Appropriate preparation for preservice and inservice teachers for teaching content-area literacy continues to influence twenty-first century research agendas. In this systematic review (which analyzed 2,179 articles), the researcher aimed to ascertain and synthesize the research on teacher preparation for content-area literacy instruction while evaluating the methodological qualities of the research. The findings are presented in an article format with the connecting theme of content-area literacy; however, the first article focused on research regarding preservice teachers and the second article on inservice teachers. Whereas, previous reviews have primarily focused on secondary teacher beliefs and attitudes this review provides a broader scope of the research, which encompasses K-16 preservice and inservice teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, instructional practices, strategies, and knowledge of content-area literacy instruction. The major findings from research on preservice teachers are: with a minimum of one content-area literacy course, this teacher preparation may prove to be less than sufficient; in addition, preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding content-area literacy are typically positive, but actual transference once in the classroom is narrow. The major findings from the inservice article suggest the need for further training, modeling, and collaboration of literacy instruction for implementation in content classes. Inservice teachers, albeit experts of their content are restricted by their own motivation and knowledge of literacy strategies, therefore literacy implementation during class instruction is restricted. By reviewing longitudinal and current research as well as building upon previous reviews, these articles closely examine preservice and inservice teacher preparation, instruction, and implementation of literacy instruction in the content-area class.

According to recent assessment data, there is an urgent need to improve students' knowledge of science. It has been suggested that the infusion of reading activities including concept mapping, questioning and interactive read-alouds can help students in learning science concepts. Little or no research has combined these methods to examine its effect on learning. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare concept mapping and questioning on students' organization and retention of science knowledge when used with interactive informational read-alouds of science trade books. This study included 58 third grade students from four homogenous classes who were assigned to either a concept mapping group (experimental group) or a questioning with writing group (comparison group). With the same teacher, the school science specialist, the students completed an eight day unit regarding "soil formation" comprised of read-alouds, discussions and reading comprehension activities. (There were no hands-on, laboratory experiments.) Students were assessed on different types of knowledge. Data were analyzed using a mixed model ANOVA design to determine both within-factors (repeated measure), to show growth, and between-factors, to determine the difference between the two groups. The concept mapping group (experimental group) performed significantly higher than the questioning with writing group (comparison) on (a) relational vocabulary assessment (measuring relational knowledge); (b) multiple-choice assessment (measuring students' ability to identify key ideas); and (c) writing assessment (measuring students' relational thinking, students' ability to retain and recall key information and students' ability to use domain knowledge). The concept mapping group maintained these gains in a delayed assessment. The groups did not differ on individual word knowledge as measured by a matching assessment. Recommendations are provided for teachers and researchers including using concept mapping in teaching science concepts to elementary students in conjunction with science text reading, as well as incorporating technology with computer-generated concept maps using Inspiration software.

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore content area teachers’ understanding of literacy, the strategies they use in working with content materials to support their students’ learning of content, and how collaboration with a literacy expert informs literacy instruction. In my work with content area teachers, they have expressed the need for support as they try new literacy strategies when engaging students in content material. Literacy skills are a part of all content areas. Therefore, literacy scholars need an ongoing understanding of how content teachers define and perceive literacy in their content area in order to provide this support. Framed within a sociocultural lens (Vygotsky, 1978), this action research study (Schmuck, 2006) examined how high school content area teachers engaged students in reading content material as they implemented literacy strategies to support students’ access to content. Guiding this study were the following questions: (a) How do content area teachers define and perceive literacy and specifically define literacy in their content area? (b) How do teachers use literacy strategies they learn in professional development sessions? (c) Is there a benefit when a literacy specialist and a content area teacher collaborate to design literacy instruction? Participants in this study included three content area teachers: a math teacher, a business teacher, and English teacher. Data collection occurred throughout the spring term 2012 in the school where the participants work. Data sources included semi-structured interviews, observations, discussions generated from collaborative planning sessions with the researcher, informal debriefings with participants, and a researcher journal. Themes abstracted from the data were (a) teachers’ definitions of literacy did not change over the course of the study, (b) their disposition toward use of strategies did change over the course of the study, and (c) collaborative, embedded professional development between the content area teacher and literacy specialist was an important factor in changing disposition. This action research study emphasizes a need for literacy specialists in schools and embedded, ongoing professional development, and informs literacy specialists how content area teachers can be supported as they engage students in reading content material.

Despite the prevalence of separate reading classes in middle-level schools across the country, there is much debate about the effectiveness of these courses. Many researchers advocate content-area literacy or interdisciplinary teaming instead, claiming that students do not transfer the skills they learn in reading classes to other subjects. This qualitative case study of one middle school student is an intensive description of a biracial Navajo and Piute teenager who attended a separate reading class. The case study looked at three specific areas of the student's reading in regards to this class: comprehension, motivation, and perception. The student did not transfer the skills he learned in this class to his content areas, nor did he change his at-home reading and writing practices while participating in this class.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kinds of support offered for integrating literacy strategies into mathematics instruction in elementary mathematics textbooks so that students are given opportunity to achieve the vision NCTM (2000) has for mathematical power for all. The research methodology for this was a qualitative content analysis using a priori codes. Two textbook series were chosen for this study. In each series examples of literacy integration ideas based on Trabasso's and Bouchard's (2002) effective comprehension strategies to teach comprehension were cited and analyzed. The results show that there is support for teachers to integrate literacy in mathematics instruction. Improvements can be made in both the classroom and during teacher preparation.

Reading ability impacts “high stakes” standardized tests that science students need to graduate, to enter college or to enter the work force. As a result, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) require science teachers to implement vocabulary techniques amongst other reading strategies for improved content comprehension and test performance. Simple linear regression was applied to determine the effect of average ACT reading scores on average ACT science scores. Path analysis was utilized to explain the impact of science teacher self-efficacy (X1SEFF) and teaching of important terms/facts (N1TERMS) on average ACT reading scores (AVGACTREAD) and average ACT science scores (AVGACTSCI). Those students who have higher average ACT reading scores tend to have higher average ACT science scores. Path coefficients showed that for every standard deviation in X1SEFF, AVGAVTREAD scores increased by .25 standard deviation units. Also, for every standard deviation in X1SEFF, AVGACTSCI scores increased by .20 standard units. On the other hand, science teachers’ emphasis on important science terms produced a statistically nonsignificant negative relationship with students’ average ACT reading scores and average ACT science scores. Thus, for every standard deviation in N1TERMS, AVGACTREAD scores decrease by -.09 standard units. Additionally, for every standard deviation in N1TERMS, AVGACTSCI scores decrease by -.06 standard units. The results implied that when science teachers feel confident about their ability to teach science, there students’ standardized reading and science t est scores are higher. On the other hand, when science teachers placed moderate to heavy emphasis on teaching important science terms and facts, science students’ standardized test scores decreased. As a result, quality professional development on effective reading strategies particularly vocabulary could improve science teachers’ instructional practices on teaching science terms and facts to improve students’ standardized test scores.

Framed in theories of pragmatism, self-efficacy, and ecology, this design-based research study attempted to make explicit connections between theory and field-based research. The pedagogical goal of this study was to expose in-service teachers to a scaffolded model of professional development for writing (IMSCI) that could be implemented in their own teaching. This model of professional development also served to place research participants in a professional learning community. Teachers worked in focus groups made of another teacher in their own discipline, and a collective focus group, and worked through the steps of the scaffolded model in consideration of their own writing instruction in an effort to increase their self-efficacy, while also experiencing a participatory approach to instruction that in turn improved their ability to enact this instruction in their own classrooms. The data, which included focus group interviews, blog posts by the teachers, and member checking, were analyzed using constant comparative methods. The analyses indicated that the majority of these content teachers had not experienced effective writing instruction models as students and did not learn how to teach writing in their preservice teaching programs. Additionally, their professional learning experiences as inservice teachers had not given them the tools they needed to overcome ecological factors that stopped them from teaching writing. Teachers' responses about their experience with the IMSCI model indicate that it has the potential to help teachers understand what effective writing instruction looks like, how to implement it in their own classrooms, and to increase their perceived self-efficacy as teachers of writing.

This dissertation is a case study that explores how 8th grade former English language learners, or RFEP students, interacted with texts in their social studies class across a unit of study on World War II. This study is based on three assertions: we have a limited understanding of language and literacy among newly reclassified adolescent English language learners due to a shift in state language policy, examining students' interactions with texts in a secondary content classroom is a valuable perspective, and the decisions teachers make to meet the perceived needs of their students warrants examination. The primary source of data in this study was the text annotations students completed when reading the teacher adapted texts. Annotations included any underlining, circling, questioning or commenting on the texts. Annotations were analyzed for patterns across students and across texts. Analysis of texts for linguistic features and structures was completed using the Coh-Metrix (Graesser, McNamara & Kulikowich, 2011) text analysis tool. Analysis of teacher talk during whole class text annotations as well as interviews with teachers and students showed additional patterns. Three key findings emerged: the teacher is a designer or relevant, meaningful and comprehensible instruction, teacher modeling matters to RFEP students, the adapted texts were used as instructional tools to promote content learning. These findings suggest directions for future research and have implications for practice. A critical area for research is the selection and adaptation of content area texts. With the advent of the Common Core State Standards and their emphasis on primary source documents and complex texts, it is essential to explore which texts are used and how they are adapted to facilitate access to those texts. This study also indicates the possibility for the further use of text annotations as a primary source of data for research and to facilitate instructional decisions by the teacher.

Adolescent literacy is currently viewed as in crisis. Moore (2002) argues that a focus on adolescent literate identity seems to be a key consideration when designing literacy instruction for secondary classrooms. This dissertation argues that in order for adolescents to develop a literate identity, their teachers should possess a literate identity.This phenomenological case study investigates the transformational paths nine developing teachers traversed as they "authored" their teacher literacy identity through a university content area literacy course, student teaching, and/or the induction period. "Authoring" includes both how the teachers represent their literacy identities in their writing and speaking, and how teachers do their literacy identities when enacting or performing (Moje, 2004) literacy instruction.Six instructional engagements completed by participants when they were students in a university content area literacy course comprise one data set. During student teaching and/or during their first or second year of teaching, three types of data were gathered: the Seidman (1998) three-interview series; a content area literacy lesson planning session; and an observation of each planned lesson. A phenomenological analysis (Merriam, 1998) guided the initial examination of the data. The data sets were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Merriam, 1998).Teacher literacy identity is a previously unexplored construct. Based on a literature review and the voices of the participants, the following definition took shape: teacher literacy identity is a confident view of self as responsible for and in control of improving the literacy learning of self and the competency to enact engagements to guide the literacy learning of students. Teacher literacy identity consists of three transactional dimensions: the construct of literacy, the construct of literacy in practice, and the quality of the literacy enactment. Six major categories emerged to illustrate the phenomenon: identity, learning communities, personal agency, design of practice, literacy theories, and sources of dissonance.Implications of this exploration suggest that the investigation and documentation of developing teachers' literacy learning trajectories are worthy areas of further study. Moreover, a critical re-evaluation of teacher education and professional development in the support of teacher literacy identity deserves close attention.

Students who struggle with reading are common in today’s middle school classrooms. This research used a socioecological framework to explore middle school teachers’ perceptions of struggling readers. As the notion of perception encompasses many influences, the research sought out teacher understandings of components and factors relating to reading difficulties, both intrinsic and extrinsic. As well, the study examined teacher views of struggling readers’ behaviours, affect, and the classroom implications of their difficulties. Finally, the study explored feelings of both competency and responsibility in the teaching of struggling readers. The research was carried out in three school districts in the Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands, BC area. Using a phenomenological case study approach, survey data from 35 respondents, and interview data from 10 participants were analyzed using both a within-case and cross-case analysis method. Identified common themes included teachers’ difficulty defining and assessing students who struggle with reading, and tending to attribute the difficulties to factors beyond their control. The teachers realized the correlation between reading difficulties and motivation but were unsure how to mitigate the ensuing behaviours in their classrooms. The participants believed that middle school students should be competent grade level readers and did not believe it their job to teach specific reading skills in content area classes. Although the teachers in this study wanted to do more to help their students who struggle with reading, they were constrained by a perceived lack of knowledge and time. The findings suggest that teachers, both pre-service and in-service, need more education about reading difficulties, classroom strategies and practice. The research indicates a need for more optimal use of specialist teacher time, literacy coaching, levelled resources, and a focus on the British Columbia Performance Standards. / Graduate