The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate the effect of a robotics-based intervention on empathy for students enrolled in secondary English and literature courses. Empathy, as a concept, is an integral component of reading comprehension and student motivation. A decline in reported individual levels of empathy among young adults…

The author takes the experience of book challenges as an opportunity for positive curricular changes by walking readers through the development of a formalized procedure for selecting new, diverse texts to add to the English Language Arts (ELA) program curriculum. The text-selection committee arrived at a six-step method: (1) Identify Desired…

This paper presents research that examined teacher talk about moderation of English, mathematics and science assessment across Years 4, 6 and 8 as part of a broader inquiry into the use of scaled exemplars to support consistency of teacher judgement. The paper draws on Dorothy E Smith's sociological work, including the process of mapping textual…

In this paper, we highlight how restorying with preservice secondary English language arts teachers can encourage them to explore what is possible with mandated texts, like those found in the canon, for diverse world building centered in empathy, self-exploration, and justice. Findings highlight the critical reflective process preservice teachers…

This qualitative study explored high school students' engagement with a unit where video games and video game materials were incorporated into an English Language Arts classroom. Over several weeks, students engaged with video game content and composed their own video games using the free online platform, Scratch. The purpose of the study was to…

Higher-order thinking has been promoted in the American classroom for several decades. Summative assessments have the dual role of ascertaining the student's proficiency and also providing them with opportunities to employ various cognitive behaviors and to offer them with opportunities to demonstrate their ability to think in complex ways. The…

Grounded in solid theory with new field-tested classroom activities, the fourth edition of "Critical Encounters in Secondary English" continues to help teachers integrate the lenses of contemporary literary theory into practices that have always defined good pedagogy. The most significant change for this edition is the addition of a full…

The problem addressed in this study is that multicultural literature is not being used consistently to address the needs of the growing diverse population in the local middle school language arts classroom. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of using multicultural literature to teach…

Recognizing the need to center equity-oriented practices within professional learning--and the challenges of doing so in traditional approaches to professional development--this study traced the experiences of teacher participants in a reimagined design of a teacher learning space. Drawing from narrative inquiry and case study methodologies, this…

Shared leadership research shows that it could be beneficial in the high school classroom. During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were looking for best-practice strategies to move their curriculum online and to hybrid. This worldwide crisis provided a moment in time to rethink traditional education in unprecedented mandatory mass virtual and…

In this article, the authors share an account of an eighth-grade personal narrative unit designed to support students in composing accounts of life during the 2020-21 pandemic school year. The article provides an overview of the four phases that comprised this nine-lesson unit and the materials and resources used. Students' voices, perspectives,…

As evidenced by national data, a large proportion of students in middle school, content area classrooms in the United States (U.S.) may be considered developing readers. Evidence-based literacy practices and explicit instructional practices can support these students' literacy development. Yet, research suggests that teachers often miss…

Purpose: Research on nonschool settings suggests young people benefit from digital multimodal composition. Less is known about how digital composing can support students as they interpret required literary class texts. To understand the potential benefits and challenges of digitally composing for literary analysis, design interviews with two high…

Grounded in ethnography and teacher research, "Moving across Differences" examines how an LGBTQ+-themed literature course enabled high school students to negotiate their differences and engage in ethical encounters. Drawing on the work of queer theorists, Mollie V. Blackburn conceptualizes these encounters as forms of movement across…

Recent standardized state tests have revealed a consistent decline in reading scores across grade levels, forcing conversation about intervention in place to combat this. Developed using Vygotsky's theory of Zone of proximal development, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Read 180 reading intervention program promises to close reading gaps of up to two…