Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations Department of Middle and Secondary Education 1-8-2016 A collaborative inquiry: Working together to make our Reading Recovery lessons culturally responsive Danielle M. HIlaski Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss Recommended Citation HIlaski, Danielle M., "A collaborative inquiry: Working together to make our Reading Recovery lessons culturally responsive." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss/18 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Middle and Secondary Education at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, A COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY: WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE OUR READING RECOVERY LESSONS CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE, by DANIELLE HILASKI, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, in the College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chairperson, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education concurs. Amy Seely Flint, Ph.D. Committee Chair Caitlin Dooley, Ph.D. Laura May, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Lisa Lang, Ph.D. Committee Member Date Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Ph.D. Chairperson, Department of Middle and Secondary Education Paul Alberto, Ph.D. Dean College of Education and Human Development AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education’s Director of Graduate Studies, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation, which involves potential financial gain, will not be allowed without my written permission. Danielle M. Hilaski NAME NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Danielle M. Hilaski 14939 Broadgreen Dr. Houston, TX 77079 The director of this dissertation is: Dr. Amy Seely Flint Department of Middle and Secondary Education College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 CURRICULUM VITAE Danielle M. Hilaski EDUCATION Ph.D 2015 Georgia State University Language and Literacy. MA 2002 University of Pennsylvania Reading, Writing and Literacy BS 2001 Elizabethtown College Early Childhood and Elementary Education CHRONOLOGY OF EMPLOYMENT 2015 Assistant professor, ECE/SPED department. University of North Georgia, GA 2005 - 2013 Reading Recovery, Early intervention teacher, English as a second language teacher, and Instructional coach. Benefield Elementary School, Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA. 2009 – 2010 Gwinnett County VISION 2016 instructor. Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA. 2009, Summer Professional development instructor. Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA. 2003 – 2005 First grade teacher. Simpson Elementary School, Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA. 2002 – 2003 Third grade teacher. Millersville Elementary School, Anne Arundel Public Schools, MD. 2001 – 2002 Ethnography forum organizer. College of Education, University of Pennsylvania, PA. PUBLICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS Publications: Flint, A., Anderson, N., Allen, E., Campbell, T.M., Fraser, A., Hilaski, D., James, L., Rodriguez, S., & Thornton, N. (2011). When policies collide with conviction. The Language Arts Journal of Michigan, 26 (1), 13 – 17. Flint, A.S., Allen, E., Campbell, T., Fraser, A., Hilaski, D., James, L., Rodriguez, S., & Thornton, N. (2013). More than graphs and scripted programs: Teachers nativating the educational policy terrain. In P.L. Thomas (Ed.), Becoming and being a teacher: Confronting traditional norms to create new democratic realities (pp. 175- 188). New York, NY: Peter Lang. Presentations: November 2015 Hilaski, D. (2015). Working together to make our Reading Recovery lessons culturally responsive. Presented at 2015 Billie J. Askew Reading Recovery and K-6 Literacy Institute, Dallas, TX. July 2015 Hilaski, D., & Hill, K. (2015). Revisioning reading intervention: Inquiry into Reading Recovery and RTI. Presented at 2015 Literacies For All Summer Institute, WLU, Atlanta, GA. June 2015 Smith, A., Stevens, M.B., & Hilaski, D. (2015). Teacher leader research to support implementation and advocacy. Presented at Teacher Leader Institute and Leadership Academy, Kansas City, MO. April 2014 Hilaski, D. (2014). Working smarter, not harder: Preparing your pre- qualifying packet. Presented at Global Conversations in Doctoral Preparation, online through Georgia State University. October 2013 Koulagna, Y., Bloxson, K., & Hilaski, D. (2013). Culturally relevant practice: Highlighting the practice in culturally relevant pedagogy. Paper session presented at the meeting of Georgia Association of Teacher Educators, Jekyll Island, GA. November 2011 Flint, A.S., Allen, E., Anderson, N.D., Campbell, T., Fraser, A.S., Hilaski, D., James, L., Rodriguez, S., & Thornton, N.A.. (2011). “Real change”: Critical moments of teaching and advocacy in a decade of federal policy and mandates. Symposium conducted at the meeting of National Council of Teachers of English, Chicago, IL. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Conference/Proposal Reviewer 2015, May Program Proposal Reviewer for Literacy Research Association 2015, January Manuscript Reviewer for Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 2014, July Manuscript Reviewer for Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 2014, April Program Proposal Reviewer for Literacy Research Association Membership in Professional Associations Member. Alpha Upsilon Alpha Honor Society Member. Reading Recovery Council of North America. Member. Georgia Council of Teachers of English. Member. National Council of Teachers of English. Member. International Literacy Association. Executive Committee Member. Gwinnett Reading Association. 2011- 2012. OUTREACH 2015 New Member of National Security Seminar 2014 Host of Global Conversations for Literacy Research. A Collaborative Inquiry: Working Together to Make Our Reading Recovery Lessons Culturally Responsive by Danielle Hilaski Under the Direction of Dr. Amy Seely Flint ABSTRACT Reading Recovery has changed the academic paths of students around the world. Although Reading Recovery serves culturally and linguistically diverse students, Clay (2005b) does not directly address these students in her teaching procedures by detailing how teaching practices could be adapted for these students to capitalize on their first language or dialect and their home literacy experiences. The purpose of my study was to examine the professional development experiences of four Reading Recovery teachers who were working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. Specifically, I explored the ways the participating teachers’ beliefs and practices were impacted by their participation in a community of practice focused on developing culturally responsive teaching practices within the framework of Reading Recovery. The following research questions guided this qualitative inquiry: (1) How does participation in a professional development focused on theorizing and implementing culturally responsive teaching practices within the framework of Reading Recovery impact Reading Recovery teachers’ beliefs about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse Reading Recovery students? (2) How are Reading Recovery teachers’ instructional practices with culturally and linguistically diverse students impacted by their participation in professional development focused on learning about and incorporating students’ linguistic, social, and cultural knowledge into the Reading Recovery framework? The theoretical frameworks that informed my inquiry were sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1934/1986), communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002), and critical theory (Freire, 1970). Within critical theory, critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Yosso, Villalpando, Bernal, & Solórzano, 2001) and culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 1995a, 1995b; Nieto, 2013) further substantiated this study. Through constant comparative analysis (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) of data collected through pre- and post-interviews, bi-weekly professional development sessions and debriefings, reflective journals, and artifacts, the teachers’ beliefs about their culturally and linguistically