ABSTRACT
The contrast between the racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds of predominantly monolingual, white, female teachers and their plurilingual, racialized, religiously and culturally diverse student populations is a game changer, especially when considering that reading instruction and research can be skewed toward assumptions of universal childhoods. Reading assessment, as part of the overall testing context, has been addressed in multiple chapters as a game changer for researchers who have developed innovative approaches to contextualizing and illuminating students’ knowledge, language skills, and motivations to read. As authors describes, the world is changing; societies are changing. Correspondingly, the work of educating the population is changing. These changes result from the complex dynamics of local and distant politics, economics, and preferences for particular reading research and practice. Finally, reading researchers need to ascertain how knowledge and knowledge production matter for children and youth, their teachers, school leaders, and those who influence reading policies in schools and school systems.
