Advancing the Literacy of Adolescents

1
Advancing the Literacy of Adolescents
Andrés Henríquez Carnegie Corporation of New
York Interagency Coordinating Council on Youth
February 19, 2008
2
Overview of presentation

• Our nations skills gap
• College Knowledgewhat will it take?
• Middle childhood and adolescents and
  literacy--our need to ramp up
• Types of activities supported by Carnegie
  Corporation of NY to support this effort
• Ways in which a whole-child approach is necessary
  to support young people through middle school

3
Teaching the New Basic SkillsUrgent Over Ten
Years Ago

• Fifteen years ago, a U.S. High School diploma
  was a ticket to the middle class. No longer. The
  skills required to earn a decent income have
  changed radically. The skills taught in most U.S.
  Schools have not.
• -Richard Murnane and Frank Levy (1996)

4
But Even More Urgent Now
That quality work force was the single biggest
reason the U.S. emerged as the economic
superpower of the 20th century. Generation after
generation, American workers were better
educated, more industrious and more innovative
than the ones that came before.That progress
stopped about 30 years ago. The percentage of
young Americans completing college has been
stagnant for a generation. As well-educated
boomers retire over the next decades, the quality
of the American work force is likely to decline.
-David Brooks, New York Times 2.15.08
5
(No Transcript)
6
College Knowledge and Skills

• In order for our nation to remain competitive
• Our nation will need to raise achievement levels
  of our young people substantially and improve
  their knowledge and skills in order to be well
  prepared to enter and complete college
• A Surge in College Readiness
• College readiness includes the culture of
  schools, habits of mind and attitudes that will
  encourage young people to be geared toward
  college going
• The challenge is significant
• Many young people entering high school are not
  yet prepared academically for the rigor of high
  school work

7
Middle Childhood and Adolescent Literacy

• We have the tools to teach children how to read
  but we have not made progress on teaching kids
  how to read to learn
• 4th Grade Slump noted reading scholar, Jeanne
  Chall, concerned with dip after fourth grade
• Reading expectations increase for young people in
  amount and complexity each year

8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
NAEP 2003/2007 Grade 8 Reading
11
NAEP 2003/2007 Grade 8 Reading
12
What Happens When Individuals Do Not Read to
Learn

• Limited learning in other areas (science,
  history, mathematics)
• Decreased self-esteem and motivation
• Limited potential for higher education
• Remediation in community colleges increases
  chances of dropping out
• Limited vocational options and job opportunities
• 50 of companies find that workers have deficits
  in reading and writing
• 70 of unemployed Americans, aged 25 to 65, read
  at the two lowest literacy levels (NCES, 2007)

13
So Whats Going on in Middle Schools?

• Young people shifting to new environments
• Content area teachers dont see themselves as
  literacy instructors
• Students lose interest and motivation in reading
  and in school and are less likely to read for
  pleasure
• Assumption among teachers that kids already know
  how to read
• Preparing young people for high-level complex
  text is not a priority in schools
• Research is inconclusive about which structure of
  middle school (6-8 vs. K-8) works best
• Parent engagement drops off substantially

14
Complex Issue Exacerbated by..

• Funding for literacy is clustered in Pre-K
  through 3rd grades
• Shift from expository text in the fourth grade
• Teachers in middle and high school are good
  teachers of content, but are challenged when
  asked to teaching reading skills

15
What Else is Going On ?
16

• Experience mood swings
• Need to release energy
• Are seeking to become independent
• Intense concern about physical growth and maturity

17

• Strong needs to be in groups
• Are in search of self
• Overreact to ridicule, embarrassment, and
  rejection
• Exhibit immature behavior

18

• Experience restlessness and fatigue
• Have poor eating habits
• Develop sexual awareness

19

• Transition period from concrete thinking to
  abstract thinking
• Intensely curious and inquisitive
• Prefer active over passive learning

20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
Carnegies Advancing Literacy Initiative

• Put adolescent literacy on the nations agenda
  through strategic grant making in research,
  policy and practice.
• Outcomes
• Increased funding in a number of states for
  adolescent literacy
• Striving Readers Legislation is planned the
  reauthorization of NCLB
• A number of schools of education are now paying
  more attention to literacy as a developmental
  issue

23
A Focus on Reading and Writing

• Reading Next and Writing Next Two reports that
  have shaped policy and practice in adolescent
  reading and writing

24
Carnegie Corporations Advancing Literacy
Program A few good ideas

• Double the Work Challenges and Solutions to
  Acquiring Language and Academic Literacy for
  Adolescent English Language Learners (Short
  Fitzsimmons)

25
Carnegie Corporations Advancing Literacy
Program A few good ideas

• Reading to Achieve A governors guide to
  adolescent literacy (Berman Biancarosa)

26
Carnegie Corporations Advancing Literacy
Program A few good ideas

• The Next Chapter A School Board Guide to
  Improving Adolescent Literacy

27
Carnegie Corporations Advancing Literacy Program
Also

• Funded a number of states to begin to develop
  K-12 literacy plans
• Have worked with National Center for Family
  Literacy and others to encourage parent
  engagement and adolescent literacy
• Encourage development of tools for English
  language learners
• Technology tools for reading on the Internet
• Developed the infrastructure for the adolescent
  literacy field by supporting young scholars and
  preservice institutions

28
Key Elements in Program Designs to Improve
Adolescent Literacy

• Instructional Improvements
• Direct explicit Comprehension instruction
• Effective instructional principles embedded in
  content
• Motivation and self direction
• Text-based collaborative learning
• Strategic tutoring
• Diverse texts
• Intensive writing
• A technology component
• Ongoing formative assessment

• Infrastructure Improvements
• Extended time for learning
• Professional development
• Ongoing summative assessment of students and
  programs
• Teacher teams
• Leadership
• A comprehensive and coordinated literacy program

29
What else needs to take place

• Set middle school benchmarks that would ensure
  students are ready for high school
• Repair the leaks in the 4th -9th grade pipeline
• We have the capability to identify dropouts as
  early as 4th grade. Early and continuous support
  for struggling students
• Focus and support youngsters in transitions from
  elementary to middle school and middle school and
  high school

30
Other issues

• Prepare habits of mind, skills and academic
  behaviors for college readiness in middle school
• Parent engagement could help articulate whats
  necessary for college preparation
• Need to increase the complex reading materials
  into high school courses
• Support Success in the Middle Act Bill
  introduced by Senators Obama, Reed and Grijalva
  to strengthen nations middle schools.
• Collaborative efforts such as the Interagency
  Coordinating Council on Youth (ICC) could help in
  working with the whole child

31
The requisite website

• www.carnegie.org/literacy
• Andrés Henríquez

32
References

• ACT, Inc (2006). Reading between the lines What
  the ACT reveals about college readiness in
  reading. Iowa, City, IA Author.
• Biancarosa, G. Snow, C. E. (2004). Reading
  Next A vision for Action and Research in Middle
  and High School. Washington, DC. Alliance for
  Excellent Education.
• Brooks, D. (2008, February 15). Fresh
  conservatism. The New York Times. Section A1, pp.
  A23.
• Conley, D. T. (2007). Toward a more comprehensive
  conception of college readiness. Eugene, OR.
  Educational Policy Improvement Center.
• Kutner, M. Greenberg, E., Jin, Y., Boyle, B.,
  Hsu, Y., and Dunleavy, E. (2007). Literacy in
  everyday life Results from the 2003 National
  Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2007-480).
  U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC
  National Center for Education Statistics.
  Retrieved February 18, 2008, from
  http//nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid20
  07480
• Murnane, R. J. Levy, F. (1996). Teaching the
  new basic skills Principles for educating
  children to thrive in a changing economy. New
  York, NY. The Free Press.
• National Association of Secondary School
  Principals (2006). Breaking ranks in the middle
  Strategies for leading middle level reform.