The language of economics and economic imperatives are driving standardized school reform in the United States without input from teachers. This teacher action research project responds to concerns about contemporary school reforms by considering how economics‐minded dialogue about literacy education can help teachers support students’ literacy practices. The study explores the use of an economic model for planning, implementing, and evaluating composition instruction based in sociocultural literacy research. The model classifies classroom activities according to economic principles of connectedness and production. This model supported collaborative dialogue about writing instruction problems. Three phases—cycles of planning, implementation, and evaluation of instruction—progressively demonstrated how thinking economically about literacy instruction supported a teacher's decision making toward student‐centered writing instruction. The study frames economic analysis as a positive support for students’ acquisition of new literacies. It also suggests how teachers may make sense of economics‐oriented educational reform goals for literacy instruction.