Racial identity development in young children is influenced by interactions with teachers and curriculum in schools. This article, using the framework of critical race theory, critical literacy, and critical pedagogy, explores how three elementary-aged Black children view their own identity development. Specifically, observing how children interact with Movement-Oriented Civil Rights-Themed Children’s Literature (MO-CRiTLit) in the context of a non-traditional summer literacy program, Freedom Schools, to influence their Black identity. Professional development and preservice teacher preparation are needed to support teachers as they navigate through learning about pedagogical practices that increase student engagement.

All teachers must be literacy leaders in their classrooms and schools. Recent concerns surrounding teacher quality and literacy teacher preparation prompted the current inquiry, which examined the diverse ways in which literacy teacher educators cultivate literacy leadership among preservice teachers. The authors used a one‐shot qualitative research design and applied understandings related to distributed leadership and teacher leadership as theoretical lenses. Sixty‐five respondents participated in the current inquiry, and data were analyzed using a three‐level classification diversity analysis. Three themes emerged during data analysis: Two addressed specific preparation techniques for literacy leadership that occurred in university contexts and community and professional contexts, and the third drew attention to the inadequacy of preparation efforts with literacy leadership. A discussion of findings for each theme is provided, as well as implications and recommendations for literacy teacher educators and teacher preparation program administrators.

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Educator preparation programs seek to provide teacher candidates with authentic learning experiences that support the learning process, and one means is to engage teacher candidates in service-learning. Elementary schools are tasked with improving the literacy outcomes of struggling readers, and community-based programs focused on literacy, seek to improve the literacy achievement of its' citizens. This work explores how an educator preparation program collaborated with a community-based organization to provide elementary, struggling readers with 1:1 literacy instruction via teacher candidates from the local university. The aim is to showcase the process, procedures, and benefits of universities partnering with local PK-12 schools and community-based organizations.

This qualitative study used social constructivism as a theoretical lens to examine ways in which literacy teacher educators incorporate field experiences during literacy coursework. A cross-sectional survey was distributed among literacy teacher educators affiliated with teacher preparation programs located in a single Southern state. Responses related to field experiences were retrieved from 42 surveys and analyzed with two cycles of coding. Findings indicated that preservice teachers completed a range of field experiences prior to student teaching that involved observing literacy instruction and leading literacy instruction with individual students and small groups of students. Incongruences between reported field experiences and recommendations in extant literature were discussed, along with implications for practice. Suggestions for strengthening field experiences were also provided.