In the United States, educators have struggled with low student achievement in reading proficiency, which affects student success in school and leads to higher dropout rates. To address low reading proficiency scores, a local charter high school implemented the myON'reader program. The myON reader program is an electronic library that allows students to choose their own reading based on their reading level and interest. The program tracks students' reading habits and level of reading, so teachers can determine students' progress. Guided by self-directed learning and social constructivism, the purpose of this study was to review available data to determine if the program increased students' reading assessment scores. This study used a mixed-methods design and 3 sets of data: a reading assessment (n = 39), the myON'reader program itself (n = 39), and a semi-structured interview (n = 2). A paired-samples t test determined a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest data in assessments of students using the myON'reader program. Pearson's correlation coefficient determined a statistically significant correlation between the difference in the reading test scores and hours the students read, as well as a statistically significant correlation between reading test scores and Lexile level of reading. Finally, a semi-structured interview was conducted to determine the teachers' opinions of the program providing additional data for triangulation. The interview was recorded, transcribed, and coded to determine common themes. The positive social change implications included the improvement of student reading ability at the local charter high school, which over time will develop students better prepared for success.

Reclassification is a process that changes the language proficiency status of an English learner (EL) to that of a fluent English proficient (FEP) student. School districts in California are allowed to set their own reclassification criteria, based on guidelines from the State Board of Education. Various reclassification policies may present problems, such as inappropriate placement and provision of services which would widen the academic deficit of English learners and place them at greater risk for long-term academic problems. The purposes of this study were to analyze the reclassification criteria among districts in the Northern San Joaquin Valley and Foothill area of California, to learn how districts arrive at their current criteria, and to know what modifications and recommendations district leaders who are in charge of English learner services would suggest regarding reclassification. Policies from 23 K-12 school districts in the studied area were collected and analyzed. Interviews with 12 district leaders who are in charge of English learner programs and services were conducted to find out how districts developed their criteria and their suggestions for modifications and recommendations regarding reclassification. Data collected from school districts' policies revealed a diverse set of practices in the establishment of the reclassification criteria although the majority of the school districts studied met the SBE guidelines to reclassify EL students. There is a range of selected cut points for English language proficiency and the California Standardized Tests. There is also a wide variety of measures and their specific requisites that are being used as part of the teachers' evaluation of students' curriculum mastery requirements. Parental opinion and consultation were presented in 22 out of 23 policies collected. Furthermore, an array of miscellaneous requirements was found in the majority of districts' criteria. The differences in districts' reclassification criteria prompted concerns regarding reclassified students' proficiency levels and performance. Recommendations include a more uniform and specific set of reclassification guidelines statewide, an explicit operational definition of English proficiency, and frequent review of EL students' progress to prevent and identify Long Term English Learners, LTELs, so that appropriate intervention can be provided to enable their success.

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Studien baseras på en kvalitativ och kvantitativ läromedelsanalys med fokus på vilket språkbruk som används i problemlösningsuppgifter i matematikläroböcker. Studiens syfte är att undersöka och analysera ur ett flerspråkigt perspektiv problemlösningsuppgifter i matematikläroböcker ämnande för årskurs tre.   Studien fokuserade på att ta reda på vilka språkliga utmaningar som finns för flerspråkiga elever och om det finns multimodala resurser som stödjer de språkliga utmaningarna.  Som tidigare forskning påvisat tar det längre tid för flerspråkiga elever att utveckla språkkunskaper på sitt andraspråk jämfört med elever som lär på sitt första språk. Flerspråkiga elever kan därav möta utmaningar i språkbruket i problemlösningsuppgifter. Språkbruket och de multimodala resurserna som analyserades i studien var vardagsspråk, egennamn, skolspråk, matematiskt register, homonymer, bilder och matematiska symboler. Studiens forskningsfrågor var Vilket språkbruk används i problemlösningsuppgifter i matematikläroböcker och hur utmanande är problemlösningsuppgifterna i ett flerspråkigt perspektiv? Finns det multimodala resurser och hur stöttar de texten? Och Hur skiljer sig matematikläroböckerna åt ur ett flerspråkigt perspektiv? De utvalda matematikläroböckerna för denna studie var Favoritmatematik 3 (2018), Nya Prima matematik 3A (2020), Singma matematik 3A (2015) och Triumf 3A (2021).    Analysen utgick från två teoretiska utgångspunkter: Cummins (2017) teori om Basicinterpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) och Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency CALP samt Selanders och Danielssons (2021) teori om multimodala resurser.   Resultatet visade att flera problemösningsuppgifter innehar ett utmanande språkbruk för flerspråkiga elever samt att problemlösningsuppgifterna visade sig sakna multimodalt stöd i form av bilder och matematiska symboler som stöttar de språkliga utmaningarna som överensstämmer med tidigare forskning. Studiens slutsats är att problemlösningsuppgifterna innehåller i olika utsträckning ett kognitivt krävande språk för flerspråkiga elever. De språkliga utmaningarna som de flerspråkiga eleverna står inför behöver synliggöras: då kan läraren förebygga de språkliga utmaningarna som finns i matematikläroböckerna innan eleverna arbetar “tyst” i matematikläroboken.

English holds a significant status as a lingua franca in Sweden, offering regular contact opportunities for learners through media consumption and entertainment, starting at a young age. Exposure to English outside the walls of the formal language classroom has been extensively studied especially in conjunction with students’ motivation, vocabulary acquisition, and oral proficiency (cf. Sundqvist & Sylven, 2016). This study examines the impact of self-reported time spent on extramural English (EE) exposure on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of written proficiency among lower-secondary students in Sweden. The research focuses on the quantitative measures of complexity and accuracy in argumentative essays (N=20) as well as quantitative measures of fluency in argumentative essays (N=53) taken from a sample of the corpus of Swedish learners of English (SLEC). The findings show that there are positive correlations between EE and complexity, as indicated by lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. Additionally, the normalized error ratio suggests that EE is associated with fewer errors in students' writing. Fluency, measured by written words per minute, aligns with students' self-reported EE contacts, with high-frequency EE users producing longer essays. While group-level findings indicate a positive influence of EE on written proficiency, individual-level analysis reveals a non-linear and complex relationship between contact with EE and written proficiency components. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating students' EE experiences into the formal language classroom to maximize the benefits of extramural English.

Research shows that the inclusion of youth literature in lower secondary schools has several advantages, including improvement of language proficiency development. For this reason the Swedish lower secondary school curriculum endorses the use of literature in language classes. There is, however, a great deal of freedom with regard to how teachers may implement literature for language learning purposes. Hence, this study aims to examine how some teachers use literature in their teaching to develop student’s language development and how the teachers perceive the benefits and challenges that come from using literature. The results show that incorporating literature in the classroom is regarded as important and that teachers  can see numerous benefits for the students. The results also indicate that there are various approaches available for teachers to integrate literature into their teaching.

This thesis investigates individual differences and their impact on reading proficiency using different measures of proficiency, a variety of data collection and statistical methods, and different populations. The goal was to examine the impact that individual differences in certain reading-related skills and cognitive abilities have on reading proficiency and how these differences interact. Through three key studies that make up this thesis, several important discoveries and contributions were made to the field. Chapter 2 introduces an easy-to-use application for measuring cloze probability. ‘ClozApp’, was created and made publicly available, along with a user manual and sample code for programming. Chapter 3 contributed through the development of a novel statistical method used to analyze variance between populations with different linguistic backgrounds. This method was used to demonstrate how an individual’s linguistic background (i.e., whether they were first- or second-language speakers of English) impacted how individual differences in reading skills influence their reading fluency, as indicated through their eye-movements. This statistical prediction method is open source and was made widely available for use along with sample data and code. In Chapter 4, a new connection was found between two important cognitive factors that are well-known in the reading literature: statistical learning and motivation. Using mediation analyses, this project discovered an interaction between these factors that further highlights the ways they impact reading proficiency. This thesis demonstrates a comprehensive approach to investigating individual differences in reading proficiency in the following ways: (i) both reading fluency and comprehension were investigated as measures of reading proficiency, (ii) data collection included a variety of reading-related skills, cognitive abilities, and group differences, and (iii) unique statistical analysis methods were utilized to investigate both individual and group differences. This thesis highlights important new discoveries and makes significant lasting contributions to the field of reading research. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis investigates how individual differences influence reading proficiency. Specifically, it asks how the ways in which people differ on certain reading-related skills and cognitive abilities can determine how well they read. Using different measures of proficiency, a variety of data collection and statistical methods, and looking across different populations, the goal of this thesis was to examine the ways in which people differ in these skills and abilities, how these differences interact, and the resulting impact on reading proficiency. This thesis resulted in three significant contributions to the field. First, it made available a new application for collecting data on an important variable in reading research – cloze probability. In addition, it culminated in the development of a novel statistical method that demonstrates how an individual’s linguistic background can influence their reading fluency. Finally, a new connection was found between two important cognitive factors that interact to influence reading comprehension.

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This study used two different sets of data collected through two distinct means during the 2002-2003 school year. To fulfill the federal accountability requirements related to the distribution of monies known as EdTech (2002), the Tennessee State Department of Education required every school within districts that accepted the formula EdTech funds to complete an online survey called the EdTech Tennessee Online Technology Evaluation or E-TOTE. The E-TOTE survey collected information on a variety of topics related to educational technology including questions about teaching and learning, educators' preparation and development, infrastructure, and equipment counts. The other set of data came from a new criterion-referenced portion of the otherwise norm-referenced state-mandated standardized TCAP test given to third and fifth graders to also meet No Child Left Behind accountability requirements for the subjects of math and reading. Evaluations of E-TOTE survey responses revealed that most faculty members at the 1,066 schools examined in this study reported they did not feel comfortable integrating technology to the extent necessary to create fundamental changes to traditional teacher-centered pedagogies. Related to this realization could be that few schools or districts have implemented high-quality communities of learning designed to elevate teachers' levels of understanding to a sufficiently high degree as to help them feel qualified to integrate technology. Furthermore, even though the majority of the networking infrastructure within schools examined in this study seemed to be relatively robust, many reported high student-to-computer ratios often combined with long replacement cycles. Multistep hierarchical regression models were used to account for the variance in the percentage of students in third and fifth grades attaining the advanced proficiency levels in math and reading. The models accounted for a number of nontechnological school characteristics such as school population, number of minority students, number of economically disadvantaged students, and per-pupil expenditure before examining the role of the aforementioned E-TOTE topics in the final step of the regression model. No strong relationships were found to exist between the technological characteristics and the advanced proficiency levels of third or fifth graders in math or reading.