While adolescent foundational skills interventions can be critical levers for reading improvement, district leaders, teachers, and researchers must make complex decisions about how to evaluate their effectiveness in context. In this discussion article, we explore three issues and tensions we experienced during a 2-year research-practice…

Abstract The authors illustrate how literacy and language arts teachers work with students to help them act and engage as agents in and beyond school. The authors demonstrate how teachers design environments for learning and practice and how young people use resulting skills and motivations intentionally as a result of their experiences in those…

Literacy is the foundation for success in school and society. An essential goal of every school is to help every student read, write and think critically. Dedicated teachers are the catalyst for reaching this goal. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) developed a literacy professional learning model to better support these dedicated…

The following comment was inspired by an English teacher at Health Sciences High & Middle College in San Diego, California: "There's still a question on the table. How can we get our students to read more and better? They read what they have to, and they're doing OK, but how do we ensure that they are ready for what comes after high…

During the past several years, middle schools and high schools have been shifting their attention to disciplinary literacy. The Common Core State Standards are explicit in requiring teachers to teach the literacy of science, literature, and history, and even states that are not part of Common Core (such as Texas) are making this shift as well.…

The purpose of this report is to describe the technical qualities of the 2018-2019 operational administration of the English language arts/literacy (ELA/L) and mathematics summative assessments in grades 3 through 8 and high school. The ELA/L assessments focus on reading and comprehending a range of sufficiently complex texts independently and…

The purpose of this report is to describe the technical qualities of the 2018-2019 operational administration of the English language arts/literacy (ELA/L) and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and high school. New Meridian, in coordination with multiple states and vendors, developed an alternate form of the summative assessment to…

This design case follows an ongoing collaboration between an instructional technologist and a high school literature teacher promoting reading comprehension through modules that provide visually interesting display of text on a computer screen along with cognitive tools. The modules were found to boost comprehension of specific content in even one…

Saskatoon Public Schools made the decision 10 years ago to undertake major changes in how it supports professional learning. The district began with two major priorities: increasing literacy in elementary schools and transforming high schools to increase student engagement. The district appointed a facilitator for each priority in central office,…

A draft of grade-by-grade common standards is undergoing significant revisions in response to feedback that the outline of what students should master is confusing and insufficiently user-friendly. Writing groups convened by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA) are at work on what they say…

Since teachers lack a certified reading specialist to guide their high school literacy efforts, they have never had a well-reasoned, research-based plan for addressing the growing needs of adolescent readers. According to a June 2009 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report, most U. S. secondary schools do have personnel who are…

This article describes 10 recommendations for creativity, higher-order thinking, and meaningful learning activities that can be used to guide teachers in constructing an engaging AP course: (1) Be on the committee that decides how students will be selected for AP; (2) Maximize time and connections through blocks of time with an English colleague;…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Last Cut Is the Deepest: Final FY 2011 Spending Agreement Cuts Spending by Nearly $40 Billion, Includes More Cuts for Education…

Akins High School is the newest and second largest high school in the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. This report describes how the school has used small learning communities and the "HSTW" framework of Key Practices to improve the school culture, personalize the learning environment, improve student achievement and…

Nationwide, students in the middle grades and high school are failing to develop the reading and writing skills they need in order to meet higher academic standards. This report discusses the urgency of the problem and recommends that each Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) state develop a comprehensive set of policies that establishes…