Literacy Now

Although global literacy is a colossal goal that at times may seem difficult to achieve, the reality is that illiteracy is solvable. When like-minded people work together, we are capable of reaching new heights that as individuals we could never achieve. 

That's why the International Literacy Association declared April 14, 2015, Leaders for Literacy Day: to spur a critical discussion on what is required to motivate action and accelerate outcomes for the millions of illiterate people around the world. Here are a few of the responses we received on what is needed to make this the #AgeOfLiteracy:

• Ben Hecht, president and CEO of Living Cities—#AgeOfLiteracy: The Promise of Cross-Sector Collaboration

• Mariana Haynes, senior fellow at the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE)—Birth-through-Grade-Twelve Comprehensive Literacy Program

• Vicki Phillips, director of college-reading education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—Supporting all Teachers in Becoming Literacy Teachers

• Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld—We Are All Leaders for Literacy

• Christie Vilsack, senior advisor for international education for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—Young Storytellers and the Power of Literacy

• Rima Kupryte, director of Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)—How Public Libraries Can Help 120 Million Illiterate Young People

• Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)—Using Digital Tools to Increase Literacy Development: Innovative Best Practices in Chicago

• David Evans, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association—Science and Literacy: Reflections on Time

• Andreas Schleicher, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development—Literacy for Life

• Sandra Maddox, Literacy Minute—Important Conversation #AgeOfLiteracy

• Janelle Wilson, Stretching Forward with Janelle Wilson—The Importance of science literacy #AprilBlogADay #AgeofLiteracy

• Janelle McLaughlin, reflectinginspiration—Literacy Leadership #AprilBlogADay #AgeofLiteracy

• Meredith Towne, Towne Hall—Day 13: Leaders for Literacy Day! #AprilBlogADayChallenge

A large and highly dedicated community of leaders and organizations has long focused on advancing literacy in the U.S. and around the world. Through research, innovative methods, training of emerging new leaders and teachers, and practical work on the ground, they have also devoted considerable resources to accelerating a rise in literacy.

These efforts are necessary to turn the tide of illiteracy worldwide, but not sufficient. If we are to achieve a new level of progress, we need to enlist and inspire a broader community beyond our own. We must engage in more robust discussions with government, business, and non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders, as well as with—most importantly—educators, families, and students.

That’s why today, April 14, 2015, through an initiative called Leaders for Literacy Day, we’re organizing a first step in the creation of a cross-sector coalition of education, business, community, foundation, and NGO leaders who will examine what is working to promote literacy worldwide, what is not, and how can we come together to close the gap.

The mission could not be any more urgent. Though there has been progress in recent decades, the challenge is still enormous and stubborn. Thanks in part to enhanced efforts by U.N. member states and affiliated agencies to provide a primary education for all children around the world, the global adult illiteracy rate dropped significantly over the last couple of decades, leaving only about 12% of the world functionally illiterate today, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. But that still leaves about 781 million adults and 126 million youths worldwide who cannot read or write.

In the U.S. alone, 32 million adults—or 14% of the population—can’t read, according to a 2013 study by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy. Just as alarming, that’s almost exactly the same proportion it was 10 years ago.

Statistics show that, far more than those who cannot read or write, people who are literate are much more likely to escape the bonds of poverty and live longer; they’re more inclined to vote, take part in their communities, and seek medical help for themselves and their families; and they’re much better equipped to take advantage of knowledge jobs in the digital economy that are proliferating at record levels and represent, according to McKinsey Consulting, more than 230 million positions worldwide.

As societies improve their rates of literacy, they become better trading partners with the rest of the world and are less likely to spawn conflict that threatens regions, whole continents, and the world. So as the world has become more economically and socially interdependent than ever, we all have a stake in moving as many people as possible from illiteracy to literacy. 

Countless individuals, organizations, government agencies, and private companies have contributed significant resources and energy to advance literacy and equitable education worldwide.

The business community, for example, understands that growth and expansion require much higher levels of more educated—let alone literate—people in the available workforce. And businesses can be particularly helpful in identifying proper strategies, stimulating innovation and measuring outcomes.

Companies like Microsoft are enabling critical innovation among students, teachers and schools through cutting-edge technology. In global health, some NGOs have based their logistics and supply chain strategies on Coca-Cola’s elaborate international distribution systems. If we can sell Coke and distribute medical treatment in the most remote parts of the world, why can’t we do the same to raise the rates of literacy?

NGOs are essential partners and play a critical role in advocating for equitable access and broadly sharing their experiences and best practices that can help scale up proven interventions.

In addition, families and children of all ages are critical to creating a culture of learning within every home and every community, making sure students understand how important literacy can be in improving their own lives.
 
There’s no question that literacy is now and will become increasingly essential to ensuring the productivity of individuals and whole societies. Because we all have a stake in this endeavor, now, more than ever, is the time to expand the circle of those who can help advance literacy for all.

Here are some of the influencers from around the world who are weighing in on the #AgeOfLiteracy.

Marcie Craig Post is the executive director of ILA. Follow her on Twitter: @MarcieCraigPost.

Before the ILA 2015 Conference begins on July 18 in St. Louis, preconference institutes take an in-depth look at topics facing most schools, including diversity in the classroom, close reading, and project-based learning. These full-day sessions offer research, techniques, and strategies to integrate technology in the classroom, help English learners, and provide literacy education across all curricula.

Preconference institutes take an eight-hour deep dive into a topic including general and breakout sessions and discussions as well as takeaway collateral to put strategies into practice. You do not need to register for the full Conference & Exhibits to take part in the preconference institutes. Early Bird rates include $129 for Members and $199 for nonmembers. See conference registration for the complete range of prices.

Institute 01: Transforming Literacy Instruction Through Online Inquiry

This institute demonstrates research-based techniques and strategies for integrating literacy and technology in K–12 while showcasing instructional practices and Web 2.0 technologies that promote inquiry-based reading and writing, analytical thinking, personal reflection, collaboration, and creative response. Each session is designed to provide theoretical foundations, demonstrations of strategies, opportunities for hands-on practice, connections to authentic learning activities, Internet resources and tools, and tips for successful lessons.

Presenter: Denise Johnson, College of William & Mary

Institute 02: Newest Research on Classroom Literacy Practices

These sessions will highlight research-based practices that support and nurture literacy development. Each of the presenters will emphasize critical strategies to improve students' motivation to learn and reading and writing proficiency for students ages 4–18 (grades K–12) through general and breakout sessions and panel discussion.

Presenter: Susan B. Neuman, New York University

Institute 03: Transforming Access to Literacy: Empowering English Learners in K–12 Classrooms

This institute addresses quality literacy development for English learners (EL). Today, every teacher is a language teacher and literacy professional. Plenary sessions by Yetta Goodman, Zhihui Fang, David Schwarzer, and Mayra Daniel will put participants in the “real world” of life as an EL. Plenary topics will extend into breakout sessions and conversations throughout the day. Presenters are Fabiola Ehlers Zavala, Kouider Mokhtari, Paul Boyd Batstone, Chris Liska Carger, Abha Gupta, Rona F. Flippo, Janice Cate, Stephan Sargent, Guang-Lea Lee, Carol Owles, Kathrine Crane, and Debbie Price.

Presenter: Mayra Daniel, Northern Illinois University

Institute 04: Vocabulary Collaborations: Pathways to Vocabulary Learning for All Students, Grades 2–12

This institute, focused on students ages 7–18 (grades 2–12), comprises five keynotes and two breakout series. Five keynote addresses by seven leading experts will draw on research, the Common Core State Standards, empirical evidence, and first-hand experience to build attendees' understandings about developing the vocabulary knowledge and word-solving abilities as well as word-learning interest of grades 2–12 learners. Sessions use research-based strategies, activities, and techniques to engage grades 2–12 students in rich vocabulary-learning experiences.

Presenter: Kathy Ganske, Vanderbilt University

Institute 05: Best Practices for Children in All Areas of Early Literacy Instruction

This institute features research-based strategies grounded in the Common Core State Standards that support appropriate early literacy development. Sessions discuss foundational skills, oral language development, comprehension, fluency, writing, and the role of family in early literacy. Strategies include project-based instruction, new literacies, and supporting English learners. All presentations will recognize diversity, provide strategies for differentiating instruction, and offer ways to make reading, writing, and language joyful.

Presenter: Lesley Morrow, Rutgers University

Institute 06: Reading Simplified: Up Close & Personal Engagement With Efficient Strategies for Beginning Readers

Videos, hands-on demonstrations, and practice with specific feedback are used to integrate the alphabetic principle, phonics knowledge, and key phonemic awareness skills using a streamlined, multisensory approach. During this interactive, hands-on multimedia presentation, a team of presenters will use live demonstrations, videos that reflect the implementation of strategies and component activities, and more designed to match typical student errors and increase the likelihood of instruction that is matched to students' abilities, and specific feedback.

Presenter: Christie L. Cavanaugh, Independent Consultant

Institute 07: Accelerating and Extending Literacy for Diverse Learners: Using Culturally Responsive Teaching

This institute will address the issue of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who are struggling readers, seldom identified for gifted programs. DISCOVER, a performance assessment based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, will be introduced as a way to identify the strengths of CLD students, followed by discussion on how to create a culturally responsive learning environment through technology and a toolkit for parents.

Presenter: Dorothy Ann Sisk, Lamar University

Institute 08: Novel Engineering: An Integrated Approach to Teaching Literacy and Engineering

Novel Engineering (NE), a National Science Foundation–funded project at Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, engages students ages 6–14 (grades 1–8) and educators in engineering, using books as a context for client-centered, open-ended design challenges. In this hands-on interactive workshop, you will work in groups and use NE to integrate engineering and literacy, recognize texts as rich ground for engineering design, identify character-clients and problems, scope constraints surrounding the problem, and design and build solutions using age- and grade-level texts. You'll analyze video of NE students, focusing on their thinking and ideas, and plan NE units for your classroom.

Presenter: Lija Yang, Tufts University CEEO

Institute 09: Reading With Rigor: Interpreting Complex Texts Using Annotation and Close Reading Strategies

The kind of lifelong readers we imagine our students becoming are the type of readers who do not simply let a text wash over them. We see reading as an active process in which readers question, challenge, and talk back to the text—all components of interpretation. Raising the quality and rigor of reading instruction in our classrooms, while making it fun and accessible to all students, is possible through close reading and annotation strategies with print and digital texts. The sessions provide a collection of graphic organizers and strategies, as well as tried-and-true methods to help your students construct and deepen their reading of complex texts.

Presenter: Dana Johansen, Teachers College

Institute 10: Transforming Adolescents’ Lives Through Literacy

This institute offers practical strategies and targeted research on adolescent literacy, especially as it relates to reading complex texts and incorporating technology in literacy. Through a series of keynote addresses, interactive breakout sessions, and a panel discussion, participants will have the opportunity to explore topics of particular interest to their work and learn more about what ILA leaders and Members are doing to strengthen adolescent literacy as we strive to transform adolescents' lives through literacy. This institute is an interactive, international forum for the dissemination of current research and promising practices in the field of adolescent literacy.

Presenter: Susan Lenski, Portland State University

Institute 11: Transforming Teachers' and Students' Lives Through a Schoolwide Approach to Literacy Learning

Learn about how successful schools have built teacher and student capacity through schoolwide pedagogical approaches to improve and sustain student literacy learning outcomes and leave with takeaway strategies. Lesson snapshots, teacher interviews, and transcripts will bring research into focus. Through self-examination and considering school context implications, you will examine the image of a 21st-century literacy professional.

Presenter: Shirley O'Neill, University of Southern Queensland

Institute 12: Building Literacy Through Rigorous, Relevant, and Engaging Project-Based Learning

In this institute, you will construct an understanding of the key elements of gold standard project-based learning and learn to create rigorous, relevant, and engaging projects. As part of the process, you will participate in a design workshop in which you'll develop the skills and knowledge to integrate research-based literacy strategies into your projects so that all students achieve.

Presenter: David Christopher Ross, Buck Institute for Education

Institute 13:Transforming Instruction for Culturally, Linguistically, and Socially Diverse Learners

This institute will introduce you to the principles of the Accelerated Literacy approach as well as equip classroom teachers with new ideas to gain a deeper understanding of the literacy needs of these students and practical examples of these highly engaging, motivating, and inclusive teaching strategies.

Presenter: Cathryn Mary Welsford, Effective Teaching

Institute 14: ILA 2015 Research Institute

The ILA 2015 Research Institute integrates the cutting-edge thinking of literacy's leading researchers in successive one-hour keynote presentations. Topics are beginning readers; teaching young learners to read and write informational text; the latest thinking on reading comprehension; the most innovative information about close reading; English learners and struggling readers; and motivating and engaging all learners.

Presenter: Maureen McLaughlin, East Stroudsburg University

The ILA 2015 Conference will be held July 18–20 in St. Louis, MO, with more than 6,000 educators ready to transform their practice. The days will be jam-packed with featured speakers, the revamped Teaching Edge series, and exciting general sessions. Key topics affecting literacy featured at the conference include content literacy, children’s literature, classroom engagement, and professional development. More than 120 exhibitors will be on hand with new tools and technologies for all manners of literacy education.

Learn more about the conference programs at ilaconference.org. Register today for the ILA 2015 Conference to take advantage of special Early Bird pricing.

The bipartisan agreement for fixing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) announced yesterday by the leadership of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) would end the NCLB’s federal test-based accountability system and restore to the states the responsibility for determining how to use federally required tests for accountability purposes.

Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the HELP Committee, explained that the agreement “continues important measurements of the academic progress of students but restores to states, local school districts, teachers, and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement.” He added that the new agreement “should produce fewer and more appropriate tests.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking member, agreed, noting that the new legislation “gives states and districts more flexibility while retaining strong federal guardrails,” and described the bipartisan compromise as “an important step in fixing the broken No Child Left Behind law.”

Action on the revised legislation, including any amendments, begins next Tuesday, April 14, 2015, at 10:00 a.m.

Lessons of Experience

NCLB was the last reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is the federal government’s main K–12 law. That reauthorization expired in 2007. Its requirement for demonstrating adequate yearly progress (AYP) based on student testing proved untenable, as most states found that too many of their schools were simply not measuring up to the AYP standard. After the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) introduced a waiver alternative, 43 states eventually applied.

The lessons of that experience have had a heavy influence on the latest attempt to pass ESEA reauthorization. In the hearings and roundtable held by the HELP Committee, many of the witnesses spoke to the distortive effect high-stakes testing has on classroom instruction. Too many tests, too much time wasted in administering them, too much time spent teaching to them, and the resulting loss of real learning—these points were stressed over and over again.

The scope and utility of the assessments were also challenged. Is a student’s computerized test performance on a given day a fair measure of a year’s worth of learning? Would other, more expansive assessments be truer, if not fairer, both to the student and the instructor? These questions were posed and reflected on throughout the process.

Turning the Corner

On the central issue of high-stakes testing, the bipartisan draft now turns a momentous corner, returning to the states the responsibility for creating accountability systems to insure that all students are achieving.

The bill retains the federally required two tests in reading and math per child per year in grades 3–8, and once in high school. States must keep these tests but can independently determine what weight to accord them, and states are also permitted to use other measures of student and school performance in their accountability systems.

A compromise seems to have been reached here designed to steer clear of AYP-style federal oversight mandates, while still keeping rigor in state accountability regimes and real pressure on nonperforming schools. Whether the redraft will do the job, if enacted into law, remains to be seen.

One recalls a passionate critique by Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights, during the first HELP Committee ESEA hearing in January. Henderson complained that the original draft bill “bent over backwards to accommodate the interests of state and local government entities that have both failed our children and avoided any real accountability for their failures.”

In any event, state-designed accountability systems must still meet federal requirements. All subgroups of students must be included. Student achievement data must be disaggregated to show whether all students are achieving, including low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, and English learners. Challenging academic standards must also be set for all students. However, the federal government is prohibited from determining or approving those standards.

On this last point, one again senses a deliberate effort to compromise on the issue of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and whether the USED waiver program amounted to a backdoor CCSS mandate, turning Washington into a national school board, and leaving, as one senator put it, too vast a “federal footprint” on school systems.

Analyzing and Digesting

Education groups of all stripes are now analyzing and digesting the revised bill, as are other sources within the government and among the public at large. To become law, the ESEA reauthorization will need continued bipartisan support in Congress and enough teeth in its accountability provisions to convince the White House that the neediest students in the poorest school districts in the country will be served by it. Time will tell.

The HELP Committee’s original draft bill for the current reauthorization effort, released this past January, was styled the “Every Child Ready for College or Career Act of 2015.” In the new bipartisan draft, the bill gets renamed as the “Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.”

If you’re going to peruse the draft, be forewarned: it’s a 601-page behemoth that will take a bit of time to get through. You might want to start with the summary.

As the bill goes through additional debate and markup starting next week, points of contention will be identified, further recommendations submitted, and new language proposed via the amendment process. Literacy advocates, including the International Literacy Association, will be following the process closely, taking additional action if necessary.

 

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.

It may be hard for some of us to believe, but in some low-income communities there is just one book for every 300 children. Consider how a book drought affects summer learning loss and knowledge gaps when students no longer have access to the school library.

This month’s #ILAchat will feature Book Love Foundation and First Book, non-profits that combat the education gap during the summer season through providing access to books year-round.

First Book and Penny Kittle, co-founder of Book Love Foundation, will be on hand during the chat to share with educators how to take part in the crusade to promote summer reading despite of the challenge of a book drought.

Kittle is an English teacher, literacy coach, and director of new teacher mentoring at Kennett High School in North Conway, New Hampshire. She is the National Council of Teachers of English Policy Analyst for the State of New Hampshire. She is the author of Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers, Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing. She co-authored Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft and My Quick Writes.

Kittle founded the Book Love Foundation in 2012 with her husband. The organization supports teachers who exemplify a passion for promoting reading by donating independent libraries to engage adolescents. The Foundation provides teachers with starter libraries of 500 books and since beginning, the group has funded 13 classroom libraries and awarded grants to 10 additional teachers.

First Book, founded in 1992 by Kyle Zimmer, is dedicated to making books available to all children on an ongoing basis. First Book has distributed more than 120 million books and educational resources to schools and programs serving low-income families, and on average First Book delivers more than 35,000 new books per day. 

Join @ILAToday in the #ILAchat On Thursday, April 9, at 8:00 p.m. ET.  Make sure to use the hashtag so you don’t miss any posts!

Madelaine Levey is the communications intern the International Literacy Association.