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2019
Barr, C., Uccelli, P., & Galloway, E. (2019). Specifying the Academic Language Skills That Support Text Understanding in the Middle Grades: The Design and Validation of the Core Academic Language Skills Construct and Instrument. Language Learning , 69.
Galloway, E., Qin, W., Uccelli, P., & Barr, C. (2019). The role of cross-disciplinary academic language skills in disciplinary, source-based writing: investigating the role of core academic language skills in science summarization for middle grade writers. Reading and Writing , 33.
Qin, W., & Uccelli, P. (2019). Metadiscourse: Variation across communicative contexts. Journal of Pragmatics , 139, 22-39.
Jones, S., LaRusso, M., Kim, J., Kim, H. Y., Selman, R., Uccelli, P., Barnes, S., et al. (2019). Experimental effects of Word Generation on vocabulary, academic language, perspective taking, and reading comprehension in high-poverty schools. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness , 1-36.
Uccelli, P., Deng, Z., Galloway, E., & Qin, W. (2019). The Role of Language Skills in Mid-Adolescents’ Science Summaries. Journal of Literacy Research , 51, 1086296X1986020.
Uccelli, P., Galloway, E., Aguilar, G., & Allen, M. (2019). Amplifying and Affirming students’ voices through CALS-informed instruction. Theory Into Practice , 59.
2018
Uccelli, P., & Phillips Galloway, E. (2018). What educators need to know about academic language: Insights from recent research. In C. Temple Adger, C. E. Snow, & D. Christian (Ed.), What Teachers Need to Know About Language, (2nd ed. pp. 62-74) . Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Uccelli, P., & Aguilar, G. (2018). Spanish and English skills and practices that support bilingual students’ literacy achievement: Lessons from innovative assessments and participants’ voices. In D. L. Baker, C. Richards-Tutor, & D. L. Basaraba (Ed.), Second Language Acquisition: Methods, Perspectives and Challenges (pp. 63-94) . Nova Science Publishers.
Uccelli, P., Demir-Lira, E., Rowe, M., Levine, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2018). Children's Early Decontextualized Talk Predicts Academic Language Proficiency in Midadolescence. Child Development , 90.
Galloway, E., & Uccelli, P. (2018). Beyond reading comprehension: exploring the additional contribution of Core Academic Language Skills to early adolescents’ written summaries. Reading and Writing , 32.
Galloway, E., & Uccelli, P. (2018). Examining Developmental Relations Between Core Academic Language Skills and Reading Comprehension for English Learners and Their Peers. Journal of Educational Psychology , 111.
2017
Meneses, A., Uccelli, P., Santelices, V., Ruiz Zúñiga, M., Acevedo, D., & Figueroa, J. (2017). Academic Language as a Predictor of Reading Comprehension in Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Readers: Evidence From Chilean Early Adolescents. Reading Research Quarterly.
2016
Uccelli, P., & Rowe, M. L. (2016). Semantic development: Learning the Meanings of Words. In J. Berko-Gleason & N. B. Ratner (Ed.), The development of language . Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Merrill.
Uccelli, P., Phillips Galloway, E., & Allen, M. (2016). Academic languages and bilingualismInformes del Observatorio / Observatorio Reports.
Uccelli, P., & Galloway, E. (2016). Academic Language Across Content Areas: Lessons From an Innovative Assessment and From Students' Reflections About Language. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 60.
LaRusso, M., Kim, H. Y., Selman, R., Uccelli, P., Dawson, T., Jones, S., Donovan, M., et al. (2016). Contributions of Academic Language, Perspective Taking, and Complex Reasoning to Deep Reading Comprehension. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness , 9 00-00.
Qin, W., & Uccelli, P. (2016). Same language, different functions: A cross-genre analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ writing performance. Journal of Second Language Writing , 33, 3-17.
2015
Uccelli, P., & Meneses, A. (2015). Lenguaje académico: construcción y validación de un instrumento para medir habilidades de lenguaje académico en estudiantes de primaria . Invited paper in Special Edited Volume, M. Brisk & P. Proctor, Miríada Hispánica , (10), 177-202.
Uccelli, P., Galloway, E. P., Barr, C. D., Meneses, A., & Dobbs, C. L. (2015). Beyond Vocabulary: Exploring Cross-Disciplinary Academic-Language Proficiency and Its Association With Reading Comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly , 50 (3), 337-356. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Abstract Despite a long-standing awareness of academic language as a pedagogically relevant research area, the construct of academic-language proficiency, understood as a more comprehensive set of skills than just academic vocabulary, has remained vaguely specified. In this study, we explore a more inclusive operationalization of an academic-language proficiency construct, core academic-language skills (CALS). CALS refers to a constellation of high-utility language skills hypothesized to support reading comprehension across school content areas. Using the Core Academic Language Skills Instrument (CALS-I), a theoretically grounded and psychometrically robust innovative tool, we first examined the variability in students' CALS by grade, English-proficiency designation, and socioeconomic status (SES). Then, we examined the contribution of CALS to reading comprehension using academic vocabulary knowledge, word reading fluency, and sociodemographic factors as covariates. A linguistically and socioeconomically diverse cross-sectional sample of 218 students (grades 4–6) participated in four assessments: the CALS-I, a standardized reading comprehension assessment (Gates–MacGinitie Reading Test), an academic vocabulary test (Vocabulary Association Test), and a word reading fluency test (Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency). General linear model analysis of variance revealed that CALS differed significantly by grade, English-proficiency designation, and SES, with students in higher grades, English-proficient students, and those from higher SES backgrounds displaying higher scores, on average. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses identified CALS as an independent predictor of reading comprehension, even after controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge, word reading fluency, and sociodemographic factors. By specifying a set of language skills associated with reading comprehension, this study advances our understanding of school-relevant language skills, making them more visible for researchers and educators.
Dalton, B., Robinson, K., Lovvorn, J., Smith, B., Alvey, T., Mo, E., Uccelli, P., et al. (2015). Fifth-Grade Students’ Digital Retellings and the Common Core. The Elementary School Journal , 115, 000-000.

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