Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Critical Coaching: Approaching Literacy Coaching Through A Critical Lens, Melissa Wells

Education Faculty Articles

Based in critical theory, this qualitative case study explored how a new genre of literacy coaching, called critical coaching, developed and what outcomes it produced. The researcher (a literacy coach) built a critical coaching partnership with an early childhood teacher, and two findings emerged: (1) self-reflection occurred through defining educators’ identities as cultural beings, as well as by naming and challenging assumptions; and (2) taking action occurred through critical networks, advocacy in public spaces, and planning culturally relevant pedagogy. Implications include seven essential conditions for building critical coaching partnerships.

Exploring Kindergartners' Understandings Of Gender : Responding To Picture Book Read Alouds With A Focus On Fairy Tales, Karen Marie Maher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores four of my kindergartners’ understandings of gender across one academic year with an in-depth study of responses to a series of picture book read alouds including Cinderella variants. Critical literacy offered opportunities for these young students to critique inequities within social practices (Au & Raphael, 2000; Vasquez, 2014, 2017); whereas, poststructuralist feminism framed the inquiries into the locations of deeply ingrained gender identities (Blackburn, 2005, 2006; Blaise, 2005a, 2005b, 2014; Villaverde, 2008). This critical analysis of literature provided a means for the kindergartners to uncover underlying messages of power and inequity by interrogating whose voices were heard …

A Practitioner Research Study Exploring Critical Literacy In A Secondary English Classroom, Dilnavaz F. Hushmendy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

Reading Aloud: Children's Attitudes Toward Being Read To At Home And At School, Susan Ledger, Margaret K. Merga

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Whilst there exists a plethora of research about the benefits of reading aloud on children’s literacy development and a range of government reports highlighting the positive investment return on early intervention strategies such as reading aloud, most literature is presented from an adult perspective. Limited research exists on children’s attitudes toward being read to at home or school or the frequency of reading aloud practices that occur within these contexts. This mixed method study examines reading aloud practices in schools (N=21) and homes (N=220). It captures the attitude toward reading aloud practices from the viewpoint of 220 children aged …

Exploring Literacies In The Assemblage Of Adult Education English For Speakers Of Other Languages Classrooms, Susan Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a posthuman perspective of adult second language and literacy learning using the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and his collaborative work with Félix Guattari, Masny’s (2005/6) multiple literacies theory or MLT, and DeLanda’s (2016) assemblage theory. Thinking with these scholars, I employ a post-qualitative, posthuman MLT conceptual framework to study literacy as a process that flows through and connects with globally-diverse students, languages, worldviews, and texts in the assemblage of adult education, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classrooms. I posit this assemblage as a remarkable and important context for literacy research …

Playing And Learning Through Text And Images: Examining Features Of Adolescent Literacy And The Potential Of Graphic Novels As A Supportive Tool, Emily Ann Bushta

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Graphic novels have been making their way into the classroom steadily during the past two decades. Whether their use is for a pedagogical purpose or pleasure, graphic novels are grabbing the attention of adults and youth alike. As general interest arises surrounding graphic novels, increased scholarship discussing their purpose, structure, and use has appeared across a variety of disciplines. Educators, especially those with younger students, are drawn to the genre. Their interest has produced a growing body of literature; however, these publications often lack quantitative data and typically offer qualitative conclusions about the benefits of graphic novels in classroom contexts. …

The Influence Of Participation In The Leveled Literacy Intervention Program On The Sustained Literacy Achievement For Students In Grades One Through Threev, Veronica Anne Glover

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study evaluated the efficacy of Fountas & Pinnell’s Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) program and its effect on struggling readers in the first grade, as well as the sustaining effects of the intervention over a two-year period. The students in the study attended an elementary school in a Central New Jersey public school district and received the LLI supplemental pull out reading program five days a week for 30 to 45 minutes per session as prescribed. The study hypothesized that the LLI program would have a significant effect on the reading progress of struggling first-grade students in the districts’ first …

Final Ma Portfolio, Jessica Goodman

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

A Final Portfolio submitted to the English Department of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of English with a specialization in English teaching. The first project is a syllabus for a course on American protest literature. The second project is a five-week major assignment plan focusing on identity and rhetorical writing choices. The third paper is a theory and practice synthesis of empowering literacy alongside a checklist for teachers who wish to include empowering literacy in their classrooms. Finally, the fourth item is a revision (re-vision) …

Pirls 2016: Reporting Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Marina Schmid, Sima Rodrigues, Jessica Fullarton

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international comparative study of student achievement directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). PIRLS 2016 represents the fourth such study since PIRLS was first conducted in 2001. Australia has participated in the two most recent cycles – PIRLS 2011 and 2016. In Australia, PIRLS is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and is jointly funded by the Australian Government and the state and territory governments. The goal of PIRLS is to provide the best policy-relevant information about how to improve teaching and …

250 Words Of I Don't Understand: Reading Struggles For Freshmen College Students, Alicia Bushey

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone project is on the reading struggles of first year college students. This is important because reading is a fundamental need in secondary education and in our society. If people are challenged in this area, they will struggle both in higher education, as well as certain aspects of daily living. The three primary stakeholder perspectives examined were college teachers and tutors, because of their relevant expertise, as well as their roles and responsibilities. Based on an analysis of the data and the relevant research literature, action was taken to help first-year college students overcome their reading …

Highlights From Pirls 2016: Australia's Perspective, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Marina Schmid, Sima Rodrigues, Jessica Fullarton

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international study of reading literacy directed by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). In Australia, PIRLS is implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), which is Australia’s representative to the IEA. In Australia, PIRLS is part of the National Assessment Program. PIRLS has been conducted internationally at Year 4 on a five-year cycle since 2001, however, Australia participated for the first time in 2011. The main goal of PIRLS is to assist countries to monitor and evaluate their teaching of reading across time. Year …

From Awareness To Action: Teacher Attitude And Implementation Of Lgbt-Inclusive Curriculum In The English Language Arts Classroom, Michelle L. Page

Education Publications

This survey research describes English language arts teachers’ comfort levels in integrating literature with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) themes or characters into their curricula and classroom practices. Significant relationships were found between teachers’ age, comfort, awareness of resources, and implementation levels. Although younger teachers had higher comfort levels with LGBT texts, they displayed lower resource awareness levels and static implementation rates. In addition, comfort, awareness, and implementation of LGBT curriculum materials were also correlated with teacher location and with strength of religious belief, with rural teachers and strongly religious teachers displaying lower comfort and implementation levels. Availability of …

The Power Of Partners: A Qualitative Study On The Effects Of Long-Term Partnerships During Writing Workshop, Nicole Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine how long-term partnerships will support second grade students during Writing Workshop. The specific goals of the study are to examine the effects long-term partnerships utilized during Writing Workshop will have on both student achievement and student engagement. Student interviews pre and post study, student writing, along with weekly student reflections were analyzed. The group of students who were the focus of the study demonstrated increased engagement when participating in Writing Workshop. The students also demonstrated increased writing proficiency throughout the duration of the study. The benefits of utilizing long-term peer partnerships during …

Infographic: Books In The Home And Student Achievement, Rebecca Vukovic

Teacher infographics

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study of student achievement. Here, we look at TIMSS data on books in the home and the percentage of Australian students at or above the proficient standard for maths and science.

Will Teachers Implement Instruction Aligned To The Common Core State Standards?: Utilizing A Predictive Model, Audrey Lynn Harper

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a predictive model for secondary (i.e., grades six through twelve) teachers’ intent to implement instruction aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Two differing TPB models were investigated utilizing a regression analysis. The first model included TPB elements including attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (i.e., self-efficacy) while the second model included two additional measures including perceived knowledge and accurate knowledge. Because a measure for secondary teachers’ sense of efficacy for literacy instruction did not exist to measure the construct in …

Creating A Culture Of Literacy: Strengthening The Core Of Secondary Reading Instruction, Karen C. Waters, Charles Britton

Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a plan to provide high quality literacy instruction in secondary content area classes that will yield the highest impact on student learning while addressing the needs of the lowest-performing students whose literacy needs cannot be ignored. This will necessitate a restructuring of the three-tiered format within which a systems approach for school improvement embeds a well-defined professional learning plan, and strong collaboration among content area teachers, reading professionals, and special educators to collaborate on the delivery of differentiated, cross-curricular instructional supports.

"Resisting From Within": (Re)Imagining A Critical Translingual English Classroom, Kate Anna Seltzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnographic case study of an urban, linguistically diverse English classroom explores what happened when space was made for students both to voice their experiences living amidst ideologies that marginalize their language practices and identities and to resist such ideologies through writing that pushed monoglossic boundaries. Intensive one-on-one work with a high school English teacher led to the creation of a year-long curriculum that emphasized metalinguistic inquiry and discussion, linked language, power, and identity, and modeled the ways that writers and other artists take linguistic risks in order to critique monoglossic language ideologies.

Over the course of the year, students …

Literacy Tutoring Strategies Of America Reads University-Level Tutors, Mauricio Cadavid

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore, study, outline and describe tutoring strategies applied by American Reads (AR) tutors and non-America Reads (nAR) tutors helping young tutees develop early literacy skills. There is limited research on the implementation of effective tutoring strategies during one-on-one tutoring with elementary school children in terms of early literacy development. Most of the literature is split between peer tutoring and program tutoring. This lack of research presents a particular challenge when it comes to identifying an effective tutor and effective tutoring methodologies. Using a qualitative approach, this study utilizes survey data, session recordings, and …

Using Imagination To Bridge Young Children’S Literacy And Science Learning: A Dialogic Approach, Huili Hong, Karin Keith, Renee Rice Moran

ETSU Faculty Works

Integrating children’s literacy and science learning has become a new focus in literacy instruction. Imagination, an integral part of children’s learning experience, remains marginalized in today’s early childhood education curriculum. Drawing on a yearlong ethnographic study in a first-grade classroom, this paper explores the potential affordance of imagination in integrating young children’s literacy and science learning. The findings showed that the integration opportunities were organically constructed in and through children’s natural engagement of imagination in their reading process. A dialogic approach is presented as one way to ignite children’s imaginations in their literacy and science learning.

How To Boost Literacy In Ages Birth To Three, Brianna Johnson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores the history, viewpoints, theoretical frameworks, and themes in literature of early literacy in the United States. It also discusses legislation on this topic, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Literacy in ages birth to three has been a long time educational issue. The ‘pendulum’ has swung between different approaches to literacy instruction. It is important for every person to be informed on this subject because early literacy affects each life. What one learns or fails to learn in the first three years of life affects the rest of …

"We Run A Different School Within A School": Educator Perceptions Of Guatemala-Maya Students In A North Georgia Public School System, Anna Tussey

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

In recent years, the social and political persecution of the Maya population throughout Central America has led to an influx of Maya women and children migrating to the United States. The increased population of immigrant children presents new challenges for the United States, especially in public education. Maya people are rarely distinguished from the Latinx population, subsequently causing their linguistic and cultural needs to go unmet and unacknowledged. This project focuses on the education of Guatemalan-Maya students in a North Georgia public school system, framed through interviews with educators. The educators selected for this study worked almost exclusively with elementary, …

A Tapestry Of Eyes In The Literacy/Literature Class, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

It is essential that language arts classes make room for different voices, different cultures, and new settings for writing. This paper examines ideas and methods for expanding the discourse and refers to Morrison's Bluest Eye as a way to appreciate the dilemma our students face.

"What Color Are Our Hearts?" Challenging Social And Literacy Inequalities In An Elementary School Writing Club, Judith M. Dunkerly-Bean, Tom W. Bean, David Kidd, Elizabeth Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This longitudinal phenomenological study centers on an after-school writing club at an elementary school started by two high school English teachers and their students. Over the course of a school year, the writing club addressed local and systemic issues of inequality and facilitated the voice, agency and creative expression of the third to fifth grade students who chose to participate. Emerging trends and themes speak to the promise and possibilities of inter-age writing clubs that go far beyond traditional tutorial models. Rather than engaging in a banking method of tutoring, this project facilitates voice, agency and equality, as well as …

Is A Single Or Multicomponent Reading Intervention Program More Effective At Enhancing Outcomes For Struggling Readers In Intermediate Grades?, Barbara Klun

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

In 2015-2016, the selected school-site realized that reading instruction needed to change for the bottom quartile of readers. Struggling readers in grades five through eight were not making significant gains in reading. On the annual state assessment, students who scored a one the previous year remained at the same level the following year. In addition, students reading two or more grade levels behind their peers made the smallest gains throughout the school. This research project addressed the question, “Is a single or multicomponent reading intervention program more effective at enhancing outcomes for struggling readers in intermediate grades?” The purpose of …

Home Literacy Practices: A Focus On Dominican Families, Susan E. Pendleton

Masters Theses

The majority of the current research regarding the home literacies that families employ to help their children become literate are explored through North American family structures. For this reason, there is a lack of knowledge about what Dominican families, a subgroup within the Latino culture, do at home to assist their children in their literacy acquisition in the Dominican Republic. This qualitative research study provides insight as to what literacy practices take place within the Dominican household. I gathered pertinent information from 10 Dominican participants using a semi-structured interview so literacy practices could be revealed. Findings from this research indicate …

Neighbors Link's Parent-Child Together Program: Supporting Immigrant Parents' Integration To Promote School Readiness Among Their Emergent Bilingual Children, Carola Otero Bracco, Judith Eisenberg

Publications and Research

The authors of this article describe Neighbors Link, a multi-service community and worker center in suburban Westchester County, NY. This organization created Parent-Child Together in the belief that supporting immigrant parents' integration and social inclusion, in activities that also engage long-term community residents, would improve school readiness outcomes for preschool children. A key assumption in the program design is that immigrant parents are best supported when teaching respects their home language and incorporates their home culture and customs. Among the program's positive results has been greater acceptance of the assets and strengths that immigrants bring to the community. The community, …

Using The News To Enhance Critical Thinking And Engagement In Middle And High School Students, Jessica Walters

Journal of Catholic Education

This article describes the author’s adaptation of Gallagher’s (2009) Article of the Week approach to teaching students literacy skills using current events. The use of this unique instructional routine within the context of a Catholic middle school language arts classroom has proven successful for supporting students in developing critical literacy and an understanding of moral leadership by examining world events from a Catholic worldview.

Implementation Of Common Core–Based Curriculum In A Fourth-Grade Literacy Classroom: An Exploratory Study, Elizabeth Jaeger

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states by 2010. Yet, many teachers still lack confidence in their ability to integrate these standards into their classroom instruction and this uncertainty undermines their effectiveness. This article presents findings from a study of a fourth grade literacy curriculum informed by the CCSS. The study mobilized the Vygotskian notion of mediation as it applies in a literacy learning context and addresses the following research questions: (a) What were fourth grade student English language arts achievement levels and beliefs about literacy prior to and following the implementation of a CCSS-based curriculum? …

Popular Culture And Academic Literacies Situated In A Pedagogical Third Space, Stephanie Buelow

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This critical participatory action research study sought to understand what happens when students’ interest and experiences with popular culture are integrated into a standards-based sixth grade English language arts curriculum. Multiple data sources were analyzed using the theoretical concept of third space. Findings showed that (a) a democratic, collaborative learning zone was established for all members of the classroom community, (b) students were successful in a curriculum that was situated in academic literacies and their popular culture interests and literacies, and (c) this experience resulted in a transformation of teacher practice. Given the current educational climate, these findings suggest the …

Whole Language Vs. Phonics?: Meaning-First And Code-First Approaches To Reading Instruction, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

This chapter excerpt describes approaches to reading instruction based on two different theoretical perspectives: a meaning-based approach and a skills-based approach. Video mini-lectures are included.