Upper-elementary Grades Research Articles

The Critical Role of Word Reading as a Predictor of Response to Intervention

This study examines the initial word reading performance of fourth-grade struggling readers and the extent to which differing levels of word reading performance at pretest influenced their response to reading interventions. A large group of students with significant reading comprehension difficulties (N = 481) were classified into three clusters of word reading proficiency based on their pretest performance: (a) very low, (b) low, and (c) near adequate. We examined their performance on several academic, language, and executive functioning measures at the beginning of the year and their reading comprehension performance at the beginning of year and after 1 year of reading intervention to examine how each cluster responded to instruction. Results from a discriminant function analysis indicated that performance on five pretest variables were meaningful predictors of word reading proficiency cluster membership: phonological processing, writing fluency, math calculation, math fluency, and reading efficiency and comprehension. Results also demonstrated that word reading proficiency at pretest was related to response to intervention on reading comprehension measures. Students in the very low word reading proficiency cluster showed minimal response to intervention whereas the near-adequate word reading cluster demonstrated greatest response to intervention. These results suggest word reading is a critical predictor of response to intervention for students with significant comprehension problems in the upper elementary grades and that students with the most substantial word reading problems may require more intensive and specialized treatments than students with greater word reading performance to show meaningful progress in reading.

Automated Scoring of Students’ Use of Text Evidence in Writing

AbstractDespite the importance of analytic text‐based writing, relatively little is known about how to teach to this important skill. A persistent barrier to conducting research that would provide insight on best practices for teaching this form of writing is a lack of outcome measures that assess students’ analytic text‐based writing development and that are feasible to implement at scale. Automated essay‐scoring (AES) technologies offer one potential approach to increasing the feasibility of research in this area, provided that the scores yield information about substantive dimensions of writing aligned to new standards and are sensitive to variation in literacy instruction. The authors describe an approach to using AES technologies to provide information about students’ skills at marshaling text evidence in the upper elementary grades. Specifically, the authors examined 1,529 responses to a response‐to‐text assessment (RTA) from 65 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade language arts classrooms, from which the authors also collected data on instruction via logs, text‐based writing assignments, and surveys. Through correlational, univariate, and multilevel multivariate analyses, the authors found validity evidence supporting automated scoring of the RTA: The authors found close correspondence of human and AES scores, alignment of AES scores with components of instruction that the authors expected would predict variation in students’ writing quality, and association between AES scores and other expected measures of student achievement. These findings provide encouraging evidence that AES technologies as applied to the RTA can generate valid inferences about students’ ability to marshal text evidence in writing and, thus, could be a useful tool for advancing large‐scale writing research.

Examining Sources and Mechanisms of Reading Comprehension Difficulties: Comparing English Learners and Non-English Learners within the Simple View of Reading.

In the present study, we compared the extent to which linguistic comprehension (vocabulary and listening comprehension) and word reading explain reading comprehension differentially for English learners (ELs) and non-ELs with reading difficulties, and we investigated whether different mechanisms of reading comprehension failure exist for each group. Using the simple view of reading as our framework, we tested a model in which vocabulary exerts a direct effect on reading comprehension and indirect effects through listening comprehension and word reading. Results from a multigroup structural equation model with a sample of 446 struggling fourth-grade readers (n = 229 for ELs; n = 211 for non-ELs) demonstrated both similarities and differences in the sources and mechanisms of reading comprehension difficulties for ELs and non-ELs with reading problems. Word reading was an important source of reading comprehension difficulty for both groups. For non-ELs, the effect of word reading was larger than the effects of linguistic comprehension (vocabulary and listening comprehension combined); however, for ELs, the effects of linguistic comprehension were greater than the effect of word reading. Vocabulary had indirect effects via both listening comprehension and word reading for ELs, but it demonstrated a direct effect on reading comprehension for non-ELs. These results suggest that developing a range of linguistic comprehension skills (e.g., word-level and sentence-level language skills) may be important for ELs with reading comprehension difficulties in the upper-elementary grades.

“I like […] different time periods:” elementary teachers’ uses of historical fiction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how and why teachers use historical fiction in their classroom (e.g. selection and instruction) through the lenses of their pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1986) and pedagogical tools (Grossman et al., 1999).Design/methodology/approachThe authors explored the following questions: In what ways do elementary school teachers, more specifically fifth grade teachers responsible for early US history as part of their social studies curriculum, use historical fiction in their classrooms? and What factors do elementary school teachers consider when they select historical fiction to use in their classrooms? In order to explore these questions, the authors interviewed eight fifth grade teachers. The authors describe the ways in which these teachers use historical fiction as part of their social studies instruction by employing collective case study (Stake, 1994).FindingsThis study has reified this notion that historical fiction is widely used by fifth grade teachers. The authors identified that these teachers are choosing texts that allow them to integrate their language arts and social studies instruction in effective and engaging ways. Many participants described choosing the texts purposefully to address social studies standards during their language arts time. Despite many of these teachers using prescribed curricula for language arts instruction and following state standards for social studies, the teachers in this study felt free to make curricular decisions related to integration. Most importantly, when given this freedom, they chose to integrate purposefully with quality texts.Research limitations/implicationsThe primary limitation of this research study is the small sample size (n=8). However among the eight teacher participants, there are two states are represented, varied teaching contexts (e.g. departmentalized, self-contained classrooms), and many years of classroom social studies teaching experience.Originality/valueThe Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS) (Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association, 2010) have prompted teachers to present both informational text and literature in equal balance in upper elementary grades. Little research has been done in the last decade about the ways in which historical fiction addresses these standards.

Observable mathematical teaching expertise among upper elementary teachers: connections to student experiences and professional learning

Researchers examining elementary teachers’ mathematical teaching expertise—that is, teachers’ knowledge both of mathematics and of how to effectively teach mathematics—have linked such expertise to student outcomes. But, given the increasing use of classroom observations for teacher evaluation in the USA, this study considers whether and how upper elementary teachers’ mathematical teaching expertise is observable in everyday classroom observations. Using classroom observation data collected with the widely used CLASS observation instrument, this study examines relationships among observation data, student outcome data, and data on opportunities for professional learning from 298 upper elementary teachers in four urban school districts in the USA. Using principal components analysis, this study isolates an observable dimension of mathematical teaching expertise. Regression analyses then identify statistically significant relationships among observed mathematical teaching expertise and multiple student outcomes, including mathematics learning and self-efficacy, as well as teacher professional learning through collaboration with mathematics coaches. Our findings inform strategies for observing mathematical teaching expertise, strengthening the practices of upper elementary teachers, and improving student experiences in the upper elementary grades.

Read‐alouds in the upper elementary classroom: Developing academic vocabulary

This article highlights the potential of teacher read‐alouds of informational texts for building academic vocabulary. These represent the general, high‐utility words with Greek and Latin roots and the discipline‐specific words associated with increased academic rigor of curriculum in the upper elementary grades. The author provides the theoretical underpinnings and underscores the importance of building and bridging oral academic vocabulary to written academic literacy through a series of linked, scaffolded learning tasks. These tasks provide opportunities for recycling and practice with new words and transforming them to written modes, resulting in deep learning. These ideas are suited for working with preservice teachers in initial teacher preparation programs. In‐service teachers could also use these materials in their classrooms or for professional development in a community of practice setting where collaborative work, discussion, and shared reflection are valuable adjuncts for introducing new teaching ideas.

Musical parenting and acculturation of South Korean immigrant mothers

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore how South Korean immigrant mothers perceived and supported their children’s musical activities and how acculturation might have affected these mothers’ musical parenting. A qualitative case study was carried out for this inquiry and in-depth interviews with thirteen Korean immigrant mothers provided rich data about their musical parenting. The interview data indicated that the immigrant mothers had a strong belief about their children’s musical engagement and this belief led them to support their children as best as they could even if it required a great amount of time and money. Also, it was clearly found that these immigrant mothers’ musical parenting has been significantly affected by the acculturation process. They all agreed that their decisions on their children’s musical participation would have differed if they lived in Korea. Unlike native Korean mothers who showed a tendency to discontinue support for their children’s musical activities when they reached upper elementary grades, the immigrant mothers were willing to support their children’s musical participation as long as possible. Various factors seemed to have influenced this decision, including a desire for lifelong music participation as a possible tool for college admissions.

Etiology of teacher knowledge and instructional skills for literacy at the upper elementary grades.

The purpose of this research was to study the etiology of teacher knowledge about and factors that influence implementation of evidence-based reading and writing interventions at the upper elementary grade levels. Five data sources are used in this study: first, we used teacher surveys about their pre-service preparation on reading comprehension and literacy practices gathered during a recent cluster randomized control trial on a reading comprehension intervention conducted with 280 fourth and fifth-grade teachers and their classroom students. We also conducted focus group interviews with 43% of the teachers and observed 90% of the teachers once during the implementation years. For writing, we used data collected from 32 teachers during a 3-year design project for a teacher-led computer-supported writing intervention. We also collected data from groups of school administrators using structured interviews during both studies. Finally, we conducted an artifact review of school curricula and posted professional development (PD) plans. Our results show that in both reading comprehension and writing, all teachers reported not receiving sound evidence-based pre-service preparation and they were not currently employing any evidence-based approaches. Most teachers reported using the basal reading series with very little variation from the lesson scope and sequence. Teachers and administrators frequently reported that skills were being taught in isolation (e.g., skill of the week is summarizing) and that writing was neglected. The interviews showed very interesting patterns of curricula decision-making by school administrators and these findings were further confirmed through the artifact reviews. Based on these results, we recommend that any review of teacher practices focus also on administrator decision-making and school level factors that are driving what happens in the classrooms. The review showed that the teachers themselves do not feel empowered to learn and deliver evidence-based literacy practices and feel constrained by the system.

Effects of Stress Management Education with a Focus on Students' Self-Sacrifice Beliefs in Upper Elementary Grades

Effects of Stress Management Education with a Focus on Students' Self-Sacrifice Beliefs in Upper Elementary Grades

Universal Screening Methods and Models: Diagnostic Accuracy of Reading Assessments

Reading screening assessments help educators identify students who are at risk of reading and determine the need for intervention and supports. However, some schools screen and assess students more often than needed, and the additional information does not improve the accuracy of decisions. This may be especially true for students at the upper elementary grades who have already taken high-stakes tests. This exploratory study evaluated how accurately a variety of screening measures predicted performance on a high-stakes end of year test for fourth- and fifth-grade students. Results of this study indicated that previous scores on the statewide assessment and computer-adaptive assessment best predicted student performance on a high-stakes reading test (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment—Third Edition). When comparing screening models, a two-gate approach appeared to be the best method for identifying student risk.

Preservice Teacher Knowledge, Print Exposure, and Planning for Instruction

AbstractTeachers who are knowledgeable about the basic structure of the English language incorporate this knowledge into their instruction. In this study, the authors explored a similar relation between knowledge of print exposure and planning for a grade 5 classroom. The personal reading experience (print exposure) of 106 preservice teachers was measured for three genres: storybooks, children's and young adult literature, and adult fiction. Teacher knowledge was measured by two tasks: defining terms and evaluating instructional practices. Planning for instruction was measured by asking participants to plan for a week of grade 5 language arts instruction. Correlational analyses revealed that print exposure, teacher knowledge, and time allocated for student reading in a grade 5 classroom were positively related. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that familiarity with authors of children's and young adult literature accounted for significant variance on both knowledge tasks even after controlling for other forms of print exposure (storybooks and adult fiction). The data suggest that knowledge about print exposure and personal reading experience, especially of children's and young adult literature, are both associated with planning for instruction in the upper elementary grades. The results are discussed in relation to teacher training.

Keyboarding instruction: Comparison of techniques for improved keyboarding skills in elementary students

ABSTRACTUsing computers and keyboarding skills for written communication have been common adaptations recommended by occupational therapists which are now important for all students. We used a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design to examine the effectiveness of a developmentally based curriculum, Keyboarding Without Tears®, as compared to free web-based activities for learning keyboarding skills in students (general and special education) in grades kindergarten through fifth. Overall, students learning the developmentally based curriculum demonstrated improved speed and accuracy, especially in the upper elementary grades and improved keyboarding method in the lower elementary grades as compared to the free web-based activities.

Defining Tennis Content in Upper Elementary Physical Education

Tennis is a lifelong physical activity that is played from young childhood to adulthood. Tennis can be used to meet several of SHAPE America's National Standards and Grade-level Outcomes for K–12 Physical Education in elementary school. Specifically, tennis is tied to outcomes relative to “striking with a short implement” in the manipulative skills category in National Standard 1. While the learning outcomes in striking are not specific to tennis, tennis provides a context for their teaching. This article introduces an evidenced-based knowledge packet of 14 instructional tasks to teach tennis to upper elementary students. The focus of this packet is on beginning tennis, which would be taught to upper elementary grades students who are transitioning from learning discrete skills to learning to apply those skills in developmentally appropriate games. The tasks in the knowledge packet are underpinned by Rink's four stages of game development model and the concept of content development.

Screening in the Upper Elementary Grades: Identifying Fourth-Grade Students At-Risk for Failing the State Reading Assessment

This study examined the predictive validity and classification accuracy of individual- and group-administered screening measures relative to student performance on a year-end state reading assessment in two states. A sample of 321 students was assessed in the areas of word-level and text fluency, as well as reading comprehension in the fall of fourth grade. For individual measures, a group-administered reading comprehension test exhibited the highest classification accuracy (74%–80%) for both outcomes though no screener demonstrated optimal sensitivity and specificity levels. Using a multivariate approach, logistic regression results revealed minimal to no increase in classification accuracy over the single comprehension measure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses determined local cut scores to maintain sensitivity constant at .90, which resulted in a large number of false positives. The implications and limitations of these findings for screening at the upper elementary level are discussed.

UPPER ELEMENTARY GRADES STUDENTS’ ALGEBRAIC THINKING ABILITY IN INDONESIA

This research comes from an idea that algebraic thinking is one of the important things in learning mathematics for elementary school students. Algebraic thinking ability is a transitional process from arithmetic learning to algebraic learning. Students in elementary school must have aquired this ability as some prerequisite for advanced mathematics (at the level of junior high school). Aside from that, the Algebraic Thinking ability requires students to solve mathematical problems. The main purpose of this research is to describe students’ algebraic thinking ability based upon algebraic-thinking characteristics, knowing the learning trajectory of learning barriers to overcome these obstacles. Therefore, the researcher conducted the research by utilizing a descriptive research method. The data were collected by means of test, interview and questionnaire on students in upper grades of elementary school located in urban areas, mid areas, also transitional regions. Based on the analysis of the results of algebraic thinking ability instrument test from 78 students, and having compared with the indicators of algebraic thinking in upper grades of elementary school in Indonesia, it shows that algebraic thinking skills of upper elementary grades in Indonesia are seemingly less good. In addition, researchers classify the barriers of algebraic thinking into three types, namely ontogenic obstacle, didactic obstacle, and epistemological obstacle, therefore with the data, the researcher generates hypothetical learning trajectory to cope with the obstacles of algebraic thinking. Learning trajectory as a result of this study will be developed as algebraic thinking design learning.

Initial Test of the Feasibility and Social Validity of a Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Intervention with Children with, or At-Risk for, Disabilities

This study sought to determine the feasibility and social validity (acceptability) of a new cognitive behavioral intervention (CARE) for students in the upper elementary grades. Results of the study showed the program to be both feasible and acceptable by school stakeholders. Overall, the program seemed to be more acceptable to teachers and students in the 5th and 6th grades compared to those in the 3rd and 4th grades. Student outcomes were varied, with 3 of the 5 students experiencing visually compelling reductions in problem behaviors, while the other two maintained their baseline problem behaviors. In the following we will discuss the results with respect to the research questions and provide limitations and future directions for research.

Lois Lenski, Storycatcher by Bobbie Malone

Reviewed by: Lois Lenski, Storycatcher by Bobbie Malone Rebecca L. Godwin Lois Lenski, Storycatcher. By Bobbie Malone. ( Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. Pp. x, 323. $26.95, ISBN 978–0-8061–5386-5.) Five decades of America's twentieth century come alive in this readable, meticulously researched, and well-documented first full-length biography of Newbery Award–winning children's author-illustrator Lois Lenski. Historian and educator Bobbie Malone traces the evolution of Lenski's work and ties her determination to create her art to the economic and social realities that surrounded women and educational movements, especially between the 1920s and the 1960s. Malone's narrative proves that Lenski, a talented and energetic documentarian of American life who was part of the 1920s surge in children's book publishing, aimed to promote empathy and a sense of social justice in young readers. Malone follows Lenski from her 1893 birth in Ohio to her death in 1974, framing the author's achievements in the context of women's expected place in American society. After earning an education degree, Lenski refused a teaching [End Page 204] job and instead went to New York City in 1915, where she lived at a Young Women's Christian Association branch for women interested in the arts. In 1921, at the age of twenty-seven, she married her mentor, muralist and illustrator Arthur Sinclair Covey, whose first wife had died soon after giving birth to their second child. Throughout the book, Malone describes Lenski's fulfilling life wherein she quietly contested her domestic roles and worked tirelessly to realize her professional dreams. As her husband's painting commissions dissipated during the Great Depression, Lenski became the primary breadwinner, but she never claimed that title herself. In her autobiography and in her letters to friends, Lenski shared that her husband expressed no interest in her books. Yet she pressed on and managed her own professional affairs, earned money from magazines with perfect-mother-myth satirical essays after she bore a son at age thirty-five, networked for field research, and published and illustrated one hundred books. Lenski's fine illustrations for her own and other writers' children's books added to her success, but it was her respectful portrayals of diverse ethnic groups and working-class families—including migrant laborers, sharecroppers, and coal miners—that broke new ground. Determined to provide a realistic view of America, Lenski wrote Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison (1941), an acclaimed historical novel for middle-grade readers that gave an "alternative perspective of Anglo-American Manifest Destiny" with its sympathetic portrayal of Native culture (p. 130). The book started Lenski on the path to writing her American Regional series and Roundabout America series. She wrote while living among everyday people around the country and learning local cultural traditions, work rituals, and dialects, catching stories that became, for instance, Bayou Suzette (1943), Strawberry Girl (1945), and Corn-Farm Boy (1954). Lenski's collaboration with teachers and schoolchildren developed into "'invitational writing'" as she responded to people's requests to "write about them and their region" (p. 166). Lenski conducted extensive research and sometimes included too much historical detail for her editor's taste. Nevertheless, she created books that teachers used in social studies curricula in upper elementary grades to help readers understand the importance of place in people's lives. Malone gives a balanced view of Lenski's work, citing negative reviews and sharing honest assessments of Lenski's unsuccessful books. Malone talked to librarians, educators, children's literature scholars, Lenski's family members, and people who were involved with Lenski's field research as children. She read the papers that Lenski left to more than two dozen libraries and archival repositories around the United States. By analyzing Lenski's influences and by including photographs and illustrations, Malone's chronological study presents Lenski as a forward-thinking American artist in her time. Historians as well as scholars and enthusiasts of children's literature will find this book insightful, and biographers and children's book authors can learn much from the writing and research methods of both Malone and her subject, whose inclusive ideas about democracy influenced generations. [End Page 205...

The Promise of a Literacy Reform Effort in the Upper Elementary Grades

AbstractWe compared year-long gains in fluency and comprehension in grades 3–5 in 3 treatment and 4 comparison schools. Treatment schools implemented a comprehensive school reform (CSR) program cal...

Teachers’ civic socialization practices and children’s civic engagement

ABSTRACTWe examined the degree to which civic learning activities and civic discussion in the classroom were associated with children’s civic engagement in the upper elementary grades. We also explored the types of civic activities used by teachers during middle childhood. Survey data were collected from 359 ethnically and economically diverse 4th–6th grade students (M age = 10.56, 56% female), their parents, and teachers (n = 20) from six public schools in Southern California. The results of path analyses showed that teachers’ greater use of civic learning activities was associated with higher levels of social responsibility to people and civic values in students. However, general civic discussion was not associated with any indicators of children’s civic engagement. Additionally, teachers reported using numerous types of civic activities, thus showing the diversity in “civic learning” across classrooms. Practical implications for elementary civic education are discussed.

Effects of a year long supplemental reading intervention for students with reading difficulties in fourth grade.

Research examining effective reading interventions for students with reading difficulties in the upper elementary grades is limited relative to the information available for the early elementary grades. In the current study, we examined the effects of a multicomponent reading intervention for students with reading comprehension difficulties. We used a partially nested analysis with latent variables to adequately match the design of the study and provide the necessary precision of intervention effects. We examined the effects of the intervention on students’ latent word reading, latent vocabulary, and latent reading comprehension. In addition, we examined whether these effects differed for students of varying levels of reading or English language proficiency. Findings indicated the treatment significantly outperformed the comparison on reading comprehension (Effect Size = 0.38), but no overall group differences were noted on word reading or vocabulary. Students’ initial word reading scores moderated this effect. Reading comprehension effects were similar for English learner and non-English learner students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)