Promoting Equity in Literacy Instruction for Adolescent African American Males through the Use of Enabling Texts

to Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Information & Library Science, and Casey Rawson, a master's candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Information & Library Science

About

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The project is influenced by work of Alfred W. Tatum, who argues that educators are failing to engage African-American male students with meaningful texts that could potentially make a positive difference in their lives. This project will seek to identify contemporary young adult literature which fulfills Tatum’s qualifications for enabling texts and mediating those texts with a small group of African-American adolescent males.

Resulting publications & presentations:

  • Results: The ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵdiversity grant formed the foundation for a yearlong professional development program we conducted for school librarians in Durham Public Schools.
  • Website developed as a result of this grant: . (The website also contains the PPT slides of presentations).
  • Rawson, C.R. and Vance, K. (2010). Getting it Right: Building a Bridge to Literacy for Adolescent African-American Males. North Carolina School Library Media Association Conference, Winston-Salem, November. [
  • Hughes-Hassell, S. and Rawson, C.R. (2011). “Closing the Literacy Gap for African American Males.” School Library Monthly, 28(3): 15-17.
  • Hughes-Hasslell, S. and Rawsen, C.R. (2011). Promoting Equity in Literacy Instruction for Adolescent African American Males through the Use of Enabling Texts. ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵAnnual Conference, New Orleans, June 26. [
  • Rawson, C.R. & Hughes-Hassell, S. (2012). “Rethinking the Texts We Use in Literacy Instruction With Adolescent African American Males.” The ALAN Review 39(3): 21-29.
  • Hughes-Hassell, S., Rawson, C. et al. (2012). “Librarians Form a Bridge to Books to Advance Literacy.” Phi Delta Kappan, 93(5): 17-22.

Awards Won

Title Year
Diversity Research Grant

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The ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵOffice for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services sponsors this grant program which began in 2002 to address critical gaps in the knowledge of equity, diversity, and inclusion issues within library and information science.

 2010 - Winner(s)

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