Recent research suggests that high-stakes standardized testing has played a negative role in the segregation of children by race and class in schools. In this article we review research on the overall effects of segregation, the positive and negative aspects of how desegregation plans were carried out following the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, and the de facto re-segregation that followed the dismantling of many desegregation plans, along with the increase of school choice plans. We then analyze these effects in light of the ways that high-stakes standardized testing has grown in importance and intensity in US education policy and practice, especially during the most recent period of school re-segregation. Based on the evidence we argue that the intrinsic features of high-stakes testing, combined with current systems of school choice, function as mechanisms used for racial coding that facilitate segregation and compound inequalities found in schools.

Research suggests that independent reading outside of school is a strong indicator of school and reading success. However, studies also suggest that student recreational reading significantly decreases in the middle school years. This article explores some of the reasons adolescent students choose to read independently or are reluctant to do so. In this teacher research study the author interviewed his former students, their parents, and their current teachers about what motivates adolescents to read or not to read. Evidence from this study suggests that independent reading is intimately connected to various social practices, despite commonly held views that describe independent reading as a solitary activity. Teaching strategies to encourage student motivation are shared.

This study explores connections among adolescent engagement with reading, peer relationships, and identity development. The author chose and interviewed 10 of his former students, their parents, and the students' current teachers, and analyzed themes, drawing on Gee's theory of primary and secondary Discourses. The case studies illustrate how “independent reading” is a social practice in crucial ways; students seem to choose to read, or not to read, based not only on ability, or solely on parental support, but also in relation to questions of identity and the cultivation of particular relationships. Teaching strategies are suggested. ملخص البحث: تستكشف هذه الدراسة الصلات بانشغال المراهقين في القراءة والعلاقات بين الزملاء وتنمية الهوية. وقد اختار المؤلف عشرة طلابه السابقين وأجرى مقابلات معهم ومع آباءهم ومعلميهم الجارين وحلل المواضيع على أساس نظرية جي بصدد المخاطبات الأولية والثانوية. وتبيّن الدراسات التتبعية كيف ((القراءة المستقلة)) هي ممارسة اجتماعية في طرق جوهرية وعلى سبيل المثال يبدو أن الطلاب يختارون القراءة أو عدمها ليس فقط على أساس القدرة أو على تدعيم الآباء بل بالنسبة إلى أسئلة عن الهوية وتنمية علاقات معينة أيضاً. وقد تم اقتراح بعض الاستراتيجيات التعليمية. 本研究探索青少年学生在阅读參與、同辈关系和自我认同发展之间的联系。本文作者选择了十位他从前的学生并采访了他们和他们的父母，以及他们现时的老师。所得的资料是借鉴Gee的初级和次级语篇理论作主题分析。各个案研究說明独自阅读如何在很多重要方面是社會性的实践：學生選擇或不選擇阅讀，似乎不僅是基於他们的能力，或單一地基於他们父母的支持，其实还涉及到自我认同和特有關係培養等問題。本研究亦提出一些教學策略的建議。 Cette étude examine les liens entre l'investissement des adolescents dans la lecture, les relations avec les pairs, et le développement de l'identité. L'auteur a choisi 10 de ses anciens élèves puis eu un entretien avec eux, leurs parents et leurs professeurs actuels, et a analysé les thèmes, à partir de la théorie des discours primaires et secondaires de Gee. Ces études de cas montrent de quelle façon la « lecture autonome » est une pratique sociale de façon cruciale; les élèves semblent choisir de lire ou de ne pas lire à partir non seulement de leurs compétences, du soutien reçu des parents, mais aussi en fonction de facteurs d'identité et pour cultiver leurs relations particulières. On suggère des stratégies pédagogiques. Исследуется связь между интересом подростков к чтению, их взаимоотношениями со сверстниками и развитием самоидентичности. Автор взяла интервью у десяти своих бывших учеников (по собственному выбору), их родителей и их нынешних учителей и проанализировал тематику общения подростков на основе теории Джеймса П. Джи о первичном и вторичном дискурсе. Разбор кейсов показывает, что “независимое чтение” является, в первую очередь, социальной практикой: учащиеся выбирают, читать или не читать, не только исходя из своих способностей или под нажимом родителей. Они таким способом решают вопросы самоидентичности и культивируют определенные социальные связи. В свете сделанных выводов в статье предлагаются соответствующие методы обучения. Este estudio examina las conexiones entre el interés de los adolescentes en la lectura, las relaciones con sus compañeros, y el desarrollo de la identidad. El autor escogió y entrevistó a 10 de sus antiguos alumnos,...

This study draws on interviews with 26 individuals who attained an advanced degree and whose parents did not attend university and who reported having at least one older sibling. Participants were asked about independent reading practices in their youth and the reading practices of their older siblings. Participants reported many memories of their own independent reading development and ways in which their older sibling (s) mediated or influenced their out-of-school reading practices. From an analysis of these interviews and related research literature, this study draws on Gee's theory of Discourses to suggest that family interactions around reading may have not only improved participants' reading abilities but also allowed participants to form dispositions or identities that included habits of recreational reading. Authors suggest ways educators and parents might encourage shared family and sibling out-of-school literacy practices as well as new directions for literacy research.What is already known about this topic • Independent or recreational reading habits can affect academic longevity.• Census data reports that 77.9% of U.S. children have at least one sibling.• Research on the influence of siblings on literacy development, and especially on at-home reading, is scarce. • Extant studies on literacy development and sibling relationships suggest that siblings can greatly affect the literacy development of one another. • Reading is often misunderstood as a solitary practice, rather than a practice that often includes social interactions around reading materials and the mobilisation of identities (Discourses), which may affect the motivation for individuals to read. What this paper adds• Interview participants, all of whom were first-generation university graduates with at least one older sibling, were asked about independent reading practices in their youth and the reading practices of their older siblings. • Interview participants reported that they formed strong habits of at-home reading in their youth. • 96% of interview participants reported that their older siblings played a role in their literacy development.

Using a theoretical lens of democratic education, this study critically analyzes pilot schools in the Boston Public School system, a school model gaining influence and imitation around the United States. Building on theories regarding the role of democracy in schools, and especially workplace democracy, this article juxtaposes these conceptions of democracy with competing economic theories of marketization, privatization, antiunionism, and individualism, here referred to as neoliberalism, and analyzes the political terrain onto which pilot schools emerged, are debated, and understood.The Boston Teachers Union first conceptualized, and bargained for, pilot schools in the early 1990s. However, the union has since come under criticism from influential individuals and groups for resisting or slowing the expansion of this reform. This study examines the proposition that more pilot schools should be created and argues that insufficient evidence exists to warrant the current outcry for pilot school expansion.