Reading and Language Arts

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10323/4416

Browse

Browsing Reading and Language Arts by Author "Leigh, S. Rebecca"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Supporting the Literacy Success of African American Students with Religious Literacy Programming
    (2024-01-01) Coleman, Sherrayna; Christ, Tanya; Leigh, S. Rebecca; Currie, Ashelin
    This dissertation explores the intricate connections between African Americans, the Black Church, and educational outcomes, with a focus on implications for literacy development. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, the research seeks to unravel the structural complexities that contribute to the academic achievement gap faced by African American students. The theoretical framework guides an investigation into the potential impact of affiliations with the Black Church on academic success, reading skills, and family literacy needs. The study draws on a comprehensive literature review and a culturally relevant literacy intervention aligned with the Black Church. A unique family literacy book club, incorporating culturally relevant Biblical texts, serves as a focal point for exploring its impact on children’s attitudes and beliefs towards literacy. Findings suggest that aligning interventions with the Black Church significantly improves academic success, with CRT revealing structural barriers that can be addressed through strategic partnerships. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of literacy development within the African American community and highlights the transformative potential of collaboration and culturally responsive strategies. Implications for policy, practice and future research are discussed within the framework of CRT, emphasizing the need for systemic change to promote educational equity and justice.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using Engagement with Instructor Feedback to Nurture First-Year Writing Students’ Self-Efficacy
    (2017-11-08) Gabrion, Laura; Leigh, S. Rebecca; leigh23@oakland.edu
    Many students enter college with low self-perceptions about their writing skills. Research indicates that first-year writing instructors typically rely on the semi-self-regulated steps of the writing process to help students develop positive feelings about their writing. First-year composition courses employ instructor-provided feedback, whether oral or written or both, as a process for helping students improve their writing skills; therefore, an important consideration for teachers of first-year writing is how to engage students in the feedback provided. One way to make instructor feedback useful and meaningful to students is to create opportunities for conversation between student and instructor in advance of the revision stage. By combining instructor feedback with student-composed revision plans, instructors and students can participate in dialogic feedback that encourages both critical thinking and critical revision (Berzsenyi, 2001; Muldoon, 2009). Dialogic feedback diminishes students’ misinterpretations of instructors’ comments and gives students a better understanding of their writing and which skills to work on as they progress. This study investigated students’ interaction with instructional feedback as a method for impacting students’ self-efficacy in first-year composition. Results suggest that active engagement with instructor feedback has the ability to raise students’ confidence, persistence, and performance and should be considered, consequently, as an integral part of the feedback process.