Reading Lessons from Martin: A Case Study of One African American Student

While American schools become increasingly diverse, the achievement gap remains. However, reading educators have been surprisingly silent on what diversity means in terms of helping children learn to read. Compton-Lilly hopes that this case study helps teachers to identify and address times when they and their students are out of sync. This article is not about identifying a set of characteristics of African American learners. It is not about finding the best way to teach African American children to read. It is about getting beyond our assumptions and beliefs as White educators and closely watching children to become sensitive to what they can teach us.