Abstract
In2Books is an online learning environment that brings together 9–12-year-old students in American elementary schools with adult mentors for the purpose of reading, responding to, and writing about children’s books in order to promote higher-level thinking and achievement related to literacy. Over the 10 years of its development, In2Books has focused especially on helping children from economically at-risk home backgrounds. This chapter discusses a series of three studies that have examined program impact on student achievement and engagement, as well as a variety of factors involved in constructing an online environment that is designed to be both user-friendly and educationally impactful. It addresses especially five crucial issues that have arisen in this process that we feel are instructive for future development related to online learning environments that intend to promote literacy skill in elementary school-age children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This research was supported in part by a Creative Inquiry grant from Clemson University and a CARL grant from the In2Books Foundation to Dr. Linda Gambrell. At the time of the study, the In2Books Foundation was a not-for-profit organization. CARL was created by the In2Books Foundation to support research on broader issues of literacy development and did not sponsor research specifically on the In2Books program. Dr. Gambrell currently serves on the Academic Advisory Board of ePals/In2Books.
- 2.
This research was supported by a Teachers Network Leadership Institute MetLife Fellowship from the Chicago Foundation for Education.
References
Cosner, S. (2011a). Supporting the initiation and early development of evidence-based grade-level collaboration in urban elementary schools: Key roles and strategies of principals and literacy coordinators. Urban Education, 20, 1–42.
Cosner, S. (2011b). Teacher learning, instructional considerations, and principal communication: Lessons from a longitudinal study of collaborative data use by teachers. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 39(5), 568–589.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2006). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Gambrell, L. B., Hughes, E., Calvert, W., Malloy, J., & Igo, B. (2011). Authentic reading, writing, and discussion: An exploratory study of a pen pal project. Elementary School Journal, 112(2), 234–258.
Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 49, 2–19.
Glasswell, K., & Teale, W. H. (2007). Authentic assessment of authentic student work in urban classrooms. In J. R. Paratore & R. L. McCormack (Eds.), Classroom literacy assessment: Making sense of what students know and do (pp. 262–279). New York: Guilford.
Kucan, L., & Palincsar, A. (2011). Locating struggling readers in a reconfigured landscape. In M. Kamil, P. D. Pearson, E. B. Moje, & P. P. Afflerbach (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 4, pp. 342–358). New York: Routledge.
Lai, M. K., & McNaughton, S. (2009). Raising student achievement in poor communities through evidence-based conversations. In L. M. Earl & H. Timperley (Eds.), Professional learning conversations: 13 challenges in using evidence for improvement (pp. 13–27). Toronto: Springer.
Lyons, K. (2010, May). Readers connected (Final report to the Chicago Foundation for Education, Teachers Network Leadership Institute MetLife Fellowship). Chicago: Author.
Malloy, J. A., & Gambrell, L. B. (2010). The contribution of discussion to reading comprehension and critical thinking. In R. Allington & A. McGill-Franzen (Eds.), Handbook of reading disabilities research. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
McKenna, M., Kear, D. J., & Ellsworth, R. A. (1995). Children’s attitudes toward reading: A national survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 934–956.
Michaels, S., O’Connor, C., & Resnick, L. (2007). Deliberative discourse idealized and realized: Accountable talk in the classroom and in civic life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), 283–297.
Mills, G. (2003). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Resnick, L. B. (1999, June 16). Making America smarter. Education Week Century Series, 18(40), 38040. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-18/40resnick.h18
Ross, S. M., Nunnery, J. A., Goldfeder, E., McDonald, A., Rachor, R., Hornbeck, M., & Fleischman, S. (2004). Using school reform models to improve reading achievement: A longitudinal study of direct instruction and success for all in an urban district. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 9(4), 357–388.
Teale, W. H., & Gambrell, L. B. (2007). Raising urban students’ literacy achievement by engaging in authentic, challenging work. The Reading Teacher, 60, 728–739.
Teale, W. H., Zolt, N., Yokota, J., Glasswell, K., & Gambrell, L. (2007). Getting children In2Books: Engagement in authentic reading, writing, and thinking. Phi Delta Kappan, 88, 498–502.
Timperley, H. S., Parr, J. M., & Bertanees, C. (2009). Promoting professional inquiry for improved outcomes for students in New Zealand. Professional Development in Education, 35(2), 227–245.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.) Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1934)
Wolf, M. K., Crosson, A. C., & Resnick, L. B. (2005). Classroom talk for rigorous reading comprehension instruction. Reading Psychology, 26, 27–53.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Teale, W.H., Lyons, K., Gambrell, L., Zolt, N., Olien, R., Leu, D.J. (2012). An Online Learning Community as Support for At-Risk Students’ Literacy Growth: Findings, Implications, and Challenges. In: Shamir, A., Korat, O. (eds) Technology as a Support for Literacy Achievements for Children at Risk. Literacy Studies, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5119-4_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5119-4_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5118-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5119-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)