Journal of Education

This paper reports some of the findings of a two-year mixed methods longitudinal study in a high-poverty junior school in Dublin, Ireland, which was successful in significantly raising children's literacy achievement in reading, writing, and spelling and in enhancing their motivation, engagement, ability to self-regulate learning, and sense of self-efficacy. Critical factors in the success of the intervention were the dual emphasis on both the cognitive and affective dimensions of literacy developed through a meaning-oriented approach to instruction and the multifaceted professional development programme provided to teachers. Changes made to the instructional programme are described with reference to the research on motivation, engagement, and self-efficacy in literacy.

This case study highlights ways in which one girl, school-identified as a “struggling reader,” attempted to construct particular social identities and develop peer relationships through her selection of culturally relevant literature. Situated in a rural community in the South, this case study stems from a larger eight-month qualitative study investigating struggling readers' conceptions of reading and the sociocultural contexts surrounding their selection of books for personal use. Findings address the significant influences of school culture, social capital, and critical consciousness upon this girl's selection of books as she develops particular reading personas in response to perceived social norms, attempts to thwart episodic bullying, and ultimately gain acceptance in her community.

This article addresses the value of code-switching during bilingual content instruction. The linguistic data were collected during a larger ethnography of communication case study of the language practices of three bilingual Mandarin/English speaking science-content teachers working as they negotiate meaning and instruction for recently arrived non-traditional Chinese immigrant high school students. Through a pedagogic analysis of naturally occurring code-switching practices, the author argues that code-switching is indeed a pedagogic tool used by bilingual teachers in the act of making content comprehensible and as such, it is similar to scaffolding devices regularly used in monolingual education.

The term “high school dropout” has long been problematized for the way it obscures the role of schools in “pushing out” students and for its connotation of personal failure. This article explores the ways in which adolescents who left high school and have subsequently reenrolled understand their own experience as “dropouts” and the broader phenomenon of high school attrition. Data from this qualitative study reveal that participants hold complex and contradictory understandings of what it means to leave high school. The study has implications for researchers, policymakers, and educators in high schools and in programs serving youth who are returning to school.

In a collaborative research study with a Samoan community leader and a high school student, the authors explored the academic and cultural identities of 10 Samoan high school students. In-depth qualitative interviews revealed the students' struggles with negotiating cultural and academic identities in the ecological contexts of home, peer, teacher, school, and community. Using grounded theory, the authors described the reciprocal, contradicting, and alienating nature of Samoan and academic identities in the face of negative stereotypes, competing relational obligations, and low expectations. Findings and implications also focused on cultural strengths and values such as unity, giving back to the community, and respect.