As young people today are flooded with information from a multitude of sources, they must be prepared to perceive the potentially oppressive and nefarious nature of many texts. Critical literacy is a theory and strategy that allows young people, along with people of all ages, to achieve just this; however, teachers often experience difficulties implementing and guiding students in taking crucial action steps in the classroom. This exploratory action research case study was conducted to address these concerns, as a teacher utilized Twitter to implement critical literacy and guide 32 ethnically diverse eleventh grade students in applying critical literacy in an AP English Language and Composition class. The study was conducted within a unit on American Transcendentalist literature over the course of one month, and the teacher and students used their cell phones inside and outside of the classroom to access Twitter for purposes of research, communication, and interaction. Qualitative methods were used to collect data from student and teacher tweets, reflections, and interviews, which were analyzed with a qualitative conventional content analysis approach. Results showed that Twitter was effective in implementing critical literacy in the classroom. Additionally, multiple affordances included a transformation of teaching and learning in the classroom of study, amplified student voice, increased student engagement, and a potential for student action. Results are discussed in the context of students' achievement of critical action and approach to a state of critical consciousness and may be of interest to the teacher or administrator challenged by critical literacy implementation, curious about critical literacy, or seeking additional technology-infused literacy strategies

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many United States brick-and-mortar schools in Spring 2020 rapidly transitioned to emergency remote learning. School leaders grappled with how grades ought to fit within the many unknowns of K-12 remote education. In some cases, schools modified their grading scales to give students greater flexibility to pass courses, and in other situations, schools offered incomplete grades in lieu of failures. During this time, state departments of education (DOEs) provided a variety of guidance documents to their school districts. The purpose of this study was to explore the components of state DOE grading guidance during the Spring 2020 school shutdown, along with the patterns of guidance across states. The researchers applied a grounded theory approach to systematically explore the equivalent of 1,444 pages of documents from 48 state DOE guidelines. The document analysis resulted in three primary categories that influenced state DOE grading guidance: guiding principles, student advancement, and determining grades. The researchers conclude by presenting and discussing a three-category model for emergency remote learning grading guidelines for K-12 schools. In the event of another pandemic temporarily affecting the delivery of education to students, policymakers may use this model as a starting point for future recommendations.