What is Critical In-Depth Reading and Wellbeing (CIDR)?
CIDR is a five-year research and professional learning initiative that helps middle and high school ESL teachers support the wellbeing and academic success of immigrant and refugee students through literacy instruction. By integrating social-emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching, and critical literacy practices, CIDR equips educators to create identity-affirming classrooms that foster belonging, resilience, and meaningful engagement with complex texts.
Often Adolescent English Learners...
Are asked to focus on basic literacy skills over meaning making
Don't see themselves reflected in class texts
Experience limited belonging in their classrooms
We believe critical literacy can improve students' experiences by teaching them to...
Read deeply and think critically
Connect texts to identity and experience
Make meaning of themselves and the world
We believe wellbeing and language development are inseparable.
Language helps students understand themselves, build relationships, express what they need, and participate fully in their classrooms and communities. When students are still developing English, they need meaningful opportunities to communicate, question, reflect, and make sense of their experiences—not just practice isolated skills.These opportunities matter because wellbeing is shaped over time by students’ sense of self, their relationships, and the conditions around them. Through critical, culturally responsive literacy instruction, students can strengthen language while building belonging, agency, and voice.
In this five-year initiative, we will design, deliver, and study this approach with middle and high school ESL teachers and students. Together, we will examine how critical in-depth reading instruction can support students’ language development, wellbeing, and academic success.
Jennifer C. Mann, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Dr. Jennifer C. Mann is the Principal Investigator of the CIDR Project and a Research Scientist at Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy. Her work is shaped by 20 years in ESL teaching and teacher education, including years alongside immigrant- and refugee-background students. She believes students learning English should have the same opportunities as their peers to engage with challenging texts, contribute their perspectives, and experience genuine belonging at school. Through CIDR, she partners with educators to use critical literacy to create rigorous, equitable learning environments.
