Reading the classroom beliefs about literature in the low-tracked English class

Literature lies as the heart of the typical high school English curriculum (Applebee, 1974; Willinsky, 1991), and on the basis of their response to it students are often labeled "good" or "poor" readers and sorted into tracked classes. Problematically, such labels imply objective assessments of "ability," but actually reflect the subjective values of the mainstream culture. Students may excel at reading processes that are not valued in school; a perception of "low" ability might actually reflect disparities between teachers' and students' beliefs about what it means to read literature well. My study examines these beliefs, focusing on students in two low-tracked ninth-grade English classes. I conducted classroom observations and interviews over the course of one school year, exploring students' concepts of the low-tracked class, the process of constructing meaning from text, and the role of their teachers and peers in contributing to understandings about literature. I engaged in a thematic analysis of my data, then further examined selections using discourse analytic techniques (Gee, 2005) and Carspecken's (1996) analysis of "meaning fields." I found that while students frequently engaged in substantial literacy practices outside of school, from which they sought a sense of expertise about subjects of interest, they saw little connection between their needs and abilities and the English curriculum. Their placement and the discourse patterns of the low-tracked class often cast them as deficit, in need of behavioral and academic remediation. They perceived reading literature less as a teachable skill and more as a cultural value; as such, their "dislike" of reading in school left them outside the mainstream. I conclude with implications for instruction, suggesting that if teachers expand their notions of what it means to read literature well, taking into account students' own literacy practices, they can reframe these "deficient" students as capable. Providing them with texts that will speak to their interests could further increase their sense of efficacy. Beyond that, I advocate "untracked" English classes that eliminate the practice of using reading "ability" to sort students and instead offer all involved access to a rich, relevant, empowering curriculum.