Examinations of adolescent literacy practice over the last 10 years have illuminated the significance of an integrated approach to literacy and content area instruction (Bean, 2000; Applebee & Langer, 2013; IRA, 2012). Considering writing specifically, writing in the content areas has positively impacted both students' writing quality and…

Science assessments should evaluate the full complement of inquiry practices (NGSS, 2013). Our previous work has shown that a large proportion of students' open responses did not match their scientific investigations (Li et al., 2017a). The present study both unpacks and compares the sub-components underlying students' performance for…

Nationally and internationally, teachers are being held increasingly accountable for student achievement, particularly in light of high stakes literacy and numeracy tests. Policies have been implemented that are designed to improve educational outcomes through raising student literacy levels across all school years in all subject areas. This has…

Intervention research that supported the benefit of students' construction of relevance through writing has commonly defined relevance narrowly as utility value -- perceived instrumentality of the content to the student's career goals. In comparison, we employed a broad multidimensional conception of relevance. We also investigated how the content…

This article argues that for disciplinary literacy to be addressed successfully by subject-area teachers and students, it needs to choose a different path than the one it has been on. It explains how the road disciplinary literacy has traveled to date has been marked by justifiable subject-area teacher resistance to requirements to infuse literacy…

This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of argumentative writing on non-science majors' conceptual understanding and the growth of their writing skills over a semester. To assess gain in conceptual knowledge, tests were given before and after the course; students in the writing group gained significantly more than…

While the field of materials development has grown in the past twenty years, covering areas like EAP and ESP, there remains a need to elaborate further the strategies and to develop a process for developing materials for EALP courses such as legal writing. Legal writing in particular poses unique challenges like the complex system of legal writing…

This meta-analysis examined if students writing about content material in science, social studies, and mathematics facilitated learning (k = 56 experiments). Studies in this review were true or quasi-experiments (with pretests), written in English, and conducted with students in Grades 1 to 12 in which the writing-to-learn activity was part of…

The STEM Literacy in the Classroom to Enable Societal Change project provided professional development for 24 mathematics, science, and science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics (STEM) teachers of grades 6-12. The project included a 2-week summer institute and one follow-up Saturday during the fall semester, for a total of 54 contact hours.…

This article explores visual formation of science content in multimodal compositions (text and image) made by students through their second school year, and aims to contribute to the body of metalanguage for explicit description and interpretation of this kind of meaning-making. The social semiotic analysis examined both visual and multimodal…

In this "Connecting Practice & Research" column, we present a brief glimpse of the challenges and issues on the writing side of disciplinary literacy. A quick review of literature on academic and disciplinary writing provides an understanding of how the view of academic writing as a rudimentary and technical practice led the way into…

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better" (Samuel Beckett). [Quoted in 'Samuel Beckett Talks About Beckett' by John Gruen, in Vogue, (December 1969), p. 210.]. 'Fail Better' is an approach which supports first-year students' successful transition to higher education academic writing practices. 'Fail Better'…

In this eagerly anticipated revision of their bestselling book, authors Diane Staehr Fenner, Sydney Snyder, and Meghan Gregoire-Smith share dynamic, research-backed strategies that every educator of multilingual learners (MLs) can add to their repertoire. Including more of what educators loved from the first edition--authentic classroom examples,…

As with all learners, English learners (ELs) require more than basic reading and writing skills to successfully engage with rigorous academic content, progress through school, and be fully prepared for postsecondary education and careers. ELs must be able to access grade-level content while simultaneously developing proficiency and autonomy in…

Teachers value students' close reading of and text-based writing about diverse texts while eliciting their awareness of the world, privilege, and power. Carefully selected literature coupled with primary sources can bridge the classroom and society. To engage modern students in America's racialized past and present, this article guides teachers to…