Disrupting the canon of Eurocentric literature often used as a whole-class novel study in the secondary English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum is needed in order to push back against white hegemony in and out of ELA spaces. This disruption needs to occur at the teacher preparation level through discussion, examination, and curriculum development,…

Background: Over the last twenty years, retention has increased in popularity with policymakers who are concerned with student achievement and aim to end social promotion (i.e., the practice of advancing a student to the next grade level although they have not yet met the academic expectations of their current grade level). Despite calls to expand…

New York State public school students in grades 3-8 are required to take the Common Core assessments, now based on Next Generation Learning Standards, in English language arts and mathematics. Students are also required to take English and Algebra Regents exams in high school. Elementary students who often perform on-grade level in the classroom…

English language arts teacher Zachary Wright describes how he uses "Mad-Lib"-like templates to help his unconfident writers (which is most of his students) see precisely how to do things like write a thesis statement, extract examples from the text, and structure a coherent essay.

The authors examine the functions of literacy in three accountability-driven English language arts classrooms. To explore the interplay between transmission-oriented, standards-based instruction and local interpretations and uses of literacy, they employed Pennycook's (2010) notion of relocalization. The authors examine how accountability…

Purpose: This study aims to seek to demonstrate how explicit teaching of SFL metalinguistic and multimodal "grammars" enhanced 8-9-year-old children's deeper understanding and production of multimodal texts through critique of the construction of mini-documentaries about animals: the information, language of narration, composition of…

The purpose of this mainly descriptive study was to investigate teachers' perceptions about how they teach writing as well as their beliefs about preparation and efficacy to teach this skill. It also examined if preparation and efficacy beliefs along with teaching experience (years teaching the language arts) predicted teachers' reported writing…

Increasing numbers of children in Texas communities and across the U.S. are immigrants. One way to support students in exploring the history and contemporary topic of immigration through literacy is with inquiry, a teaching method that centers around students' questions, incorporates informational and narrative texts, and creates opportunities for…

Teacher education research is in still in the process of developing a robust set of tools that can measure the key features of coursework and fieldwork. This article focuses on the design of measures of "opportunities to learn" (OTLs) in content method courses that can be used across large populations of candidates at diverse preparation…

The use of computer games in education has been increasing in popularity during the past decade. Game-based learning environments are designed to teach specific knowledge content and skill-based learning outcomes using game elements. One main reason for using game-based learning environments is to increase student motivation and engagement while…

Some states require physical education (PE) to be in a school's curriculum. Some people feel that it is a time to play and it is not an important subject in a school's curriculum. This study aims to shed light on the potential effects of PE on students' performance in language arts as subject matter. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

As researchers continue to examine the growing number of charter schools in the United States, they have focused attention on the significant heterogeneity of charter effects on student achievement. Our article contributes to this agenda by examining the achievement effects of virtual charter schools vis-à-vis brick-and-mortar charters and…

Methods to handle ordered-categorical indicators in latent variable interactions have been developed, yet they have not been widely applied. This article compares the performance of two popular latent variable interaction modeling approaches in handling ordered-categorical indicators: unconstrained product indicator (UPI) and latent moderated…

This study explored the educational potential of Minecraft, which has been widely used since its first release in 2009. Articles about Minecraft were searched for in ProQuest. Data were gathered from 28 articles that were indicative of three categories: integration into curriculum; student engagement, interest, and enthusiasm; and knowledge and…

School district central offices make consequential decisions about teaching and learning every day that impact the educational opportunities and outcomes for millions of students in our nation's public schools. Given the consequential nature of these decisions, it is important that district leaders use the highest quality research, alongside other…