For curriculum developers and literacy specialists who want to adopt academic literacy initiatives in their schools or districts, here are a few pointers.
Respect Content
Every content-area teacher believes—knows—that his or her subject is different from any other and requires particular kinds of literacy skills. The uses of reading and writing in math, for example, bear little resemblance to their uses in history. Don't lump content areas together.
Don't impale yourself on the appeal that “all teachers are teachers of reading and writing.” They are not. Content-area teachers use reading and writing as tools and in ways peculiar to their subject matter. Their goals are content achievement and student success. We attack their identity and value when we tell them who we think they should be. They know who they are. Don't minimize their worth or alter their identities.
As for English teachers—surely, they are reading teachers? No, they are not. They are responsible for English language development, but they don't teach reading in the same way that an elementary school teacher or a reading specialist does. Some define themselves as teachers of literature or multimedia. Yes, English teachers do teach writing. Your challenge is to find ways to integrate their work more closely with that of teachers of other disciplines.
Don't try to change teaching styles. Academic literacy work fits any style. If someone lectures all day, bless him or her. Those who foster cooperative groups have their own virtues. Content-area reading and writing are not about problem-based learning, integrating technology, or multiple intelligences. A content-area teacher has only one question: How can I use reading and writing to teach my students the subject area?
Don't make content-area teachers responsible for raising the school's SAT-I or state test scores in reading and writing. Improvement in test results is a summative result deriving from learning success in discrete content areas. Make sure that the skills assessed by the external tests are embedded in content-area instruction and assignments.
What about math teachers? Their discipline uses three languages at one time—numbers, symbols, and words—and in ways that no other department uses language. Math teachers deserve their own time and place for staff development in academic literacy. Later, you can align their work with the other disciplines.
Plant Seeds
Learning is more complex than reading and writing. Staff development must also explore and integrate visual cognition, thinking, and memory development. A literacy initiative should make only one promise: more learning and achievement in the teacher's content subject.
Don't use a shotgun approach with a literacy initiative. In a four-year high school, focus on 9th grade; in a middle school, target the lowest grade. Or, start the literacy initiative in one department across grade levels and then spread the effort to other departments over a two-year period. Go deep, and then go wide.
Kill the Consultant
If the district or school uses consultants from within or outside the district, make sure that the staff development plan quickly produces content-area teachers who can take the lead.
After the teachers have evaluated the consultant's message, find a few zealots in each department who are eager to implement the initiative. Work with them individually, send them to other schools and professional meetings, and bring them together to exchange ideas. Gradually, hone their presentation skills. The consultant should provide support, but as teachers become specialists for using reading and writing in their respective departments, the consultant should withdraw.
Let Academic Literacy Bloom
Don't let the content reading and writing initiative monopolize staff development time, publicity, and money for the whole year. Other people have other priorities. Take the public focus away from the leaders; let them work in a small group with a multiyear plan.
If many teachers are convinced that they can succeed without participating in the initiative, leave them alone. Gradually, positive student success and faculty lunchroom conversations will encourage their participation.
With careful planning and patience, the literacy initiative will flourish. Students will achieve academic literacy, the binding glue that they need to develop as knowledgeable, humane, and competent human beings.
