What’s Missing Matters: A Null Curriculum Analysis of Secondary ELA Programs and Adolescent Reading Needs Post NAEP 2024

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  In Roundtable Session: Problematizing the Evidence Base

Abstract

This Critical Content Analysis of widely adopted secondary ELA curriculum options aims to interrogate foundational reading components that are systematically overlooked despite the needs highlighted in national assessment data. Introductory units for sixth-grade were analyzed in this study, and three themes emerged: Some Assembly Required, Just Add Teacher, and Fluent Readers Included. Findings from this study suggest important implications including reconstructing understanding of adolescent literacy needs, implementation of curriculum in acknowledgement of both the lived and null curriculum, as well as lifting how curricular omissions actively forget the students at the center of the concerning data.

Author

• Chae D'Ann Ray, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley