Automatically assessing classroom discussion quality is becoming increasingly feasible with the help of new NLP advancements such as large language models (LLMs). In this work, we examine how the assessment performance of 2 LLMs interacts with 3 factors that may affect performance: task formulation, context length, and few-shot examples. We also…

Scholars in recent years have explored the connections between video games, literacy, and learning. Research illustrates that video games can serve as texts for engagement and analysis in English language arts classrooms. Scholars have also demonstrated how games themselves effectively integrate a complex array of learning principles that help…

With the continuous evolution of information technology shaping advancements in education, virtual reality (VR) technology has been increasingly applied to enhance English learning amongst students, aiming to boost learning efficiency and performance. This study introduced a VR technology acceptance model (TAM) to fulfil these requirements. The…

English language arts (ELA) teachers and researchers have trialed methods for supporting youth who advocate for alternative and more just climatic futures (Beach & Smith, 2024; Datta, 2023). However, many educators are encountering legislation that muzzles critical talk in classrooms. Understanding that schools are not separate from society…

This study examines the ways pre-service English language arts teachers (PSTs) conceptualized activism and experimented with visual and multimodal approaches to composing about activism. Drawing on qualitative methods, we examined 22 PSTs' graphic narratives completed as part of their teacher preparation coursework, and center our discussion on…

Reclaiming healthcare stories can be a uniquely empowering way to teach English language arts (ELA)--especially for students of color, who are disproportionately likely to have personal or family stories of medical trauma. This article presents a way to use culturally and historically responsive literacy to empower high school students to use…

This study focuses on languaging about nationality in an LGBTQ+-themed literature classroom in a queer-friendly high school in the midwestern region of the United States. It was a blend of ethnography and teacher research in which I constructed and analyzed data that included daily field notes, audio and video recordings of class meetings, audio…

Argumentation, one of the foundational pillars of writing instruction in K-12 schools, is consistently framed in literacy policy, curriculum, and assessment as a crucial skill youth need to participate in democratic deliberation. Yet the normative emphases in argument discourse on individual subjectivity, binary analysis, and competitive social…

In this study, we examine educators' orientations to the teaching of "standardized English" (SE)--an idealized form often associated with academic and professional contexts. The perceived status of SE is reinforced by normative standard language ideologies and is often oriented as "correct" and necessary for success in…

A teacher education professor and former secondary school instructor discusses using punk pedagogy and content in the English classroom to promote experimentation, interdisciplinarity, participation in community, and process-focused work.

This paper provides evidence on the effect of local prescription opioid use on academic achievement of 3rd-8th graders between 2009 and 2018. Using county fixed effects models, I find that when counties have higher levels of prescription opioid use, students score lower on standardized assessments two to three years later, with variation by…

English education stakeholders need ways of envisioning and advocating for transformative approaches to literacy teaching. In this inquiry, we consider the dynamic field of literary studies -- one of the scholarly fields most directly linked to English education. We conducted a content analysis of 404 articles recently published in literary…

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a relatively recent entrant into the U.S. early education landscape, combining features of public pre-K and regular kindergarten. We provide the first estimates of the impact of Michigan's TK program on 3rd grade test scores. Using an augmented regression discontinuity design, we find that TK improves 3rd grade…

The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to determine to what extent, if any, there were differences in ELA achievement and OSS percentages among schools with grades 3, 4, and 5 that used literacy station instruction (LSI) with students who had individualized education plans (IEP) and schools that did not use literacy station…

Purpose: Most empirical work using a distributed perspective to frame research on leadership practice uses the school as the unit of analysis, focusing on how leadership is stretched over people and aspects of the situation within schools. This study investigates leadership practice for elementary science, using a multilevel distributed framework,…