Authors Fecho, Coombs, and McAuley discuss the integral role of dialogue in literacy classrooms dominated by standardized testing, curriculum, and instruction. Their argument in support of the dialogical literacy classroom begins with a historical and theoretical justification for these principles, then transitions into a discussion of the troubling condition of schools as a result of the current lack of dialogue. By including the voices of students and teachers, the authors offer glimpses into classrooms in need of dialogical transactions. This commentary concludes with a call to teachers, policy makers, and community members to consider what educators risk when they fail to open up classrooms as places where diverse perspectives can be heard and individual meaning can be made of the texts of students’ lives. In addition, the authors argue here that establishing a critical dialogue in literacy classrooms is needed, perhaps now more than at any time in our past.

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