Literacy Blogs

12 January, 2012

Disciplinary Literacy is NOT the New Name for Content Area Reading

Recently, Cyndie and I published a study on disciplinary literacy in the Journal of Literacy Research (Shanahan, C. Shanahan, T., & Misichia, 2011). In the study we report on our efforts to identify the special nature of literacy in three disciplines. We looked specifically at history, science (chemistry), and mathematics.   The study was based on the theory that it would be useful to account for such information when teaching students to read. The idea is that if students were taught to read history in a way that corresponds to how historians read they'd be better equipped to handle such materials. Obviously ...

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03 January, 2012

Parent Involvement

A friend of mine, Alfred Tatum, and some of our graduate students at the University of Illinois at Chicago developed a guide to encourage parent involvement in their children's learning (supported by Tavis Smiley). They gave me permission to post a copy of it for your use on my blog. One of the best parts of this guide is that it supports parent involvement not just in the early grades, but through high school. That is absolutely correct! Parents can play a specific and direct role in their children's learning. I hope you find it useful.   https://sites.google.com/site/shanahanstuff/parent-information

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21 August, 2011

Rejecting Instructional Level Theory

A third bit of evidence in the complex text issue has to do with the strength of evidence on the other side of the ledger. In my two previous posts, I have indicated why the common core is embracing the idea of teaching reading with much more complex texts. But what about the evidence that counters this approach?   Many years ago, when I was a primary grade teacher, I was struggling to teach reading. I knew I was supposed to have groups for different levels of kids, but in those days information about how to make those grouping decisions was not ...

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11 July, 2011

Common Core Standards versus Guided Reading, Part III

The past couple of blogs have dealt with the challenging text demands required by the new common core standards. Teachers who have been used to moving students to easier texts are in for a rude awakening since the new standards push to have students taught at particular Lexile levels that match grade levels rather than "reading levels."   Last week, I explained the evidence about the importance of text difficulty that was provided by the ACT. This week, I want to expand upon that explanation to show some of the other evidence that the authors of the common core depended upon, evidence ...

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05 July, 2011

Common Core Standards versus Guided Reading, Part II

So why is the common core making such a big deal out of having kids read hard text?   One of the most persuasive pieces of evidence they considered was a report, “Reading: Between the Lines,” published by American College Testing (ACT; 2006). This report shows the primacy of text in reading and the value of having students spend time reading challenging text in the upper grades.   Virtually every reading comprehension test and instructional program makes a big deal out of the different kinds of questions that can be asked about text. You’d be hard pressed these days to find teachers or principals who ...

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29 June, 2011

Common Core Standards versus Guided Reading, Part I

The new common core standards are challenging widely accepted instructional practices. Probably no ox has been more impressively gored by the new standards than the widely-held claim that texts of a particular difficulty level have to be used for teaching if learning is going to happen.   Reading educators going back to the 1930s, including me, have championed the idea of there being an instructional level. That basically means that students would make the greatest learning gains if they are taught out of books that are at their “instructional” level – meaning that the text is neither so hard that the students ...

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17 June, 2011

What it Means to Teach

I was recently reading a draft of a doctoral dissertation. I was eager to read it because it was written by a smart student who I know to be a good teacher, and who has focused on important issues in literacy education. But, I was disappointed.   The study looked at how students thought about and reasoned about the complex information that they were asked to read. The scholar had challenged the kids with a collection of complex texts and videos.   The reason for my chagrin was not the design or results of the study, but the reaction of the researcher. The kids ...

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07 June, 2011

The Fine Line Between A Problem and an Excuse

Recently, Diane Ravitch had an article in the New York Times. One of the things that she said was that, “If every child arrived in school well-nourished, healthy and ready to learn, from a family with a stable home and a steady income, many of our educational problems would be solved.” This is a familiar echo of an earlier David Berliner article, “Our Impoverished View of Educational Reform,” in which he emphasized the educational importance of poverty and its horrifying off-shoots: ill nourishment, lead-paint poisoning, psychiatric disorders, drug/alcohol abuse, inadequate housing, and so on.   And who can disagree? Poverty is horrible, ...

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02 June, 2011

Comparing the Common Core and Reading First

Sorry about not posting for a while. I've been particularly busy, and even worked in a vacation. But my eye is back on the ball and I hope I have something of interest for you.   Recently, I received a letter: “I am writing to you because members of our state’s Department of Education believe that there is no alignment between the Common Core Standards and Reading First. Do you know of any document that aligns these two approaches for the early grades?” Clearly, the writer is concerned that the gains and improvements made through Reading First may be lost as attention ...

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17 April, 2011

Okay, principals, why are manhole covers round?

Human resources specialists kill me. They love to ask prospective employees weird questions with the idea that the out-of-leftfield approach will catch the job seekers off guard and get them to reveal themselves. (Barbara Walters did the same thing for years in her TV interviews of celebrities: “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” Kind of makes you want to cry.)   I was asked recently by a reader of this blog what questions I would ask a prospective principal to make sure that I made the right hire. It’s a great query and I wasn’t ready ...

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