Background: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Grade Eight Reading scores (Schott Report, 2010) show that from 1992-2009 significant achievement gaps of 20-35% persisted between Black and White students in over 32 states. More specifically, in 2009, Black students scored an average reading level of 246, while White…

This dissertation focused on the literacy practices of three female students institutionally labeled "migrant" as they used reading, writing, and speaking in and out of the classroom as tools for agency. A history of socioeconomic and educational inequities that surround the migratory farmworking population and a tradition of lesser…

This study focused on exploring and creating life pathways with a group of twelfth graders at West Philadelphia High School. I invited students to inquire into "life pathways," broadly construed; participants chose to concentrate on transitions to college. Although scholars have investigated many elements of college access, there is…

The present study explored the ways in which the production of digital media, specifically podcasts (i.e., downloadable digital audio files), rooted in the key tenets of critical literacy, can support education for democracy, in addition to the overall benefits and barriers of podcasting in an elementary classroom. The project can be considered a…