This study examines the teaching of a student group that is often overlooked in research and policy: newly arrived adolescent students with limited previousexperience of formal schooling (NALS). Drawing on ethnographic data produced at two junior high schools with different reception models for newly arrived students, we asked how NALS were…

There have been numerous recent calls in literacy research and teacher education to disrupt the 'struggling reader' label, but a dearth of empirical studies on the topic. This qualitative analysis explores the complex issues preservice teachers (PSTs) faced as they examined young readers' sense-making through a reading assessment assignment. Our…

This paper uses the case of New York City teachers' interpretations of the labels that are assigned to their performance to explore how teachers experience teacher evaluation systems. Based on our analyses of 141 interviews with New York City teachers, we argue that the ordinal performance labels assigned to teachers by New York City's…

Two studies, one of middle school students and the other of high school students, demonstrated that students who were labeled as 'struggling' in the area of literacy saw themselves quite differently when their voices were heard. When these labeled students were viewed through a strengths lens rather than a deficits one, competent literacy skills…

The experiences of girls of color labeled with significant cognitive disabilities in middle school and high school have historically been excluded from educational research. This study sought to better understand how girls of color labeled with significant cognitive disabilities navigated multimodal discourses and classroom practices as well as…

Intellectual giftedness is commonly associated with a high level of intellectual functioning, an identification process whereby individuals are labeled as "gifted," and adjustments in schools such as grade skipping. During adolescence, all these factors are prone to reduce peer connectedness and school life satisfaction. The aim of the…

Static reading labels are problematic not only because youths demonstrate varying reading skills and identities across secondary classrooms but also because being labeled as "struggling" can undermine literacy learning. Little research has investigated how "struggling" and "proficient" readers' interactions with…

Young adult literature that features respectful representations of fictional characters with reading difficulties can play a role in building classroom communities and helping readers understand more about themselves and their worlds. Furthermore, language arts teachers and special education teachers can use texts that feature positive portrayals…

Measuring gifted and talented ("GT") students' perceptions of their "GT" label might seem to be a relatively straightforward affair. Most of this research uses survey methods that ask "GT" students to complete Likert scale or open-ended response questionnaires about their perceptions of the label and then presents…

This case study contrasts sixth-grade student Antonio's perspective of himself as a "good student" with perceptions some of Antonio's teachers held related to his classification as a student with a Specific Learning Disability and an English Learner as enacted in classroom literacy practices. With Antonio's voice at the center,…

The two-way immersion dual language education program design includes the use of language labels to identify students as either the English speaker or the speaker of a language other than English. This paper examines four focal student and two teacher interviews to consider the ways in which the idea of a 'language expert' transpired during…

To address the needs of middle school students who experience difficulty with reading, students are often placed in reading intervention programs to improve literacy skills. This study explores the question: in what ways do students successfully and unsuccessfully use self-initiated comprehension strategies in their efforts to engage with…

Frequent discussion in the field of disability research focuses knowledge on rehabilitation for students with disabilities. However, lacking is a focus on student identity development in the face of a highly stigmatizing and stigmatized label. Semi-structured interviews with four freshman males labeled with high incidence disabilities were…

We know far less about the unintended social-psychological consequences of out-of-school suspensions on students than we do of the academic, behavioral, and civic consequences. Drawing on theories of socialization and deviance, I explore how suspension events influence students' emotional engagement in school through changes in their attitudes.…

Racial minority youth are disproportionally removed from their learning environment due to school discipline and placed in special education for emotional disturbance. These disparities continue to trouble families, educators, and policy makers, particularly within urban schools. Yet there is a paucity of research on how behavioral outcome…