Literacy Clinics During COVID-19: Voices that Envision the Future

Abstract

The resiliency of literacy clinics was tested during 2020–2021, as many pivoted from in-person (F2F) to online or 3-way remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. University-based literacy clinics advance teacher education, provide services to K-12 students who may need instructional support, and are a laboratory for research. The purpose of the study was to examine modifications in literacy instruction and assessment as a consequence of the changes in modality. Participants (n = 58) were literacy clinic directors/instructors from multiple states and countries. Data were analyzed in three phases: researchers individually coded; multiple teams cross-checked; a macro team collated across themes. Alterations during the pandemic involved place, time, types of texts, innovative instructional tools, and new ways of operationalizing literacy assessment and instruction. Some clinics used technology to transform instruction and innovate, while for others the goal was to replicate existing practices. Teachers, students in the context of their families, and teacher educators demonstrated resiliency, resourcefulness, and creativity in the face of interruptions and stress. Findings, viewed through the lens of the TPACK framework, can help us understand how transformations in instruction and assessment affect literacy learning not only in the context of clinics, but in school classrooms as well.