By Philly, For Philly
Philadelphia has a literacy problem. A big one. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “fewer than half of Philadelphia fourth graders now read at grade level.” Young kids who struggle to read and don’t get the intervention they need to improve grow into big kids who can’t read. That’s where it gets scary. A report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation states that students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to not graduate from high school. And “nearly one in four young black male dropouts is incarcerated” according the the New York Times.
This is a big deal. As urban educators, we HAVE TO teach kids how to read. Really read. So what specific skills do they need to master? What strategies can we put in their tool belts to use across every genre and type of text? How can elementary teachers lay the groundwork for a solid foundation? How can middle school and high school teachers fill in the gaps and still teach their literature, science, and history curriculum?
References:
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Philly-mayor-reading-4th-grade-superintendent-literacy-.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/education/09dropout.html
This is a big deal. As urban educators, we HAVE TO teach kids how to read. Really read. So what specific skills do they need to master? What strategies can we put in their tool belts to use across every genre and type of text? How can elementary teachers lay the groundwork for a solid foundation? How can middle school and high school teachers fill in the gaps and still teach their literature, science, and history curriculum?
References:
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Philly-mayor-reading-4th-grade-superintendent-literacy-.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/education/09dropout.html
