The main focus of this dissertation is the literacy practices of students in a high school International Baccalaureate (IB) English classroom. The students demonstrated their meaning of texts that were studied as part of the curriculum in order to prepare them for their Formal Oral Commentaries. This was a mandated assessment of the IB English…

Attending to instruction is a critical behavior for academic success. Many elementary school teachers, however, identify disruptive and inattentive classroom behaviors as key barriers to students' successful educational performance. This study examined the impact of two class-wide positive behavior support programs. The Mystery Motivator and…

This article discusses the pedagogical practices of a middle level English teacher who teaches reading and writing skills creatively and recursively. By providing varied ways for students to construct knowledge and repeatedly grapple with difficult concepts, this teacher sustains an environment of collaborative inquiry whereby students internalize…

Standard histories of NCTE attribute the organization's beginnings in 1911 to rebellious teachers who opposed college entrance requirements imposed upon them by elite colleges and universities. This narrative offers an appealing account of NCTE's history. In this article, however, the author pursues a different line of historical inquiry by…

In scouring the earliest editions of "English Journal," one of the most fascinating details one uncovers is that the issues facing Shakespeare teachers today are similar to those issues that faced Shakespeare teachers 100 years ago. The earliest contributors to "English Journal" were far more in line with contemporary educational scholars than one…

In the current economic climate, many corporate and political leaders seek to reform public education through entrepreneurial efforts that reflect a managerial approach. Similarly, several academic scholars are busily marketing their research. To counter these trends and improve one's own standing, the author suggests that those who are in the…

This study assessed whether instruction in African American English (AAE) phonological and grammatical rules improved speech-language pathology students' knowledge of AAE features. Students were also instructed in the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association's (ASHA's) position on nonstandard American English (non-SAE) dialects, which…

Writing program administrators need to be as concerned about sustaining the cultural ecologies of our communities as we are about the material economies of our institutions--we need to attend to the diverse linguistic and rhetorical ecologies within which twenty-first century student writers are exercising agency. In order to respond productively,…

The late nineteenth-century expansion of public schooling in Australia from an initial focus on the elementary phase to post-primary provision, and then to a more systematic secondary education over the early to mid-twentieth century, went hand in hand with the emergence of new populations of children and young people--a new constituency. In turn,…

With particular reference to recent developments (including communication-technological), Part One considered the nature of language change--its kinds, mechanisms and effects--and of some attitudes towards it; and introduced a case for teaching and learning about it. Part Two recapitulates and develops that case (focusing particularly on lexis and…

This article uses Bernstein's theory of pedagogic discourse to account for both the processes by which curriculum change occurs and the failure of efforts to introduce meaningful attention to language structure into national curricula.

Preparing students for life outside the classroom is the whole point of education. The process learners use to take what they have learned in one context and apply it to another is called "knowledge transfer". To help students transfer literacy-based knowledge from high school to college, the author asks students to investigate the kinds of…

Autism is a profoundly rhetorical phenomenon. And all--parents, educators, caregivers, policymakers, the public, and autistic people themselves--would be significantly empowered to understand and respond to it as such. In the continuing absence of stable scientific or medical knowledge about autism, one needs to shine a bright and insistent light…

The author conducted a two-year study of the career portfolio programs in place at high schools in two Midwestern communities. By pursuing this research project, the author was able to develop answers to his questions about career portfolios and student differences. More generally, this project allowed him to reflect on the ways all writing…

This article discusses building ecoliteracy through place-based education (PBE) within English language arts: some ideas of what PBE is, why it's important, and examples of how it might be applied. The author contends that observing nature and creating personal metaphors from the natural world can help students develop keener writing skills and…