The following designed-based implementation research (DBIR) study explores the impacts of a research-practice partnership (RPP) on two fifth grade ELA teachers and the researcher as they engaged with the designing and implementation of two critical literacy pedagogy (CLP) units through the adaptation of mandated New York State Common Core (NYSCC) ELA modules over the course of two school years in an urban NY school district. Current research on the use of CLP and critical literacy in the classroom tends to focus on its integration within classrooms without mandated curricula and through the use of only one or two research-based learning or teaching strategies. This study adds to the body of literature by providing insight for teachers into the ways in which research-based teaching and learning strategies are effective in implementing CLP in the ELA classroom, what ways teachers can implement CLP within classrooms that have mandated curriculum provided to them by their districts, and how it is beneficial to teachers and students alike. Classroom artifacts, interview data, anecdotal field notes, and analytic memos were collected in two iterations over the course of two units, one three month unit focusing on a non-fiction biography and one four month unit focusing on an historical fiction novel in Mrs. Elaine and Mrs. Bishop's fifth grade ELA classroom. However, the main data sources were considered to be the curricula developed and the RPP that was developed with the teachers. Data analysis occurred over the course of four, iterative analysis cycles moving from inductive to deductive with in vivo, descriptive, and thematic coding in the inductive cycles, and then a final deductive cycle of thematic coding. These analysis procedures allowed the researcher to explore the relationship of the RPP through the lens of the curriculum, the data collected, and the RPP to determine the ways in which the RPP was beneficial to the students and teachers and the ways in which the RPP and CLP were able to assist the teachers and students alike in engaging with critical literacy within classrooms with mandated curriculum. Findings reveals that CLP in mandated curriculum are best implemented with research-based teaching and learning strategies, as these methods work to make the complex concepts of critical literacy accessible to students and teachers. Furthermore, the findings suggest that CLP and critical literacy provide students and teachers the ability to critically consider texts and the positions of authors, and allows students to attempt to make changes in their world, even when those changes are not within the local spaces most critical literacy proponents advocate students should make changes within. However, this study also suggests that CLP within mandated curricula may also result in students experiencing a negative sense of self. This study highlights the benefits of CLP within the classroom space and provides teacher-researchers with starting points for applying CLP within classrooms with mandated curricula. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]