Recently, University of Arkansas --
Fayetteville professors Dr.
Sandra Stotsky, Dr. Christian Goering, and Dr. David Jolliffe published a
paper examining the state of literary study in Arkansas high schools.
Following is a guest article from Drs. Goering and Jolliffe discussing
their findings and implications for Arkansas educators and
policymakers.
Whatever Happened to the Teaching of
Literature in High School?
Christian
Z. Goering & David A. Jolliffe, University
of Arkansas, Fayetteville
We might
begin this essay for The Learning Curve
simply by stating that three researchers at the University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville conducted an 18-month study of what literary works are being
taught in the state's "on-level" ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-grade English
courses and how these works are being taught.We might simply note that project report, Literary Study in Grades 9, 10, and 11 in Arkansas, is posted at http://coehp.uark.edu/literary_study.pdf,
and we might just urge interested parties to read the report carefully.
But let's
not.Instead, let us allude to a
scenario that one of the authors' long-standing colleagues, the
teacher-extraordinaire Bernie Phelan, frequently invokes for an audience of
secondary English teachers:"Suppose
your students have homework assigned in English, science, social studies, and
math," Phelan says."What are they going
to do first?‘The math,' teachers almost
always say.Second?‘The science.'Third?‘The social studies.'Friends, we
are the bottom-feeders," Phelan concludes."Our students generally do their English homework last if they do it at
all, often lying on the couch with their book bouncing off their nose as
they're falling asleep."Phelan's point
is this:High school English has become
too easy.
With Adoption of Common Core, Re-Evaluate Popular AR Reading Program
At TLI, we haven't been exactly shy about our views on the state of literacy in the Natural State (see here for instance). Put simply, there is too much emphasis on discrete reading skills and comprehension strategies and far too little on what gets read and how deep students engage with the text. Drs. Stotsky, Goering, and Jolliffe's study and the latter two's essay are an eye-opening reminder of how few challenging texts Arkansas's high-schoolers read. At the secondary level, unless students enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, there is simply no guarantee that they will be asked to read and analyze culturally and historically significant novels, dramas, nonfiction titles, etc. This problem is compounded at the elementary and middle levels, where there is no equivalent of external pressure from AP- and IB-quality programs.
It's little wonder that across the grade levels, Arkansas's students continue to post below-average performance on nationally-normed assessments in reading. The latest NAEP scores in grades 4 and 8 reading were flat (see here ), and over time, perennial ITBS and SAT-10 scores reveal Arkansas's ninth-graders scoring at the 47th or 48th percentile in reading.
To get at the why, consider one of the prevalent reading programs pushed and subsidized by the state's education department: Literacy Lab, which is billed as a reading instructional program for grades 4-12.
Quick Links
Provide a More User-Friendly Way to Access Reports
Recent users of TLI's Web portal may notice a new look on the
Home page. Icons for and brief descriptors of announcements, Web portal pages,
and reports - aka Quick Links - now prominently display some of the most used
features of TLI's Web portal. For those who may not be aware of certain reports
or information, each Quick Link features a "Show Me More" link that opens a
brief tutorial about how to access the report or page information. More
experienced users can simply click on "Take Me There" to go straight to the
report.
What's more, the order of the Quick Links will change
depending on the time of the school year. For instance, users can expect an
ACTAAP data Quick Link to appear sometime in August, when the state releases
the 2010 ACTAAP data. In the fall, Quick Links might feature certain interim
assessment reports (TLI Progress Report, for example) more prominently. All the
Quick Links available can be viewed by clicking "Show All Quick Links."
Finally, Quick Links are role-specific. That is, principals
and district administrators will have access to Quick Links that reflect their
school- or district-level access to data (e.g., three-year trends in ACTAAP
performance). In turn, teachers will view Quick Links that are most useful to
them throughout the school year. In both cases, it's our hope at TLI that, with
the addition of Quick Links, users will be able to find exactly what they need
more quickly and more easily.
Don't miss the UCA Leadership Institute, scheduled for June
11, 2010 from 8:30am - 3:00pm at the Brewer-Hageman Center at the University of
Central Arkansas. Keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Ellen Goldring, Patricia
and Rodes Hart Chair and Professor of Education Policy and Leadership Chair at
Vanderbilt University. Click here to access the event flyer. To register, click
here.
Space
Limited for the TLI Event "Common Standards, Common Sense"
With
the release of the Common Core State Standards in math and English/Language
Arts -- and Arkansas's pledge to adopt them -- come myriad questions about how
they will affect education in the Natural State. To address them, TLI has
gathered two panels of math and English/Language Arts experts for a lively
morning of discussion. Afternoon sessions follow with Arkansas-specific
discussions about curriculum alignment and course content. The event flyer is here.
To register, click here.
TLI Seeking
Literacy Specialist
TLI is looking for a top-notch Middle School Literacy
Specialist (Grades 6-8). The ideal candidate possesses deep knowledge of
English language arts content, formal essay writing, and literary study. From
writing interim assessment items to creating and delivering professional
development, the Middle School Literacy Specialist works in a team-oriented
environment, juggles multiple tasks, and has a sense of humor. For more
information about the position, click here.
Don't Miss
Out on TLI Workshops and PD Offerings
TLI recently released its 2010-11 professional development
offerings. From analysis of Benchmark exam data to Core Text reading workshops,
these training opportunities represent a wide variety of subject-, program-,
and user-specific opportunities for relevant professional development. To view
the offerings, click here.
Registration is available now on the TLI Web portal under the "Training" tab.
