This document provides an overview and background on content area literacy and the readiness gap between high school graduation and college/career readiness. Key points include: 1. Many high school graduates are not prepared for college-level coursework or entry-level jobs, requiring remedial education. Standardized testing has focused on minimum standards rather than full preparation. 2. Recent efforts in Texas aim to address this through college and career readiness standards and assessments aligned to those standards. However, research on effective strategies is still emerging. 3. Data shows poor performance on national writing assessments, with most students not reaching proficiency. This indicates students are not being prepared for the academic literacy tasks required after high school.

1. January 2014

2. 
Orientation to the Class/Purpose for
Content Area Literacy
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How Does Content Area Literacy Apply to
Me Circle Map

3. Why does the State Board for Educator
Certification require this course for all preservice teachers?
Why is content area literacy an important
ingredient for addressing the needs of
developmental readers and writers?

4. 
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The “Readiness Gap”/College & Career
Readiness Standards
IDRA Drop Out Rates
“Diploma to Nowhere” Study
“The Neglected R” Study
NAEP Data on Reading and Writing Test Scores

5. ▫
The gap between being fully credentialed and being fully prepared for college or
an entry level job. This is a national problem that P-20 initiatives around the
country are trying to solve (e.g., the College Board).
▫
“Being ready for college means that a high school graduate has the English and
mathematics knowledge and skills necessary to qualify for and succeed in
entry-level, credit-bearing college courses without the need for remedial
coursework” (Bloom, 2011, p. 8).
▫
There are no “simple answers about how best to create a strong academic
climate under difficult conditions where failure has been the historic norm”
(Easton, Ponisciak & Luppescu, 2008, p. 21).
Although college and career readiness standards have been adopted
in virtually every state in the country, research and theories
concerned with how to address this readiness gap are still
emerging.

6. •
Accountability in Texas for Student Academic Achievement has been
Largely Political Rhetoric predicated on Standardized Testing:
▫ TAKS tests targeted minimum proficiency
▫ Cut Scores on TAKS tests were set low
▫ Curricula predicated on these low expectations for student
achievement (i.e., teaching to the test) further minimized
academic expectations for high school students
▫ Since 2002, the U.S. has spent 4.4 billion on standardized testing
•
Recent Efforts in Texas Aimed at Addressing the Readiness Gap:
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College & Career Readiness Standards (please see the CCRS Standards in this
module)
STAAR Exam Predicated on CCRS

7. igh school graduates are not prepared for the rigors of a college education or skills for
entry-level jobs:
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Three in Ten Seniors are “College Ready.”
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Four in Ten High School Graduates are “Work Ready.”
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48% of Students in West Texas take Remedial Courses in College.
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Nearly Four out of Five College “Remedial” Students had a High School Grade Point Average
of 3.0 or Higher.
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A Fourth of all First-year Students at Four-year Colleges do not Return for their Second Year.
▫
11.8% of Developmental Education Students Complete a Degree/Certificate in Texas
Sources:
Diploma to Nowhere Study (2008). Strong American Schools.
Morales-Vale, S. (2011). Promoting increased student persistence and success: Legislative updates, THECB
Pittman, K. (2010). College and career readiness. The School Administrator, 67 (6), 10-14.
Wise, B. (2011). Adolescent literacy: The cornerstone of student success. The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52 (5), 369-375.

8. “I still remember my first history class I took while
attending Texas State university, ‘History of the
United States to 1877.’ After the first two weeks in
the class I was shocked at how much reading and
writing was required for just this freshman level
class of college history. Nothing in my high school
career had prepared me for what I was being asked
to do. Having to critically read and analyze
historical text in both primary and secondary source
and having to know the differences between them
was completely new to me.”

9. “And, having to write 8-10 page research papers
based on both primary and secondary sources,
while having to come up with a thesis statement
on my own was something I never did in my high
school classes or was ever mentioned.”

10. 
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The statewide attrition rate was 25% for 20122013.
The statewide attrition rate was 27% for 201011.
While our high school attrition rate is below 30
percent for the third year in a row – the lowest
rate so far – at this rate, Texas will not reach
universal high school education for another
quarter of a century in 2036. (In 2008-2009
Texas had an Overall Attrition Rate of 31%.)

11. 
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99,575 students were lost in 2012-2013.
110,804 students were lost from our public high
schools in 2010-11.
The racial-ethnic gaps are dramatically higher
than 28 years ago. The gap between the attrition
rates of White students and Black students has
increased from 7 percentage points to 12. The
gap between the rates of White students and
Hispanic students has increased from 18
percentage points to 19.

12. 
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Black students and Hispanic students are about
two times more likely to leave school without
graduating with a diploma than White students.
Texas schools are losing 13 students per hour.
More than 3.1 million students have been lost
from Texas high schools since 1986. We stand
to lose as many as 2.8 million more students
over the next 25 years.
Texas public schools are losing one out of four stu

13. What happens to these students when they leave
high school?

14. The Diploma to Nowhere Study
“The students who enroll in remedial
education include some of the nation’s
most motivated students. Our 2008 survey
of remedial students found that:
■■ Nearly four out of five remedial
students had a high school grade point
average of 3.0 or higher.
■■More than half described themselves as
good students who worked hard and nearly
always completed
high school assignments.”
Source:
Diploma to Nowhere Study, 2008

15. College Remediation Rates in Texas
Texas Remediation Rates
38 percent of students at public two year institutions
enrolled in at least one remedial course in the fall of
2006.
24 percent of students at public four year institutions
enrolled in at least one remedial course in the fall of
2006.
Remediation Costs
$184.8 million in state appropriations provided for
remedial education in public two‑ and four year
institutions in 2002–03.
An additional $5.8 million was provided in the state
Developmental Education Program Performance Fund
in 2002–03.

16. Policies & Initiatives
In an effort to reduce college remediation, the state has developed
the following initiatives:
1. adopted a P–20 College Readiness and Success Strategic
Action Plan to increase student success and
2. tried to decrease the number of students enrolling in
developmental courses in postsecondary institutions.
3. developed college readiness standards.
4. established summer higher education bridge programs to
provide students who are not college ready with appropriate
instruction prior to entering college.
5. provided funds for institutions to implement research based or
innovative developmental education initiatives.
6. provided financial aid to students who are not college ready.

17. In 2003 “The Neglected ‘R’” study found no
one was teaching writing in K-12 or postsecondary settings beyond a very minimal
and poorly designed manner.
“Writing is how students connect the dots in
their knowledge. Although many models of
effective ways to teach writing exist, both
the teaching and practice of writing are
increasingly shortchanged throughout the
school and college years” (p. 3)

18. “Very few high school instructors in
disciplines such as history, science, or
mathematics are exposed to courses in how
to teach writing . . . Part of the difficulty is
that pre- and in-service teacher professional
development rarely offers teachers an
opportunity to see themselves as writers—
to experience the power and satisfaction of
writing as a means of learning and selfexpression” (p. 23).

19. 
Unfortunately, the findings from this study
changed nothing in our educational systems
in the U.S.

20. 
The NAEP 2007 writing assessment was
conducted nationally at grades 8 and 12 and
in 45 states and the
Department of Defense Education Activity (Do
schools at grade 8 only. Approximately
139,900 students were assessed at grade 8,
and 27,900 were assessed at grade 12.

21. At grade 8 in 2007
The average writing score was 3 points higher than in 2002 and 6 points
higher than in 1998.
The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased
from 85 percent in 2002 to 88 percent and was also higher than in 1998.
The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was
higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.
At grade 12 in 2007
The average writing score was 5 points higher than in 2002 and 3 points
higher than in 1998.
The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased
from 74 percent in 2002 to 82 percent and was also higher than in 1998.
The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was
higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.

22. 
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24% of students in both 8th and 12th grade scored at the
proficient level.
54% of students in 8th grade scored at the basic level.
52% of students in 12th grade scored at the basic level.
20% of students in 8th grade scored below the basic
level.
21% of students in 12th grade scored below the basic
level.
3% of students in 8th and 12th grade scored at the
advanced level.

23. 1. BASIC denotes partial mastery of prerequisite
knowledge and skills that are fundamental for
proficient work at a given grade.
2. PROFICIENT represents solid academic performance.
Students reaching this level have demonstrated
competency over challenging subject matter.
3. ADVANCED represents superior performance.

24. So, what does this data mean?
We are not preparing most middle and high
school level learners for the academic
literacy tasks measured on the NAEP
writing exam.

25. Concepts about Content Area Literacy
Guiding This Course
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Reading and writing (a broad array of texts and sign systems) are ways of
thinking.
Reading and writing support students’ conceptual understandings of
content matter.
Reading, writing, and discussion are methods that foster students’
participation in classroom learning.
Every discipline utilizes literacy practices in ways that are unique to that
discipline.
Teachers are key literacy models for their students especially as experts of
disciplinary literacies.
The enjoyment of reading and the expression of ideas through writing can
co-exist with content area curriculum.
You do not have to be a “reading or writing teacher” or possess a great deal
of experience with literacy to effectively integrate literacy into your
instruction.
“Students need lots of rich, literacy-based learning experiences across the
school day, and sometimes those experiences require specific instruction
in reading, but all have the ultimate goal of learning and thinking” (Ivey &
Fisher, 2006, p. xv).

26. Please consider the following question:
How does content area literacy apply to me?

27. As we work through the materials for this class,
I would like you to think about how you would
complete the circles on this circle map.
Theories About
Content Area
Literacy that Inform
My Thinking as a
Teacher:
Personal
Experiences with
Content Area
Literacy I have had
as a Student:
Your Definition of
Content Area
Literacy:

28. 
Please review the syllabus and post questions
you have about its contents on the question
discussion thread or via email.