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,…

This paper reports on one aspect of a large-scale nationwide study that surveyed English teacher educators about English teacher preparation programs throughout the United States. One aspect of the study focused on how technology is integrated within the context of English teacher education programs, asking the question, "As an area of…

In this article, I highlight findings from a nine-day unit embedded within a larger, four-month long qualitative action research study set in a public middle school. My goal in conducting this research was examination of relationships between visual culture and art integration as a method of fostering students to find voice while taking risks. A…

This non-experimental study investigated the relationship of teachers' trust towards their administrators and student achievement. Ginsberg's (2003) survey, as modified from Smalt's (1997) Teachers' Analysis of Their Principals' Supervisory Styles (TAPES), was translated to an on-line assessment and emailed to teacher participants from three…

This correlational, explanatory, longitudinal study sought to determine the combination of community and family-level demographic variables found in the 2010 U.S. Census data that most accurately predicted a New Jersey school district's percentage of students scoring proficient or above on the 2010, 2011, and 2012 NJ ASK 7 in Language Arts and…

Charter schools represent an increasingly important form of school choice in the United States. Charter schools are public schools, with a difference. Compared to traditional public schools, they are exempted from some of the state laws and regulations that govern traditional public schools. In this way, parents come to have a greater number of…

When is the right moment to transition an English learner student from part-time participation in English language development classes into full-time participation in mainstream English-only classes? English learner students should be moved into full-time mainstream English-only classes when they are sufficiently fluent in English to be able to…

By exploring the uses of plain, middle, and grand styles, the author examines how theories of classical rhetoricians can be applied to Atticus Finch's speeches in "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the high school English classrooms the author has encountered, "rhetoric" has not been a focus or even a passing discussion. It forms the…

The authors used vocabulary activities, photographs, group work, and writing with tenth-grade students to unpack a commission report on violence associated with housing desegregation in 1950s Chicago to deepen students' engagement with Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun."

In this article, the authors explore the generative possibilities of risk-taking in the Catholic school English classroom. They associate pedagogical risk with what Deborah Britzman (1998) has called "difficult knowledge"--content that causes students to consider social trauma. Incorporating difficult knowledge meaningfully requires…

To address lingering pressures in the aftermath of the pandemic, California public schools received record funding, largely bolstered by nearly $60 billion in federal and state one-time stimulus funds. This report takes a comprehensive look at the allocation and uses of these federal and state educational recovery funds in California.

As many K-6 students enrolled in dual language and bilingual programs enter middle and subsequently high schools that implement similar programs, content area teachers in Spanish face a twofold challenge: to remain aligned with the classroom discourse utilized in Spanish Language Arts (SLAs) and to implement effective strategies while teaching…

For over two decades, there have been calls to assess the relationship of the features of teacher preparation programs to teacher effectiveness, to provide guidance for program improvement. At the middle grades level, theory suggests that coursework in educational psychology is particularly important for teacher effectiveness. Using 4 years of…

Instruction in academic core content provides students with moderate to severe disabilities a full educational opportunity that promotes current and future options in the community and can complement acquisition of daily living skills. However, high school teachers face many challenges in balancing instructional priorities given the mission to…

This research examines the specialized knowledge of reading comprehension articulated by 12 middle school English language arts teachers sampled from three different regions of the United States and representing various levels of teaching experience. Using detailed interviews, concept mapping, and think aloud methods, we identified salient…