This research features a discourse analysis of two podcasts: the "Mobb Deep, Shook Ones, Pt. II" episode of "Song Exploder" and the "Rap on Trial" episode of "Hidden Brain." We selected these podcasts through an abductive method of what we call "fortuitous listening" because of how they reveal…

This is a multiple case study exploring five high school English teachers' perceived supports and challenges to enacting critical literacy pedagogy, and their experiences navigating the challenges. Through a structure/culture/agency framework, I sought to understand how these five teachers' leveraging of supports and sense of agency in the face of…

While the influence of digital technologies on literacy expression has long been a central concern of literacy studies, the proliferation of digital platforms across contemporary life has prompted increased scholarly attention to their influence on literacy. How, this scholarship asks, do platforms' interfaces, algorithms, and business models…

Grounded in the sociocultural nature of literacies and informed of the inherent biases in widely used, English-dominant reading assessments in U.S. schools, this case study traces the planning, development, and pilot administration (n = 52) of a culturally inclusive (i.e., participant informed), online reading assessment. The Critical Reading…

Current conversations in literacy research call for the need to consider children's social-emotional development and academic learning in an integrated way that honors and supports the whole child in their cultural context. Here we review available literatures on the cognitive, linguistic, affective, social and cultural dimensions of typical and…

This paper argues for a Black epistemological literacy education by centering Black equity in the process of teaching literacy methods. I offer a pedagogical model that stems from my own experiences disrupting required elementary literacy methods courses. My approach utilizes Black Language to illustrate the linguistic, sociocultural, and…

Grounded in our commitment to support preservice teachers (PSTs) in an urban elementary teacher education program to develop anti-bias pedagogies, we engaged in a design-based study aimed at enacting critical conversations about texts that foster dialogue about power and privilege. In this analysis, we explore how PSTs engaged with children during…

Research shows that humor can play an important role in students' language learning and literacy development. However, studies on how teachers intentionally enact humor as a pedagogical tool are still limited. This classroom discourse study examines the interactional construction and pedagogical functions of humor in one U.S. multilingual high…

The Black Church is the oldest anti-racist institution in America. Having educated generations of Black families, birthed schools, universities, hospitals, financial institutions, various music genres, and nurtured numerous advocates and martyrs for freedom, including access to literacy, it is directly responsible for many of the most significant…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading aims to measure reading comprehension for students in the United States and to monitor progress in our education system. NAEP Reading is developed based on an assessment framework document that is periodically revised to reflect the latest understandings about reading comprehension…

Refutation texts are resurfacing as a suggested antidote to misconceptions and "fake news." In a previous critical review of the refutation text literature, we, the author team, suggested further interrogation of the assumptions these texts imply: that learners share the same common misunderstanding about a topic, and that there is one…

Prior research on peer literacy teaching tends to be conceptualized as peer tutoring and often focuses on the cognitive aspects of reading (e.g., skills, strategies). In this multiple case study, we draw on theories of identity and positioning to propose a conceptual shift from "tutoring" to "mentoring" to also describe the…

A common model for connecting theory to practice within literacy teacher preparation programs involves preservice teachers (PTs) working in field-based courses to contextualize their learning. Field-based courses create hybrid spaces for personalizing curricula and following students' lead outside of the pressures of normal classrooms. Researchers…

In the face of persistent racial injustice, critical literacy approaches to instruction frequently involve investigating and altering unjust racialized power structures through critical action. However, what happens when youth have become understandably skeptical of action for change? This analysis uses healing frameworks to explore the critical…

Drawing upon the methodological approach of thinking with theory and the theory of "the wake," this article details the process of teaching and learning about race and racism with first graders and their responses to the picturebook, "Let the Children March." The theoretical concept of "the weather" and the…