In this article we look at how a community of practice in one midsize urban K-12 school district engaged in a community mapping process to discover, gather, and analyze a rich array of community and home resources in order to create classroom practices and curriculum that integrated the literacies of home and school and led to transformed student…

Discusses what happens when students and teachers are encouraged to use multiple ways of knowing in mediating their experiences with the world. Suggests that a good language arts program expands the communication potential of all learners through the orchestration and use of multiple ways of knowing for purposes of ongoing interpretation and…

Describes a project which sought to extend literacy from an academic, school-bound definition to integrate the literacies of students' communities and personal lives by designing and carrying out integrated curricular projects and studying personal changes in teaching and learning. Discusses multiple literacies and the positive effects of the…

Discusses how a teacher and university researcher brought to their students their concerns that students' portfolios were not "academic" enough. Notes that the teacher and researcher recognized the potential of literacy portfolios for strengthening a child's capacity to narrate the events of her life with authority and to tie these events to the…

Illustrates how classroom talk that includes students, families, and teachers can create spaces in which students from diverse cultural backgrounds negotiate purposeful literacy practices. Presents two versions of a story of a family visit, the first version reflects an educator's understanding of the visit at the time and the second reflects the…

Argues that Donald Graves' approach to critical literacy provides a crucial insight into the learning process by linking the nature of learning with the dreams, experiences, histories, and languages that students bring to school. Also argues that teachers should confirm student experiences so that students are supported. (SRT)

Argues that if education for language development is to improve, the changes will have to take place in the classroom and that the change needed is to return control of classrooms to teachers. Also argues that for reform to endure, how systems respond to change must be understood. (SRT)

Reports a recent classroom analysis of Latino students who were doing well academically (as reflected both in teachers' assessments and in achievement tests). Finds that teachers were theoretically equipped, able to make curriculum judgments, and received support from colleagues. (MS)