Literacy Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

Literacy

fu t u r e o f ch i l d r e n . o r g

The Future of Children

Literacy Challenges for the

Twenty-First Century

VO L U M E 2 2 N U M BE R 2 FA L L 2 0 1 2

3

Volume 22 Number 2 Fall 2012

A COLLABORATION OF THE WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AT

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY AND THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

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

Journal 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

Kris McDonald

Associate Editor

Princeton University

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

Lauren Moore

Project Manager

Princeton University

Brenda Szittya

Managing Editor

Princeton University

Board of Advisors

Lawrence Balter

New York University

Charles N. Kahn III

Federation of American Hospitals

Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Columbia University

Marguerite Kondracke

America¡¯s Promise¡ªThe Alliance for Youth

Judith Feder

Georgetown University

Rebecca Maynard

University of Pennsylvania

William Galston

Brookings Institution

University of Maryland

Lynn Thoman

Corporate Perspectives

Jean B. Grossman

Princeton University

Kay S. Hymowitz

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

Heather B. Weiss

Harvard University

Amy Wilkins

Education Reform Now

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 views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Woodrow

Wilson School at Princeton University or the Brookings Institution.

Copyright ? 2012 by The Trustees of 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.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0

Unported License, . Authorization to reproduce

articles is allowed with proper attribution: ¡°From The Future of Children, a collaboration of the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the

Brookings Institution.¡±

ISSN: 1054-8289

ISBN: 978-0-9814705-9-7

To purchase a print copy, access free electronic copies, or sign up for our e-newsletter, go to

our website, . If you would like additional information about the

journal, please send questions to foc@princeton.edu.

VOLUME 22

N UMBER 2

FAL L 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

A

dvanced 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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