Interest in students who exhibit characteristics with difficulties in learning can be traced as far back as 1800. In order to better understand the complexities and causes of learning disabilities, many researchers (Bannatyne, 1968, 1974; Rugal, 1974) have investigated ways to better identify learners who struggle with academics. A strong argument…

Social aggression, including behaviors such as gossip and friendship manipulation, can be damaging to girls' individual and relational well-being. As a result, the purpose of the present dissertation study was to test a narrative sense-making metaphor intervention with middle schools girls experiencing social aggression in order to facilitate…

How do teachers in diverse classrooms enact a transactional mode of literary response in their orchestration of classroom conversations about literature? This paper proposes that a theory of expressive language is central to answering this question and that the discourse genre of oral narratives may hold critical importance in accomplishing this…

From the perspective of years in the classroom, Jago shares her journey of reflective teaching that led to a strong belief that all students need the "language of literature" incorporated into daily instruction. Having the vocabulary of intellectual thought at their disposal helps students think through complex issues and express their questions…

The goal of the middle school organization is to create a learning environment that matches the developmental abilities and needs of young adolescents. This research attempts to operationalize that goal by integrating reading and English classes in large urban middle schools. The Student Team Reading and Writing (STRW) program reconfigured…