New Adolescent Literacy Efforts include Summit, Task Force

At a groundbreaking summit on adolescent literacy May 7, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster announced the foundation of her new, statewide adolescent literacy task force.

Statewide assessments of reading achievement show that the proportion of students proficient in reading declines as they move from elementary and middle school to high school. Additionally, while middle and secondary teachers are well prepared to teach content, they need additional support in helping students apply literacy strategies to improve their ability to read.

Thus, adolescent literacy and funding for literacy programming and staff development have been identified as major priorities for raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps.

"Adolescents must read proficiently to be successful," Burmaster said. "As educators and policymakers, we have focused most reading initiatives and funding at the elementary level. We must now focus, as well, on whether our middle and high school students can read and comprehend the sophisticated materials they will encounter in the modern workplace and digital world."

The State Superintendent's Adolescent Literacy Task Force is made up of educators from PK-12 and higher education, school administrators, library and reading specialists, policymakers, parents, and elected officials. Chairing the group are Doug Buehl, reading specialist at East High School in Madison, and Mary Pfeiffer, executive director of instruction for the Green Bay Area School District. The task force will review state and local policies and initiatives that support adolescent literacy; identify research-based resources related to effective practices that promote literacy development, raise performance, and close the achievement gap; and develop a comprehensive adolescent literacy plan for the state of Wisconsin.

The summit was sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Alliance for Excellent Education with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Great Lakes West Comprehensive Assistance Center. More than 200 education policymakers, elected officials, business and civic leaders, social service providers, researchers, parents, and practicing teachers and administrators attended the conference. Its goal was to build connections among the many groups and individuals working in Wisconsin and neighboring states to improve the teaching of reading and writing in the state's middle and high schools.

Additional information: http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/eis/pdf/dpi2007_43.pdf

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Last updated on 5/14/2007