Improving Academic Vocabulary for Adolescent Students With Disabilities: A Replication Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 074193252110160
Author(s):  
Victoria M. Sanchez ◽  
Rollanda E. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Language Arts ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Sixth Graders ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
School Students ◽  
Vocabulary Intervention ◽  
Adolescent Students ◽  
Study Results

Creating Habits That Accelerate the Academic Language of Students (CHAAOS) is a vocabulary intervention developed by O’Connor et al. to improve the academic vocabulary of middle school students with disabilities. This study was designed as a replication of O’Connor et al.’s study; CHAAOS lessons were taught to 33 sixth graders who received special education services for disabilities in English/Language Arts classes. Researcher-designed vocabulary and comprehension assessments for the taught words were administered pre- and post-instruction. The performance of students in this study was compared with the performance of students in O’Connor et al.’s study. Results demonstrated that the present students made similar gains in vocabulary and comprehension compared with the previous CHAAOS students and scored significantly higher than the previous comparison students who did not receive any instruction on the words. These findings support the use of CHAAOS for improving the academic vocabulary of students with disabilities.

The Power of Digital Literacy to Transform and Shape Teacher Identities

2017 ◽  
pp. 1152-1166
Author(s):  
Janette Hughes ◽  
Lorayne Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
English Language Arts ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
School Students ◽  
Critical Media

In this chapter, the authors focus their attention on the case studies of three beginning teachers and their use of digital storytelling in their preservice education English Language Arts classes. They undertook this research to determine if preservice teachers who are exposed to new literacies and a multiliteracies pedagogy will use them in transformative ways. The authors examine their subsequent and transformed use of digital media with their own students in the classroom setting. One uses a digital story to reflect on past injustices. Another finds new spaces for expression in digital literacy. A third uses the affordances of digital media to raise critical awareness of a present global injustice with secondary school students. The authors explore their shifting perceptions of multiple literacies and critical media literacy and how these shifts in thinking help shape or transform their ideas about teaching and learning in English Language Arts.

Improving Note-Taking Skills for Students With Disabilities Through a Smartpen Intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 225-235
Author(s):  
Rachael L. Joyce ◽  
Joseph R. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
English Language ◽  
Note Taking ◽  
Word Count ◽  
Experimental Group

Students with disabilities (SWD; e.g., learning disabilities) often struggle with slower processing speed and poor working memory skills, which reduce the quality of their notes. This study evaluated the effects of a note-taking intervention using the researcher-created smartpen strategy in conjunction with the assistive technology of the Livescribe™ Smartpen to assess the effects of students’ overall notes and lecture comprehension. Both SWD and without disabilities in ninth-grade English Language Arts classes participated in this study. The note-taking intervention was designed to assist SWD to take notes using the smartpen assistive technology, aid students in identifying key vocabulary content, amend their notes for errors or missed information, and establish a summary of the lecture. Results from the data analysis found that SWD in the experimental group recorded more words in their notes, as well as an increase in word count on the immediate free recall assessment.

Active Learning in the Flipped English Language Arts Classroom

2014 ◽  
pp. 163-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarice Moran ◽  
Carl A. Young
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
English Language Arts ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
School Students ◽  
Method Of Instruction

This mixed-methods research study examines the engagement of high school students in a flipped English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. The students were enrolled in two sections of an Advanced Placement English Language Arts and Composition (AP Lang) course and were in the 11th grade. Forty-nine participants answered questions on a validated survey, and 8 participants took part in 2 focus groups. In addition, a researcher observed the flipped classroom and took field notes. Quantitative survey data was analyzed through STATA statistics software, and qualitative data was transcribed and coded. The results of the data analysis indicate that students had mixed feelings about the flipped method and its implementation in an ELA classroom. Survey data indicates general support for the method’s principles but revealed mixed attitudes toward it as a method of instruction, especially in terms of it as a strategy for addressing all instruction in the ELA classroom. Qualitative data indicates that some students felt more engaged by the flipped method, while others did not. The results of the research indicate that the flipped method might be effective, in part, in an ELA classroom, but not as a sole means of instruction.

Should Millions of Students Take a Gap Year? Large Numbers of Students Start the School Year Above Grade Level

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Peters ◽  
Karen Rambo-Hernandez ◽  
Matthew C. Makel ◽  
Michael S. Matthews ◽  
Jonathan A. Plucker
Keyword(s):  
Language Arts ◽  
English Language Arts ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
English Language ◽  
State Level ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
School Students ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
School Year ◽  
K 12

Few topics have garnered more attention in preservice teacher training and educational reform than student diversity and its influence on learning. However, the actual degree of cognitive diversity has yet to be considered regarding instructional implications for advanced learners. We used four data sets (three state-level and one national) from diverse contexts to evaluate how many students perform above grade level in English Language Arts and mathematics. Results revealed that among American elementary and middle school students, 20% to 49% in English Language Arts and 14% to 37% in mathematics scored 1 year or more above grade level. We address what these findings imply for K-12 schools, grouping decisions, and educational policies that strive to foster advanced abilities.

Peer Disruption and Learning: Links between Suspensions and the Educational Achievement of Non-Suspended Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
NaYoung Hwang ◽  
Thurston Domina
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
School Students ◽  
Low Achieving Students ◽  
Disciplinary Cultures

To evaluate the net effects of classroom disciplinary practices, policymakers and educators must understand not only their effects on disciplined students but also their effects on non-disciplined peers. In this study, we estimate the link between peer suspensions and non-suspended students' learning trajectories in a California school district where middle and high school students took up to 12 basic skills tests in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) over the course of the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 school years. We find that Hispanic students, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, English language learners, students enrolled in special education, and low-achieving students are disproportionately exposed to classmate suspensions. Analyses with student and classroom fixed effects show that student achievement in mathematics increases when their classmates receive suspensions, particularly suspensions attributed to disruptive behavior. We find no association between classmate suspension and ELA achievement. Since these results come from schools in which suspensions are relatively rare events, they may not generalize to settings with draconian disciplinary cultures. Nonetheless, our findings imply that suspensions, when used appropriately, can improve the academic achievement of non-suspended students, particularly for students from vulnerable populations.

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