Scope and Slant
The scope of JAAL is mostly focused on helping educators promote and improve literacy inside and outside of school. Literacy includes reading and writing, which would explain why JAAL contains articles about both components of literacy—although they are more focused on reading than writing. There are definite patterns, such as digital literacy, multicultural education, and student-centered learning. The patterns arise from “hot topics” in literacy education. JAAL seems to publish articles that are connected to those topics in which educators and the public have interest.
JAAL seems to follow the political ideologies of the IRA as well as its current editor. Bean and Harper state strongly that they “believe that teaching literacy in these times means confronting change and the politics of institutional change, which speaks to the need for critical policy analysis” (Bean and Harper 5). Slants and biases seem to slip in throughout the journal. For example, in Goodson’s farewell editorial, he alludes to educational reform changing our outlook on “failing” students, claiming “We have decided to force [the failing students] to join the middle class, whether [they] want to or not” (Goodson 626).
JAAL also published articles that were staunchly anti-high-stakes assessment and educational policy like No Child Left Behind, such as “No Child Left Behind: What it Means for U.S. Adolescents and What We can do about It” by Conley and Hinchman in which they discuss issues and questions raised about No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and how some aspects of the program may be detrimental (47). Dennis’ article, another article criticizing high-stakes assessments, claims that the categories big-government assessments place st...
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...g Reader to Struggling Reader: High School Students’ Responses to a Cross-Age Tutoring Program.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. . 49.5 (2006). 378-396. Print.
Ranker, Jason. “Making Meaning on the Screen: Digital Video Production about the Dominican Republic.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 51.5 (2008). 410-422. Print.
Taylor, Donna Lester. “’Not Just Boring Stories’” Reconsidering the Gender Gap for Boys.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 48.4 (2005). 290-298. Print.
White-Kaulaity. “Reflections on Native American Reading: A Seed, a Tool, and a Weapon.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 50.7 (2007). 560-569. Print.
Wissman, Kelly K. “’Making a Way’: Young Women Using Literacy and Language to Resist the Politics of Silencing.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 51.4 (2007/2008). 340-349. Print.
With such high numbers of adolescents falling below basic in reading, illiteracy is a battle that must be fought head on. The largest dilemma with the struggle is the number of variations that cause adolescents to become reluctant, unmotivated or struggling readers. Fortunately, a large number of strategies exist to encourage and strengthen readers of all ages, proving that adolescence is not a time to give up on faltering students. Rather, it is a time to evaluate and intervene in an effort to turn a reluctant reader into an avid one (or near enough). Ultimately, educators must learn to properly assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses (Curtis, 2009) and pair them with the proper intervention techniques. If one method does not work, countless others exist to take its place.
Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy by Victoria Purcell-Gates recounts the author’s two-year journey with an illiterate Appalachian family. Purcell-Gates works with Jenny, the mother, and her son, first grader Donny, to analyze the literacy within the household. Throughout the journey, we learn the definition and types of literacy, the influences of society and the environment, and the impacts of literacy on education from the teacher’s perspective. In order to evaluate literacy in the household, one must study multiple types, including functional, informational, and critical literacy. As the name implies, functional literacy incorporates reading and writing as tools for everyday survival. Informational literacy is used through text to communicate information to others. The highest level of literacy, critical literacy, requires critical interpretations and imaginative reflections of text. In her study, Purcell-Gates strives to teach Jenny and Donny functional literacy.
Neill, Monty. "The No Child Left Behind Act Is Not Improving Education." Education: Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 162-68. Print.
Another major criticism of the “No Child Left Behind” deals with the implications of using a standardized test as means of assessing achievement.
Munro, Alice. “Boys and Girls.” Introduction to Literature. Ed. Isobel M. Findlay et al. 5th ed. Canada: Nelson Education, 2004. 491-502. Print.
Before colonization, the Native Americans used oral traditions to teach, remember, entertain, and pray. Much of this knowledge was lost because of various reasons. After translation became an option some of these were written down. This is the beginning of Native American literature, the becoming of sound into word. A major pattern of distrust for the white man’s words are evident in this beginning of their literature.
“What counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online? (Jenkins, 2009)"
In 2002, President George W. Bush passed the “No Child Left Behind Act” which tied in schools’ public funding to standardized tests and enforced the tests in elementary and high schools every year by state education departments. This law also began to put more emphasize on standardized tests which has diminished our level of education and the law “made standardized test scores the primary measure of school quality” (Diane Ravitch 28). Bush hoped this law motivated more students to do well on these exams and teachers to help them prepare better, but it ended up hurting many schools in the process. These exams like the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) should not play such a prominent role in schooling and the government should not make tests the main focal point.
United States. Reading to Achieve: A Governor's Guide to Adolescent Literacy. Washington: National Governors Association, 2005. Print.
Literacy in the 21st century is multidimensional with Giroux arguing “Teaching and learning the culture of the book is no longer the staple of what it means to be literate” (Arthur, 2001, p.183).
For my community involvement project, I volunteered at Memminger Elementary School for a program called “Reading Partners.” The program focuses on helping children build strong literacy skills to carry with them into their academic careers. It requires the tutor to read to the student that has been assigned, and in turn, the student reads to the tutor. The program assists in teaching the students valuable reading skills. Being able to read is critical to a child’s educational success.
In his article, “The Gender Gap at School,” David Brooks scrutinizes common gender roles and introduces the idea that biological factors may play a role in human development. He begins his essay by analyzing the three gender segregated sections in any airport, which include the restrooms, security pat-down areas, and the bookstore. He goes on to explain that the same separation occurs in the home. Brooks includes a study given to nine hundred men and women who were asked to name their favorite novel. The study determined that men preferred novels written by fellow men, whereas women favored books written woman.
Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach. (5th ed., pp. 12-286). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Waldfogel, J. (2012). The Role of Out-of-School Factors in the Literacy Problem. Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century, 22(2), 39-49. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/22_02_03.pdf
According to Richard Vaca, author of Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, “Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives.” But despite the importance of high levels of literacy in adult life, American literacy scores in schools remain low. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for fourth graders in 2009, the national average score was a 220 out of possible 500, no improvement over the average 2007 score. This across-the-board failure to teach students such a vital skill as literacy in the twenty-first century demonstrates a failure of the literacy curriculum itself, and the...