Research Findings: This study investigated coaches' interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide teachers with research and methodological findings for planning, facilitating and assessing classroom discussions around difficult, political issues. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on navigating political polarization in classroom discussions. The research supported three teaching…

Belfanz and Byrnes (2012) estimate that approximately 5 to 7.5 million youth in public schools in the United States are chronically absent from school. Compulsory school attendance laws mandate students to attend school for a specified time period. Even with compulsory attendance laws in place, there are children who miss school. Attendance laws…

This study examined expectations for reading proficiency in the context of Common Core State Standards assessments and how DIBELS Next can inform decisions about student skills relative to these expectations. Data for cohorts of students in grades 3-5 were analyzed to determine the concurrent and predictive validity of the DIBELS Next Composite…

Online synchronous collaborative writing (SCW) is ubiquitous among youths and has found its way into many secondary English language arts classrooms. Yet, to maximize the affordances of online SCW, teachers need a synthesis of contemporary, evidence-based practices for how to support students during this form of writing. The purpose of this…

The absence of social studies curriculum is a problem because it undermines the essential purposes of schooling: to prepare participatory, contributing members of a democratic society. In this article, we argue that integrating the literacy and social studies curricula is one meaningful way to support such civic-minded social studies instruction…

This article adds to the growing body of literature that calls for shifts in teachers' and researchers' stance and practice toward a re-seeing and re-hearing of students for their linguistic assets and expertise. By taking up the theory of translanguaging (García, 2009; García & Li Wei, 2014) to understand students' language practices, I…

This work analyzes a Grade 9 English Language Arts classroom discussion for moments of resistance and asks, What does student resistance accomplish when viewed as racial wisdom? Drawing from "posts" traditions, we analyzed the discussion's intra-actions or entanglements in order to more clearly understand how students draw from their…

This forum article discusses using disciplinary literacy approaches for reading literary text targeting interpretation as a goal. Disciplinary literacy approaches make the assumption that literacy tasks and processes differ based upon the demands, goals, and epistemology of each discipline and that identifying these differences is key toward…

This paper explores how English teachers are currently using comics in their classrooms, and how they describe the problems and benefits of working with this curious textual form. As an educational researcher, I am interested in how the experimental ethos of comics can influence classroom practice in a similarly experimental fashion, and it was…

The paper explores how preservice ELA teachers' expectations of teaching compare to the reality of their experiences during the first year of teaching. The authors consider common concerns of beginning ELA teachers and their implications for teacher self-efficacy. The paper is informed by narrative research, which provides practical and specific…

This study provides an in depth look at how middle school English language learners (ELLs) negotiate their identity as readers and writers as they engage in an identity-oriented unit of instruction. Drawing on theories of identity, identity negotiation, and transformative pedagogy, this study contributes to the field by exploring how a teacher can…

Without research to support their instructional practices, English language arts teachers still utilize direct grammar instruction as a method for improving student writing. Meanwhile more districts are requiring teachers to participate in professional learning communities to address student achievement gaps through group analysis of curriculum…

Recent decades show increased scholarship in literacy education considering LGBTQ-themed texts and LGBTQ people in English language arts classrooms. Building on studies exploring choice in school-based reading, I focus on the experiences of youth navigating their visibility when they interacted with other people about their queer reading choices…

This study investigated the relations between bilingual students' amount of talk during classroom discussion, motivation, and self-reported bi-literacy skills (i.e. reading, writing skills in their native and school languages). Sixth-grade Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States (N = 121; M age = 12.119 years old; SD = 0.358) reported on…