This brief enhances recommendations and policy strategies from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) publication "Reading to Achieve: A Governor's Guide to Adolescent Literacy". It reflects lessons from recent research and best practices from states selected to receive NGA Center support to develop statewide K-12 literacy plans. These plans build upon states' early literacy (kindergarten through third grade) approaches by adding components to support adolescent literacy (fourth grade through twelfth grade). Consistent with the governor's guide developed by the NGA Center Adolescent Literacy Advisory Panel, this brief recommends five policy strategies and provides examples of steps states can take to improve adolescent literacy: (1) Build support for a state focus on adolescent literacy; (2) Raise literacy expectations across the curriculum; (3) Encourage and support school and district literacy plans; (4) Build educators' capacity to provide adolescent literacy instruction; and (5) Measure progress in adolescent literacy at the school, district and state levels. (Contains 58 endnotes.)