Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 FALL 2012

3 Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century: Introducing the Issue 17 Patterns of Literacy among U.S. Students 39 The Role of Out-of-School Factors in the Literacy Problem 55 Improving Reading in the Primary Grades 73 Reading and Reading Instruction for Children from Low-Income and

Non-English-Speaking Households 89 Adolescent Literacy: Learning and Understanding Content 117 The Importance of Infrastructure Development to High-Quality Literacy

Instruction 139 Technology Tools to Support Reading in the Digital Age

A COLLABORATION OF THE WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY AND THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

The Future of Children seeks to translate high-level research into information that is useful to policy makers, practitioners, and the media.

The Future of Children is a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution.

Senior Editorial Staff

Sara McLanahan Editor-in-Chief Princeton University Director, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, and William S. Tod Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs

Janet M. Currie Senior Editor Princeton University Director, Center for Health and Wellbeing, and Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs

Ron Haskins Senior Editor Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families

Cecilia Rouse Senior Editor Princeton University Director, Education Research Section, and Katzman-Ernst Professor in the Economics of Education and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs

Isabel Sawhill Senior Editor Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, Cabot Family Chair, and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families

Journal Staff

Kris McDonald Associate Editor Princeton University

Lauren Moore Project Manager Princeton University

Brenda Szittya Managing Editor Princeton University

Martha Gottron Managing Editor Princeton University

Lisa Markman-Pithers Outreach Director Princeton University

Reid Quade Outreach Coordinator Brookings Institution

Regina Leidy Communications Coordinator Princeton University

Tracy Merone Administrator Princeton University

The Future of Children would like to thank The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for their generous support.

ISSN: 1054-8289 ISBN: 978-0-9814705-9-7

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 FALL 2012

Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

3 Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century: Introducing the Issue by Richard Murnane, Isabel Sawhill, and Catherine Snow

17 Patterns of Literacy among U.S. Students by Sean F. Reardon, Rachel A. Valentino, and Kenneth A. Shores

39 The Role of Out-of-School Factors in the Literacy Problem by Jane Waldfogel

55 Improving Reading in the Primary Grades by Nell K. Duke and Meghan K. Block

73 Reading and Reading Instruction for Children from Low-Income and Non-English-Speaking Households by Nonie K. Lesaux

89 Adolescent Literacy: Learning and Understanding Content by Susan R. Goldman

117 The Importance of Infrastructure Development to High-Quality Literacy Instruction by David K. Cohen and Monica P. Bhatt

139 Technology Tools to Support Reading in the Digital Age by Gina Biancarosa and Gina G. Griffiths



Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century: Introducing the Issue

Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century: Introducing the Issue

Richard Murnane, Isabel Sawhill, and Catherine Snow

Advanced literacy is a prerequisite to adult success in the twenty-first century. By advanced literacy we do not mean simply the ability to decode words or read a text, as necessary as these elementary skills are. Instead we mean the ability to use reading to gain access to the world of knowledge, to synthesize information from different sources, to evaluate arguments, and to learn totally new subjects. These higher-level skills are now essential to young Americans who wish to explore fields as disparate as history, science, and mathematics; to succeed in postsecondary education, whether vocational or academic; to earn a decent living in the knowledge-based globalized labor market; and to participate in a democracy facing complex problems.

The literacy challenge confronting children, their families, and schools in the United States has two parts. The first is the universal need to better prepare students for twentyfirst-century literacy demands. The second is the specific need to reduce the disparities in literacy outcomes between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those from more privileged homes.

This issue of the Future of Children explores the literacy of America's children and how to improve it. We begin this introductory essay by reviewing briefly why literacy is so important in today's world and why the concept of literacy needs to be broadened to include a set of competencies that go well beyond the ability to recognize words and decode text. We end with a summary of the other articles in the issue and briefly consider what steps policy makers might take to respond to the urgent needs we cite.

The Growing Demand for Strong Literacy Skills

The "literacy problem" we address here is not that literacy has declined among recent generations of children. It is that today's economy and the complex political and social challenges facing the nation demand more advanced skills than ever before.

The average reading skill of non-Hispanic white children from recent cohorts is remarkably similar to that of comparable children born in the 1960s, and the average reading achievement of recent cohorts of black children and Hispanic children is considerably higher than that of comparable

Richard Murnane is the Thompson Professor of Education and Society at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Isabel Sawhill is a senior fellow, Cabot Family Chair, and co-director of the Center on Children and Families, at the Brookings Institution; Catherine Snow is the Patricia Albjerg Graham Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

VOL. 22 / NO. 2 / FALL 2012 3

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