Howrey, S., Many, J. E., & Race, C.  Monologues, dialogues, and              interactive conversations: Exploring an on-line discourse                      community for literacy educators.  Georgia Educational                    Researcher Online Edition, 1(1).

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the on-line discourse accompanying a year-long professional development experience.Participants in this study were 19 graduate students, 5 teacher-leaders, and 1 university faculty member involved in a Reading Institute taught at an urban university in the Southeast.  Primary data sources for the study consisted of over 1300 bulletin board postings from the beginning of a summer term through the end of the following spring. Secondary data sources were chat-room transcripts, course materials, informal interviews with the participants, and e-mail correspondence.  Data were analyzed using a constant-comparative method.

The findings indicate that students involved in an on-line course develop diverse ways of using the distance learning technology to communicate with others. Instructors and/or teacher leaders played an important role in modeling and scaffolding online dialogue in order to move communication from single postings, or monologues, to multi-person interactions.  In a supportive learning environment, students can use an on-line community to further their understanding of assignments, seek out information, and provide support for one another.

http://coefaculty.valdosta.edu/lschmert/gera/current_issue.htm

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Wallace, F. H., & Coleman, T. S. (2002). A response and reflection           change model: The impact of a reading endorsement on literacy          assessment. SRATE Journal, 11(2), 36 - 52.

Current research in the area of literacy instruction has focused largely on what constitutes best practices.  The increased pressure from high stakes testing and teacher accountability has resulted in administrators and teachers using means of assessment that measure products of student learning rather than using assessment as a guide for effective instruction.  Using assessment to guide instruction is one component of best practices in literacy instruction.   A state wide graduate reading endorsement offered at a large urban university in the southeast provides instruction with a focus on using authentic assessment to guide literacy instruction.  This inquiry investigates the impact of the reading endorsement program on changes in literacy assessment practices of the teachers enrolled in the program and explains them in a response and reflection model.  Designed as reflective practitioner research, this study examines how change was achieved by asking the question what changes in practice can be seen in the institute teachers with regard to literacy assessment?  Findings from this inquiry indicate that changes were seen over time in the institute teachers with regard to literacy assessment.  At the end of the follow-up year, teachers were able to articulate purposes and needs for assessment choices and to reflect on the assessment data in order to design effective literacy instruction. This study may be informative to teacher educators and system coordinators of staff development in literacy in their quest to provide effective avenues for meaningful professional growth in literacy instruction.

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Many, J., Wallace, F.H., Stephenson, J., & Eickholdt, L. (2004). “I              know them better than students in my on-campus courses”:                 Exploring a personalized approach to online instruction.                       Reading Online, 8(2).

The study described in this article explored the nature of instruction in an online course in a teacher education program. Participants included the university instructor and 16 classroom teachers enrolled in a graduate-level literacy assessment course. Data included online bulletin board messages, e-mail messages, informal interviews, chat transcripts, the instructor’s teaching journal, and all modules constructed for the online course. Constant-comparative analysis revealed instructional content related to (a) the course focus of assessment and instruction for struggling readers, and (b) how to learn effectively in the online environment. Specific categories within these areas emerged with respect to the design of the course and the instructional interactions between the instructor and the teachers.

http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/many

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Dixey, B., Many, J.E., & Lane, T. (in press) The University System of          Georgia Reading Consortium:  Past, present and future.                       Georgia Journal of Reading.