The Self-Paced Online Tutorial (SPOT) represents the best kind of innovation because it uses digital technologies wisely and because it is based on well-established theory, research, and practice. Extended education plays a pivotal role in the attainment of the California State University's (CSU) vision of providing a high-quality, affordable, and…

When writing projects have an authentic reader beyond the classroom teacher, students can see a direct connection between their lives and their literacy development. That connection is key to learning engagement and motivation. Using the inquiry model to teach technical writing is also important since students' lives outside school are filled…

On the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of "English in Education," this article reviews the journal's contribution to research and practice in the teaching of English. A thematic analysis based on close study of a sample of volumes is arranged chronologically (to show the development of ideas and practices) and thematically…

I theorize teaching and researching as practices of "blurred translating" that center antioppressive education (Kumashiro, 2002) and storytelling (e.g., Frank, 2010; Zipes, 1995, 2004). Based in listening, research and teaching as blurred translating are relational, contextual, and ongoing processes oriented toward transformation and…

In January 2013, the superintendent of a rural Louisiana school system initiated a plan to increase school choice in his district through the implementation of a new virtual magnet school and the conversion of an existing elementary school into a magnet school. Both plans were set into action in April 2013. This study uses performative writing to…

This article discusses how writing assignments focused on sports controversies provide students with opportunities to read, write, research, and debate in ways that feel authentic and meaningful. Athletes dominate the headlines about everything from dog fighting to domestic violence. Sports controversies are appropriate material for teaching…

Memoir covers narrative, informative, and persuasive writing, which are described in the Common Core State Standards: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing (CCRA.W). Memoirs are narrative memories told through rich description, dialogue, setting, and characters; and they are based on true stories (CCSS. ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3).…

The great number of refugees in the U.S. creates challenges for educators to determine the best ways to embrace refugee children and incorporate culturally and linguistically appropriate classroom practices to successfully meet their educational and emotional needs (Prior & Niesz, 2013). This article aims to contribute to English teachers'…

Taking a dispositional view of transfer and applying Joanne Lobato's "actor-oriented transfer perspective," we analyze student perceptions of writing center visits at three very different institutions. We find that, as a nonevaluative space where university students can develop metacognitive awareness across disciplines and over time,…

The aims of the present study were to explore the effects of two different types of task conditions (topic choice vs. no choice) on the quality of written production in a second language (lexical complexity, syntactic complexity, and cohesion) and to investigate the effects of these two different task conditions on task motivation. This research…

Many students do not meet expected standards of writing performance, despite the need for writing competence in and out of school. As policy instruments, writing content standards have an impact on what is taught and how students perform. This study reports findings from an evaluation of the content of a sample of seven diverse states' current…

The present study investigated 15 Year 4-6 classrooms in two multicultural schools in New Zealand to understand what opportunities students had to draw on their diverse experiences of texts. A mixed-methods approach was taken, including classroom observations and student interviews. Results suggested that lessons were characterised by a consistent…

This case study examines the multimodal literacy practices of 11-year-old Nigel as he plays with assemblages of people, objects, and practices in his storywriting. The study asks "How does following the seemingly off-task multimodal literacy practices of one pre-adolescent youth across his home-community-school terrain provide insight into…

Writing is a developmental and flexible process. Using a prescribed process for acts of writing during instruction does not take into account individual differences of writers and generates writing instruction that is narrow, rigid, and inflexible. Preservice teachers receive limited training with theory and pedagogy for writing, which potentially…

Though HBCUs represent a small number of higher education institutions across the U.S., they remain crucial sites for educating and empowering African American students and, as we discuss here, writers. Yet it's rare to see HBCUs represented consistently at professional conferences about composition studies and writing centers. As a result, the…