Abstract

While research on adolescent literacy and urban education have jointly advocated for more evidence of dynamic practices that positively impact youths’ reading development, students in these settings typically receive instruction that focuses more on compliance and skill. In this article, I use a sociocultural perspective to present an ethnographic study of one urban middle and high school whose students were successful on multiple measures of reading. My analysis examines school and classroom practices, teacher and leader beliefs, and student perceptions to examine the relationship across school culture, classroom activity, and students’ reading experiences. Data analysis revealed that through professional routines such as shared planning, frequent dialogue, and the intention to know students personally, Grant Street staff embraced shared ideals about literacy. In turn, the school community applied these ideals to a way of teaching and learning literacy that invoked high expectations, relationships, and a relevant curriculum. Practices that facilitated this approach included independent reading, diverse representation in authors and stories, explicit discussions about social issues and power relationships, tracking individual student progress, and performance-based assessments. This research holds implications for coherent, schoolwide approaches for urban schools striving to support adolescents in literacy.

摘要

虽然关于青少年识字和城市教育的研究共同提倡提供更多的证据来证明对青少年阅读发展产生积极影响的动态实践，但这些环境中的学生通常接受的指导更侧重于合规性和技能。在本文中，我使用社会文化的视角对一所城市初中和高中的学生在多种阅读方面取得成功进行了民族志研究。我的分析检查了学校和课堂实践、教师和领导者的信念以及学生的看法，以检查学校文化、课堂活动和学生阅读体验之间的关系。数据分析显示，通过共同规划、频繁对话、有意了解学生等专业惯例，格兰特街的工作人员接受了关于扫盲的共同理想。反过来，学校社区将这些理想应用到一种能够唤起高期望、人际关系和相关课程的教学和学习识字的方式中。促进这种方法的实践包括独立阅读、作者和故事的多样化表现、关于社会问题和权力关系的明确讨论、跟踪个别学生的进步以及基于绩效的评估。这项研究对努力支持青少年识字的城市学校采用连贯的、全校范围的方法具有影响。促进这种方法的实践包括独立阅读、作者和故事的多样化表现、关于社会问题和权力关系的明确讨论、跟踪个别学生的进步以及基于绩效的评估。这项研究对努力支持青少年识字的城市学校采用连贯的、全校范围的方法具有重要意义。促进这种方法的实践包括独立阅读、作者和故事的多样化表现、关于社会问题和权力关系的明确讨论、跟踪个别学生的进步以及基于绩效的评估。这项研究对努力支持青少年识字的城市学校采用连贯的、全校范围的方法具有重要意义。