Reading for Understanding E-Book

Ruth Schoenbach

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 704

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

"As elegantly practical as it is theoretically elegant. It is a guided tour, as one examines the tools of expert teachers as they engage students in a journey that is aptly dubbed Reading Apprenticeship?learning how to become a savvy, strategic reader under the tutelage of thoughtful, caring, and demanding teachers.? P. David Pearson, University of California, Berkeley, and founding editor of the Handbook of Reading Research. Reading for Understanding is a monumental achievement. It was a monumental achievement when it came out as a first edition in 1999, bringing years of rigorous reading research together in a framework for teaching that made sense in actual secondary school classrooms. Now, just thirteen years later, Schoenbach and Greenleaf have several randomized clinical trials and multiple on-going studies at their fingertips to demonstrate the effects of this approach for developing the reading and thinking of young people in our nation?s middle and high school classrooms, as well as in community college classrooms. Their careful work on developing disciplinary literacy among all students represents a passion for and commitment to supporting students?and their teachers?in reading for understanding, which translates to reading for enjoyment, self-awareness, learning, and for purposeful and informed action in our society. ?Elizabeth Moje, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Dean for Research, School of Education, University of Michigan Reading Apprenticeship has proven to be an inspiration to Renton Technical College faculty and students alike. They have learned together to view themselves as readers in transformative ways, as they embrace powerful techniques to increase reading comprehension. The ideas and strategies in Reading for Understanding anchor this new and broad-based energy around reading and an enthusiasm among our faculty to model effective reading strategies for our students. ?Steve Hanson, President, Renton Technical College, Renton, Washington Reading for Understanding has the finest blend I have seen of research, strategies, and classroom vignettes to deepen teacher learning and help them connect the dots between theory and practice. ?Curtis Refior, Content Area Literacy Coach, Fowlerville Community Schools, Fowlerville, Michigan A teacher-tested, research-based resource for dramatically improving reading skills Published in partnership with WestEd, this significantly updated second edition of the bestselling book contains strategies for helping students in middle school through community college gain the reading independence to master subject area textbooks and other material. * Based on the Reading Apprenticeship program, which three rigorous "gold standard" research studies have shown to be effective in raising students' reading achievement * Presents a clear framework for improving the reading and subject area learning of all students, including English learners, students with special needs, as well as those in honors and AP courses * Provides concrete tools for classroom use and examples from a range of classrooms * Presents a clear how-to for teachers implementing the subject area literacies of the Common Core Standards Reading for Understanding proves it's never too late for teachers and students to work together to boost literacy, engagement, and achievement.

Leseprobe

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1: Engaged Academic Literacy for All

The Context for Change

“Solutions” that Don’t Solve the Problem

The Case for Optimism

Chapter 2: The Reading Apprenticeship Framework

What is Reading?

Social Support for Learning

Dimensions of the Reading Apprenticeship Classroom and Framework

Chapter 3: The Social and Personal Dimensions

Starting from Day One

Building the Social Dimension

Building the Personal Dimension

Assessing Effort and Growth

Chapter 4: Metacognitive Conversation

Reading Happens in Your Mind

Introducing Metacognition

Cultivating Metacognitive Conversation

Cultivating Collaboration

Deepening Disciplinary Uses of Metacognitive Conversation

Reflecting on Roles in a Metacognitive Classroom

Chapter 5: Extensive Academic Reading

The Why of Extensive Academic Reading

The What of Extensive Academic Reading

Chapter 6: Sustained Silent Reading+

Getting Real Reading Going

Using Metacognitive Logs in SSR+

Creating a Community of Readers

Supporting and Assessing Students’ SSR+ Reading Behaviors

Chapter 7: The Cognitive Dimension

Making Problem Solving Explicit

Teaching Problem Solving in Reading

Applying a Selection of High-Leverage Reading Strategies

Helping Students Become Strategic Readers

Chapter 8: The Knowledge-Building Dimension

Thinking Metacognitively About Schema

Surfacing, Building, and Refining Schema

Exploring Different Types of Knowledge

Epilogue

Assessment Appendix

List of Downloadable Resources

WestEd and the Strategic Literacy Initiative

About the Authors

Subject Index

Name Index

More Praise forReading for Understanding, Second Edition

Reading for Understanding is a monumental achievement. It was a monumental achievement when it came out as a first edition in 1999, bringing years of rigorous reading research together in a framework for teaching that made sense in actual secondary school classrooms. Now, just thirteen years later, Schoenbach and Greenleaf have several randomized clinical trials and multiple on-going studies at their fingertips to demonstrate the effects of this approach for developing the reading and thinking of young people in our nation’s middle and high school classrooms, as well as in community college classrooms. Their careful work on developing disciplinary literacy among all students represents a passion for and commitment to supporting students—and their teachers—in reading for understanding, which translates to reading for enjoyment, self-awareness, learning, and for purposeful and informed action in our society.

—Elizabeth Moje, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Dean for Research, School of Education, University of Michigan

Reading Apprenticeship has proven to be an inspiration to Renton Technical College faculty and students alike. They have learned together to view themselves as readers in transformative ways, as they embrace powerful techniques to increase reading comprehension. The ideas and strategies in Reading for Understanding anchor this new and broad-based energy around reading and an enthusiasm among our faculty to model effective reading strategies for our students.

—Steve Hanson, President, Renton Technical College, Renton, Washington

In my work coaching teachers, I want the learning to continue when the coaching conversation ends. Reading for Understanding has the finest blend I have seen of research, strategies, and classroom vignettes to deepen teacher learning and help them connect the dots between theory and practice.

—Curtis Refior, Content Area Literacy Coach, Fowlerville Community Schools, Fowlerville, Michigan

Schoenbach, Greenleaf, and Murphy have developed a second edition of Reading Apprenticeship that gives voice to the concrete and inspiring experiences of teachers and students LEARNING TOGETHER in a wide range of contexts. Their design for inquiry-based learning in academic literacy extends from college classrooms in the suburbs of Los Angeles to rural high schools in Utah. Highlighting the critical nature of equitable opportunity for increasingly diverse students, the authors use their powerful framework to engage students in the rigor of disciplinary learning demanded by the Common Core State Standards. It is this challenge that makes Reading Apprenticeship indispensable for all those committed to creating a career-and-college-ready future for all students.

—Dr. Christelle Estrada, Ph.D., Secondary English Language Arts Specialist, Utah State Office of Education

At last count, more than 150 instructors, enough to reach a critical mass in our students’ educational experience, have been trained in Reading Apprenticeship. This new edition of Reading for Understanding will be an important support as we continue to help our students use a problem-solving approach to decipher dense textbook information, build reading stamina, and improve their classroom participation.

—Mary S. Spangler, Ed.D., Chancellor, Houston Community College, Houston, Texas

In concrete, specific ways, Reading for Understanding builds on the rationale behind Reading Apprenticeship to assist teachers in their efforts to scaffold student learning so all students may become more engaged, strategic, and independent readers.

—Mary M. Katona, Assistant Superintendent, Twin Valley School District, Elverson, Pennsylvania

Other books on Reading Apprenticeship from WestEd and Jossey-Bass:

Building Academic Literacy: An Anthology for Reading Apprenticeship

Building Academic Literacy: Lessons from Reading Apprenticeship Classrooms, Grades 6–12

Rethinking Preparation for Content Area Teaching: The Reading Apprenticeship Approach

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ISBN 978-0-470-60831-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-22071-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-23452-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-25900-9 (ebk)

SECOND EDITION

Foreword

In 1999, I had the privilege of writing a foreword for the first edition of Reading for Understanding. I was delighted, indeed honored, to do so because the four authors (Ruth Schoenbach, Cynthia Greenleaf, Christine Cziko, and Lori Hurwitz) had provided the field with a resource that enabled subject matter teachers to do what so many find so difficult—help middle and high school readers cope with and learn from disciplinary texts. Too often, these texts and these subject matter classes had taught students that they were incompetent, not up to the challenge of learning from tough texts. But the four of them, in describing the experiences they lived through in creating and refining their academic literacy course, told a different story—one in which these same sorts of students learned that they were competent, that they possessed the intellectual capital (knowledge), collaborative resources (their peers and teachers), toolkits (strategies), and personal attributes (stamina and self-efficacy) to stand up to the very texts that defeat so many adolescent learners.

When asked to write a foreword for the second edition, I jumped at the chance. I had followed the advances they had made in professional development and research over all of the intervening years, so I knew that there would be new developments to talk about. But I knew that much of the pedagogical model had remained intact. So I wondered, at least to myself, as I reflected on the pedagogy of the first edition, How could they ever improve on that? Well, they have!

In the second edition of Reading for Understanding, Ruth and Cyndy have been joined by a new coauthor, Lynn Murphy (Christine and Lori are both pursuing new but highly related ventures) to give us another great gift—a revised and enhanced framework for teaching literacy in disciplinary settings that is as elegantly practical as it is theoretically elegant. It is a guided tour, as one examines the tools of expert teachers as they engage students in a journey that is aptly dubbed Reading Apprenticeship—learning how to become a savvy, strategic reader under the tutelage of thoughtful, caring, and demanding teachers.

Written for secondary and college teachers of classes in science, history, math, health, geography, and the like, it is practical in providing good advice for shaping classroom pedagogy and activity. But its usefulness is enhanced by its strong grounding in socio-cognitive theories of teaching and learning (how teachers and students build supportive and intellectually rigorous communities of practice) and the rich body of empirical evidence that documents its effectiveness. This is a proven program, not just an appealing set of teaching practices.

Blessed then by the forces of practice, theory, and research, the Reading Apprenticeship framework is triply trustworthy. Subject area and literacy teachers will find a rich resource for transforming their classrooms from lecture-laden settings in which disengaged students fail or merely get by into collaborative learning environments in which students are guided on a journey of success. The transformation that this approach nurtures is truly startling. The Reading Apprenticeship framework gives us hope that classrooms that typically breed nothing but boredom, cynicism, and low self-esteem among today’s adolescents can become places where students learn how to (a) cope with the inherent complexity of challenging disciplinary texts, (b) use their knowledge and their peers as resources to enhance that knowledge, and (c) convey confidence about their capacity to learn on their own.

A few specifics and highlights in the second edition.

The second edition ofReading for Understandingis based upon a complete model of student learning. As in the first edition, the core approach is metacognitive. Ultimately students develop a toolkit of monitoring and fix-up procedures that they can use on their own to blaze a trail of understanding as they make their way through the jungle of complex text and difficult concepts they encounter in content area classes. That metacognitive and cognitive toolkit students develop is highly contextualized within the Reading Apprenticeship model that also includes a personal, a social, and a knowledge-building dimension. So students are not just applying strategies for strategies’ sake, as we often see in what the authors call the skills in a box solution that many publishers offer. They use strategies for purposes of acquiring knowledge (that is itself multidimensional), and they do it in a collaborative social context that brings its own set of affordances. The social context, the knowledge acquisition, and the effective deployment of cognitive tools all shape a set of personal dispositions and attitudes students develop. These attributes include self-efficacy, stamina, and agency—all dispositions that feed back into a virtuous cycle of success and personal mastery. Thus everything we know about motivation and engagement and self-efficacy are a part of the learning cycle. Contrast this with the vicious cycle of failure breeding defeat breeding disinterest breeding failure, and we have a very different story to tell—about the core pedagogical stance that Reading Apprenticeship promotes. And of course, the very naming of the framework and the use of the apprenticeship metaphor signals a fundamental relationship between teacher and student—teachers are NOT tellers of information who “give it” to students but are coaches and facilitators who arrange conditions (personal, social, and cognitive) so that students can “get it” for themselves. So learning in Reading Apprenticeship is not just skill acquisition; instead, it is skill, will, and thrill!

The examples in this second edition are even more compelling than those in the first. One of the virtues in the first edition was the compelling set of examples provided, examples that gave teachers a clear sense of how this approach might actually work in their classrooms. The second edition continues and expands that tradition: (a) there are a lot more examples, (b) they are from a much more diverse set of age and disciplinary settings, and (c) both the materials (what students and teachers have in their hands) and the pedagogical routines are even more explicit. As a person who has worked in this arena of comprehension strategy instruction for over thirty years now, I saw a lot of ideas I worked on come alive in more vivid ways than I had ever been able to enact them. In particular, the examples demonstrate that the Reading Apprenticeship team has really figured out how to handle the difficult task of gradually releasing responsibility to students who often struggle when left to their own devices—what lifelines to offer when and for how long.

The research base is more compelling. When the first edition came out, there were a few “data-rich” studies of Reading Apprenticeship, some more qualitative and descriptive (What does it look like and how does it work in a few selected classrooms?) and others more quantitative (What sort of growth on conventional measures of achievement do students experience over time?). But now the data are piling up in both the quantitative and qualitative bins. And the news is all good! We know more about what the approach looks like in more different disciplinary settings and with students in a wider band of age levels, both younger and older. And we have evidence of its positive impact on student achievement in efficacy studies and even “gold-standard” randomized field trials. Both kinds of research should give us greater confidence and will to implement Reading Apprenticeship in a broader range of age and disciplinary settings.

The second edition ofReading for Understandingis itself contextualized by a broader range of resources. Not only do the Reading Apprenticeship folks know more about how to make it work in classrooms, they also know more about how to conduct effective professional development to help teachers figure out how to make it work in their own classrooms—and how to sustain the initiative over time in a school setting. So how to enact relevant professional development, engage professional learning communities, and maintain program continuity—all deep concerns of school and district leaders—are now a part of the world of Reading Apprenticeship. In a companion volume, Reading Apprenticeship Leaders’ Guide, school leadership folks will find much to help them in their efforts to initiate and sustain the effort.

So What? A major question to ask of any consequential intervention (by that I mean one that takes time, resources, and commitment to implement) is, So what? Is it really worth the time, effort, energy, and commitment? Will it make a difference in the lives and learning of students who otherwise would be left to the whims of indifferent, undifferentiated instruction? For me, the answer is an unwavering, YES! And it’s nice to know, with the publication of this second edition, that theory, research, and practice are on my side. And yours!

P. David Pearson

University of California, Berkeley

Preface

When you read, there should be a little voice in your head like a storyteller is saying it. And if there’s not, then you’re just looking at the words.

—LaKeisha, grade 9 student

LaKeisha’s classmates, gathered in a back room of the school library, compete to add their assessments of this new approach to reading that LaKeisha is describing. They are students of the first teachers ever to use Reading Apprenticeship, and they boisterously agree that they are reading in new ways.

Jason describes how his reading of the history textbook has changed:

I understand the book more now. Because I read differently. Like when you’re reading, if it doesn’t make sense, you can try to restate it in your own words, or you can make questions so you can understand it better. Now I read in between the lines. I basically get into the heart of it—like reading deeper into what it is saying.

Students also agree that they are reading more. Michael couches his comments as a mock complaint about his Reading Apprenticeship teacher:

Man, she’s tryin’ to be sneaky! She wants you to pick a book that you are interested in so you will read it more. She makes you find a book that you like so that you have to read it. Because you like it.

More than a decade ago, in the first edition of this book, we described piloting the Reading Apprenticeship framework in an “academic literacy” course required of LaKeisha, Jason, Michael, and the entire ninth grade at San Francisco’s Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. By the end of that pilot year, reading scores for those two hundred students had jumped more than two grade levels on a nationally normed reading test. Student gains were consistent across ethnic groups and in the classrooms of the four teachers who taught the course. During the next school year, students held on to what they had learned: their reading achievement continued to grow at an accelerated rate, as measured by a standardized reading test.

Since that time, Reading Apprenticeship has become familiar to the students of almost one hundred thousand middle school, high school, and college teachers who have read the first edition of Reading for Understanding, participated in Reading Apprenticeship professional development, and used Reading Apprenticeship approaches in subject area classes and academic literacy classes. We have published two companion books and a two-semester curriculum in response to requests for additional support for the academic literacy course described in the first edition: Building Academic Literacy: An Anthology for Reading Apprenticeship; Building Academic Literacy: Lessons from Reading Apprenticeship Classrooms, Grades 6–12; and Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy Course.

Also since the first edition, our colleague Jane Braunger convened a faculty research group of teacher educators interested in using the Reading Apprenticeship framework with pre-service teachers. Members of this group worked with Jane to publish a book about this work, Rethinking Preparation for Content Area Teaching.

Jane was also the catalyst for developing work with community college educators interested in exploring and adapting Reading Apprenticeship for use in their classes. Currently, Reading Apprenticeship is active on over thirty campuses across the country in developmental, general education, and transfer-level courses.

During the past decade, Reading Apprenticeship has also been the focus of much research (see Chapter One). Three federally funded randomized controlled studies have found statistically significant benefits for students in Reading Apprenticeship high school classrooms—gains in comparison with control students that include improved attendance, course completion, and attitudes and confidence about reading, as well as higher achievement on reading comprehension and subject matter standardized tests.

In another major study, researchers found that even modest amounts of the right kind of instructional support transformed classrooms and benefited students. In a two-year case study of middle school and high school classrooms, teachers who were rated “moderately” skillful implementers of Reading Apprenticeship, as well as the highest-rated implementers, produced benefits for students in changed approaches to complex reading, reading engagement and academic identity, and scores on standardized tests.

Evaluation of the impact of Reading Apprenticeship in community college is also promising. A multicampus faculty research group and an evaluation by the Research & Planning Group for California Community Colleges have documented classroom instruction that markedly increases students’ confidence and engagement in learning. In classrooms where achievement and persistence data have been collected, increased student grades, rates of course completion, and retention in school are typical.

As we go forward, Reading Apprenticeship continues to reach more and more teachers and to be part of major new research initiatives. As a framework offering teachers a coherent yet adaptable approach to literacy learning, Reading Apprenticeship has been an important force in the field of adolescent literacy and more recently in literacy at the college level. The first edition of this book has been a touchstone all along the way.

Why We Wrote a Second Edition

In this new edition of Reading for Understanding, the core principles that drive Reading Apprenticeship are still in place. They have turned out to be very sturdy over the years (see the Reading Apprenticeship framework in Chapter Two). But, over time, Reading Apprenticeship has attracted a more diverse audience and much new experience that is not reflected in the first edition.

This second edition (and a companion volume, Reading Apprenticeship Leaders’ Guide) includes many examples from community college classrooms and a much broader set of examples at the middle school and high school level—across a variety of academic subject areas and from classrooms serving learners with diverse instructional needs.

It also includes the many arresting voices of teachers and students who are making the Reading Apprenticeship framework their own in a broad range of rural, urban, and suburban classrooms across the country.

Acknowledgments

Open-hearted students, a talented Reading Apprenticeship staff, smart and dedicated teachers, and our earliest colleagues at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School have contributed in their unique ways to the scope and spirit of this book.

We have changed the names of the students who populate these pages, but their words are true. We thank them pseudonymously, with admiration and best wishes.

Staff members of the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd in the years since the first edition was published have contributed their collective knowledge, patience, and sense of humor to keep the work honest and fresh. The considerable professional expertise and energetic contributions of current and past colleagues—Jana Bouc, Jane Braunger, Will Brown, Irisa Charney-Sirott, Gayle Cribb, Pamela Fong, Gina Hale, Rita Jensen, Marean Jordan, Margot Kenaston, Diane Lee, Cindy Litman, Kate Meisert, Faye Mueller, Tamara Taylor Reeder, and Diane Waff—are represented in all the pages that follow.

Teachers, and especially those quoted in this book (and named in the following list), have not only taught us but also inspired us. They allowed us into their classrooms for observations and documentary videotaping, made time for research interviews, and reported back to us about ways their instruction was changing. Members of the Community College Literacy Research Group even conducted their own research about using Reading Apprenticeship approaches, and are quoted liberally. We thank as well the administrators whose comments and reflections add an important perspective to the book and our thinking.

Two people made enduring contributions to this book and to the design of the original Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy course. Christine Cziko and Lori Hurwitz were coauthors of the first edition of Reading for Understanding (along with Ruth Schoenbach and Cynthia Greenleaf). Their classroom experience, savvy, and thoughtfulness were essential to our initial work and continue to inform this second edition.

Five trusted colleagues read and gave us feedback on late drafts of this book. Our thanks to Nika Hogan, Sue Kinney, Cathleen Kral, Bill Loyd, and Curtis Refior.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank the leadership of our parent organization, WestEd. The Strategic Literacy Initiative has received strong and consistent institutional support over the years as we have developed, refined, and tested the Reading Apprenticeship framework. In addition, the intellectual and personal encouragement of Gary Estes, Glen Harvey, Paul Hood, and Aída Walqui have kept us on our toes in the very best way. We are fortunate to have such colleagues. Finally, we want to offer personal thanks to our nearest and dearest—Lynn Eden, Paul King, and Peter Shwartz.

Contributing Teachers and Administrators

Anne Agard: Instructor of English as a Second Language, Laney College, Oakland, Calif.

Ann Akey: Teacher of Science, Woodside High School, Woodside, Calif.

Muthulakshimi Bhavani Balavenkatesan: Teacher of Biology, Logan High School, Union City, Calif.

Luke Boyd: Teacher of Grade 9 English, Louis Dieruff High School, Allentown, Penn.

Alec Brown: As cited: Teacher of Grade 9 World Literature and Reading Apprenticeship, ASPIRA Early College, Chicago, Ill. Currently: Teacher of Contemporary Issues/Reading and Writing I, Instituto Health Science Career Academy, Chicago, Ill.

Linda Brown: As cited: Reading Specialist, Howard County Public Schools, Howard County, Md. Currently: Developmental English Adjunct Faculty, Carroll Community College, Westminster, Md.

Will Brown: As cited: Teacher of Chemistry, Skyline High School, Oakland, Calif. Currently: Professional Development Associate, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Yu-Chung Chang-Hou: Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, Calif.

Janet Creech: Teacher of Science, Woodside High School, Woodside, Calif.

Gayle Cribb: As cited: Teacher of History and Spanish, Dixon High School, Dixon, Calif. Currently: Professional Development Associate, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Christine Cziko: Coauthor of the first edition of Reading for Understanding. As cited: Teacher of English and Academic Literacy, Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, San Francisco, Calif. Currently: Academic Coordinator, Multicultural Urban Secondary English (MUSE) Master’s and Credential Program, University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education.

Charla Dean: As cited: Teacher of Academic Literacy, Ben Lomond High School, Ogden, Utah. Currently: Teacher of Reading, Mount Ogden Junior High School, Ogden, Utah.

Jill Eisner: Reading Specialist, Centennial High School, Ellicott City, Md.

Jordona Elderts: Teacher of Social Studies, John Muir Middle School, San Leandro, Calif.

Laurie Erby: Teacher of Grade 7 Social Studies, Saline Middle School, Saline, Mich.

Monica Figueroa: Teacher of Social Studies, Oak Grove Middle School, Concord, Calif.

JoAnn Filer: Teacher of English, Gloucester Township Campus, Camden County Technical Schools, Sicklerville, N.J.

Janet Ghio: As cited: Teacher of English and Academic Literacy, Lincoln High School, Stockton, Calif. Currently: Professional Development Consultant, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Laura Graff: Associate Professor of Mathematics, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, Calif.

Gina Hale: As cited: Teacher of Grade 7 Core (English Language Arts and World History), John Muir Middle School, San Leandro, Calif. Currently: Professional Development Associate, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Cindi Davis Harris: Instructor of English, Grossmont College, El Cajon, Calif.

Linda Hart: Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor, Renton Technical College, Renton, Wash.

Andrew Hartig: Teacher of English, Hillsdale High School, San Mateo, Calif.

Karen Hattaway: Professor of English, San Jacinto College North, Houston, Tex.

Cindy Hicks: As cited: Instructor of English, Chabot College, Hayward, Calif. Currently: Emeritus.

Monika Hogan: Associate Professor of English, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, Calif. In her role as Community College Coordinator for the Strategic Literacy Initiative, Nika interviewed several of the community college instructors who contributed to this edition.

Heather Howlett: Teacher of Grade 8 Science, Three Fires Middle School, Howell, Mich.

Lori Hurwitz: Coauthor of the first edition of Reading for Understanding. As cited: Teacher of English and Academic Literacy, Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, San Francisco, Calif. Currently: Deputy Director of Programs, San Francisco Education Fund.

Rita Jensen: As cited: Teacher of English Language Development, John Muir Middle School, San Leandro, Calif. Currently: Professional Development Associate, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Tim Jones: Teacher of Algebra and Pre-Calculus, Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, Ind.

Dorothea Jordan: As cited: Teacher of Grade 7 Pre-Algebra, Oak Grove Middle School, Concord, Calif. Currently: Retired.

Michael Kelcher: Associate Professor of Chemistry, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, Calif.

Cathleen Kral: As cited: Instructional Leader for Literacy K–12 and Director of Literacy Coaching in Boston Public Schools. Currently: International consultant in education and Multi-Sites Coordinator for the Reading Apprenticeship Improving Secondary Education (RAISE) Project, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, Calif.

Lisa Krebs: Teacher of English, Dixon High School, Dixon, Calif.

Deborah Leser: Principal of George Washington Community High School, Indianapolis, Ind.

Michele Lesmeister: Adult Basic Education/GED Instructor, Renton Technical College, Renton, Wash.

Anthony Linebaugh: Teacher of English and Academic Literacy, Ninth Grade Academy, John McCandless High School, Stockton, Calif.

William Loyd: As cited: Literacy Coordinator, Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD), Ann Arbor, Mich. Currently: Michigan Statewide Coordinator, Reading Apprenticeship Improving Secondary Education (RAISE) Project, WISD.

Walter Masuda: As cited: Professor of English, Contra Costa College, San Pablo, Calif. Currently: Dean of Fine Arts and Language Arts, Yuba College, Marysville, Calif.

Missie Meeks: Instructor of English and Basic Skills, Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, Miss.

Lisa Morehouse: Teacher of English, Balboa High School, San Francisco, Calif.

Holly Morris: Professor of Biology, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, Penn.

Pam Myette: Teacher of Special Education Services, Oakland Mills High School, Columbia, Md.

Nicci Nunes: As cited: Teacher of Physics and Chemistry, Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, San Francisco, Calif. Currently: Educational consultant.

April Oliver: Teacher of AP Literature and Composition, World Literature, and Dance, Los Altos High School, Mountain View, Calif.

Chris Paulis: As cited: Coordinator of Secondary Language Arts, Howard County Public School System, Howard County, Md. In this role Chris supported a number of the teachers whose Reading Apprenticeship practices are cited in this book. Currently: Educational consultant.

Caro Pemberton: As cited: Teacher of Humanities, Oceana High School, Pacifica, Calif. Currently: Principal, Oceana High School.

Allie Pitts: Teacher of Social Science, Hillsdale High School, San Mateo, Calif.

Lisa Rizzo: Teacher of Language Arts, Ben Franklin Intermediate School, Colma, Calif.

Keren Robertson: Teacher of English, Los Altos High School, Los Altos, Calif.

Cindy Ryan: Reading Specialist, Dreher High School, Columbia, S.C.

Teri Ryan: Teacher of Mathematics, Vintage High School, Napa, Calif.

Trish Schade: As cited: Instructor of Developmental English, Merced College, Merced, Calif. Currently: Associate Professor of Developmental Reading, Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill, Mass.

Ericka Senegar-Mitchell: Teacher of Biotechnology, AP Biology, and Honors Biology, Junipero Serra High School, San Diego, Calif. Founder and Director of Science in the City Outreach Program.

Patti Smith: Instructor of English and QEP Director, Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, Miss.

Stacy Stambaugh: As cited: Teacher of Academic Literacy, South High School, Omaha, Neb. Currently: Curriculum Specialist English and Special Education, South High School.

Michelle Stone: Teacher of Academic Literacy and AP Literature and Composition, Hayward High School, Hayward, Calif.

Kathleen Sullivan: Teacher of AP Chemistry and General Chemistry, Central High School, Bridgeport, Conn.

Tammy Thompson: Teacher of Academic Literacy and English, Lincoln High School, Stockton, Calif.

Tim Tindol: Teacher of Science, Lincoln High School, San Francisco, Calif.

Stacey Tisor: As cited: Teacher of Biology and Science, Irvington High School, Fremont, Calif. Currently: Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) and Intern Coordinator, San Mateo County Office of Education, Redwood City, Calif.

Francisco Valdiosera: Vice Principal, George Washington Community High School, Indianapolis, Ind.

Chris Van Ruiten-Greene: Teacher of English, Lincoln High School, Stockton, Calif.

Pam Williams-Butterfield, RN: Nursing Assistant Instructor, Renton Technical College, Renton, Wash.

Jane Wolford: Instructor of History, Chabot College, Hayward, Calif.

Sandy Wood: Chair of Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Women’s Studies, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, Calif.

Nancy Ybarra: Instructor of English, Los Medanos College, Pittsburg, Calif.

CHAPTER ONE

Engaged Academic Literacy for All

Usually, in a regular history class, the teacher would say, “Read from page so-and-so to so-and-so, answer the red-square questions and the unit questions, and turn them in.” And it wasn’t like you had to read it. . . If the red-square question was here, you knew the answer was somewhere around that area right there. It was something that you could like slide by without them knowing. I don’t know if they cared or not, but that’s the way everybody did it.

—Rosa, grade 9 student

Most teachers, if I talk to them, they’ll be like, “What, are you serious—this is college, you’re asking me how to read ? I can’t help you. You should have learned that in eighth grade.”

—Kalif, community college student1

As a Nation and as educators, what do we expect of our middle school, high school, and college students? What messages do we send students about their academic abilities and promise? If we believe that all students should be able to think and read critically, to write and talk knowledgeably about historical, literary, scientific, or mathematical questions, we need to provide richer learning opportunities than the “red-square question” routine that Rosa describes. We need to better prepare and support students like Kalif.

This book presents an approach to improving students’ ability to read critically and to write about and discuss texts in a range of disciplines—an approach that builds their academic literacy. The framework for this approach, Reading Apprenticeship, starts from the premise that engaging students like Rosa and her peers affectively as well as intellectually is key to developing the dispositions and skills required for becoming confident, critical, and independent readers and thinkers.

Like Kalif, many students feel overwhelmed by the high level of literacy expected of them in college courses. Standards for high-level literacy, such as those embodied in the Common Core State Standards for K–12 students or in the “gatekeeper” exams that determine college admission and placement, outpace many students’ preparation. Teachers feel similarly overwhelmed by the distance between these ambitious literacy goals and their students’ experience engaging with academic texts. When students are unaccustomed to carrying out rigorous literacy tasks, it is a daunting prospect for teachers to find new ways to engage them in the satisfaction of unlocking texts and the learning it makes possible.

Many educators express the belief that students who struggle with academic texts “just aren’t motivated.” Yet we see ample evidence that by helping students find their own reasons and entry points for reading challenging texts, we can support them in developing both their affective and their intellectual engagement with academic texts. When a teacher at a high-poverty high school with a majority of English learners tells us her students are “suddenly finding that the economics textbook is more interesting,” and they are eager to read and discuss the ideas in it, it seems clear that the students rather than the text have changed. By learning to work through challenging passages and to collaboratively make sense of them, these students have developed a different affective relationship with the text and with economics concepts they previously found “unengaging.”