Literacy practices play a catalytic role in equipping girls with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to make qualitative improvements on their lives. This paper reports on a qualitative study that identified existing literacy practices and the support available to enable the development of literacies among girls. Interviews and…

The American Sociological Association identified 12 major recommendations for the undergraduate major, which include 11 learning goals articulated in the sociological literacy framework. In total, these recommendations identified upward of 70 different curricular elements that optimal sociology programs should consider satisfying. This article…

Multimodality is a growing pedagogical strategy for both in-person and online instruction that arose from instructional practices adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative case study explored how faculty in two undergraduate postsecondary classrooms leveraged their multimodal literacies to provide learning opportunities across both…

Context: Prolonged disconnection from school and work represents major setbacks during the transition to adulthood and is a distinct feature of the developmental trajectories of many disadvantaged youths, especially those from a marginalized racial background (Hong and Chung 2022; Shanahan 2000). Differential schooling experiences are hypothesized…

The dissertation presents a pioneering investigation into child speech among Bikolano children. It aims to address the underdescription and underdocumentation of Child Bikol as spoken in the Philippines. Bikol, an Austronesian macrolanguage, often coexists with more dominant languages, making Bikolano children both emergent multilinguals and…

Background: Previous research has indicated that it is difficult to maintain student motivation in gateway courses when students from multiple majors are taking the same course. Providing students with a choice in assignment is important because it creates a feeling that the students are in charge of their education, that they can tailor their…

This book introduces the Cycle of Responsibility (COR) model--the next step in the evolution of the Gradual Release of Responsibility model, which has been a conceptual mainstay of literacy education for decades. This new model shifts the current linear model to a cyclical process of multifaceted interactions that better reflect the complexities…

WestEd has partnered with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to conduct an external formative evaluation of the California Teacher Residency Grant Program (TRGP) since the launch of the TRGP in 2019. The ongoing evaluation is aimed at assisting residency practitioners, technical assistance providers, and policymakers to better…

This case study examines the challenges of researching one of the most sensitive topics in education contexts: racism. Based on a research project that critically examined the culture in a U.K. university, data were collected using participant observation and in-depth interviews with participants from an underrepresented group. The data were then…

This case study shares the strengths and messiness of using grounded theory as a methodology from the perspective of a researcher. The chosen grounded-theory approach closely resonated with the study's objective, aiming to establish a novel framework for race-conscious leadership. Grounded theory offers an open and flexible method to examine an…

Universities are increasingly working to better prepare students for success in the workforce and increasingly advocating high-impact learning experiences. This case study explores the short-term impacts on students who participated in a short-term service-learning study abroad program in Ireland through a lens of Transformative Learning Theory.…

This research investigates how social studies instruction based on local knowledge helps primary school pupils develop resilient character. Many primary school pupils participated in this research as respondents, which used a quantitative methodology. A questionnaire instrument to gauge students' knowledge of local wisdom and how Local…

Labor organization efforts grew following the pandemic in the United States at tech companies, automakers, and even higher education institutions. This brief examines unionization trends at private colleges and universities from 2007 to 2023, revealing staff as the main force behind unionization attempts, followed by contingent faculty. Major…

The Ethical Reasoning in Action program leveraged program assessment data to further promote student learning based on their effective educational framework for ethical reasoning: The Eight Key Question (8KQ) strategy. A cross-disciplinary team of five core researchers launched the first constructivist qualitative inquiry into students' ethical…

Measurement of latent constructs is one of the most challenging tasks in psychological research. Unlike physical variables, latent constructs are not directly observable but are inferred through individuals' responses to a set of items often referred to as measurement instruments, tests, surveys, or assessments. For decades, exploratory factor…