A Grounded Theorizing of the Learning Opportunities Afforded to Third Graders Who Read Below Grade Level

Demographics of Participants and the City

1. The school facility is located in an urban school district in a midwestern city like many other urban schools.

2. Participants are African American 4th and 5th generation third grade students after the 1954 landmark case to desegregate schools.

• One school principal (Black) and two assistant principals (One Black and one White)

• Five third grade veteran teachers with 8 to 15 years minimum in the classroom

• Two Black teachers and three White teachers

• Teacher 1 – Black with 8 years teaching

• Teacher 2 – Black with 13 years teaching

• Teacher 3 – White Hispanic with 11 years teaching

• Teacher 4 – White with 15 years teaching

• Teacher 5 – White with 15 years teaching

• Students total 135 with 27 per classroom

• Families (All Black in this study) are hardworking low to middle class socio-economic status

3. Community Resources around the area are limited with one civic center, one community pool, one police department, two fire departments, and seven recreational parks with some located in the vicinity of the school.

The U.S. Census Bureau (2020) estimate the city population to be 12,737 with 1,009 being children between the ages of five and nine years old, i.e., kindergarten to fourth graders. African Americans make up 61 percent of the population compared to Caucasian at 24 percent ( U.S. Census, 2020).

Also, the Clay Quilt Theory below is a metaphor of what some students are missing as they progress through the school environment. Students are connected by threads of educators making a difference, but how do we fill the holes and most importantly, what caused the holes?