The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the... more The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) archives for the term returns 576 articles, a search of Google Scholar returns 457,000 documents, and a search of Google returns a whopping 2,060,000 results. In this column, we focus on the term struggling reader because of its prevalence, but we also use it as an index of broader concerns about labels that define the work of educators.
Studies of high school literacy intervention classes have measured reading gains through standard... more Studies of high school literacy intervention classes have measured reading gains through standardized assessments, but few have considered the impact on students’ identities. In this embedded case study, I used theories of identity and positioning to answer two research questions: How did institutional and interpersonal acts of positioning in two literacy intervention classrooms build on, change, or challenge students’ personal histories and identities as readers? How did these acts shape students’ understandings of themselves as readers over time? I collected and analyzed interviews, field notes, and artifacts. Analyses revealed that ongoing positioning in one classroom thickened one student’s identity as a poor reader. Positioning in the second classroom reinforced the other student’s identity as a good student but had little impact on her identity as a reader. These findings highlight the need to better understand how instructional contexts privilege particular ways of reading and understandings of what it means to be a reader.
It is common practice to enroll adolescents in classes designed to improve their reading. Previou... more It is common practice to enroll adolescents in classes designed to improve their reading. Previous studies of literacy intervention classes have focused on students’ acquisition of reading skills and strategies, but few studies have considered how reading identities may contribute to literacy learning. To address this gap, I used theories of positioning and identity to answer the question: How did students’ understandings of literacy and their own reading identities interact with the figured worlds of their literacy intervention classrooms? I analyzed interviews, field notes, and artifacts for two students and teachers in different classrooms, focusing on students’ acts of agency. Analyses revealed that both students’ identities as good readers conflicted with the figured worlds of their classrooms, but they responded differently. One challenged the norms of his classroom in a manner contrary to his teacher’s expectations and was unable to disrupt his positioning as a struggling reader. The other acquiesced to the norms of her classroom in ways her teacher recognized as characteristic of a capable reader, ultimately upsetting her struggling reader subject position. The findings reveal that students’ acts of agency and teachers’ interpretations of those acts are informed by students’ perceptions of themselves as readers and teachers’ understandings of literacy and learning in intervention classrooms. The findings problematize the practice of placing students in classes that position them as deficient. Additional research that attends to sociocultural factors in classrooms is necessary to understand the academic, social, and personal implications of particular approaches to literacy instruction and intervention for individual students.
Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical ap... more Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical approaches that we have used in qualitative research with students who are perceived to struggle with reading in school, including: New Literacy Studies, Disability Studies in Education, Bioecological Systems Theory, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory. We provide a brief overview of each of the theories and then explain how we have used them to gain insights about students with whom we have worked in the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term ‘‘struggling reader’’ and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical frames and analyses for both research and practice.
This article examines the interaction between a tutor and her student as they discuss an essay qu... more This article examines the interaction between a tutor and her student as they discuss an essay question from the student's sociology class. Drawing on the theories of Vygotsky and Bakhtin, I explore (a) the conflicts that arose for both tutor and tutee as they grappled with the competing discourses that informed their respective understandings of the essay question and (b) the shifts in tool use that were a result of attempting to cope with these tensions. Through my analysis, I demonstrate that both tutor and tutee showed evidence of learning, but only the tutor exhibited signs of development. I argue that this interaction is an example of the bidirectional nature of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and provides insight into the nature of learning and development for the “expert” as well as the “novice” in this space.
At the end of the twentieth century, genre theorists and practitioners
debated the possibility of... more At the end of the twentieth century, genre theorists and practitioners debated the possibility of explicitly teaching genres in classrooms. Though the debate is decades old, it continues to be relevant to contemporary discussions about literacy instruction because it addresses questions about how to provide all students with access to genres of power. In this article, I highlight one example of explicit genre instruction in Australia that is particularly noteworthy for its critical and dialogic aspects, and then make connections between this approach and similar theoretical and pedagogical work in the United States. I conclude with a discussion of some of the implications for pedagogy that are derived from my analysis.
Many students encounter roadblocks while reading, and teachers may wonder how best to intervene w... more Many students encounter roadblocks while reading, and teachers may wonder how best to intervene when their students struggle. In this article, Frankel and Pearson unpack the theories of reading that underlie different reading interventions. To bring these "theories of action" to life, they provide examples of programs and snapshots of adolescent readers that illuminate the complexities of reading instruction. The authors also provide practical answers to some of the most pressing questions that teachers have about reading assessment and intervention for students across grade levels.
Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Li... more Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Literacy Research: Theory, Method, & Practice, discussing the important role of theory in research about "struggling" readers. Hosted by Michael Mandarino.
20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNI... more 20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNIE NAIR University of ... between reading disability and other aspects of reading developmentlanguage development, phonemic aware-ness, decoding, vocabulary ...
20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNI... more 20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNIE NAIR University of ... between reading disability and other aspects of reading developmentlanguage development, phonemic aware-ness, decoding, vocabulary ...
The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the... more The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) archives for the term returns 576 articles, a search of Google Scholar returns 457,000 documents, and a search of Google returns a whopping 2,060,000 results. In this column, we focus on the term struggling reader because of its prevalence, but we also use it as an index of broader concerns about labels that define the work of educators.
Studies of high school literacy intervention classes have measured reading gains through standard... more Studies of high school literacy intervention classes have measured reading gains through standardized assessments, but few have considered the impact on students’ identities. In this embedded case study, I used theories of identity and positioning to answer two research questions: How did institutional and interpersonal acts of positioning in two literacy intervention classrooms build on, change, or challenge students’ personal histories and identities as readers? How did these acts shape students’ understandings of themselves as readers over time? I collected and analyzed interviews, field notes, and artifacts. Analyses revealed that ongoing positioning in one classroom thickened one student’s identity as a poor reader. Positioning in the second classroom reinforced the other student’s identity as a good student but had little impact on her identity as a reader. These findings highlight the need to better understand how instructional contexts privilege particular ways of reading and understandings of what it means to be a reader.
It is common practice to enroll adolescents in classes designed to improve their reading. Previou... more It is common practice to enroll adolescents in classes designed to improve their reading. Previous studies of literacy intervention classes have focused on students’ acquisition of reading skills and strategies, but few studies have considered how reading identities may contribute to literacy learning. To address this gap, I used theories of positioning and identity to answer the question: How did students’ understandings of literacy and their own reading identities interact with the figured worlds of their literacy intervention classrooms? I analyzed interviews, field notes, and artifacts for two students and teachers in different classrooms, focusing on students’ acts of agency. Analyses revealed that both students’ identities as good readers conflicted with the figured worlds of their classrooms, but they responded differently. One challenged the norms of his classroom in a manner contrary to his teacher’s expectations and was unable to disrupt his positioning as a struggling reader. The other acquiesced to the norms of her classroom in ways her teacher recognized as characteristic of a capable reader, ultimately upsetting her struggling reader subject position. The findings reveal that students’ acts of agency and teachers’ interpretations of those acts are informed by students’ perceptions of themselves as readers and teachers’ understandings of literacy and learning in intervention classrooms. The findings problematize the practice of placing students in classes that position them as deficient. Additional research that attends to sociocultural factors in classrooms is necessary to understand the academic, social, and personal implications of particular approaches to literacy instruction and intervention for individual students.
Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical ap... more Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical approaches that we have used in qualitative research with students who are perceived to struggle with reading in school, including: New Literacy Studies, Disability Studies in Education, Bioecological Systems Theory, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory. We provide a brief overview of each of the theories and then explain how we have used them to gain insights about students with whom we have worked in the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term ‘‘struggling reader’’ and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical frames and analyses for both research and practice.
This article examines the interaction between a tutor and her student as they discuss an essay qu... more This article examines the interaction between a tutor and her student as they discuss an essay question from the student's sociology class. Drawing on the theories of Vygotsky and Bakhtin, I explore (a) the conflicts that arose for both tutor and tutee as they grappled with the competing discourses that informed their respective understandings of the essay question and (b) the shifts in tool use that were a result of attempting to cope with these tensions. Through my analysis, I demonstrate that both tutor and tutee showed evidence of learning, but only the tutor exhibited signs of development. I argue that this interaction is an example of the bidirectional nature of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and provides insight into the nature of learning and development for the “expert” as well as the “novice” in this space.
At the end of the twentieth century, genre theorists and practitioners
debated the possibility of... more At the end of the twentieth century, genre theorists and practitioners debated the possibility of explicitly teaching genres in classrooms. Though the debate is decades old, it continues to be relevant to contemporary discussions about literacy instruction because it addresses questions about how to provide all students with access to genres of power. In this article, I highlight one example of explicit genre instruction in Australia that is particularly noteworthy for its critical and dialogic aspects, and then make connections between this approach and similar theoretical and pedagogical work in the United States. I conclude with a discussion of some of the implications for pedagogy that are derived from my analysis.
Many students encounter roadblocks while reading, and teachers may wonder how best to intervene w... more Many students encounter roadblocks while reading, and teachers may wonder how best to intervene when their students struggle. In this article, Frankel and Pearson unpack the theories of reading that underlie different reading interventions. To bring these "theories of action" to life, they provide examples of programs and snapshots of adolescent readers that illuminate the complexities of reading instruction. The authors also provide practical answers to some of the most pressing questions that teachers have about reading assessment and intervention for students across grade levels.
Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Li... more Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Literacy Research: Theory, Method, & Practice, discussing the important role of theory in research about "struggling" readers. Hosted by Michael Mandarino.
20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNI... more 20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNIE NAIR University of ... between reading disability and other aspects of reading developmentlanguage development, phonemic aware-ness, decoding, vocabulary ...
20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNI... more 20 Reading Comprehension and Reading Disability KATHERINE K. FRANKEL, P. DAVID PEARSON, AND MARNIE NAIR University of ... between reading disability and other aspects of reading developmentlanguage development, phonemic aware-ness, decoding, vocabulary ...
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archives for the term returns 576 articles, a search of Google Scholar returns 457,000 documents, and a search of Google returns a whopping 2,060,000 results. In this column, we focus on the term struggling reader
because of its prevalence, but we also use it as an index of broader concerns about labels that define the work of educators.
studies of literacy intervention classes have focused on students’ acquisition of reading skills
and strategies, but few studies have considered how reading identities may contribute to literacy
learning. To address this gap, I used theories of positioning and identity to answer the question:
How did students’ understandings of literacy and their own reading identities interact with the
figured worlds of their literacy intervention classrooms? I analyzed interviews, field notes, and
artifacts for two students and teachers in different classrooms, focusing on students’ acts of agency.
Analyses revealed that both students’ identities as good readers conflicted with the figured worlds
of their classrooms, but they responded differently. One challenged the norms of his classroom
in a manner contrary to his teacher’s expectations and was unable to disrupt his positioning
as a struggling reader. The other acquiesced to the norms of her classroom in ways her teacher
recognized as characteristic of a capable reader, ultimately upsetting her struggling reader subject
position. The findings reveal that students’ acts of agency and teachers’ interpretations of those
acts are informed by students’ perceptions of themselves as readers and teachers’ understandings of
literacy and learning in intervention classrooms. The findings problematize the practice of placing
students in classes that position them as deficient. Additional research that attends to sociocultural
factors in classrooms is necessary to understand the academic, social, and personal implications
of particular approaches to literacy instruction and intervention for individual students.
the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term ‘‘struggling reader’’ and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical
frames and analyses for both research and practice.
debated the possibility of explicitly teaching genres in classrooms.
Though the debate is decades old, it continues to be relevant
to contemporary discussions about literacy instruction because it
addresses questions about how to provide all students with access
to genres of power. In this article, I highlight one example of
explicit genre instruction in Australia that is particularly noteworthy
for its critical and dialogic aspects, and then make connections
between this approach and similar theoretical and pedagogical
work in the United States. I conclude with a discussion of some of
the implications for pedagogy that are derived from my analysis.
Hosted by Michael Mandarino.
archives for the term returns 576 articles, a search of Google Scholar returns 457,000 documents, and a search of Google returns a whopping 2,060,000 results. In this column, we focus on the term struggling reader
because of its prevalence, but we also use it as an index of broader concerns about labels that define the work of educators.
studies of literacy intervention classes have focused on students’ acquisition of reading skills
and strategies, but few studies have considered how reading identities may contribute to literacy
learning. To address this gap, I used theories of positioning and identity to answer the question:
How did students’ understandings of literacy and their own reading identities interact with the
figured worlds of their literacy intervention classrooms? I analyzed interviews, field notes, and
artifacts for two students and teachers in different classrooms, focusing on students’ acts of agency.
Analyses revealed that both students’ identities as good readers conflicted with the figured worlds
of their classrooms, but they responded differently. One challenged the norms of his classroom
in a manner contrary to his teacher’s expectations and was unable to disrupt his positioning
as a struggling reader. The other acquiesced to the norms of her classroom in ways her teacher
recognized as characteristic of a capable reader, ultimately upsetting her struggling reader subject
position. The findings reveal that students’ acts of agency and teachers’ interpretations of those
acts are informed by students’ perceptions of themselves as readers and teachers’ understandings of
literacy and learning in intervention classrooms. The findings problematize the practice of placing
students in classes that position them as deficient. Additional research that attends to sociocultural
factors in classrooms is necessary to understand the academic, social, and personal implications
of particular approaches to literacy instruction and intervention for individual students.
the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term ‘‘struggling reader’’ and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical
frames and analyses for both research and practice.
debated the possibility of explicitly teaching genres in classrooms.
Though the debate is decades old, it continues to be relevant
to contemporary discussions about literacy instruction because it
addresses questions about how to provide all students with access
to genres of power. In this article, I highlight one example of
explicit genre instruction in Australia that is particularly noteworthy
for its critical and dialogic aspects, and then make connections
between this approach and similar theoretical and pedagogical
work in the United States. I conclude with a discussion of some of
the implications for pedagogy that are derived from my analysis.
Hosted by Michael Mandarino.