State policy makers are constantly looking for ways to improve teacher quality. An oft tried method is to increase the rigor of licensure exams. This study utilizes state administrative data from Arkansas to determine whether raising the cut-scores on licensure exams would improve the quality of the teacher workforce. In addition, the study…

The purpose of this study was to determine if elementary English language arts (ELA) teachers in a northern New Jersey school district perceived they were receiving quality professional development that enabled them to shift their instructional methodologies to address the learning outcomes identified by the Common Core State Standards and ensure…

Creative writing encourages imaginations to take flight, and when adults use the right approach, building literacy skills becomes a form of play that gets kids excited to create their own stories. Packed with ready-to-use lesson plans designed for kindergarten- and early elementary-aged children, this book will help librarians add creative writing…

This dissertation study aims to theorize an instructional practice which I labeled languaging thinking. Languaging thinking is conceptualized as a social practice in which teachers and students make visible and discuss how to think about a particular task, topic, or activity, through the use of spoken and written language and related semiotic…

The purpose of this study was to examine if a relationship existed between two schools with regard to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and the growth scores from the Northwest Evaluation Assessment (NWEA). The research questions that guided this study were: (a) To what extent, if any, will students that have STEM intervention one…

This report is the first in a series of five reports considering career-readiness features within high school assessments. Utilizing feature analysis and cognitive lab interviews, the primary objective of this study was to verify and validate the existence of specific career-readiness features in select math and English language arts (ELA) test…

Educating for Empathy presents a compelling framework for thinking about the purpose and practice of literacy education in a politically polarized world. Mirra proposes a model of critical civic empathy that encourages secondary ELA teachers to consider how issues of power and inequity play out in the literacy classroom and how to envision…

During the 2016-2017 academic year, a collaborative of university faculty and high school teachers piloted an innovative approach to professional development, focusing on secondary level literacy in a diverse suburban district. The approach included innovations in both process and content compared to professional development (PD) and instructional…

According to the author, for any change to occur in language arts, it must originate from a classroom need and have the support of "teacher leaders" who are able to carry it forward. Learning environments would cease to exist without a teacher leading the learning. The essence of the profession is leadership, yet many teachers do not see…

This article explores the power and potential of a role-play collaborative argument project centered on a literary work that has been banned or challenged in schools. In the project, students read a banned or challenged novel as they prepared to play the role of a community stakeholder (parent, teacher, librarian, minister, etc.) at a simulated…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the use of policy debate as a frame for developing critical participatory literacy skills focused on student engagement with current events. Design/methodology/approach: Using dialogism as a frame for a discussion-based course (Bakhtin, 1982; Reznitskya, 2012) and self-study as a methodological…

Beliefs about teaching influence practice and can play a powerful role in the day-to-day decision-making of teachers. Pre-service teachers commonly accrue their original set of beliefs about teaching from teacher preparation programs or personal experiences, but unlike teachers with more experience, new teachers are most susceptible to changing…

This article explores how TCTELA's 2024 Teachers of the Year forged the future through their literacy teaching at the elementary, middle school, high school, and college levels. Each essay captures how they understand their work as literacy educators and intentionally educate their students toward a brighter future amid trying local contexts. The…

There is growing interest in improving and assessing teachers' use of culturally responsive practices (CRP) in the classroom, yet relatively few research-based approaches exist to address these measurement gaps. This article presents findings on the psychometric properties of a newly developed classroom observation measure of CRP, called the CARES…

This annual report highlights information on school performance and improvement in Hawaii's public schools. The report profiles academic events, trends, and outcomes. Featured are tables and figures related to demographic, financial, and educational performance. Also, comparisons to other states with relevant characteristics similar to Hawaii are…