H811J: Language and Literacy Development Series, Adolescent Literacy Development and Instruction

Though literacy instruction moves into the background after the early elementary years, in fact there is lots left to learn and to teach in the middle and high school years about reading, writing, literate forms of language use, and content-area specific literate genres. The unfinished task of literacy development is a challenge or teachers, school and district leaders, and policy makers who assume that literacy learning is no longer a concern. But many questions remain, e.g. How do literacy skills interact with content learning?  What is the normal course of students' literacy development after Grade 4, and what constitutes a worrying trajectory? What do teachers, especially content area teachers in middle and secondary schools, need to know about literacy in order to support students adequately? What classroom resources--curriculum, interventions, technology--have been shown to support students' ongoing development of literacy skills after Grade 4? Are schools, including community and open-enrollment colleges, organized optimally to support student growth in literacy and in using literacy as a tool for learning? The course will address the research basis for decision making around adolescent literacy as well as the practices that have been shown to be successful.