Carnegie Report Calls for a Revolution in Adolescent Literacy

A Time to Act, the final report released last week by the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, calls on education leaders to restructure schools, particularly grades 4-12, around literacy. For example, the report advocates for hiring teachers skilled in literacy instruction across content areas, building adolescent literacy training into preservice and ongoing professional development for teachers and principals, and using and maintaining statewide data systems that inform all literacy instruction.

Capitalizing on A Time to Act requires active support from the federal government. The report suggests putting more money (via Title 1 or creation of a separate fund) toward disadvantaged middle and high school students; supporting common core standards (like these); and backing the draft reading legislation currently kicking around Congress, which proposes $1.2 billion toward literacy in grades 4-12 (currently funded at $35 million per year under the Striving Readers program).

Though adolescent literacy instruction is prime for more research and development, A Time to Act underscores the importance of teaching reading within the nuanced context of each subject area, and beyond the current concentration on decoding skills in grades K-3.