This collaborative research endeavor, undertaken by a committee composed of the English Language Art (ELA) pedagogical consultants for Québec English School Boards, Kativik, Lower Canada College and Littoral in consultation with the ELA Programs team at the Direction des programmes d'études en formation générale des jeunes (DPEFGJ) at the…

In 21st century classrooms, students use a variety of languages to communicate their ideas in both the spoken and written word. These languages vary between standard and nonstandard forms of English, and each speaker may alter their language use based on context or intended audience. One unique language form that appears in many classrooms is…

The present study examined how 20 sixth-grade students made meaning while reading graphic novels. Participants completed multiple tasks during a 6-week period. Data sources comprised 1 reading survey, 2 teacher-student conferences, 5 small-group discussions, 1 visual stopping points assignment, and multiple journal entries. Grounded theory methods…

This report is the first in a series of five reports considering career-readiness features within high school assessments. Utilizing feature analysis and cognitive lab interviews, the primary objective of this study was to verify and validate the existence of specific career-readiness features in select math and English language arts (ELA) test…

In the United States, educational thought leaders have called for higher expectations (Gordon Commission, 2010), more rigorous college and career readiness standards for K-12 education (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and new constructs such as 21st century skills…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate how an English language arts teacher used young adult literature to help English language learners improve English and literacy comprehension. Through the lens of Anzaldua's (2007) "borderlands", and Rolon-Dow's (2005) "critical care", the authors analyze the case study…

Main idea and summary are essential elements of reading comprehension. We report results from Grades 4 and 5 student performance on two years of state-mandated standardized reading testing which indicate that students perform statistically significantly lower on main idea and summary questions on the tests than any other question category. In this…

This study explores the possibilities for learning content that might accompany the use of an historically accurate graphic novel as part of a language arts instructional unit. During a 6-day unit, 16 sixth grade students engaged in graphic novels in ways that support comprehension, both in the context of a graphic novel text set and a specific…

The implementation of effective instructional materials, such as a core reading program, by a qualified teacher is an important part of improving students' reading achievement. But selecting those instructional materials can be time-consuming. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast created this rubric for evaluating reading/language arts…

This paper provides a description and rationale for a performance assessment of a teaching practice--leading a classroom discussion (LCD)--included in the ETS® National Observational Teaching Examination (NOTE) assessment series. In this assessment, candidates interact with a small class of virtual students represented by avatars in a…

This report describes and provides research and scholarly support for a core practice of teaching--eliciting student thinking (EST)--that is the target for a performance assessment contributing one component of the "ETS"® National Observational Teaching Examination (NOTE) assessment series. The purpose of this report is to review the…

This report reviews the scholarly and research evidence supporting the construct labeled modeling and explaining content (MEC), which is measured via a performance assessment in the "ETS"® National Observational Teaching Examination (NOTE) assessment series. This construct involves practices at the heart of teaching that deal with how…

With tightening school budgets and continued emphasis on core subject standardized testing, physical education often takes a backseat to academic areas that school administrators deem more important. Much time is spent using improvement strategies in the classroom that do not involve exercise. Two hundred eighty-five sixth to eighth grade students…

A multi-cohort cluster randomized trial was conducted to estimate effects of rich vocabulary classroom instruction on vocabulary and reading comprehension. A total of 1,232 fourth- and fifth-grade students from 61 classrooms in 24 schools completed the study. Students received instruction in 140 Tier Two vocabulary words featured in two…

The purpose of this action research project was to study the relationship between Historical Analysis and student performance on the California Standards Test (CSTs), both English Language Arts and History, as well as to study the relationship between Historical Analysis and Reading Comprehension. It was believed that Historical Analysis required…