LITERACY DESIGN COLLABORATIVE
Content:
The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) is an approach to incorporating the literacy
College Readiness Standards for Texas and the Common Core State Standards for other
states into middle grades and high school content areas and making literacy instruction
the foundation of the core subjects. LDC allows teachers to build content using a
coherent approach to literacy.
The concept evolved from the work and research led by Vicky Phillips’, district and state
superintendent, and a current leader for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and what
she calls “the wisdom of practice.” The Common Core State Standards emphasis on
literacy across the core subjects inspired small groups of practitioners to collaborate to
create a way to ensure students leave high school with the literacy skills needed to
succeed. The group created a framework for the core secondary subject areas of ELA,
social studies and science. The work quickly expanded to a larger initiative and evolved
to become the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC). The project is supported by the
Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation. SREB has expanded the work to include the Texas
College Readiness Standards and STAAR standards as well as elective courses and
programs, especially Career Technical Programs in schools.
Overarching Goals of LDC:
 To engage students in reading, comprehending, analyzing, interpreting, and
responding to complex texts.
 To align assignments to the College and Career Readiness Standards within the
TEKS/CCSS and to promote collaboration
 To help teachers personalize learning so that every student can master the CCSS
 To ensure that all students can be college and career ready.
LDC Framework:
The LDC framework establishes the literacy framework first then allows teachers to add
their content on a solid literacy foundation. Teachers merge CCSS literacy standards with
important subject area standards while acknowledging distinctive literacy work in each
discipline.
The LDC framework is built around four structures:
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Section 1: What task? What tasks set clear, rigorous goals for learning? A quality
teaching task is paced for one to two weeks focusing on one or more texts that
involve students in addressing an interesting question, issue, or topic as they read and
write. The task encourages students to engage in critical thinking and sharing ideas
through discussion, speaking, and listening.
Section 2: What skills? What skills do students need to succeed on the teaching task?
Teachers must be clear on the reading, writing, and other literacy skills students will
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develop. These skills are identified by “back-mapping” from the requirements of the
teaching task. All LDC modules must involve some form of reading and writing skills
within clusters.
Section 3: What Instruction? How will you teach students to succeed on the teaching
task? Instruction is organized around teacher-ready “mini-tasks” or short classroom
assignments that teach the skills necessary to complete the teaching task. . These
mini-tasks create a formative assessment for monitoring what students are learning
and provide opportunities for teachers to correct any misunderstandings or skill
weaknesses students may have. All together, these features in the LDC system make
up what is called an “instructional ladder.”
Section 4-What Results? How good is good enough? Measuring student results is a
hallmark of good instruction. It also provides a way for teachers to calibrate rigor
levels so they have common understandings of expectations. The LDC framework
provides rubrics for measuring student writing products – argumentative,
informational/explanatory and narrative writing. Two examples of Tasks are
provided:
LDC Tasks vs. Traditional Writing Prompts:
Science Task
LDC Task
Traditional Writing Prompt
After researching the article on invasive species, Using examples we discussed in class,
write an essay that defines invasive species and explain what humans are doing to
explains how these organisms impact an
negatively impact the environment.
ecosystem, economy and people. Support your
discussion with evidence from your research.
(Informational)
ELA Task
LDC Task
After researching speeches which use
persuasive techniques, write a report that
defines persuasion and explains its impact on an
audience. Support your discussion with
evidence from your readings.
(Informational/Explanatory)
Traditional Writing Task
Using the notes in your journal, write
an essay about the techniques writers
use to persuade an audience.
As a result of the professional development, teachers learn to develop tasks using the
LDC Design Templates. By using the templates, teachers align the assignments to the
TEKS/College Readiness Standards and STAAR Standard and address their specific
content needs. After task development, teachers use the backward design planning
format to create instructional modules (units) to best prepare students to complete the
tasks. Modules include instructional strategies that embed literacy in learning the content
of the courses.
Simply stated, professional development results in teachers developing units of study that
align to specific tasks that are aligned to the college readiness TEKS standards.
Structure:
LDC development is built on a sequence of eight (8) days of professional development
for an initial group of teacher facilitators from each of the following content areas: ELA,
Science, Social Studies, CTE and/or Arts as well as building administrators and other
instructional leaders. Days 1 and 2 of training will occur on consecutive days. Teacher
facilitators will select a “buddy teacher” after completion of a Task 2 and assist “buddy
teacher with developing and implementing the task.
The goal is for each teacher facilitator to develop and teach a minimum of two-three (2-3)
tasks and modules) during the school year. “Buddy teachers” will develop and teach at
least one task and module. The following sequence is planned for all facilitators.
DAY TITLE
OUTCOMES
1
Introduction  Explore sample LDC tools (tasks, skill lists, instructional
to
ladders, modules).
Construction  Engage with teachers who have already implemented these
of a Task
ideas in their classrooms.
 Meet with a “crew” of three or four colleagues with similar
teaching roles who can work together on future projects.
2
Teaching
 Use Template Task 2 to create a teaching task to use during the
Task Design
calendar’s first “teaching time.”
 Use Template Task 11 to create a teaching task to use during
the calendar’s second “teaching time.”
3
A First
 Plan instruction, studying and revising each section of the LDC
Instructional
design team model ladder to work well with the first teaching
Ladder
task. Teachers teach a Task 2 after this day.
4
Scoring
Student
Work
 Reflect on the teaching experience.
 Score student work together, building deeper understanding of
Skills and
Ladders
(with more
variations)
 Plan instruction for a second teaching task, making greater use
Scoring in
Community
 Reflect on the teaching experience.
 Score student work together, building deeper understanding of
5
6
the LDC rubric.
 Choose sample student work to illustrate the results.
of LDC flexibility. Teachers teach a Task 11 after this day.
LDC rubrics and potential collaboration across subjects and
levels.
 Choose sample student work to illustrate the results.
7
Module
Completion
 Convert the work so far into LDC modules that other teachers
can use or revise for their own teaching plans.
8
Deeper and
Wider LDC
Options
 Share and celebrate the tasks, modules, and student work
created so far.
 Explore LDC options: sequences, courses, additional
templates, and additional partners.
 Explore LDC expansion, including state and local scaling
possibilities.
Extension of Support (Content Coaching)
SREB has learned that the rigor of the College Readiness and TEKS State Standards and
the challenge of the tasks/modules are such a radical departure from the way teachers
have used literacy in their classrooms that many teachers need additional support. SREB
offers to extend all professional development workshop series by providing teacher
facilitators with ongoing, job-embedded content coaching. Unlike workshops, content
coaching involves the trainer working with teachers in their classrooms. Support may
include, but is not limited to:
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Modeling instruction;
Co-teaching;
Peer observing;
Planning LDC team meetings; or
Other strategies to assist the teacher facilitators with implementation.
Each school may choose to add Content Coaching for a specific number of days to the
support. SREB recommends schools include at least one content coaching session
between each workshop session.