Discussion-Based Approaches to Developing Understanding: Classroom Instruction and Student Performance in Middle and High School English
Abstract
This study examines the relationships between student literacy performance and discussion-based approaches to the development of understanding in 64 middle and high school English classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models indicated that discussion-based approaches were significantly related to spring performance, controlling for fall performance and other background variables. These approaches were effective across a range of situations and for low-achieving as well as high-achieving students, although interpretations are complicated because instruction is unequally distributed across tracks. Overall, the results suggest that students whose classroom literacy experiences emphasize discussion-based approaches in the context of high academic demands internalize the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in challenging literacy tasks on their own.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There is ample evidence that the form of interaction in which the teacher's attention is focused on the correctness of the student's response is the norm in most classrooms.
“There is ample evidence that this form of interaction is the norm in most classrooms (Applebee et al., 2003; Hardman, et al., 2003; Smith et al., 2004).”
From Developing the theory of formative assessment (2009) · cites this paper as Applebee et al., 2003
Nystrand and colleagues highlight potential relevance to literacy attainment of open questions and high student contribution.
“Nystrand and colleagues (e.g.Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, & Gamoran, 2003;Nystrand, 2006) highlight the potential relevance to literacy attainment of the first of the above themes, i.e. that relating to open questions, and also of the crosscutting theme of high student contribution.”
From Teacher–Student Dialogue During Classroom Teaching: Does It Really Impact on Student Outcomes? (2019) · cites this paper as Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, & Gamoran, 2003
Cites
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511815355 · Cited by 33,219 · see citing works
Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x018001032 · Cited by 13,645 · cited 1× · see citing works
“'Other scholars use the terms sociocultural or situated to describe a similar focus on the ways in which language, learning, and cognition are inseparably intertwined with the social or cultural context within which they are embedded (cf. Brown, Collins.”
BackgroundToward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/00028312032003465 · Cited by 8,057 · see citing works
Secondary School Tracking and Educational Inequality: Compensation, Reinforcement, or Neutrality?
Gamoran, A., & Mare, R. D. (1989) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/229114 · Cited by 663 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Prior studies show that a rich array of prior achievement and background indicators is very helpful in distinguishing the effects of tracking from the effects of the correlates of track assignment (Gamoran & Mare, 1989).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Developing the theory of formative assessment
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009) · Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability · doi:10.1007/s11092-008-9068-5 · Cited by 3,301 · see citing works
“Figure 2 below serves to illustrate the sequence of the argument. The teacher addresses to the learner a task, perhaps in the form of a question, the learner responds to this, and the teacher then composes a further intervention, in the light of that response. This basic structure has been described as initiation–resp…”
BackgroundA meta-analysis of writing instruction for adolescent students
Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.445 · Cited by 1,609 · see citing works
Examining the effects of classroom discussion on students’ comprehension of text: A meta-analysis.
Murphy, P. K., Wilkinson, I. A. G., Soter, A. O., Hennessey, M. N., & Alexander, J. F. (2009) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0015576 · Cited by 566 · see citing works
Teacher–Student Dialogue During Classroom Teaching: Does It Really Impact on Student Outcomes?
Howe, C., Hennessy, S., Mercer, N., Vrikki, M., & Wheatley, L. (2019) · Journal of the Learning Sciences · doi:10.1080/10508406.2019.1573730 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
Argumentation for Learning: Well-Trodden Paths and Unexplored Territories
Asterhan, C. S. C., & Schwarz, B. B. (2016) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520.2016.1155458 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
Student thought and classroom language: examining the mechanisms of change in dialogic teaching
Reznitskaya, A., & Gregory, M. (2013) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520.2013.775898 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Teacher professional development as a means of transforming student classroom talk
Sedova, K., Sedlacek, M., & Svaricek, R. (2016) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2016.03.005 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Sedova, K., Sedlacek, M., Svaricek, R., Majcik, M., Navratilova, J., Drexlerova, A., Kychler, J., & Salamounova, Z. (2019) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101217 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Aukerman, M. S. (2007) · Research in the Teaching of English · doi:10.58680/rte20076484 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Gaining Insight Into Human Nature: A Review of Literature Classroom Intervention Studies
Schrijvers, M., Janssen, T., Fialho, O., & Rijlaarsdam, G. (2019) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654318812914 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Wilkinson, I. A. G., Murphy, P. K., & Binici, S. (2015) · Socializing Intelligence Through Academic Talk and Dialogue · doi:10.3102/978-0-935302-43-1_3 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
The Impact of a Dialogic Intervention on a Chinese Rural Teacher and Students' Stances Towards Texts
Zhong, Y., Davies, M., & Wilson, A. (2025) · European Journal of Education · doi:10.1111/ejed.12816 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Applebee, A. N., Langer, J. A., Nystrand, M., & Gamoran, A.
- Affiliations
- University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- ORCID
- Gamoran, Adam
- Venue
- American Educational Research Journal
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 685-730
- ISSN
- 0002-8312 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-1011
- OpenAlex
- W2163815162
- Cited by
- 812
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 56 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 71 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 15.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Educational Research Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
- Keywords
- discussion method, literacy achievement, English language teaching, junior high school, high schools, student performance, low-achieving students, educational tracking, classroom discourse, knowledge internalization, academic demands
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
