Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy

Washington

Leading figures in education policy, academia, and philanthropy called today for a “re-engineering” of the nation’s approach to adolescent literacy, saying nothing short of a “literacy revolution” is needed to keep students in school and ensure that they are able to learn the complex material that college and careers will demand of them.

The experts gathered to discuss and draw attention to the release of the final report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, which has spent five years examining the need for better reading and writing skills among students in grades 4 through 12. Vartan Gregorian, the president of the foundation, urged audience members to “be good ancestors” to future generations by pushing for sound adolescent-literacy policy and practice, given the pivotal role such skills play in young people’s lives, and the low level of skill students have shown on national tests.

In its capstone 108-page report, “Time to Act,” the council calls on school leaders to structure their schools around literacy, hire teachers skilled at teaching it across all subject areas, and help teachers build on those skills. It urges district leaders to ensure good professional development in literacy for all principals and teachers, help them analyze data to shape professional development on literacy, and not to shy away from “reorganizing” their districts if that is what it takes to make literacy the cornerstone of the schools’ work. (The Carnegie Corporation supports Education Week’s coverage of pathways...