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RDG 5890
Literacy Program Proposal
Comprehensive Literacy Program Proposal
Statement of the Problem.
Adolescent literacy rates are declining nationally while literacy demands are dramatically increasing. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, almost seven thousand students drop out of high school every day mostly because they do not possess the literacy skills required to keep up with the increasingly complex high school curriculum (Kamil, 2003; Snow & Biancarosa, 2003). Even among students who do graduate from high school, inadequate reading skills are a key impediment to success in postsecondary education (American Diploma Project, 2004).
Robertson County high schools’ reading/language arts achievement scores stayed stagnant or declined the last three years and fell slightly below state averages in some areas. For example, English ACT scores, a clear indicator for college preparedness, were for years 2009-2011: 19.8, 19.4, and 19.0. Each year showed a decline. However, scores in this area did slightly exceed the 2011 state average of 18.8. TCAP writing scores for 11 th grade fell below state averages (TN Dept. Ed., 2012).
The overall arching problem is the increasing literacy demands and declining literacy skills in adolescents. Literacy struggles must be addressed with effective tools, practices, and interventions. Whether the student is considered a proficient or struggling reader, waning motivation and interest in adolescent reading are a key part of this literacy crisis. Low motivation and interest, along with comprehension difficulty attribute to academic frustration, apathy, and low performance on academic assessments and college preparation. In addition to these circumstances, content area teachers face two hurdles—

2 challenging content and low reading comprehension among a majority of students.
Content area teachers need training and support for reading strategies to aid reading in the content areas for both the complexities of the ideas and text structures.
Struggling readers (below proficient) need supplemental assistance in reading strategies and practice in addition to their regular English class requirements. Structures within the school need to support literacy initiatives, such as additional time for reading and writing and professional development and collaboration, which foster an environment for literacy success.
The basis and overall goal for this literacy program proposal is to provide opportunities, by using research-based strategies and practices, for academic success for both teachers and students, creating identities of successful, growing readers (and teachers of reading) through a comprehensive approach. The recommendations of this literacy proposal are based upon the Reading Next and Writing Next recommendations reported by the Alliance for Excellent Education (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Graham &
Perin, 2007). The recommendations are: student interventions for struggling readers; literacy development across content areas with teacher supports; and structures for supporting literacy.
Data and Expected Outcomes.
The goals are:
 students increase student achievement in all content areas;
 students gain confidence in reading abilities broadly using research-based research strategies in all content areas;
 struggling students receive direct reading interventions; and

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RDG 5890
Literacy Program Proposal

teachers gain training and skills to confidently and effectively teach reading comprehension strategies.
Multiple data sources will provide measurements of literacy improvement and progress monitoring. Data from the TN Department of Education, TCAP and ACT scores, along with Benchmark assessments, classroom assessment, and teacher feedback will be evaluated throughout the school year (and when scores are available) to determine student progress in literacy skills and teachers’ use of strategies.
Structures for Supporting Literacy.
For the success of any initiative, school leadership--principals and the literacy team--must support the program through a shared vision, collaboration, and support.
School leaders and literacy teams should collaborate with teachers through staff development, PLCs, and informal communications with candid feedback. Reasonable, reachable, and measureable goals, based on a review of current and available data, should be collaboratively set in terms of student progress and use of instructional strategies in the classroom.
Structures within the school can enhance or foster a positive environment for literacy success. By providing time for staff to meet and develop instructional goals and plans, faculty across the grade levels and content areas can effectively implement the strategies and monitor progress. Further, structures within the school schedule should allow for extended times for reading and writing for all students and should include time and resources for writing workshops and book clubs.
Literacy Interventions for Struggling Readers and Writers.

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Struggling readers need additional instruction and supports to gain and practice literacy skills in an environment that is highly differentiated to meet the needs of each student. Three combined approaches are proposed for meeting these challenges given constraints on monetary resources: a small reading intervention class for basic readers, one-to-one tutoring, and Read 180 for below basic readers.
READ 180 , created by Scholastic, recently received promising results from a fouryear U.S. Department of Education evaluation, which showed significant effects in raising reading achievement for students in grades 4-12 (Institute of Educational
Sciences, 2012). This comprehensive, computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program, consists of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development. Students in this program move through three 20-minute rotations—adaptive technology, independent reading and direct explicit instruction in reading, writing, and vocabulary skills from the teacher. The program aligns with new Common Core State Standards
(lots of nonfiction, high interest text from many genres), provides differentiation, and a student friendly, videogame like, computer format to motivate and self-direct learning in addition to providing progress feedback. The program’s expense prohibits expansive utilization; however, the specialized, differentiated instructional components, computerized programming, professional development provided by Scholastic, and proven track record make this program a worthwhile investment.
The second recommendation, a small intervention class, for basic readers which provides metacognitive reading strategies, such as question generation and summarization, to aid comprehension and build skills, which also includes cooperative learning (students work in four or five member teams to help one another build reading

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RDG 5890
Literacy Program Proposal skills). Using before, during and after reading strategies, such as KWL, Think Aloud,
Reciprocal Teaching, Cornell Notes, Double Entry Journal, and Writer’s Workshop, modeled and taught by teachers, with a gradual release of responsibility to students, students will gain the necessary skills for comprehension. This class would use high interest diverse text selections and relevant application and discussion, with lots of student choice of reading materials to foster motivation.
Lastly, for students who also struggle with fluency, decoding, and vocabulary issues, one-to-one literacy instruction for 20 hours is recommended (possibly in lieu of or in addition to Read 180
—to be determined by student need and reading specialist/teacher). One-to-one literacy tutoring for adolescents is an effective means of accelerating literacy skills (Houge, Geier & Peyton, 2008). Volunteer tutors from the
Austin Peay State University, College of Education (and/or teachers on extended contract) will provide tutoring after training by the reading specialist. Tutors will assess student strengths and weakness, determine specific literacy needs, and design and implement appropriate instruction. Lessons will include: reading fluency, phonetic instruction, vocabulary instruction, guided oral reading, writing, and comprehension strategies.
Strengthening Literacy Development Across Content Areas.
Implementing the literacy strategies across content areas requires training and support for teachers, which will be fulfilled through professional development, coaching/modeling, and peer observation. While multiple reading strategies will be taught and implemented—to be determined as the most effective and useable by the content teachers—three reading strategies will be the starting foundation for content area

6 teachers: Cornell Notes (emphasis on vocabulary, questioning, and summarizing), Think
Alouds, and activating background knowledge. Summarization enhances student achievement for all students in all subject areas, and was identified as one of Marzano,
Pickering, and Pollock’s most effective strategies for enhancing student achievement
(2001). Think Aloud strategies allow the student to hear the cognitive process as the teacher models his or her thinking aloud showing the students how the teacher makes meaning of the text (Davey, 1983). The last “must” are strategies for building background knowledge. It is widely recognized that new learning connects to the reader’s background or prior knowledge, therefore making it imperative that some background knowledge exists to construct comprehension. This can be accomplished many ways such as using graphic organizers (e.g. KWL chart), whole group discussion, media (e.g. video clips), other texts, anticipation guides, etc. The goal is for teachers content area teachers to develop these strategies into regular class routines upon which the students begin to independently use across all content areas.
Conclusion.
The proposed literacy plan broadly addresses the needs of waning literacy skills in adolescents through a comprehensive approach. The plan uses widely accepted research-based practices proven effective in enhancing student achievement, motivation, and teacher effectiveness. The plan encompasses all content areas, faculty, and student body. While one component of the plan uses a commercial reading program, Read180 , the majority of the proposal, based on Reading Next and Writing Next recommendations, which can be easily implemented with current faculty with training and with support from leadership (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Graham & Perin, 2007).

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RDG 5890
Literacy Program Proposal
Action Plan. (see attached excel document).
Comprehending Content: Reading Across the Curriculum (Grades 6-12), directed by
Hartman, Lisa , produced by Hartman, Lisa (Stenhouse Publishers, 2006), 117:32 mins

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References
ACT, Inc. (2006). Reading between the lines: What the ACT reveals about college readiness in reading. Iowa City, IA: Author. American Diploma Project. (2004).
Ready or not: Creating a high school diploma that counts. Washington, DC:
Achieve, Inc.
Biancarosa, G., & Snow, C.E. (2006).
Reading next--A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report to Carnegie
Corporation of New York.
Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.
Davey, B. (1983). Think-aloud: Modeling the cognitive processes of reading comprehension. Journal of Reading , 27(1), 44-47.
Houge, T., Geiger, C. & Peyton, D. (2008). Targeting adolescents’ literacy skills using one-to-one instruction with research-based practices. Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy (51) , 640-650.
Institute of Educational Sciences, (2012). What Works Clearinghouse. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/read180/index.asp.
Marzano, R.J., Pikering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works:
Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement . Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.