This article proposes ways to authentically amplify writer's workshop for emergent bilinguals. Through the study of one bilingual teacher's mediation in teaching, we examined the affordances that translanguaging and transmodal practices have for emergent bilingual students' writing processes. In this case study, we focused on a writing sequence…

Partisan politics challenge educators to determine how best to navigate discussions of controversial subjects within their classrooms. This can be particularly true for new educators in the early stages of developing their confidence and classroom management skills. This qualitative case study uses situated learning and the communities of practice…

The most recent phase of curriculum reform in the era of accountability is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which have essentially reshaped the landscape of public education. Its objective of preparing K-12 students for college and career upon high school graduation have prioritized English language arts, mathematics, and science over social…

Adding instructional time and holding teachers accountable for teaching social studies are touted as practical, logical steps toward reforming the age-old tradition of marginalization. This qualitative case study of an urban elementary school, examines how nine teachers and one administrator enacted district reforms that added 45 minutes to the…

The present study examined middle school teachers' perceptions of literacy demands in their disciplines and specific literacy strategies they used to teach their disciplines. The eight participants in this multiple case study included 2 middle school teachers from each of 4 disciplines (i.e., English/language arts, science, social studies, and…

This critical case study investigated the experiences of six White preservice teachers as they learned about race and racism during the first semester of an urban-focused teacher preparation program. The author identified two broad themes of "transgressive White racial knowledge" and "negotiated White racial knowledge" to…

Framed in theories of social semiotics, this descriptive multiple case study examined six middle school teachers' use of gestures during one school year as they each taught two different subject areas: earth science, language arts, mathematics, and/or social studies. The data, which included field notes and photographs from 354 lessons and 151…

Place-based education has been forwarded as a pedagogical approach that has the potential to contextualize learning, increase student engagement, and strengthen the relationship between schools and the broader community. Despite this promise, however, many teachers struggle to develop learning experiences that incorporate the key components of…

This yearlong, multi-case qualitative study examined the experiences of four secondary teachers who taught in a school where each student had an iPad tablet computer (1:1 iPad). The teachers taught four different subjects (i.e., English Language Arts (ELA), Social Studies, Spanish, and Chemistry). They ranged from 8 to 30 years of teaching…

The transition from preservice teacher to classroom teacher occurs rapidly, requiring that teacher candidates assimilate into the field quickly. In order to do so, these teachers must demonstrate appropriate language development as it relates to the teaching profession. Not only do novice teachers need to be able to articulate what they and their…

Here we share findings from a 9-month qualitative case study involving a school-university professional development inquiry into how teachers develop, implement, and interpret community-based pedagogies (CBPs), an asset-based approach to curriculum that acknowledges mandated standards but begins with recognizing and valuing local knowledge. After…

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…

This study investigated the use of Apple's iPads as a means to engage students in learning and help them to relate what they are learning in school to the real world. Research suggests students are increasingly disengaged from school because schools are out of sync with the digital world in which "Millennial" students have grown up.…

In "Educating English Learners," Joyce W. Nutta and her colleagues offer practical tools for helping schools and teachers successfully integrate English learners into mainstream classrooms. Drawing on the One Plus model presented in their award-winning book, "Preparing Every Teacher to Reach English Learners," the authors now…

Significant numbers of secondary school students are failing to acquire advanced literacies that will enable them to move on to higher levels of education, to be successful in the workforce, and to participate in a democracy. This qualitative multi-case study was designed to explore new teachers' understandings and enactments with academic…