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The L·terac~ nltlatlve at Sai Jose Ac demy (First in a Series) Saint Joseph Academy launched its Literacy Initiative in the fall of 2007. This initiative has four parts: reading, writing, information, and communication literacy. To become strong contributors to our global society, students must have these skills. Typically, schools focus on reading only in the elementary years; writing only for academia (e.g. research papers instead of technical writing); information literacy only with emphasis on using journals and other traditional forms of media for information; and communication literacy only within pubic speaking classes. At Saint Joseph Academy, we believe all important 21 st century skills must be emphasized in the high schoo! curriculum. We have offered (and will continue to offer) in-depth professional development in these areas for the faculty, creating professional learning communities where faculty members discuss these areas and seek to meet the needs of the students in our school. We have embedded these four pillars of reading, writing, information, and communication literacy across the curriculum in all of our grades. This on-going emphasis will be the foundation for all curricular work at SJA for years to come. This article is the first in a series about this initiative and provides an overview of our focus on reading. High school students need reading instruction There exisrs much research thar suppons rhe idea char as scudenrs move on (Q high school and must engage wich subStantially more difficult texts, cheyare nor equipped with the skills (Q snccessfuJly access meaning. Furthermore, high school teachers do nor typically have reading instruction included as a pan of their education curriculum. AB a result, high school students do not develop the important 21st centmy skill of critical reading at a supetior level. At Saint Joseph Academy, we are teaching our smdents techniques to urilize (Q ger "unstnck" when they encounter difficulr rext and how good readers consrruct deep undersranding when they read. By acrively reaching good reading strategies, we can avoid some of the common pitfalls that show up in high
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Saim Joseph Academy UPDATE
school. For example, teachers often summarize assigned readings and share rheir own conclusions wirh the srudents. The students learn rhat they do nor have (Q work (Q undersrand rhe texr and insread just focns on remembering the reachers' intetpretarions ro parrot back on a test. Many students have also mastered rhe art of "fal\.e reading," where rhey nse orher means ro find summa ries of books and information thar has been assigned to rhem. Teachers can assume rhat if stUdents can read words aloud from a rext, then those students undersrand them. In fact, many students have excellent decoding skills but are at the same rime lacking in comprehension skills. One final pitfall is a general assumption rhar aJl types of prose require the same reading strategies. In facr, different strategies are required for different genres. At SJA, we are actively addressing all of these and others to help remove student
barriers ro reading and (Q help students achieve their porencial First, much evidence has been cired regarding the rewards of aCtively teaching literacy skills in the lasr decade. Reading proficiency is a key (Q success in both higher educarion and in the workplace. Technical literacy is increasingly important as employees must read, garher, and analyze information from many sources to solve problems and meet customer needs. In fact, entry-level jobs today often have higher reading requiremencs rhan many of the more advanced positions in rhe same field. I Second, advances in technology have added more pressute to develop reading skills. Former U.S. Secrerary of Education Richard Riley said: "In some cases, e-mail and the Incernet have actually allowed us to substirute reading and writing for the spoken word.