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Increasing Reading Engagement in African American Boys

Terry Husband
Published Online: 2013-12-10 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2013-0002

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Abstract

Much has written concerning the challenges many teachers face in engaging African American males in reading practices. While much of this extant scholarship focuses on African American males at the pre-adolescent stage of development and beyond, little has been written regarding increasing reading engagement in African American boys in P-5 contexts. Given this gap within the scholarship, the purpose of this article is to present a multi-strategic framework for increasing reading engagement in African American boys in early childhood and elementary contexts. Drawing from scholarship related to reading engagement, I discuss strategies for teachers to implement in and across curriculum, pedagogical, and school contexts to increase reading engagement in African American boys. I conclude with a discussion of three important commitments teachers must be willing to make for this framework to be successful.

Keywords: reading; engagement; African American boys

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About the article

Published Online: 2013-12-10

Published in Print: 2014-09-01

Citation Information: Multicultural Learning and Teaching, Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 157–170, ISSN (Online) 2161-2412, ISSN (Print) 2194-654X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mlt-2013-0002.

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