English Language Arts Research Articles

What Relationships Do We Want with Technology? Toward Technoskepticism in Schools

In this essay, Jacob Pleasants, Dani el G. Krutka, and T. Philip Nichols outline a vision for how technology education can and ought to occur through the core subject areas of science, social studies, and English language arts. In their argument for the development of a technoskeptical stance for thinking critically and making informed decisions about technology, they discuss past and current efforts to address both the teaching and use of technology within the subject areas and possibilities for a deeper and more coherent technology education. To support that goal, they present the Technoskepticism Iceberg as a conceptual framework to identify the technical, psycho social, and political dimensions of technology and highlight ways of thinking with greater depth about those dimensions.

‘Courageous and uncomfortable’: high school English language arts teachers using shared leadership qualities in virtual and hybrid classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT 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 hybrid learning. For this study, data was collected using a three-interview approach on Zoom in conjunction with virtual observations of classrooms, teacher and student artifacts, and researcher reflections. The selected teachers reported that they worked to foster an environment of trust, interdependence, collaboration, and collectivism at the beginning of school year 2020 which allowed aspects of shared leadership and student voice to flourish, even within multiple, changing modalities. Students felt more confident to take safe risks in discussion and thinking because everyone was experiencing change, a shared collectivism. The participants found success using student voice consistently to help create engagement, creativity, and other shared leadership qualities in the classroom. All of the qualities were reciprocal, as trust increased, student voice also increased, and likewise for many of the other qualities. Because of this reciprocity, students were able to discuss and reflect knowledge in new ways that many times they directed. Teachers reported a sense of self-efficacy through students’ engagement in their course work and their willingness to take risks. Many times, the teachers felt like students themselves as they took risks and adapted to the changing requirements.

The relationship between English language proficiency and academic performance among English learners: A subgroup analysis by home language background

In U.S. K-12 public education, states' English language proficiency (ELP) standards and assessments have undergone changes in their content to correspond to the language demands of new academic content-area standards (e.g., Common Core State Standards). However, empirical investigations about how English learner (EL) students perform on the new assessments are limited despite the continued use of ELP assessments for making various decisions about students' academic paths. Addressing this gap, this study focused on criterion-related validity evidence by examining the relationship between ELP and content assessment performances of fifth-grade EL students in one state. We examined all EL students and EL home language subgroups. The results suggest that the ELP Reading subdomain was a significant predictor of content assessment scores in English language arts and mathematics; however, the patterns and magnitude of ELP and content relationship differed across different home language groups. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed. Educational relevance statementStates' standards-based ELP assessments play a vital role in making decisions about individual EL students' academic paths as well as in school planning for resources and instruction for EL students. The findings of the present study provide important validity evidence to support the intended use of ELP assessments. The study also underscores the importance of investigating within group variations, as the EL group is tremendously heterogenous in terms of their cultural and linguistic backgrounds, socioeconomic status, length of U.S. residence, and formal schooling experience. The results of the study shed light on a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between ELP and the academic performance of EL students from different home language backgrounds.

Rater variability and reliability of constructed response questions in New York state high-stakes tests of English language arts and mathematics: implications for educational assessment policy

Using generalizability (G-) theory as a theoretical framework and research methodology, this study examined the impact of the current one-rater holistic scoring practice on the rater variability and reliability of constructed response questions in New York State high-stakes tests of grades four and six English language arts (ELA) and grades four and five mathematics assessments. Following the New York State scoring rubrics, a total of 36 grades four and six ELA constructed response samples and 72 grades four and five mathematics constructed response samples were marked holistically by ten independent raters having current certifications as educators in the State of New York. The results indicated that the current single-rater holistic scoring practice would not be able to yield acceptable G-coefficients for the New York State grades four and six ELA and grades four and five mathematics assessments. Implications for assessment policy making at the local and state levels are discussed.

Speculative F(r)ictions: A Youth Restorying Horror and Monstrosity

This case study examined how a 14-year-old youth and eighth-grade student named Kendra (pseudonym) mobilized restorying to (re)center her experiences in horror fiction. I asked how she conceptualized horror and monstrosity in a 6-week English language arts unit, and how she (re)centered her life experiences within horror fiction through restorying “The Price” by Neil Gaiman. Focusing on two forms of her restorying practices—counter-storytelling and transmedia storytelling—I analyzed how she composed an original, personalized horror story. The findings illustrated how the composition reflected her conceptualizations of monstrosity and subverted problematic horror tropes. I also discussed how her horror story functioned as sociopolitical critique, a (re)interpretation of source material, and a method of composing for audiences.

Reading Rhetorically: Discussing the Ethics of Narrative Form

In this study, we explore discussions of literature in a high school English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, examining how students read rhetorically. Reading rhetorically considers the ethical effects of narrative content as it is mediated through character dialogue and action, narrator discourse, and the author's organization: a narrative as a story told to someone for some rhetorical purpose. Drawing from rhetorical narratology, we analyzed data collected in a 12th-Grade ELA classroom during student-driven Socratic seminars to ask: how did students address the ethics of various narrative situations as they talked about literature? We found that youth engaged in interpretive discussions that grappled with the complexities of ethical positioning in narrative. We argue that ELA classrooms are key spaces to help students examine how narratives act on readers, how readers act on narratives, and the ethical dimensions of such interpretive work.

From Motivation to Inspiration: Using Picturebook Biographies to Inspire All Learners, Especially English Language Learners

This article begins with a vignette that involved a response by an eighth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher to the question: “Why do you assign a grade for every student assignment?” She stated: “Because grades drive my students! It’s so much a part of their lives that if I don’t give them points toward a good grade, they ask themselves, ‘Then, why am I doing this?’” For us, this response generated several inquiry questions about the role of motivation in student learning. One question was: Is motivation alone enough for student success? Our initial answer was probably not. We hypothesized that motivation is helpful but insufficient for student learning. Inspiration is also important. This hypothesis inspired this article. It describes fundamental principles underlying research on motivation, identifying important differences between motivation and inspiration. Next, it provides an overview of different definitions of the term picturebook. It then describes the power of picturebook biographies to inspire all learners, especially ELL learners. It shares an extensive list of high-quality, award-winning, multicultural picturebook biographies of historical figures from around the world and across four major categories: Trailblazers and Daredevils, Sports Figures, Heroes Conquering Disabilities, and Historical Figures from Around the World. It ends with final thoughts and an invitation for teachers to hear new voices and start new conversations about the importance of using picturebook biographies to inspire all learners.

Experiencing the cycles of love in teaching: the praxis of an early career Asian American ELA teacher

PurposeEarly career teachers (ECTs) of Color are key in making change, resisting racism and pushing back against white supremacy in K-12 education, specifically in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Through a narrative telling inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) of Nora, an Asian American ELA ECT in the Midwest, and by drawing on Fisher’s (2011) Critical Integral Pedagogy of Fearlessness, this study aims to recognize the narrative power within teaching praxis as Nora stories herself toward becoming a critical pedagogue.Design/methodology/approachUsing narrative inquiry methodology and methods (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000), the authors simultaneously considered the commonplace tenets of narrative inquiry – temporality, sociality and place – of the intertwined relationships of the participants and observers. The field texts included in the corpus of data include myriad tellings of Nora’s experiences in her initial years of teaching ELA. Data were analyzed in stages of parsing out narrative blocks and structures.FindingsThe findings indicate that Nora, as an ECT, went through recursive cycles of fear as conceptualized by Fisher (2011) – bravery, courageousness and being fear-less – of working toward radical love (Hooks, 2000) within her ELA instruction. The authors argue that Nora confronted her personal and professional fears as she strove to become a critical pedagogue in her ELA classroom.Originality/valueCurrent scholarship portrays ECTs as lacking agency in their development and/or effectiveness in the classroom and little is said about Asian American ELA ECTs and critical instruction. The authors present Nora’s counter-narrative to make visible what is right with ELA ECTs, specifically teachers of Color, as they transform their fear into courage to fight for educational equity.

Teacher Scaffolding and Equity in Collaborative Knowledge Construction

This study examines teacher scaffolding and equity during collaborative small-group discussions in fifth-grade English language arts classrooms. Equity indicators analyzed include uptake, relational invitations, and conflicts for the floor (CFF). CFF indicates lower levels of participatory equity, while the others indicate higher relational equity. Three types of teacher scaffolding moves were included, and data were analyzed using statistical discourse analysis and repeated measures logistic regression. Teacher scaffolding was either negatively or not related to all equity indicators. Specifically, teacher scaffolding is associated with reduced indicators of relational equity, but also with reductions in CFF. The relationship with relational equity was stronger and more consistent than the relationship with CFF, suggesting that teachers’ largest influence on equity is on relational, rather than participatory, equity.

Reducing the math and language arts gender gaps in elementary school students through gender integration

Math and English Language Arts (ELA) are two major areas that continue to show gender achievement gaps in U.S. students. Given the importance of peer relations in academic success, the degree of gender integration in classrooms in early elementary school may shift student interest and performance to lessen these gender gaps. We tested the hypothesis that Gender Integration (GI; i.e., when students perceive that boys and girls work cooperatively in a classroom) would positively impact students' math and ELA-related outcomes. Further, we examined both cognitive and affective processes underlying this relation. Participants were 884 3rd to 5th graders (51.1 % boys; Mage = 9.04 years, SD = 0.90; 47.2 % White, 37 % Latine). Over the course of an academic year (fall, winter, and spring), we gathered student and teacher data. Path analyses showed that fall GI directly predicted greater spring ELA but not math achievement. Further, academic beliefs significantly mediated math achievement for girls and ELA achievement for boys. Because GI is malleable, the findings highlighted the importance of promoting GI early in students' educational environments as a way to promote both girls' and boys' educational beliefs and achievement.

Effects of brief mindfulness practice on reading performance among racially minoritized adolescents.

This research evaluated the effects of a year-long mindfulness intervention in a predominately Black student sample in an urban high-poverty middle school. Five English Language Arts classrooms (n = 56) were randomly assigned to brief daily 5-min mindfulness practice or an active control. Students were measured at three time points throughout the school year on standardized curriculum-based measures of reading performance. Results indicate that students in the mindfulness condition had significantly higher reading scores (sentence-level comprehension and fluency) than students assigned to control condition at the end of the school year. Our findings indicate that brief mindfulness practice may indirectly affect performance in specific academic skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Stories of Self, Stories of us: Bearing Witness and Writing Testimonios

This article examines the purpose of testimonio as a written genre and the ways in which personal, identity-driven writing instruction can be valuable in a secondary English language arts classroom.

Black Teachers’ Use of Liberatory Design to Promote Literacies of Healing

As past, present, and future Black teachers invested in creating healthy and joyful learning spaces, the authors turned to the Black Teacher Project’s design lab to learn a liberatory design process that promoted literacies of healing in the English language arts classroom.

Awards: Be in Coalition to See Humanity: NCTE’s 2023 Outstanding Elementary Educators in the English Language Arts Award

This interview shares the groundbreaking and optimistic vision of Drs. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth and Caitlin L. Ryan for expanding literacies to include the lives and issues of LGBTQIA+ people in elementary school language arts classrooms.

Claiming a space in the W/writerly community to increase English Language Arts teacher agency

PurposeBy engaging levels of W/writerliness, this paper aims to identify how English Language Arts teachers’ personal and professional W/writerly identities impact their performance of pedagogical agency.Design/methodology/approachIn this narrative inquiry, the author draws on theories of writing identity and agency to analyze how four mid-career English teachers’ personal beliefs around writing intersect with their professional practice. Data sources include interviews, journal entries and classroom observations.FindingsNuanced differences in teachers’ W/writerly identities produce more substantial differences in their pedagogy, especially impacting their performance of agency to (re)define successful writing outcomes and to balance process and product in their writing instruction.Practical implicationsThis paper presents one method to expand preservice and in-service English Language Arts (ELA) practitioners’ approaches to teaching writing even alongside limitations of their teaching context by (1) emphasizing their ownership over their own writing in university methods courses; (2) leading teachers on an exploration of W/writerly identities; and (3) investigating ways teachers can transfer their personal and professional learning to students via their own pedagogical agency.Originality/valueThe study extends the work of scholars in the National Writing Project, suggesting that nuanced exploration of ELA teachers’ W/writerly identities in preservice and in-service settings could increase their sense of agency to work against and within cultures of standardization.

Interscholastic Policy Debate Promotes Critical Thinking and College-Going: Evidence From Boston Public Schools

Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher-order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study policy debate—an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers’ critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills—in Boston schools serving large concentrations of economically disadvantaged students of color. Student fixed effects estimates show debate had positive impacts on English Language Arts (ELA) test scores of 0.13 SD, equivalent to 68% of a full year of average ninth-grade learning. Gains were concentrated on analytical more than rote subskills. We find no harm to math, attendance, or disciplinary records, and evidence of positive effects on high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment. Impacts were largest among students who were lowest achieving prior to joining debate.

Down but not out: Using restorying to imagine beyond the constraints of mandated texts for critical thinking, empathy, and identity work

AbstractIn 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 engaged in as they restoryed canonical texts. These findings highlight and how preservice teachers can use restorying as a way to engage the self and others for more inclusive storytelling. Finally, the authors argue that in oppressive spaces that seek to silence marginalized voices, restorying can act as a subversive tool to engage in work that bends toward justice.

Helping or Hurting: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes

We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third-grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance or disciplinary incidents, again into middle school. Our findings combine to show that Indiana’s third-grade retention policy improves achievement for retained students without adverse impacts along (measured) nonacademic dimensions.

The Effectiveness of Co-Teaching in Middle School ELA Inclusion Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which co-teaching strategies were used in 4th to 8th grade English Language Arts inclusion classrooms. Through the use of a qualitative approach, data collection included interviews, a focus group, and surveys. The following themes were revealed: advantages of co-teaching, weaknesses of co-teaching, and planning. In addition, a theme of inconsistency was discovered. Results indicated that all of the participants used the one teach, one assist approach regularly. Teachers identified problems with implementing co-teaching such as lack of time to plan, classroom support, and professional development.

Permission granted: professional development to promote social studies content integration

PurposeIn this article, the authors, a university elementary social studies methods faculty member and a district social studies supervisor, discuss the creation of sustained professional development (PD) for elementary teachers on integrated social studies instruction.Design/methodology/approachThe authors detail the development of a PD sequence that included two 45-minute whole-group PD sessions and two days of individual and small-group school-day coaching for each school in the district. The ultimate goal of this PD was to provide the classroom teachers with the pedagogical content knowledge to meaningfully integrate social studies and English language arts (ELA) in their classrooms.FindingsThe collaboration between the university faculty member and the district administrator allowed for the development of meaningful, sustained PD for the classroom teachers.Originality/valueThis work has implications related to the development of PD to integrate social studies and ELA for university faculty working with teachers in school-based settings and for school administrators seeking to provide more PD for their teachers.