In this paper, we explore the intersection of critical literacy pedagogy, queer pedagogy, and transgender topics by turning our attention to the learning that supported the writing of an acrostic poem about Title IX and transgender students. We examine how this writing, in turn, created additional content and context that spurred others' learning.…

This case study details how one leader worked to support a fifth-grade student's gender transition midway through a school year. Despite a conservative political environment, push-back from families and community members, and district controversy surrounding adoption of a Transgender Inclusion policy, the principal worked closely with the student,…

This article is an analysis of picture books and chapter books involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender characters. Over 30 picture and chapter books were reviewed, each of which would be appropriate for use in elementary classrooms. For grades K-2, several picture books highlight different types of families, including families that…

"Ready, Set, Respect!" provides a set of tools to help elementary school educators ensure that all students feel safe and respected and develop respectful attitudes and behaviors. It is not a program to be followed but instead is designed to help educators prepare themselves for teaching about and modeling respect. The toolkit responds to…

Involving communities in the process of curriculum development may not be novel, but it seems lacking with regard to controversial issues such as lessons on diverse family structures, homosexuality, and other special situations. Disparity in values and convictions can lead one person to support a decision, while another person might hold an…

Recent research has documented the persistence of unequal gender relations and homophobia in young people's lives. Feminist post-structural theories of gender and socio-cultural theories of learning suggest educators need to understand students' constructions of gender relations, masculine/feminine desires, and sexuality if they hope to challenge…

Following queer theory and critical discourse analysis principles, my aims in this article are to analyze gay-themed discourses in literacy contexts and to suggest a way of queering literacy teaching. In the first part, I focus on ethnographically generated data from a class of fifth-graders in Brazil. The analysis shows that homoeroticism was…

Many gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults report a period of childhood sexual questioning--an uneasy questioning of their heterosexuality brought on by same-sex attractions and motivating same-sex sexual exploration. This article evaluates hypotheses about the correlates, causes, and consequences of childhood sexual questioning. Participants were 182…

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing educators of today is to create and sustain high-quality educational environments for low-income students and students of color. The Boston Pilot Schools Network, a network of eleven small, innovative schools within the Boston Public Schools, can be a model for other schools and districts as to how to create…