This research case study was conducted to determine how, if at all, the purposeful pairing of reading and writing activities helped students construct a writer's identity. As reading and writing are both skills separately taught, it is useful to explore the outcomes when pairing them together. This research study addresses how students can transact with texts, build upon their own ideas through a sociocultural lens, to create written products that will foster their identity as a writer. This case study relies on pattern matching to examine the extent to which students from an honors level junior English course perceived themselves as writers after the year-long course was completed. This study utilized a Google Forms survey along with an interview as a means of data collection in order to analyze whether or not students self-identified as a writer. This research is significant because it provides an account of eleventh grade students who were subjected to a hybrid year of learning due to COVID-19 and the outcomes of a classic American Literature curriculum that was modified to help them cultivate their own identity including one as a writer.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Cognitive Process of Instruction (CPOI), a cognitive strategy approach to writing instruction. An important emphasis o f the CPOI approach was a strategy designed to help students build a conceptual framework for the main idea paragraph as a means of improving composing skill.;The sample included 121 fifth grade elementary school students. Intact classes were assigned to the treatment or comparison group. The nonequivalent comparison-group design was used, and data were examined using analysis of covariance. The dependent variable was composing skill as measured by holistic and domain scoring. One null hypothesis was tested to determine whether differences between the experimental and comparison groups were significant at the.05 level of confidence.;The data analysis found that students in the cognitive strategy treatment showed significant difference when compared to comparison group students who were exposed to a modified writing process approach. However, this difference was in a different direction than predicted. Students in the cognitive strategy treatment experienced a decrease in composing score while students in the comparison treatments improved in composing skill. Length of treatment time and cognitive overload were seen as the most plausible explanation.;Recommendations include additional research to determine effect of length of time of treatment on (1) length of composition, (2) number of paragraphs written, and (3) composing skill for low, average, and high achieving students.

Many research-based reading interventions exist, but little literature examines teaching secondary reading using entire novels as an intervention. This quasi-experimental study examined the relationship between whether entire novels were included in secondary intensive reading and students' English language arts skills. Data were collected through an online survey of eight reading teachers from one Florida school district. Data collected by the survey were teacher qualifications, inclusion of entire novels in reading curriculum, and implementation of research-based teaching strategies. Survey data, Florida Standards Assessment of English Language Arts (FSA ELA) student scores, student demographics and reading placement data were analyzed to answer six research questions regarding the use of entire novels in secondary reading classes. Students were enrolled in one of three leveled abilities reading classes (identified as a Reading Treatment). Data were analyzed using a series of Analysis of Variances (ANOVAs) with Kruskal-Wallis post hoc tests. Results indicated there were no statistically significant interactions between Reading Treatment, novels use, and student race or ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. No interaction effect was found between Reading Treatment and teacher self-reported implementation of research-based teaching strategies for students taught with entire novels. A statistically significant difference in language arts skills was found for students in Reading Treatments 1 and 3. Among those students, those taught without entire novels had higher levels of language arts skills than students taught using entire novels. Another statistically significant difference was in Reading Treatments 3 students who had teachers without reading endorsements had higher language arts levels. This research was conducted to better inform educational leaders in best practices when determining secondary intensive reading curriculum.

The purpose of this qualitative critical discourse analysis study was to determine if there was a benefit to using a young adult adaptation of a canonical piece to increase student comprehension in the 9th grade English-Language Arts classroom. The use of young adult literature in the secondary classroom is a prevalent topic that continues to circulate amongst educators and researchers. This research study addresses how canonical literature is far removed from the current set of twenty-first century students and its disconnect in the classroom. This study sought to discover student thoughts and perceptions on a specific set of text pairings to answer the research question: How, if at all, does young adult literature better inform canonical literature in the 9th grade English-Language Arts classroom. This qualitative study uses critical discourse analysis methods to examine four students' written and verbal transactions through the use of a pre-survey, Google Forms "Quiz", a Zoom interview, and a post survey as a means for critical interpretation. Using critical discourse analysis the researcher identified themes that reflected the following results: students identified with the young adult text because they can relate to the character's struggles and current events, colloquial and neologisms were used to convey understanding, and participant's silences expressed confidence, even when their words did not. Student's through their own narratives have indicated that there is a benefit and need to use, a more culturally relevant young adult literature adaptation alongside a canonical piece to increase student understanding in the high school setting.

Because preservice teachers will be tasked with the responsibility of preparing their future students for effective communication and engagement in our global society, the experiences and practices related to digital writing that preservice teachers engage in before they begin their practice as full-time educators is critical to their professional development. This qualitative case study investigated two research questions, "How do teacher educators describe their technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge of digital writing?" and "How is teacher educators' knowledge of digital writing practices evident in their teaching?" This study took place at a large university in the Southeastern United States. Documents, interviews, and observational data were collected from two participants, Megan and Nancy. Both participants were educators in the elementary education preservice teacher programs at the university. The data from this study demonstrated that teacher educators had knowledge of digital writing tools, including how to integrate the use of digital writing tools into literacy instruction, help preservice teachers recognize the affordances and constraints of digital writing tools, and reflect on digital writing tools. The data sources also demonstrated common practices teacher educators integrated into preservice teacher instruction such as providing choice in the use of digital writing tools and modeling the use of digital writing tools for course assignments. The results of this study indicate the importance of integrating digital writing knowledge with practice in elementary preservice teacher programs. Additional implications for practice and suggestions for future research in digital writing is provided as a result of this study.

This exploratory case study was conducted in order to determine what themes, if at all, emerged from the analysis of multimodal, graphic novel panels adapted from primary texts. While research has been conducted in understanding the academic validity of graphic novels, as well as how visual analysis abilities can lend themselves to the further understanding of grammar, space, and hierarchy of elements of graphic novels, there exists a gap in how situating the meaning-making readers generate in an analysis of adapted graphic novels. This research study addresses how adolescent learners utilize language after exposure to visual grammar terminology and concepts, and what roles are adopted by the adolescent learner in their understanding of the multimodal images. This case study relies on pattern matching to examine what roles under the Expanded Four Resource Model were utilized, both prior and after applying visual framework on graphic novel panels. This study utilized an educational unit, along with an interview, in order to collect data. This research is significant because it provides an exploration of comparison to processes similar to purely textual reading, the concepts readers understood has presence within multimodal images, and how dominance-based thinking presented itself within many explanations of visuals.

Dystopian literature allows for there to be an avenue, or safety net as I would call it, for people to be able to discuss topics of a harsh nature. Students or young adults today are becoming increasingly more apolitical upon completion of high school. This is due in part to the lack of information or knowledge given to them prior to entering, "the real world." The gravity of situations occurring in today's world during the time of this paper such as the how similar living with COVID-19 is to a dystopian society, or the Black Lives Matter movement, it is vital that young adults know who to turn to, that way they can figure out what is happening within the world. Utilizing dystopian literature within the classroom setting will allow for that avenue each year and create an extra safe space for students to be able to discuss their thoughts on societal issues such as power and individualism. By doing so, teachers will be able to better gauge a student's comprehension of these themes regarding real life. As much as we say it, the youth truly are the future; they are the ones who will determine the direction that our society will move. Teaching them to think metacognitively not only with content specific skills, but also with real world issues that society faces will benefit them, and society down the road.

Academics such as Geneva Gay, Christine Sleeter, Samy Alim, and Django Paris have conducted research that illustrates the importance of educators being not only aware of the culture of their students but implementing curriculum that supports the diverse cultures of their students. A common finding among this research is that a culturally sustaining pedagogy is essential to the inclusion of all students in the classroom and the level of academic success they have in schools. This study aims to investigate the effect of teacher beliefs on the academic performance of Latinx students and on the culture and atmosphere of the school. The purpose of conducting this research is to show the necessity for implementing a culturally sustaining pedagogy and curriculum in schools. My research requires teachers and administrators to answer survey questions concerning their teaching practice, student population, and beliefs about teaching students, specifically Latinx students. I hope to discover how teacher attitudes, both positive and negative, can affect the academic performance of Latinx student and the culture of the school. Lastly, with such an emphasis I would like to use this information to help educators embrace the differences of their students and see the value in incorporating students lived experiences in the class curriculum. Using a survey modeled after Bandura's Survey for Teaching Self-Efficacy this thesis explores the following questions: Research Question One (RQ1): What effect does teachers' attitudes have on the culture of their school?, Research Question Two (RQ2): What effect does teachers' socio-political views have on Latinx student performance?