As literacy researchers continue to investigate how young students make sense of texts, specifically picture books, attention has expanded beyond the role that written language plays in reading comprehension to the various ways that visual images, typography, design elements, and digital devices support and challenge young readers during the act…

The years between pre-K and third grade are vital for creating the foundation for later school success. The skills students develop at one age level or grade must be built upon and reinforced in later grades. Furthermore, for students to sustain gains made in one grade, they must continue to receive high-quality teaching in subsequent grades.…

Thematic analysis of a continuous video record of a day in the life of a New Zealand kindergarten teacher, and of a narrative reconstruction of the day during a follow-up interview, yielded a view of early childhood professional practice as focused on a "curriculum of open possibilities". This paper discusses elements of the teacher's…

English language instruction in New Zealand's Maori-medium schools is controversial, with many schools either excluding it from their curriculum or adopting a tokenistic approach. Yet, how Maori-medium educators can best support their students' academic English language growth is still an under-researched and unresolved question. This paper…

Background: Although much has been written about the ways in which new technology might transform educational practice, particularly in the area of literacy learning, there is relatively little empirical work that explores the possibilities and problems--or even what such a transformation might look like in the classroom. 3D virtual worlds offer a…