Research-Based Principles of Effective Content Literacy Instruction for Adolescents EDC448

Today’s Objectives Collaboratively synthesize and share key points from five national research documents (student-directed jigsaw groups) Understand a bit of the culture, politics, and “big issues” on the minds of most secondary teachers (teacher-directed)

Meet in your jigsaw groups for a “Faculty Study Group Meeting” Provide a copy of your handouts to your colleagues Each person should take 5 minutes to synthesize the main ideas from your report Note common ideas across the reports to share with the larger group; Identify at least three common themes

Reflections What surprised you? What might you question? (not agree with) What salient points seem to apply across the documents? How can you help/what can you do as a content-area teacher? (e.g., one thing you might try) What strategies did you learn for reading a long technical report for our purposes?

Research-Based Principles of Effective Content Literacy Instruction for Adolescents Key points from five national research documents Understanding the culture, politics, and “big issues” on the minds of most secondary teachers

Guidelines for Reading and Writing Well (Langer, 2000) What does it take to “beat the odds”? Variety Multiplicity and diversity Connection Reflection Lots of nice classroom case examples

Struggling Adolescent Readers (Alvermann, 2001) Issues of in-school and out-of-school literacy practices Specialized digital needs of adolescents not being addressed Use responsive teaching strategies versus viewing “culture-as-disability” (recognize differences in development, culture, and language as strengths, not deficits)

Reading Next (2004) Follow-up response to federal No Child Left Behind Act and “Reading First” initiatives for younger readers (Grades K-3) Literacy needs of adolescents (and their teachers) are being ignored We need to move beyond decoding to learn more about how to engage adolescents while effectively teaching higher-level reasoning and comprehension of diverse academic texts Allow for variation and flexibility to reflect unique needs of each classroom (avoid a prescribed, scripted program)

Results that Matter (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006) Rapid international changes and competition We need to redefine ‘rigor’ to encompass not just mastery of core academic subjects, but also mastery of 21st century skills and content Systemic change… Route 21 http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/ ** Information Fluency http://21cif.imsa.edu/

Literacy Instruction in the Content Area (Greenleaf & Heller, 2007) It’s not MY job to teach reading! … and I don’t know how to teach reading! Inequalities in students’ access to rigorous academic curriculum contributes significantly to the achievement gap - don’t settle for the middle rung of the ladder! The key challenge is to (a) become aware of the literacy demands and “habits of mind” in your discipline; (b) understand the typical challenges students face; (c) practice & network with colleagues within and across disciplines

Five states’ efforts to improve adolescent literacy (NEI-REL) Reviewed policy documents and interviews: How they engaged key stakeholders, set rigorous goals, aligned resources, built capacity and used data to measure progress AL: pilot K-12; sustain past K-3, in-school capacity FL: laws to spur change & expansion; teacher training and endorsement; enlisted parents KY: collaborated with higher ed, applied range of funds, and changed systems to support adolescent literacy NJ: piloted & scaled up program and communication to influence teachers attitudes toward adolescent literacy RI: engaged stateholders outside the state government, articulate policy alignments; clear vision, and improvements in state institutions