Adolescent Literacy: Ensuring that No Child is Left Behind
Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler
The University of Kansas
Center for Research on Learning
(REVISED July 17, 2003)
(This article appeared in the November 2003 issue of Principal Leadership under the title "Don't Forget the Adolescents.")
In America, we have a fundamental belief that all children should learn the basics of reading in the primary grades and continue to build on those skills throughout their elementary and secondary school years. But the reality is that over 5,000,000 high school students do not read well enough to understand their textbooks or other material written for their grade level. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2002), twenty-six percent of these students cannot even read material that many of us would deem essential for daily living, such as road signs, newspapers or bus schedules. Students unable to handle the demands they face in high school will certainly struggle in technical school and college. For example, over half the students in college remedial courses will drop out of college. In short, if the reading challenges experienced by these individuals are unmet in high school, they face the real possibility of being undereducated, underemployed, and underprepared to participate successfully in the twenty-first century.
If reading problems are allowed to persist into adulthood, the consequences for individuals can be formidable. The National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS, 1992) indicated that about 22% of adults were performing at Level 1, the lowest of five literacy levels. This Level 1 group is considered to be functionally illiterate. Those who are functionally illiterate lack the ability to use reading, speaking, writing, and computational skills in everyday life and work situations. For example, a functionally illiterate adult is unable to fill out an employment application, follow written instructions, or read the directions and complete a 1040EZ Tax Form. In sum, when confronted with printed materials, adults without basic literacy skills cannot function effectively.
United States policymakers are aware that America has a literacy problem. The No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 with its focus on elementary and middle schools, offers a long-term strategy for improving adolescent literacy. However we need to recognize that many adolescents have short-term needs. Only 40 % of all high school students can read well enough to comprehend their textbooks. The reading skill deficits of these students must be addressed in high school. Without intervention, millions of adolescents will have their futures largely foreclosed because they will lack the skills needed for the workplace, for further education or to take their place as citizens and heads of household. No child or adolescent can be left behind in the quest for literacy, equal opportunity, and a future with promise.
Over the past decade, there has been a significant investment made in understanding how people learn to read and in how to teach reading and related skills. Most of that attention has been focused on pre school and the primary grades, not adolescents. However, effective reading instruction for students in pre school and the primary grades may provide a viable blue print for teaching adolescents how to improve their reading proficiency. For example, the key components of reading instruction found effective for younger students (word analysis, fluency, comprehension) seem appropriate for adolescents when developmentally modified for this population.
According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Report Card, adolescents continue to read at levels that indicate limited growth in reading proficiency (NAEP, 2002). The trend data in Table 1 indicates that both 8th and 12th grade students "plateau" in reading skills with the average scores in the low proficient range. Twenty-three percent of these students read at the "below basic level." Overall, we still have flat line reading scores indicating little growth. Thus, despite some slight improvement in reading proficiency over the past three decades, many adolescents are not attaining high proficiency or advanced reading skills necessary for success in high school and an information-based economy.
The challenge before local, state, and federal leaders is to change this flat profile of literacy outcomes for adolescents. The problem, in part, exists because teaching literacy skills to the most underprepared adolescents is not a major priority for most high schools. Students' poor achievement in reading, writing, and speaking are often ignored as students are passed from grade to grade and taught in less than rigorous classes. Fortunately, some answers are currently available to help teachers and administrators in search of solutions to adolescent illiteracy. However, there are many perplexing problems remaining for which answers must be found. One of the most significant educational problems in our country is the number of adolescents who lack sufficient literacy skills to benefit from a rigorous high school education to say nothing of being unable to compete in the job market following school. Educational leaders must carefully craft solutions that are powerful and workable within the constraints and realities of secondary schools.
Meeting the challenge of adolescents with poor reading skills in high school is the focus of this article. Topics to be discussed included: defining reading literacy, the need for high school reading instruction, outcomes of poor reading proficiency, and promising instructional practices.
