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Voices of North Carolina in the Classroom

Funded through a grant from NC Quest

The NC Quest Voices of NC professional development initiative features a dynamic partnership between the College of Education, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, and Wake County Public Schools.  Faculty in the Middle Grades Academy and the English Department are working with 8th grade English language arts and social studies teachers to help them develop a more sophisticated understanding of dialect and language variation, as well as strategies for integrating this knowledge effectively into existing curricula through connections with local history, culture, events, places, and artifacts.  One of the key innovations of this professional development initiative is the use of new and emerging technologies to facilitate language and literacy instruction and inquiry on the part of participating teachers and their students.  Research related to this project focuses on examining the status of language instruction in middle schools and exploring the extent to which research-based curricula focusing on language variation and dialect, coupled with innovative technology applications, can enhance language teaching and learning.

Project Director: Carl Young

Homepage: http://www.voicesofnc.org