Addressing a 21st Century Crisis

Overview1. The Context: PD Leave Research question:

How can we create more of a reading culture in the ELI?

2. The Crisis in Literacy: Is [the lack of] reading “the silent killer” in literacy skills?

3. What should we do to address this problem?

What is the crisis in literacy?

Literacy CrisisEconomic

developmentInequities in

distribution of literacy skills

Insufficient skills in the workforce

Less time spent reading by younger generations, especially boys!

“In Education Chinese Students Lead the World.” http://digitaljournal.com/article/301153

Adolescent Literacy TrendsPISA 2009Girls outperformed

boys.Ss reading less than

in previous years.Ss with the most

strategies had highest scores.

Countries that targeted struggling readers improved their scores. Literacy scores by gender at age 15.

www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database

How Generation M ReadsPercentage of Time Spent Reading While Using Other Media7th- to 12th-Graders in 2003–2004Percentage of reading time

Reading while: Watching TV 11% Listening to music 10% Doing homework on the computer 3% Playing videogames 3% Playing computer games 2% Using the computer (other) 2% Instant messaging 2% E-mailing 1% Surfing websites 1% Using any of the above media 35%

Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Media Multitasking Among Youth: Prevalence, Predictors and Pairings, (# 7592), 2006 as quoted in To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007), NEA. Retrieved on October 17, 2011 from http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

What do declines mean for literacy?

“…the decline in the percentage of Proficient readers is occurring at the highest educational levels.” (To Read or Not to Read)

Table 6C. Percentage of Adults Proficient in Reading Prose, by Highest Level of Educational Attainment

Education level 1992 2003 Change Rate of declineLess than/some high school 1% 1% 0 0High school graduate 5% * 4% * -1 pp * -20%Vocational/trade/business school 9% 5% -4 pp -44%Some college 14% * 11% * -3 pp * -21%Associate’s/2-year degree 23% * 19% * -4 pp * -17%Bachelor’s degree 40% 31% -9 pp -22%Graduate study/degree 51% 41% -10 pp - 20%

* No statistically significant changepp = percentage points

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics as quoted in To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007), NEA retrieved on October 17, 2011 from http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

Young adults read the least

To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007), NEA retrieved on October 17, 2011 from http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

What’s the link between reading and writing skills?L1: Reading for pleasure correlates

strongly with academic achievement.Voluntary readers are better readers and

writers than non-readers.Frequent readers also score better on writing

tests than non-readers or infrequent readers. (“To Read or Not to Read,” 2007)L2 reading skills contribute moderately to

better L2 writing skills in Japanese high school students (Ito, 2011)

Complaints from Employers

To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence (2007), NEA retrieved on October 17, 2011 from http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

PISA RecommendationsTeach reading strategies.Close the gap between lowest and

highest performers.Promote and encourage reading for

pleasure.Focus on boys as early as possible.

At AUC: What do we know?How much reading is expected during the

school year? 39% of FY students read more than 10 assigned

books and packs of course readings. 27% read fewer than 5.

How much writing is expected? 16% of FY students write more than 10 papers

between 5 and 19 pages and 41% have written a paper more than 20 pages in length.

The Student Experience in Brief: AUC. NSSE Results accessed October 17, 2011 from http://www.aucegypt.edu/research/IR/assess/Documents/NSSE10_Student_Experience.pdf

How much time do students spend on homework each week?

36% of FY students spend more than 15 hours per week preparing for class. 19% spend 5 hours or less.

The Student Experience in Brief: AUC. NSSE Results accessed October 17, 2011 from

http://www.aucegypt.edu/research/IR/assess/Documents/NSSE10_Student_Experience.pdf

21st Century Learninghttp://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4EbM7dCMs

What should we do?

McKenna’s Affirmation“When a child and a book ‘connect,’ so that an

extraordinary personal significance is attached by the child to the reading experience, then the belief structures regarding the child’s expectations about reading and books will change positively. When the child’s choices are not guided by teachers attempting to bring about such connections, reading may never be more than an extended series of relatively tedious and largely superficial encounters with print.” (McKenna, 2001, p. 148)

Innovative Reading ProgramsReading LaddersInvestigating Big

IdeasLiterature

Circles/Book ClubsOne Book, One

CommunityReaders’ TheaterQuestioning the

AuthorReading BuddiesReading Olympics

Book talksBook trailersIllustrating Book PassagesBook Exchanges on

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis

Modeled Readings (Ts, buddies, recordings)

Book FloodsReading WorkshopsLiterary Letters“Gotta Keep Reading”

A current burning questionSchools have not been very successful in helping slow readers catch up with their peers. The question is, how can education be restructured in such a way that children at risk become better readers and do not face years of failure?

(Verhoeven, 2001)

Reading attitudesTend to worsen over time andWorsen more rapidly for poor readers.Girls tend to possess more positive reading

attitudes than boys.Ethnic group membership is not, in itself,

strongly related to reading attitudes.

(McKenna, 2001)

Positive Effects of Techniques and Materials on Attitudes to ReadingUsing high-quality literatureUsing questions to activate prior knowledgeReading aloud to studentsStressing links between literature and the lives of studentsTraining children in metacognitive thinkingArranging for students to participate in literature discussion

groupsArranging for children to correspond with college students

about reading (McKenna, 2001)

Principles for Promoting Reading MotivationConceptual themesReal-world interactionsSupport for self-directionUsing interesting textsCognitive strategy instructionSocial collaborationSupporting students’ self-expression

(Guthrie & Knowles, 2001)

Reading LaddersBegin with the end in mind. (Covey, 1989)

Find out where students are on the ladder and bring them where they need to be.(Lesesne, 2010)

What readings should we assign?QualityThoughtful selection of meaningful, accessible

textsConnections to larger, enduring questionsGood writing! Compelling writing is better!Provide variety: articles, book(s), films or film

clips, visuals (21st century literacy!)QuantityFerial Ghazoul’s Rule of 12Books, longer texts

Divide into meaningful chunks

Developing the Strategic ReaderPromoting engagement and habits of

mind3 key questions for processing in groups

or reading journals: What did it say? Main ideas Response: How do you feel? What

do you think? Criticism: How does it connect to

what you know? To other texts?

Developing Strategic ReadersPromote Active Reading: “How to Mark a Book”

Bring Books to Class. Model text interaction in class.

Create a Purpose: Who is Yali and what is his question?

Point out Text Structure: Titles, pictures, charts and graphs, discourse and structure patterns

Developing Strategic ReadersMetacognitive Strategies: Discuss the reading

experience What keeps you reading? Why did you choose this text? Do

they like it? What if they don’t understand?

Build awareness of allusions: Cultural, geographical, historical, literary

Honor Student Questions: Make them responsible

Vocabulary StrategiesFlashcards for academic and discipline-based

wordsOnline Vocab Collection Sites: Quizlet

http://quizlet.com/Anki: http://ankisrs.net/

Determine meaning from context

Roots, prefixes, suffixes

Dictionary Use

Making Reading Meaningful Connect to the bigger, enduring questions

Examples How can you find your best path to fulfillment in

life? Does fate shape our lives or do we truly make choices?

What should we let go of and what should we keep?

Connect to local and world events

Connect each new chapter or text to previous ones and to other texts students have read

The last word

Find ways to make reading fluent and

meaningful!