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At the heart of my research is a quest to
understand the beginning literacy development of students from a
variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and apply this
understanding to effective classroom practices. Many years of
bilingual teaching at the early grades, as well as a background
in teacher education from the pre-service through the
accomplished veteran level have contributed to this academic
pursuit. My leadership in new teacher induction programs allowed
me to work with beginning teachers and the mentors that served
them during their first two years in the profession. Most
recently, I have designed professional development courses and
support structures for literacy specialists as they take on
greater leadership roles at their school sites.
My current research is deeply connected to the
educational needs of English language learners. Bilingual
students confront a web of psychological, socio-cultural,
linguistic and educational environments that affect their
literacy development. My particular research focuses on the
interaction of language, literacy and educational practices. I
have compared the orthography of students’ home languages to
English, and used examples of early literacy behaviors such as
alphabetic spellings to examine how the funds of knowledge that
students bring from their home language may influence their
literacy learning. I have analyzed large data sets of literacy
assessments to better understand how language proficiency has an
impact on the kinds of specific responses that students make. I
am currently researching how the acquisition of literacy in
English looks the same or differs for native speakers and
second-language learners. As
I compare the early literacy behaviors of students from
different language backgrounds, I seek to apply the insights I
gain to a broader view of literacy development that encompasses
both English-learning and English-only students.
Selected publications
Bear, D. R., Helman, L. A., Templeton, S.,
Invernizzi, M. & Johnston, F. (2007). Words their way with
English learners: Word study for phonics, vocabulary and
spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.
Helman, L. A. (2006, April). How assessments
promote learning for diverse students. English Leadership
Quarterly, 28,(4), 10-15. Urbana, IL: National Council of
Teachers of English.
Helman, L. (2006). What’s in a conversation?
Mentoring stances in coaching conversations and how they matter.
In B. Achinstein, & S. Z. Athanases (Eds.). Mentors in the
making: Developing new leaders for new teachers (pp. 69-82).
NY: Teachers College Press (the series on school reform).
Helman, L. A. (2005). Spanish speakers
learning to read in English: What a large-scale assessment
suggest about their progress. In B. Maloch, J. Hoffman, D.
Schallert, C. Fairbanks, & J. Worthy (Eds.), 54th Yearbook of
the National Reading Conference (pp. 211-226). Oak Creek,
WI: National Reading Conference.
Helman, L. (2005). Using literacy assessment
results to improve teaching for English language learners.
The Reading Teacher, 58(7), 668-677. Newark, DE:
International Reading Association.
Brock, C., Helman, L., & Patchen, C. D.
(2005). Learning to conduct teacher research: Exploring the
development of mediated understandings. Teachers and
teaching: Theory and practice, 11(1), 75-95.
Helman, L. (2004). Building on the sound
system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic spellings of
English language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57,
452-460. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
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