In this article, Arlette Willis articulates the literacy schooling experiences of her son, Jake, as he engages in a struggle to affirm himself as both a literacy learner and an African American. Asserting that Jake's struggle has historical roots and present-day consequences for the education of culturally and linguistically diverse school children, Willis argues for a reconceptualization of literacy that builds on these children's backgrounds and knowledges. In the last section of the article, Willis provides the reader with some of the strategies and practices she has employed as a teacher-educator to assist her own students in expanding their understandings of the various cultures in U.S. society that children represent.

This review of research examines classroom conversations about race with a theoretical framing oriented to understanding how such conversations may disrupt social and educational inequalities. The review covers research on how classroom conversations on race contribute to students’ and educators’ understandings of a racialized society, their construction of and reflection on relationships among students, as well as to their learning of academic content knowledge. The review considers research across grades P–12, as well as conversations in teacher education, with a specific focus on the U.S. context. Limiting the review to the U.S. context is done not to obfuscate conceptions of race and inequalities globally, but to elucidate how race becomes manifested in unique ways in the United States—often positioning African Americans and Blackness as the “fundamental other.” The review offers a social, historical, and political discussion that contextualizes how classroom conversations, and their omission, are not conversations only relegated to the classroom, but are part of a larger dialogue within the broader society.

In this critique, race is centralized to draw attention to the role it plays in the complex evolution of response to intervention, past and present. I use a critical race theory analytical lens to focus on how the dominant narrative serves as a framework within institutional and political structures in support of the approach. A brief overview of anti-discrimination laws and policies is followed by several historical narratives that are used to convey the intersecting nature of early reading and special education research. The body of research is employed to articulate the goals and purpose of the intervention, sans a clear commitment to addressing racial disproportionality. This critique particularly exposes how response to intervention has neither improved reading achievement nor curtailed racial disproportionality, and emphasizes that reading research is complicit in the reproduction of racial inequality in education. I conclude with a call to action.

S Political acts: Literacy learning and teaching We believe that literacy learning is a human right. In this article, we offer a critique of the interwoven nature of politics and literacy learning and teaching throughout the twentieth century. We identify political acts, with variations, as interventions by those in positions of power and in government that determine how literacy is learned and taught. We have adopted a framework of political awareness to discuss some of the many political acts that have shaped literacy learning and teaching in this country, historically and contemporaneously. Our discussion of the intersection of politics and literacy focuses on four distinct areas: (a) the ideological view that has most influenced literacy research, (b) literacy instruction, (c) literacy materials, and (d) literacy assessment. Each of these sections ends with a series of queries and some suggestions for reconceptualizing how literacy is learned and taught in the next century. We offer no quick fixes or solutions. We hope that this article will serve as a starting point for conversations about the possibilities for developing more democratic and socially just literacy learning and teaching spaces. Actos políticos: El aprendizaje y la enseñanza de la lectoescritura CONSIDERAMOS QUE el aprendizaje de la lectoescritura es un derecho humano. En este artículo, ofrecemos una revisión crítica del complejo entramado que constituyen la política y el aprendizaje y la enseñanza de la lectoescritura a lo largo del siglo veinte. Definimos los actos políticos como intervenciones de aquellos en posiciones de poder y en el gobierno que determinan cómo se aprende y se enseña a leer. Hemos adoptado un marco de conciencia política para discutir algunos de los muchos actos políticos que han conformado el aprendizaje y la enseñanza de la lectoescritura en este país, histórica y contemporáneamente. La discusión sobre la intersección de política y alfabetización está centrada en cuatro áreas distintas: (a) la perspectiva ideológica que ha influenciado más la investigación en lectoescritura, (b) la instrucción en lectoescritura, (c) los materiales de lectoescritura y (d) la evaluación de la lectoescritura. Cada una de estas secciones finaliza con una serie de interrogantes y algunas sugerencias para reconceptualizar el aprendizaje y la enseñanza de la lectoescritura en el próximo siglo. No ofrecemos recetas fijas ni soluciones. Esperamos que este artículo sirva como un punto de partida para dialogar acerca de las posibilidades de desarrollar espacios de alfabetización más democráticos y socialmente justos. Politische Taten: Das Erlernen und Unterrichten vom Schreiben und Lesen WIR GLAUBEN, daß das Erlernen des Schreibens und Lesens ein Grundrecht des Menschen ist. In diesem Artikel offerieren wir eine Kritik an die natürlich verflochtenen Bindungen zwischen der Politik und dem Erlernen und Lehren des Schreibens und Lesens quer durch das zwanzigste Jahrhundert. Wir identifizieren politische Taten, mit einigen Abweichungen, als E...

S This article examines the historical experiences and struggles of African Americans seeking literacy access during the Post Reconstruction era and, in so doing, adds to what is known about the literacy histories of marginalized groups, here African Americans living in Calhoun, Alabama, from 1892–1945. Then, as now, literacy was represented to subjugated people as the acquisition of skills with the hope that said skills would lead to liberation. Applying a Foucaultian genealogical analysis to documents from Calhoun Colored School reveals interconnections of power/knowledge relations and discursive practices of the Hampton‐Tuskegee model of education that shaped literacy access and opportunity. Moreover, these discursive practices framed the school's literacy program and delimitated literacy access and opportunities. Este artículo examina las experiencias históricas y las luchas de los afroamericanos en búsqueda del acceso a la alfabetización durante la época posterior a la Reconstrucción. Es, por tanto, un aporte a la historia de la alfabetización de los grupos marginados, en este caso los afroamericanos que vivían en Calhoun, Alabama, de 1892 a 1945. En aquel momento, como hoy, la alfabetización se presentaba a los grupos oprimidos como la adquisición de habilidades que conducirian a la liberación. Mediante la aplicación de un análisis genealógico basado en Foucault a documentos de la Escuela para Niños de Color de Calhoun, se muestran conexiones entre las relaciones poder/conocimiento, asi como prácticas discursivas del modelo educativo Hampton‐Tuskegee que dio forma al acceso y oportunidades de alfabetización. Más aún, estas prácticas discursivas constituyeron el marco del programa de alfabetización de la escuela y delimitaron el acceso y las oportunidades de alfabetización. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die historischen Erfahrungen und das Ringen der Afro‐Amerikaner in ihrem Bemühen um Zugang zum Lesen und Schreiben in der Folgezeit der Rekonstruktionära; und ergänzt somit das bisher bekannte Allgemeinwissen über die historischen Abläufe beim Erlernen des Lesens und Schreibens von Randgruppen, hier afro‐amerikanische Lebensbedingungen in Calhoun, Alabama, von 1892–1945. Damals—wie heute—wurde den unterdrückten Menschen nahegelegt, daß durch Lesen und Schreiben Fähigkeiten angeeignet werden, verbunden mit der Hoffnung, daß besagte Fähigkeiten zur Befreiung führen würden. Durch Anwendung einer genealogischen Analyse nach Foucault aus Dokumenten der farbigen Schule von Calhoun offenbaren sich Verbindungen der Beziehungen zwischen Macht/Wissen und diskursiver Handhabungen des Hampton‐Tuskegee Bildungsmodells, welches den Zugang und die Möglichkeiten zum Erwerb des Lesens und Schreibens modellierte. Darüber hinaus formten diese diskursiven Anwendungen den Lese‐ und Schreiblehrplan der Schule und sie umgrenzten den Zugang und die Chancen zum Lernen von Lesen und Schreiben. Cet article s'intéresse aux expériences historiques et aux luttes des Afro‐américains cherchant à accéder à la littératie pendant la périod...