Unlike other books on educational drama, Educational Drama and Language Arts focuses on its effects. It is the first comprehensive overview of the major research in the field, offering illuminating descriptions of classroom drama in action.

In this book, Betty Jane Wagner summarizes recent research on drama in education and creative drama, featuring studies that show drama's effect on thinking, oral language, reading, and writing. Most of the studies answer the broad question, "Does classroom drama actually teach anything?" Wagner presents the best studies in both the qualitative and quantitative research paradigms.

Educational Drama and Language Arts is a comprehensive and authoritative book with wide appeal. It is a handy resource for drama educators who need research evidence to support their advocacy of drama in school. It is also a user-friendly overview for doctoral students and others who are jumping into the icy waters of research on drama. Indeed, teachers of all subjects will find this book an insightful guide for teaching and reflecting on their practice.

Contents:
I. Overview
1. Rationale and Definitions
2. A Theoretical Framework for Educational Drama
II. Language and Thinking
3. Oral Language
4. Language Power Through Working in Role, D. Booth
5. Reflection and Cognition
6. Repositioning Views/Reviewing Positions: Forming Complex Understandings in Dialogue, B. Edmiston & J. Wilhelm
III. Writing and Reading 7. Writing
8. The Children's Forum: Linking Writing, Drama, and the Development of Community in an Urban Classroom, A. Dyson
9. Story Recall, Reader Response, and Comprehension
IV. Research Paradigms and the Future
10. Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Creative Drama, F. Conard
11. Reflective Practitioner Research, P. Taylor
12. Action Research and the Future