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 2: 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 and 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 middle and high school teachers enhance their adolescent literacy instruction.

Resources

TOOLS

Adolescent Literacy Toolkit

This link to the Council of Chief State School Officers' Adolescent Literacy Toolkit provides resources for states and high school content area teachers.

ReadWriteThink

This link is to ReadWriteThink, a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation. This website includes lessons (by grades, title, or literacy connection), student materials, and resources.

PRACTICAL TIPS

Reading Strategies

This link to the Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science and Reading offers a compilation of reading strategies aimed at the adolescent student. Though focused on the Ohio Academic Content Standards, the basic strategies may be useful to all middle and high school teachers.

REFERENCES

Bringing Literacy Strategies into Content Instruction

As noted in its introduction, this Center on Instruction document "provides research-based guidance on academic literacy instruction in the content areas." The vignettes offered provide examples of how literacy instruction can be integrated into content area instruction.

Children, Teens, and Reading

This link to the Common Sense Media website provides a research brief studying reading rates among children and teens in the United States.

Effective Instruction for Adolescent Struggling Readers

This link to the former Center on Instruction website provides resources designed to guide the delivery of instruction for adolescent struggling readers. It is also intended to enhance technical assistance providers' knowledge and their work with state departments of education and districts.

From State Policy to Classroom Practice: Improving Literacy Instruction for All Students

This National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) document addresses moving state-level literacy instruction policy to classroom practice.

Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas

This link is to the Alliance for Excellent Education's report Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement. It discusses multiple aspects of adolescent literacy development from achieving basic reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills to more advanced literacy skills that will enable middle and high school students succeed in academic content areas.

Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy

This link is to the Carnegie Corporation of New York's report addressing adolescent literacy in the content areas. The report discusses the following content areas: science, mathematics, literature, and history.