Literacy Plan Critique
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Why is this component important? A schoolwide literacy action plan is an essential blueprint for improving student achievement. An effective plan requires the skillful use of data about student
performance, literacy needs and expectations in the school and community, school capacity to support
literacy development, current teaching practices, and effectiveness of the literacy program. To generate
change, leaders must actively use a literacy action plan to guide decision making around instruction,
programming, and resource allocation.
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From Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy by J. Irvin, J. Meltzer, & M. Dukes. © 2007 by J. Irvin. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.
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TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
Designing an effective literacy action plan to guide a schoolwide literacy
improvement effort is not easy; however, such a plan is essential for school leaders who
are serious about addressing the literacy and learning needs of students. In Chapter 7,
we describe how school leaders can use student performance data to focus the school on
improving students’ literacy and learning and make appropriate decisions about student
placement. Certainly, student performance data constitute the most critical information
that drives planning for literacy improvement. A good plan specifically indicates what
types of student performance data are being collected and how the data will be used.
However, to ensure that improvement is sustained, additional types of data are important
to consider when developing and implementing a comprehensive literacy action plan.
After a plan has been developed and implemented, school leaders must then collect data
to monitor its success, including the effectiveness of specific literacy interventions.
The biggest concern about developing a data-based literacy action plan is that it
will not guide action. Too many times a plan is developed only to be “left on the shelf.”
Schmoker (2006) points out that most strategic planning in education is ineffective
because the documents produced are fragmented, complicated, and convoluted, and
often do not lead to improved student outcomes. In other words, the improvement
plans are difficult to use, rarely used, or both. According to Schmoker, elaborate
school improvement plans that do not focus exclusively and directly on curriculum
implementation and improving instruction are not helpful to improving student
achievement.
This does not mean that a literacy action plan is a bad idea. On the contrary, many
schools we have worked with use their literacy action plan to focus their efforts and
guide their work to improve student proficiency in reading and writing. However, school
leaders must develop a data-based literacy action plan that they will actively use to guide
ongoing decisions about instruction, programming, and resource allocation. School
leaders need to obtain broad buy-in to the plan—it should not be developed by a small
group of people and kept secret. It is important that the plan be measurable, coherent,
concrete, and comprehensible to teachers and administrators. Last, it is important that
the plan be seen as proactive, not as compliance to a mandate, even if a mandate is what
prompted the plan’s development. One principal told us that it was her school’s literacy
action plan that made the difference in how she was able to focus on instruction; now
she thinks about how all decisions support or affect literacy development. Another
credits her school’s literacy action plan for their school’s “staying the course” and making
sure they are not distracted from the goal of improving literacy.
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Implement a Literacy Action Plan is the top point in the graphic of the Leadership
Model for Improving Adolescent Literacy and is the first action step. School leaders must
work with their faculty to create a plan that brings together all of the other action steps
discussed in the following chapters to ensure that every content area classroom and
literacy intervention focuses on improving students’ literacy habits and skills through
emphasis on student motivation, engagement, and achievement.
In this chapter, we describe the key components of an effective literacy action plan
and steps to develop this plan, along with approaches that leaders might use to collect
and analyze relevant data. Then we describe a data-driven program-monitoring cycle
that leaders can use to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in action. Segments of a
vignette describing how one middle school developed and used a literacy action plan are
interspersed throughout the chapter. We conclude with key messages.
Essential Components of an Effective Literacy Action Plan
An effective schoolwide literacy plan guides action on many levels, focusing multiple
activities toward increasing students’ reading, writing, and thinking skills. A comprehensive
literacy action plan has action steps related to five key areas:
Strengthening Literacy Development Across the Content Areas;
Literacy Interventions for Struggling Readers and Writers;
School Policies, Structures, and Culture for Supporting Literacy;
Building Leadership Capacity; and
Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction.
The key components of the literacy action plan mirror components of the Leadership
Model for Improving Adolescent Literacy because the action plan acts as a blueprint for
implementing a schoolwide literacy improvement effort. Determining appropriate overall
goals for literacy improvement requires the gathering and analyzing of relevant data.
Then, based on the data, leaders can define and implement action steps related to each
component.
In the following section, we describe each of the essential components of a compre-
hensive literacy action plan in more detail and note the types of data that leaders can
collect and analyze for each. Each action plan component also includes a mini-chart
showing two related action steps that are part of a sample literacy action plan. Of course,
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TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
the appropriate action steps a particular middle or high school should take will depend
upon what that school’s data indicate.
Strengthening Literacy Development Across the Content Areas
As described in Chapters 1 and 2, motivating and engaging students and developing
their literacy skills are necessary outcomes for any literacy improvement effort. A
schoolwide literacy action plan needs to include specific steps to set the expectation and
provide the support so that all content-area teachers implement classroom instruction
that is motivating, engaging, and strategy based. Figure 5.1 shows two examples of
action plan goals that target literacy development across content areas.
5.1 Action Plan Goals for Literacy Development Across Content Areas
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Activate subject area/ grade-level discussions on reading and writing strategies
School year
Schedule time for department meetings
Content area team leaders
Time on restructured days
Department minutes
Share effective strategies in faculty meetings
Teachers, literacy team members
Planning time Faculty agendas
Include one strategy in each monthly faculty newsletter
Principal Teacher suggestions and feedback
Monthly newsletters
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Locate and use a variety of texts in subject areas
Summer
School year
Assess and catalog available texts in subject areas
Media specialist and department chairs
Summer stipends, printing
List of texts
Form a partnership with Newspapers in Education (NIE)
English chair Time to make contacts
Agendas of meetings; NIE resources in classrooms
Expand classroom libraries related to content
Principal and local school council
Time and budget for purchasing books
Number of libraries and books
Explore options for subscribing to electronic text databases
Principal Subscription fee Purchase of database
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Literacy Interventions for Struggling Readers and Writers
As we note in Chapters 3 and 7, setting up literacy interventions for struggling readers
and writers is an important component of school improvement efforts. Deciding on
the methods and types of programs to offer for these interventions will depend on data
about student needs, school capacity, and teacher knowledge. Figure 5.2 shows two
examples of action plan goals that target literacy interventions for struggling readers and
writers.
5.2 Action Plan Goals That Target Struggling Readers and Writers
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Purchase and implement reading program to meet the needs of students scoring in the lowest quartile on the reading assessment
Summer
School year
Identify students in lowest quartile
District and school test coordinator
Test data Student lists
Research, identify, and purchase a validated reading programs for targeted students
Principal, reading specialist
Information on reading programs, funds
Research notes, meeting agendas
Identify an intensive reading course in master schedule
Principal, assistant principal for master schedule
Flexible master schedule
Finished master schedule
Assign qualified teachers to the reading course
Principal, human resources personnel
Qualified teachers Teacher list with qualifications
Place students in course and monitor progress
Principal, reading teachers
Course materials, professional development
Student grades, promotions, improvements on assessments
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Implement a schoolwide writing program
Summer
School year
Research, identify, and purchase materials
Principal, assistant principals, teachers
Test data, grades, attendance data
Student reports sent to teachers
Provide literacy professional development
Principal, district supervisors of subject areas
Outside professional development consultants
Teacher surveys, evaluations, sign-in sheets
Provide time for cross-functional planning during the school day
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible master schedule, instructional materials
Teacher surveys, minutes from planning meetings
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TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
School Policies, Structures, and Culture for Supporting Literacy
For many schools this is a “hidden” component not always articulated in a literacy action
plan. Yet ignoring a school’s policies, structures, and culture may mean that (1) there are
aspects of these in place that will impede literacy improvement efforts if not addressed,
and (2) action steps do not build on current school capacity in these areas, with the
result that actions are not taken or sustained. For example, action steps that rely on a
department structure for enactment may not be relevant if the school uses team-based
instruction. Likewise, if a school faculty has had substantial training in a process for
instructional planning or writing across the curriculum, it makes sense to build upon
and connect the literacy effort to those areas of expertise instead of “replacing” earlier
work. Figure 5.3 shows two examples of action plan goals that one middle school
included in its literacy plan related to school policies, structures, and culture. Both goals
focus on developing a school culture in which teachers coordinate their efforts to design
and implement curriculum and instruction across subject areas, as well as to provide
instruction based on a variety of assessment and performance options.
5.3 Action Plan Goals for School Policies, Structure, and Culture
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Coordinate curriculum and instruction across subject areas
Summer
School year
Form grade-level teams
Principal, assistant principals, curriculum chairs
Test data, grades, time to plan, summer stipends
Meeting agendas, formation of teams, assignment of students
Form curriculum committees to develop instructional goals that encompass subject areas
Curriculum chairs, principal, assistant principals
Time during summer to plan for instruction, leveled instructional materials and texts, Internet access
Committee roster, planning minutes, agendas
Develop themes and curriculum- integrated projects that support the themes
Curriculum chairs, department chairs
Instructional materials, planning time, summer stipends, district supervisors of subject areas
Teacher plan books, developed instructional materials
Provide time for cross-functional planning during the school day
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible master schedule, instructional materials, Internet access
Minutes of planning meetings, teacher surveys, evaluations
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Design and implement instruction that uses formal and informal assessment instruments
Summer
School year
Form a cross- functional curriculum team to agree upon common assessment practice
Principal, assistant principals, teachers
Time to meet during the summer, stipends, assessment instruments
Meeting agendas, formation of teams
Create common rubrics
Grade-level teams, department chairs
Time to plan, substitute coverage, sample rubrics, Internet access
Planning minutes, agendas, developed and field-tested rubrics, students’ work
Incorporate performance assessments in classroom instruction
Department chairs, teacher leaders
Sample performance assessments, planning time, summer stipends, district-level supervisors, support of testing director
Teacher plan books, developed performance tasks, student work and projects
Provide time for cross-functional assessment review
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible schedule, time before/after school, restructured days
Minutes of planning meetings, teacher surveys, evaluations
Building Leadership Capacity
As we make clear in Chapter 8, principals cannot lead a literacy improvement effort
alone. They need to figure out how to augment staff expertise in literacy and distribute
roles and responsibilities for literacy improvement across the school. A literacy action
plan should specifically describe ways to build leadership capacity. For example, it can
specify allocation of resources for new positions and time for new committees to meet
and for teams and department chairs to discuss implications of the plan for their work,
and for specialists to coteach, meet, or mentor others. The two examples of action plan
goals in Figure 5.4 focus on strategies to build the leadership capacity of teachers by
establishing demonstration classrooms and offering support for classroom-based research
that examines student work.
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5.4 Action Plan Goals for Building Leadership Capacity
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Establish two literacy demonstration classrooms in each content area
Summer
School year
Identify teacher leaders who can provide classroom demonstrations and modeling for their peers
Principal Time to meet during the summer, stipends, assessment instruments
Meeting agendas, formation of teams
Provide professional development to demonstration- classroom teachers
Principal School literacy coach, outside professional development consultants
Classroom observations, teacher and student surveys, evaluations
Create opportunities for classroom visits to observe demonstrations and modeling
Principal, department and/or curriculum chairs
Time to plan, substitute coverage
Observation rubrics, teacher surveys, notes
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Engage in classroom- based research by examining student work
Summer
School year
Identify teachers and teacher teams to engage in classroom-based research
Curriculum and/or department chairs
Time to meet during the summer, stipends, assessment instruments
Meeting agendas, formation of teams
Design tuning protocols for examining student work
Department and/or curriculum chairs
Time to plan, substitute coverage, professional materials
Sample protocols, examined student work, teacher and student surveys
Provide common planning time
Principal Substitutes; time for meeting outside of contract, if necessary; stipends; copying budget
Classroom observations, teacher and student surveys, evaluations
Provide time for constructive feedback and follow-up activities
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible schedule, time before/ after school, restructured days
Minutes of planning meetings, teacher surveys, evaluations, presentations of results
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction
Middle and high school teachers cannot be expected to implement literacy support for
students without targeted professional development and support. An important component
of the overall literacy action plan is a plan for the types of support and professional
development necessary to help teachers improve content-area literacy instruction and
successfully implement literacy interventions with struggling readers. (We present
information about formats and options for teacher professional development in Chapters 6
and 9.)
The two examples of action plan goals in Figure 5.5 focus on supporting teachers
by providing coaching, peer observation, and collaboration, as well as by offering them
opportunities to attend and present at local, state, and national professional conferences.
Ultimately, of course, the measure of effectiveness for each of these action steps will be
increased student achievement.
5.5 Action Plan Goals for Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Engage in coaching, peer observation, and collaborative planning
Summer
School year
Identify teacher leaders who can provide classroom demonstrations and modeling for their peers
Principal Time to meet during the summer, stipends, assessment instruments
Meeting agendas, formation of teams
Create opportunities for classroom visits to observe demonstrations and modeling
Principal, department and/or curriculum chairs
Time to plan, substitute coverage
Observation rubrics, teacher surveys, notes
Provide professional development in coaching and mentoring
Principal District supervisors of subject areas, outside professional development consultants
Classroom observations, teacher and student surveys, evaluations
Provide time for constructive feedback and follow-up activities
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible schedule, time before/ after school, restructured days
Minutes of planning meetings, teacher surveys, evaluations
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5.5 Action Plan Goals for Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction (continued )
Goal Time Line Action Steps Person(s) Responsible
Resources Evidence of Success
Provide opportunities to attend and present at local, state, and national professional conferences
Summer
School year
Provide department memberships in professional organizations
Principal Funds for membership
Memberships and professional development materials
Research local, state, and national conferences and submit proposals for attendance and presentations
Curriculum and/or department chairs
Research time, Internet access
Submitted proposals
Send teachers and teacher teams to local, state, and national conferences
Principal School and district funds
Teacher presentations to colleagues, conference evaluations
Provide time for constructive feedback and follow-up activities
Master schedule coordinator, department chairs
Flexible schedule, time before/ after school, restructured days
Minutes of planning meetings, teacher surveys, evaluations
The Roles of School Leaders and the Literacy Team As demonstrated in the charts associated with each component, leaders can apply sound
action-planning principles to the context of literacy, setting data-driven goals, outlining
action steps, delineating time lines and responsible parties, describing indicators of
effectiveness, and allocating the necessary resources. Building this type of plan requires
school leaders to have an understanding of issues related to student motivation and
engagement, classroom contexts, and strategic interventions (see Chapters 1 through
3). Further, developing a schoolwide literacy action plan requires leaders to have
an understanding of how to support teachers (Chapter 6), what types of student
performance data are available to them (Chapter 7), and how to build leadership
capacity (Chapter 8). In addition, it is important for leaders to have good information
about school capacity, teacher knowledge and practice, and the literacy needs and
expectations of the school and community.
The literacy team synthesizes the data on student performance, community input,
teacher knowledge and use of literacy support strategies, and school support structures
and policies to develop a clear picture of what currently exists and what is needed to
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
improve literacy for all learners. Based on this review, school leaders set literacy goals
that are data based, reasonable, and measurable. The team then develops a literacy action
plan by assessing each goal and determining the action steps necessary to reach it. The
action plan should include the person or persons responsible for each action step, the
time line, and the measures of success.
Goal setting and action planning are the areas in which school leaders work with
the literacy team to “put it all together.” A data-driven process for goal setting and action
planning is important to ensure that thoughtful actions take place and can be sustained.
A literacy action plan that is grounded in student performance data and supported by
additional data from assessments of school capacity, school and community expectations,
and teacher practices is more likely to support student literacy and learning.
School leaders must play two additional roles to ensure that the plan that is
developed is implemented. The first is to set forth a vision that stakeholders can support.
One way to do this is through brainstorming as a faculty what the literacy improvement
initiative would look like if it were successful. What would students be doing? What
would teachers be doing? What would the environment be like? Then, an overarching
vision statement must be developed that can set the tone for the initiative and be used
to communicate to parents, students, and the community what the school is attempting
to accomplish. Having this vision, actively referring to it, and using it to guide how
teachers and students are supported are three ways that school leaders can ensure that
the initiative will stay focused.
The second role is getting everyone on board. For a plan to succeed, collaborative
implementation must occur. Teachers need to “buy in,” or students will not receive equal
access to quality reading and writing instruction and regular guided practice in content-
area reading and writing. Having a common vision that is articulated, referenced, and
used by school leaders will help, as will adequate and ongoing teacher professional
development. (We provide ideas for how to work with reluctant teachers in Chapter 8.)
The key point here is that it is the responsibility of school leaders to get everyone to be
an active participant in enacting all the parts of the school’s literacy action plan.
Leaders need to have and communicate a vision and secure the collaboration and
effort of school staff. They also need to have a good plan, because without it, not much
will change for students. This chapter focuses on the development of an effective literacy
action plan. But we caution leaders to pay attention to the two issues of vision and
collaborative implementation to ensure that the schoolwide literacy improvement effort is
successful.
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School leaders who have good data on students’ reading and writing needs,
measurable literacy goals, and specific action steps to address student needs can develop
an effective literacy action plan. They can use this plan to guide the school’s literacy
improvement efforts over time. The next sections of this chapter outline how to gather
and analyze this information and how this type of data can productively inform the
processes of setting literacy improvement goals and creating a literacy action plan.
Using Multiple Data Sources to Develop a Literacy Action Plan
As we discuss in Chapter 7, student performance data are central to literacy
improvement efforts in middle and high school. This type of data is critical when
determining students’ instructional needs as individuals and by grade-level cohort,
determining the need for additional programming or types of intervention, and
monitoring the success of support in the classroom.
Student performance data alone, however, are not sufficient for driving a literacy
improvement effort because they do not take into account the school and community
context within which learning and literacy development occur. Student performance data
indicate what is needed but do not show how this can be put into place. Performance data
also do not tell the specific actions required to ensure that the support structure is in place
to sustain systemic improvement as opposed to something that will fade if key individuals
retire or move to other schools. For example, in schools with high staff turnover, crafting
a literacy action plan so that it incorporates new policies and support structures, grade-
level or departmental agreements, and mentoring can make it more likely that changes
will endure. Student performance data also do not inform school leaders about the level
of support for literacy improvement that is already in place through school structures,
policies, and resources and in terms of teachers’ current knowledge and practice. For
example, teachers may participate in professional development in content-area writing
strategies that can be used to support reading comprehension. Professional learning
communities may be in place that can provide a ready-made structure for a literacy
improvement effort to build upon. Or the library collection may be outdated and limited,
but the school may have available technology that can effectively support both reading and
writing, as well as provide supplemental texts.
The goal of a literacy improvement effort is to create an organization that can sustain
high levels of literacy and learning for current and future students. Few schools have
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
unlimited resources to devote to literacy support; deciding how to use the available
resources wisely requires gathering data about school and community priorities and
expectations, current programs, structures and policies, and teacher professional
development needs. Otherwise leaders may jump on bandwagons or select program
options that do not maximize available resources, meet expectations, or address pressing
needs. Figure 5.6 shows kinds of data in addition to student performance data that
leaders can use as they develop a literacy action plan.
5.6 Additional Key Data for Developing Literacy Action Plans
In Order to … Leaders Can Collect Data About …
Set appropriate and measurable literacy goals School and community needs and expectations about literacy
Assess resource allocation and adequacy of current policy and practices and determine what needs to be put into place or improved
The school’s current capacity to support literacy
Determine current literacy expertise in the school, support teacher use of literacy support strategies, and develop a targeted professional development plan
Current teaching practices that provide literacy support across the content areas or as part of specific programs of study
In the following vignette, we present an example of how school leaders used
multiple sources of data to develop a literacy action plan. To create their plan, in
addition to looking at student performance data, school administrators carried out a
needs assessment, determined the school’s capacity to meet the needs of different types
of learners, and determined the professional development and types of support teachers
needed to improve content-area literacy development. The vignette is divided into
sections that show how leaders at this school gathered and used each type of data to
craft their literacy action plan. Each section of the vignette is followed by a description
and additional examples of how leaders can collect and analyze data to create a literacy
action plan.
DeWitt Middle School is a Title I school serving about 900 students in grades 6 through 8.
The town where the school is located is in transition from a mill town to a town with a tourist-
based economy. Several river guide companies are beginning to flourish, artist studios are being
installed in the old factory by the dam, and new bed-and-breakfast inns and restaurants now
occupy the handsome 19th-century homes that once housed company managers. Before the mills
closed, it was quite possible to make a living with an 8th grade education.
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When DeWitt Middle School recently conducted a survey of parents’ expectations about
student achievement, more than 80 percent of the parents stated their expectation that students
should graduate ready for college, career, and citizenship. Yet 8th grade scores on the state
assessment showed more than 50 percent of students were not meeting the standard in reading,
and almost 80 percent were not meeting the standard in writing.
Tim Hancock, the school’s energetic new principal, saw a focus on literacy across the
content areas as a way to close this gap between parent expectations and student performance.
Tim brought together his leadership team, which had representatives from all grade levels and
content areas, and told them that the school had district support to conduct a literacy audit to
determine how to proceed. The audit would help the team collect vital information about the
school’s capacity to support literacy improvement. An outside literacy consultant would analyze
this information, together with student performance data and data on teacher knowledge and
current practice; the consultant would make recommendations for what they should include in
their literacy action plan.
School and Community Needs and Expectations About Literacy
In the vignette, it was necessary for Tim to understand the community’s needs and
expectations, as well as the expectations of the school’s staff, as part of developing an
effective plan. He made sure to understand the school board’s priorities and the district’s
goals and to align the school’s efforts with them. The parent survey indicated a gap between
expectations and perceptions of what was occurring at the school for students. The faculty
was polled to determine how their own knowledge and the literacy expectations of their
students might be contributing to how instructional needs were being met.
It is important to decipher school and community needs and expectations
concerning literacy so that the school can set measurable literacy goals that are
responsive and appropriate. By conducting a literacy needs assessment, school leaders
evaluate how the school is currently meeting students’ literacy needs. The process can
focus stakeholders’ attention on literacy and can uncover missed opportunities and
underused resources. Data sources that can contribute to the needs assessment include
trends in state assessment results,
teacher questionnaires,
student surveys,
literacy goals in school improvement plans, and
focus groups and other discussions with teachers, students, and parents.
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Based on the feedback received, school leaders can create or refine the school’s plan for
accomplishing its mission and identify areas of concern, thereby ensuring that its literacy
goals match the expectations of students, teachers, parents, and the community.
The impact of this process will be different depending on the school and the
community involved. Discovering the gap between assumptions and reality can be
what enables one school to succeed with improving literacy where another fails to do
so. Consider what would occur if the following community and school assumptions
remained unchallenged:
School leaders in an area with a large percentage of English language learners
think they are meeting expectations with their current options for English-as-a-second-
language and bilingual programs, yet parents and students strongly prefer a sheltered-
instruction approach.
Administrators assume that students have adequate access to computers, but due
to scheduling, placement, and staffing issues, a majority of students are frustrated by
their limited access.
Some teachers assume that parents do not care because they do not attend school
meetings and functions but low attendance may, in fact, be due to language barriers,
work schedules, transportation issues, cultural differences, and low parent reading levels.
Teachers’ perceptions that a group of reluctant readers actually cannot read may
be erroneous. It may be that these students will not or do not read what they see as
irrelevant assigned reading but that they avidly read materials of interest outside of
school. Thus, motivation instead of ability may emerge as an essential issue in addressing
academic literacy development with certain students.
Examining assumptions such as these will provide key information school leaders
can use when deciding what programs to put in place or what the school’s literacy
improvement goals should be. Setting literacy improvement goals without establishing
baseline data to determine the starting point is not a productive way to proceed. Neither
is setting a numerical improvement goal that does not address the differentiated needs
of students with varying literacy abilities. For example, an arbitrary schoolwide goal of
raising standardized test scores by a certain percent means little if disaggregation of the
scores reveals that students in some programs are already scoring much higher than
others. Thus, this arbitrary goal will allow the instructional needs of many students to
remain unmet. By comparison, a goal of a 90 percent passing rate on the state reading
test requires gathering current performance data about students at all levels of ability so
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that differential support can be put into place. In some cases, it might be necessary to set
two goals to guide action—one for students on or above grade level and one for students
whose reading level is below their current grade level.
Discovering the school and community expectations about literacy teaching and
learning does not have to be an overwhelming task. Principals can work with their
literacy team to determine what is known about
specific programs to address the school’s mission,
students’ reading and writing abilities,
parents’ concerns about literacy achievement,
students’ attitudes toward reading and writing, and
teachers’ beliefs about student literacy and learning.
For example, the literacy team might compare attendance, dropout, and graduation rates
with literacy performance to determine if weak literacy skills are a strong contributing
factor to students’ motivation to complete school. Or leaders might survey student
attitudes toward literacy and learning to assess the impact of social and emotional factors
on academic success or failure. Figure 5.7 outlines a four-step process for conducting a
literacy needs assessment.
Assessing School and Teacher Capacity to Improve Literacy
The next step in developing a literacy action plan is for the literacy team to investigate
the current capacity of the school and the teachers to respond to these recommendations.
•
•
•
•
•
5.7 Four Steps for Conducting a Literacy Needs Assessment
1. Agree on questions. The literacy team agrees upon a short list of important questions about literacy. 2. Collect data. Literacy team members make and carry out a data collection plan to ensure that they will have the information they need to answer pressing questions. 3. Review and summarize data. The literacy team reviews all of the information gathered and summarizes the data collected relative to each of the questions posed. 4. Make recommendations and inform stakeholders. Based on the information collected, the literacy team establishes a list of recommendations that defi ne the expectations of school and community members around literacy and distributes a copy of these recommendations to all staff and community members who contrib- uted data, so they know that their voices have been heard.
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
Armed with those data, the literacy team can establish reasonable and measurable literacy
goals. For each literacy goal, the team clarifies a rationale for its inclusion, develops action
steps, and decides how the team will measure progress. This goal setting and action
planning becomes the data-based blueprint for the school’s literacy improvement effort.
The next part of the vignette describes how the DeWitt Middle School literacy team
worked with a literacy consultant to conduct an inventory of school capacity and teacher
knowledge and use of literacy strategies. To determine students’ needs, the consultant
analyzed student performance data. But to make recommendations to address these
needs, the consultant relied on the additional data about school capacity and teacher
practices.
The DeWitt Middle School literacy team worked with the literacy consultant to develop
a school-capacity profile through several discussions about the school’s current structures,
policies, culture, and use of resources. All middle school teachers attended a presentation about
adolescent literacy and then completed a comprehensive survey about their current teaching
practices and knowledge about content-area literacy support. Tim also provided the consultant
with the results from the diagnostic reading assessment administered individually to all 6th, 7th,
and 8th graders.
The consultant analyzed the data and provided a report that documented the implications
of the data as well as a detailed set of recommendations for action in the areas of school
structures, policies and culture, content-area literacy support, strategic interventions, and
teacher professional development. An examination of various types of data helped inform the
recommendations.
Student performance data. Teachers and administrators were aware that the percentage
of students not meeting standards in reading was high. A closer look at the student performance
data showed that although the vast majority of students tested “below grade level,” most were
only one or two grade levels behind. The issue was that students were not making a year’s worth
of literacy growth in a year’s time. The majority of students were actually entering middle
school on grade level, a tribute to the district’s strong elementary literacy program. But without
frequent, purposeful literacy support as part of content-area teaching and learning, these same
students were losing ground while at the middle school. In addition, a small number of students
had test results that indicated a need for more intensive intervention.
Data on school capacity. Data from the school-capacity profile revealed that some
existing resources to support literacy were underused, such as the well-stocked library and
the fact that 7th and 8th grade students had laptop computers. Other school capacities were
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haphazard, such as a lack of consistent policies about homework, lack of teacher access to
reading assessment results, inconsistent use of writing rubrics, and a lack of common materials
used to teach similar courses. Persistent themes included the lack of professional learning
communities at the school and minimal expectations in many classes for critical thinking except
for the “high achievers.” In the opinion of the literacy team, the school did not have a strong
culture of reading, writing, and thinking.
Teacher survey data. Analysis of the results of the teacher survey showed that most
teachers had very limited strategies for providing scaffolding before, during, and after reading;
widely varying expectations for reading and writing even in the same grade level; and few
strategies to teach vocabulary besides “assign, define, and test.” Teachers said that students were
not motivated to read and write but also said that they rarely allowed students to choose topics
to read or write about.
Investigating the School’s Current Capacity to Support Literacy Development
Once recommendations are developed based on the needs assessment, a different type
of data is required to answer the question: What is the school’s current capacity for
supporting literacy? To find out, school leaders can inventory resource use and the
structures and policies in place that either support or limit literacy development. In the
DeWitt Middle School vignette, school leaders hired an outside consultant. Often an
outside perspective or use of an externally developed, structured protocol can provide
the greatest insight and an efficient process for developing a picture of the school’s
capacity. Another approach is to ask the literacy team to work with educators throughout
the school to develop an abbreviated type of capacity profile and then discuss what is in
place and working, what needs to be improved, and what needs to be put into place. Figure 5.8
lists examples for how each area of capacity might contribute to literacy support.
Based on these data, the team can figure out ways to improve capacities that
exist but could be better used to support literacy development. Often these occur
predominantly in five areas: time, technology, library, personnel, and schedule.
Sometimes a brainstorming discussion is necessary to help transform what has typically
been done into more effective support for literacy. (For more ideas about how to use
resources effectively to support literacy improvement efforts, see Chapter 9.) Once
the literacy team has created a school-capacity profile that outlines what capacities,
structures, and policies can be put in place, the team will be well on its way to
understanding the assets the school already has to contribute to the literacy effort.
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
5.8 How School Capacity Can Support Literacy Improvement
Area of School Capacity Examples That Support Literacy Improvement
School structures that support literacy Additional strategic reading classes or reading/writing workshop Beginning all classes with reading relevant to the day’s work Portfolio assessment and student exhibitions Scheduled, schoolwide sustained silent reading time (3 to 5 times
per week) Quarterly joint meetings of literacy teams from high school and
feeder middle schools
• • • •
•
School resources that support literacy Classroom libraries Technology to support reading and writing instruction
and assessment Parallel curriculum materials at varying reading levels for units of
study Reading programs for learners with targeted literacy needs Multilingual print resources and staff support Literacy coach position Teacher professional development
• •
•
• • • •
School policies that support literacy Regularly scheduled reading assessments as part of students’ educational experiences
Transition teams that consider reading assessment information when determining student placement
Weekly common planning periods focused on collaborative examination of student work
Use of common writing rubrics to assess student work Teacher agreement by department or grade level to use common set
of literacy strategies Expectation that ELLs use their first language when necessary to
support literacy development in English and content area learning
•
•
•
• •
•
Understanding Current Teaching Practices That Support Literacy
In the vignette about DeWitt Middle School, it was clear that data about teachers’ current
practices were central to developing the school’s literacy action plan. Obtaining this
information allowed school leaders to assess where there were gaps, plan the necessary
time and content for teacher professional development, and focus the time of the newly
hired literacy coach.
To determine how to best support teachers to improve literacy teaching and
learning, leaders need data about current teacher practices, that is, what do teachers
know and how do they currently develop literacy across the content areas? Answers
to these questions will signal where teacher professional development and additional
support are needed. They will also provide information about where strong instructional
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support exists for literacy development. To obtain good data about both, school leaders
can survey, observe, and talk to teachers.
Survey teachers about the literacy strategies they know and use, the frequency with
which they use them, and the areas in which they feel they need more information. A
Teacher Knowledge Inventory (such as Figure A.1 in Appendix C) and questionnaires
can be used to poll teachers about their knowledge and use of literacy support strategies.
Principals might learn, for example, that teachers say that students have difficulty
learning content-area vocabulary, but teachers do not know of vocabulary strategies
they can use beyond “assign, define, and test.” These data can be used to plan targeted
professional development that addresses this need. Survey data might also inform leaders
of what types of writing and reading are typically occurring in each content area, leading
to data-based policymaking. For example, if very little writing is going on, setting a
number of required writing-to-learn assignments each week might be an appropriate
policy response.
Observe teachers during literacy walk-throughs and classroom observations (as
described in Chapter 6) and assess how teachers provide literacy support and what types
of issues they find challenging. For example, a principal might observe that teachers
are able to use note-taking strategies introduced in a teacher workshop quite easily but
find it more challenging to differentiate the use of reading comprehension strategies to
meet the needs of readers at various levels. Again, these data can be used to promote
schoolwide conversations or study groups about using multiple texts with the same unit
of study or how to use literacy support strategies to help struggling readers engage with
challenging texts.
Talk with teachers individually in goals conferences, in department or team meetings,
or in focus groups targeted around specific literacy issues such as motivation and
engagement. Listen for recurring themes around areas of frustration—these then become
data upon which to base decisions for increasing certain types of resources and support.
For example, the literacy team might decide that ordering content-area periodicals is
a valuable way to ensure the availability of relevant reading material for each content
area. Or instructional coaching could be made available for those teachers who do not
understand how to set up reciprocal teaching in their classrooms. A continuation of the
DeWitt Middle School vignette illustrates how these principles might be put into action.
The consultant worked with the middle school leadership team to develop a literacy action
plan that would guide the school over the next three years. Because the team had data about
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
school capacity and teacher knowledge, the plan was practical and built directly on the school’s
strengths. It established goals in each priority area. DeWitt Middle School leaders decided that
the amount of content-area reading and writing would be increased by 50 percent in all classes,
that more opportunities for free-choice reading would be provided, and that teachers would
be expected to learn and use five common “power strategies” across the school. Another goal
focused on increased teacher knowledge and use of literacy support strategies in all content
areas. To support teacher development, the school would hire a literacy coach, administrators
would focus professional goals on literacy improvement, and teacher professional development
over the next three years would focus on literacy. In addition, school leaders recognized that
literacy interventions for students who were reading more than two years below grade level
needed to be put into place and teachers providing that instruction would need additional
professional development, given that the school did not have a reading specialist.
Some action steps in each priority area were enacted immediately. For example, teachers
at the school prided themselves on the quality of their teaching, and when multiple copies of
selected texts were made available for teacher study groups, many voluntarily began to increase
their literacy knowledge. Because all 7th and 8th grade students had access to laptop computers,
ongoing sessions of professional development in technology began to include ways to use
computers to support reading and writing. The schedule was changed to permit sustained silent
reading twice a week beginning the following semester. Literacy interventions were explored, and
the school purchased a reading program to meet the needs of those still struggling with decoding
and basic fluency.
Tim hired a literacy coach, and together they developed a grant proposal to support the
work. When DeWitt Middle School received the grant, the whole staff was informed that literacy
improvement would be the school’s primary focus for the next three years. A plan for teacher
professional development was put into place that matched the data-driven recommendations
of the audit report and incorporated the knowledge and strengths of the new literacy coach.
Learning strategies, based on student needs, were introduced to all faculty, and Tim made it
clear to teachers that he expected to see the strategies used when he did his walk-throughs.
Having a plan made it easier to determine next steps and stay on track.
Monitoring Program Effectiveness
School leaders have to know whether implementing the literacy action plan is helping the
school meet its literacy goals. Administrators and members of the literacy team should
also determine if the plan needs to be changed or modified. To do this, the literacy team
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can create an inquiry-driven process for program monitoring by following these five steps
(see Figure 5.9):
1. Determine what needs to be known. The literacy team begins the cycle by
agreeing upon the questions to be answered; for example: Have we met this year’s
literacy goals? How will we know if a reading program is working? How will we know if
our literacy action plan is successful and for whom? Are teachers in some departments
using the literacy strategies more or differently than teachers in other departments? Do
teachers who attend professional development provide more literacy support to students
in the classroom versus teachers who do not attend?
2. Select appropriate data sources to answer each question. These might include
reading logs, portfolios, and several measures taken before and after implementation
of the literacy action plan, such as surveys of student attitudes, student test scores,
individual reading inventories, and surveys or observations of teachers. Many of these
sources are already in place from the data collection stage and can be easily reformatted
for this purpose.
3. Describe evidence of success. In this step the literacy team articulates what
success would look like for different groups of students. It is important that these
measures be stated in data-based or observable terms and be reasonable to achieve.
4. Collect and analyze the data. During this step the team deepens and refines its
inquiry. For example, if there is a difference in how boys versus girls are responding to
a computer-based reading program, is it a significant issue? What needs to occur for the
students who are not being helped by the program? Or, if there is a difference in how
teachers implement literacy support as a result of attending professional development, is
there evidence that the difference is harmful? Are there specific groups of students who
are not making a year’s worth of literacy growth per academic year as a result?
5. Decide what actions to take. If the literacy team sees that programs are working
for some students but not others, what modifications or alternatives can be put in place?
If some teachers are providing stellar literacy support but others show no changes in
their classroom practice and evidence shows that students are missing out, how can this
situation be remedied?
Figure 5.9 shows the cyclical nature of this kind of five-step, data-driven process for
program monitoring.
At DeWitt Middle School, implementation of the literacy action plan continued. But school
leaders were concerned that they would not know if the plan was succeeding. They met and
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
5.9 Inquiry Cycle for Program Monitoring
Source: From Inquiry Cycle for Program Monitoring, by J. Meltzer, 2006, Portsmouth, NH: Center for Resource Management, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
developed a set of indicators that would tell them if teachers and students were meeting the
literacy improvement goals they had set, and they designed a set of data collection activities
so they would be able to tell what was working.
School leaders observed that teachers who were initially reluctant were now on board
as they saw success with the use of literacy support strategies in their classrooms. At weekly
team meetings, formerly a time when teachers focused on logistics and issues with individual
students, the literacy coach and principal were updated about how teachers were using various
literacy support strategies. A math teacher reported that she was “asking the students to do
QARs [Question-Answer Relationships] all the time, and their answers have really improved.”
A science teacher said that he “used knowledge rating guides and Frayer models with the
vocabulary words and retention went up a lot.” The social studies teacher reported that she
“modeled all of the roles for reciprocal teaching and the students practiced them, and now the
students seem to be engaging more with the reading.”
Collect and analyze data
Decide what actions to take
Select appropriate data sources
Describe evidence of success
Determine what needs to be known
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Despite these encouraging signs, a repeat of the reading assessment showed only slight
progress for the majority of students, although the group of students who were further behind
made gains. The literacy team reviewed the data and decided to recommend a number of
refinements to their original literacy action plan to ensure that students were reading and
writing more and receiving more reading and writing instruction. Time for the schoolwide
sustained silent reading program was increased from twice a week to four times a week. The
literacy consultant provided tips for improving the culture of reading during SSR, and the
literacy coach shared them at team meetings. Teaching teams developed common agreements
around what strategies would be used to support student learning across content areas. The
principal explicitly indicated that he expected a specified amount of content-area reading and
writing accompanied by instruction and modeling in every content area two to three times
per week. In addition, the principal and assistant principal increased the number of walk-
throughs they did each month from one to four. As a result of all these measures, more reading
and writing instruction began taking place. The current reading assessment was not providing
the information teachers needed and was requiring too many resources to administer, so
school leaders researched options for a new reading assessment that provided more diagnostic
information for every test taker. The literacy team made plans to repeat the audit in two years
to assess the overall impact of interventions over time.
The district literacy goal is to have continuous improvement of at least 10 percent more
students each year meeting and exceeding the standard on the state assessment in 4th grade
and 8th grade, with a 10 percent drop each year in the percentage of students failing to meet
the standard over the next five years. The district feels this will be possible through a focus on
content-area literacy support and literacy interventions. Early results show that DeWitt Middle
School is certainly doing its part to meet or exceed that goal.
If literacy goals are not being met, it is time to get some additional information as
to why this is the case. When literacy goals have been met, then the literacy team can
set new goals that further scaffold literacy learning for all students. These may include
directly involving all teachers in the use of data to improve literacy and learning, and
broadening the schoolwide use of data, as we describe in Chapter 7.
Sometimes data seem to show progress or lack of progress when the real issue is how
the data are being analyzed. For the purposes of program monitoring, data disaggregation
is essential. Figure 5.10 describes two typical mistakes in monitoring progress and the
kinds of data analysis that can remedy the problem.
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
As the DeWitt Middle School vignette indicates, a solid blueprint for improving
literacy schoolwide can be put into place through a literacy action plan that incorporates
the features described in this chapter. Although other schools’ demographics, priorities,
school capacity, teachers’ practices, and student assessment results may be different from
those at DeWitt Middle School, adapting sound action-planning principles and using
data wisely can help school leaders develop, implement, and monitor an effective plan.
Key Messages
In this chapter, we described how school leaders can use data to develop, implement,
and monitor schoolwide literacy action plans that ensure that students have the academic
literacy skills necessary to be successful at school, at work, and in citizenship. Equally
important, by generating a culture of continuous improvement in which individuals ask
questions, collect and analyze data, take actions, and then collect more data to examine
the impact of what was done, leaders become fluent in the strategies needed to be data-
based decision makers. Focusing this data-driven inquiry process allows the principal
and other school leaders to be in the driver’s seat to improve literacy support and
development for all students. Key messages in this chapter include the following:
An effective literacy action plan designed to meet the needs of all students in the
school is essential to leading a comprehensive and coordinated literacy improvement
•
5.10 Mistakes in Monitoring Progress and How to Remedy Them
Total progress or progress of structural groups is presented without an understanding of the composition of learners in those groups. Use data to ensure that students are equally distributed (by gender, ability levels, ethnicity, economic levels) across academies or teams or are strategically clustered within/across small learning communities, teaching teams, or academies (e.g., clustering of ELLs or special education students to provide more intensive support through coteaching with ELL/bilingual or special education teachers on a particular team).
Year-to-year cohort comparison does not show “progress.” When monitoring the success of a literacy action plan, use trend-analysis strategies that look beyond year-to-year comparisons to determine if the program is truly making a difference or if what looks like positive results are only reflections of cohort differences. As a leader, ensure that the reported data are credible.
•
•
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effort. A literacy action plan allows all members of the school community to understand
the school’s current status, goals for the future, the actions to be taken to reach the goals,
who is responsible, and how success will be measured.
Effective use of data is the key to a successful schoolwide literacy initiative. Data
on student performance, school and community needs, school capacity, and teacher
practices are helpful in developing an effective literacy action plan.
The leader of a school has many sources of data that can be used to clarify and
articulate the vision for literacy and learning in the school, to develop a literacy action
plan, and to monitor the plan’s effectiveness.
A literacy action plan has five key components:
1. Strengthening Literacy Development Across the Content Areas
2. Strategic Interventions for Struggling Readers and Writers
3. School Policies, Structures, and Culture for Supporting Literacy
4. Building Leadership Capacity
5. Teacher Professional Development
Using a data-driven plan to monitor the program is important to ensure that the
literacy action plan is effective.
As school leaders know, having a plan does not guarantee the availability of
resources to implement the plan. The data may indicate a need for clear actions that
school resources do not appear to permit. For committed school leaders, this situation
often makes it difficult to develop, implement, and monitor a data-driven literacy action
plan. However, two points are important to keep in mind. With a data-driven plan in
hand, it is often easier to obtain district, grant, and community resources to support
the school’s efforts. Second, sometimes the ways that resources have been used in
the past constrict people’s ideas of how they might be used differently. School leaders
need to think creatively about how resources might be reallocated to support literacy
improvement. (In Chapter 9 we discuss possible solutions to these and other issues
related to resource use and limitations.)
•
•
•
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Develop and Implement a Schoolwide Literacy Action Plan
A data-driven literacy action plan brings together all of the components of the
Leadership Model for Improving Adolescent Literacy. Using this plan to chart the way
forward, leaders will be able to keep their school on course for sustained improvement of
literacy and learning for all of their students.
Appendix C provides a Teacher Knowledge Inventory
that leaders can use as they develop a schoolwide, data-
driven literacy action plan.
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237
A P P E N D I X C :
T O O L S F O R L E A D E R S TA K I N G A C T I O N
Teacher Knowledge Inventory
Schools can use the Teacher Knowledge Inventory (Figure C.1) to assess teachers’
perceptions of their knowledge about literacy process and support strategies. Based on
the results, school leaders can plan effective professional development to improve the
collective knowledge base of literacy learning. The inventory is helpful for identifying
in-house expertise that can be used to support the school’s literacy improvement efforts.
Some teachers may not know all of the terms in the inventory, or some teachers might
overrate their literacy knowledge. Likewise, the survey does not cover everything
effective teachers need to know. But this inventory, or one like it, can be a productive
starting point for discussion and planning.
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TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
C.1 Teacher Knowledge Inventory
Use the following scale to indicate your level of knowledge about each item below. 1 — I know nothing about this aspect of literacy learning. 2 — I know a little bit about this aspect of literacy learning. 3 — I know a fair amount about this aspect of literacy learning. 4 — I know a great deal about this aspect of literacy learning. Primary content area you teach: What do you know about …
Connecting the prior knowledge of learners to content (schema) 1 2 3 4
Having students evaluate their own learning (metacognition) 1 2 3 4
Implementing methods to promote reading fluency 1 2 3 4
Implementing methods to promote writing fluency 1 2 3 4
Implementing methods to promote speaking/presentation fluency 1 2 3 4
Improving students’ listening skills 1 2 3 4
Improving students’ vocabulary in the content areas 1 2 3 4
Improving students’ note-taking skills 1 2 3 4
Teaching reading comprehension 1 2 3 4
Supporting weaker students to develop the learning skills and strategies used by stronger students (scaffolding) 1 2 3 4
Differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all students 1 2 3 4
Engaging students in varying tasks and texts 1 2 3 4
Offering students choices when they read in the content area 1 2 3 4
Providing students with choices when they write in the content area 1 2 3 4
Grouping students for maximum literacy development 1 2 3 4
Engaging students to express what they understand about content learning 1 2 3 4
Teaching students to recognize and use text structure in reading and writing 1 2 3 4
What are one or two areas you would like to learn more about?
Name three literacy support strategies you frequently use as part of classroom teaching.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Appendix C: Tools for Leaders Taking Action
Classroom Observation Guide
Some school districts have their own format for observation guides. The guide presented
in Figure C.2 focuses on how literacy support is incorporated into instruction. It asks
that leaders notice what students are doing as well as the teacher’s instruction. This
particular guide was developed by education consultant Jan Mickler and field-tested in
numerous classrooms. Of course, a pre- and post-observation conference is necessary in
conjunction with the use of the guide.
C.2 Classroom Observation Guide
Materials/Texts Used (textbooks, workbooks, activity sheets, short texts, etc.)
What is the teacher doing?
What are the students doing?
Level of student engagement (To what extent are most of the students attentive to the teacher and to the task?)
(Low) (High)
1 2 3 4 5 6
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TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
Source: Developed by M. Jan Mickler, Strategic Literacy Consulting TM. Used with permission from Strategic Literacy Consulting.
What behaviors do the nonengaged students exhibit?
What else do you notice? (learning/classroom climate, teacher/student talk, student comments, etc.)
Exemplary practice Rating: 3 = yes;
2 = sort of; 1 = no Comments
Teacher models strategies to show students how to comprehend and apply what they read.
Students and teacher ask a variety of questions, make connections and predictions, and discuss concepts, creating a balance of student and teacher talk.
Students engage in guided practice and receive feedback from the teacher.
Teacher uses strategies such as think-pair-share to involve all students in classroom discussions.
Students are actively engaged in doing the learning, talking, and collaborating.
Students spend time reading and responding to texts.
Students provide evidence of what they have learned.
Students use time effectively for processing of and reflection on information.
Students engage in highly critical thinking.
Students produced quality work.
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Appendix C: Tools for Leaders Taking Action
Literacy Assessment Review Tool
Many school leaders are responsible for selecting a reading assessment for students.
As described in Chapter 7, a variety of types of reading and writing assessments are
available for purchase from publishers. Figure C.3, the Literacy Assessment Review Tool,
provides school leaders with a systematic process for reviewing them.
C.3 Literacy Assessment Review Tool
What information do you want the assessment to provide? (Check one):
Reading Level
(holistic score)
Stanine or percentile—score in comparison with peers (norm referenced)
Level of proficiency—score against standards (criterion referenced)
Writing Level
(holistic score)
Stanine or percentile—score in comparison with peers (norm referenced)
Level of proficiency—score against standards (criterion referenced)
For each assessment you are reviewing that matches the type of assessment you have checked above, complete the following:
Name of the assessment:
Publisher:
Web site and contact info:
Cost per student to administer (cost per consumable booklet/form or registration/account fee):
Cost per student to score:
Cost of reusable forms (if applicable) or required software/license:
•
•
•
•
•
•
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ASCD / www.ascd.org 33
TAKING ACTION ON ADOLESCENT LITERACY
First, rank the assessment features in order of importance. Circle 1 for the most important features, 2 for desirable features, and 3 for features that are not of concern to you. Then, for each feature marked with a 1 or a 2, review the documentation regarding this assessment to fi nd out whether a check should be put in the “yes” or “no” column for that feature:
Rank of Feature
(circle one)
Assessment Feature
Why This Feature Might Be Important
Yes No Notes
1 2 3 Pre- and post- testing and alternate forms are available.
Students can be pre- and post-tested to monitor individual growth and program effectiveness.
1 2 3 Reports are back within 3–5 weeks.
Allows assessment information to influence instruction.
1 2 3 Provides information in electronic form.
Allows school/teachers to get information more quickly and to query and sort the data.
1 2 3 Provides individual and disaggregated group reports.
Provides information for individual students as well as group progress.
1 2 3 Reliable for population and age of students.
Important to get information that is accurate and relevant.
1 2 3 Uses only narrative passages or personal prompts.
May provide inflated scores because most students do better with these than with expository passages or essays; does not match content area demands of school.
1 2 3 Normed recently with a group that is demographically comparable.
Out-of-date norms or norms that are far different than a school’s demographic profile may provide invalid comparisons.
1 2 3 Can be administered in a group.
This is far easier than individual assessment; if individual assessment is required, it is important to know how long the test takes to administer.
1 2 3 Can be administered within a class period.
If not, longer time periods must be provided.
1 2 3 Provides off-year/off- month norms.
This is helpful when different forms of the test are used for different “grade levels” but some students score substantially higher or lower than their peers; also helpful when assessment is given midyear.
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34 ASCD / www.ascd.org
Appendix C: Tools for Leaders Taking Action
Rank of Feature
(circle one)
Assessment Feature
Why This Feature Might Be Important
Yes No Notes
1 2 3 Is consistent with school and community expectations around literacy.
Otherwise there is a disconnect between what is measured and what is valued.
1 2 3 Can be administered by teachers without substantial training.
If not, make certain training is provided, or scores may be invalid.
1 2 3 Option for in-house scoring.
Allows school to do the scoring, which is typically faster and less expensive for larger schools but requires personnel, time, and, sometimes, technology support.
1 2 3 Requires technology support to administer.
May require technology support that school does not have; on the other hand, makes reporting much faster.
1 2 3 Provides option for continuous assessment.
Allows teachers to retest as often as every six weeks; does not require guessing the correct level of test to administer; usually requires technology support.
1 2 3 Available in Spanish or other languages.
If reading or writing skills are being assessed, as opposed to reading or writing skills in English, this could be important.
1 2 3 Teacher training is included if it is required to do the assessment, and technical support is available as part of the purchase cost.
Many extra costs may be “hidden,” that is, required teacher training is expensive, administration materials are consumable, or technical support is charged by the hour and involves travel fees.
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