Educators know how to teach literacy.  Here is how:

1. Ensure that schools have enough properly trained teachers, safe and hygienic conditions, and conditions that support, rather than impede, teaching and learning,

2. Implement evidence-based programs for literacy instruction.

• From kindergarten to third grade, students should learn the following:
  • Alphabetics, or the idea that written spellings systematically represent spoken words. Alphabetics includes instruction in both phonemic awareness (awareness that spoken language is made up of phonemes) and phonics (the use of correspondences between written and spoken language to decode or spell words).  Alphabetics help students learn to read more quickly, decode words, learn to spell, and improve reading comprehension.
  • Fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Fluency can be improved by guided repeated oral reading procedures.
  • Reading comprehension must be taught directly. It involves vocabulary learning but also specific procedures that guide students to develop awareness of how they are comprehending as they attempt to read and write.
  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences has published numerous practice guides on early literacy, including the following:
    • Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (July 2016). This practice guide provides four recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common obstacles.
    • Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (September 2010). This guide recommends five specific steps that teachers, reading coaches, and principals can take to successfully improve reading comprehension for young readers.
    • Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers (June 2012). This practice guide provides four recommendations for improving elementary students’ writing. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common roadblocks
    • Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (April 2012). This practice guide provides four recommendations that address what works for English learners during reading and content area instruction. Each recommendation includes extensive examples of activities that can be used to support students as they build the language and literacy skills needed to be successful in school.

• For adolescents, literacy instruction requires the following:
  • Comprehension is the most important component of reading instruction at the secondary level and it should be a classroom activity for both language arts and content-area teachers.
  • Motivation is essential. Students must be motivated and engaged in order to develop their literacy, and teachers need to tune in to their students’ lives in order to understand what students find relevant.
  • Vocabulary instruction must be provided explicitly. Adolescent learners need to understand the words they encounter in increasingly difficult text and need strategies to figure out unknown words.
  • Word study and fluency instruction are also important for struggling readers.
  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences has published practice guides on adolescent literacy, including the following:
    • Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices (August 2008). This guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students. The recommendations aim to help students gain more from their reading tasks, improve their motivation for and engagement in the learning process, and assist struggling readers who may need intensive and individualized attention.

• Assessments and interventions
  • Students should be screened for potential reading problems through screening assessments, diagnostic tests, and annual reading tests.
  • Multi-tiered intervention strategies should be used when reading difficulties are identified.
  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences has published practice guides on assessments and interventions, including the following:
    • Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (February 2009). This guide offers five specific recommendations to help educators identify struggling readers and implement evidence-based strategies to promote their reading achievement. Teachers and reading specialists can utilize these strategies to implement RtI and multi-tier intervention methods and frameworks at the classroom or school level.

• Professional development for teachers
  • Evidence-based, long-term professional development should be provided to teachers. Opportunities for professional development should be built into the regular school schedule.
  • The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences has published intervention reports on numerous professional development programs, including the following:
    • Project CRISS (CReating Independence through Student-owned Strategies)

There are many models of successful, evidence-based literacy programs. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences maintains the What Works Clearinghouse, which presents and reviews the effectiveness of literacy programs using a consistent and transparent set of standards. Find out what works!