When investigating motivation, including motivation to read, motivation should be conceptualized as a multidimensional construct which considers the individual's purposes for engaging in the activities under investigation (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Motivation for activities that are undertaken because they are enjoyable in and of themselves or…

During the 2016-2017 school year, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Family and Community Empowerment (FACE) Department implemented a parent engagement program for 5,281 students enrolled at nine participating campuses. This evaluation examined the relationships between parents' attendance at APTT program group meetings and students'…

Through a case study of a seventh-grade ELA teacher, this article examines New Literacies pedagogy and more specifically a digital video project amid high-stakes testing pressures that often place limitations on teaching and learning.

At a time when some high school English classrooms erase and distort experiences and identities, it is vital for educators to explore pedagogies that provide radically reimagined forms of liberatory thought. This article explores ways the work of Coates can serve as "blueprint liberation" in the English classroom. The line of broken,…

This article will share a postcolonial analysis of three widely taught texts that the author has used to introduce both secondary English language arts classes and college students in multicultural young adult literature courses to postcolonial criticism: Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," Gene Luen…

Background/Context: Current efforts to build rigorous teacher evaluation systems has increased interest in standardized classroom observation tools as reliable measures for assessing teaching. However, many argue these instruments can also be used to effect change in classroom practice. This study investigates a model of professional development…

This article examines classroom practices that draw upon students' understandings of race and equity as they engage in critical literature inquiry to explore issues of power in our society. Our research team, comprising a fifth-grade classroom teacher, a doctoral candidate, and a university professor, analyzed students' written and digital…

"The Jessie Books" are a seven-book series complete with a dedicated website. Each book features a 5-year-old girl named Jessie who happens to live in a city with her two moms. Each book features Jessie as an ordinary young girl engaging in familiar, life-enriching activities. Across "The Jessie Books," the community of…

This mixed-methods study was designed to understand the perceptions of K-5 elementary educators in regard to social studies, methods of instruction, and the amount of instructional time spent on social studies in relation to other core subjects. The descriptive study utilized a cross-sectional survey design to understand the perceptions of 153 K-5…

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) supports research that contributes to the identification of effective strategies for improving the performance of current teachers and other instructional personnel, and related services providers in ways that increase student learning and achievement, social and behavioral skills, and…

The study aims to understand psychological processes relevant to learning argumentative writing in high school. Multi-group path analysis was used to explore whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between writing anxiety and use of self-regulation across students with different goal orientation profiles. A cluster analysis identified…

Research indicates that most standards documents articulate far more content than can be taught in the time available to K-12 teachers. In response, analysts at Marzano Research sought to identify, as objectively as possible, a focused set of critical concepts for each K-12 grade level in the content areas of English language arts (ELA),…

Over several years, Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation (CPCSC) schools have dedicated significant professional development hours and time to develop Essential Learnings (ELs) along with proficiency scales that could guide the content of classroom assessments used to determine student mastery. This executive summary highlights key findings…

School districts across North Carolina are implementing co-teaching practices as a part of inclusive education. This study analyzed the effectiveness of co-teaching as an instructional delivery method and the components needed for success. This study also examined the defined roles needed between the general education teacher and the special…

This article draws on the experiences of two young adults, Sean and Jerome, who participated in a writing workshop at a juvenile detention center. The young adults composed screenplays to explore how writing could call on their unique perspectives and life experiences to amplify their beliefs. While some educators emphasize a skills-based…