Practical Steps Toward Culturally Responsive K-12 Literacy Instruction: Resisting Barriers, Using Texts, and Making Space

Howard, Overstreet, and Ticknor build on the framework they established in their first book It’s Not “One More Thing”. They extend their practical how-to strategies for enacting culturally responsive and affirming literacy instruction in K-12 classrooms specific to literacy assessment, engaging texts used for literacy instruction, and navigating and resisting barriers. They build on their experiences and research of CRP to offer vignettes of literacy instruction that may be common in K-12 classrooms. These examples are offered to situate how teachers may use research based and effective literacy practices while ignoring the identities and experiences of their students. They then disrupt the vignettes using theories and concepts presented in the chapter to make visible how each practice could be reimagined to integrate more culturally responsive strategies. Example lessons and activities are provided in each chapter that offer readers glimpses into CRP thinking and decision making. Guiding prompts are also included for readers to use the chapter topic and example lessons to consider ways to be more culturally responsive teachers for their students and in their local communities.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Persevering Through Challenges to Culturally Affirming Instruction 2 Using Texts to Explore Identity, Community, Storytelling and Standards 3 Making Space for Culturally Affirming and Responsive Literacy Assessment 4 It’s Not “One More Thing”: It’s the Only Thing Bibliography Index About the Authors

About the Author :
Christy Howard is an Associate Professor at East Carolina University. Her research focuses on culturally responsive literacy instruction, teacher preparation, and identity. Her research has been published in several journals including the Journal of Literacy Research,Language Arts, and Literacy Research and Instruction. She is also co-author of It’s Not “One More Thing”: Culturally Responsive and Affirming Strategies in K-12 Literacy Classrooms. Dr. Mikkaka Overstreet is a Senior Consultant at Education Northwest. Her research focuses on exploring intersections of literacy, identity, and educational equity, particularly related to culturally responsive pedagogy. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Language and Literacy Education, Reading Horizons, and Reading Psychology. She is also the co-author of It’s Not “One More Thing”: Culturally Responsive and Affirming Strategies in K-12 Literacy Classrooms and Clinical Partnerships in Urban Elementary Settings: An Honest Celebration of the Messy Realities of Doing This Work. Anne Swenson Ticknor is a Professor in the College of Education at East Carolina University. Her research focuses on equity and inclusion in literacy education, and her research has been published in various national and international peer-reviewed journals. She is also the co-author of It’s Not “One More Thing”: Culturally Responsive and Affirming Strategies in K-12 Literacy Classrooms.

Review :
In this companion to their previous book, authors Ticknor, Howard, and Overstreet bring the practices and mindsets of culturally responsive teaching from the elusive and abstract to the concrete classrooms and students of today and tomorrow. Readers are prompted−and shown−how to reflect critically on aspects of their work, such as materials, interactions, and assessments, as a means of equity for and responsivity to students. Practical Steps Toward Culturally Responsive K-12 Literacy Instruction is a powerful text for any K-12 preservice or in-service educator. In the current political context across our nation, more and more teachers, both in-service and pre-service, are confused about what actions they can take in relation to anything that is seen as culturally responsive pedagogy. In Practical Steps Toward Culturally Responsive K-12 Literacy Instruction, the reader is taken on a journey through a unique framework that gives specific steps they can take, recognizing their unique contexts, to build a classroom that allows each learner to reveal their story. Read this book and do the work to explore the joy that will emerge as you reimagine a classroom designed to support each and every child on their educational journey. There is a pressing need felt by educators, policy makers, and local districts to address the growing educational disparity among marginalized student populations-post COVID-19. Hence, it is crucial for the United States to acknowledge its vital duty to promptly respond and ensure fair teaching practices, thereby granting every child equal access to a high-quality education. Practical Steps Toward Culturally Responsive K-12 Literacy Instruction is both timely and responsive, as it addresses the state of education and offers educators practical and applicable methods to engage in critical thinking, design, and implementation of culturally relevant curriculum.