This study examined the amount and types of narrative instruction (i.e., story comprehension, oral storytelling, and story writing instruction) that general education English language arts teachers provide to students in grades 1 through 4. The research team conducted 121 approximately 30-minute classroom observations. Educators were asked to…

Over the last 2 decades, policymakers' standards-based accountability reforms in the United States, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, have fundamentally changed public schooling in general and kindergarten specifically. As this has occurred, little is known about how families make sense of these changes in schooling. By sharing findings from a…

Relationships with teachers have been found to be particularly salient for elementary-age students, as they relate to successful adjustment to school. The construct of working alliance reconceptualizes traditional definitions of relationship to consider elements of emotional connection, as well as the collaboration central to the working…

This study aimed to examine verbal behaviors within communicative interactions at the teacher/classroom level among second-grade classrooms that differ in socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigators recorded and examined language use across instructional periods for 38 second-grade classrooms. Teachers' communication behaviors were…

Literacy is essential to the development of any nation. Despite foreign aid to support education initiatives in Africa, high rates of illiteracy persist. This synthesis examined the extent to which early literacy intervention research has been conducted in Africa and the effects of these interventions on reading outcomes for students in…

Kindergarten teachers are confronted with an evolving context for teaching and assessment. Recent reforms throughout the world have resulted in two fundamental shifts: (a) a growing emphasis on academic learning and increased use of assessment to support and monitor students' academic and developmental progress and (b) the use of play as a…

Kindergarten teachers are confronted with an evolving context for teaching and assessment. Recent reforms throughout the world have resulted in two fundamental shifts: (a) a growing emphasis on academic learning and increased use of assessment to support and monitor students' academic and developmental progress and (b) the use of play as a…

This study examined teachers' spontaneous low-level comprehension questions in script-supported informational read alouds, with a secondary analysis on the relationship between low- and high-level comprehension questions. Participants came from a predetermined subsample of 34 teachers and 824 third-grade students. Results revealed notable…

This study evaluated the effects of a cross-age peer learning program targeting vocabulary and comprehension in kindergarten and fourth-grade classrooms with substantial proportions of English Learners (ELs). The study followed a quasi-experimental design with 12 classrooms (6 kindergarten and 6 fourth grade) in the intervention group and 12…

Previous research on participation in mathematics classrooms has focused on adults' perspectives, which overemphasize the role of talk. Drawing on sociocultural theory, I define participation as a complex and situated phenomenon. I describe a participatory research collaboration where a Spanish immersion third-grade teacher, and I brought the…

Given the growing evidence of limited attention to science, disciplinary literacy, and oral language in elementary classrooms serving low-income children, this study focused on designing and testing an integrated science and disciplinary language and literacy curriculum aligned with NGSS and CCSS ELA standards for kindergarten. We used…

In theory, engaging students in discussion helps them learn how to understand and think critically about texts. Researchers have sought to identify effective features of teacher-led text-based discussions by designing specific discussion-group programs and investigating their influence on students' comprehension in upper elementary classrooms.…

We investigate the classwide efficacy of INSIGHTS, a universal social-emotional learning intervention for early elementary grades, on observed teacher practices and student behaviors. Twenty-two elementary schools (87% free/reduced lunch) were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or an attention-control condition. Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms…

Recent federal, state, and district policies that have mainstreamed English language learner (ELL) students into general, English-only elementary school classrooms have raised questions among educational stakeholders about the widespread effects of these policies. Most research has focused on the outcomes of ELL students; almost nothing is known…

Information on children's writing in online spaces is scarce. What young writers know or need to know to be effective communicators online can inform elementary writing instruction and technology integration in writing classrooms. This study adds to the nascent research on children's online writing by reporting on the writing processes of eight…