With the adoption of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, writing has become an increasingly important area of instruction. Moreover, there has been an increased sophistication in the types of writing required of young children and the use of textual evidence expected in student writing. Historically, children have not been routinely taught explicit strategies for writing, but have been exposed to less rigid writing instruction such as Writer’s Workshop. The current study examined an explicit writing strategy, the Read-to-Write Strategy, to determine its effectiveness in teaching young children how to write sequential text. A single subject design (N = 40) was used to compare the writing of second graders before and after instruction. Results indicated that the Read-to-Write Strategy significantly increased the quality of sequential text from the pre- to post-instruction with a large effect size reported. Implications and recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.

In this time of COVID-19, our public and private spaces have come together in unprecedented ways giving rise to unique challenges and new opportunities to synergize maternal and academic spaces. We use Standpoint theory and narrative inquiry to explore our lived experiences as MotherScholars by conducting three story cycles, using prompts about the past, present, and imagined possibilities for the future. Interim texts were created to facilitate moving personal storytelling to a larger narrative. Data generated from each story cycle included three initial stories, six level 1 interim reflection texts, one level 2 interim research text, as well as transcriptions of our virtual meetings. Analyses were inductive-deductive and iterative. Stories revealed the logistical and emotional tensions inherent in MotherScholarship, pointing to an urgent high-stakes sense of potential failure in both arenas, hiding/compartmentalizing parts of self, and identified similarities between motherhood and scholarship. Rejecting the notion of ‘balance’ as not useful (or real), we re-envisioned our future lives as MotherScholars being ‘braided’ across a ‘third space’ merging both motherhood and scholarship. During COVID-19, moments of grace have emerged that illuminate new possibilities and opportunities to confront the oppressive androcentric assumptions and re-envision our work as MotherScholars.

Research has long described the relationship between motivation to read and the success with reading that many students experience while others do not. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the reading motivation of 9th grade students so as to understand how this motivation or lack of motivation may be influencing course enrollment decisions. This work is important because research has repeatedly demonstrated how course enrollment decisions directly impact future academic and vocational success. However, this work has centered on motivation related to math and science coursework with a dearth of research focusing on reading motivation and language arts courses. Thus, understanding more about how students perceive themselves and their ability to be successful with reading can help educators and school counselors advise students appropriately so they are able to reach their full potential and academic trajectory. The expectancy-value theory (see Eccles et al., 1983) provided the foundation for this study which included an exploration of the four task values (attainment, cost, intrinsic motivation, and utility), and the expectancies for success (e.g., past experiences and reader identity) in relation to reading motivation and potential academic success.
In this quantitative study, a survey measuring reading motivation was administered to 9th graders (N = 118) attending a public high school. The survey allowed for a general overview of how these 9th graders viewed their motivation to read, which was based upon their reported expectancies and what they valued. Overall mean scores from the survey indicated the participants reported fairly high reading motivation. The results of a one-way ANOVA used to compare the item mean scores between the two groups indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between honors and general education students when it came to their reading motivation and specifically in the areas of wanting to get good grades, feeling it is worth the cost to do well in school, feeling successful at reading, understanding that reading is important, and seeing the usefulness of reading outside of school. A medium effect size was reported for each of these comparisons suggesting practical significance. Though these findings were not surprising what is surprising is that only five of the 13 items resulted in statistically significant differences between the two groups of students. These results suggest that students enrolled in both a general education and honors language arts course are more similar when it comes to reading motivation than different.
Next, we conducted a point biserial correlation to explore if there was a relationship between course enrollment decisions and reading motivation. The results indicated that the higher a student’s reading motivation score was on the survey, then the more likely the student was to enroll in an honors language arts course. These findings suggest that educators should consider finding ways to increase reading motivation in students to help them There also might be certain students who would benefit from encouragement to consider enrolling in an honors class but who might not see themselves as capable. Study findings also suggest a need for further explorations about how 9th graders see and value reading, how 9th graders are currently being encouraged and motivated to read, and how teachers, school leaders, and counselors can better support 9th graders as they make decisions about which courses to enroll in so that students may be able to reach their full academic and vocational potential.

In this study, we examined the instructional planning, lesson plans, and observed the teaching of five highly effective teachers in a rural school district in the Western U.S. Teachers were identified based on their ability to produce high student achievement and growth. Using a multiple case study design, we determined that teachers didn’t write elaborate lesson plans or teach with fidelity from curriculum programs. Instead, teachers relied upon a collection of teaching strategies and improvisation during their instruction and relied on knowledge of students, learning outcomes, and assessment data to drive instruction. Implications for both researchers and educators are discussed.

The purpose of the study was to examine how disciplinary literacy instruction influenced the quality of science informational text produced by second-grade students (N = 45) using the compare/contrast and the sequence text structures. The instruction took place over eight weeks with two four-week units, and with three 30-minute lessons provided weekly. A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to compare pre/post instruction writing samples because these data were ordinal. Results revealed that after the disciplinary literacy instruction students were able to produce higher quality texts, but only consistently in the areas of providing science facts and definitions and using ending punctuation in sentences. Finally a t-test was used to compare student writing based on text structure being used. Findings revealed that students were able to produce higher quality informational text when the sequence text structure was used compared to when students used the compare and contrast structure.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a form of writing instruction designed to teach second-graders to write compare and contrast informational texts. 73% of the participants (N = 45) were White, 22% were Hispanic, 2% were Asian, and 1% were Black, with 63% of the students eligible for free or reduced lunch. 48% of the students were female and 52% were male. Data collection included pre- and post-instruction writing samples that were scored using both a holistic and analytic writing rubric. A paired samples t-test revealed statistically significant differences (p = .000 for both the holistic and analytic rubric analyses) in student writing scores before and after instruction with a medium (d = .52) and large (d = .95) effect size reported. These findings suggest that the integrated science and literacy instructional approach supported the second-graders as they learned to write science informational texts that employed a compare and contrast text structure. Because the analytic rubric produced ordinal data, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used to explore any differences noted for the individual rubric elements. Results in these analyses indicated that there were statistically significant increases from pre- to post-instruction for the use of science vocabulary and definitions, for word count, and for the use of periods. There were no statistically significant differences in the use of signal words to indicate the compare/contrast text structure, in the use of capitals, or an introduction or conclusion.

As student demographics continue to change in countries across the world, questions remain as to how well teacher education programmes are training teachers to teach students who are culturally diverse from their teacher. Preservice teachers (N = 523) from six different teacher education programs across one state in the U.S. completed a teacher self-efficacy scale used to determine their beliefs about teaching culturally diverse students at the end of their training and again after their first year of teaching. Teacher education programme descriptions across six programs suggested programs are provided and it was determined that these varied in their structure and in required coursework. Furthermore, findings revealed statistically significant differences across programs. Generally, preservice teachers rated their capability to teach diverse students as “adequate” to “well” on a five-point Likert scale. Scores dropped after one year of teaching full-time. However, these differences in mean scores as participants moved from the preservice to the inservice stage were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that teacher self-efficacy to teach culturally diverse students remain fairly stable as teachers make this critical transition so the work done at the teacher training stage is critical. Recommendations and implications for teacher education programs are provided.

One of the most frequently asked questions of beginning teachers is how to set up their classroom. While it seems to be a trivial task, organizing the classroom literacy environment is arguably the most important place to begin. Even after thirty years, the words of Chall, Jacobs, and Baldwin (1990, p. 162) still ring true, “No one will debate the idea that a rich literacy environment is helpful for achievement in literacy.” When a teacher walks into the physical space of his/her classroom for the first time, a vision should begin to unfold and a myriad of questions should emerge such as, “Where will whole group and small group instruction take place? Where will my classroom library be? Which books will I include in my library? Where should I put the writing supplies? How will the children interact?, and How will I use bulletin boards and labels in my classroom to encourage literacy development?” These questions provide a framework for the type of literacy instruction that will likely take place in the classroom and establish the foundation for an effective literacy classroom. In this chapter, we explore the complexities of the classroom environment have been explained from the bio-ecological perspective, from a transactional perspective, and from a developmental perspective. These theories and perspectives help us understand the influence of the classroom environment on the development of the child.

Teacher self-efficacy is a construct that has been shown to be a great boon to teachers. Teachers demonstrating high levels of self-efficacy have been shown to provide greater patience with students who struggle and are willing to persist when things get difficult. Teacher self-efficacy has been examined with both preservice and inservice teachers. It has also been examined in a variety of contexts including schools and universities and in a variety of countries and settings. We do know that most teachers leave their training programs with strong teacher self-efficacy and that practicing teachers often demonstrate lower teacher self-effiacy than beginning teachers, but one area that has been largely ignored in the research literature is what happens as teachers leave their teacher training programs and begin teaching in a classroom of their own. Does their teacher self-efficacy remain high? What happens to teacher self-efficacy as individuals transition from being a teacher candidate to full-time teaching? What happens to teacher self-efficacy by the end of the first year of teaching? Understanding more about what happens to teacher self-efficacy during this important transition can help educators and researchers understand more closely how to support novice teachers and how best to train teachers as they transition to full-time teaching. The study outlined in this chapter investigated teacher self-efficacy at two distinct points in time: First, at the conclusion of teacher training and then again after these same individuals had completed a year of teaching. In this study, a multivariate and a repeated measures ANOVA (N = 502) was conducted to compare perceptions of teacher candidates on the same instructional tasks they are expected to perform in the classroom. Results indicated that overall, teacher candidates reported higher perceptions of their ability to perform instructional tasks at the conclusion of their student teaching than they did at the completion of the first year of teaching. Interestingly enough, the teacher candidates graduating with the lowest self-efficacy scores produced similar scores at both the preservice and inservice stage suggesting their self-efficacy scores remained consisted across the preservice and inservice teaching context. On the other hand, teacher candidates leaving their teacher training with higher self-efficacy scores often saw a greater drop in their teacher self-efficacy score by the end of their first year of teaching. These findings raise questions about what the recommended level of teacher self-efficacy scores should be at the end of teacher training. Are lower scores reflective of more realistic expectations and abilities? Are teacher candidates leaving the program with unrealistic expectations and in danger of burnout? Implications and recommendations based on these findings are outlined in the chapter.

Early elementary teachers play an essential role in fostering students’ foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In the early elementary grades, students develop fundamental understandings of the natural world that can set them on learning and attitudinal trajectories toward future engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Yet, despite this importance, “science time” in many early elementary classrooms is minimal compared to the time spent on literacy and math. While early elementary teachers may be heavily focused on teaching core curricula (especially reading and writing literacy skills), science activities can be incorporated with the regular school day to provide the context though which other skills can be taught. Science content is engaging for young curious minds and often increases the motivation for learning core curriculum and literacy skills, all while developing science content knowledge. This article outlines a two-week daily integrated unit on biodiversity for second grade using the read to write model along with close reading techniques to improve student comprehension of compare/contrast text structure and science explanatory writing. This unit is aligned to the second-grade science standard 2-LS4-1, Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

In this self-study, a teacher’s in the moment recordings of emotional episodes were analyzed with the help of a critical friend, leading to the discovery of patterns of emotional responses. Initial emotional responses often covered up deeper emotional issues that implicated the teaching self. After dialog with a critical friend, those issues were recognized and contextualized, resulting in greater understanding of self that led to change in approach to future emotional episodes, leading to better classroom environments. Acknowledging deeper emotional issues empowered the teacher to manage herself and students with more emotionally healthy methods.

The population of emerging bilinguals is growing rapidly across the United States and in other countries. Concurrently, elementary students in the U.S. are being required to produce more sophisticated writing products than ever before as a result of a heavier emphasis on writing instruction in the recently adopted English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (ELA-CCSS). The ELA-CCSS require all students beginning in kindergarten to write opinion papers, informational text, and narratives. This qualitative study examined how to best support English Learners as they develop as writers of opinion papers. In order to determine how ELs develop as writers, a multiple case study was conducted in a 4th grade English as a Second Language classroom. The study took place over a period of six weeks. During that time, data collection consisted of twice-weekly teaching observations, field notes, samples of student work, audio recordings of students during partner talk, and interviews with the students and the teacher. In addition to an ongoing, reflective analysis of the field notes and audio files, the grounded theory approach was used for final data analysis. A number of key themes emerged from the data analysis that indicated that there are meaningful and important supports that can help emerging bilinguals develop as writers of opinion pieces. These included the opportunity to work with a more knowledgeable other, to communicate in multiple formats despite language barriers, partner talk, to utilize the structure provided with graphic organizers from the Thinking Maps® program, to participate in whole-group discussions, and to examine written models when writing opinion pieces. The implications for both educators and future research are provided after the summary of the research study.

The purpose of the study was to examine how integrated science and disciplinary literacy instruction influenced the quality of science informational text produced by first-grade students and student perceptions these young children held about scientists. The disciplinary literacy instruction took place over the course of 8 weeks (three 20–30-min lessons/week) and incorporated reading, writing, speaking, and listening as literacy tools to make sense of science content. A single-subject design (N = 76) using a paired sample t test was used to compare results of the scores from the informational text writing samples using a writing rubric and the Draw-a-Scientist Test. Results revealed that students were able to produce higher-quality science informational texts in all areas being examined on the weighted writing rubric. However, the perceptions the first graders had regarding scientists remained essentially unchanged from beginning to end of the study. Implications for these findings are discussed. Educators should consider disciplinary literacy instruction as a way to support young children in learning to write science informational texts effectively.

As student demographics continue to change in countries across the world, questions remain as to how well teacher education programs are training teachers to teach students who are culturally diverse from their teacher. Preservice teachers (N = 523) from six different teacher education programs across one state in the U.S. completed a teacher self-efficacy scale used to determine their beliefs about teaching culturally diverse students at the end of their training and again after their first year of teaching. Teacher education program descriptions across six programs suggested programs are provided and it was determined that these varied in their structure and in required coursework. Furthermore, findings revealed statistically significant differences across programs. Generally, preservice teachers rated their capability to teach diverse students as “adequate” to “well” on a five-point Likert scale. Scores dropped after one year of teaching full-time. However, these differences in mean scores as participants moved from the preservice to the inservice stage were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that teacher self-efficacy to teach culturally diverse students remain fairly stable as teachers make this critical transition so the work done at the teacher training stage is critical. Recommendations and implications for teacher education programs are provided.

The population of emerging bilinguals (EBs) is rapidly growing across the United States leaving many teachers wondering how best to teach these students to read and write effectively in English. Concurrently, and as a result of the Common Core State Standards, elementary school students are required to produce more sophisticated writing than ever before. For example, all students in Grades K-5 are expected to write an opinion essay that requires an understanding of the topic in order to generate an opinion and the ability to craft evidence to support this opinion. The purpose of this study was to determine how EBs develop as writers of opinion essays. A multiple case study was conducted in a 4th grade English as a Second Language classroom where students (N = 6) were taught to write opinion essays in English. Data sources included interviews, classroom observations, and multiple student writing and work samples that were conducted and collected over the course of six weeks. Three specific categories emerged from the data including: (a) a more knowledgeable other, (b) the need for two-step graphic organizers, and (c) the value of partner talk/collaboration. Implications and recommendations of these findings are provided for both educators and researchers.