Papers by Evelyn Ford-Connors
Voices from the middle, Mar 1, 2016
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The Reading Teacher
Science texts tend to privilege the voices, perspectives, and practices of White males (e.g., For... more Science texts tend to privilege the voices, perspectives, and practices of White males (e.g., Ford, 2006), reinforcing widely‐held perceptions of scientists as White men. This narrow portrayal of who “does science” discourages BIPOC or female students from building a science identity (Archer et al., 2015), with many such students also viewing science as difficult or undesirable (Brickhouse et al., 2000). We argue that intentional positioning of science text written by or about BIPOC or female figures in science and literacy instruction not only helps all students develop science and literacy skills and knowledge, but leads to more expansive views of who “does science” and fosters students’ science identities. Our purpose in this article is to help teachers identify and incorporate expansive informational texts and position these texts within sound science and literacy instruction. We draw from the Next Generation Science Standards to describe ways to develop students’ science identi...
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Purpose: To describe how an approach to instruction that intentionally considers elements of moti... more Purpose: To describe how an approach to instruction that intentionally considers elements of motivation and engagement, intensity of instruction, and cognitive challenge can accelerate the reading achievement of lower- performing readers by giving them access to and support to meet reading and knowledge building with success. Design: The authors discuss a set of high-leverage practices squarely under the teacher’s control. Grounded in longstanding and rigorous research, the integrated set of practices have been shown time and time again to accelerate achievement beyond typical growth while also intentionally considering the experiences, cultures, and linguistic knowledge students bring to the class- room. The re-conceptualized approach forefronts student agency and engages students in meaningful interactions with text to build knowledge of the world they live in. Findings: The authors illustrate the comprehensive approach through a composite vignette drawn from work with teachers and students in school and clinical contexts. The focus of the vignette is on the actions of the classroom teacher who is working to meet the needs of three struggling readers within the broader context of her 5th-grade classroom, while also establishing a coherent instructional approach with fellow teachers.
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The Reading teacher, Jan 5, 2018
This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based lite... more This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based literacy coach to implement dialogic instruction as part of a 14‐week cross‐disciplinary curriculum unit. The coach–teacher dyad used digital technologies to enhance a problem‐solving approach to coaching. The authors describe the coaching interactions, the digital tools used (e.g., e‐mail, FaceTime, text messaging, video and audio recordings), the problems that the coach–teacher dyad collaboratively addressed over three phases of the unit, and the student learning that occurred in response. Throughout, the authors highlight how the coach and teacher made flexible use of digital technology to carve out additional time and space for problem solving as they worked to support the language and literacy skills of a group of multilingual second‐grade students.
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Reading Psychology, 2021
This article explores how a second-grade teacher’s strategic talk moves supported her multilingua... more This article explores how a second-grade teacher’s strategic talk moves supported her multilingual students, many of whom were designated as English Learners (ELs), to engage with complex content using purposeful, authentic communication during a 14-week read-aloud unit focused on historical changemakers. Collaborative coding of whole-class and small-group discussions indicated that the teacher played a pivotal role in facilitating her students’ productive interactions with content and with each other. Through her range in strategic talk moves, variation in those moves based on participant structures (i.e., whole group, small group), and close attention to students’ individual needs, she positioned her young multilingual students as capable, critical thinkers.
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Learning through Language, 2019
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Ms. Parker (pseudonym) is an experienced sixth-grade teacher in her fourth year of teaching in an... more Ms. Parker (pseudonym) is an experienced sixth-grade teacher in her fourth year of teaching in an urban middle school. To support the day's lesson, she introduces several key vocabulary words by asking students to read the definition and then calling on students to try using the words in sentences:ms. P: Emerge. Okay. And what did you use for a sentence, Paul?Paul: My test score emerged.ms. P: Your test score emerged?Paul: Is that correct?ms. P: To become known? Let's try another sentence. It's okay, but I think you can get a better sentence.Paul: Um, uh.ms. P: To become known? Test score?Paul: Um, the lost man emerged from the forest.ms. P: Okay, that's good. Someone else have a sentence?It is evident from this excerpt that Ms. Parker understands the importance of encouraging stu- dents to use new words, but her conversation with Paul lacks sufficient information about the word to enrich his understanding of the word's meaning or to clarify its use. Based on thi...
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What's Hot in Literacy: Exemplar Models of Effective Practice, 2020
Purpose: To describe how an approach to instruction that intentionally considers elements of moti... more Purpose: To describe how an approach to instruction that intentionally considers elements of motivation and engagement, intensity of instruction, and cognitive challenge can accelerate the reading achievement of lower- performing readers by giving them access to and support to meet reading and knowledge building with success. Design: The authors discuss a set of high-leverage practices squarely under the teacher’s control. Grounded in longstanding and rigorous research, the integrated set of practices have been shown time and time again to accelerate achievement beyond typical growth while also intentionally considering the experiences, cultures, and linguistic knowledge students bring to the class- room. The re-conceptualized approach forefronts student agency and engages students in meaningful interactions with text to build knowledge of the world they live in. Findings: The authors illustrate the comprehensive approach through a composite vignette drawn from work with teachers an...
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The Reading Teacher
This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based lite... more This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based literacy coach to implement dialogic instruction as part of a 14‐week cross‐disciplinary curriculum unit. The coach–teacher dyad used digital technologies to enhance a problem‐solving approach to coaching. The authors describe the coaching interactions, the digital tools used (e.g., e‐mail, FaceTime, text messaging, video and audio recordings), the problems that the coach–teacher dyad collaboratively addressed over three phases of the unit, and the student learning that occurred in response. Throughout, the authors highlight how the coach and teacher made flexible use of digital technology to carve out additional time and space for problem solving as they worked to support the language and literacy skills of a group of multilingual second‐grade students.
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Journal of Literacy Research, 2020
This metasynthesis presents the collective findings based on a small corpus of studies (n = 28) t... more This metasynthesis presents the collective findings based on a small corpus of studies (n = 28) that examined literacy coaching in elementary and secondary settings from a relational perspective. We frame our analysis using Lysaker’s notions of relational teaching and theorize that, like classroom teaching, powerful literacy coaching is grounded in dialogic, co-constructive interactions in which the coach and teacher jointly develop new knowledge and skills. Our analysis indicates that the realization of co-construction may be influenced by differential patterns related to positioning and dispositions toward coaching: (a) knowledge flow, (b) distributed expertise, and (c) vulnerability. To explicate these patterns, we present evidence of opportunities that enhanced co-construction and obstacles that reduced co-construction. We conclude by discussing how coaches and teachers can develop reciprocity in coach– teacher relationships and move toward more relational coaching approaches. Finally, we provide directions for future research.
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The Reading Teacher, 2018
A teacher and a literacy coach used various digital tools and a problem- solving coaching model t... more A teacher and a literacy coach used various digital tools and a problem- solving coaching model to enhance a group of multilingual second-grade students’ language and literacy skills.
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Professional Development in Education, 2020
This multiple-case study utilized inductive and deductive analyses of interactions of five coach-... more This multiple-case study utilized inductive and deductive analyses of interactions of five coach-teacher dyads at two university-based literacy clinics to investigate procedural knowledge – what coaches say and do – to guide teachers toward greater instructional expertise. Using theories of situated cognition and positioning and framed within social construc- tivism, we examined videos of coaching and tutoring and identified predominant coaching interaction discourse and three facilitative coach- ing approaches associated with teachers’ uptake of instructional ideas: (1) joint problem identification; (2) redirection and reinterpretation; (3) ‘flipped’ IRE framework. We conclude by arguing how coaches’ talk creates agentive space for teachers to initiate intentional instruction.
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Journal of Literacy Research
This metasynthesis presents the collective findings based on a small corpus of studies ( n = 28) ... more This metasynthesis presents the collective findings based on a small corpus of studies ( n = 28) that examined literacy coaching in elementary and secondary settings from a relational perspective. We frame our analysis using Lysaker’s notions of relational teaching and theorize that, like classroom teaching, powerful literacy coaching is grounded in dialogic, co-constructive interactions in which the coach and teacher jointly develop new knowledge and skills. Our analysis indicates that the realization of co-construction may be influenced by differential patterns related to positioning and dispositions toward coaching: (a) knowledge flow, (b) distributed expertise, and (c) vulnerability. To explicate these patterns, we present evidence of opportunities that enhanced co-construction and obstacles that reduced co-construction. We conclude by discussing how coaches and teachers can develop reciprocity in coach–teacher relationships and move toward more relational coaching approaches. F...
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Literacy Research and Instruction
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Papers by Evelyn Ford-Connors