Protean Literacy

Originally published in 1996. During the author's decade of critical ethnography in Carpinteria, California, she has illuminated the intricate relationships between Latino families as together they build a sociopolitical community to bridge family and school alliances. How they extend their learning from the social networks to the family arena and to the personal, and in reverse, represents their protean responses to the diversity and adversity in their lives. This life-story captures the collective and individual texts of the Latino children, their parents and educators used to empower themselves to transform discontinuity in an age where continuity is increasingly foreign.

Focuses on how to create a society of "engaged readers" - readers who are socially interactive, strategic, and motivated. Provides a state-of-the-art review of research on promoting reading in relation to reading instruction.

The 28 essays reprinted here are arranged in four sections that offer theoretical, historical, educational, and community perspectives on the whole topic of literacy. In addition to their substantial introduction, the editors provide an exhaustive bibliography based on the citations to the essays. Kintgen, Kroll, and Rose see literacy as an extremely complex area of inquiry in which all aspects are interrelated, and they hope to avoid creating or perpetuating false boundaries within the field. The book’s first section contains articles dealing with various psychological and economic consequences of literacy. The second provides an introduction to the development of literacy in different eras of the West, from its inception among the Greeks to the teaching of it in North America during the past century. The third section treats the teaching of literacy in educational institutions, primarily at the secondary and post-secondary levels. The final section discusses literacy outside the traditional classroom: the development of literacy among children and adults, the functions and uses of literacy in the workplace and elsewhere, and the identity and problems of those who have not mastered literacy skills.

"This volume examines early literacy research on a global scale and puts social, cultural, and historical analyses in the front seat--without losing sight of individual and family-level matters in the process. It is comprehensive, ground-breaking, and provocative, and should help literacy researchers to think differently about the field." --Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University "No other publication that I am aware of brings together views from such diverse disciplines, contributing to a comprehensive statement about early childhood literacy. The Handbook not only reviews the current field of situated literacy but presents some important and exciting new research. It is a significant resource that promises to become a landmark text." --Eve Bearne, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education, U.K. "This handbook brings together an astonishing array of writers who explore contemporary political, cultural, and cognitive understandings of early childhood literacy. Literacy and literacy acquisition are broadly defined here to encompass not just traditional notions of reading and writing, but multimodalities, multiliteracies, and critical literacies. . . It is rich and comprehensive, an invaluable resource for scholars, educators, and students of early childhood literacy." --Elsa Auerbach, Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Boston "This book is unique in its broad consideration of topics and its global focus . . . I particularly appreciate how the editors have situated current research in an historical context. They have also included development issues, pedagogy, research, and the newest areas of interest--critical literacy and popular culture." --Diane Barone, University of Nevada, Reno In recent years there has been a virtual revolution in early childhood studies, with a mass of books and papers seeking to re-examine and reposition childhood. At the same time an equally significant area has developed within literacy studies, reflecting a growing interest in the nature of literacy as a socially situated phenomenon. There is increased interest in literacy as a multimodal concept in which symbolic meaning is a central concept, rather than more conventional and narrower notions of literacy. The Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy is central in providing access to all these different perspectives. The Handbook offers a way through the vast diversity of publications on early childhood literacy by providing comprehensive and up-to-date reviews of research and thinking in early childhood literacy. The arrangement of chapters reflects a contemporary perspective on research into early childhood literacy. Major sections include: the global world of early childhood literacy; childhood literacy and family, community and culture; the development of literacy in early childhood; pedagogy and early childhood literacy and researching early childhood literacy. Contributions by leading authorities focus on literacy as a socially situated and global experience, one that is evolving in relation to changes in contemporary culture and technological innovation.

Shows how full literacy can be achieved for minority language communities and brings together examples of good practice and recent research.

This popular text, now in its third edition, "unpackages" the various dimensions of literacy – linguistic (the nature of language, oral-written language relationships, language variation); cognitive (constructive nature of perception, the reading process, understanding written discourse, the writing process); sociocultural (literacy as social practices, authority of written discourse); and developmental (constructing the written language system) – and at the same time accounts for the interrelationships among them. Distinguished by its examination of literacy from a multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspective, it provides a strong conceptual foundation upon which literacy curriculum and instruction in school settings can be grounded.

Providing a comprehensive review of rigorous, innovative, and critical scholarship relevant to educational issues which impact Latinos, this Handbook captures the field at this point in time. Its unique purpose and function is to profile the scope and terrain of academic inquiry on Latinos and education. Presenting the most significant and potentially influential work in the field in terms of its contributions to research, to professional practice, and to the emergence of related interdisciplinary studies and theory, the volume is organized around five themes: history, theory, and methodology policies and politics language and culture teaching and learning resources and information. The Handbook of Latinos and Education is a must-have resource for educational researchers, graduate students, teacher educators, and the broad spectrum of individuals, groups, agencies, organizations and institutions sharing a common interest in and commitment to the educational issues that impact Latinos.

Common Core: Paradigmatic Shifts is a timely and protean educator resource and reference, designed to be of immediate use in the classroom and in Professional Learning Communities. In addition, this book also provides a “looking glass,” allowing educators to peer briefly back in history to ascertain the origin of standards, as they came to be in the United States educational system, and as they earnestly impacted English language arts. Common Core: Paradigmatic Shifts identifies and provides curricular approaches speaking to teachers’ concerns regarding content preparedness. In addition, this book includes teacher narratives from around the country, describing their approaches and strategies with the Common Core initiative and its impact on their students, as well as those who do not use the Core. Essentially, Common Core: Paradigmatic Shifts will spark further proactive, engaged, and reconstructive conversation among teachers regarding both students and themselves. Ignited by the advent of the Core, their conversation today is about just how do they use standards to create vibrant, engaged, immersive, and relevant instruction that lives beyond the traditional walls of the classroom. Common Core: Paradigmatic Shifts will prove to be a “go to” resource that provides useful information and instructional approaches beyond Common Core.

It is well known that the number of non-English speakers is on the rise in the United States. What is less well known is that the largest proportion of this population is children under the age of 5. These young English language learners (ELLs) often demonstrate achievement gaps in basic math and reading skills when they start school. How best to educate this important and growing preschool population is a pressing concern for policymakers and practitioners. The chapters in this important book provide up-to-date syntheses of the research base for young ELLs on critical topics such as demographics, development of bilingualism, cognitive and neurological benefits of bilingualism, and family relationships, as well as classroom, assessment, and teacher-preparation practices. Contributors: Linda M. Espinosa, Margaret Freedson, Claudia Galindo, Fred Genesee, Donald J. Hernandez, José E. Náñez Sr., and Flora V. Rodríguez-Brown “This is a must-have for those who are working directly or indirectly with young English language learners.” —Olivia Saracho, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

American society is changing in front of our eyes with the presence of new Americans, immigrants and transnationals, whose experiences have prepared them to play key leadership roles in our country. The paradox of having the poorest of the new Americans rising to important social, economic, and academic roles is explained in these pages.