In Nebraska, as in much of the United States, literacy disparities between Black multilingual learners continue to experience disparities in reading achievement compared with students from other racial and ethnic groups. While the Science of Reading approach shows promise for supporting foundational reading skills, Kiramba argues that its monolinguistic and decontextualized approach marginalizes Black multilingual learners by ignoring their cultures, languages, identities, and community knowledge. With this grant, Kiramba and colleagues will carry out a 12-month ethnographic case study at a community-based after-school program in Nebraska that utilizes culturally sustaining Science of Reading-aligned instruction for Black multilingual learners ages 6-12. Using observational data, semi-structured interviews with students and educators, and student artifacts, the team will follow two reading groups of approximately 25 students and analyze 1) student engagement with reimagined Science of Reading practices; 2) development of foundational reading skills; 3) identity, agency, and sense of belonging in literacy learning; and 4) multilingual and multimodal meaning-making.
How do culturally sustaining, multilingual, and multimodal Science of Reading-aligned literacy practices support reading development among Black multilingual learners from immigrant backgrounds?
