8:30 am – 5:00 pm EDT J.W. Marriott Washington, DC
Supplemental materials, including PowerPoint presentations, are available. Please be patient when downloading PowerPoint presentations, some are quite large and may take a few minutes.
Governor Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent Education (Video) (6:24)
II. Panel 1: What is good literacy instruction, and whose job is it?
Judith Langer sets the stage for this panel discussion by reviewing lessons learned from her extensive research into dozens of exemplary secondary school reading and writing programs, both in English and in the content areas.
A moderated panel discussion follows, focusing on questions such as: To what extent must every teacher be a reading teacher? Do math, science, literature, social studies, and other content area teachers bear precisely the same responsibility for teaching students to read and write, or do their responsibilities differ in specific ways? To what extent must the academic disciplines define for themselves what it means to be literate in that field, or to be an effective teacher of literacy? Is literacy instruction just an add-on to the teaching of other skills and content, or does a commitment to teaching literacy imply a more profound redefinition of what teachers consider to be the nature of their jobs and the essence of their disciplines?
Delia Pompa, National Council of La Raza (Video) (3:30)
Judith Langer, Center on English Learning & Achievement (Introduction) (Video) (35:50)
Judith Langer’s PowerPoint presentation
Patricia Alexander, University of Maryland (Video) (13:53)
Patricia Alexander’s PowerPoint presentation
Elizabeth Moje, University of Michigan (Video) (12:53)
Elizabeth Moje’s PowerPoint presentation
Question and Answer – Panel 1 (Video) (28:09)
III. 11:00-12:30 Panel 2: Challenges and opportunities for better literacy instruction
Cynthia Greenleaf will introduce this panel by reviewing what is currently known about the kinds of professional development, incentives, and supports that are needed to help all secondary school teachers to teach reading and writing effectively.
Panelists will debate questions such as: What concerns do content area teachers raise when asked to take a greater role in literacy instruction? To what extent are those concerns justified, and how can they be addressed? What will it take to ensure that literacy coaching, in-service programs, and other kinds of professional development have a real impact on the teaching of reading and writing in the content areas?
Joseph Aguerrebere, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (Video) (3:44)
Cynthia Greenleaf, WestEd (Introduction) (Video) (33:53)
Cynthia Greenleaf’s PowerPoint presentation
– “Apprenticing Adolescents to Reading in Subject-Area Classrooms”
– Dilemmas of Professional Development: Six Scenarios and Twelve Questions
– “Toward the Responsive Teaching of Middle and High School Teachers: Recommendations for Strategic Professional Development Design”
– “Teaching Reading Strategies at the Secondary Level”
Cathy Roller, International Reading Association (Video) (8:37)
Cathy Roller’s PowerPoint presentation
Melvina Phillips, National Association of Secondary School Principals (Video) (10:11)
Melvina Phillips’ PowerPoint presentation
Question and Answer – Panel 2 (Video) (23:39)
Mel Riddile, Principal, JEB Stuart High School (VA) (With introduction by Melvina Phillips, National Association of Secondary School Principals) (Video) (34:02)
V. Panel #3: What’s needed from school, district, state, and federal leaders?
In this panel, the focus shifts from teachers and teaching to the larger organizational and political conditions in which teaching takes place, and which can make or break any effort to improve adolescent literacy instruction. What can school and district leaders and state and federal policymakers do to encourage real change – not just tinkering – in the ways that reading and writing are taught? What obstacles must they remove in order for good middle and high school literacy instruction to flourish?
Ilene Berman, National Governors Association (With introduction by Gov. Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent Education) (Video) (4:41)
Panel 3 is presented in its entirety together with the Question & Answer session (Video) (50:42)
James McPartland, Talent Development High Schools
Mary Laura Openshaw, Florida Department of Education
Susan Frost, Education Priorities, Inc.
VI. Closing Remarks
Governor Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent Education (Video)