Adolescent Literacy Research
At an Arts Education Partnership forum held in June 2004, Ohio State Professor David Bloome gave an overview of research findings related to the literacy achievement of middle and secondary school students.
According to studies, the following areas should receive attention:
- Shifting from a focus on general literacy to a broader range of literacy practices that vary across the different academic disciplines.
- Helping students learn the deep principles in a subject and become skilled at applying those principles in varied ways.
- Engaging students.
- Focusing on intertextuality—making connections among texts, experiences, and subject areas.
- Encouraging self-assessment through reflection.
- Connecting literacy with understanding and resolving identity issues.
- Building on students' backgrounds and cultural practices.
- Helping students become self-regulated learners through effective after-school and community-based programs.
- Recognizing the importance of peer networks in non-formal contexts.
- Maintaining family involvement in students' literacy achievement.
(See the AEP Web site for a transcript of the June 2004 AEP meeting. The Web site www.reading.org includes the International Reading Association position statement on adolescent literacy and provides additional references.)
This article was published in October 2005, Volume 2, Issue 1.
Read more about research and the integration of arts and literacy.
