Literacy Now

The precious years between elementary and high school are fundamental to student development and academic achievement. To help maximize your middle-level students’ potential, the International Literacy Association (ILA) has made a new cross-journal virtual issue on middle-level education free through July 31.

This publication provides resources and guides for working with middle-level students. MiddleLevel Education features 12 articles from ILA’s three journals The Reading Teacher (RT), Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL), and Reading Research Quarterly (RRQ)thatprovide insight to encourage and promote middle-level students’ academic achievement.

From RT

Articles from RT highlight methods that can aid reading comprehension and content literacy in middle-level students. In their article “Reading Thematically Related Texts to Develop Knowledge and Comprehension,” Lynn Gelzheiser, Laura Hallgren-Flynn, Margaret Connors, and Donna Scanlon illustrate how to develop content themes that will ultimately allow students to develop greater genre knowledge. Peter Dewitz and Michael F. Graves also focus on expanding students’ knowledge through transfer and other academic applications in their article “Teaching for Transfer in the Common Core Era.”

In her RT article “Level Up With Multimodal Composition in Social Studies,” Bridget Dalton discusses how teachers can lead students through multimodal composition.

From JAAL

JAAL articles provide guidance for instructing middle-level learners on literacy and language topics.

Dianna Townsend’s “Who’s Using the Language? Supporting Middle School Students With Content Area Academic Language” explores how educators can integrate academic language support into content area lessons. The dynamic of writing in content area classrooms is discussed in “Learning to Write in Middle School?” by Joshua Fahey Lawrence, Emily Phillips Galloway, Soobin Yim, and Alex Lin.

In “Putting Two and Two Together,” Mark B. Pacheco and Amanda P. Goodwin offer strategies and recommendations to support students in determining word meanings. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey discussing using close reading intervention as a tool for advancing student achievement in “Close Reading as an Intervention for Struggling Middle School Readers.”

The Literacy Lenses column “Independent Reading” by Katy Benning features essays highlighting perspectives on teaching with literacies to stimulate reader reflection.

From RRQ

Engaging struggling readers and unleashing their potential is discussed in articles from RRQ.Greg Roberts, Sharon Vaughn, Jack Fletcher, Karla Stuebing, and Amy Barth study the effects of multiyear, response-based tiered intervention for struggling readers in grades 6 through 8 in their article “Effects of a Response-Based, Tiered Framework for Intervening With Struggling Readers in Middle School.” More classroom techniques are discussed in John T. Guthrie and Susan Lutz Klauda’s article “Effects of Classroom Practices on Reading Comprehension, Engagement, and Motivations for Adolescents.”

Bridging the achievement gap based on income inequality is discussed in “The New Literacies of Online Research and Comprehension” by Donald J. Leu, Elena Forzani, Chris Rhoads, Cheryl Maykel, Clint Kennedy, and Nicole Timbrell.

“Effects of Educational Technology Applications on Reading Outcomes for Struggling Readers” by Alan C.K. Cheung and Robert E. Slavin examines how popular programs including Leapfrog and Destination Reading affect the progress of struggling readers and why.

Madelaine Levey is a communications intern with ILA.

New coeditors were selected for both the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) and The Reading Teacher (RT), International Literacy Association’s peer-reviewed journals for educators of literacy learners.

Jan Lacina

Kelly Chandler-Olcott and Kathleen Hinchman will be coeditors of JAAL, and Jan Lacina and Robin Griffith will be coeditors for RT. All editorships will run from June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2021.

Chandler-Olcott is chair of the Reading & Language Arts Center at Syracuse University where she teaches content literacy. She focuses her research on technology-mediated literacy practices and coauthored Tutoring Adolescent Literacy Learners: A Guide for Volunteers. As the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the School of Education at Syracuse University, Hinchman concentrates on literacy methods, examining students’ and teachers’ perspectives towards literacy-related secondary school reform.

Reflecting current theories and practices in support of effective literacy instruction, JAAL serves university scholars, literacy consultants, and administrators. ILA Executive Director Marcie Craig Post said, “The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy is unique in that it is the only literacy journal published exclusively for teachers of older learners. This requires a distinctive perspective on the literacy practices of adolescents and adults, an area that Kelly and Kathleen have dedicated their careers to.”

Robin Griffith

Focusing on primary classroom instruction, RT provides evidence-based teaching ideas and focuses on critical issues in teaching and professional development.

As Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Education at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, Lacina’s interests range from writing instruction to English language learning. She recently completed her term as the editor in chief for the Journal of Research in Childhood Education and holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Kansas. Also a literacy education educator at TCU, Griffith focuses on the critical role that teachers play in helping students become successful readers and writers. She holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Tech University.

“The Reading Teacher has provided educators with practical teaching ideas that are grounded in theory and research for more than 60 years,” said Post. “Jan and Robin’s impressive classroom and research experience will be critical in our mission to continue to provide the insightful and relatable content that readers of The Reading Teacher have come to expect.”

International Literacy Association has changed how we are bringing news to your inbox.

ThisWeek, a bulletin e-mailed every Tuesday, was designed to streamline our efforts to hit the highlights of what’s happening in literacy. From calls for the U.S. legislature to make a greater commitment to literacy, to book announcements, to conference updates, ThisWeek will cover it all.

This weekly e-mail will replace a number of separate messages ILA regularly sent out and is easy to read and full of resources for more in-depth reading.

All ILA members and customers receive this bulletin. If you’re not subscribed, or have unsubscribed to any ILA communications in the past, e-mail customerservice@/ or call 800.336.7323 (U.S. and Canada) or 302.731.1600 (all other countries) to receive ThisWeek.

In January the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee of the U.S. Senate released a draft bill for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Entitled the “Every Child Ready for College or Career Act of 2015,” the draft differs markedly from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) enactment of 2001.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

Gone from the new draft are any specialized literacy programs, as well as the troublesome adequate yearly progress (AYP) provisions. The draft contains two different options on assessments, one continuing a federal role and one turning the issue over to the states. It also contains language to allow Title I money to follow the student, a break from current practice.

After careful review, the International Literacy Association (ILA) has responded in a letter to the HELP Committee by declaring its support for federal policy that provides states and school districts with the resources to ensure that every child receives a quality education regardless of economic circumstance, and by urging that education policy be formulated in a way that is capable of practical implementation.

In addition, ILA has requested that the Committee revise the draft bill by adding a dedicated funding stream for a comprehensive literacy program targeting early childhood, grades K–3, and grades 4–12. As it stands, the draft lacks any sustained focus on literacy achievement.

Moreover, ILA has asked that the draft bill be amended to authorize increased federal funding for the professional development of classroom teachers, literacy coaches, and literacy specialists, and to reduce reliance on high states standardized tests in establishing accountability measures.

Read ILA's complete position statement on the ESEA draft bill.

Troubled Legacy of NCLB

Reauthorizing the ESEA is seven years overdue. The delay in getting a successor bill approved has been driven largely by the experience that ensued from the NCLB’s controversial accountability regime. Under NCLB, districts and schools were required to meet to meet AYP targets as measured by student performance on standardized tests.  Over time, more and more schools missed their targets, and the whole approach grew increasingly unworkable.

To recover a more practical footing while retaining the student achievement goals of NCLB, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) instituted a waiver program under which states were allowed to opt out of the original AYP approach in exchange for meeting certain conditions, including signing on to standards for instruction and tying teacher performance to student progress.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

The fact that 43 states were given waivers is indicative of just how urgent the situation had become. Nevertheless, the shift to waivers generated a separate controversy. The arrangement substantially expands federal influence over education matters, despite the express language in the NCLB bill and the USED authorizing act that forbids any use of the law to exert federal control over state or local instructional content, academic achievement standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction.

Chair and Ranking Member Perspectives

As the 114th Congress began its work, a new power shift took hold, with Republicans now in control of both houses. Whether this alignment enhances prospects for ESEA reauthorization remains to be seen.  The HELP Committee is now chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is the ranking member.  Both senators made opening statements from the floor pledging bipartisan cooperation to get a new bill approved.

Sen. Alexander has set a goal of getting a bill to the floor by the end of February, so it can be debated and amended by the full Senate. He has also made it clear that NCLB unintentionally turned Washington into a national school board, and that oversight of student progress and school performance should be left with the states.

Sen. Murray takes a different perspective on the legacy of NCLB. While acknowledging that NCLB set unrealistic goals for schools across the country, she does not think letting schools and states off the hook for failing to provide quality education for all of their students is a realistic alternative.

Murray notes that NCLB has produced some notable successes since its passage in 2001: graduation rates increased by 10%, regular graduation rates among students with disabilities increased by more than 12%, dropout rates decreased by 17%, and achievement gaps declined for African American and Latino students.

With respect to federal investment in K–12 education, Murray maintains it would be irresponsible to spend billions in federal tax dollars without knowing if the law is making a difference in students’ lives. As she stated in the Committee’s first hearing on the bill, “I would be very concerned about any attempt to eliminate annual statewide assessments, and just as concerned at any attempt to roll back accountability.”

It will be interesting to watch what compromise, if any, emerges from these starting points as work on the ESEA reauthorization continues.

Dan Mangan (dmangan@/) is the Director of Public Affairs at the international Literacy Association. Previously, he was ILA’s Strategic Communications Director and Publications Director and launched the original Reading Today magazine and Reading Today Online (now Literacy Daily). He is a veteran of commercial publishing, a former journalist, and an attorney.

The world of literacy lost a powerful advocate and friend in Bernice “Bee” Cullinan Thursday.

Cullinan was a past president of both ILA and the Reading Hall of Fame (she was inducted to RHF in 1989) and the author of more than 40 books, including her seminal work, Children’s Literature in the Reading Program, the first of what is now in its fourth edition. In particular, Cullinan was an advocate of putting literature in the hands of children. She died Thursday at age 88.

The following is an excerpt from “Creating Lifelong Readers: An Interview With Deborah Wooten,” which appeared in the January/February issue of Reading Today. Terrell Young, a past ILA board member, wrote the piece to mark the publication of Cullinan’s final book, Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: Engaging Young Readers in the 21st Century, co-authored by Wooten, her mentee and close friend.

“She was my academic mom and largely responsible for my passion for children’s literature,” Wooten said of Cullinan Thursday. “I owe my career to her.”  

From Reading Today:

In the early 1980s, Ronald Mitchell, then the executive director of IRA, approached Bee Cullinan and asked her, “Don’t you think it’s time IRA did something about children’s literature and reading programs?” Her response was an immediate yes.

The result: Children’s Literature in the Reading Program, an edited book first published in 1987. It was followed by Invitation to Read: More Children’s Literature in the Reading Program in 1992, and Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: An Invitation to Read in 2009. The fourth and highly anticipated edition—Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: Engaging Young Readers in the 21st Century—will be published [in January]. Each edition of this book has been completely different and a reflection of current reading education trends, with the third and fourth editions co-edited by Deborah Wooten.

Bernice Cullinan’s legacy is articulated in the chapter she wrote for the first edition, Why Use Children’s Literature? and How to Make Students Willing Readers. Her mission is to encourage the joy and learning found through children’s books, and the importance of helping children to become lifelong readers. Wooten notes, “Each will be a primary purpose throughout all of the editions. The terminology will shift over time with words like ‘engaging and motivating’ young readers, but the core theme is timeless.”

It was my privilege to interview Wooten recently about the forthcoming book, as well as what it was like to have Cullinan as a mentor and what she hopes educators take from this latest edition.

Terrell Young: Bee once said that studying with Charlotte Huck was like receiving “an endowment of magic.” How would you describe your experience studying under Bee’s tutelage?

Deborah Wooten: Bee changed my life. I quickly fell in love with her and children’s literature. The first time I met her was while I was teaching fifth grade in a New York City public school. Because of her encouragement, I enrolled in the doctoral program at NYU and joined Bee’s beloved organization, IRA. She not only had an impact on my life but also on my entire family. My daughter, Katie, started attending IRA when she was in third grade, presenting a project she did with Pegi Shea’s The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee’s Story. Now Katie is teaching high school and uses children’s and young adult literature with her students and continues to regularly attend and present at IRA.

See the full story here.

ILA would like to extend sincere condolences to Cullinan’s family. Her loss is profound; her legacy will live on for years to come.