2023/10/25 by Megan Chaffin, Holly Sheppard Riesco, Kathryn Hackett-Hill +3 · 1 voice
Psychology · Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Reading and Literacy Development #Multilingual Education and Policy #EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
paper · doi:10.1080/19388071.2023.2271085
openalex publication_date 2023/10/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Framed by Bakhtinian theories of authoritative discourse and heteroglossia, this study examines perceptions of a Science-of-Reading-based state reading initiative five years into implementation. Using interview transcripts, researchers engaged in polyphonic analysis to bring the voices of teachers, reading interventionists, parents, administrators, and state department of education officials into created dialogue. Findings from this qualitative study suggest there were contrasting perspectives about reading and the SRI, that many participants felt the initiative narrowed reading instruction and constrained teachers’ agency, and that, overall, there have been limited opportunities for dialogue about the initiative. Findings demonstrate that a narrow view of reading research may silence and delegitimize some stakeholder voices. This state’s goal of sharpening the focus of reading instruction led to instruction that was perceived by some stakeholders as narrow, boring, and meaningless, unlikely to create the statewide culture of reading that was targeted. Implications for this and future state reading initiatives point to the value of dialogue among varied stakeholders, which might allow for the idiosyncrasies of the teaching and learning of reading and writing to be addressed.