Our Framework.
Culturally Intentional Education (CIE) is an interdisciplinary framework for the instruction of high school English classrooms in Title I schools.
Our Framework supports an interdisciplinary deep study of literature. It allows teachers to weave the Science of Reading and the Science of Writing into the fabrics of their community classrooms.
We focus on Four Literacies and the inclusion of art and socio - politics, so that course content is equitable, engaging and stretches students’ minds while closing literacy achievement gaps.
Why Culturally Intentional and Not Just Responsive?
Being responsive often means adding texts; being intentional means designing every part of instruction — text choice, questioning, assessment — with purpose.
At The CIE Lab, this means:
• Teaching literature with awareness of how authors engage with their communities across time and space
• Integrating reading, writing, speaking, and critical inquiry and not siloing skills.
• Assessing in ways that validate identity and build advanced literacies.
The CIE Framework.
The CIE Framework is our approach to secondary English instruction. It brings together the Science of Reading, the Science of Writing, and deep literary study to create classrooms where rigor and Cultural Intentionality work hand in hand.
Our three tenets.
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Know Thyself
Instruction begins with identity. Teachers and students explore voice, perspective, and purpose.
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Make Meaning
Literature as artistic and socio - political inquiry: interpretation, problem-posing, connection. Teachers deepen their own literary practice; students move beyond surface comprehension.
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Make Space
Dialogue, collaboration, critical discourse. Classrooms where questions matter, learners listen and contribute, confidence and academic voice grow.
Our four literacies.
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Reading for structure, argument, rhetorical craft.
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Writing, design, performance, art as living literature.
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Honoring historical, socio-political, and community context.
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Spoken, collaborative, academic conversation and collective meaning-making.
The problem at hand.
Too many students in under - resourced schools and from marginalized communities lack access to intellectually rigorous English classrooms that include diverse voices, socio-political inquiry, and advanced literacies. Gaps persist in course access and outcomes and the preparation needed for college and civic life.
At The CIE Lab, we partner with schools to dismantle those gaps so all students engage with literature in ways that affirm their identities and stretch their capacities.
AP Literature Exam Mastery Across Racial Demographics (2022)
69%
61%
Data Link.
90%
CIE Teaching and Learning Lab is working to close those gaps.
The CIE Teaching and Learning Lab exists to close achievement gaps in secondary English instruction by combining research, praxis, and Cultural Intentionality. We partner with schools to ensure that every student, from 9th grade to AP or IB, has access to advanced literacy instruction that is rigorous, affirming, and transformative.
How we put the framework into practice.
The CIE Framework and Four Literacies are not abstract ideas. They are woven into every offering we provide:
Professional Learning where teachers practice Know Thyself, Make Meaning, Make Space.
Curriculum Design rooted in the Four Literacies.
Instructional Tools aligned with the Science of Reading and Writing.
Our process ensures that schools don’t just talk about equity — they live it through curriculum, instruction, and classroom experience.