OVEC's Literacy Vision

1. OVEC's Literacy Vision Preparing our students for the 21st century

2. Standards • To understand the foundational concepts and structures of “adolescent literacy” • To realize the added value of literacy to support comprehensive student learning • To understand the long range goals of participating in this project (and principal participation) • To acknowledge what is already known and to take action on it • To prepare our schools and districts for anticipated federal funding support

3. Let’s look at some statistics! “Comparing the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading results for 4th, 8th, and 12th grade levels with those from 1992 reveal that although the percentage of students scoring proficient has significantly improved among 4th graders, the percentage of 8th and 12th graders scoring proficient has remained stagnant (Donahue, Voelkl, Campbell, &Mazzeo, 1999; Perie, Grigg, et al, 2005; Perie, Morran, & Lutkus, 2005).” Informed Choices for Struggling Adolescent Readers—A Research-Based Guide to Instructional Practices, Don Deshler, Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar, Gina Biancarosa, MarnieMair

4. And more! • Despite improvements in 4th-grade proficiency rates, 70% of students who entered 5th and 9th grades in 2005 were reading below level (Perie, Grigg, et al., 2005). • In fact, dropouts and high school graduates demonstrate significantly worse reading skills than 10 years ago (Kutner, Greenberg, & Baer, 2006) • Of those students who do graduate from high school, approximately 32% are not ready for college-level English composition courses (ACT, 2005) and approximately 40% lack the literacy skills employers seek (Achieve, 2005) Informed Choices for Struggling Adolescent Readers—A Research-Based Guide to Instructional Practices, Don Deshler, Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar, Gina Biancarosa, MarnieMair

5. What about the “world of work”? “70% of high school students who manage to graduate from high school (Greene & Winters, 2005) often find themselves unprepared to compete for the most lucrative jobs that require not only post secondary education but an ongoing ability to read in order to keep abreast of new developments in a rapidly changing global economy (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004; Levy & Murnane, 2004; OECD, 2000).”

6. Did You Know ? Let’s make a prediction!

7. Out of every 100 Kentucky ninth graders….

8. ….65 graduate from high school….

9. ….39 enter college….

10. ….26 are still enrolled in the sophomore year….

11. …and 15 graduate from college.

12. Literacy, as defined by the KY Literacy Partnership Literacy includes reading, writing, and the creative, and analytical acts involved in producing and comprehending text. Literacy is more than reading and writing. • It involves purposeful social and cognitive processes • It helps individuals discover ideas and make meaning • It enables functions such as analysis, synthesis, organization, evaluation 12

13. Curriculum Blends All Aspects of Literacy for a Variety of Authentic Purposes and Audiences Literacy Includes: • Reading • Writing • Speaking • Listening • Observing

14. Direct explicit comprehension instruction Effective instructional principals embedded in content Motivation and self directed learning Text-based collaborative learning Strategic tutoring Diverse texts Intensive writing A technology component On-going formative assessment READING NextInstructional Elements

15. READING NextInfrastructural Elements • Extended time for literacy • Professional development • Ongoing summative assessment of students and programs • Teacher teams • Leadership • A comprehensive and coordinated literacy program Biancarosa, G & Snow, C. Reading Next: A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy. Carnegie Corporation, New York, 2004.

17. Adolescent Literacy Myths • Struggling adolescent readers can’t read at all. • If an adolescent can read the words, comprehension naturally follows. • Adolescents today can’t read like adolescents used to read. • Adolescents today can’t read well because they spend too much time on TV, computers, video games, etc. • The adolescent literacy problem is primarily one of poverty, race, disability, and linguistic background.

18. Remember this… “…anyone can struggle given the right text. The struggle isn’t the issue; the issue is what the reader does when the text gets tough.” - Kylene Beers

19. Response to Intervention: Working at the Systems Level • A systematic school-wide literacy approach ensures that requirements for Response to Intervention are pre-verified for all students • Response to Intervention is simply a structure that represents common and comprehensive best practices for basic literacy skills development • The search for the “boxed program” that will check off our responsibilities is taking the hard, wrong, and least productive pathway

20. WhatDo We Do Instead? • Create a culture of literacy among your adult and student community • Build school administrators’ instructional leadership skills • Provide skills- and strategies-based professional development to your teachers • Implement accountable supports for students at all levels of need

21. Create a Fully Responsive System

22. Making a Difference If the primary purpose of schooling is learning, then determining what students need to know, how and when it should be taught, and whether or not these instructional goals have been reached are paramount for effective instructional leaders. McEwan, 2003 • Strong instructional leaders: • Provide a clear vision • Establish clear curricular priorities for improving students’ reading achievement • Participate and support all staff professional development 22

23. Leadership Priorities PERKS: Requires a shift in school leadership priorities. Managerial Administrator/Supervisor Political Negotiator/facilitator Instructional Leader/educator with a strong focus on improving instruction and student achievement 23