The Challenge of Content Area Literacy: A Middle School Case Study

1999 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-243
Author(s):  
Ann L. Loranger
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Content Area Literacy ◽  
Content Area

Preparing Preservice Teachers to Thread Literacy across the Curriculum with Blogging and Digital Storytelling

2014 ◽  
pp. 178-189
Author(s):  
Pamela M. Sullivan ◽  
Natalie Gainer
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Content Area Literacy ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Theoretical Rationale ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Literacy Course ◽  
Literacy Across The Curriculum

This chapter describes a case study integrating technological tools, digital storytelling, and blogging into a content-area literacy course for preservice teachers. The theoretical rationale and models are discussed, and the steps in planning for integration are outlined. Examples and resources are provided as well as a discussion of lessons learned during and after the integration.

Preparing to Implement Evidence-Based Literacy Practices in the Co-taught Classroom

2020 ◽  
pp. 105345122094436
Author(s):  
Jade Wexler ◽  
Devin M. Kearns ◽  
Erin Hogan ◽  
Erin Clancy ◽  
Alexandra Shelton
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Content Area Literacy ◽  
Fidelity Of Implementation ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Instructional Framework ◽  
Content Area Instruction

It is essential that middle school content-area and special education co-teachers adopt evidence-based literacy practices that they can integrate into their content-area instruction to address the needs of all of the students in their classes. This article provides co-teachers with four planning tips to improve implementation of the practices they adopt. The planning tips are organized using the acronym FIRST: (a) monitor Fidelity of implementation of the adopted practices, (b) Integrate the practices into daily content-area instruction and across the year, (c) determine the Roles of each co-teacher when planning for and implementing instruction in the adopted practices, and (d) consider specific guidelines to Select Texts for each literacy-focused lesson. The planning tips are illustrated using examples related to the content-area literacy instruction (CALI) instructional framework, which is a set of evidence-based literacy practices and procedures designed to improve the literacy instruction middle school coteachers implement in their content-area classes.

The Negative Consequences of Becoming a Good Reader: Identity Theory as a Lens for Understanding Struggling Readers, Teachers, and Reading Instruction

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 1792-1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Struggling Readers ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Good Reader ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Research Questions

Background/Context The majority of middle school students in U.S. schools are struggling readers and lack the reading abilities needed to successfully comprehend texts, complete reading-related assignments, and learn subject matter content. Researchers have suggested that struggling readers’ comprehension abilities can be improved if their subject-matter teachers provide them with appropriate skill and strategy instruction, as well as regular opportunities to read and discuss texts. However, struggling readers may choose not to apply the reading skills they have been taught and may approach reading tasks in ways that they know prevent them from learning content and that marginalize their abilities to grow as readers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The multiple case study presented here was intended to explore how middle school struggling readers and their content-area teachers made decisions about how to work with classroom reading tasks and each other over a period of one academic year. A case study approach allowed for the actions that took place to be closely documented. Theories of identity, including models of identity, identity capital, and discursive identity, framed the analysis for this study and were used to interpret the research questions. The research questions were: (1) How do middle school teachers interact with struggling readers in relation to the reading task demands of their classrooms? (2) How do middle school struggling readers interact with the reading task demands of their content-area classrooms? Setting This study took place in one sixth-grade social studies classroom, one seventh-grade mathematics classroom, and one eighth-grade science classroom. Population/Participants/Subjects The participants were: (a) Sarah and Mrs. O'Reilly in sixth grade, (b) Nicole and Mrs. Harding in seventh grade, and (c) Alisa and Mrs. Baker in eighth grade. Research Design This was a descriptive year-long multiple case study. Data sources included biweekly observations, questionnaires, interviews, and graded class work. Findings Teachers’ interactions with struggling readers were based on (a) their models of identity for what it meant to become a good reader and (b) the discursive identities they created for their students based on their models of identity. Students’ interactions with classroom reading tasks were based on (a) how they identified themselves as readers and (b) their goal to prevent their peers, teachers, or family members from constructing a discursive identity of them as poor readers.

Successful leadership in a rural, high-poverty school: the case of County Line Middle School

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans W. Klar ◽  
Curtis A. Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
Leadership Strategies ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Principalship ◽  
Successful School

Purpose – In this paper, the authors present a case study of successful school leadership at County Line Middle School. The purpose of the paper is to identify how particular leadership practices and beliefs were adapted to increase student achievement in this rural, high-poverty school in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach – After purposefully selecting this school, the authors adapted interview protocols, questionnaires, and analysis frameworks from the International Successful School Principalship Project to develop a multi-perspective case study of principal leadership practices at the school. Findings – The findings illustrate the practices which led to students at this school, previously the lowest-performing in the district, achieving significantly higher on state standardized tests, getting along “like a family,” and regularly participating in service learning activities and charity events. A particularly interesting finding was how the principal confronted the school's negative self-image and adapted common leadership practices to implement a school-wide reform that suited its unique context. Research limitations/implications – While the findings of the study explicate the specific ways the principal adapted leadership strategies to enhance student learning, this study also highlights the need to understand how principals become familiar with their community's needs, cultures, norms, and values, and exercise leadership in accordance with them. Practical implications – The case offers an example of the need for context-responsive leadership in schools. In particular, it illustrates how this principal enacted leadership strategies that successfully negotiated what Woods (2006) referred to as the changing politics of the rural. To realize this success, the principal utilized his understanding of this low income, rural community to guide his leadership practices. Critically, part of this understanding included the ways the community was connected to and isolated from dominant sub-urban and urban societies, and how to build enthusiasm and capacity through appeals to local values. Originality/value – While it is widely acknowledged that school leaders need to consider their school and community contexts when making leadership decisions, less research has focussed on understanding how this can be achieved. This case provides rich examples of how this was accomplished in a rural, high-poverty middle school.

Using a Culturally Proficient Leadership Lens to Effectively Serve Refugee Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 155545892110124
Author(s):  
Corinne Brion
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Cultural Proficiency ◽  
Severe Trauma ◽  
Refugee Students ◽  
Cultural Wealth ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Culturally Proficient Leadership ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Culturally Proficient

This teaching case study takes place in an American middle school and tells the story of Dorah, a refugee student from the Republic of Congo who experienced severe trauma. At Lincoln Middle School, the principal and her teachers encounter difficulties serving their refugee students adequately because of their lack of cultural proficiency. This case aims to help leaders in diverse contexts understand how to embrace and advocate for different cultures, beliefs, and norms to increase the cultural wealth of their communities. To achieve this goal, I provide a cultural proficiency model and a trauma-invested framework.

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