2007 NCTE Legislative Platform
Adolescent Literacy

NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform: A Policy Research Brief NCTE Legislative Platform: Adolescent Literacy Standards for Middle and High School Literacy Coaches NCTE/IRA Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse "What Are the Characteristics of Effective Literacy Coaching?" Principles of Professional Development

The National Council of Teachers of English supports the passage of legislation encouraging the development of literacy initiatives -- such as the Striving Readers Act of 2007 -- to improve student achievement in middle and secondary schools through high-quality, long-term, inquiry-based professional development provided for all educators in a school or district. To that end, we advocate full funding for:

• Programs and practices that promote critical thinking, communication and collaboration, creativity and innovation to ensure that students are prepared to succeed in a global economy.
  
• Appropriate assessment structures and instructional support for the education of English Language Learners for whom research shows that long-term support integrating multilingual resources leads to higher student achievement.
  
• Ongoing support for the development of literacy coaches who engage in intensive, sustained study of literacy education and best practices in professional development.
  
• Formative and summative assessments that enable teachers to plan for instruction based on the individual strengths and needs of diverse students.
  
• Research that evaluates the efficacy of adolescent literacy programs and the dissemination of findings.