Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Instruction in English, once highly formal and disciplinary, has become much more functional and practical. Emphasis on error counts and the correction of errors is gradually giving away to a constructive program for the establishment of correct language habits at the offset. The psychology of learning has become more practical; the objective of instruction more typical of life. These important trends are the results of significant contributions of research. / Typescript. / "December, 1949." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Mode L. Stone, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 30-31).

<p> In this qualitative case study, I investigated eighth-grade honors students&rsquo; and their language arts teacher&rsquo;s perceptions of the support provided in writing groups, the climate in writing groups, and student and teacher support that enhanced students&rsquo; motivation to write in writing groups. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed May. 20, 2008). PDF text: xi, 320 p. : ill. ; 3 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3284254. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

The purpose of this post-qualitative study was to examine the rhizomatic functioning of youth’s engagements with literacy in a 7th grade English Language Arts classroom. I argued normed expectations of students’ engagement with literacy in schools imposes hegemonic control over students’ literacy learning, thus devaluing students’ in-the-moment, affective engagement. Rhizomatic theory was used to explore the ways students aligned to or veered from expected literacy norms as conceptualized through schooled literacy. The study took place during one academic semester between January-June in a New York City public middle school in Harlem. Data was produced through observations, exchanges (informal and formal interviews; verbal and written conversations), artifacts, and a researcher journal. A rhizomatic analysis was conducted to first identify the ideal expectation for literacy learning in the classroom as established through national, state, and local entities and then to follow deviations, or lines of flight, from these expected norms. Particular attention was paid to networked assemblages of participants (human and non-human) and the affective intensities, or desires that produce changes to an event or interaction, produced through these networks. The analysis was extended to consider these assemblages and affective intensities in light of the normed expectations for literacy learning, thus moving the rhizomatic analysis to what might become possible by examining difference. Findings are presented through the lines of flight and affective intensities that were produced through students’ engagements with literacy learning. These included forms of play, spontaneous peer-to-peer assistance, visceral response, and enacted agency. I discuss these intensities as unsanctioned engagement and explore how sanctioning such engagement provides more equitable opportunities for students to actively interact and achieve success as literacy learners. I argue such engagement is inherent to who youth are and who they are becoming. Because of this, how educators and researchers understand literacy learning and one’s engagement with literacy is extremely important for youth’s experiences and success in schooling. I conclude with implications for practice and research that work to actively transform conceptions of literacy instruction, theory, and research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-201).

<p> Writing instruction in schools is taking on increasingly narrow focuses, which reflects reliance on high-stakes standardized tests and standards movements that privilege some forms of writing over others. Researchers in writing have called for studies that connect macro forces influencing the educational environment to the instruction occurring at the classroom level. This study does so by exploring how a teacher sponsors multiple writing literacies across time and how and why students take up those writing practices for their intended uses and in ways that serve their own purposes. I examine the writing instruction of one skilled English Language Arts teacher through the lens of Deborah Brandt&rsquo;s theory of <i>sponsors of literacy</i> (1998; 2009) and through sociocultural theories of writing (Prior, 2004, 2006; Englert, Mariage, &amp; Dunsmore, 2006) and identity (Davies &amp; Harr&eacute;, 1999; Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, &amp; Cain, 1998; Lave &amp; Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). Data drew from a) five months of observations in the classroom across multiple units of instruction marked by multiple writing practices; b) interviews with the teacher before and after the observation period; and c) interviews with five focal students at the end of the observation period. Findings suggest that the teacher&rsquo;s instruction reflected a variety of sponsors across multiple writing practices. The teacher&rsquo;s instruction highlighted the skills, values, and purposes associated with sponsored writing practices. Students appropriated some writing practices more than others, and some more faithfully to the intentions of sponsors than others. Students imagined a range of possible uses for the writing practices in which they were sponsored, reflective of their individual literate identities.</p>

Research paper (M.A.) -- Cardinal Stritch College -- Milwaukee, 1970. / A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education (Reading Specialist). Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-35).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 394 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-394). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2006. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." ETD. Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-186).