Katherine Landau Wright

Boise State University | BSU · Department of Literacy, Language, & Culture

Using online information discovery as a case study, in this position paper we discuss the need to design, develop, and deploy (conversational) agents that can -- non-intrusively -- guide children in their quest for online resources rather than simply finding resources for them. We argue that agents should "let children learn" and should be built to...

Despite many calls, there is little research addressing teachers’ knowledge of reading assessments and how they utilize assessments for reading instruction. Therefore, the current research developed and validated a reliable measure of teachers’ perceptions and knowledge of reading assessments, called the Perceptions and Knowledge of Assessment in L...

This forum provides a space to engage with the challenges of designing for intelligent algorithmic experiences. We invite articles that tackle the tensions between research and practice when integrating AI and UX design. We welcome interdisciplinary debate, artful critique, forward-looking research, case studies of AI in practice, and speculative d...

This chapter argues that quality writing instruction that supports students' motivation and self-efficacy as writers is essential for those students to become future advocates and change-makers in their communities. This chapter is organized to support this perspective by first exploring the challenges of teaching writing in the middle grades, to b...

Readability is a core component of information retrieval (IR) tools as the complexity of a resource directly affects its relevance: a resource is only of use if the user can comprehend it. Even so, the link between readability and IR is often overlooked. As a step towards advancing knowledge on the influence of readability on IR, we focus on Web se...

To shed some light on how writing methods are currently taught in a variety of programs across the United States and continue examining high-quality writing educators, the present chapter presents five distinct models for teacher preparation. These models are the result of meeting state-level standards; national standards through the International...

We examined the effect of drawing sketches on metacomprehension accuracy of science texts for 5th grade (ages 10–11) students (Study 1: N = 60, Study 2: N = 62). Students either received instruction on drawing organizational sketches, which focused on capturing the relationships described in texts, or representational sketches, which focused on cap...

Children’s ability to spell effectively is a major barrier to using search engines successfully. While search engines make use of spellcheckers to provide spelling corrections to their users, they are designed for more traditional users (i.e., adults) and have proven inadequate for children. The specific target of children for this research are tho...

Teachers are often underprepared to teach writing, which can negatively impact the performance and attitudes of their students. In teacher preparation programs, one goal should be to specifically develop future teachers of writing. Focusing on self-efficacy beliefs, increasing preservice teachers' confidence and preparedness for teaching writing co...

Past and current research has typically focused on ensuring that search technology for the classroom serves children. In this paper, we argue for the need to broaden the research focus to include teachers and how search technology can aid them. In particular, we share how furnishing a behind-the-scenes portal for teachers can empower them by provid...

In this paper, we present BiGBERT, a deep learning model that simultaneously examines URLs and snippets from web resources to determine their alignment with children’s educational standards. Preliminary results inferred from ablation studies and comparison with baselines and state-of-the-art counterparts, reveal that leveraging domain knowledge to...

Purpose This paper investigates how school teachers look for informational texts for their classrooms. Access to current, varied and authentic informational texts improves learning outcomes for K-12 students, but many teachers lack resources to expand and update readings. The Web offers freely available resources, but finding suitable ones is time-...

For help with their spelling errors, children often turn to spellcheckers integrated in software applications like word processors and search engines. However, existing spellcheckers are usually tuned to the needs of traditional users (i.e., adults) and generally prove unsatisfactory for children. Motivated by this issue, we introduce K S , an Engl...

In many states, writing is tested only in selected grades causing writing instruction often to be over-emphasized some years and neglected in others. The present study examines how students’ motivation for writing differs during the middle school years. We administered the Self-Beliefs, Writing Beliefs, and Attitude Survey (SWAS) to a cross-section...

Although convergent research demonstrates that well-designed graphics can facilitate readers’ understanding of text, there are select situations where graphics have been shown to have no effect on learners’ overall text comprehension. Therefore, the current meta-analytic study examined 39 experimental studies published between 1985 and 2018 measuri...

A conversation between scholars demonstrates how two experts found common ground and made classroom recommendations while wrestling through an underlying question: Who cares about The Grapes of Wrath?

In this study, we examined students’ access to text, defined as the number of texts freely available to children in their classrooms. From 60 elementary classrooms across five states, we catalogued the books in first, third and fifth grades in both high- and low-achieving schools (based on state-wide reading test scores) to create a database of mor...

Children use popular web search tools, which are generally designed for adult users. Because children have different developmental needs than adults, these tools may not always adequately support their search for information. Moreover, even though search tools offer support to help in query formulation, these too are aimed at adults and may hinder...

Misspellings in queries used to initiate online searches is an everyday occurrence. When this happens, users either rely on the search engine's ability to understand their query or they turn to spellcheckers. Spellcheckers are usually based on popular dictionaries or past query logs, leading to spelling suggestions that often better resonate with a...

Purpose Standards and policy changes in K-12 education have created the unintended consequence of reducing instructional time spent on social studies content. This limited time devoted to social studies presumably has led to more integrated social studies and literacy instruction. The purpose of this paper is to document the types of high-quality...

After third grade, students’motivation and enjoyment of writing begins to wane, and this trend continues through most of their education. Middle grade students especially need high-quality writing instruction; however, many teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to teach writing. To combat these issues, teacher preparation programs should un...

There is a need to promote growth past basic reading proficiency toward the more substantial idea of reading maturity. The reading maturity construct has a history of being valued, at least in principle. However, it is a complex construct, and this makes its measurement challenging. The present research study addressed aspects of this challenge by...

This chapter contends that to meet the needs of refugees, we must go beyond addressing only safety and security by including education as well, specifically, literacy development. The authors suggest that in order to support refugee education, generally, we need to identify best practices for supporting reading programs in refugee settings. The aut...

Although many agree that writing can make a unique contribution to learning, harnessing that contribution is difficult, particularly in the middle grades. The purpose of this study was to measure the efficacy of a feasible writing-to-learn intervention in Grade 6–11 science classes. We focused on middle school students because this group has been l...

Although visual complexity is increasing and graphics are essential to support readers’ comprehension of disciplinary texts, visual literacy receives scant attention. Research suggests that effectively instructing students to interpret discipline-specific graphics would yield better comprehension. However, before this line of inquiry can be enacted...

The present study builds upon established best practices in narrative comprehension instruction by redesigning a story map, to retain the benefits of text structure instruction, while also facilitating students to reach deeper levels of character-based comprehension. Framed in reader response theory, dual coding theory, and developmental theories o...

Use these proven strategies for mediation to maintain a safe, productive classroom environment, model positive social interactions, and allow students to increase their personal responsibility.

Many journal articles detail recommendations to naturally integrate literacy instruction into content-area classes, particularly science, claiming that such instructional practices will support both literacy and content-knowledge acquisition. This begs the question, are the literacy strategies recommended for content-area instruction founded in est...

English has become the language of global communication and users around the globe are adapting it to meet their needs. It is essential for teachers to keep pace with the changing expectation of its users to be able to prepare students for the realities they encounter in today's globalized world. The purpose of our study was to incorporate world En...

Inferential comprehension requires both emotional intelligence and cognitive skills, however instructional comprehension strategies typically underemphasize the emotional contribution. This article documents an intervention used by diverse third grade students which centers on teaching story comprehension through character perspective-taking (i.e.,...

Studies evaluating the graphics in science textbooks have recommended that teachers use eye-catching visuals to reinforce student learning objectives (Wright et al. 2014). Similarly, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013) suggest that science teachers use visuals to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). However, little rese...

Writing is infiltrating society at a higher rate than ever before. A curiously unintended, yet significant, consequence of the increased focus on technology has resulted in more words written each day. Rather than using oral language to communicate (via phone calls or face-to-face interactions), people are relying on the written word for communicat...

Teachers are tasked with the overwhelming responsibility of instructing a vast range of learners while continually infusing current, research-based principles into their daily practice. However, teachers report frequently feeling ill-prepared and unsupported in this mission as the realities of K-12 classrooms are complex and dynamic situations. Acc...

Second language (L2) instructors frequently use visual stimuli to support learning, particularly content-specific learning; however, not all visuals are effective in supporting curriculum. Previous research has demonstrated that while graphics may make texts visually appealing, middle grade students, even native English speakers, are not consistent...

The main goal of this study was to identify factors motivating pragmatic transfer in advanced learners of English. Based on a cross-cultural comparison of requesting behavior between Koreans and Americans, this study determined the impact of individual subjective motives on pragmatic language choice. Two different groups of subjects participated in...

Due to its spread, the English language is now considered a global language. As such there are a range of commercial, economic, and industrial interests that are affiliated with understanding and speaking English (Mahboob, 2011). This paper focuses on the politics that have arisen as a result of the spread of English language and its globalization....

If a measure's scores are unreliable, it is difficult for researchers to know whether they have results meriting further inquiry. Researchers frequently lack an understanding of the role reliability plays in experiments and therefore frequently omit a reliability estimate from published work (Henson, 2001). Reliability coefficients describe the con...

As the current focus of education is often on test scores rather than student learning, many public school teachers do not emphasize the development of cross-curricular writing skills in their curriculum. With the inherent pressures of standardized tests and growing class sizes, the burden of assessing writing projects often makes them prohibitive....