Don Leu's first talk to Library Media Specialists in CT on 1-22-11

1. The Future of Reading:
Misalignments of Public Policy,
Assessment, and Instruction in an
Online World of New Literacies
Donald J. Leu
New Literacies Research Lab
University of Connecticut
Portions of this material are based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Education under Award
No. R305G050154 and No. R305A090608. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do
not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.

2. The New Literacies Research
` Team

3. Research at the New Literacies
Research Lab
Theory Assessment

4. Research at the New Literacies
Research Lab
Theory Assessment

5. Important Funding and Support
From:
• Ray and Carole Neag
• The Carnegie Corporation of New York
• IES, U.S. Department of Education
• The National Science Foundation
• North Central Educational Research Lab
• PBS
• The Annenberg Foundation
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Australian Council of Educational Research
• OECD
• Schools and teachers around the world.

6. The Central Ideas
1.The Nature of Reading Is Changing:
2.What Is Online Reading?
3.Online Reading Comprehension is Not
Isomorphic with Offline Reading
Comprehension.
4. Misalignments in Reading Assessment,
Public Policy, and Instruction.
5. What Should We Do?

7. I. The Nature of Reading Is Changing
The “General Motors” Model of Economic
Management
CEO
1. Command and control
2. Lower levels of
education required. Upper Level Management
3. Wasted intellectual
capital Upper Middle Level Management
4. Highly inefficient
Wasted
5. Lower productivity intellectual
Middle Level Management
6. Little innovation capital
7. Little need for higher
level and creative Line Supervisors
thinking.
Workers

8. In a Flattened World: Opportunities
Expand but Competition Increases
How do economic units increase productivity?
Flatten The Organization into Problem Solving Teams
Team Team Team Team Team
Greater Intellectual Capital Use = Greater Productivity
These teams take full advantage 1. Define problems
of their intellectual capital to 2. Locate information
the extent their education 3. Critically evaluate information
system has prepared them for 4. Synthesize and solve problems
this. 5. Communicate solutions

9. Which tool has been used by
economic units to increase
productivity and compete?
The Internet
Team Team Team Team Team
1. Define problems Recent productivity gains are due
2. Locate information to using the Internet to share
3. Critically evaluate information information, communicate, and
4. Synthesize and solve problems solve problems (van Ark, Inklaar,
5. Communicate solutions & McGuckin, 2003; Friedman,
2005; Matteucci, O’Mahony,
Robinson, & Zwick, 2005).

10. Implications For Education?
 Problem based learning essential
 Effective online information and
communication skills required.
 Internet literacies have become central.
 In short: fundamental change.

11. II.
The Internet Is This Generation’s Defining
Technology For Reading and Learning

12. How Many People Read and
Write With the Internet ?

13. How Many People Read and
Write With the Internet ?

14. How Many People Read and
Write With the Internet ?

15. How Many People Read and
Write With the Internet ?

16. 

17. Our Students Have Changed
 Students aged 8-18 in the U.S. spend more time
reading online per day than reading offline: 48
minutes per day vs. 43 minutes per day. (Kaiser
Family Foundation, 2005).
 In Accra, Ghana:
 66% of 15-18 year olds report having gone
online previously; (Borzekowski, Fobil, &
Asante, 2006).

18. Public Policies:
Nations Respond
 Japan has broadband in nearly every
home that is 16 times faster than the
broadband in US homes for $22 per
month. (Bleha, 2005)
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

19. • Mexico is following e-Mexico, a policy
designed to provide every citizen and
every school with an Internet connection
(Ludlow, 2006).
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

20. International Assessment
Initiatives
 2009 PISA International Assessment of
Reading – Digital Literacies
 Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies
(PIAAC) – Problem Solving in
Technologically Rich Evironments
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

21. What Is Online Reading
Comprehension? Data From Think
Aloud Protocols
 A problem-based, meaning construction
process that requires additional reading
comprehension skills beyond those
required for offline reading.
 Define a problem Note the commonalities with the Big
6 and other related constructs.
 Locate
 Evaluate Castek, 2008; Coiro & Dobler, 2007;
Henry, 2007; Leu, Castek, Hartman,
 Synthesize Coiro, Henry, Kulikowich, & Lyver, 2005;
Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004
 Communicate Leu, O’Byrne, Zawilinski, McVerry,
& Everett-Cacopardo, 2009

22. Two Classrooms

23. Grade 2: Morning Message of
the Day

25. Grade 7, Language Arts: Online
International Projects
Yeah! I got some great
ideas. Let me send them
to Tomas and Ben in the
Jose, Costa Rica U.S.
We’re on it!
Making a web
page now.
Hey! Let’s do
Gary
Paulson???
Ben and Tomas, Willimantic
Monique, South Africa

26. An Example of Online Reading
Comprehension
Reading About Martin Luther
King
The new literacies of online reading comprehension

46. A Preliminary Model of Online Reading
Comprehension

47. The New Literacies Of Online
Reading Comprehension:
 Read to identify important questions;
 Read to locate information;
 Read to critically evaluate the usefulness of
that information;
 Read to synthesize information to answer
those questions; and
 Read to communicate the answers to
others.
(Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004, p. 1570)
The new literacies of online reading comprehension

48. III. Online and Offline Reading
Comprehension May Not Be Isomorphic
(r=0.19, n = 89, N.S.)
Leu,
Castek, Online Reading
Hartman, Comprehension =
Coiro, ORCA Blog
Henry,
Kulikowich, Offline Reading =
Lyver, 2005 Connecticut
Mastery Test (CMT)
of Reading
Comprehension

49. Additional Evidence:
Predicting Online Reading Comprehension
R2 Additional R2 Additional R2 Total R2
Offline Reading Domain Previous Online Online Reading
Comprehension Knowledge Reading Comprehension
Comprehension
.351* .074 .154* .579*
Offline Reading Comp.=
CT State Coiro, 2007
Reading Test
Online Reading
The new literacies of online reading comprehension
Comprehension =
ORCA Quia

50. The Struggling Reader
Phenomenon

51. IV. Misalignments in Reading
Assessment, Public Policy, and
Instruction

52. State Assessment Policies in Reading
Not a single state in the U.S.
measures...
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

53. State Assessment Policies in Reading
Not a single state in the U.S.
measures...
 ...students’ ability to read search engine
results during state reading
assessments.
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

54. State Assessment Policies in Reading
Not a single state in the U.S.
measures...
 ...students’ ability to read search engine
results during state reading
assessments.
 ...students’ ability to critically evaluate
information that is found online to
determine its reliability.
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

55. Not a single state measures...
 ...students’ ability to compose clear and
effective email messages in their state
writing assessment.
 all students to use a word processor on
their state writing assessment.*
*See Russell & Plati, 1999; 2000; 2001. They report
effect sizes of .57 – 1.25 for word processor use on MCAS.
See also Russell & Tao, 2004 who report 19% more 4th grade
students classified as “Needs Improvement” would move up to
the “Proficient” performance level with word processors.

56. National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

57. National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
 Recently, NAEP made a deliberate
decision to exclude online reading
comprehension from the 2009 NAEP
reading framework in the U.S.
This generation’s defining technology for reading.

58. Instruction: The Rich Get Richer
and The Poor Get Poorer
 Neglecting research into online reading
comprehension perpetuates public policies that
help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
 63% of children from households earning more than
$75,000 annually reported that they used the Internet
at school, but only 36% of children from households
earning less than $15,000 annually (Lazarus, Wainer,
and Lipper, 2005).
Leu, McVerry, O’Byrne, Zawilinski,
Castek, J., Hartman, D.K. (2009).

59. How We Define The Issue Determines
Classroom Integration
A technology issue A literacy issue
 Technology standards are  Technology standards
separated from subject area become integrated within
standards subject area standards
 Online learning is separated  Online learning is integrated
from subject areas into each subject area;
 Specialists are responsible  Every classroom teacher is
responsible
 Online information and
communication skills are  Subject area assessments
assessed separately from and online information skills
subject area knowledge. are assessed together.

60. More Policy Misalignments:
Common Core Standards Do Not
Recognize the Changes To Reading
The Good News:
Higher Level Thinking Skills Receive
Important Focus

61. The Bad News?
 The assumption is that all reading takes
place offline.
 “Analyze the structure of texts, including
how specific sentences, paragraphs, and
larger portions of the text (e.g., a section,
chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each
other and the whole.”
 No recognition of reading as problem
based learning

62. From The Texas English
Language Arts Standards
 “Research, where students are expected to
know how to locate a range of relevant
sources and evaluate, synthesize, and
present ideas and information.”

63. What Can We
Conclude?

64. What Can We
Conclude?
 The Internet is this generation’s
defining technology for reading.

65. What Can We
Conclude?
 The Internet is this generation’s
defining technology for reading.
 Some states and nations place their
students, and societies, at risk by
continued inaction or poorly informed
public policies.

66. What Can We
Conclude?
 The Internet is this generation’s
defining technology for reading.
 Some states and nations place their
students, and societies, at risk by
continued inaction or poorly informed
public policies.
 Library/Media Specialists have a
central role to play.

67. Moreover...
 Problem based learning essential
 Effective online information and
communication skills required.
 Internet literacies have become central.
 In short: fundamental change.

68. V.
Current Work at the New
Literacies Research Lab

69.  This, and other, work led to the TICA
Project, an IES-funded grant to study
online reading comprehension instruction
in 1-1 laptop classrooms.
The new literacies of online reading comprehension

70. The TICA Project:
 Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education
 Goals:
 Identify online reading comprehension skills and
strategies through verbal protocol analysis of think
alouds.
 Develop pilot model of Internet Reciprocal Teaching
 Conduct an initial experiment, randomization at the
school and teacher level, of IRT at the 7th grade level
in urban and rural poor districts (CT and SC).

71. Preliminary Taxonomy Of Online
Reading Comprehension Skills and
Strategies
 See
Leu, D. J., Coiro, J., Castek, J., Hartman, D., Henry, L.A., & Reinking, D.
(2008). Research on instruction and assessment in the new literacies of
online reading comprehension. In Cathy Collins Block, Sherri Parris, &
Peter Afflerbach (Eds.). Comprehension instruction: Research-based best
practices. New York: Guilford Press. Available online at: http://
www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/pub_files/instruction.pdf
The new literacies of online reading comprehension

72. A Model To Teach Online Reading
Comprehension in 1-1 Classrooms:
Internet Reciprocal Teaching (IRT)

73. IRT: Phase I
Teacher-led Basic Skills
 Teacher-led demonstrations of basic
Internet use skills and cooperative learning
strategies
 Explicit modeling by teacher
 Largely whole class instruction
 Mini-lessons as transition to Phase II

74. IRT: Phase II
Collaborative modeling
of online reading strategies
 Students presented with information
problems to solve.
 Work in small groups to solve those
problems.
 Exchange strategies as they do so.
 Debrief at the end of the lesson.
 Initially: locating and critically evaluating
 Later: Synthesis and communicating.

75. A Phase II Task

76. IRT: Phase III
Inquiry
 Initially, within the class.
 Then, with others around the world.
 Internet Morning Message of the Day
 Student Online Collaborations

77. The Maine Professional
Development Collaborative

78. The Summer Institute in New
Literacies

79. THE ORCA PROJECT
 A project designed to develop valid, reliable, and
practical assessments of online reading
comprehension. CT, Maine, and NC. (IES,
USDOE)
 Three formats: Multiple Choice, Open Internet,
Closed Simulated Internet

80. Previous Assessments: New
Literacies of Online Reading

81. The Problem: We Lack
Assessments of Online Reading
Comprehension for Schools

82. The Purposes of This Grant
1) develop assessments of online reading
comprehension in three different formats
(ORCA-MC, ORCA – Open, ORCA-Closed)
2) evaluate each instrument's internal
assessment characteristics;
3) evaluate the extent to which performance on
each format is associated with various student
variables; and
4) evaluate the practicality of each assessment
format in the eyes of key education decision
makers.

83. Timeline
YEAR 1: DEVELOPMENT OF ITEMS IN THREE FORMATS/
COGNITIVE LABS
YEAR 2: COGNITIVE LABS / PILOT STUDY IN CONNECTICUT
AND MAINE
• 800 students in Connecticut andth students in Maine, sampled to
800
represent the population of 7 graders in each state.
YEAR 3: VALIDATION STUDY IN CONNECTICUT, MAINE, AND
NORTH CAROLINA
• 800 students in Connecticut, 800 students in Maine, and 800 students in North
Carolina, sampled to represent the population of 7th graders in each state.
YEAR 4: PRACTICALITY STUDY WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE

84. V. The Challenges of Change

85. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards

86. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments

87. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development

88. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction

89. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction
 Exceptional Online Curricula

90. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction
 Exceptional Online Curricula
 Greater Research

91. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction
 Exceptional Online Curricula
 Greater Research
 School Leadership and Vision

92. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction
 Exceptional Online Curricula
 Greater Research
 School Leadership and Vision
 National Funding for 1-1 computing

93. V. The Challenges of Change
 Better Standards
 Better Reading Assessments
 Far Greater Professional Development
 Better Instruction
 Exceptional Online Curricula
 Greater Research
 School Leadership and Vision
 National Funding for 1-1 computing
 Build Bridges With The Reading Communities
Around Online Literacy

94. The Challenges Of Change

95. As Challenging As Change
Appears, We Know This…
The Leadership That You
Provide…

96. Determines The Future Our
Students Achieve!
Thank you!