We exploit information about parental preference and a randomized component in the assignment of students to schools within a deferred acceptance (DA) mechanism to estimate the causal effect of enrolling in a charter school in Newark, New Jersey, on student test scores. The estimates incorporate variation from students attending about 70% of the…

Culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012) has emerged as an essential way to value the evolution of culture among diverse learners. Discussions around teaching in a culturally sustaining manner in the English language arts classroom, specifically when teaching literary analysis, often address the need to incorporate multicultural literature so…

This study considers a contextualized approach to grammar instruction, asking: "Does embedded instruction using published authors as mentors improve grammar and usage for young writers?" Twenty-three students in one second-grade classroom participated. Students were taught grammar conventions through use of mentor texts for 45 minutes a…

Purpose: Current legislative, policy and cultural efforts to censor and illegalize classroom discussions and curricular representations of LGBTQ+ people reflect longstanding challenges in English education. In an effort to explore what curricular inclusion can (not) accomplish--especially what and how current struggles over inclusion, censorship,…

This research brief highlights throughput rates for students enrolled in Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) by disability type. Findings show that throughput rates increased for every disability type from 2015-16 to 2019-20 in both English and mathematics. Evidence supports that AB 705 has resulted in improved outcomes for students…

Due to low English language arts (ELA) state test scores among Hispanic students, district administrators in a Title I identified school district implemented a new literacy policy that included both supplemental education services for Hispanic students (SES-HS) and professional development in cultural and linguistic instructional practices (CLIP)…

Over the past few years, several states have begun to explore or pilot different through-year assessments to serve as replacements to the traditional end-of-year summative assessments that are currently the predominant source of information used by states to meet federal accountability requirements. While there are several different assessment…

Secondary English Language Arts classrooms are spaces where teachers can pursue justice through curricular, pedagogical, assessment, and discretionary decisions they make, using popular asset (i.e., cultural modeling, culturally responsive pedagogy) and justice pedagogies (i.e., critical literacies, culturally sustaining pedagogy, restorative…

Teaching topics on Indigenous people and culture can be challenging for educators in K-12 classrooms for a multitude of reasons. This dissertation examines the epistemological complexities that teaching Indigenous identity, cultural teachings, and futurities are met with in mainstream classrooms. In the early chapters, I spend time describing what…

Standardized testing is generally regarded in schools today as the primary way to measure and determine student achievement. Student performance determines the degree to which schools, teachers, and students are identified as being successful. The problem being investigated by this study was that all students are spending too much classroom…

NExT LEVEL is a National Professional Development grant funded by the Office of English Language Acquisition, U.S. Department of Education. The grant partnered with three school districts and provided introductory training in working with English Learners (ELs) for select mainstream classroom teachers and teacher candidates; continued coursework…

Literacy standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers in Common core state standards: English language arts standards, 2010) and best practices from Institute of Education Sciences practice guides (e.g., Baker et al. in Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in…

Research shows many new college students may be remedial in English language arts or mathematics (Jaggers & Bickerstaff, 2018). For faculty in journalism and mass communication (JMC) fields, teaching struggling student writers can be especially challenging as these students may not have the fundamental knowledge to build applied writing skills…

While text selection is indeed a crucial choice that transmits explicit and implicit messages to students about what literature is and why it matters, it remains one element that needs to be put into conversation with a broader set of considerations in order for educators to fully grapple with the nature and purpose of rigorous and transformative…

In a sea of troubling reports about education, teaching, reading, and the well-being of teens, Ivey and Johnston bring some good news that shows what happens when we stop underestimating young people. This accessible book offers an engaging account of a 4-year study of adolescents who went from reluctant to enthusiastic readers. These youth…