This systematic literature review presents a review of the effects of integrated language arts, science and technology (ILS&T) instruction, with an inquiry- or design-based pedagogy, in elementary schools on student achievement. To this end, an overview of the characteristics of the 19 included studies and their interventions is first…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss the impact of an international book exchange project done with elementary students from a professional development school partnership on the understanding of project-based learning by pre-service teachers. Design/methodology/approach: A collaborative project between a school in Uganda, a…

In this technical report, we present the results of a 2020-2021 study of the alignment between the easyCBM© mathematics and literacy assessments and the content standards adopted in the fifty U.S. states. The study used a three-wave process. First, a team of researchers gathered the status of state standard information for mathematics and English…

This report uses data from the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels to understand the state of infrastructure to support elementary social studies instruction during the 2021-2022 school year. The report is focused at the elementary (specifically, kindergarten through grade 5 [K-5]) level because the authors hypothesized that infrastructure…

Current state standards set an ambitious vision for English language arts (ELA) and demand much of teachers: They are expected to engage students in close readings of complex, grade-level texts, which in turn requires students to comprehend texts, follow authors' development of ideas, interpret words and phrases, and analyze structure. Yet most…

This case study uncovers how controversial issues such as the recent influx of refugees and immigrants were being addressed in upper elementary classrooms on the United States (US) side of the US/Mexico border. Public school administrators and sixth-grade teachers from two school sites participated. Transborder pedagogy contextualized the findings…

The present study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) knowledge of basic language constructs across four different English-speaking teacher preparations programs. A standardized survey was administered to participants from Canada (n = 80), England (n = 55), New Zealand (n = 26), and the USA (n = 118). All participants were enrolled in…

This study explored American and Portuguese elementary teachers' preferences in planning for literacy instruction using the Language Arts Activity Grid (LAAG; Cunningham, Zibulsky, Stanovich, & Stanovich, 2009), on which teachers described their preferred instructional activities for a hypothetical 2-h language arts block. Portuguese teachers…

This article honors Kathy G. Short, who has been awarded NCTE's Outstanding Educator in the English Language Arts award for 2011. Kathy's scholarly achievements as a lifelong inquirer, teacher, and mentor are featured in this article, celebrating her national and international influence in the field of literacy education. (Contains 1 figure.)

In 1999, the primary curriculum was published in Ireland, with emphases on "breadth and balance", recognition of the role of language and the arts and commitment to each child's potential and holistic development. In 2011, the Irish government published a strategy aimed to improve standards of literacy and numeracy among children and…

It is essential to support bilingual learners' language and academic development; however, teaching second language learners English has taken precedence over teaching content area knowledge and vocabulary, specifically for language arts. The focus has shifted from content area instruction to primarily second language instruction due to an…

"Title III" of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA") provides formula grants to states to help support the educational needs of students identified as English learners (ELs). In school year (SY) 2011-12, ELs served by "Title III"-funded activities comprised approximately 9 percent of the…

Improving teacher quality is arguably the most effective way to improve student achievement. Online professional development (OPD) has great potential to improve teacher quality. There is a dearth of scientific research, however, on whether changes in teachers' knowledge and instructional practices resulting from OPD are linked to changes in…

Drawing on my work in the U.S., I briefly discuss four related hallmarks of teaching for social justice in diverse classrooms, supported by research on their impact on students. They include explicitly recognizing and working with students' culture as a basis for learning, teaching key concepts in the curriculum through content and examples drawn…

For their 61st annual conference, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) met in St. Petersburg, Florida. This year's conference theme was "Engaging All Readers through Explorations of Literacy, Language, and Culture," which was also used as the title for this year's "Yearbook." This "Yearbook"…