Reading has not received the emphasis it needs in secondary education. In comparison to other countries, the reading levels of students at the high school age is significantly lower. This is interesting because the literacy levels of younger students is increasing! How can this be? I think Shanahan and Shanahan laid out important points about the need to address literacy in secondary students. A personal story of mine came to mind while reading this. My high school did not offer reading courses to a majority of students. The only one they offered one reading class to Freshman that had lower reading and literacy scores. This class was designed to get them up to the level of their counterparts and once the class ended, they moved on in their education. How can this be productive? Shanahan and Shanahan highlight that literacy skills no longer translate from a young age to the growth hoped for in later educational years. They also highlight that not only are teachers apprehensive to teach reading in their discipline but they are also not as effective as once hoped either. Addressing these problems is difficult but engaging secondary students in literacy courses could help. Today's students are going to enter a world and a job market where higher-level reading skills are very important so building those skills all that we can would help work to solve the problems. I worked as a peer leader in the above mentioned literacy class at my high school. My duties involved grading papers and helping students with group work and reviews. In this role I saw the growth and change in the students' literacy abilities from the beginning of the course to the end. If this course could work for them to improve their abilities, then why not engage ALL students in that? Stopping with just the students who have lower literacy skills allows the students who already had established reading skills to remain stagnant.
As a Teaching of History major, the parts of the writings that pertained more to history stood out to me. Specifically, the ideas that literacy in history involves the reasonable questioning of sources and
I found the writing about literacy practices in physical education very interesting. I never thought of
physical education as an opportunity to promote literacy and I assume most of us did not. I found this article interesting because it did open my eyes to the concept that literacy exists in ways where you least expect it. An important aspect that this reading brought up was counteracting the idea of making students "disciplinary experts", such as telling students to "think like a Historian" in History or "think like a scientist" in Chemistry or Biology. I can understand why this would be problematic. First, it is difficult to expect this of every student in every class. Am I supposed to be a scientist and think like one in my period one Chemistry class then transition over to a historian for my second period World History class all in the four minute passing period? Then continually do that all day? That is a big burden to place on students. Furthermore, that doesn't take into account students' personal feelings about each subject that could affect their ability to engage in that kind of rhetoric. I believe that this could also be addressed with literacy courses for all secondary education students. Rather than lay the focus on each teacher to teach literacy in their own discipline, the classes could supply students with a higher set of skills that apply to all the disciplines in different ways.What do you guys think? What do you think could be a solution to addressing literacy issues in high school students? Do you think that adding a literacy class could help or would it place another burden on already resource struggling schools?
I agree with you when you say that, "...engaging secondary students in literacy can help," especially considering that the literacy scores of students in high schools in America compared to other countries are much lower. Literacy is something that is very important, because every subject has some sort of text and, in order to comprehend the text, one has to have adequate literacy skills, which many high school students unfortunately do not have. Like you, I am a history major, and in my high school, questioning sources and addressing for biases was not emphasized enough. This is problematic, because these skills are very important within the discipline of history in comprehending historical texts. I think adding a literacy class would really help high school students, both struggling and typically-developing students. The class can help struggling students reach the desired literacy level of high school students, and it can help typically-developing students reinforce and hone their knowledge of literacy skills and they can be challenged to further improve their literacy skills through texts that are slightly above their literacy levels. I think this would help students progress through their high school careers in a much more fruitful way.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of questioning sources should be emphasized more. It speaks to a wider understanding of literacy that involves more than just reading the text but also includes searching for deeper understandings and wider meanings. This kind of literacy applies to other disciplines as well beside History.
DeleteThis article is sadly true. Our education system gives up on students who do not know how to read after a certain point. Most schools do not offer a class to help the students who cannot read. I however, was luckily enough to go to a school that did offer extra help. When I was younger I struggled a lot with reading comprehension. From 1st to freshman year of high school I received extra help on reading comprehension. When I was in grade school I was pulled out of class once a week to do reading exercises to help my comprehension levels. Then when I reached high school I was put into a reading class my freshman year. I think these extra class truly helped me but a lot of student do not receive this and start to fall behind.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad these extra offers have helped you. Do you think extending these out to all students, rather than just those who are struggling, would make a difference?
DeleteThanks for sharing! I thought your comment about literacy in high school interesting, "My high school did not offer reading courses to a majority of students. The only one they offered one reading class to Freshman that had lower reading and literacy scores." With tracking in schools there is a major focus on getting students to reach benchmarks using academic texts. I think many students associate reading with dense abstract texts. Students loose focus and become interesting because they cannot connect. I think at the secondary level just as much as the primary level there need to be a push to get students read. Read something whether its fiction, non-fiction,graphic novel, historical fiction, or sci-fi! Unfortunately many students are not reading at home because of lack of resources or maybe there is note a quite place to read. Something I need teachers need to do is allow for quiet time in class, give students choice in their reading based on their interests, and don't make read a chore. Allow their reading to be a time where they can become the expert on the topic! As teachers we must promote practices that our students will voluntarily do outside of school. Students need to "buy in" with reading and reading outdated textbook will not cut it in 2018. It starts will promoting literacy through lenses of authority, autonomy, agency.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea. I think it could help students build a positive relationship with reading rather than viewing it as tedious and unhelpful.
DeleteIn class we've discussed the idea that literacy isn't just taught in only reading or literature classes but is something that is found and should be taught in every single subject offered in the curriculum. Reading and finding the themes, metaphors, big ideas, the main argument is something that carries over into a lot of subjects. I think the issue as to why students in high school struggle with literacy is that literacy is treated and thought of as something that's only done in English classes. Although it is, students are also reading chapters in their science and math books, reading articles on artists and musicians, researching authors and political figures. Many teachers and even students themselves aren't realizing just how much their literacy is carrying over and I think therein lies the problem. I think one solution could be making these connections with the students. Letting them know how all of these things are related. I think once they can look at the bigger picture, they'll be able to see it themselves. I think it also connects to the idea that someone students think they "suck at math" but are "good readers." These ideas aren't separated but connected. I think more students need to realize that.
ReplyDeleteAnother possible solution is hidden in that question you proposed earlier, "If this course could work for them to improve their abilities, then why not engage ALL students in that?" I think schools are so focused on how to get their test scores up and how to encourage and help the students who aren't meeting those scores that they forget to further encourage and enrich those students who are already meeting or excelling their expectations to work even harder. I think the belief is that since those students are already doing well, they obviously don't need any help and that's where they fail those kids. By focusing all their energy to those who are falling behind, which is definitely something that should be doing, the ones who are already succeeding get forgotten. You're right in that ALL students should be encouraged and nurtured.
I agree with your assertion that schools are often focused too much on test scores rather than positive results for all students. This prevents growth of literacy but it also stems from faulty educational policy.
DeleteDane,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it sad that many of us do not realize this things until college? As you described based on your experience, have you known about the bias that certain books, writers may have would have changed your mind when using a particular text. As many of us mention, teachers are so focused on scores not by their choice, that they forget the reason they became teachers. Shanahan and Shanahan, in there study (20008), explain that even though many of the teachers saw some benefit form some of the literacy strategies, they were reluctant to use them and will most likely not use them.
It is certainly sad, that we have to wait until college to realize this. If we are not preparing our students to navigate advanced text, then it should not be a surprise that many of them end up dropping out.
I think the fact that these kind of problems are not fully realized until college is problematic. What does that mean for students who choose to go into trade or the military? Under our current system, they would miss out on these all together.
DeleteThanks for sharing.I am totally agree with you . This situation that students don't know how to read not only happen in America but also in China. I never took a reading class Either in the Middle school or High school because we don't have such a class. The only chance to read is in Chinese Course.We read the article written by scholars from China but only for examination.Sometimes I don't really know about the meaning of the article. Nowadays,people rather uses their phone or computer to read gossip not to read articles.I think this should be changed too.I think we should do as teachers is to encourage our students to read by themselves in case of they find they don't know how to read at all someday.
ReplyDeleteThe perspective of a student from China adds an interesting layer to this discussion. Do you have any idea what policies China might be pursuing to address these issues?
DeleteI also think reading did not get the attention it should be in secondary classrooms. I think your point is clear because you analyze it from your own experience. It's true that school curricula are getting harder in the high-growth times, but students are getting worse in the ability of reading and writing. I think this is an important flaw for education, where teachers focus more on higher scores than on literacy. Shanahan points out the importance to improve students' ability of secondary literacy. I agree with you that let secondary students participate in literacy courses could help because reading is a lifelong work that we should all pursue. We should not be biased toward students. Moreover, the job market today is increasingly competitive, a higher level of reading skills is vitally important, to cultivate the ability of reading and writing will help students to develop. All in all, as educators, we should emphasize student’s aptitude, give them choice in their reading based on their interests, and not conduct the curriculum and arrangement by classifying the ability of students.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think the focus on rising scores to a certain level hinders growth for those students who have already reached that level.
DeleteHey Dane, thank you for your sharing. I think schools should add a literacy class to help students read as many books as they can. with technology developing, there are more and more technique electricities around our life. Adolescents paid much attention on computer and mobile phone and spend less time on literacies. So, I think it is a good idea to have a literacy class for those adolescents. Students can communicate with each other about literacy problems and find their own way to solve the problems. Besides, students can change their ideas with each other in a literacy class, what they have read, what they have write, and what they are plan to do about literacies. By this way I think their literacy skills will improve.
ReplyDeleteStudents do spend a lot of time on their phones and computers. Do you think that these can be utilized to grow literacy in classrooms?
DeleteYou make a good point by talking about your experience and highlighting the point that "literacy skills no longer translate from a young age to the growth hoped for in later educational years". There's more that needs to be done to not only engage with students in reading but also improve their ability to increase their scores in academic literacy and comprehension described by Elizabeth Birr Moje. Ms. Moje talks about the discipline of literacy especially with the idea of teachers working with new material to use with students. In-regards to your experience with P.E. I can recall a few times when handouts were passed around to read on. I remember thinking about how it was interesting to learn about some key topics relating to health and how it seemed great to do from time to time, but obviously I preferred the activity then the just the reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested that you had handouts in your PE classes. Do you think these helped you grow in your literacy skills?
DeleteHi Dane. I think that the advantages of adding a literacy class overweight disadvantages of that. Although it seems that students spend more time having classes, they will improve their literacy ability after class which helps them understand the source texts better. Therefore, they can learn other specific subjects, like literature and history, more efficiently and effectively. This reminds me that I could understand each word but was unable to understand the meaning of the sentences when reading an English article at middle and high school. If there were literacy classes at that time, I think it would help me a lot.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you said that literacy in history involves a lot of analysis about sources and addressing biases. I also was not taught this skill in high school. I feel like so many teachers just assume students are prepared to do this without ever having being taught. This leads to frustration on behalf of the student and the teacher and the students not learning as much as they could. In response to your question, I feel like a full class devoted to literacy, in a perfect world, and implemented perfectly, could be really beneficial. However, I feel like literacy classes, in the current system, would place an undue burden on most schools because they probably wouldn't be implemented correctly and students would resent them. I believe literacy classes would be awesome, but first I think that we need to figure out how to incorporate literacy into every classroom because I don't feel like that is a standard enough practice yet.
ReplyDeleteI could see literacy classes ending up problematic rather than beneficial. Many school districts do not have the proper funding or vehicles to actually implement these without issue.
DeleteI think you make some excellent points about the state of literacy in secondary education in this country right now. As someone only a few years out of high school, I can see noticeable differences between the top students and the bottom students that is expanding every year. Even in a highly rated suburban school, the students are becoming less and less skilled with literacy at the high school level and it really shows. I think adding the literacy class would be a necessity in most cases. I think there should be a process of testing out or into specific levels where there is 4 years of literacy. The class should be a requirement, but if basic middle school requirements are met, the students should be able to test into the 3rd or 4th year of literacy and be done with it in 1-2 years. It should be a way for students to catch up to the literacy needs of high school where they may have lacked the education or work ethic to learn the skills while in middle school and before.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about students testing out of it. Wouldn't we want to continue student growth regardless of where they compare to their peers?
DeleteI agree with what you say about literacy and secondary education. I had something similar happen at my school. The "lower" students were in a class called lit seminar. It was a semester long class and the students in it would read and report on their books. After the semester was over, the class ended and they got another free period. I think it connects to the overall problem of schools not placing a lot of emphasis on literacy in high schools. I remember in elementary and middle school being encouraged to read as much as possible. Also, as a fellow teaching of history major, I totally agree with you about your use of the biased book as a source. Even though it is definitely biased, we can still use it as a source to show the biases that existed back then. By using critical thinking and analysis, we're able to look deeper at sources and utilize them the best way possible.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of emphasis placed on these strengths I believe has contributed to the stagnant literacy levels.
DeleteOne of the biggest thoughts I have had is in regard to your inquiry about how do we solve literacy problems in education and not allow students who are average to remain stagnant. In my high school, every class required that we maintain the same level of writing in all classes. The rules and regulations for writing in our English class were enforced in history and science classes. We obeyed begrudgingly, however, in my humble opinion, that unanimous enforcement made me into a better writer in all disciplines. Many people would argue that responsibility to literacy does not rest on the other teachers in a school. However, even though it requires more of teachers, having unanimous literacy expectations and training in all classes would help encourage those "stagnant" students to continue striving and learning.
ReplyDeleteI could see that being effective. Do you think it achieved the level hoped to achieve?
DeleteI agree that getting students to "think like experts" is a bad goal. I've read that all experts had to think like novices at one point. (Daniel Willingham, Cognition) There was a study where they tested novice chess players and expert chess players. They had each group look at a chess game in progress, then take the image away and asked the participants to place chess pieces on a blank board to reproduce the image they just saw. Novices would put pieces on the board in clumps that were close to each other. Experts would place pieces on the board that were strategical relevant to each other, as in the set of pieces that are attack and protecting the queen for example. Experts think in functional terms because they have been able to see the multitudes of surfaces problems and been able to recognize the abstract rules going on underneath. Novices need to be novices before they can be experts, trying to skip that process by telling them how to think will not work.
ReplyDeleteI like the chess analogy. How do you think this can be applied to the classroom?
DeleteHi Dane,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! When I was in high school I found it difficult reading other curriculum books such as science books, or math literacy because my teachers did not teach me the different techniques. I also found literacy practices in physical education article very intriguing as well. I agree you would not expect literacy in your physical education classes. But, it does come with a lot of stress when trying to master different subjects. Unfourtently, our country has the lowest literacy rates, and Finland is the highest. That is why it is essential to have a literacy class in high school because it can help benefit their scores.