This multicase study seeks to privilege teachers' voices related to their experiences within a year-long job-embedded professional development (PD) program. The district initiated the request for PD, which was negotiated and provided by a literacy educator from a nearby university. Eleven second- and third-grade teachers and the language arts…

Students in Title 1 school districts continue to fall far behind their peers academically in comparison to neighboring suburban districts. School reform has unsuccessfully attempted to improve test scores by consistently changing reading curriculums and mandating the use of various resources that fail when implemented. Struggling school districts…

The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, control group design study was to investigate the effects of Response to Intervention (RtI) and computer-based programs on addressing literacy acquisition skills. This study is important because there is an inordinate number of students who are designated as requiring special…

The rapid growth of the English Language Learner (ELL) population in Indiana has raised challenges for English language arts (ELA) instruction. This research adopts collective case studies and mixed-methods studies to explore the quality and quantity of ELA instruction (time allocation to literacy components and group configuration) for ELLs in…

This study examined the perceptions of participants regarding the use of embedded video demonstration lessons during literacy professional development sessions. The videos were captured in an urban elementary classroom and modeled two new literacy strategies. Based on survey responses from 160 kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the meaning of a class of second graders' fairy tale learning experiences. This study is unique four key reasons. First, it focuses on a group of students whose school has been lagging in state English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency tests; second, it provides perspectives on how fairy tales affect the…

This paper introduces a new observation system that is designed to investigate students' and teachers' talk during literacy instruction, "Creating Opportunities to Learn from Text" (COLT). Using video-recorded observations of 2nd-3rd grade literacy instruction (N=51 classrooms, 337 students, 151 observations), we found that nine types of…

This i3 scale-up study examined the implementation and effectiveness of a 3-year literacy intervention developed by the Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI). The study was a school-level cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 55 elementary schools from four states. Implementation results showed a high level of fidelity of intervention…

Substantial research points to the importance of developing strong early literacy skills. However, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, between 2007 and 2013, no more than 55 percent of Mississippi grade 4 students were reading at or above the proficiency level that demonstrates solid academic performance for the grade…

This paper explores the integration of art, literacy and science in a second grade classroom, showing how an integrative approach has a positive and lasting influence on student achievement in art, literacy, and science. Ways in which art, science, language arts, and cognition intersect are reviewed. Sample artifacts are presented along with their…

Many parents, educators, and policy makers see great potential for leveraging tools like laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones in the classrooms of the world. Although increasing students' technology access may be associated with increased student achievement, there is little research directly investigating objective measures of student…

This accessible book will help elementary school teachers improve literacy instruction inside or outside the Common Core environment. The authors address teachers' instructional needs by introducing key concepts from current trends in literacy education--from high-level standards to the use of 21st-century literacies. Readers then follow teachers…

The associations among second- and third-grade students' content-area knowledge, vocabulary, and reading gains and the science instruction they received were examined in this exploratory longitudinal study. We also asked whether there were child characteristics x instruction interaction effects on students' content-area literacy. Second graders (n…

Utah has successfully implemented a variety of endeavors to ensure literacy for all students. Proficiency rates in language arts in Utah have improved in all grade levels since 2005. Emphasis has been placed on grades K-3 and early intervention for students at risk. Resources available to these students include optional extended-day kindergarten,…

Learning to read and write and achieve good conduct are crucial in the primary grades. One teacher from a state in the Midwest implemented poetry with her second grade students to guide classroom conduct and improve literacy. This article discusses poetry as a literature genre, the benefits of poetry, and poetry curriculum where children read and…