A Classroom That Works: Where ALL Children Can Read and Write
and Read and Write to Learn
“Empowerment is not only helping students to understand and engage with the world around them, but
also enabling them to exercise the kind of courage needed to change the social order where necessary.”
(Peter McLaren)
“We can create schools where all children become readers and writers. We can create good schools
where every classroom is occupied by an expert and effective teacher… But creating schools where all
children become readers and writers will require rethinking and restructuring the schools, particularly
our efforts to address the problems presented by children who struggle to learn to read and write.”
(Richard Allington)
THINK ABOUT:
What are literacy classrooms that work? What are the characteristics of successful literacy classrooms,
where ALL children can read and write and read and write to learn?
“Educators must break away from familiar beliefs and adjust their actions in [areas that impact student
learning] if they are to help students of diverse backgrounds succeed in school.” (Jim Cummins)
THINK ABOUT:
Discuss your school/community context and its impact on literacy, literacy instruction, and literacy
learning for all students in school.
“Cultural and linguistic incorporation has to do with the degree to which students’ language and
culture are made a part of the school program. Cummins suggests that students of diverse backgrounds
will achieve at higher academic levels when schools recognize and build upon strengths in students’
home language and reinforce students’ cultural identity.” (Kathryn Au)
THINK ABOUT:
Discuss cultural and linguistic incorporation in your classroom particularly in literacy curriculum and
instruction. Would you rate it as “additive” or “subtractive”? Why or why not? Provide generous
examples.
“Community participation deals with the extent to which communities become empowered through
their interactions with the school. In a collaborative situation, there is a partnership between the school
and community, while in an exclusionary situation, the community has little or no say or involvement
in the running of the school. Cummins suggests that students of diverse backgrounds will be more
successful in school when their communities are aware of barriers, and provide students with the
support to reinforce academic learning.” (Kathryn Au)
THINK ABOUT:
Discuss community participation in your classroom particularly as it relates to literacy. Would you
describe it as “collaborative” or “exclusionary”? Why or why not? Provide generous examples.
“In transmission (or skills or mastery) models the complex tasks of reading and writing are broken
down into what are judged to be their component skills. It is believed that students will become
proficient readers and writers if they master these component skills. Typically, students are given
lessons on these skills in a set, seemingly logical order. …In other words, teaching proceeds from the
part to the whole (as in bottom up model of reading). In reading, skills begin with letter discrimination
and move on to letter names, letter sounds, sight words, and then sentences made up of combinations
of known words. In writing, students might begin by learning to print letters of the alphabet, spell short
words, and compose sentences containing a target word. Reading instruction, in particular, tends to
center on the use of workbooks and worksheets filled with multiple-choice or short-answer skills
exercises. …Transmission models of instruction ignore the fact that literacy is always embedded in
particular social contexts.
Constructivist (reciprocal interactive-oriented) models of literacy instruction recognize that literacy is
always embedded in particular social contexts. Instruction is not carried out in the abstract but is part
of the social world of individuals, families, and communities. It follows that literacy instruction is not
viewed as a matter of teaching skills in the abstract, but rather as a matter of engaging students in
meaningful reading and writing activities. Thus, instruction highlights the importance of students’
interest and involvement in meaningful activities. Additionally, constructivist models encourage
students to explore the functions of literacy. With students of diverse backgrounds, there may be
differences between the typical uses of literacy in school and at home. Students can benefit from the
opportunity to learn about school functions of literacy, and to come to an understanding of the varied
uses of literacy.” (Kathryn Au)
THINK ABOUT:
Discuss curriculum, pedagogy or instruction, and resources in your classroom as they relate to literacy.
What standards, curriculum, frameworks and approaches, and resources are implemented in literacy
instruction? What are the rationales for choosing them? What are the strengths, advantages, concerns,
issues and/or challenges? How are students of diverse backgrounds particularly English learners and
students with exceptionalities empowered or disempowered? Provide generous examples.
“ Legitimization-oriented assessment locates the cause of a student’s academic difficulties within the
student. It usually involves the use of traditional psychological tests that purport to measure various
areas of cognitive and linguistic functioning. The use of these tests usually results in students being
labeled as “learning disabled” or “language impaired."
In contrast, the advocacy-oriented assessment recognizes that problems of schooling can be remedied
by locating the problem in the social and educational context, rather than by locating the problem in
the student. [Through an advocacy-oriented assessment students’ strengths and areas of need are
identified in an ongoing process to inform instruction, selection of appropriate materials, and
resources.] (Jim Cummins, Kathryn Au)
THINK ABOUT:
Discuss literacy assessment in your classroom. Can you describe it as a legitimization- oriented
assessment or an advocacy-oriented assessment? Would you rate it as “empowering” or
“disempowering” students? Why or why not? Provide generous examples.
CONCLUSIONS:
Based on your assessment outcomes using the Framework for Empowering Students of Diverse
Backgrounds, what conclusions can you draw about your classroom? Is it a “Classroom That Works:
Where ALL Children Can Read and Write AND Read and Write to Learn”? Can you describe your
classroom as “empowering” or “disempowering” students? Why or why not? Provide supporting
evidence (data) and generous examples to clarify your views. What major recommendations can you
offer in order to make your classroom work or further strengthen, support, and improve students’
literacy learning?
SUGGESTED REPORT FORMAT
(NOTE: Report must be in Word, double-spaced, font size equivalent to Times 12, NO page limit;
include Cover Page and Table of Contents; USE APA STYLE)
COVER PAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Describe the project: What are you evaluating?
Discuss your goals/purposes. Why? What do you hope to get out of this process?
Describe the framework you used in evaluating your classroom context. Provide research support
for what you’re looking for and why. Provide examples of indicators that will lead to your later
conclusions about your classroom.
What are included in this report?
PART ONE
OUTCOMES OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
USING THE FRAMEWORK FOR EMPOWERING STUDENTS
OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
SCHOOL CONTEXT
CULTURAL/LINGUISTIC INCORPORATION
COMMUNITY/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORKS & APPROACHES
ASSESSMENT
RESOURCES
CONCLUSIONS
Discuss specific conclusions derived from information (data) about your literacy classroom. Is your
literacy classroom empowering or disempowering students? Be specific with each category above.
Provide research-based support and generous examples (indicators) that led to your conclusions.
REFERENCES
PART TWO
PLAN OF ACTION
Brief introduction/review of the outcomes of your literacy classroom assessment. Provide a general
description of your Plan of Action—major components, etc.
Discuss specific recommendations to transform your classroom into a “Classroom That Works:
Where ALL Children Can Read and Write AND Read and Write to Learn.” Provide clear
descriptions of how you would see your recommendations implemented in your school context.
Include time, personnel, budget, resources, etc. Discuss challenges you might have in the
implementation of your plans and how you might address them.