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NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform 1 NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform A Policy Research Brief Produced by The National Council of Teachers of English April 2006 The James R. Squire Offi ce for Policy Research The National Council of Teachers of English NNewestResearchBrief_526.inddewestResearchBrief_526.indd 1 55/30/2006/30/2006 99:25:55:25:55 AAMM 2 PREFACE ver 8 million students in grades 4–12 involved, or deeply embedded ideas, highly so- read below grade level, and 3,000 phisticated information, elaborate or unconven- Ostudents with limited literacy skills tional structure, intricate style, context-depen- drop out of high school every school day. While dent vocabulary, and implicit purposes, complex the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 triggered texts appear frequently in college and the work- highly publicized reports on low levels of place (ACT, 2006). The challenges posed by reading achievement in America’s elementary signifi cant numbers of under-literate middle and schools, middle and high school students face high school students who lack the skills neces- different but no less important literacy challeng- sary to function successfully in today’s world are es. Economic, social, moral, and political forces as daunting as they are signifi cant. all point to the critical role literacy plays in our The National Council of Teachers of English national culture and economy. Schools repre- (NCTE), the professional association represent- sent the most powerful and pervasive means of ing over 50,000 English/language arts teachers, introducing the next generation into a culture brings valuable insights and resources to this of literacy. Traditionally, educators have fo- important issue. With its rich store of research- cused on the development of literacy in the early based materials and its capacity to provide rigor- grades, assuming that older students did not need ous and systematic professional development special instruction. Recently, however, it has and literacy coaching for middle and high school become clear that many middle and high school teachers, NCTE is uniquely positioned to take students are increasingly under-literate, lacking a leadership role in a national effort to improve the complex literacy skills they will need to be the literacy capacities of adolescents. This successful in an information-driven economy. A document delineates the problems of adolescent recent report by ACT shows that only about half literacy and outlines reforms NCTE has identi- of our nation’s high school students are able to fi ed as necessary to address them. read complex texts. Defi ned in terms of subtle, The National Council of Teachers of English NNewestResearchBrief_526.inddewestResearchBrief_526.indd 2 55/30/2006/30/2006 99:25:58:25:58 AAMM 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section I Overview of Adolescent Literacy 4 Introduction: A Growing Under-Literate Class 4 What is Adolescent Literacy? 5 What Strategies Foster Adolescent Literacy? 6 Meeting the Challenge 7 Section II Professional Development: The Route to Reform 8 The Importance of Teacher Quality 8 Centrality of Professional Development 8 High Quality Professional Development 9 Professional Development and Student Achievement 11 Section III Professional Development to Improve Adolescent Literacy 12 Professional Communities in Secondary Schools 12 Interdisciplinary Collaboration 13 Literacy Coaching 14 Conclusion 16 Works Cited 17 The James R. Squire Offi ce for Policy Research NNewestResearchBrief_526.inddewestResearchBrief_526.indd 3 55/30/2006/30/2006 99:25:58:25:58 AAMM 4 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF ADOLESCENT LITERACY Introduction: more complicated. The U.S. economy depends A Growing Under-Literate Class upon developing new generations of workers who are competent and confi dent practitioners The problems of adolescent literacy echo through of complex and varied forms of literacy. Reading several recent reports. complex texts requires ability to discern deeply • The American Institutes for Research (AIR) embedded ideas, comprehend highly sophisti- reports that only 13% of American adults are cated information, negotiate elaborate structures capable of performing complex literacy tasks. and intricate style, understand context-dependent • The National Assessment of Educational vocabulary, and recognize implicit purposes. Progress (NAEP) shows that secondary Both higher education and the workplace present school students are reading signifi cantly be- readers with complex texts. Without a highly low expected levels. literate pool of job applicants, employers are forced to look off-shore for well-trained and The National Assessment of Adult Literacy • highly literate workers from other countries. In (NAAL) fi nds that literacy scores of high other words, our nation cannot afford an under- school graduates have dropped between 1992 literate workforce. and 2003. • The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) reports a continuing and signifi cant Our nation reading achievement gap between certain cannot afford an racial/ethnic/SES groups. under-literate • The Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) points to 8.7 million secondary school stu- workforce. dents—that is one in four—who are unable to read and comprehend the material in their At a time when the United States is fostering textbooks. democracy in other parts of the world, thousands • The 2005 ACT College Readiness Benchmark of American students are unable to use written for Reading found that only about half the information to make informed decisions. When students tested were ready for college-level these under-literate students leave school, they reading, and the 2005 scores were the lowest are not prepared to participate effectively in a in a decade. democratic society. The powerful growth of Meanwhile, our knowledge-based society the Internet and increased reliance on electronic and information-driven economy increasingly communication—where complex literacy skills demand a more highly literate population. In are essential—requires enhanced capacities of the 21st century United States, it is not enough all who seek social and intellectual resources. to be able to read and write—the literacy de- The moral imperatives that led the United States mands of the global marketplace have grown to establish public schools during the early days The National Council of Teachers of English NNewestResearchBrief_526.inddewestResearchBrief_526.indd 4 55/30/2006/30/2006 99:25:58:25:58 AAMM 5 of nationhood remain: schooling must produce citizens suffi ciently skilled in literacy to help iteracy is not a technical foster the greater good within our nation and in L the world beyond. skill acquired once and for all in the primary grades. What is Adolescent Literacy? For adolescents, literacy is more than reading and writing. It involves purposeful social and comprehension scores, write longer paragraphs, cognitive processes. It helps individuals discov- and identify more features of purpose and audi- er ideas and make meaning. It enables functions ence in reading selections ( Hobbs & Frost, such as analysis, synthesis, organization, and 2003). Moreover, literacy is not a technical skill evaluation. It fosters the expression of ideas and acquired once and for all in the primary grades. opinions and extends to understanding how texts Rather, students develop it over many years, and are created and how meanings are conveyed by that development continues well into adoles- various media, brought together in productive cence and beyond. ways. This complex view of literacy builds upon Adolescents bring many literacy resources but extends beyond defi nitions of literacy that to middle school and high school, but they face focus on features like phonemic awareness and several challenges. The academic discourses word recognition. and disciplinary concepts in such fi elds as sci- Literacy skills come into play in many ways ence, mathematics, and the social studies entail for all adolescents and adults, encompassing a new forms, purposes, and processing demands broad range of domains. These include: that pose diffi culties for some adolescents. They • analyzing arguments need teachers to show them how literacy oper- • comparing editorial viewpoints ates within academic disciplines. In particular, adolescents need instruction that integrates • decoding nutrition information on food literacy skills into each school discipline so they packaging can learn from the texts they read. Adolescents • assembling furniture also need instruction that links their personal • taking doses of medicine correctly experiences and their texts, making connections between students’ existing literacy resources • determining whether to vote for a state and the ones necessary for various disciplines amendment (Alvermann & Moore, 1991). When instruction • interpreting medical tables does not address adolescents’ literacy needs, • identifying locations on a map motivation and engagement are diminished. Motivation is the factor that leads students to • fi nding information online read or not, and engagement means choosing Literacy enables learning in a variety of dis- to read when faced with other options (Guthrie ciplines in complex and important ways. Re- and Wigfi eld, 2000). Without a curriculum that search shows, for example, that a media-literacy fosters qualities of motivation and engagement, curriculum can lead students to read with higher adolescents risk becoming under-literate. The James R. Squire Offi ce for Policy Research NNewestResearchBrief_526.inddewestResearchBrief_526.indd 5 55/30/2006/30/2006
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