Priorities for Adolescent Literacy

After decades of neglect, adolescent literacy has become one of the hottest topics in American education. Just as important, the field has seen none of the rancor that for many years characterized debates over early reading instruction (famous as the scene of longstanding "reading wars" over the relative merits of whole language and phonics instruction in the schools).

Today, the field of adolescent literacy enjoys a remarkably strong spirit of consensus, with researchers, educators, and policymakers in agreement as to what can and must be done to improve reading and writing instruction in the secondary schools. Priority areas include:

• Assessment & Interventions
• Teacher Education & Professional Development
• Reading and Writing in the Content Areas

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