Works Cited

Below are the list of articles and research that were cited throughout the course of the blog.  Each citation is also included in the blog post which directly relates to the reference and resource material

Works Cited

“Are schools responsible for the prison pipeline?”. (2007). American School Board Journal, 194(4), pp. 19.

Au, K.H., Raphael, T.E., & Mooney, K.C.  (2008).  What we have learned about teacher education to improve literacy achievement in urban schools.  Improving literacy achievement in urban schools: Critical elements in teacher preparation (pp. 159-184).  International Reading Association.

Caravette, L.  (2011). “Portrait of the reader as a young child”.  Children & librarians: The journal of the association for library service to children, 9(2), pp. 52-57.

Clemmitt, M. (2008).  Reading crisis? Do today’s youth read less than past generations?  In CQ Researcher, Issues in K-12 education (pp. 281-304).  Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell G.S.  (1999). Matching books to readers, Using leveled books in guided reading, K-3.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Press.

Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). Improving literacy in America.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 173-184).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). Sociocultural factors.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 19-42).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). The “perfect educational storm”.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 155-170).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Ravitch, D. (2000).  Left back: A century of battles over school reform.  New York: Touchstone. 

UNDP (2009).  Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development.  URL: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf

UNESCO (2011).  Adult and youth literacy.  UNESCO Institute for Statistics.  URL: http://www.uis.unesco.org/FactSheets/Documents/FS16-2011-Literacy-EN.pdf

Winn, M.T. & Behizadeh, N.  (2011). “The right to be literate: Literacy, education, and the school-to-prison pipeline”.  Review of research in education, 35 (1), pp. 147-173. 

Improving Literacy in America: What are Possible Solutions?

There are numerous scholars and researchers discussing how to improve literacy in America.  These range from advocates for the utilization of the traditional phonics pedagogy to the advocates of the whole language pedagogy to myriad other advocates for other ways to improve literacy among our children.  Two articles that I will discuss further in this blog post were written by Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005), who rely heavily on Diane Ravitch (2000), and Au, Raphael, and Mooney (2008).  The approach discussed by Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) is at times broader in scope than the work by Au, Raphael, and Mooney (2008), whose approach focuses more on the level of the school.

Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) discuss seven ways to improve the state of literacy among students in our classrooms.  These seven recommendations are as follows:

“1) Start Early (before children begin school)
2) Promote Effective Parenting
3) Provide Uniformly High-Quality Childcare Experiences for Children
4) Foster Children’s Self-Regulation as well as their Literacy Skills
5) Strive for Individualized Instruction
6) Enhance the Quality and Status of Teachers
7) Promote Ongoing Dialogue and Interaction between Researchers and Teachers” (Morrison et al. 2005).

The authors discuss the importance of emphasizing literacy early with children and beginning to read out-loud to children as soon as possible.  This requires parents who are devoted to helping their children succeed, but also requires quality early childhood education for all students.  We need to help students acquire important literacy skills as early in their development as possible and continue to support them as they develop.  Ravitch (2000) also advocates for allowing students to take more control of their education, connecting to Morrison et al.’s (2005) argument for increased self-regulation among children.  Finally, our society needs to begin to value teaching more as a profession in order to attract more highly qualified teachers to the field.  Teaching is an integral part to our society, and one of the best ways to solve the problem of illiteracy is by recruiting more highly knowledgeable and passionate teachers to the field.

While the recommendations posed by Morrison et al (2005) are valuable to understanding ways to improve literacy in America, Au et al. (2008) further discusses ways to improve literacy by providing a specific strategy for schools to implement to improve literacy.  The seven steps for this strategy are:

“1) Recognizing a Need
2) Organizing for Change
3) Working on the Building Blocks
4) Moving as a Whole School
5) Establishing the System
6) Implementing the Staircase Curriculum
7) Fully Engaging Students and Families” (Au et al. 2008).

To begin to improve literacy in schools, administrators and teachers must recognize the problem and work together to solve it.  They must also consider working with other outside organizations (such as those listed in an earlier blog post) to further strengthen the support for improving literacy.  The most important part of this process is creating what the authors define as a “staircase curriculum”.  The authors define a staircase curriculum by stating, “Teachers create literacy curriculum guides that define progress at each grade level in terms of “steps” on a coherent “staircase” curriculum” (Au et al 2008).  To create this curriculum, the teachers at a school first work together to assess their students and their current curriculum and determine what practices are working best and what practices are not working.  The teachers then design a curriculum around the strengths of the old curriculum and look for ways to bolster and support these current strengths.  The authors, much like Morrison et al (2005), also advocate for fully engaging parents in the process of literacy education because parental support is integral to help students achieve.

Authors of both articles provide excellent recommendations for improving literacy in America.  Beginning literacy education early, as well as fully engaging parents in the process, is integral to promote literacy acquisition among our students.  In addition, allowing teachers and researchers to work together to discover new pedagogies and techniques provides teachers with the autonomy and respect they need to further work to solve the issue of illiteracy.  Ultimately, the solution to childhood illiteracy will require students, teachers, parents, researchers, and communities to work together towards the goal of literacy for all students.

10. Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). Improving literacy in America.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 173-184).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

11. Au, K.H., Raphael, T.E., & Mooney, K.C.  (2008).  What we have learned about teacher education to improve literacy achievement in urban schools.  Improving literacy achievement in urban schools: Critical elements in teacher preparation (pp. 159-184).  International Reading Association.

12. Ravitch, D. (2000).  Left back: A century of battles over school reform.  New York: Touchstone. 

An Interesting Pedagogical Approach to Literacy: Using Comics to Promote Literacy Development

The YouTube video above highlights an interesting pedagogical approach to teaching literacy: the utilization of comic books in classrooms to promote literacy.  Initially I was skeptical of what this teaching approach would look like, but after watching this video I began to see connections and how using comic books can be beneficial to students.

First, comic books help students acquire certain necessary reading skills required for literacy acquisition.  Skills such as reading from left to right and from top to bottom are easily identifiable to students when they read a comic book.  The use of pictures also helps students understand the meaning of words and can aid in vocabulary acquisition.  In addition, it is easier for many students to identify with characters from comic books with which they are already familiar, further promoting interest in reading among children.

Using Comic books can also be a useful strategy when helping students learn to write.  The pedagogical approach discussed in the video is a similar one I have seen used in my Kindergarten classroom at Bailey Gatzert.  Teaching students to write starts with having students draw pictures to tell their stories and then turn those stories into spoken words and eventually written words.  Students can tell clear stories through their use of pictures and this provides them with important literacy skills as they continue to learn to write and acquire literacy.

Anne Haas Dyson, the author of the book “Writing Superheroes: Contemporary Childhood, Popular Culture, and Classroom Literacy” also advocates for the use of comic books to promote literacy among students.  Her book and research looks at the benefits of using comic books with 7-to-9 year-olds and finds many litearcy and social benefits to the process.

Here is the synopsis from the book:

“Based on an ethnographic study in an urban classroom of 7- to 9-year olds, Writing Superheroes: Contemporary Childhood, Popular Culture, and Classroom Literacy examines how young school children use popular culture, especially superhero stories, in the unofficial peer social world and in the official school literary curriculum. In one sense, the book is about children "writing superheroes" - about children appropriating superhero stories in their fiction writing and dramatic play on the playground and in the classroom. These stories offer children identities as powerful people who do battle against evil and win, but they also reveal limiting ideological assumptions about relations between people - boys and girls, adults and children, people of varied heritages, physical demeanors, and social classes. The book, then, is also about children as "writing superheroes." With the assistance of their teacher, the observed children became superheroes of another sort, able to take on powerful cultural storylines. In this book, Anne Dyson examines how the children's interest in and conflicts about commercial culture give rise to both literacy and social learning, including learning how to participate in a community of differences” (1997). 

There appear to be many benefits to using comic books during a child’s literacy acquisition, and while support for this pedagogical approach exists, more support is needed in order to see this approach utilized in more classrooms. 

Illiteracy and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

The School-to-Prison Pipeline, as described in the American School Board Journal (2007), asserts that “what happens in schools – or fails to happen – determines, in large part, whether young people enter the criminal justice system.”  Students of color and low socioeconomic status are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system and this is in large part due to the education they have received.  In fact, many prisons plan for their future populations by looking at 3^rd grade reading standardized test scores.  If children do not know how to read by 3^rd grade, they are put at a disadvantage and continually go on “losing streaks” within the educational system.  Most commonly the students who do not receive adequate literacy education are those students of color or low socioeconomic status and it is these students who need the most assistance.  As written by Winn and Behizadeh (2011), “Low-quality literacy education is a key component of the school-to-prison pipeline.” 

Winn and Behizadeh (2011) argue that one of the contributions to declining literacy and the school-to-prison pipeline is the declining in academic rigor.  As the authors (2011) state, “To achieve academic rigor in literacy, students need a literacy education that is social, contextualized, and values multiple literacies.”  Currently, many of our under-performing schools are preparing students to take tests, but are not teaching students to understand and contextualize what they are learning.  Students in these schools are not receiving quality literacy education and this is negatively impacting their futures.

Winn and Behizadeh (2011) argue that our educational system needs to move towards seeing literacy as a civil right.  The authors (2011) state, “Education is a civil right, especially learning to read and write critically, for students to both interrogate written texts and disseminate their own writings.”  The authors later quote Fecho and Skinner (2008) when they state, “If literacy is a civil right, we need a literacy that gets beyond the rote skill and drill of phonics, decoding, and comprehension.”  All students need to receive quality literacy education that goes beyond merely preparing students for a test.  Reading and writing skills are essential for students to succeed in a society and educators need to help all students read and write critically.  In order to help students that are being disproportionately affected b y the school-to-prison pipeline, we need to re-imagine how we teach literacy in some of our most underserved schools.  Literacy is not something that can only be taught for a test; literacy, reading and writing, is something that must continually be emphasized and seen as a right for all students.

8. “Are schools responsible for the prison pipeline?”. (2007). American School Board Journal, 194(4), pp. 19.

9.  Winn, M.T. & Behizadeh, N.  (2011). “The right to be literate: Literacy, education, and the school-to-prison pipeline”.  Review of research in education, 35 (1), pp. 147-173. 

Organizations Working to End Illiteracy and other Resources

While researching this topic of illiteracy, I have discovered several resources and websites dedicated to literacy education and helping all children and adults learn to read.  Below are just a few of the resources I have discovered:

ABC Learn: http://www.abclearn.org/

            ABC Learn, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that has been working since 1996 to raise student achievement and end illiteracy by assisting students, parents, teachers, and the school system.

The Center for Literacy Studies: http://www.cls.utk.edu/

            The Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee supports continuous improvement in education through research studies and projects.

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement: http://www.ciera.org/index.html

            The Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at the University of Michigan provides lesson plans, presentations, and other educational resources for teacher use to help improve literacy levels.

First Book: http://www.firstbook.org/

            The First Book project works to end illiteracy by providing over 85 million books to children in need.

National Children’s Literacy Project: http://www.child2000.org/lit-tips.htm

            The National Children’s Literacy Project provides literacy instruction techniques and materials to teachers and parents.

Read Alliance: http://www.readalliance.org/

            The Read Alliance works to improve the education of at-risk students by providing one-on-one literacy tutoring.

Literacy Council of Seattle: http://www.literacyseattle.org/index.htm

            The Literacy Council of Seattle is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching reading and literacy skills, primarily to adult learners in the Seattle area.

Understanding the Stages of a Child's Literacy Development

 Work done by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell (1999) and Loretta Caravette (2011) has focused on the stages of a child’s literacy development.  These stages include: 1) Early Literacy, 2) The Emergent Reader, 3) The Early Reader, 4) The Transitional Reader, 5) The Self-Extending Reader, and 6) The Advanced Reader. 

Early Literacy

At this stage, during a child’s early years (2-5 years old), parents are integral to early literacy foundation.  This stage is initiative by parents reading aloud to their children and involving their children in as much written and spoken language as possible.  According to Caravette (2011), research shows that “reading to a child from an early age influenced performance in school for the better.”  During this stage in their development, children begin to develop “vocabulary, sound structure, the meaning of print, the structure of stories, and language” (Caravette 2011).  Children are also beginning to learn the alphabet and the corresponding letter names and sounds.

The Emergent Reader

Students are typically in this stage of development during their year in kindergarten.  Teachers and parents utilize picture or story books and continue reading to children aloud.  Children begin to develop key literacy skills for the future.  Children begin to match spoken words with written words and learn to read from left to right on the page.  Students are still learning the alphabet, and the letter names, shapes, and sounds.  Teachers begin to teach students to write the alphabet and children begin to recognize upper and lowercase letters.

The Early Reader

Students often reach this stage in their literacy development in first grade.  Students continue to understand the alphabet and “symbol-sounds relationships” (Caravette 2011; Fountas & Pinnell 1999).  Students at this stage typically develop a set of high frequency words that they begin to use dominantly.  In addition, students generally develop greater writing skills and learn different kinds of texts including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

The Transitional Reader

Students generally enter this stage of literacy development during the second grade.  At this point students are becoming more fluent readers and begin reading for meaning (Caravette 2011).  Students develop their skills in the use of “meaning, grammar, letter cues, and phonics” to read more fully (Caravette 2011).  Students at this stage have mastered a greater number of high frequency words and rely less on pictures when reading.  Students begin to move away from picture books and towards books with more text.  Tools such as the dictionary and thesaurus are introduced during this stage.

The Self-Extending Reader

Typically by third grade, students are beginning to enter this stage of literacy development.  Students are “moving from learning to read to reading to learn” (Caravette 2011).  Students utilize reading in all of their other subjects and rely on reading to understand various content and applications.  Students have a large core of high frequency words and can utilize their reading strategies to learn and understand unknown or new words.  Students begin to understand the various purposes for reading and transition into a focus on chapter books.  Students at this stage begin to connect with characters and enjoy reading books with diverse groups of characters.

The Advanced Reader

Students generally enter this final stage of literacy development in the fourth grade.  Students continue to learn and develop all of the previously mentioned learning and reading strategies and will continue to utilize these skills throughout the rest of their life.  Students read a wide variety of texts for meaning and understanding.

While children and students develop as readers, it is possible for them to possess aspects of two different stages at once.  Teachers and parents need to work on understanding where each child is in their development to best aid students in achieving full literacy.  The various sociopolitical and historical influences on literacy and illiteracy, previously mentioned in the blog, can impact students at any stage of their literacy development.  Understanding how these influences affect literacy development can aid parents and teachers in helping all children become advanced readers.

6. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell G.S.  (1999). Matching books to readers, Using leveled books in guided reading, K-3.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Press.

7.  Caravette, L.  (2011). “Portrait of the reader as a young child”.  Children & librarians: The journal of the association for library service to children, 9(2), pp. 52-57.

Historical Context for Illiteracy in America

Looking at the current reading crisis and illiteracy rate in America, the question to be asked is “How did this happen?”  While I have already discussed various sociocultural factors affecting the illiteracy rate, I will now explore the historical context of this issue.

Beginning with the generation of the 1960s and 1970s large changes in the construction of society began to take place.  According to Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005), members of this generation were fighting for equal rights for all people, and rejecting the authoritarian parenting style of their parents to focus on a more positive and encouraging parenting style.  Trends in society at this time, highlighted by Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) include: “1. Participation of women in the labor force, 2) Divorce and the family structure, 3) Educational attainment and family size, 4) Shifts in sexual mores, 5) Patters of sex-role behaviors, 6)Declines in religious service attendance, and 7) Changing educational philosophy and practice.”  At this time in society, women were achieving higher levels of education and being allowed more freedom and power in the work force.  In addition, divorce became more common as did cohabitation before marriage and greater sexual freedom.  However, for this look into the historical context of the problem of illiteracy, the two most important factors to consider are the shift in parental values and the concurrent changes in educational practices.

The shift in parental values towards a less authoritarian method can be seen as one contribution to the illiteracy rate.  Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) suggest that it seems parents have not utilized enough discipline or control over their children and this has caused children to be less “independent, responsible, self-regulated learners.”  Students are entering the school system without the necessary self-regulation skills needed to acquire literacy and other essential skills.  Self-regulation is integral for concentration, persistence, and listening skills all of which are needed for literacy acquisition.  While parents had the best of intentions when emphasizing a more encouraging parenting style to create happier children, an unhappy consequence is that many parents have not raised children with the necessary attributes of independence and self-regulation.

In addition, a shift in the educational practices at this time created problems for literacy acquisition.  The educational system began moving away from an emphasis on discipline and authoritarian practices towards a more progressive system that emphasized freedom and openness.  In the wake of this progressive shift in education, reading instruction was changed as well.  The early utilization of the phonics method of literacy instruction was replaced by the whole language approach (Morrison, Bachman, & Connor 2005).  This whole language approach focused on exposing children to meaningful literature and contexts with the understanding it will be easy for children to read once they decide they want to read.  However, the exclusion of phonics instruction (instead of using it in conjunction with the whole language approach) has been detrimental to literacy acquisition in students.  In addition, at this time, many highly-qualified women who would normally have entered the teaching profession decided to enter higher-status professions as a result of the greater freedom for women in the work force (Morrison, Bachman, & Connor 2005).  This meant that the teaching profession was being filled by average, less qualified teachers.  Also, these teachers had all received varying degrees of teaching preparation.  As a result, a less uniform and more variable style of teaching emerged which meant children began receiving variable instruction.  A variable applicant pool of teachers combined with the less effective whole language approach was detrimental to literacy acquisition for children.

However, it is important to note that the current illiteracy problem is a result of the combination of both the shift in parental values and the shift in educational practices.  If only one or the other shift had occurred, the current reading crisis may not be so severe.  However, it is the combination of these two historical shifts that has contributed to the current illiteracy problem in America.

5.  Morrison, F.J., Bachman, H.J., & Connor, C.M.  (2005). The “perfect educational storm”.  Improving literacy in America (pp. 155-170).  New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.