The Adolescent Literacy KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase is an online resource aiding education professionals in their pursuit of public and private grants to support local programs. Its five elements contain information and resources that assist the grant seeker with developing their project, writing the grant proposal and managing the grant upon its award.

Task 1: Incorporate Assessments and Curriculum Mapping to Guide Instruction

Guideline: Knowing what is taught, how the instruction is delivered, and the level of student comprehension impacts the integration of literacy and content area instruction. Curriculum mapping and formative assessment are tools enabling educators to focus on the what, how, and result of instruction. Possessing an awareness of curriculum mapping and formative assessment concepts enables grade four and five teachers to enhance their adolescent literacy instruction.

Resources

GUIDELINES

Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction

This link is to a Center on Instruction guide on the use of assessments with adolescent literacy instruction. Part I addresses using assessments, and Part II provides examples of assessments or assessment systems in use.

References

Assessment and Classroom Learning

Authored by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, this 1998 seminal article provides practical applications of classroom assessment. Black and Wiliam are leading proponents of classroom assessment.

Attributes of Effective Formative Assessment

This link connects to a paper describing five attributes of effective formative assessment. The paper is a Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) work product coordinated by Sarah McManus of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Formative Assessment: Examples of Practice

This link is to a paper providing examples and non-examples of formative assessment practice. The paper is a CCSSO work product initiated and led by E. Caroline Wylie of the Education Testing Service.

Learning Progressions

This link is to a paper describing how learning progressions support instruction and formative assessment. The paper is a CCSSO work product authored by Margaret Heritage of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.

Measure for Measure: A Critical Consumer's Guide to Reading Comprehension Assessments for Adolescents

This link is to the Carnegie Corporation of New York's report reviewing nine commonly used, commercially available reading assessment instruments. This guide is for educators involved with selecting assessments.

The Classroom Assessment KnowledgeBase

The Classroom Assessment KnowledgeBase is an online resource for state education agencies to use as part of their professional development efforts with districts and schools. Organized around five elements, it brings together concepts, how-to guidance, tools, and resources about classroom assessment.

The Curriculum Mapping KnowledgeBase

The Curriculum Mapping KnowledgeBase is an online resource supporting education professionals in the development and use of curriculum mapping as part of their instructional strategies. The KnowledgeBase is based on four phases derived from The Curriculum Mapping Planner: Templates, Tools, and Resources for Effective Professional Development, authored by Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Ann Johnson, and published by ASCD: Alexandria, VA.

Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making

This link is to an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) practice guide on the use of student achievement data. As noted in the document's overview, "The purpose of this practice guide is to help K-12 teachers and administrators use student achievement data to make instructional decisions intended to raise student achievement."