Disciplinary Literacy and Issues of Equity and Access - SD85099

One of the challenges facing English Learners and other underprepared learners is the critical literacy demands of discipline-specific texts. In order to help these learners have access to disciplinary content, well-meaning teachers often provide learners with simplified texts or other scaffolded resources.  However, according to Alfred Tatum, “Leveled texts lead to leveled lives,” suggesting that these scaffolding practices exclude learners from being able to fully participate in disciplinary literacy practices, thereby leading to equity and achievement gaps.  

According to Shanahan & Shanahan (2012) discipline literacy is “reading and writing that is tailored to the specific characteristics and demands of each discipline.” The differences among the disciplines are more than differences in content or information. Each discipline has its own language and protocols on how information is created, used, and evaluated. 

This workshop will focus on what disciplinary literacy is and its importance. In addition, the workshop will address the unique literacy skills used in history, math, science and language arts.  Finally, the workshop will focus on strategies for the teaching of disciplinary literacy and its role in bridging the equity and achievement gap.