ABSTRACT
This chapter weaves data from interviews together with observational field notes to re-create the individual threads of participant voices within the fabric of the school community.1 First, I start with the focal students who were central to this study, closely examining their lives through the lens of status, both social and academic. For each student, I include the student’s social class and ability level as perceived by their teacher (see Table 2.1) and then augment this perspective with additional ethnographic data about the student’s social and academic identities within the school, classroom, and community.2 Second, I consider the larger context that shaped who these students were, examining the school and surrounding community. Third, I focus on how literacy education was discursively constructed in the district and the school, and how the practices surrounding literature were arranged in Julia’s classroom.
