Raising Critical Readers in the 21st Century: A Case of Assessing Fourth-Grade Reading Abilities and Practices

Abstract

Grounded in the sociocultural nature of literacies and informed of the inherent biases in widely used, English-dominant reading assessments in U.S. schools, this case study traces the planning, development, and pilot administration ( n = 52) of a culturally inclusive (i.e., participant informed), online reading assessment. The Critical Reading Assessment (CRA) is designed to gauge elementary students’ comprehension and critical reasoning (i.e., identifying potential biases or instances of diversity, equity and inclusion) of digital, multimodal texts. Findings from our analysis of recorded pilot sessions with student participants, who are predominantly Spanish/English multilingual learners, suggest (a) the importance of transparency and feedback from multiple stakeholders in the assessment development process; (b) the potential affordance of multiple textual modalities for clarifying comprehension skills and abilities; (c) the potential negative consequences of using established, dominant-English reading tests for determining comprehension abilities; and (d) the need for greater opportunities to practice critical discussions (i.e., questions about perspectives, representation, and other potential biases) about texts. Implications from this study highlight the need for supporting elementary students and their teachers in dialogic, critical reading practices of multimodal textual information.

The Reciprocal Power of Equitable, Intergenerational Learning: Exploring Perspectives of Undergraduate Students about Engaging in a University–Community Partnership Program

“…Context matters, and much of THE undergraduate experience is shaped by rules, attitudes, and practices that are unspoken and unwritten. In a previous study on undergraduate experiences (Arya et al 2022b), we found in our analysis of interview data a number of invisible factors that inhibit a sense of belonging and inclusion, even in a university with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population. The participants' engagement in CBL programming such as New Leaf revealed the ways in which higher education institutions inhibit the inclusion of interests and aspirations that are explicitly supported in CBL.…”

“…Such efforts may be helpful in reimagining program goals and practices for fostering greater engagement. Our checked interpretations of undergraduate views suggest that our programmatic goals seem to align with experiences of undergraduates who, in a related study on higher-education experiences (Arya et al 2022b), shared a number of negative experiences and perspectives about studying at a research university. The example mentioned earlier in the introduction about the avoidance of 'office hours' (based on a fear of being viewed as incompetent) was one of several noted findings from this study; participants shared their concerns about feeling 'pushed out' of their original major due to the common practice of having 'weed out' courses.…”

“…One of the lead instructors of this course also leads CBL programming that includes New Leaf. This faculty member (second author) explicitly integrates such teaching and programming with their research (sixth CCES principle), which focuses on a number of sociocultural issues related to literacies, multilingualism, and innovative practices and assessments designed to include community interests and goals (e.g., Arya n.d., 2022;Arya et al 2022aArya et al , 2022bKarimi et al 2023).…”

“…We learned from our interview conversations with participating undergraduates a number of debilitating institutional inequities, including the possibility that institutional resources may not be viewed and utilized as intended. Participants with Latinx roots noted a reluctance to attend faculty office hours in order to avoid being viewed as lacking intellectual abilities compared with their white peers (Arya et al 2022b). Such a discovery prompted the reinvention of this resource as a required assignment for all students enrolled in a given course.…”