NCTE and Adolescent Literacy: Walking the Walk
by Kent Williamson, NCTE Executive Director
September 2006 Council-Grams

It has been one year since NCTE opened a Washington, DC, area office. While much has been accomplished in that time, some of the most important lessons learned by the NCTE staff are subtle. We’ve learned about how literacy issues are “framed” in policy discussions, which organizations are viewed as credible experts, and how NCTE and English language arts teachers have been positioned in the education reform paradigm. There may be no issue where the lessons are as vivid as our experience in trying to establish what is important in improving adolescent literacy learning.

It is clear that most education issues are shaped by the struggle for the “attention” of Congress and policy leaders. The formula for gaining attention typically starts with a dire description of the current problem and the implications of not solving it. Next, programs and initiatives are designed to serve as solutions that the government should invest in. While describing the problem and sketching possible solutions are essentially abstract exercises, at the implementation stage, the process of evaluating and funding initiatives, things get messy. Thus the current controversies around No Child Left Behind reauthorization and Reading First follow the same script: the problems that these programs address are inarguably important, but implementation of the “solutions” has gone awry. It’s time to reform the reforms.

Several reputable organizations have played a lead role in defining the adolescent literacy crisis as a public policy problem. Among these are the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and leading organizations for principals and school boards, including NASSP and NSBA. To a lesser extent, NCTE, IRA, the National Writing Project, and other coalitions of educators have played a role in defining this issue, but for the most part, the crisis has been defined by organizations not primarily made up of teachers. The fact that we have not been a leader in defining the parameters of an issue that lies at the core of the daily work of more than half of our members is a reminder of how important it is for NCTE to become more effective at the “framing stage” of federal and state policy work as quickly as possible.

At this time, it is essential that NCTE take a lead role in demonstrating how adolescent literacy teaching and learning can improve. If we don’t make change happen within our professional community, change will be forced upon us. We are committed to progress in three realms:

1. Policy Research: Last spring, the Squire Policy Research Office produced a policy research brief, NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform. The document offered this conclusion:

Reform in adolescent literacy requires a recognition of the seriousness of the problem as well as a reconceptualization of the role of secondary school teachers in all fields, including the introduction of new approaches to teaching, new forms of collaboration, and systematic assessment of results. Professional development promises to be the most productive area on which to focus reform efforts because research shows that professional development yields the greatest improvement in student achievement.

This brief has been circulated among other policy groups and provides a rationale for proposals to support long-term teacher learning as the most powerful means of improving adolescent literacy learning.

2. Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse: NCTE and other subject-matter associations were invited by IRA to collaborate in creating Standards for Middle and High School Literacy Coaches. While standards are important, NCTE and IRA agreed that there must be a way to collect and disseminate information about how literacy coaching is being taken up in various districts and school contexts. Last spring, we hired Nancy Shanklin to serve as the director of the National Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse, co-sponsored by NCTE and IRA. Within the next month, the website of the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse will be launched, to share findings from programs across the country.

3. Professional Development: Later this fall, NCTE will introduce the Engaging Adolescent Literacy Learners Pathways, a systematic, locally-customizable professional development program for individual teachers and school groups. Based on both our principles for adolescent literacy reform and on the principles for professional development that are emerging from a year-long study by the NCTE Executive Committee, the Pathway is organized around five questions that middle and high school teachers face daily:

• In the face of high-stakes testing pressure, how do I support my students without compromising what I know constitutes good teaching?
  
• How do we improve learning for adolescent learners whose scores have fallen short of targeted achievement levels?
  
• How can I ensure that I’m teaching challenging, engaging content to all of my students?
  
• What can I do to inspire student motivation to learn?
  
• What does it mean to be literate in the 21st century and how can I teach my students the skills they need to be successful in the future?

The range of resources that will be available to Pathway participants is vast. It includes interviews with leading thinkers and practitioners, journal articles, book chapters, and links to related resources. It also provides access to an e-portfolio tool so participants can document their own, and their students’, learning. We know that exchange of perspectives and growth in a supportive community is essential, so Pathway learners will also gain daily access to experienced NCTE members playing four key roles -- community builder, resource gatherer, synthesizer, and recorder. And, events will be planned at the NCTE Annual Convention and meetings of cooperating affiliates to provide face-to-face learning opportunities for Pathway learners.

In short, the Engaging Adolescent Literacy Learners Pathways is our best effort to “walk the walk” -- to engage our most knowledgeable and accomplished members as resources and learning guides for teachers across the country who are willing to voluntarily commit their time to improving adolescent literacy learning outcomes. There are roles for hundreds of Council-Grams readers and NCTE affiliates to play in contributing to this effort. To learn more, please email me or NCTE Professional Development Director Sharon Roth at for details and additional information.