Children as readers of picture books and the ways they respond to, and make meaning from, such texts are the focus of this article, which reports on a small-scale study undertaken in Norway and Wales, UK. The theoretical framing of the research draws on concepts of the multimodal ensemble in picture books and of the reading event as part of a…

This article is a critique of David Stoesz' descriptions of organizational issues in child welfare, and more specifically, the relationships between the U.S. Children's Bureau and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The focus is on Stoesz perspectives and assessments of sub-entities (cartels) that are currently influencing funding and…

Although the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is a specific focus of Stoesz's article, a more expansive and thought-provoking critique is made of the NCWWI within the context of a purported overreliance and dependency on the Children's Bureau, concerns regarding the quality of social work education, and the development of a…

How do students read tales about the past? What kinds of stories might they tell in response to these histories? Within broader considerations about the teaching of history through literature, a more comprehensive consideration of students' understanding of children's and young adult historical literature is warranted. African American historical…

Research acknowledges the value of youths reading books that represent their lives and cultures, yet there is a growing need to better understand how youths of understudied groups respond to multicultural stories. This single-case study of a multilingual refugee adolescent from Burma (Myanmar) investigates how she draws from her lived experiences…

A response is made to a paper that urges the use of the Rasch model for educational assessment. This paper argues that the model is inadequate and that claims for its efficacy are exaggerated and technically weak.

This response to Perna et al. provides an alternate approach to research on massive open online courses (MOOCs). We argue that a student-centered, theory-driven conceptualization and methodological approaches allow us to move beyond descriptive statistics and into a deeper understanding of MOOC learners. Examples using a teacher development MOOC…

This paper discusses the pedagogical practice of developing reading for pleasure in pre- schools and primary phase settings through the lens of one key dimension of twenty-first-century reading: personalisation. It draws on a series of studies and examples to identify, address and problematise human- and digitally mediated personalised reading for…

The challenge posed by for-profit educators to the existing system is a real one that is not likely to go away any time soon and is, in fact, likely to intensify. Brian Etheridge describes Gary Bell's essay as a thoughtful exegesis on how we came to this point. He roots his narrative in the explosion of the profit motive, citing several instances…

Zimmerman (2014) suggested that our reanalysis adds little to the scientific literature. We disagree. We clarify our motivations and explain how further analyses based on his suggestion for age do not change our conclusions. Moreover, we believe the nascent experimental literature is more in line with our interpretations than Zimmerman's. We…

This article is a forum response to a research article on self-reporting methods when studying discrete emotions in science education environments. Studying emotions in natural settings is a difficult task because of the complexity of deciphering verbal and non-verbal communication. In my response I present three main points that build on insights…

In this article, we critically review the work of Morgan et al. (2015) and offer Disability Studies in Education (DSE) as an alternative conceptualization to traditional research within special education. We first unpack many of Morgan et al.'s (2015) assumptions, which are grounded in deficit discourses about children, family structures, economic…

In "Beyond the Common Core: Examining 20 Years of Literacy Priorities and Their Impact on Struggling Readers," Cassidy et al. (2016) suggest that the emphasis on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, National Governors Association [NGA] Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2010) has had…

The effective application of food science depends on social constraints, yet the training for food scientists does not adequately consider the contested social context under which food is processed, packaged, and prepared. We recently co-taught a new course ("Arguing about food") intended to introduce students to critical perspectives on…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a pilot study conducted in a graduate action research class that sought to investigate the impact of multicultural literature experiences on third-grade students' ability to make empathetic connections in their writing and discussions about literature. Conducted as participant action research, five…