Examining the Shared Space of College Readiness in an Underperforming High School Through Disciplinary Literacies

• In Event: From Adolescence to College Ready: Literacy Learning and Teaching of Older Students

Abstract

This study was an examination of a collaborative partnership between three high school history teachers and three university-affiliated literacy researchers. Using qualitative research methods, we studied the ways our knowledge and goals overlapped as content and literacy experts seeking to foster college readiness through a project-based learning experience with students in an “underperforming” high school. In this study, we examined the role of literacy experts in this collaboration and the ways disciplinary knowledge in the field of history interfaced with more generalized literacy skills, such as reading comprehension, to think about trajectories for fostering college readiness in secondary settings. Findings suggest literacy experts needed to play a strong role in scaffolding students into disciplinary literacy skills.

Authors

• Mellinee K. Lesley, Texas Tech University
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Stewart, Eastern New Mexico University
  Presenting Author

• Johanna Keene, Texas Tech University
  Presenting Author