Improving Adolescent Reading

The following article is adapted from “Reaching the Older Reader,” written by Susan Black, an education research consultant, and appearing in the April 2005 issue of the American School Board Journal. The complete article can be accessed at http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html
    

     The number of poor readers in the nation’s schools is staggering: According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 8.7 million fourth- through 12-graders read below grade level. The literacy gap is even wider for minority students, those with learning disabilities, and those whose first language is not English. For both white and minority students who struggle with reading, the problem persists far beyond school. Most dropouts are poor readers, as are those who end up in the nation’s juvenile system.

     According to “Achieving State and National Literacy Goals, a Long Uphill Road,” a report prepared by RAND Education for the Carnegie Corp. of New York, “many children are not moving beyond basic decoding skills to fluency and comprehension.” It also suggests some major concerns “about the ability of states to meet the ambitious goal set by (No Child Left Behind) of 100 percent proficiency for all students.”

     While some data on reading achievement paints a bleak picture, there is also recent information that suggests that adolescent literacy can be improved in high schools. Catherine Snow and Gina Biancarosa, both with Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, report that it’s possible to raise high school students’ overall literacy, including reading comprehension. But to do so, schools must have the will and persistence to make literacy the cornerstone of learning.

     In Reading Next, a 2004 report from the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Alliance for Excellent Education, Snow and Biancarosa recommend the following classroom-based strategies to improve adolescent literacy:

• Provide direct, explicit instruction in reading comprehension, such as summarizing and discussing texts with others.
• Teach students reading and writing skills specific to subjects such as science and mathematics.
• Motivate students to become self-directed and independent readers.
• Encourage students to work collaboratively, using text materials at different levels and on a variety of topics.
• Individualize reading, writing, and content instruction for students who need extra help.
• Include more writing in daily lessons.
• Add technology, such as well-designed computer tutorials, to help struggling readers.
• Assess students continuously and use information to monitor and adjust lessons and assignments.
• Infuse literacy development into all classes, not only English and language arts.
• Train teachers to teach literacy development well.
• Use data to inform literacy policies and practices.
• Organize interdisciplinary teacher teams that focus on literacy in daily lessons.

     High-performing middle and high schools that succeed in teaching students to read and write well “weave a web of connections” that support literacy, says Judith Langer, director of the National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement based at the State University of New York at Albany.

     Langer’s five-year study of English programs, conducted in 44 classrooms in 25 schools in four states, discovered major differences between effective adolescent literacy programs and ineffective ones. Highly successful programs, Langer found, practice six instructional practices concurrently and consistently:

• Teach students using a variety of activities, including independent lessons, exercises, and drills; lessons involving reading and writing about new concepts and information; and lessons in which students apply new learning in class discussions.
• Prepare students for tests by emphasizing the knowledge on which they’ll be assessed, and integrate test preparation into daily lessons instead of giving students separate drills.
• Incorporate students’ real-life experiences both in and out of school into daily lessons.
• Give students critical reading and writing strategies they need to succeed on daily lessons and homework assignments.
• Provide time for students to read broadly on topics of interest, explore texts from many points of view, and conduct their own research.
• Foster collaborative learning by placing students in well-chosen groups. Prompt students to raise questions, discuss ideas, and “bump minds” with one another.

     Additional insights into improving adolescents’ reading skills came during a series of workshops on adolescent literacy conducted by the Partnership for Reading, an organization sponsored jointly by the National Institute for Literacy, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the U.S. Department of Education.

     In one session, the University of Georgia’s Donna Alvermann reported her research on literacy in the so-called Net Generation, claiming that many teens who shrug off assignments to read textbooks are highly motivated to tackle complex reading material on websites.

     Success in literacy clearly is essential to success in life, and educators should seek out solid data that demonstrates how to help high school students build their skills in reading and writing. Julie Meltzer, an adolescent literacy specialist at the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, acknowledges the “large breach between research and practice.” And she’s concerned about a “marked reluctance” in many middle and high schools to focus on literacy.

     Still, she envisions ways schools can rescue poor readers. To begin, she encourages school leaders to put literacy at the core of their school reform agendas. And she recommends using the best research-based practices now available to at least keep the existing literacy crisis in check.
 
 

Additional information of literacy can be found at:

“Achieving State and National Literacy Goals, a Long Uphill Road.” RAND Education and Carnegie Corp., 2004. http://www.rand.org/publications/TR/R180.
“ Adolescent Literacy—Research Informing Practice: A Series of Workshops.”

The Partnership for Reading, 2002. http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/adolescent/default.html
Biancarosa, Gina, and Catherine Snow. “Reading Next: A Vision for

Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy.” Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004. http://www.all4ed.org/publications/ReadingNext/ReadingNext.pdf.

Langer, Judith and others. “Guidelines for Teaching Middle and High School Students to Read and Write Well: Six Features of Effective Instruction.” National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement, May 2000. http://cela.albany.edu/publication/brochure/guidelines.pdf.

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