In this article, we examine one teacher's enactment of critical literacy pedagogy in a 7th-grade English language arts classroom in a New York City public school. By conceptualizing critical global literacies in relation to preservice and in-service teaching practices that reflect neoliberal interests, we attend to pedagogy inclusive of…

Although there has been substantial research on the effects of test accommodations on students' performance, there has been far less research on students' use of embedded accommodations and other accessibility supports at the item and whole test level in operational testing programs. Data on embedded accessibility supports from digital logs…

This study examines the role that technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) plays in elementary teachers' adoption of 1:1 computing for instruction across the subject areas of mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies. In particular, the research explored whether teachers' self-reported TPACK moderated the…

In this study, middle school language arts teachers engaged in focus group interviews and shared their perceptions of content literacy, experiential learning, assessment data, and refined practice prior to and after participating in a sustained content literacy professional development. Findings based on these perceptions demonstrate a need for…

Scholars have examined the effects of same-gender teachers on student achievement, but the findings are mixed. In this study, we use 7 years of administrative data from students in elementary and middle schools (i.e., Grades 3 through 8) in Indiana to test links between gender matching and student achievement. We find that female teachers are…

Drawing from theories of identity, language, and race, we conceptualize gateway moments to literate identities in high school English language arts classrooms enrolling language-minoritized youth. Gateways were interactions that afforded particular kinds of literate identities for youth. Deficit literate identities often invoked racialized…

Critical conversations take on heightened importance with current tensions about issues involving race, income inequality, sexual orientation, and gender identity, both locally and globally. These tensions demonstrate a dire need for classroom discussions about literature to serve as a space where youth engage in rigorous, critical conversations…

Schools today face the challenge of preparing students to live, work, and prosper in a rapidly changing world. As a response to this global challenge, Norway has adopted a national curriculum focusing on the development of 21st-century skills. In this study, we investigate if and how the tasks in science and language arts textbooks in…

Background: For too many youths, school has become a place for students to withstand and kill time until they can leave and learn about things that matter to them. Instead, schools should be inviting and exciting places to learn but also nurturing spaces where all students feel they belong. Drawing upon expanded definition of literacies that…

The purpose of this report is to present a synthesis of the research on test accommodations for U.S. elementary and secondary students (K-12) published in 2018. The academic literature described here encompasses empirical studies of performance comparability, investigations into accommodations use, implementation practices, and perceptions of the…

"Drawing Conclusions" explores the use of juxtaposed visual representations (JVRs) to help preservice teachers grapple with abstract concepts, theories, or complex controversies in education. Acting as both a learning tool and an intellectual spark, JVRs are two simple contrasted sketches that students produce on a divided sheet of…

This case study explored how secondary English language arts teachers advanced the social justice goals of a critical multicultural literature class within a dialogic classroom environment encouraging the free exchange of multiple perspectives. The study examined two teachers' experiences and tensions in negotiating two simultaneously held…

English language arts teacher Zachary Wright describes how he uses "Mad-Lib"-like templates to help his unconfident writers (which is most of his students) see precisely how to do things like write a thesis statement, extract examples from the text, and structure a coherent essay.

The authors examine the functions of literacy in three accountability-driven English language arts classrooms. To explore the interplay between transmission-oriented, standards-based instruction and local interpretations and uses of literacy, they employed Pennycook's (2010) notion of relocalization. The authors examine how accountability…

Purpose: This study aims to seek to demonstrate how explicit teaching of SFL metalinguistic and multimodal "grammars" enhanced 8-9-year-old children's deeper understanding and production of multimodal texts through critique of the construction of mini-documentaries about animals: the information, language of narration, composition of…