novel leveled readers and were created in response to a need for high quality books for readers of all levels. However, in reading these books teachers need to be aware of the comics form and how those features impact the reading process. In this article, we outline the features common in graphic novels …

Using Social Emotional Learning To Connect Social Awareness And Classic Literature, Erin Anderson

Honors Projects

The following case study explores how social-emotional learning (SEL) teaching strategies enhance seventh-grade students’ engagement with classic literature during English Language Arts (ELA) class. Using S.E. Hinton’s classic novella The Outsiders as a foundation for this research, this study examines whether SEL-based lesson plans help adolescents make deeper connections between literature and their own lives. Two groups of students were compared in the study: one group received traditional, comprehension-based instruction, while the other participated in SEL-based assessments, encouraging perspective-taking and personal reflection. This study utilizes qualitative assessments like character analysis, reflection, and surveys to affirm that students who are exposed …

Promoting College And Career Ready Readers And Writers: A Guide For English, Science, And Social Studies Teachers To Support Instruction Of Sat Reading And Writing Skills, David Fitzpatrick

Masters Projects

In Michigan and across the United States, student scores on the Evidence Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT have been steadily declining. This project responds to this decline by developing a set of resources for skills-based literacy instruction that English language arts, social studies, and science teachers can use to revise their approaches to teaching literacy skills. Highly effective curriculum design and literacy instruction strategies were reviewed to design guides, templates, and models for practicing high school teachers at all grade levels to adapt in order to improve literacy instruction in their classrooms. By scaffolding literacy skills across …

Clarifying Background Knowledge - Understandings And Practices That Scaffold Comprehension, Justin M. Stygles

Wellspring: A Practitioner-Oriented Journal of Literacy and Language Education

Background Knowledge is a hot topic, though not new to our understanding of reading and comprehension. Background knowledge is more than just knowing facts and a scaffold to comprehension. What kinds of background knowledge students posses has a significant impact on their ability to interact with text cognitively and viscerally. What happens when they don't have the necessary background knowledge? Students must learn to clarify to acquire new knowledge that becomes the background knowledge for future literacy endeavors.

We Speak Life Into Their Language: Black Educators’ Approaches To Linguistic Justice In Urban Secondary Ela Classrooms, Lakeisha A. Davis

Dissertations

This study explores how Black educators navigate linguistic justice, deficit thinking, and stereotypes in urban secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it examines how teachers affirm Black Language (BL) while balancing the demands of White Mainstream English (WME) in academic spaces. Findings reveal that although educators employ culturally affirming strategies, they face challenges from restrictive language policies and standardized assessments. To counteract these barriers, they adopt negotiation practices that support students’ linguistic and cultural identities. From these findings, the study proposes Dynamic Linguistic Uplift (DLU)—a new theoretical framework that illustrates how Black educators sustain BL …

Reading Between The Lines: Examining The Literacy Preparation And Classroom Realities Of Teachers Of Color, Dr. Cathy D. Kea, Fanica Young, Joy Banks, Annette Teasdell

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study examines the importance of literacy preparation in educator preparation programs (EPPs). Specifically, the authors examine the need to merge literacy practices with culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies to increase reading outcomes for diverse students with disabilities. This article reports on a survey that was distributed to 18 dually prepared teachers of color to explore their collective literacy preparation experiences. The participants were graduates of a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The findings indicate that regardless of the institution’s location, EPPs, including those at HBCUs, should be intentional about addressing topics related to diversity. For early career educators …

Language And Literacy In Early Childhood Education: Hybrid Syllabus, Michele De Goeas-Malone

Open Educational Resources

Language and Literacy in Early Childhood Education is a capstone course, which means it is a core course in the education degree that offers students nearing graduation the opportunity to integrate their learning to help them address issues in education related to the development of language and literacy from birth to 8 years of age. This course is also a writing intensive course. That means that you will be engaged in several high and low stakes writing activities throughout the semester.

This course is designed to promote your understanding of the importance of issues concerning language and literacy in early …

El Deafo Bibliotherapy, David S. Wolff

OER Materials

The goal of this assignment was for preservice teachers to practice writing a chain of questions that focused on the social and/or emotional needs of young learners. Bibliotherapy is therapeutic in nature to help individuals understand themselves and the world around them through guided reading experiences (American Library Association, 2025; Delisle & Galbraith, 2002). Further, bibliotherapy allow individuals to identify a personal problem mirrored by a character in a book. As the reader connects with the character, the reader experiences the emotions expressed by the character. Finally, the reader applies the character’s experience to their own personal problem (American Library …

Horrible Harry In Room 2b Bibliotherapy, David S. Wolff

OER Materials

The goal of this assignment was for preservice teachers to practice writing a chain of questions that focused on the social and/or emotional needs of young learners. Bibliotherapy is therapeutic in nature to help individuals understand themselves and the world around them through guided reading experiences (American Library Association, 2025; Delisle & Galbraith, 2002). Further, bibliotherapy allow individuals to identify a personal problem mirrored by a character in a book. As the reader connects with the character, the reader experiences the emotions expressed by the character. Finally, the reader applies the character’s experience to their own personal problem (American Library …

Mitigating The Negative Effects Of Over And Early Exposure To Media With Joint Media Engagement: A Literature Review, Mary K. Littlepage

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This paper examines the negative impact of over and early exposure to media on children’s developmental domains. Among other deleterious effects, early and over exposure to media has been associated with attention deficits, language delays, and interrupted social interactions. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) addresses these concerns with recommendations, discouraging the use of screens for children birth to eighteen months and recommends that children over two years old limit their viewing to one to two hours or less per day (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016). For children within the recommended viewing and age parameters, many studies have …

Teacher Decision Making In Guided-Reading, Brittany Worthen

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Guided reading provides teachers the opportunity to support students in literacy learning. When planning for and implementing this instructional approach, teachers are required to make various in-advance and in-the-moment decisions that involve responding to students’ instructional needs through adaptive teaching. Grounded in sociocultural and social constructivist theories, this study was designed to understand teacher decision-making within the context of guided reading instruction.

This research was a collective case study aimed at providing a better understanding of the various decisions teachers make when teaching in a guided reading context. Findings pertaining to in-advanced decisions that emerged from the data can be …

Power Of Partnerships, Joni Meade

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

No abstract provided.

Using Diverse Picture Books To Strengthen Social And Emotional Skills, Jessica L. Edwards

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Social and emotional learning skills are inherently interconnected with culturally responsive teaching, as any progress with equity and justice requires intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. This article discusses the significance of this connection, providing numerous ideas for using diverse picture books to establish and further strengthen social and emotional learning skills within any classroom environment.

Teaching Vocabulary Graphic Organizers To Students With Disabilities Using The Constant Time Delay Procedure, Kera B. Ackerman, Channon K. Horn

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This study examined the effectiveness of constant time delay (CTD) as a systematic instructional technique to teach three elementary-aged students identified with mild to moderate disabilities how to complete a vocabulary graphic organizer using words identified from their grade level social studies textbook. The researcher used CTD to teach the participants how to complete the graphic organizer while embedding instructive feedback. A multiple probe design across three participants was used to examine the effectiveness of the intervention. Results indicate that CTD was effective in teaching participants how to complete the graphic organizer. Additionally, participant acquired information through instructive feedback (e.g., …

Restoring School Librarians: Challenges And Strategies, Debrah E. Kachel

Learning Hub

The article examines efforts to restore school librarian positions across eleven urban U.S. school districts, despite significant financial and administrative obstacles. It documents strategies used by district library leaders to advocate for staffing, funding, and policy changes, emphasizing equity in access to certified school librarians. Through structured interviews and analysis, the report highlights key barriers, advocacy methods, and funding mechanisms that have influenced school library staffing. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational equity and policy reform in K-12 library services.

Chatgpt Didn’T Write This: Evaluating The Impact Of Llms With A Case Study In Grading Cuny Language Immersion Program Student Essays, Benjamin Inbar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluates the capabilities and limitations of large language models (LLMs), specifically OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o, in grading essays from students in the City University of New York’s Language Immersion Program. The program serves English language learners with diverse linguistic and demographic backgrounds, offering intensive language instruction to prepare students for academic success in college. Using a dataset of 30 pre- and post-program essays scored by program instructors and ChatGPT-4o under three paradigms, this research explores the alignment between human and AI-generated scores across five rubric-based competency areas. Findings reveal that ChatGPT-4o aligns moderately with human grading, with the strongest agreement …

Embracing Language Diversity: An Exploration Of Elementary Teachers' Perception Of African American English, Manijeh Hart

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Students of African descent often speak in a dialect that differs from the Dominant American English (DAE) dialect, known as African American English (AAE). Since this dialect is not considered mainstream, students who speak and write in this dialect may be at a disadvantage when being assessed on literacy skills and responding to literacy instruction. However, it is possible to address this issue by preparing and supporting teachers in recognizing AAE use in literacy activities and providing them with instructional strategies to support students who use AAE. The goal of this research was to investigate the perceptions that elementary school …

Mentoring And Supporting All Writers: Strengthening Writing Instruction In Pk To 5th Grade With Halpern’S “Interactive Writing” And Anderson’S “Mentor Texts”, Chad H. Waldron, Meghan K. Block, Alicia D. Fluker, Mariah C. Schepak, Michelle R. Snyder

Michigan Reading Journal

Shared, co-authored book review by educators and researchers of Matt Halpern’s (2023) A Teacher’s Guide to Interactive Writing, Grades PreK-2 and Carl Anderson’s (2022) A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts, Grades K-5 (Heinemann)

Developing Adolescent Word-Level Knowledge: Challenges And Opportunities In Professional Learning With Secondary Educators, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

This article aims to highlight the research base for disciplinary literacy approaches, emphasize foundational literacy components that apply to the majority of adolescent learners, and propose tangible approaches to attend to morphological development in multiple academic disciplines. The article will conclude with a call for additional research into the role of morphological awareness in strengthening adolescent reading comprehension, as well as further study of the implications for systemic approaches across all disciplines in secondary educational settings.

Interactive Read Aloud Planning Template For The Story, The Letter From The Book Frog And Toad Are Friends, Lauren Dehmer, David Wolff

OER Materials

This is a read-aloud planning template for the story The Letter from the book Frog and Toad are Friends, which holds five stories. The goal of the assignment is to create an effective read-aloud. Research supports these as they can expose children to new words and language structures (Burkins & Yates, 2021). Cunningham et al. (2023) also explain interactive read-alouds as a way to “immerse students in rich content.” The author was given a list of stories from the anthology, The 20^th Century Children’s Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud, from instructor Dr. David Wolff, who …

An Exploration Of Change In Teachers’ Sel Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Beliefs After Participation In A Sel Professional Development Course For Uruguayan Teachers Of Secondary Schools, Sheila Coli

Dissertations of Practice

This convergent mixed-methods study explored how secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Uruguay changed their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of social emotional learning (SEL), and their beliefs about their role in SEL integration, after participating in a six-week online professional development (PD) course. Amid increased international emphasis on the importance of social and emotional competencies (SECs) for students’ academic and personal success, Uruguay’s EFL national curriculum calls for the promotion of these competencies, yet offers limited guidelines or training for their EFL educators. The PD course was designed by the researcher to address this gap, providing …

Threading The Needle: Teaching Critical Reading And Writing In The Age Of Ai, Emily A. Durham, Andrea A. Berta

Humanities

All instructors--but particularly instructors who must teach students specific disciplinary ways of reading and writing--face a difficult position with AI. Students will need to use AI in collegiate and professional writing, but using AI for assignments can hinder critical thinking skills crucial to analyzing and correcting AI output. This presentation demonstrates three practices from our developmental English classrooms: a critical reading and writing summary assignment, AI-resistant rubrics, and an exercise to help students evaluate AI-generated suggestions on how to review their work. These activities are designed to help students develop crucial AI-literacy skills to help them succeed in an increasingly …

Newcomers: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Newcomers: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 32 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding the education of foreign-born students and families who have recently arrived in the United States, often referred to as Newcomers. These annotations build on the annotations regarding Newcomers in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working …

English Learners With Disabilities: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

English Learners with Disabilities: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 21 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding English Learners (ELs) who are dually identified as students with disabilities. These annotations build on the annotations regarding ELs with disabilities in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence …

Designated Eld: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Designated ELD: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 19 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding designated English Language Development (d-ELD). These annotations build on the annotations regarding designated ELD in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for English Learners.

The contributors provide a comprehensive selection …

Research-Practice Partnerships: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Research-Practice Partnerships: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 17 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding research-practice partnerships between universities and districts and schools. These annotations build on the annotations regarding university and district partnerships in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for ELs.

The contributors …

Bilingual Teacher Preparation: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Bilingual Teacher Preparation: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 21 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding the preparation of preservice teachers preparing to be bilingual teachers. These annotations build on the annotations regarding bilingual teacher preparation in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for ELs. …

Assessment: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Assessment: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 18 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding the assessment of English Learners and Multilingual Learners. These annotations build on the annotations regarding assessment in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for ELs.

The contributors provide a comprehensive selection …