Valerie Gue University of Illinois at Chicago COE: Special Education Department Internship: Summer 2009

 Learn qualitative research methods  Develop interview skills  Refine dissertation research questions  Determine appropriate methodology for dissertation research questions

 Director: Dr. Alfred W. Tatum  Mission: To develop a Reading Intervention Model (RIM) for struggling adolescent readers in grades 4-12 Goals: outreach to the community and schools research based on the population served training for teachers and other educational professionals

 Description: 5-week institute focused on engaging and supporting African American adolescent males to write about multiple contexts informing their lives (Tatum, 2006)  Goals:  Identify socio-cultural benefits of writing for African American adolescent males  Identify socio-cultural benefits of the writing environment (literacy collaborative)

5 weeks: Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Weekly visit from a published author Weekly interviews of participants 10:00 am: Institute ’ s Preamble 10:05 am: Writing Warm-up with Explicit Instruction 10:30 am: Mentor Writer or Visiting Author 11:00 am: Writing & Critiques from Other Participants 12:30 pm: Blog Postings & Writer ’ s Chair 1:00 pm: Institute ’ s Preamble

 7/30/09: Celebration amongst participants (UIC Reading Clinic)  8/8/09: Celebration with family members (UIC Theater)  8/14/09: Celebration within the writing community with Walter Dean Myers (Desmond Tutu Center: New York City)

 12 African American adolescent males  Ages  Educated in 11 different elementary and high schools in Chicago & Chicago land area  Low, average, and high academic records  Selected based on ideas communicated through writing samples

 Observation & Field Notes  Participant Interviews  Analyzed Participant Writings  Daily Researcher Debriefings

 Socio-cultural Benefits to Writing  Define self (confidence, expression & efficacy)  Become resilient  Work through internal conflict  Promote societal change “It’s a lot of power behind writing and that’s something I want to continue…Let our testimony be our pen.”

 Instruction  Increased teacher-student interactions  Choice & depth of writing topics ▪ “Let us speak our mind, not with our mouth but with our pens.”  Attend to students’ needs ▪ “…all teachers, you just have to keep working with them even though it seems hopeless, that’s your job as a teacher. You can’t just give up on your student.”  Research Community  Disseminate research findings  Collect longitudinal data with this group  Develop & implement a nationwide writing institute model (Scholastic, Inc.)

Reflections: The Research Process  Triangulate data for validity & to identify recurring themes.  Analyze data frequently during collection phase to refine research questions and data collection tools.  Use research data for the benefit of others (students, parents, educators, & researchers).

 Tatum, A. W. (2006). Engaging African American males in reading. Educational Leadership, 63(5),  Tatum, A. W. & Gue, V. (in press). Raw writing in a literacy collaborative: A critical support for adolescents. English Journal.  Lewis, C., Encisco, P., & Moje, E. B. (2007). Reframing sociocultural research on literacy: Identity, Agency & Power. Mahway, New Jersey: Lawrence Elbaum Associates.  Alfred Tatum:  CBS News: “Young Black Males Write About Inner City Struggles”  Chicago Tribune: “Writing is an Escape from Violence”  CLTV News: UPS Shooting Discussed on GML  Jet Magazine: “Brother Authors” Discover Power of Words”  UIC Reading Clinic:  UIC Media: “Institute Addresses Young Black Male Literacy Crisis”