Teachers' choices as they select texts have long been explored and considered by researchers. However, within such scholarship, there is limited research about how teachers, particularly Black women teachers, navigate the gauntlet of whitewashed standards, hegemonic curriculs, and dehumanizing school spaces to select texts that affirm students and…

This study investigates the application of action research to enhance the development of research methodology knowledge among graduate students. Students, in this study context, were dissatisfied with current courses, leading to knowledge gaps and limited application of research approaches. Through iterative cycles of action research, a book club…

Many secondary English language arts (ELA) teachers are aware of the recent bills aimed at controlling which texts are available to students, how those texts are taught, and classroom discourse on issues like racism and rights for members of LGBTQIA+ communities. In the face of book bans and attempts to control classroom discourse, this article…

While much of the research on censorship and book banning rightly emphasizes efforts to silence and erase people who do not identify as white cis-heteronormative men, the role of colonialism in the construction and contextualization of censorship is underexplored. However, censorship's primary goal is to obtain power over stories--the control over…

This manuscript explores the trends of the American Library Association's (ALA's) Rainbow Book List Top Ten Titles for Young Readers for 2023. It provides an overview of the titles and curricular connections. The authors discuss how the 2023 Rainbow Book List offers a diversity of genres and topics and also delves deeply into portrayals of queer…

Incorporating books that facilitate inclusive understandings of dyslexia can be a challenging yet important pedagogical approach to promoting equitable practices. As realistically portrayed characters and stories provide a way for students to see not only themselves but also others, and enter different worlds, the need for multiple representations…

The practice of reading aloud to children is ubiquitous in early childhood classrooms. Teachers read aloud to young children to entertain, to build early literacy skills, to develop domain specific content knowledge and vocabulary, to promote social and emotional development and well-being, and to draw children into community with each other and…

This article discusses young women's reading practices and the social uses of literature for enabling gender equality that are present in those practices. Through a digital ethnography study where six young women collaborated as participants, I asked the data: How is literature, precisely its capacity to be used, conceived by young women readers…

Celebrating books published in 2023, now finishing its fifth award cycle, the Whippoorwill Award continues to recognize quality rural literature for young people. Each year, the award committee selects books that portray and honor the complex experiences of rural culture and communities. The award serves to help highlight the diversity of rurality…

This academic service learning initiative enabled teacher education candidates to create research-based family literacy activities around a diverse selection of children's books. Each project included a detailed parent or caregiver letter, which provides an overview of the family literacy activity; materials and props; step-by-step procedures;…

Reading for pleasure or recreational reading is strongly related to both academic and social success. However, as adolescents move through school, their involvement in reading for enjoyment declines, reducing their access to valuable literacy practice. Consequently, it is essential to continue educational research focused on strategies to increase…

In today's developing view of education, a disquieting trend looms--the erosion of students' right to choose what they read. This erosion, fueled by an alarming surge in censorship attempts, casts a shadow over the very essence of intellectual exploration. Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented number of challenges aimed at restricting…

Extensive Reading (ER) is widely recognized as an effective method for improving language proficiency and fostering reading motivation in English as a foreign language contexts. However, the success of ER programs depends on several factors, including student motivation, engagement, and preferences for book selection. This study examines the…

This study shares the findings from a large national survey of 4096 secondary English teachers to better understand their experiences with censors' justifications for book bannings. This study focuses on the 1793 teachers who said that their school, district, or library censored select books. Quantitative data were analyzed using simple logistic…