Literacy And Equity: Exploring Teachers’ Lived Experiences Of Georgia Black Boys’ Difficulties With Reading Comprehension And Word Recognition
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows that since 1992, Black male students in Georgia’s fourth through eighth grades have consistently scored low on reading assessments (The Nation’s Report Card, 2022c). Low reading achievement contributes to a persistent underachievement gap for Black boys, leading to unfavorable academic outcomes such as difficulty in phonological processing, limited fluency and comprehension, slow development of linguistic skills, lower proficiency in basic reading, and higher rates of high school dropout (Russell & Drake Shiffler, 2019; Tatum, 2024a; Washington et al., 2019). The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how teachers in Georgia public schools describe the reading comprehension and word recognition difficulties Black boys face in Grades 4 through 8. The theoretical framework for this qualitative phenomenological study was based on the critical literacy theory proposed by Freire in 1970 (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2018; Crawford-Garrett et al., 2020; Creswell & Poth, 2018; Freire, 2017; Janks, 2013, 2014; Robinson, 2019; Wilson, 2014; Wood & Jocius, 2013). Fourteen open-ended interview questions were formulated to collect data through semistructured interviews with eight teachers in Georgia. The findings revealed that Black boys are deficient in foundational reading skills and require explicit instructions in phonemic awareness and reading comprehension. They are more successful when engaging texts of interest and would benefit from a tailored approach to teaching reading in a small group setting with a dedicated team. Keywords: foundational reading skills, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension
foundational reading skills, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, Early Childhood Education, Education, Educational Leadership, Elementary Education, Elementary Education and Teaching, Language and Literacy Education, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development
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