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Article Excerpt
The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) recognizes the importance of addressing critical issues related to adolescent literacy and advocates for effective reading and writing instruction for struggling middle and high school students, especially those with learning disabilities (LD). (1) This report describes the adolescent literacy problem (grades 4 to 12), its consequences, and factors that contribute to it. Later sections address guiding principles for assessment, instruction, and professional development, concluding with recommendations for short-term and future consideration.
Literacy is a complex set of skills that comprise the interrelated processes of reading and writing required within varied socio-cultural contexts. Reading requires decoding, accurate and fluent word recognition, and comprehension at the word, phrase, sentence, and text levels. Writing requires automatic letter formation and/or keyboarding, accurate and fluent spelling, sentence construction, and the ability to compose a variety of different text structures with coherence and cohesion.
THE PROBLEM
Data specific to learning disabilities are lacking, but several useful inferences can be drawn.
For example, significant numbers of adolescents in the United States do not read and/or write at levels needed to meet the demands of the 21st century. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and writing assessments (Grigg, Donahue, & Dion, 2007; Perle, Grigg, & Donahue, 2005; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003) indicate little improvement in development of literacy skills for the nation's 13- and 17-year-olds. With respect to reading, the most recent NAEP data (Grigg et al., 2007; Perle et al., 2005) indicate that 36% of fourth graders and 27% of eighth-grade students in the United States scored at the Below Basic level of proficiency, which NAEP defines as partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade level. These students have difficulty with one or more of the following:
* Literal understanding of what is read;
* Ability to identify specific aspects of the text that reflect overall meaning;
* Extension of the ideas in the text by making simple inferences;
* Drawing conclusions based on the text.
Additionally, at the 12th-grade level, 26% of 17-year-old students do not demonstrate a fundamental ability to communicate in writing, which means they may have difficulty with skills such as the following:
* General understanding of both the writing task at hand and the audience to be addressed;
* Inclusion of details that support and develop the central idea of a piece;
* Organization that reflects consistency in topic, sequencing, and a clear introduction and conclusion;
* Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization accurate enough that they do not interfere with meaning.
Recognition of the adolescent literacy problem has received national attention in recent years as seen in documents such as the Alliance for Excellent Education's Reading Next (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004) and Writing Next (Graham & Perin, 2007) as well as the Center for Instruction's Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents (Torgesen et al., 2007). In addition, initiatives such as the Striving Readers Program (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a) are designed to raise literacy achievement in secondary students.
The basis for this current interest is a recognition that emphasis on early reading and writing alone will likely fall short of the ultimate goal of improved literacy for all unless a similar investment is made in reading and writing instruction for older students. A wealth of evidence shows that intensive, high-quality literacy instruction can help students who are struggling build the skills they need to succeed in high school and beyond (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004).
The overall picture of adolescent literacy in the United States is not promising, but it is even more discouraging for older students with learning disabilities--the focus of this paper.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF LITERACY PROBLEMS FOR ADOLESCENTS WITH LD
Underdeveloped literacy skills have profound consequences for students, families, and society. These effects are academic, social, emotional, and economic in nature. Students with LD are often inadequately prepared for the academic challenges presented across the educational continuum from grade four through postsecondary settings.
It is reported that secondary students with LD experience significant deficits in reading and math when compared to other students assigned to the same grade level; for example, 21% of these students are estimated to be five or more grade levels below in reading (National Longitudinal Transition Study II, 2003). Students with LD and/or low literacy levels drop out of high school at higher rates than the general population. The dropout rate for this group was estimated at 31.6 % compared to 9.4% for students with no disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2007c). Only 11% of students with LD, compared to 53% of students in the general education population, have attended a four-year postsecondary program within two years of leaving high school (National Longitudinal Study II, 2003).
Evidence suggests that the literacy skills of many high school graduates are insufficient for success in the workplace and society. It has been reported that low achievement in literacy correlates with high rates of poverty...
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