In this session, ELA Curriculum Coordinators will present approaches to expanding text offerings while preparing for book challenges. Representation of multiple identities is critical to the English Language Arts curriculum (Bishop 1990), and we are responsible for supporting teachers to expand their offerings and prepare to teach those texts in culturally responsive ways. Diverse texts support students to see multiple modes of language as both acceptable and valuable; this is a critical component of working toward linguistic justice (Baker-Bell 2020). With the onslaught of book challenges and bans across the country, this work has become more urgent. School leaders must develop frameworks for text selection and strategies for approaching book challenges in the classroom and community. We will share strategies for working with teachers around text selection; additionally, we will discuss transferable policy frameworks we have developed in collaboration with our library and DEIB departments to address potential book concerns.
