Extraordinary K–12 teachers show us what social equity literacy teaching looks like and how it advances children's achievement. Chapters identify six key dimensions of social equity teaching that can help teachers see their students' potential and create conditions that will support their literacy development. Serving students well depends on understanding relationships between race, class, culture, and literacy; the complexity and significance of culture; and the culturally situated nature of literacy. It also requires knowledge of culturally responsive practices, such as collaborating with and learning from caregivers, using cultural referents, enacting critical and transformative literacy practices, and seeing the capacities of English Language Learners and children who speak African American Language.

This book presents a powerful call to action for an assessment system that advances equity and offers educators practical applications that promote sound instructional decision making.--Larry Ferlazzo, high school teacher, Education Week Teacher advice columnist, and author of Navigating the Common Core with English Language Learners (Jossey-Bass, 2016)

This book shows literacy professionals how to develop the dispositions and actions associated with advocacy-focused teaching. While portraits of culturally conscious literacy teachers are now readily available, becoming such a teacher continues to be a challenge. Drawing from 60+ years of experience working with teacher candidates and teachers in the city of Philadelphia, the authors argue that becoming an advocacy-focused literacy teacher requires making moral commitments to students and developing professional competencies that fuse literacy, language, and equity studies. Recognizing that educators can be overwhelmed trying to match the realities they face daily with the theory behind good practice, Connecting Equity, Literacy, and Language packs a lot of big ideas into one readable, concise book that is perfect for use in literacy methods courses. The text includes definitions and examples of equity concepts, relatable teacher vignettes, and “Pause and Reflect” boxes to encourage reflection and classroom conversation. Book Features: Examines the central problems of students’ disconnection with school, spirit murdering, and the teacher education gap.Looks at inequities that have become normalized in classrooms and schools through standardized testing, literacy teaching routines and structures, and deficit-laced language about students and families.Discusses literacies and languages as cultural practices and the need to be vigilant about the linguistic violence that occurs when students’ languages are delegitimized.Describes critically and culturally centered teaching frameworks.Provides vivid examples of advocacy-focused teaching.

This book addresses critical issues related to pre-adolescent and adolescent literacy learners with a focus on closing the achievement gap. Despite efforts by educators and policymakers during the past several decades, certain groups of students--primarily African American students, English language learners, and students from low-income homes--continue to underperform on commonly used measures of academic achievement. Too often, teachers and administrators lack both proper preparation and good ideas to confront these issues.

Build the bridges for English language learners to reach success! This thoroughly updated edition of Gottlieb’s classic delivers a complete set of tools, techniques, and ideas for planning and implementing instructional assessment of ELLs. The book includes: A focus on academic language use in every discipline, from mathematics to social studies, within and across language domains Emphasis on linguistically and culturally responsive assessment as a key driver for measuring academic achievement A reconceptualization of assessment “as,” “for,” and “of” learning Reflection questions to stimulate discussion around how students, teachers, and administrators can all have a voice in decision making

A step-by-step guide to developing equitable literacy instruction by adapting curriculum to support diverse learners. In Teaching with Literacy Programs, Patricia A. Edwards, Kristen L. White, Laura J. Hopkins, and Ann M. Castle present a model that allows educators to address educational inequity through the critical and adaptive use of existing literacy curriculum materials. In this accessible work, they advise educators on ways to combine common classroom materials, such as basal readers and core reading programs, with instructional practices that provide high-quality, responsive instruction to all students. Edwards, White, Hopkins, and Castle credit literacy instruction as a core part of overall educational equity, and they recognize the crucial role that educators play in translating materials into instruction that benefits all learners. Here they offer teacher education in support of this essential role, deftly guiding educators through a four-part development process, CARE, an acronym for cultivating critical consciousness, analyzing materials, reconstructing curricula, and evaluating instruction reflectively to advance equity. Built upon culturally relevant, sustaining, and antiracist pedagogy, CARE enables teachers to provide literacy instruction that meets the range of needs and performance levels in classrooms, supporting students in attaining academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness. The approach outlined in this work, which can be put into immediate practice, helps educators to provide literacy instruction that builds on students' multiple literacies and reduces educational inequity.

Examines factors that collectively create and sustain the present inequalities in student access to digital technologies, and discusses some of the challenges and opportunities for addressing the issue. The 15 chapters explore philosophical and sociocultural aspects of digital equity, consider the needs of particular populations of learners, and suggest organizational structures and policies for instituting systematic change. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR