Nell K. Duke

Nell K. Duke is a contemporary educator and literacy researcher with an interest in informational text, early literacy development, with an emphasis on children living in poverty, reading comprehension instruction, and education researcher preparation. She is currently an associate professor of teacher education and educational psychology at Michigan State University and the co-director of the Literacy Research Center (LARC) .^[1]She also served as a researcher for the Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) with Elfrieda "Freddy" Hiebert.

Education

Nell K. Duke earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1993. She completed a Special Major in Linguistics, with Cognates in Psychology and Education, a Concentration in Black Studies, and completed a certification program in Elementary Education. She earned both an Ed. M. and an Ed. D. in Language and Literacy from Harvard University.

Career

After completing her B.A., Nell Duke was the Supervisor of the Harvard Literacy Laboratory and a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University from 1994-1996. She then served as a trainer for various programs including, Reach Out: Help Teach a Child to Read Program, America Reads Program, Harvard Emergent Literacy Project, and the BELL Foundation. During this time she also Co-Founded Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1997, she served the school as the Primary Grades Literacy Specialist and in 1998, she served as the Co-Director for the Neighborhood House Charter School.

Dr. Duke is the recipient of several prestigious awards early in her career. In 1999, she was the recipient of the Promising Researcher Award from the National Council of Teachers of English. The following year she was recognized by the International Reading Association for the Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2000.

Dr. Duke teaches at Michigan State University in the College of Education. In addition to teaching courses, she served as the Co-Founding Associate Director for the Literacy Achievement Research Center (LARC) and is currently a Co-Director for LARC, a research center that encourages research and distribution of knowledge about complex literacies for all ages from young children through adulthood.^[2]

Major Topics of Research

Information Literacy

In 2000, Duke published a seminal research article on the scarcity of informational text in classroom environments and activities. The research brings to light the sparse quantity of informational text available to children and the limited instruction or activities with informational literacy materials, an average of 3.6 minutes a day, in the primary classroom. In the study, twenty first grade classrooms were observed, ten from high socio-economic status (SES) schools and ten from Low SES schools. Students from Low SES schools had even fewer opportunities with informational texts than students from higher SES schools.^[3] The amount, type, and uses of print are less in the lower SES classroom ^[4]

The concept of informational text in the classroom was a discussion point among literacy researchers before this article, but this article highlighted the lack of informational text in classroom libraries, as part of the classroom environment, and the use of the text in instruction in the primary classroom. Since the publication of this seminal piece, it has been cited in over 200 articles .^[5]

Recent articles include suggestions for incorporation of more quantity and quality of informational text in the classroom. Teachers can increase access through more informational texts in classroom libraries and environmental print in the classroom, and increase time devoted to instruction using information text through read aloud and strategy instruction. Students need to be taught how to read the informational text with specific comprehension strategies and the use of these texts for authentic purposes increases reading growth in students ^[6]

Methodology and Research in Education

Duke values a range research methodologies for reading research as evidence by a variety of methodologies in her own research and through the edited book Literacy Research Methodologies, she co-edited the book with Marla Mallette. In the edited book, she and Mallette conclude with five messages for literacy researchers. There are many different research methodologies available and can make contributions to the field. Yet, there are examples of great and poor usages of every methodology. The methodology chosen should match the research question and any claims from the research methodology should be supported by the specific methodology. Research studies of similar questions can demonstrate complementary results using different methodologies and this use is encouraged ^[7]

In an article with Pressley and Boling (2004), Duke calls for a new definition of scientifically based reading research. The National Reading Panel (NRP) included studies that were experimental or quasi-experimental studies that included a large enough sample population. Studies that were either descriptive or correlational research in design were not considered.^[8] Pressley, Duke, & Boling, suggest that reading by its nature needs to have expanded [Scientifically Based Research] methodologies available to researchers. Many grants, especially federal grants, require that the researcher use Scientifically based research methodologies to receive funding. However, some research questions need to be answered by different research methodologies such as quasi-experimental and meta-analysis. A quasi-experimental design, allows the researcher to control common characteristics that could influence the results of the study. In a meta-analysis study, the researcher reviews published studies and uses a statistical average to find an overall intervention effect.^[9]

In addition to changes in the definition of scientifically based research, Duke (and Beck(1999)) argue that the current form of dissertations is not an authentic format for new researchers to learn how to participate in the academic realm. A goal of research is to disseminate information, however, in the current dissertation format most dissertations have only a select audience. The dissertation format is a genre in and of itself, and if PhD candidates are able to publish their findings, it requires massive rewrites. Suggestions for alternative dissertation formats include article(s) ready for publication in literacy research journals or in educator publications, depending on the goal of the degree.^[10]

Awards

• 1999 Promising Researcher Award, National Council of Teachers of English

• 2000 Outstanding Dissertation Award, International Reading Association

• 2002 Dina Feitelson Research Award, International Reading Association

• 2003 Early Career Achievement Award, National Reading Conference

Publications

Nell Duke has authored or co-authored books including “Literacy Research Methodologies” (2004), “Beyond Bedtime Stories: A Parent’s Guide to Promoting Reading, Writing, and other literacy skills form birth to 5” (2007), “Literacy and the Youngest Learner: Best Practices for Educators of Children from Birth to Five.” (2005), and “We Work Together” (2003) .

She is also the author or co-author of numerous chapters within books and peer-reviewed journals. [2]

Collaborators and Co-Authors

• Victoria Purcell-Gates
• P. David Pearson
• V. Susan Bennett-Armistead
• Annie M. Moses
• Shenglan Zhang
• Michael Pressley

Selected Works for Additional Reading

Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35, 202-224. Reprinted in Mason, P. A., & Schumm, J. S. (Eds.). (2003). Promising practices in urban reading instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Duke, N. K. (2007). Let’s look in a book: Using nonfiction texts for reference with young children. Young Children, 62, 12-16.

Duke, N. K. (2003). Reading to learn from the very beginning: Information books in early childhood. Young Children, 58(2), 14-20.

Duke, N. K., & Tower, C. (2004). Nonfiction texts for young readers. In J. Hoffman & D. Schallert (Eds.), The texts in elementary classrooms (pp. 125–144). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Duke, N. K., & Purcell-Gates, V. (2003). Genres at home and at school: Bridging the known to the new. The Reading Teacher, 57, 30-37.

Duke, N. K. (2000). For the rich it’s richer: Print experiences and environments offered to children in very low- and very high-SES first grade classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 37, 441-478.

Duke, N. K. (2000). IRA Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2000: Print environments and experiences offered to first grade students in very low- and very high-SES school districts. Reading Research Quarterly, 35, 456-457.

Duke, N. K., & Kays, J. (1998). “Can I say ‘Once upon a time’?”: Kindergarten children developing knowledge of information book language. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13, 295-318.

Duke, N. K., & Mallette, M. H. (Eds.) (2004). Literacy research methodologies. New York: Guilford Press.

Bennett-Armistead, V. S., Duke, N. K., & Moses, A. M. (2007). Beyond bedtime stories: A parent’s guide to promoting reading, writing, and other literacy skills from birth to 5. New York: Scholastic.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.msularc.org/html/Principal_Investigators.htm
3. ^ Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35, 202-224.
4. ^ Duke, N. K. (2000). For the rich it’s richer: Print experiences and environments offered to children in very low- and very high-SES first grade classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 37, 441-478.
5. ^ http://scholar.google.com.proxy.usf.eduscholar?as_q=nell%20duke&as_allsubj=
6. ^ Duke (2004). The case for informational text. Educational Leadership 61(6) 40-44.
7. ^ Duke, N.K., & Mallette, M.H. (Eds.) (2004). Literacy research methodologies. New York: Guilford Press.
8. ^ National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
9. ^ Pressley, M., Duke, N. K., & Boling, E. C. (2004). The educational science and scientifically based instruction we need: Lessons from reading research and policy making. Harvard Educational Review, 74(1), 30-61.
10. ^ * Duke, N. K., & Beck, S. W. (1999). Education should consider alternative formats for the dissertation. Educational Researcher, 28(3), 31-36.

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