ERIC Number: EJ1471600
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jun
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1086-296X
EISSN: EISSN-1554-8430
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Assessing Diversity: A Case of Black English and Running Records
Journal of Literacy Research, v57 n2 p114-139 2025
This study examines the complex interplay between language ideologies and oral reading assessments for Black English-speaking students within Reading Recovery, a literacy intervention for first graders. Using a comparative case study, I analyzed the practices of three teachers to explore how they code, interpret, and adapt running record assessments for Black English speakers. Guided by frameworks of language ideologies, raciolinguistic ideologies, and translanguaging, findings reveal that standardized language ideology often leads teachers to misinterpret Black English features as reading deficits. Assimilationist ideologies influenced instructional adaptations, emphasizing remediation and correction of Black English. However, tensions emerged as teachers questioned the validity of standardized assessment practices. This study highlights the need for linguistically responsive teacher preparation and reading assessment reforms to support equitable literacy practices. By positioning Black English speakers as multilingual learners, it calls for reimagining oral reading assessments to frame Black English as a resource for Black students' reading development.
Descriptors: Correlation, Language Attitudes, Black Dialects, Reading Programs, Intervention, Grade 1, Elementary School Students, Literacy Education, Student Evaluation, Racism, Code Switching (Language), Language Usage, African American Students, Reading Difficulties, Identification, Language Variation, Remedial Instruction, Standardized Tests, Reading Tests, Educational Change, Test Validity, Equal Education, Culture Fair Tests, Metalinguistics, Oral Reading, Diachronic Linguistics, Standard Spoken Usage
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 1; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Division of Literacy and Language, School of Education, Texas Woman’s University