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Discuss in my forum literacy By Richard Nordquist, About.com Guide
See More About: * english language

Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology of Written Language, 2nd ed., by David Barton (WileyBlackwell, 2006)
Definition:
The ability to read and write in at least one language. Adjective: literate. Compare with illiteracy and aliteracy.

See also: * Basic Writing * Communication * International Literacy Day * Orality * Phonics * Reading * Secondary Orality * Speech * Spelling * Writing
Etymology:
From the Latin, "letter"
Observations:
* "Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy.

"Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy."
("Why Is Literacy Important?" UNESCO, 2010)

* "The notion of basic literacy is used for the initial learning of reading and writing which adults who have never been to school need to go through. The term functional literacy is kept for the level of reading and writing which adults are thought to need in modern complex society. Use of the term underlines the idea that although people may have basic levels of literacy, they need a different level to operate in their day-to-day lives."
(David Barton, Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology of Written Language, 2nd ed. WileyBlackwell, 2006)

* "To acquire literacy is more than to psychologically and mechanically dominate reading and writing techniques. It is to dominate those techniques in terms of consciousness; to understand what one reads and to write what one understands: it is to communicate graphically. Acquiring literacy does not involve memorizing sentences, words or syllables--lifeless objects unconnected to an existential universe--but rather an attitude of creation and re-creation, a self-transformation producing a stance of intervention in one 's context."
(Paulo Freire, Education for Critical Consciousness. Sheed & Ward, 1974)

* "There is hardly an oral culture or a predominantly oral culture left in the world today that is not somehow aware of the vast complex of powers forever inaccessible without literacy."
(Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. Methuen, 1982)

* "We expect the contradictory and the impossible. . . . We expect to be inspired by mediocre appeals for 'excellence, ' to be made literate by illiterate appeals for literacy."
(Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, 1961)

* Women and Literacy
"In the history of women, there is probably no matter, apart from contraception, more important than literacy. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, access to power required knowledge of the world. This could not be gained without reading and writing, skills that were granted to men long before they were to women. Deprived of them, women were condemned to stay home with the livestock, or, if they were lucky, with the servants. (Alternatively, they may have been the servants.) Compared with men, they led mediocre lives. In thinking about wisdom, it helps to read about wisdom--about Solomon or Socrates or whomever. Likewise, goodness and happiness and love. To decide whether you have them, or want to make the sacrifices necessary to get them, it is useful to read about them. Without such introspection, women seemed stupid; therefore, they were considered unfit for education; therefore, they weren’t given an education; therefore they seemed stupid."
(Joan Acocella, "Turning the Page." Review of The Woman Reader by Belinda Jack [Yale University Press, 2012]. The New Yorker, October 15, 2012)

* From the website of California Literacy, Inc.
"The literacy rate in the US has many educators in search of answers about this problem that has plagued our country for decades. Instead of decreasing, the numbers of literacy has steadily increased over the years. This raises a lot of questions about our education system, how it is ran, and why there is such a problem with illiterate people in our country."
(quoted by The New Yorker, Nov. 22, 2010)
Pronunciation: LIT-er-eh-see
Language
* Six Common Myths About Language * Key Dates in the History of the English Language * Introduction to Etymology: Word Histories
Elsewhere on the Web * The National Institute for Literacy (US) * The Literacy Project * National Literacy Trust (UK)
Resources for Writers * Reference Works for Writers and Editors * Grammar and Usage Advice Sites * Sites for Correcting Common Sentence Errors
Related Articles * orality - definition and examples of orality * illiteracy - definition and examples of illiteracy * aliteracy - definition and examples of aliteracy * Adult Education - What Is Adult Education * Writing Degree - Do I Need a Writing Degree

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The Greatest Literacy Challenges Facing Contemporary High
School Teachers: Implications for Secondary Teacher Preparation
Mary B. Campbell
Saint Xavier
University
Margaret M. Kmiecik
Saint Xavier
University
Secondary teachers face significant challenges in their efforts to increase the literacy levels of adolescents. Encouraging teachers to speak out about these challenges and to recommend initiatives that may improve literacy practices for adolescents is vital for future reform efforts. This study examines the questions:
"What are the greatest literacy challenges facing high school content area teachers?" and "What will help to diminish these challenges?" The data collection questionnaire was distributed to teachers in eight high schools throughout the greater Chicago area. A discussion of the findings suggests compelling directions for secondary teachers and teacher educators. 2 Reading Horizons, 2004, 4, (1)
WHILE SEVERAL REFORMS in higher education teacher preparation have made a difference in more teachers being highly prepared and qualified (Smylie, Bay, & Tozer, 1999), preparing teachers to meet the literacy demands of secondary students still remains inadequate.
Improving literacy learning in our nation 's high schools needs serious elevation as an educational priority at all levels. The 2002 NAEP
(National Association for Educational Progress) Report indicates that 36 percent of students in grade 12 performed at a proficient level, indicating that only a little over one-third of our nation 's high school seniors can understand challenging material (Feller, 2003). This was a decline in performance from 1998 when the NAEP reported the percentage of seniors who performed at the proficient level as 40 percent (U.S.
Department of Education, 1999). Additionally the 1998 report states that no more than 6 percent of the adolescents performed at the advanced level which demonstrates students ' ability to analyze and extend the meaning of the materials they read. The NAEP data further show more than one-third of the students did not demonstrate competence at a basic level of literacy.
The International Reading Association has taken a substantial leadership role in elevating attention to middle school and secondary literacy issues by establishing the Commission on Adolescent Literacy in
1997 (Rycik & Irvin, 2001). The work of this Commission resulted in the published document, Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement
(Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, & Rycik, 1999), which recommends principles for teachers to consider when supporting the literacy growth of secondary students. Still much more comprehensive work needs to be done as challenges still persist and "teachers, administrators, and staff developers have asked for more examples of practices that might renew and revitalize their efforts for middle and high school students" (Rycik &
Irvin, 2001, p. 4).
Teaching has greatly increased in range and complexity over the last decade. Teachers now find themselves in highly pressured environments (Pincas, 2002). Faced with the reality of overcrowded classrooms, high stakes testing, and standards-based environments, using instructional practices that move students to higher levels of thinking through more "authentic" forms of learning are lost. Additional factors
Secondary Teaclher Literacy Clhallenges 3 that compound the situation are high student mobility, absenteeism, minimal student engagement, misbehavior, missing homework, cultural and linguistic diversity, special needs, and increasing numbers of students from poverty and single parent households (Alvermann,
Hinchman, Moore, Phelps, & Waff, 1998). Regardless of the number or degree of challenges, teachers still remain accountable for fostering literacy growth among all students.
Efforts to improve literacy learning for secondary students must take seriously the realities and challenges persistent in today 's high schools. Reform theorists who suggest "improvement can be made through a series of workshops, enhanced technology, sanctions and the like," (Smylie, Bay, & Tozer, 1999, p. 59) are naive at best. A new paradigm requires comprehensive and systemic change. It also requires a serious re-orientation towards broad organizational, political, and economic presuppositions on which definition and acquisition of change must be based. Moreover, it involves a commitment to putting teachers at the forefront of the reform process. Valencia and Wixson (2000) argue that it is time for the voices of teachers to be heard. Without empowered professional voices, we lose the potential for constructing serious reform.
Emerging Directions
If students are to achieve high literacy standards, evidence strongly suggests that what teachers know and can do is one of the more important factors influencing student achievement. (Darling-Hammond,
1999, p. 228). Research also makes it clear that "if teachers are to negotiate the demands of new standards and new students, they must have access to a deeper base of knowledge and expertise than most teacher preparation programs now provide" (Darling-Hammond, 1999, p. 229).
While several studies have looked at reform in teacher preparation programs, Schwartz (1996) concluded that reform changes in teacher preparation have resulted in "little more than adjusting on the margins"
(p. 3). Particularly troubling, in secondary teacher preparation, is the limited attention given to the challenges existing in schools in which future teachers must help students to achieve literacy, and the problems
4 Reading Horizons, 2004, 4, (1) of schooling in a broader social context. Moreover, in many states, secondary teacher preparation programs include a requirement of a content area reading course, whereas in other states there is no equivalent requirement. This has remained literally unchanged for years, even as secondary students continue to struggle with reading and writing throughout the high school curriculum.
The wide-spread standards movement has made some impact in requiring newly certified teachers to demonstrate competency on specific literacy knowledge and performance indicators. However, the depth of what is needed to teach content area literacy in secondary schools requires more than one course, and/or a few standards.
Connecting Two Distinct Communities
Education can no longer be seen as an exclusive function, and the traditional structures cannot remain isolated from social change.
Faculties in colleges and universities and the practicing teachers in secondary schools have no choice but to adjust to new paradigms. While it is now more common to find partnerships and institutional collaborations between university faculty and secondary teachers, many of these need redefinition. In many partnerships, "practicing teachers have related there has not been a high level of reciprocity, as the universities are too dominant" (Campbell, 2002, p. 22).
Each entity must put into the equation improvement strategies that are meaningful to their respective organizations; that is, they need to identify areas where they truly need help from one another. Then institutionally and programmatically, they need to find ways to work together to make those intended improvements a reality (Howey &
Zimpher, 1999, p. 299).
High school teachers and teacher educators alike are looking to move beyond yet another "good idea" to realize reconceptualization and transformation for secondary literacy education. This means engaging high school teachers in the process of secondary teacher preparation, determining what factors pose the greatest challenges to literacy development and using this knowledge as a cornerstone for improving
Secondary Teaclher Literacy Clhallenges literacy practices in schools. Failure to confront these challenges effectively will undoubtedly compromise the ability of teachers to serve as effective agents of change.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to identify the problems secondary teachers face that impede literacy learning in the classrooms and to yield information that may inform the preparation of future secondary teachers. Two broad questions emerged to guide this study: o What are the greatest literacy challenges facing high school content area teachers? e What will help to diminish these challenges for current and/or future high school teachers?
The Study
ParticipatingS chools and Teachers
The schools that participated in this study included eight high schools, seven public and one private. The researchers purposely selected the schools to ensure ethnic diversity as well as urban and suburban representation. Six of the high schools represented grades 10-12 and two included grades 9-12. The school principals granted permission to graduate students enrolled in a Masters Degree Program in Reading to place the High School Literacy Survey in the school mailboxes of the teachers. A total of 450 questionnaires, including a cover letter and a stamped return envelope, were distributed to 9-12 teachers. Two hunared and two questionnaires were returned, realizing a return rate of 45 percent. There were no follow-up attempts to obtain a higher return rate.
Most respondents (71 percent) had advanced degrees beyond the
B.A. or B.S.: among these were 68 percent with a M.A. and 3 percent with a Ph.D. Teachers from 18 different subject area fields responded to the survey. English (18 percent), mathematics (16 percent), and science
(15 percent) teachers comprised the majority of participants. The remaining teachers represented the following subjects; art (3 percent),
5
6 ReadingHorizons, 2004, 45, (1) business (4 percent), technology (4 percent), driver 's education (1 percent), foreign language (6 percent), history (7 percent), library (1 percent), music (1 percent), physical education (3 percent), reading (1 percent), radio/television (1 percent), social studies (8 percent), special education (3 percent), theology (3 percent), and vocational education (4 percent). Teachers with more than 10 years of experience accounted for
63 percent of the sample, while 37 percent had 10 years or less.
Teachers working in suburban areas surrounding the greater
Chicago area comprised the majority (67 percent) of the sample population, with the remaining 33 percent coming from urban schools.
Forty-four percent described their schools as predominately diverse (> 50 percent), 32 percent considerably diverse (30-50 percent minority), 17 percent somewhat diverse (10-30 percent minority) and 7 percent primarily white (less than 10 percent minority).
The Questionnaire
We collected the data from a survey instrument, High School
Literacy Survey, designed and constructed by us. The questionnaire requested two types of information:
* objective, relating to educational degrees, content field of study, years of teaching experience, diversity of school population * subjective, relating to opinions and values in teaching and learning The subjective portion of the survey was comprised of two broad questions. The first question asked teachers to identify 5 of the 20 factors that posed the greatest challenges in helping their students to attain literacy in their subject field. Respondents wrote the numeral 1 next to the statement representing their greatest challenge, the numeral 2 next to the statement representing their next greatest challenge, and so forth through the numeral 5. (See Appendix)
The twenty statements, defined as challenges, were derived from the literature on content area reading. An extensive review of the literature
Secondary Teaclher Literacy Clhallenges 7 resulted in identifying twenty challenges, however, these may not represent all possible factors and they may not represent factors that teachers would have included if they were to construct the questionnaire.
A space was provided for teachers entitled "other" for their convenience in identifying additional factors that pose as challenges. Since no specific theory was identified to serve as a foundation for the selection of factors, they represent an eclectic representation. Additionally, the factors were not defined on the questionnaire, indicating that a singular definition cannot be assumed and that the factors may represent multiple meanings in the field. The second question invited the teachers to respond openly to the question, "What do you believe will help to diminish these challenges for current and/or future high school teachers?" Findings
Percentages were used to report the data on the high school teachers ' perceptions about the factors that challenge them most in helping their students to achieve literacy in their subject area.
Table 1.
Percentage Responses of Factors that Represent the Greatest Literacy
Challenges
Factors Percent
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Assessment of student learning 2 1 1 2 2 8
Classroom environment 1 2 - 1 2 6
Classsize 4 4 6 8 5 27
Cultural and language diversity - 1 - 1 - 2 among students
Curriculum - 1 2_ 1A _3 7.
8 Reading Horizons, 2004, 45, (1)
Factors Percent
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Helping students to construct meaning from text
Helping students interpret graphics in text
Helping students to learn and use critical thinking skills
Helping students to locate and organize information
Helping students to understand concepts and vocabulary
Homework issues
Integrating technology for teaching and learning
Selecting materials for teaching and learning
Organizing and managing the classroom for learning
State/district/school standards for students
Struggling readers
Student motivation/interest/attitudes
3 6 6 7 7
1 1 - 3 2
16 8 12 11 12
1 5 5 4 3
8 3 6 11 12
5 8 10 6 7
1 5 2 1 3
- - 1 - 4
1 2 - 2 3
1 1 1 1 2
9 9 8 8 8
33 17 17 8 7
1 5 5 5 3 19
29
7
59
18
40
36
12
5
8
6
42
82
Students with special needs
Secondary Teacher Literacy Chiallenges
Factors Percent
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Students who lack study skills 11 13 13 13 7 57
Writing skills of students 2 8 5 7 8 30
(A ranking scale, with 1 meaning "greatest challenge," 2 "next greatest challenge," and so forth)
The top five challenges as reported in Table 1 were:
* student motivation, interests, and attitudes (33 percent) o helping students to learn and use critical thinking skills (16 percent) o students who lack study skills (11 percent) o struggling readers (9 percent) o helping students to understand concepts and vocabulary (8 percent).
The least perceived challenges were cultural and language diversity among students (2 percent) and selecting materials for teaching and learning (5 percent).
Examining the data of the largest responding groups of content area teachers, English, mathematics, and science, yielded similar findings.
All three of these groups identified the same top two challenges as did the total group. The English, mathematics, and science teachers ' third, fourth and fifth rankings were:
* English
> (3) homework issues
> (4) students who lack study skills
> (5) writing skills of students o Mathematics
> (3) students who lack study skills
9
iO Reading Horizons, 2004, 45, (1)
> (4) homework issues
> (5) helping students to locate and organize information e Science:
> (3) students who lack study skills
> (4) helping students to understand concepts and vocabulary > (5) helping students to construct meaning from text
The teachers were also asked to respond to the following openended question, "What do you believe will help to diminish these challenges for current and/or future high school teachers?" Seventyseven percent of the teachers wrote responses to this question. The resppnses were grouped by similar topics from which themes emerged.
Table 2 reports the percentages of the most frequently occurring responses to the open-ended question.
Table 2.
Themes and Percentages of Responses for Confronting the Greatest
Challenges
Most Frequent Responses by Theme Percent
Better basic skills instruction in elementary schools 64
More parent responsibility and support 58
Mandatory inclusion of critical 39 thinking questions on all assessments
Study skills classes for incoming students 33
I
Iimprove teacher preparation/more methods for 28 secondary teachers
Greater respect and support from society 20
Practical/useful staff development 11
Secondary TeachterLiteracy Challenges ' 11
Most Frequent Responses by Theme Percent
Teacher task forces making policy decisions 9 instead of politicians and administrators
Complete restructuring of the current traditional 7 education model
A center at each high school for struggling readers
The most common responses cited by the majority of teachers to confront the greatest challenges (Table 2) were better basic skills instruction in elementary schools (64 percent) and more parent responsibility and support (58 percent). Sample responses given by less than 50 percent of the teachers were mandatory inclusion of critical thinking questions on all assessments (39 percent), study skills classes for incoming students (33 percent), and improvement of teacher preparation with more methods for secondary teachers (28 percent).
Discussion
The results of this study provide insight for the continuing efforts to improve the literacy levels of secondary students. They are, however, neither exclusive nor exhaustive. They are offered with no claim for the universality or total generalizability, but they are offered as a common ground for thinking.
Student Motivation andA ttitudes
High school teachers identified student motivation to read, write, and do other literacy-related activities as their greatest challenge. The teachers ' written comments on questionnaires indicated that much of the class-assigned reading is often boring and not relevant to the student 's own interests and experiences. They also stated that the students who will not read are as much at a disadvantage as those who cannot. Student
12 Reading Horizons, 2004, 45, (1) motivation was ranked the greatest challenge of all for the participating teachers. The dilemma of identifying and implementing strategies to motivate adolescents is not new to literacy practice. The data from this study confirm what the research (Alexander & Filler, 1976; Au & Asam, 1996;
Benware & Deci, 1984; Collins-Block, 1992; Guthrie & Alao, 1997;
Schraw, Brunning, & Svoboda, 1995) has documented over time: that student motivation, interests, and attitudes are indeed authentic challenges. Teaching adolescents to become active, motivated, and selfregulated learners is a continuing issue in secondary schools. It is during the adolescent years when reading motivation and attitudes appear to worsen, especially for poor readers (McKenna, Kear, & Ellsworth,
1995). Serious attempts to advance literacy skills require interventions that address motivation and attitudes as much as interventions that assure cognitive changes in the learners (Verhoevan & Snow, 2001). This generally does not happen. Motivational constructs are usually not given significant vigilance in relation to student cognition and thinking, and at best, are given only passing and superficial attention.
A further problem is that standard reading texts and uniform curricula make life somewhat easier for teachers and administrators, but they make it very difficult for students to get involved with the material at the level that is right for them, and therefore to find intrinsic rewards in learning. In the classroom, the teacher is the key element in motivating students to learn. The responsibility is great and the ramifications even greater, yet many responding high school teachers stated they were not adequately prepared in their teacher preparation programs with the knowledge, skills, and instructional strategies to ignite the spirit of their students. These teachers indicated they want more ideas, support, and freedom within the school curriculum to take the lead, and more ways to experience first-hand, in-field, motivational issues in their teacher preparation programs.
Critical Thinking Skills
Teaching critical thinking skills was the second greatest challenge for teachers. Large numbers of teachers indicated they feel underSecondary
Teachter Literacy Clhallenges 13 prepared in pedagogical methods to help studenis conceptualize problems and solutions. Assisting adolescents to become proficient with these skills is a prodigious challenge for secondary teachers. The capacity for abstraction, for discovering patterns and meanings, generalizing, evaluating, and theorizing is the very essence of critical thinking and exploration.
For most students in the United States and throughout the world, formal education entails just the opposite kind of learning. Rather than construct meaning for themselves, meanings are imposed upon them.
Frequently, students often accumulate a large number of facts along the way, yet these facts are not central to their education; they will live their adult lives in a world in which most facts learned years before (even including some historical ones) will have changed or have been reinterpreted. Whatever data they need will be available to them at the touch of a computer key.
If students are to learn critical thinking skills, teachers must teach them and engage their students in genuine problem solving discussion.
Generally these skills are best, and likely only taught and assessed, through extended discourse. This is difficult to do in crowded classes where it is near to impossible to carry out extended discussions. The commitment to teaching these skills in all content areas means gaining support from the public. It also means that teachers must gain the knowledge and skills to do so through teacher preparation programs and inservice education, taking into account the real-life situations and parameters in today 's classrooms.
Study Skills
Students who lack study skills ranked as the third greatest challenge to teachers. The importance of study skills has been documented over time in the professional literature (Flood & Lapp, 1995). What is known is that many people of all ages have difficulty reading and learning, largely because they are not using appropriate techniques or good learning habits. Often, the adolescents who are dropping out of schools are doing so because they believe they carnot learn. For the majority of these students, they lack suitable reading and study techniques, which
14 Reading Horizons, 2004, 45(1) impede their growth in learning and contribute to their negative beliefs about themselves and school.
Although most secondary teachers have a thorough understanding qf their subject, many responding teachers in this study indicated they lack the knowledge of instructional/study strategies by which to help students internalize the concepts. Research shows that with an organized system of study, students can increase their comprehension of subject matter up to 50 percent (Annis, 1983). As nations seek to assist adolescents in gaining higher levels of literacy, the knowledge and skills that teachers need to teach their students effective study habits and strategies may likely become central to the curriculum in secondary teacher preparation programs and in the curriculum of secondary schools.
Struggling Readers
Struggling readers ranked as the fourth greatest challenge to the high school teachers. Teachers responded that these students can be found "hiding out" in content classrooms. They frequently are passive and disengaged., Many have found coping strategies to help (them get by, but they do not significantly improve their literacy skills or their knowledge in the content areas.
I Although comprehension of text material is difficult and sometimes impossible for struggling readers, there are research-based strategies that have proven to be successful when used with struggling readers. One such strategy is instructional scaffolding, an effective strategy that gives students a better chance to be successful than if left on their own (Vacca,
2002). Pedagogy, which includes instructional techniques for diverse learners, is glossed over in many teacher preparation programs for secondary teachers. However, it is as important in the preparation of high school teachers as is cognitive knowledge (Darling-Hammond,
2000). If high school teachers are to make substantial contributions to all adolescents, it will require more knowledge of relevant instructional methodologies. Darling-Hammond (2000) found that teacher subject-matter knowledge was related to student achievement only up to a certain point.
Secondary Teacher Literacy Challenges 15
Marzano (2003) asserts that the importance of the relationship between pedagogical knowledge and student achievement has been consistently reported in the research literature. Furthermore, in a study conducted by
Ferguson and Womack (1993), they found that the number of courses teachers took in instructional techniques accounted for four times the variance in teacher performance and student achievement than did subject-matter knowledge.
Teachers stated that more information about how to assist the struggling readers in their classrooms is sorely needed in preservice teacher education programs. Additionally they need to know that the strategies and support to assist these learners are realistic for today 's classrooms. Key Concepts and Vocabulary
Helping students to understand concepts and vocabulary ranked as the fifth greatest challenge. Every subject area has its own vocabulary and modes of argument, and its language is the common denominator for learning subject matter knowledge. Vacca and Vacca (2002) agree: they state, "Vocabulary must be taught well enough to remove potential barriers to students ' understanding of texts as well as to promote a longterm acquisition of the language of a content area" (p. 160-161).
Teachers want more knowledge about ways to teach vocabulary and concepts to adolescents, strategies that will provide adolescents with a deeper and richer entry into the content area of study, and strategies that will work in the classrooms of today.
Intriguing Findings
It is a noteworthy finding that the cultural and language diversity among students in the classrooms was not identified among the greatest challenges. The majority of teachers in this study were from diverse schools, and yet only two percent ranked this to be a challenge. Equally notable was the fact that state, district, and school standards, writing skills, and integrating technology were not identified among the greatest challenges. 16 Reading Horizons, 2004, 45, (1)
Of all the findings, the most revealing was that provided by the driver 's education teachers: whereas every other content-area group of teachers, albeit art, music, business, foreign language, etc., ranked student motivation as the greatest challenge, they did not. This is not surprising as it supports the findings of this study as well as long standing research in the field, as cited in Marzano, 2003. The hypothesis being that when motivated, students strive to learn. It is likely safe to say that >99 percent of all high school students want to learn to drive.
Teachers Views for Confronting the Challenges
The high school teachers stated that improving literacy for secondary students must begin long before the high school years. They believe it requires better basic skills instruction in elementary schools, more parental responsibility and support for adolescents, and greater respect and support for education professionals from society. The secondary teachers further reported that mandatory inclusion of critical thinking questions on all assessments at local, state, and national levels may lead to improvements in the literacy levels of students.
The majority also reported that study skills must become a required part of the curriculum beginning in elementary schools. Teacher education programs need to emphasize study skills knowledge and strategies that are content specific and will assist future teachers with ways to help their students achieve literacy in their subject areas. Staff development needs serious attention and reform. Emphasis needs to be on real issues identified by the teachers, and the staff development needs to be content specific. Some teachers elaborated that schools can do little to improve high school literacy because the things that need to be changed are outside the scope of the educator 's responsibility.
A smaller percentage of teachers stated that teacher task forces, instead of politicians and administrators, should make policy decisions at all levels., Several called for a complete restructuring of the current education model and structuring of schools to contain a "center for struggling readers." Others stated that teachers should have a full yearround professional contract: envisioning that students would attend school for 10 months and teachers would work the remaining two
Secondary Teaclher Literacy Clhallenges 17 months revising curriculum, collaborating with colleagues, and participating in relevant and rigorous staff development. These teachers held similar views with Brandt (2001), as they see their schools attempting to implement elements of the newer ideologies of literacy into traditional structures and curriculum which results in institutional confusion, vulnerability, and a mismatch of schooling and society in contemporary times.
Conclusions and Implications
Improving literacy levels for secondary students is too complex for simplistic explanations, yet one thing seems clear: faculties in schools of education need to attend to the voices of secondary teachers. When we fail to do so, we do this at the peril of the students they teach. The voices of the teacher participants in this study identify the greatest challenge to literacy development to be student motivation, and the teachers feel unprepared to deal with this serious challenge. Marzano (2003) states:
The link between student motivation and achievement is straightforward.
If students are motivated to learn the content, then they will achieve in that subject. If students are not motivated to learn the content, then achievement will likely be limited. The validity of this relationship is supported by a fair amount of research(Bloom, 1976; Geisler-Brenstein
& Schmeck, 1996; Schiefele & Krapp, 1996; Schiefele, Krapp, &
Winteler, 1992; Tobias, 1994; Willingham, Pollack & Lewis, 2002) as reported in Marzano (p.144).
The other greatest challenges, critical thinking skills, study skills, pedagogy for struggling readers, and vocabulary and concept development, need critical attention as well. To successfully confront these challenges, the most critical and urgent need, as stated by the teachers, is to revise secondary teacher preparation.
Implicationsfor Secondary Teacher Preparation
Faculty in secondary teacher preparation programs have a pivotal role to play in the literacy growth of adolescents, as well as the
18 Reading Horizons, 2004, 4,5(1) preparation of secondary teachers. The results of this study point to the following implications for secondary teacher educators. e Engage in partnerships between secondary teacher preparation faculty and practicing secondary teachers.
Partnerships in which the voices of practicing teachers are central to reform in secondary teacher preparation, and the voices of college and university teacher educators are central to high school literacy reform. e Revise the secondary teacher preparation curriculum to include more opportunities for prospective teachers to experience and understand the real-life literacy challenges identified in this study. o Create a secondary teacher preparation curriculum that gives significant attention to motivational practices, such as incorporating the new media, which has become integrally bound up with adolescents ' affiliations, identities, and pleasures (Nixon, 2003). e Reform the secondary teacher preparation curriculum that divides subject matter courses and methods ' courses. "Content and processes of learning to teach must be brought together, since how teachers learn, shapes what they learn and is often part of what they need to know" (Feiman-Nemser & Remillard, 2001,
p.78). The debates that center on the disciplinary boundaries that keep scholars apart and leave students to make their own interdisciplinary connections must invite new initiatives.
* Align and teach pedagogical practices, critical thinking skills, study skills, and vocabulary within subject matter content. * Finally, teacher educators need to provide students with more sustained and guided experiences; those which help prospective teachers learn to teach those things that matter most to students in ways that are meaningful to them, and are grounded in actual classroom practice.
Secondary Teacher Literacy Challenges 19
These views provide common ground for discussion and future exploration regarding improving literacy skills and understanding for secondary students. Moreover, they involve a commitment to secondary literacy reform in a context of uncertain challenges and outcomes. What would it mean to build comprehensive, integrated partnerships across institutional lines and across disciplines? What powerful vision might we see if we could finally get hold of the big picture (Schoem, 2002) of secondary education? If secondary teacher education programs were redesigned along the lines of the characteristics identified in this study, teaching and learning experiences would look much different and would represent a newly defined literacy for secondary students and their future teachers. -References
Alexander, P. A., & Filler, R. C. (1976). Attitudes and reading.
\ Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Alvermann, D. E., Hinchman, K. A., Moore, D. W., Phelps, S. F., &
Waff, D. R. (Eds.), (1998). Reconceptualizing the literacies in adolescents ' lives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Annis, L. (1983). Study techniques. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown
,Company Publishers.
Au, K. H., & Asam, C. L. (1996). Improving the literacy achievement of low-income students of diverse backgrounds. In M. F. Graves, P. van den Broek, & B. M. Taylor (Eds.), The first R: Every child 's right to read (pp.199-223). New York: Teachers College Press.
Benware, C. A., & Deci, E. L. (1984). Quality of learning with an active versus passive motivational set. American Educational Research
Journal, 21, 775-765.
Bloom, B. S. (1976). Human characteristics and school learning. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Brandt, D. (2001). Reading and writing in the wake of the twentieth century. In Planning curriculum in English language arts (pp.202-
204). Milwaukee, WI: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Campbell, M. (2002). Constructing powerful voices: Starting points for policy driven literacy assessment reform. Journal of Reading
Education, 27, 17-23.
20 ReadingHorizons, 2004, 4, (1)
Collins-Block, C. (1992). Strategy instruction in a literature-based reading program. Elementary School Journal, 94, 139-151.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement:
A4 review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis
Archives, 8(1), 1-50. Retrieved January 22, 2003, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8nl. Darling-Hammond, L. (1999). Educating teachers for the next century:
Rethinking practice and policy. In G. Griffin (Ed.), The education of teachers (pp. 221-256). Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.
Feller, B. (2003, June 20). School reading report card shows older kids falling behind. In Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 20, 2003. http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-read2O.html Ferguson, P., & Womack, S. T. (1993). The impact of subject matter and education coursework on teaching performance. Journal of Teacher
Education, 44(1), 55-63.
Flood, J., & Lapp, D. (1995). Broadening the lens: Toward an expanded conceptualization of literacy. In K. A. Hinchman, D. J. Leu, & C.
K. Kinzer (Eds.), Perspectives on literacy research and practice,
44th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 1-16).
Chicago, IL: National Reading Conference.
Geisler-Brenstein, E., & Schmeck, R. R. (1996). The revised inventory of learning processes: A multifaceted perspective on individual differences in learning. In M. Birenbaum & F. J. R. C. Cochy
(Eds.), Alternatives in assessment of achievements, learning processes, andprior knowledge (pp. 284-317). Boston: Kluwer.
Guthrie, J. T., & Alao, S. (1997). Designing contexts to increase motivations for reading. Educational Psychologist, 32, 95-107.
Howey, K, & Zimpher, N. (1999). Pervasive problems and issues in teacher education. In G. Griffin (Ed.), The education of teachers (pp. 279-305).
Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.
Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J., & Ellsworth, R. A. (1995). Children 's attitudes toward reading: A national survey. Reading Research
Quarterly, 30, 934-956. I
Secondary Teachler Literacy Chiallenges 21
Moore, D. W., Bean, T. W., Birdyshaw, D. & Rycik, J. A. (1999).
Adolescent literacy: A position statement. Journal ofAdolescent &
AdultLiteracy, 43, 97-112.
Nixon, H. (2003). New research literacies for contemporary research into literacy and new media? Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3),
407-413.
Pincas, A. (2002). Borderless education. In E. Thomas (Ed.), Teacher
Education-Dilemmas andProspects, (pp. 25-48). UK: Kogan Page.
Rycik, J. A. & Irvin, J. L. (2001). What Adolescents Deserve: A
Commitment to Students ' Literacy Learning. Newark, DE:
International Reading Association.
Schiefele, U., & Krapp, A. (1996). Topics of interest and free recall of expository text. Learning andIndividualDifferences, 8(2), 141-160.
Schiefele, U., Krapp, A., & Winteler, A. (1992). Interest as a predictor of academic achievement: A meta-analysis of research. In K. A.
Renninger, S. Hidi, & A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning.and development (pp. 183-212). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schoem, D. (2002). Transforming undergraduate education: Moving beyond distinct undergraduate initiatives [On-line]. Available: www.findarticles.com/cf dls/ml254/6_34/94129285/pllarticlejhtmnl.
Schraw, G., Bruning, R., & Svoboda, C. (1995). Source of situational interest. Journal ofReading Behavior, 23, 351-364.
Schwartz, H. (1996). The changing nature of teacher education. In J.
Sikula, T. Buttery, & E. Guyton (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed.) (pp. 3-13). NY: Macmillan.
Smylie, M., Bay, M., & Tozer, S. (1999). Preparing teachers as agents of change. In G. Griffin (Ed.), The education of teachers (pp. 29-62).
Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.
Tobias, S. (1994). Interest, prior knowledge and learning. Review of
Educational Research, 64(1), 37-564.
U. S. Department of Education. (1999). Office of Educational Research and Improvement. National Center for Education Statistics. The
NAEP 1998 Reading Report Card for the Nation And the States,
NCES 1999-500, by P. L. Donahue, K. E. Voekl, J. R. Campbell, and J. Mazzeo. Washington, DC: 1999.
Vacca, R. (2002). Making a difference in adolescents ' school lives: Visible and invisible aspects of content area reading. In A. Farstrup & J.
22 Reading Horizons, 2004, '45, (1)
Samuels (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd
Edition). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Vacca, R. T. & Vacca, J. A. (2002). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the Curriculum (7 th Edition). Boston, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Valencia, S., & Wixson, K. (2000). Policy oriented research on literacy standards and assessment. In M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D.
Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III)
(pp. 909-935). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Verhoeven, L. & Snow, C. (Eds.) (2001). Literacy and motivation:
Reading engagement in individuals and groups. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Willingham, W. W., Pollack, J. M., & Lewis, C. (2002). Grades and test scores: Accounting for observed differences. Journal of
Educational Measurement, 39(1), 1-37.
Mary B. Campbell is a faculty member in the School of Education at Saint Xavier University and Margaret M. Kmiecik is an adjunct faculty member also in the School of Education at Saint Xavier
University.
Secondary Teacher Literacy Challenges, 23
Appendix
High School Literacy Survey
This study is being conducted by Mary Campbell, a faculty member in the School of Education at Saint Xavier University. The purpose of this study is two-fold. The study seeks to, 1) determine the greatest literacy challenges facing high school content area teachers today, and 2) determine the ideas high school teachers have to improve content area literacy practices in ' classrooms. Your participation in this study is strictly voluntary; there are no penalties if you choose not to participate.
If you decide to participate, the information you provide will remain completely anonymous.
Demographic Information (Please check the appropriate response)
1. Your highest academic degree (check one)
BA/BS Masters Doctorate
2. Your primary teaching responsibility is in which of the following content areas?
Art
Business
Computers
___ English
Foreign Language
History
Mathematics
Music
Physical Education
Science
Social Studies
Vocational Education
Other
3. Your high school classroom teaching experience: first year teacher
24 Reading Horizons, 2004, 45, (1)
____ 1-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years more than 20 years
4. Ethnic Origin
White (Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic
African American
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Asian or Pacific Islander
=___ Other
5. Which best describes your school? (check two)
Urban
Suburban
=___ Public
_____ Private
6. Which best describes your school? (check one)
_____ Predominately diverse(50percent + minority)
_____ Considerably diverse(30-50percent minority)
Somewhat diverse(10-30percentminority)
Primarily white (Euro-American less than 10percent minority)
7. Gender
Female
Male
SURVEY QUESTIONS
1. Please identify what you believe to be the 5 greatest challenges in helping your students to attain content literacy in your subject area.
On the lines provided, write the numeral 1 meaning your greatest challenge, the numeral 2 meaning the next greatest challenge, the numeral 3 for the next and so forth p to 5.
Assessment of student learning
Secondary Teaclher Literacy Cliallenges 25
Classroom environment (physical setting and classroom conducive to learning)
_______Class size
Cultural and language diversity among students
Curriculum
______Helping students to construct meaning from text
Helping students interpret graphics in text material
Helping students to learn and use critical thinking skills
______Helping students to locate and organize information
______Helping student to understand concepts and vocabulary
Homework issues
______Integrating technology for teaching and learning
Selecting materials for instruction and student learning
______Organizing and managing the classroom for learning
(discussion, activities, etc.)
State/district/school standards for students
Struggling readers
Student motivation/interest/attitudes
Students with special needs
Students who lack study skills
______Writing skills of students
Other
2. What do you believe will help to diminish these challenges for current and/or future high school teachers? Piease write your ideas below. Thank you for your participation in this study

Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life
The
National
Strategy
to
Improve
Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young
People
2011--‐
2020
The
Minister
for
Education
Ruairi
Quinn
launched
The
National
Strategy
to
Improve
Literacy and Numeracy among children and Young
People
2011--‐2020 on Friday
8
July last. The strategy is an improvement on the draft plan published in
November
2010, though its key recommendations have not changed substantially.
The
full
Report
is available on the INTO website and on the
DES
website.
The
Minister makes it clear that no child should leave school without having mastered the skills of literacy and numeracy to the best of their ability.
The
Strategy uses the following definitions:
• Literacy includes capacity to read, understand and critically appreciate various forms of communication including spoken language, printed text, broadcast media, and digital media.
• Numeracy encompasses the ability to use mathematical understanding and skills to solve problems and meet the demands of day--‐to--‐day living in complex social setting. The
Strategy
recognises that in
Ireland
we have access to two languages; that literacy and numeracy skills are developed along a continuum from early childhood, through primary and into post--‐primary; that children from socially and economically disadvantaged communities are more likely to experience literacy and numeracy difficulties and that some reasons for failure are not amenable to school--‐based solutions.
It
is also recognised that effective schools and educational interventions can improve learning outcomes.
Literacy
and
Numeracy
Challenges
The
challenges for the system in relation to literacy and numeracy, as identified in the Strategy, include the following: • One in ten children have serious literacy difficulties • One in three children in disadvantaged areas have serious literacy difficulties
• Literacy skills have not improved in 30 years, according to the
National
Assessments
• Second level teachers have identified poor literacy skills at entrance to second level as a barrier to accessing the post--‐primary curriculum
• The
National
Assessments have shown continued weak performance in problem solving
&
measures in Mathematics
• The
PISA
results among fifteen year olds in 2009 were disappointing, with Irish pupils average in literacy and below the OECD average in mathematics National
Priorities
The national priorities outlined in the strategy include the following: • Set targets for improvement and monitor them
• Clarify what children are expected to learn
• Create culture of continuous improvement
• Improve professional skills of teachers
• Build capacity of school leadership
• Target available resources at children in most disadvantaged communities
• Help parents and communities to support their children • Raise public awareness of the role that he family, community, the education system and libraries can play
Parental
Involvement
The
importance of family and communities is given due recognition in the
Strategy.
It is acknowledged that there are many community initiatives that are funded by a combination of voluntary, charitable and state organisations.
Where
schools are concerned the strategy recommends that engagement with parents should be a core part of L&N plans, that schools must be welcoming and accessible places for parents and should make meaningful provision for the involvement of parents in the classroom in literacy and numeracy activities. Sharing of good practice through schools connecting and networking with each other is also mentioned.
Schools
are also expected to ensure that relevant information on the child’s learning and development is transferred from the home to pre--‐school, primary and post--‐primary to promote smooth transitions. School
Planning
Schools are expected to have
School
Improvement
Plans.
These plans should include specific actions to inform parents about ways to support their children’s learning and how to understand reports about their children’s progress in school.
Teacher
Education
The
Strategy states that the recruitment of the best students to enter initial teacher education courses
(ITE)
is essential. ITE courses should then develop teachers’ knowledge, understanding and ability to apply educational theory and research effectively in practice as well as developing a professional commitment to reflect, improve and upskill throughout their careers. High quality ITE should prepare student teachers for teaching and developing their pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills.
The
strategy notes the poor provision of summer courses in literacy or numeracy. The
Strategy
proposes that teacher induction should be mandatory and that there should be more coherence between
ITE,
induction and CPD.
Cross--‐sectoral
CPD is also proposed. The
Strategy
recommends that all teachers should engage in
20
hours
CPD
in literacy, numeracy and assessment every 5 years. Building
Capacity
of
School
leadership
The
Strategy identifies the pivotal role played by school leadership
(principal
and deputy principals) in improving literacy and numeracy in schools. Principals are expected to lead improvement in literacy and numeracy in their schools, in addition to leading evidence--‐based school self--‐evaluation and school improvement.
Principals
and deputies will have access to relevant
CPD,
and is expected that courses for principals and deputies and for aspiring school leaders will include mandatory modules regarding to teaching and assessment of literacy and numeracy.
A
school’s self--‐evaluation will be reviewed as part of WSE.
Curriculum
The
Strategy
acknowledges that the curriculum is about more than literacy and numeracy.
However,
the strategy also states that it’s not possible to include in the curriculum everything that’s desirable, and that choices will have to be made and priorities decided.
Literacy
and numeracy is to be taught across the curriculum.
The
curriculum for infants will be revised to incorporate the principles of
AISTEAR,
which will foster an integrated approach to teaching language across the curriculum and integrated teaching of SESE,
SPHE
and the Arts.
The
need for smaller class sizes in infant classrooms is recognised and the strategy states that infant classes should be prioritised in the allocation of available teachers in schools. The strategy also recommends evidence--‐based assessment systems.
The
Strategy recommends a revision of the English and Irish curriculum in order to identify the learning outcomes that children are expected to achieve.
The
Strategy proposes that the NCCA should address the issue of revised time allocation for curriculum subject in order to allow increased time for literacy and numeracy. Over time the required learning outcomes in the other curriculum subjects will be revised. The
Department
will issue a
Circular
to address time issues in the interim.
According
to the press release issued with the strategy a circular will be issued to primary schools shortly requiring them to increase the time available for literacy to
90
minutes per day and for mathematics to
50
minutes per day
(up
from
36
minutes currently) from this September.
Targets
According to the press release issued at the launch of the
Strategy
ambitious targets have been set under the Strategy to be achieved by 2020. Nationally, the aims include:
At primary, increasing the number of children performing at Level 3 or above (the highest levels) in the national assessments of reading and mathematics by 5 percentage points
Reducing the percentage performing at or below the lowest level (Level 1) by 5 percentage points
At post-primary level, increasing the number of 15-year old students performing at
Level 4 or above (the highest levels) in the OECD 's PISA test of literacy and mathematics by at least 5 percentage points
Halve the numbers performing at Level 1 (the lowest level) in PISA test of literacy and mathematics
Improve early childhood education and public attitudes to reading and mathematics.
Children
with
Additional
Needs
The
Strategy stated that the DEIS supports would continue. The work of
DEIS
advisors will be
‘refocused’.
The tracking, assessment and analysis of achievement data for pupils in disadvantaged areas, for EAL pupils and for children with special needs will be prioritised and teachers will be assisted in improving their skills in assessing, monitoring and recording literacy and numeracy outcomes.
Regarding
EAL, departmental spending will be reprioritised in order to support the capacity of all teachers to support
EAL
pupils with less funding to be spent on the appointment of language support teachers. Assessment
The
strategy states that a curriculum that combines clear statements of learning outcomes and accessible examples of what learners should know or be able to do in literacy and numeracy can provide a reliable framework of reference against which teachers, parents and students can benchmark achievement and progress.
Teachers
should use both assessment for learning (AfL) and assessment of learning
(AoL)
in their teaching.
According
to the strategy teachers are not currently using the results of standardises assessments to best effect and there are deficiencies in how results are reported to parents.
Even
though the limitations of standardised assessment are acknowledged, schools will have to administer standardised assessments in English reading, Mathematics at the end of
2nd,
4th and 6th classes, in all primary schools, and in Irish reading also in the
Irish--‐medium
schools.
Reports
of children’s progress and achievement should be given to parents, both orally an in writing.
Assessment
tools will be developed for use in infant classes and early childhood education settings. Schools are also expected to aggregate the results of standardised assessments and to track achievement over time.
Schools
are expected to engage in
‘robust
self--‐evaluation’ and to prepare three--‐year improvement plans with specific targets for the promotion and improvement of literacy and numeracy.
Principal
teachers are expected to report annually to boards of management. Written reports in standard format will be prepared for transfer purposes.
Information
to be transferred from primary schools to post--‐primary schools will include test scores, teachers’ comments and examples of pupils’ work. The
DES
will gather the aggregated assessment data from all schools in order collate a national picture of achievement and will issue reports on national achievement trends every two years. The
Department
will commission research in order to explore the potential to analyse assessment data from schools so as to enable the provision of national trend data on achievement in different categories of schools and the potential for this analysis to assist schools in benchmarking their standards against a norm for similar schools and to set targets for improvement.
It
is also proposed to continue with the
National
Assessments in English
Reading
and
Mathematics
in a number of randomly selected schools and with participation in international assessments such as
PIRLS,
TIMSS and PISA.
If
selected, schools will be obliged to participate.
This
is a summary of some of the main points in the
National
Strategy to Improve
Literacy
and
Numeracy
in our schools, and is not a commentary on the merits or otherwise of the various proposals.
A
copy of the strategy is available both on the
INTO
website www.into.ie and on the
Department’s
website www.education.ie. Literacy will be discussed at the forthcoming
INTO
Consultative
Conference
on
Education
in
November.

References: Alexander, P. A., & Filler, R. C. (1976). Attitudes and reading. Annis, L. (1983). Study techniques. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown ,Company Publishers. Au, K. H., & Asam, C. L. (1996). Improving the literacy achievement of low-income students of diverse backgrounds Benware, C. A., & Deci, E. L. (1984). Quality of learning with an active versus passive motivational set Bloom, B. S. (1976). Human characteristics and school learning. New York: McGraw-Hill. Brandt, D. (2001). Reading and writing in the wake of the twentieth century Campbell, M. (2002). Constructing powerful voices: Starting points for policy driven literacy assessment reform 20 ReadingHorizons, 2004, 4, (1) Collins-Block, C Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A4 review of state policy evidence Archives, 8(1), 1-50. Retrieved January 22, 2003, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8nl. Darling-Hammond, L. (1999). Educating teachers for the next century: Rethinking practice and policy Feller, B. (2003, June 20). School reading report card shows older kids falling behind Flood, J., & Lapp, D. (1995). Broadening the lens: Toward an expanded conceptualization of literacy Geisler-Brenstein, E., & Schmeck, R. R. (1996). The revised inventory of learning processes: A multifaceted perspective on individual Guthrie, J. T., & Alao, S. (1997). Designing contexts to increase motivations for reading Howey, K, & Zimpher, N. (1999). Pervasive problems and issues in teacher education Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J., & Ellsworth, R. A. (1995). Children 's attitudes toward reading: A national survey Moore, D. W., Bean, T. W., Birdyshaw, D. & Rycik, J. A. (1999). Nixon, H. (2003). New research literacies for contemporary research into literacy and new media? Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3), Pincas, A. (2002). Borderless education. In E. Thomas (Ed.), Teacher Education-Dilemmas andProspects, (pp Rycik, J. A. & Irvin, J. L. (2001). What Adolescents Deserve: A Commitment to Students ' Literacy Learning Schiefele, U., & Krapp, A. (1996). Topics of interest and free recall of expository text Schiefele, U., Krapp, A., & Winteler, A. (1992). Interest as a predictor of academic achievement: A meta-analysis of research Schoem, D. (2002). Transforming undergraduate education: Moving beyond distinct undergraduate initiatives [On-line] Schraw, G., Bruning, R., & Svoboda, C. (1995). Source of situational interest Schwartz, H. (1996). The changing nature of teacher education. In J. Smylie, M., Bay, M., & Tozer, S. (1999). Preparing teachers as agents of change Tobias, S. (1994). Interest, prior knowledge and learning. Review of Educational Research, 64(1), 37-564. U. S. Department of Education. (1999). Office of Educational Research and Improvement Vacca, R. (2002). Making a difference in adolescents ' school lives: Visible and invisible aspects of content area reading 22 Reading Horizons, 2004, '45, (1)