Problems with literacy exist in schools. Children in American public-schools continue to struggle to be successfully identified as proficient readers. Educators need detailed descriptions of how student and teacher interactions aimed at developing positive literate identities impact the literacy development and achievement of struggling readers in the early grades are needed to help prevent the cascade of social and academic problems that older struggling readers experience. The purpose of this study is to describe how student and teacher interactions affect the literate identities of first grade students identified as struggling in literacy. The theoretical foundation for this study depends on the conceptualization of the relationship of identity and literacy as interconnected. Using the assumption that the social instructional events of literacy lessons build the cultural literacy practices internalized as literate identities, the research questions are aligned to observe, analyze, and theorize about this process. The four research questions are: (1) What evidence is used in the identification of first grade students as struggling readers? (2) What are the instructional decisions that influence the interactions between teacher and student in the tutoring situation? (3) How can the interactions between teacher and students participating in a one-to-one tutoring intervention for struggling readers be described? (4) How do the interactions between teacher and student influence the shifting literate identities of students identified as struggling readers? The teacher researcher's perceptions were captured in the evidence used to identify the student as a struggling reader and included multiple forms of quantitative early literacy assessments measuring early literacy skills. The teacher's instructional decisions were categorized according to the role of the teacher's action in both planning and implementation. The teacher made decisions based on goals set using observations of student behaviors and ongoing data collection and were categorized those decisions as Teacher Initiated Actions and Student Initiated Actions/Teacher Prompts (student actions followed by a teacher prompt). The teacher's perceptions and the student's perceptions were considered in the instructional interactions and were described using 4 focused codes: Call for Student Action (CSA), a Call for Shared Student Action (CSSA), Give Additional Information (GAI), and Call for Student Evaluation (CSE). Analysis using these codes identified two main identity development themes of "I Am a Reader" and "Literate Actions." A third underlying theme in both main themes was "Sounds and Story." Evidence from semi-structured interviews showed how the student's literate identities shifted throughout the lessons. Despite difficulties with more complex text the student was able to maintain and declare his identity as a reader. [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://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]