Bridging Literacy and Equity
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.
Althier M. Lazar is Professor of Teacher Education at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Patricia A. Edwards is Distinguished Professor of Language and Literacy in the Department of Teacher Education, a principal investigator, Literacy Achievement Research Center, and a Senior University Outreach Fellow at Michigan State University. Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon is Associate Professor of Literacy in the Department of Reading and Language Arts at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.