Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy最新文献

Reading motivation has been a focus of research to address the lack of reading proficiency in secondary classrooms, and an understudied area within this broad field of research is the effects of the learning environment on student reading motivation. The current study investigates the effect of 9th–12th grade students' perceptions of the learning environment on their daily, self-reported reading motivation in four different content areas: English (N = 53), social science (N = 50), math (N = 55), and science (N = 52). Using a regression analysis, we examined the impact of four aspects of the learning environment on student reading motivation. In all four content areas, only one learning environment variable significantly predicted reading motivation: investigation (the emphasis of inquiry skills and their use in problem-solving). This finding suggests that regardless of content area, incorporating investigation is one way to foster students' engagement and motivation to read.

Educators hold diverse beliefs and attitudes about generative artificial intelligence (AI). Irrespective of their stance, many acknowledge AI's growing influence and the pressing need for greater AI literacy. In this case study, we draw on Davis's (1989) technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine how two English teachers, Fiona and Margot, arrived at different enactments of AI literacy. Using qualitative methods, we found that Fiona was primarily concerned with cheating, held negative attitudes toward AI, and taught a standalone lesson on preventing cheating. Margot identified a range of AI risks and possibilities, held conflicted attitudes, and developed a unit on the societal impacts of AI. Our findings suggest that educators and professional learning designers should take concerns about cheating seriously, but also adopt a broader, dialectical orientation that prepares students to understand, critically evaluate, and use AI. As AI reshapes education, these skills are crucial to students' success and well-being.

Thomas Newkirk's Literacy's Democratic Roots: A Personal Tour through 8 Big Ideas (2023) is a timely and thought-provoking contribution to the field of literacy education. Through a blend of personal narrative and scholarly reflection, Newkirk offers eight conceptual “roots” that connect historical and contemporary approaches to literacy instruction. These roots trace back to progressive education, pragmatist philosophy, and student-centered pedagogy, while firmly engaging with modern concerns like standardization, testing, multilingualism, and the role of storytelling in public discourse. Newkirk's work encourages educators to reimagine literacy as a civic and humanizing force, rather than merely a technical skill, making the book essential reading for teachers, scholars, and policy advocates committed to nurturing democracy through education.

Centering student perspectives, this mixed methods study examines a project-based learning (PBL) unit enacted across five inclusive 9th grade English language arts (ELA) classes in one urban high school. We share how this unit offered students opportunities to experience new types of challenging but rewarding assignments in multimodal accessible formats that fostered relevant and meaningful engagement with ELA content. Using a Universal Design for Learning framing to create the PBL unit, we proactively discussed and reduced potential barriers. Our results confirm the need to redesign traditional curricula to be more inquiry-based and student-centered to address the intersectional needs of students. Implications for practice include using a small number of scaffolded materials that connect activities and can be adjusted throughout the unit, attending to interactional scaffolds such as peer collaboration, and addressing students' diverse abilities and language backgrounds.

Authentic dialogue, in which citizens engage with different perspectives using evidence, is integral to participation in a democratic, literate society. Yet participants in classroom conversations and in public forums often talk past each other rather than taking up what others have written or said. How might the design of alternative online discussion forums enhance dialogue among secondary students? Prior research has suggested that practice with oral debate can promote dialogic uptake of different points of view. Yet few studies have examined whether and how online discussions might offer similar benefits. Moreover, opportunities remain to study how the design of different types of online forums might enable or inhibit students' uptake of others' words and ideas. Based on data generated in a Southern US secondary school during a unit on media literacy, we reveal how two alternative forum designs (including one created by Smith) influenced student dialogue about environmental issues. We discuss implications and challenges for fostering online discussions that support student dialogue and collaborative disagreement.

Justice-oriented teacher educators continue to seek innovative teaching methods that support preservice teachers' learning and teaching about complex ideas in K-12 education. Collaborative multimodal response assignments represent one pedagogical tool positioned as deliberate resistance to dominant modes of expressing new knowledge, rejecting white supremacy culture in classrooms, and undergirding racially just educational practices. In this article, collaborative multimodal response projects assigned in undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation courses attempt to enact and encourage liberatory literacies and teaching practices. Following qualitative analysis of students' reflections and feedback on the project-making process, collaborative multimodal tasks offer preservice teachers literacy experiences that (1) impact them personally, (2) build community and connection, (3) mediate engagement with complex content, and (4) support preservice teachers' pedagogical practice as novice teachers.