Maine Setting the Pace for Adolescent Literacy
Contact: Media Contact: Kay Hyatt at (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine — Basic reading and writing are no longer sufficient for today’s high school students who must demonstrate strong literacy and critical thinking skills to meet performance-based standards in content areas and to succeed at work and participate in a democratic society. Yet, few content area teachers have the training or time to include literacy development into also packed curriculum demands.
The University of Maine is part of a partnership and national demonstration site working to address this dilemma. Professional development is crucial, and more than 50 teachers from Madawaska to Falmouth are signed up to take the July 7-16 Adolescent Literacy Advanced Institute, designed to help subject matter teachers weave literacy development into their instruction.
The graduate level course was developed and is taught by Jeff Wilhelm, UMaine associate professor of literacy, and Tanya Baker, literacy coordinator at Brewer High School and a UMaine doctorate student in literacy. Institute participants, representing high schools from Madawaska to Falmouth and Harrison to South Paris, will also conduct action research about their use of reading interventions throughout the year, attend follow-up classes and engage in peer coaching.
The course was first taught last year as part of the Washington County Adolescent Literacy Project, a 3 1/2-year collaborative to create, sustain and study school-wide literacy initiatives at the high school level. The project, involving six Washington County high schools, is creating a statewide and national model for making reading and writing essential components of lesson plans, instruction and assessment in all subjects. A total of 57 Washington County teachers have completed the institute.
Partners in the Adolescent Literacy project include the Northeast & Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, the state Department of Education, the University of Maine (through the College of Education and Human Development), the Washington County Consortium for School Improvement, the University of Maine at Machias and the Mitchell Institute.
The project works to advance the goals of the Adolescent Literacy Support Framework — broad themes to help build student learning and skills — developed by the Lab and its partner organization, the Center for Resource Management. Key components include: student motivation to read and write; research-based literacy strategies; reading and writing across the curriculum; and support and sustainability.
The only model of its kind in the country, the Washington County project is unique because of its collaboration and alignment with major state education priorities and secondary school reform initiatives, according to Julie Meltzer, a project manager at the Regional Lab. For example, it is connected to and supports the goals of the Maine Learning Results, state and local assessment, Promising Futures, the Center for Inquiry on Secondary Education, the Center for Inquiry on Literacy, the Maine Adult Education and the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.
The project has three parts: technical assistance to design, implement and monitor a school-wide literacy initiative at each participating high school; professional development for teachers in content area reading; and research studies of the initiative and its effects on content teaching and learning across the curriculum in each participating school.
The Northeast and Island Regional Educational Laboratory, a program of the Education Alliance at Brown University, is one of 10 regional laboratories, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, working to promote knowledge-based school improvement and systemic reform. The Lab at Brown serves New England, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin islands. It works with policymakers, state departments of education, educators, parents and community and business leaders to develop and implement effective education reforms appropriate to the needs of the region’s communities. For more information visit www.alliance.brown.edu/programs/lab.