The ways in which we communicate have expanded substantially. Not only are we expected to read and create print-based text but also those that include images and other modes. To effectively make meaning from contemporary texts, students need to know about aesthetics, that is, how various texts are appreciated and presented. However, evidence…

Initial Teacher Education has been informed by diverse perspectives in recent years; while the debates around what constitutes teacher quality and adequate preparedness focus on the structure and focus of programs, entry and exit requirements, the current era presents new challenges to which teachers must respond such as an increased call for…

Funding for Preschool programs has currently become a political agenda being debated in our nation. It is important to give our children an early start to education regardless of socioeconomic status, as it can be beneficial to them as they grow. This study will provide evidence to sway our politicians to fund preschool programs as they positively…

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a developmental speech sound disorder (SSD) notable for its severity and persistence of speech difficulties. A debate has surfaced historically about the cause of the speech and language deficits observed in the disorder. As children with CAS often present with comorbid language problems (i.e., receptive and…

The last two decades has seen a growing dedication to the digitalization of education, with numerous reports and classroom innovations arising and traveling across national lines. Much contemporary research on digitalization, however, identifies the same kind of problems that were raised twenty years ago: the careless migration to new technology…

Although technology has increased our capacity for social networking both in the digital space and face-to-face, Kira J. Baker-Doyle contends that most professional development opportunities for educators are still fundamentally asocial. She calls for the adoption of humanizing network practices to create meaningful continuing education…

This qualitative study aims to explore how the production of language learning materials using spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) affords pre-service teachers multiliteracy development while also attempting to discover their perceptions toward adopting this emerging technology for future language teaching. Data from multiple sources was…

In the "Bilingual Literacy Development Model: A holistic way to support Spanish-speaking children" research study, I studied bilingual families over a 5-month period in their home environments through home visits. Drawing from data obtained through home visits, including interviews with mothers and observations of family literacy…

This qualitative, single case study of linguistically diverse sixth-grade students to understand how these students explored and experienced their English literacy development (ELD) by using Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) and Collaborative Retrospective Miscue Analysis (CRMA). In addition, the study explored the roles that families and…

USAID programs, in adherence with the Agency's 2018 Education Policy, prioritize learning experiences that build the skills children and youth in partner countries need to lead happy and productive lives, gain employment, and positively contribute to society. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID programs increasingly aim to achieve these…

On the 400th anniversary of American enslavement the New York Times (NYT) 1619 project launched an interactive digital experience including a popular podcast centering the contributions and narratives of Black Americans. This study sought to understand how HBCU students responded to learning Black music history through what we term a "pop…

The early years are times of wonder for children. Curious about everything, they seek to explore and understand their world. During these early years, they attempt to interpret their world and make meaning through pretend play, drawing, and conversations with those closest to them. Although these first steps toward literacy may not look much like…

Background: In today's fast-paced world, the complexity of family relations is growing. This demands a closer look into the effects of parental marital relationships and parents' involvement on children's literacy outcomes. Objective: The study objective was to examine the connections between parental marital status, parental involvement, and…

Literature suggests that institutional efforts to cultivate civic engagement may have developmental importance on an institution's mission, values, and culture. This study seeks to detail how anchor and place-based justice network institutions digitally engage with their communities through a website content analysis and using Ostrander's civic…

This work reports on the implementation of a self-contained data-literacy exercise designed for use in undergraduate classes to help students practice data literacy skills such as interpreting and evaluating evidence and assessing arguments based on data. The exercises use already developed data-visualizations to test and develop students' ability…