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. 

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.

Defining Literacy

Before looking into the problem of illiteracy in the educational system, it is important to create a working definition of literacy for this blog.  Various definitions of literacy include:

Merriam-Webster Definition:  “Literacy – The quality or state of being literate

                                                    Literate: a. Educated, Cultured b. able to read and write”

Encyclopedia Britannica Definition: “Literacy – Capacity to communicate using inscribed, printed, or electronic signs or symbols for representing language”

In addition, the definition for literacy as presented by Morrison, Bachman, and Connor (2005) is “having knowledge or competence” including “developing knowledge and skills that facilitate learning” (pg. 9).

While definitions for literacy range from broad or general to specific, it can be difficult to determine the best language to describe literacy.  Overall, this blog will define literacy as the quality of being able to read and write, and will look specifically at formative literacy (when students are just beginning their education).  Illiteracy would then be the inability to read or write.  However, at times, the definition from Morrison, Bachman, and Connor will be revisited to incorporate the wider definition of obtaining knowledge or competence in a subject.