The problem addressed in this study is that multicultural literature is not being used consistently to address the needs of the growing diverse population in the local middle school language arts classroom. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of using multicultural literature to teach…

Recognizing the need to center equity-oriented practices within professional learning--and the challenges of doing so in traditional approaches to professional development--this study traced the experiences of teacher participants in a reimagined design of a teacher learning space. Drawing from narrative inquiry and case study methodologies, this…

Augmented reality (AR) technology has opened up new possibilities for interactive and immersive learning experiences, where students can visualize abstract concepts and engage with digital objects in real-time. In this study, a real-time AR-based system is developed and, unlike other studies, incorporates sound effects that will play when the…

As evidenced by national data, a large proportion of students in middle school, content area classrooms in the United States (U.S.) may be considered developing readers. Evidence-based literacy practices and explicit instructional practices can support these students' literacy development. Yet, research suggests that teachers often miss…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyze how the popular comic book series DC Graphic Novel for Young Adults depicts superhero, civilian and villains of color in the titles and address how the collection engages in or avoids discussions of racism. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a critical race content analysis to analyze how…

Given the complexity of dialogic argumentative writing and the requisite instruction needed to support student writers, we describe the instructional practices of an English language arts teacher and her culturally and linguistically diverse classroom of 10th graders' writing during key moments in two instructional units during school year…

Extending and challenging existing research about LGBTQIA+ life in rural educational contexts, this ethnographically informed qualitative study describes how Lulu--a white, cisgender, queer secondary English language arts teacher in a rural, public school in the Midwest--discursively constructed the functions of her humor with respect to teaching,…

The focus of this article is on the development of expertise in interpreting literature within English Language Arts (ELA). Experts and novices differ significantly in how they approach problems and acquire information, with experts demonstrating more sophisticated pattern recognition, nuances, and conceptual understandings and approaches than…

This vignette provides a glimpse into an approach to grammar instruction that sought to value students' voices and linguistic knowledge, position language as flexible and socially situated, and encourage dialogic interactions with language. This approach--a linguistically responsive approach--ultimately sought to disrupt hierarchies typically…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: How can system leaders improve reading comprehension for students in kindergarten to grade…

Students in the English Language Arts classroom have access to more author commentary than ever. While following authors on social media may deepen students' engagement with their assigned reading, it also threatens to subdue students' own interpretations of the authors' texts. This essay explains how educators can introduce basic aspects of…

In this qualitative case study, I examined how teacher instructional practices and beliefs around teaching literature were impacted after self-selecting into a sustained professional development opportunity called Bard Core. Specifically, I ask, 1. What are the perspectives of secondary ELA teachers as to how a self-selected, year-long,…

This qualitative teacher -- research study investigates how secondary students in English classes might use art materials and the construction of abstract artworks to explore, develop, and express their responses to and interpretations of literary works. The study was guided by the following research questions: 1. What happens when students are…

Dialogic educators have designed strategies to facilitate dialogic teaching, such as establishing ground rules, employing talk moves, and structuring discussions. Though productive, such strategies rarely open dialogic space, in which shared meaning is created through an interaction that blurs the boundaries between participating voices. Dialogic…

The aims of this qualitative study were (1) to understand the experiences of two middle school English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) teachers as they planned and implemented critical literacy into a unit in their existing curriculum and (2) to understand the experiences of students as they engaged in a curriculum embedded with critical…