Literacy Growth Research Articles

The home literacy environment of individuals with Down Syndrome. A comparative study within a bilingual context

ABSTRACT The home environment typically offers the first setting for literacy development. However, inherent Down Syndrome (DS) phenotype characteristics, individual attributes, or caregiver influences can impact literacy growth. This study investigates the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) of children and adolescents with DS compared to their typically developing (TD) peers while also considering the age of participants and the Maltese bilingual context. Data was collected through structured face-to-face interviews with ninety-three caregivers (51 DS and 42 TD). The results indicated that participants with DS preferred reading English books, whereas peers without DS showed no language preference. Caregivers of participants with DS reported less initiative in shared-book reading and fewer instances of reading to their children than caregivers of children without DS. Additionally, participants with DS were introduced to the alphabet later but used flashcards earlier, favouring the look-and-say method. The study suggests that parental involvement, socioeconomic status, and individual child characteristics play more critical roles in shaping the HLE than the bilingual environment. These findings provide insights into early literacy practices and parental involvement in a bilingual context, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to support literacy development in children with DS.

“Close to my Heart”: Teacher Educators Building Racial Literacies

Although building preservice teachers’ racial literacy is a key goal to reducing racial inequity in K-12 settings, little attention has been paid to how literacy teacher educators are prepared to conduct this work. This is unsurprising given the neoliberal logic underpinning universities today. In this multiduo autoethnographic study, six literacy teacher educators utilized reflection on critical incidents to examine their own racial literacy development. By forming cross-racial pairs and utilizing a combination of writing and dialogue, these six participant/researchers interrogated their own views and experiences of race and racism. Findings suggest that the examination of critical incidents can support teacher educators’ racial literacy growth. Specifically, participants reflected on the vulnerability necessary to support preservice teachers’ racial literacy development and utilized ethnographic methods to build the practice of sharing about their own racial literacy learning. They also used critical incidents to come to a deeper understanding of the construct of racial literacy itself. These results imply that for professional organizations such as the Literacy Research Association to deliver on their espoused commitments to addressing ongoing institutional racism, they must intentionally create professional spaces for coreflection and dialog about racial literacy. Further, we consider the implications of this work for literacy doctoral programs and teacher educator preparation within contexts of college and university-based teacher education programs.

The Rural and Urban China Education Disparities

Abstract: In the last decades, education in China has significantly developed and the majority of Chinese young generations are literate. While the exponential growth in urban adult literacy is a testament to the success of the compulsory education system, it is crucial to acknowledge that rural education has been left behind and marginalized in China. This research delves into the urgent issue of rural education inequality in China. The paper thoroughly investigates the current education problems in rural regions and proposes a solution by adjusting faculty distribution and implementing a national central platform for artificial intelligence classrooms (AIC). These measures aim to address the pressing concern, optimize funding usage, and mitigate inequality in education resources to prevent the urban-rural gap from widening. It is important to note that while implementing these proposals is yet to be completed, this paper provides a theoretical examination of the existing issues. Based on the findings, the study proposes a theoretical AIC model for making a social change of education.

Gauging growth in undergraduate information literacy: A case study in library-faculty collaboration

Gauging growth in undergraduate information literacy: A case study in library-faculty collaboration

College Students' Perception of State-Managed Debt

State-managed debt has always been a polemic in every country, including Indonesia. Some people's perceptions did not align with the Government's debt policy, including some college students'students' perceptions. Therefore, this study, which is of significant importance, aims to determine the public's understanding, especially college students, of state-managed debt. The Government values the insights of college students, as their perceptions are crucial in shaping public learning regarding debt management. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach through in-depth interviews with five informants outside Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) in Indonesia. The five informants represent the college student community with different educational backgrounds and genders. Based on the in-depth interviews, the results found that all informants' perceptions described the terminology of state-managed debt sufficiently. Likewise, when they described what the investment was. Despite differences in educational backgrounds, each college student could articulate their perceptions of state-managed debt. The study found that the literature on public finance was still limited. Therefore, this research underscores the potential for growth in public finance literacy among college students, highlighting the crucial and reassuring role of the Government in providing comprehensive lessons and accurate information to the younger generation about the benefits of prudent state-managed debt.

Research as Healing: Reflections of a Teacher Educator of Color on Critical Race Praxis

Framed through the four tenets of Jayakumar and Adamian’s critical race praxis as educational research, this article explores how the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice, a critical race professional development space, was supportive of the racial literacy growth and well-being of K-12 teachers of Color. The author additionally engages in a process of autoethnographic reflection to show how engaging in research and praxis in this way was also healing to her as a teacher educator of Color, helping her to mitigate the overwhelming whiteness of teacher education and advance racial justice in policy and practice.

Exploring Children's Varied Responses to Interactive Read‐Alouds

AbstractThe responses children make during read‐alouds bridge meaning from stories. Educators must grasp the value of children's responses and reactions to literature. Children's discourse is central to the reading process; thus, children must be allowed to participate in this learning process. Due to this, the read‐aloud process in the classroom should focus on the quality of interactions for the sake of literacy growth and development. Engaging learners in read‐alouds permits them to communicate with the teacher and peers, fosters space for ideas to be valued, and results in a community of learning.

Exploring the Enchantment: Projection Mapping Storybook in Early Childhood Classrooms of Malaysia

The use of Projection Mapping storybooks has been integrated into many schools across the world, especially in this modern era where technology plays a very important role in education. The research in question explores the effects of this wonderful technology in early childhood classrooms in Malaysia. The study dissects how it influences learners' engagement in various learning experiences in education and literacy development. We employed a mixed methods research paradigm which was based on observations, interviews and questionnaires for teachers and students to obtain information. Research showed that Passive Projection Mapping storybooks is a technology suited to preschool classrooms to facilitate student engagement, interaction and literacy growth. This finding implies the necessity of providing more technology tools to Malaysian early childhood learners.

Re-energizing health literacy in Wales: a testbed for health, education and prosperity for all.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates the importance of enhancing health literacy for improved health outcomes, self-reported health, lower health services use and disease prevention. Importantly, improving health literacy has great potential to reduce health inequities and inequalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified health literacy as a global priority, viewing it as a right and a fundamental competency necessary to function within modern society. Building health literacy foundations should begin in early childhood, including focus within educational frameworks and school curricula. The WHO advocate for governments to embed it as an explicit goal. In response, it has received significant international policy and strategy focus, in addition to the development of country-level action plans. In Wales, UK, it was identified as a priority in 2010, but despite wider developments spanning health and social care, well-being, economy and education policy, growth in health literacy has stalled since. Optimizing health literacy would act as an indirect enabler to a range of Welsh policies and strategies. A promising avenue for strengthening the health literacy of current and future generations is through ongoing significant national education reforms and the introduction of the new Curriculum for Wales. One of four overarching purposes of this curriculum is healthy, confident individuals, and health and well-being constitutes one of six statutory curriculum areas. Tracking the impact of this on children and young people's health literacy offers opportunities for Wales to model and gain traction as a national-scale health literacy policy testbed. This requires re-energizing health literacy as a national priority.

Relationship Trends of Financial Literacy and Well-being: A Bibliometric Mapping and Systematic Literature Review

The primary purpose of this research was to learn about current worldwide study drifts in financial literacy and well-being that leads to mental health of people. Information for this purpose came from Scopus database, which is one of the world's largest bibliographic databases. This study goes along with literature reviews of systematic, network, and bibliometric nature and includes network analysis (NA) that was applied to find a year-over-year growth pattern with annual progress occurrence, authorship pattern, degree of alliance, top prolific writers, highly cited papers, most collaborative institutes, most desired sources, AJG-rated journals, collaboration networks, and so on. The research is based on an assessment of 164 academic papers published between 2005 and 2022. During the research, the most productive year was 2020. With five publications and 201 total citations, it is clear that Xiao Ju was the most prolific author. Financial Education and Financial Satisfaction: Financial Literacy, Behavior, And Capability ss Mediators, published in 2017, received the most citations. Social Indicators Research was the most cited source, with 296 citations and four articles. For network visualization, the VOS viewer software version 1.6.18 was utilized, and R version 4.1.1 (2021-08-10) with the Biblioshiny package was used for Bibliometric analysis. According to the findings, there was a steady growth in financial literacy and well-being research productivity during the study period.

Enhancing teacher AI literacy and integration through different types of cases in teacher professional development

Enhancing teacher AI literacy and integration through different types of cases in teacher professional development

A systematic review of early childhood environmental learning and its relationship with family socioeconomic status

The development of a child's environmental awareness and sustainable habits depends on early environmental learning. One of the most significant measures of a student's performance and educational accomplishment is their academic achievement. Family socioeconomic status (SES) impacts educational achievement, the connection between SES and academic success may vary depending on the sociocultural context. India is the most populous in developing a country that has a substantial enrollment in basic education. We analyzed empirical evidence on early childhood environmental learning (ECEL) activities to comprehend the background of ECEL instructional methods and predicted outcomes. By focusing on recent years, we found 10 publications that met the criterion for inclusion. According to the research, these programs attracted children between the ages of 3 and 6 who participated in organized, instructor-driven activities. The sample studies examined how children's SES affects their exposure to environmental learning possibilities, environmental attitudes, pro-environmental actions, emphasizing environmental literacy growth, intellectual growth, and emotional and social growth. With the goal of supporting ECEL users in creating, putting into practice, and assessing the program including motivating researchers to continue to look at the components, processes, and concepts presumptions they contain, we provide an illustration that summarizes cross-sample data. The research demonstrates the complex relationships between ECEL and SES. Although children from better socioeconomic homes have more access to assets and chances for environmental learning, the effect of family values and parenting techniques on a child's environmental awareness and conduct is crucial.

An Empirical Examination of Factors Affecting SIP Adoption in Noida Region

Investment, appertained to as the conception of remitted consumption, which might correspond to copping an asset, rendering a loan, keeping the saved finances in a bank account similar that it might induce profitable returns in the future. The deployment of financial resources is undertaken with the objective of achieving fresh income or an increase in value. SIP has played a significant part in the Indian fiscal market. It gives openings to small investors to invest their small quantum and to take return of the fiscal market with minimal threat. SIPs are a mode of investment. It's the stylish option for those looking to invest a fixed quantum in collective fund schemes at regular intervals. Given its nature of investing, SIP helps conduct fiscal discipline and inculcates regular saving habits. The growth in financial literacy within the general population has spurred the proliferation of investments in these fund houses. A survey was undertaken among retail investors in Noida, comprising 143 respondents. The factors influencing investors towards systematic investment plan include Liquidity, Rupee cost averaging, Professional Management and diversification. Key Words: Mutual Fund, Systematic Investment Plan, Investors inclination, Returns

Consumer Attitudes Toward an E–Mail Campaign to Durable Goods in Sri Lanka and Campaign Impact on Purchase Intention

The majority of Sri Lankans are closely connected to the globalized environment and market, with significant improvements in environmental processes attributed to widespread internet usage. Over the past five years, Sri Lanka has experienced substantial growth in internet literacy. The advancements in Information Technology have facilitated a global network, enabling users to communicate without geographical or temporal constraints through email, which has become the predominant medium of communication and promotional campaigns. This research aimed to achieve the following objectives: measure the nature of attitudes towards durable goods, and assess the impact of attitudes towards an email campaign on purchase intention, utilizing the Consumer Tricomponent Attitude Model. The findings indicate a notable prevalence of email account usage for over a decade among respondents, particularly within the age group of 2-4 years, who habitually check their email accounts daily. More than 65% of respondents regularly view and read email newsletters, appreciating the convenience of hyperlinks that facilitate easy online purchases. The research concludes that, as a result of email newsletters, 22% of respondents express an intention to purchase durable goods online. This suggests that email newsletter campaigns for durable goods have the potential to influence consumer attitudes positively, leading to improved purchase intentions.

Efforts to Improve Literacy at MTs N 6 Sleman

MTs N 6 Sleman has a strong background in efforts to improve literacy in the madrasah. With a high commitment, structured curriculum, good library, parental involvement, and diverse literacy activities, the madrasah aims to create literate and competitive students in meeting the challenges of the future. The uniqueness of MTs N 6 Sleman has intrigued researchers to study the comprehensive and structured efforts undertaken by the madrasah to instill a spirit for literacy growth in the madrasah community. This research will employ a qualitative descriptive research design. Descriptive research is conducted to depict the actual conditions of a variable that is not clearly understood, using collected data and making systematic and accurate analytical conclusions. The efforts made by MTs N 6 Sleman to enhance literacy go through three stages: (1) Familiarization stage through enjoyable reading activities in the madrasah, (2) Development stage of reading interest, and (3) Implementation stage of literacy-based learning.

A Case Study of Millennial English Teachers’ Awareness of Digital Media in EFL Classrooms

Digital literacy embodies the competence in effectively employing technology for information retrieval, appraisal, creation, and transmission. This case study not only explores the digital literacy of millennial English teachers but uniquely unveils the seamless integration of a diverse array of digital media into their EFL classrooms. The questionnaire served as a means to gauge the extent of the millennial English teachers understood the notion of digital literacy. Meanwhile, to understand how they use digital technology resources in their instructional design and pedagogical strategies, this study deployed observation, interview, and document analysis. Ten English teachers from Cianjur who belong to the millennial generation enlisted in the study. The findings underscored that the participants adeptly utilized an array of digital technology tools in their day-to-day professional undertakings. They have demonstrated proficiency with digital teaching tools and have seamlessly integrated them into their EFL classroom. Nonetheless, there is a discernible need for further support in advancing their digital literacy skills, and further, collaborative environment to explore innovative pedagogical approaches. Also, a sufficient amount of time for professional development is necessary, as are policies that promote the effective use of mobile devices in the classroom. Furthermore, it is imperative to stimulate the teachers’ experimentation with emerging technologies and elevate their digital literacy levels. Therefore, it is advised that government and policymakers proffer substantial, reliable, and easily accessible technical support tailored to the needs of millennial English teachers to continue their digital literacy growth.

Direct and interactive effects of attendance rates on growth in language, literacy and mathematics skills for children enrolled in voluntary preschool programs

Direct and interactive effects of attendance rates on growth in language, literacy and mathematics skills for children enrolled in voluntary preschool programs

Building a Bridge: Writing and Reading Connections in Early Childhood

AbstractReading and writing are essential components of literacy. Children's initial preschool experiences with literacy set important foundations for later school success. Instruction that can create a bridge between reading and writing to support children's developing understandings in both these areas of literacy has powerful implications for their literacy growth. This teaching and learning in action guide explores meaningful connections between reading and writing by examining the way in which one prekindergarten teacher supports children's reading–writing skills across various components of written language (i.e., sounds, letters, words, sentences, and content) and within various instructional contexts (centers, small groups, large group/read‐aloud). This article shares research‐based approaches in the context of specific examples in which the focal teacher fosters meaningful reading and writing connections using two key read‐alouds as starting points. How do we make reading–writing connections in preschool across contexts and learning experiences to support children's literacy in meaningful, engaging, and developmentally appropriate ways and make connections visible to children? What high‐quality reading and writing experiences influence preschoolers' engagement in activities? What ways are reading and writing addressed in your classroom across various instructional contexts (i.e., whole group, small group, centers)?

Developing Classroom-Based Formative Assessment Literacy: An EFL Teacher’s Journey

Abstract Formative assessment has become an increasingly popular topic in educational reform since the publication of Black and Wiliam’s (1998) highly influential review article. In China, formative assessment has been promoted by the Ministry of Education in its curriculum standards for over two decades. A lack of implementation in classrooms has been attributed to the lack of assessment literacy among classroom teachers. A 12-week professional development program was designed and implemented for a group of five secondary school EFL teachers in China aiming at developing their classroom-based formative assessment literacy. The program took the form of collaborative action research in which a researcher joined the teachers to form a community of practice for continuing professional development. This paper focuses on one teacher’s growth in assessment literacy for classroom-based formative assessment. Classroom video recordings and interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo 12. Baseline data indicated that the teacher lacked the knowledge and beliefs needed to conduct formative assessment. She did not have clear targets for teaching, learning and assessment; and she did not make any targets clear to her students. In addition, the teacher’s assessment practices did not aim to improve student subject core competencies as stipulated in the senior secondary English language curriculum. By the end of the program, the teacher’s knowledge, beliefs and practices in formative assessment were significantly enhanced. In particular, her goal setting for classroom teaching, learning and assessment was intentionally aligned with the development of subject core competencies. More cycles of formative assessment practices were found to help students close the learning gaps and achieve their learning goals. These findings lend encouraging support to the feasibility of teachers developing formative assessment literacy within a continuing professional development framework.

From “Confusion” and “Fear” to “Broadened Horizons.” Students’ Transformative Experiences in Two Higher Education Contexts: Argentina and Sweden

This article explores students’ experiences of intellectual, social, and emotional growth during the first year at university and the extent to which these experiences can be considered transformative (Mezirow, 1981). The study is a qualitative interpretive multiple-case study built on semi-structured interviews with students in two higher education contexts, Argentina and Sweden. The results show that most students experience similarly interrelated changes concerning self-confidence, knowledge- and language-abilities, critical thinking, and values and beliefs. For some students, these changes lead to profound shifts in how they perceive themselves and their possibilities. Such transformative experiences are emancipatory and empowering, giving students more control over their lives. Other students are gradually changing, experiencing growth in knowledge, literacy, and self-confidence. However, they do not yet experience profound changes in their worldview and how they perceive themselves. Contextual factors related to family life and future profession affect the significance students attach to experienced changes.