Holly Craig

On average, African-American students significantly underperform academically in comparison to their non-African American peers, especially in the foundational area of reading achievement. Part of the reason for this underperformance may be that many young African-American students, especially in urban areas, are speakers of African-American English (AAE), a rule-governed variety of English that contributes to the culture of African-American communities. New research has shown that there is ...

Failure to achieve basic literacy levels is particularly pronounced for African-American students, as seen in national assessments of reading and writing at all grade levels. Oral language skills are critical to early literacy skills, leading many researchers to consider whether oral language could be leveraged to reduce the achievement gap in literacy for African-American students. Many of these students, particularly those living in large urban centers, are speakers of African-American E...