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Module OneAdolescent Literacy

Challenges

Did you know…?

Young adolescents aged 10-14 go through a period of brain development second only to the first three years of life in terms of the magnitude of change. The frontal lobe of the brain, which is the locus of problem solving, planning, memory, critical thinking, and mood modulation, develops during this stage. This area of the brain is not mature until about the age of 18.

Zehnder-Merrell (2002)

Did you know…?

According to 2002 NAEP data, 64% of 4th graders and 75% of 8th graders tested at or above a basic level in reading. Only 33% of 8th graders tested at a proficient level.

NCES (2003)

Did you know…?

While 4th graders showed an improved average score for 2002 NAEP reading scores (the first since 1992), 8th graders did not show a difference in the average score from 1998, and 12th graders showed a decline in performance since 1998 (lowest score since 1992).

NCES (2003)

Did you know…?

By the eighth grade, one of two students reported having the experience of teachers expecting too much and not understanding class work.

Zehnder-Merrell (2002)

Did you know…?

More than 23% of students at the 12th-grade level demonstrate only “partial knowledge and skills” that are deemed fundamental for their grade level.

Meltzer (2002)

Did you know…?

An unprecedented number of students are entering middle and high schools with limited English skills and widely varying literacy backgrounds in their native languages.

Meltzer (2002)

Did you know…?

The percentage of students from impoverished literacy backgrounds is growing at an astounding rate.

Meltzer (2002)

Did you know…?

29 percent of all first-time college freshmen enroll in at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course each fall. Consider that this group is from the top half of their high school classes.

Bowsher (2001)

Did you know…?

Unlike the consistent pattern over the middle grades in time spent watching television or playing computer games, leisure reading dropped significantly between the sixth and eighth grades, according to findings from the Michigan Middle Start survey.

Zehnder-Merrell (2002)

Did you know…?

Just over a tenth (12%) of eighth graders reported having read seven or more books (not including assigned books for schoolwork) within the past three months compared to almost a quarter (22%) of sixth graders. Almost a third (30%) of eighth graders had not read any books compared to only 15 percent of sixth graders.

Zehnder-Merrell (2002)

Did you know…?

Seventeen-million youths between the

ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet. This

number represents 73% of young people

in this age bracket.

Alvermann (2001)

Did you know…?

Close to 13 million adolescents use instant messaging (with one-quarter of that number saying that they pretend to be different people when online).

Alvermann (2001)

So What?

The literacy demands that adolescents will face as twenty-first century workers and citizens will far exceed what has been required in the past.

Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, & Rycik (1999)

So What?

For secondary level students, the social and economic consequences will be cumulative and profound… * failure to attain a high school diploma * a barrier to higher education * underemployed or unemployed * difficulty in managing personal lives

Peterson et. al. (2000)

So What?

Multiple indicators:

– 2002 NAEP assessment

– Standards-based assessments

– Complaints from employers

– Scores on standardized tests

So What?

All suggest that high school students do not have the reading and writing skills necessary to maximize content area learning nor to successfully negotiate the Information Age economy facing them.

So What?

If this trend continues…

– Democratic society is at risk

– Majority of our citizens will not have the literacy skills to participate fully and will not be able to claim their rights and fulfill their responsibilities