Bandura's (1986) theory of self-efficacy suggests that efficacy may be most malleable early in learning; therefore, some of the most powerful influences on the development of teachers' sense of efficacy may be the experience of teaching during field placements and student teaching. Unfortunately, pre-service teachers may not be exposed to good…

The purpose of this article is to examine the developmental spelling levels of one class of 17 third-grade students. In analyzing over 600 student spelling samples, results indicate that these students spanned four spelling stages: (1) letter name, (2) within word pattern, (3) syllables and affixes, and (4) derivational relations (Bear,…

This article explores content area pre-service teacher beliefs about disciplinary knowledge, perceptions of effective content area teaching, and existing beliefs about how to integrate literacy into the content areas. Ten pre-service teachers across ten secondary content areas were asked to describe three important variables in secondary teaching:…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of props on children's narrative retells. Forty-two children in two comparable K/1 classrooms heard and practiced the same stories over eight weeks. This study found that the props had a positive effect on the children's use of descriptive language, but there was no effect on the number…

Educators in many disciplines recognize interdisciplinary teaching as effective for student learning. This article provides a model for developing an interdisciplinary literacy and science study with states of water as the core scientific study with corresponding literacy strategies. Authors have included suggestions for children's literature as…

This study investigates how two elementary teachers begin to use technology in a private school that had access to technology at many levels. Using a collaborative teacher-research model, the researcher specifically examined how to support teachers' practice as they integrated technology tools within their literacy curriculum. Due to a supportive…

Perhaps educators shy away from serious consideration of "fun" because the term is typically associated with the kinds of activities found on the playground rather than in the classroom. According to the first, third, and fifth-graders involved in this study however, different definitions of fun can be applied in different contexts and these…

In December of 2006 and again in February of 2007, fifty Literacy Professors representing almost every college and university in Michigan met in a collegial forum to discuss and advocate for all students involved in reading instruction/education. This advocacy spans students from prekindergarten through college undergraduates and graduates. The…

In today's diverse schools, meeting individual literacy needs of students is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Instructional scaffolding is a powerful tool that many literacy teachers use to meet the challenge. While the term denotes a wide array of strategies, most teachers use scaffolding in some form or another in their…

This critical constructivist inquiry was designed to understand controlling factors faced by classroom literacy teachers involved in a professional development program. Two guiding questions framed this critical inquiry: (1) how can I describe controlling factors faced by teachers in their respective school cultures; and (2) what is the resultant…

This study examines and describes the changes in four teachers' beliefs and practices in literacy and literacy assessment over the course of a yearlong graduate level clinical experience. Four teachers who worked in the university literacy clinic as part of their graduate course work participated in this study. Two of the four teachers teach…

Ten university graduate students created electronic case studies describing the learning of struggling readers as a part of this study designed to yield insights about literacy education and the efficacy of electronic case study development. A variety of data, analyzed through a qualitative content analysis, revealed understandings regarding…

This grounded theory study explores how middle school literacy teachers used dialogue journals and the processes by which they responded to their students' written responses. Literary conversation between teacher and student was conceptualized as an ongoing scaffolding process within dialogue journals. Teachers used "response facilitators"…

The purpose of this naturalistic study was to extend our understanding of the ways in which consideration of audience may be salient in diverse students' and teachers' approaches to literacy. Data related to literacy interactions in one school were collected from the preschool class and three multiage elementary classrooms. Findings indicated that…

During the spring of 2004, we conducted research exploring the emotions of struggling readers. Specifically we were interested in finding out how school contexts, curriculum, and relationships influence students' experiences of struggle. Students in this study were 14 first, second, and third graders identified for reading intervention at their…