Literacy and reading performance in the United States, from 1880 to the present
TL;DR: The authors reviewed literacy and reading achievement trends over the past century and place current debates in a historical perspective, and suggested that students' reading performance at a given age remained stable until the 1970s and much of it can be explained by the changing demographics of test-takers.
Abstract: THE AUTHORS review literacy and reading achievement trends over the past century and place current debates in a historical perspective. Although then-and-now studies are methodologically weak, they suggest that students' reading performance at a given age remained stable until the 1970s. The test score decline that then occurred was not as great as many educators think, and much of it can be explained by the changing demographics of test-takers. The decline pales when compared to the tremendous increase in the population's educational attainment over the past 40 years. However, the strategy of ever-increasing schooling to meet ever-increasing literacy demands may have run its course. High school dropout rates are increasing, and educational attainment has leveled off. Researchers have identified substantial mismatches between workers' skills and job demands, and between job and school literacy skills. In spite of their flaws, functional literacy tests suggest that 20 percent of the adult population, or 30 million people, have serious difficulties with common reading tasks. Upgrading literacy skills now requires new initiatives by coalitions of educators, community groups, employers, and government agencies.
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11 Jul 2012
TL;DR: Briggs et al. as discussed by the authors examined the effects of reading deficiency on delinquency through a series of OLS regression models and found that the addition of a variable measuring reading deficiency contributes to the prediction of delinquency.
Abstract: Briggs, Lisa Thomas. Reading Deficiency and Delinquency: Interactions with Social, Physical, Human and Cultural Capital. (Under the direction of Dr. William R. Smith). With data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the present study examines the effects of reading deficiency on delinquency through a series of OLS regression models. Data are drawn from the NLSY and reflect a sample size of 1,262. While the effects of IQ have been analyzed extensively in the literature, less attention has focused on the potential harmful effects of reading deficiency. This study builds on previous work, and includes several assessments of “academic” measures including IQ, reading comprehension, and digit span (sequencing ability) within the same model. Findings indicate that the addition of a variable measuring reading deficiency contributes to the prediction of delinquency. To further investigate the statistical relationships, interaction terms involving social, physical, human and cultural capital are tested. A path analysis is also conducted and reveals that reading deficiency could be also considered as a mediating variable between various exogenous factors and delinquency. READING DEFICIENCY AND DELINQUENCY: INTERACTIONS WITH SOCIAL, PHYSICAL, HUMAN AND CULTURAL CAPITAL
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an evaluation of the Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy program (SWELL) was undertaken in four schools and two schools participated in the SWELL program in the kindergarten year.
Abstract: An evaluation of the Schoolwide Early Language and Literacy program (SWELL) was undertaken in four schools. Two schools participated in the SWELL program in the kindergarten year. The other two schools pursued the regular kindergarten curriculum. Pre‐ and post‐tests were made on a sample of kindergarten students in all four schools (between‐school evaluation). Post‐tests only were performed on a sample of Year 1 students who had not been exposed to SWELL (within‐schools evaluation). End‐of‐year assessments indicated that experimental students outperformed control students on words read in context, but not on words read in isolation (between‐schools evaluation). A similar but non‐significant trend was observed between kindergarten and Year 1 students in the experimental schools, but was not evident for control schools (within‐schools evaluation). Implications for at‐risk and disadvantaged students are discussed.
6 citations
01 Jan 1992
TL;DR: This program guide documents a child care job family curriculum that develops competence in generic work force education skills through two minicourses: Basic Issues in Child Care and Child Development Associate.
Abstract: This program guide documents a child care job family curriculum that develops competence in generic work force education skills through two minicourses: Basic Issues in Child Care and Child Development Associate. An annotated table of contents lists a brief description of the questions answered in each section. An introduction presents a program abstract and a guide overview. The remainder of the guide is structured according to the four stages in the process of setting up a work force instructional program: partnership building, curriculum development, actual instruction, and evaluation. A detailed table of contents to each section outlines the steps involved in completing each stage. The section on developing partnerships identifies some key partners and structures for achieving their involvement. The section on developing curriculum describes some structures for assessing and organizing input from a variety of sources. The section on teaching the class presents a curricular model with specific examples of daily classroom activities. The section on assessment and evaluation describes a variety of assessment tools and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. Appendixes include sample lesson plans, evaluation forms, local promotion of the project, and a selected bibliography divided into work force skills (59 items), background theory (47), and practitioner resources (20). (YLB)
6 citations
TL;DR: Collins, Miriam Balmuth, and Priscilla Jean as mentioned in this paper discuss a pioneering program in workplace literacy begun in 1988 by two cooperating trade union organizations in New York City, and illustrate principles of workplace literacy aimed at providing adult workers with the kind of education they need to advance in their jobs and to take greater control over their lives at work and in their communities.
Abstract: Sheila Collins, Miriam Balmuth, and Priscilla Jean discuss a pioneering program in workplace literacy begun in 1988 by two cooperating trade union organizations in New York City. In this initiative, the unions were responding to the changing needs of their members in today's shifting labor market, which has made traditional literacy programs irrelevant to improving the lives of most of today's workers. The authors discuss new conceptions of literacy that inform this initiative; in particular, the shift in focus from "worker literacy" to "workplace literacy." They present four case studies of specific programs various trade unions have developed based on their members' particular needs and workplace settings. These programs illustrate principles of workplace literacy aimed at providing adult workers with the kind of education they need to advance in their jobs and to take greater control over their lives at work and in their communities.
6 citations
TL;DR: In the effort to meet such mandates, music teachers may be challenged to either relinquish their teaching skills or teach reading skills in the music classroom as discussed by the authors, which may result in a loss of instructional time.
Abstract: Increasingly, music teachers are required to assist, tutor, or teach reading skills in the music classroom. In the effort to meet such mandates, music teachers may be challenged to either relinquis...
6 citations
Cites background from "Literacy and reading performance in..."
...In response, many schools and districts require increased reading instructional time and mandate all teachers to take a more responsive role in reading intervention, including music teachers (Kirsch, Jungeblut, Jenkins, & Kolstad, 1993; Rabb, 2004; Stedman & Kaestle, 1987)....
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References
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01 Jul 1983TL;DR: In this article, the piedmont: textile mills and times of change, and the teaching of how to talk in Trackton and Roadville, are discussed, as well as the teachers as learners and the townspeople.
Abstract: Photographs, maps, figures, tables, texts Acknowledgments Prologue Note on transcriptions Part I. Ethnographer Learning: 1. The piedmont: textile mills and times of change 2. 'Gettin' on' in two communities 3. Learning how to talk in Trackton 4. Teaching how to talk in Roadville 5. Oral traditions 6. Literate traditions 7. The townspeople Part II. Ethnographer Doing: 8. Teachers as learners 9. Learners as ethnographers Epilogue Epilogue - 1996 Notes Bibliography Index.
4,564 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the piedmont: textile mills and times of change, and the teaching of how to talk in Trackton and Roadville, are discussed, as well as the teachers as learners and the townspeople.
Abstract: Photographs, maps, figures, tables, texts Acknowledgments Prologue Note on transcriptions Part I. Ethnographer Learning: 1. The piedmont: textile mills and times of change 2. 'Gettin' on' in two communities 3. Learning how to talk in Trackton 4. Teaching how to talk in Roadville 5. Oral traditions 6. Literate traditions 7. The townspeople Part II. Ethnographer Doing: 8. Teachers as learners 9. Learners as ethnographers Epilogue Epilogue - 1996 Notes Bibliography Index.
4,208 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1981
TL;DR: The Mismeasure of man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits, and yet the idea of innate limits-of biology as destiny-dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined by Stephen Jay Gould.
Abstract: When published in 1981, The Mismeasure of Man was immediately hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts and limits. And yet the idea of innate limits-of biology as destiny-dies hard, as witness the attention devoted to The Bell Curve, whose arguments are here so effectively anticipated and thoroughly undermined by Stephen Jay Gould. In this edition Dr. Gould has written a substantial new introduction telling how and why he wrote the book and tracing the subsequent history of the controversy on innateness right through The Bell Curve. Further, he has added five essays on questions of The Bell Curve in particular and on race, racism, and biological determinism in general. These additions strengthen the book's claim to be, as Leo J. Kamin of Princeton University has said, "a major contribution toward deflating pseudo-biological 'explanations' of our present social woes."
3,879 citations
Book•
16 Nov 1972
TL;DR: Most Americans say they believe in equality. But when pressed to explain what they mean by this, their definitions are usually full of contradictions as mentioned in this paper. But most Americans also believe that some people are more competent than others, and that this will always be so, no matter how much we reform society.
Abstract: Most Americans say they believe in equality. But when pressed to explain what they mean by this, their definitions are usually full of contradictions. Many will say, like the Founding Fathers, that “all men are created equal.” Many will also say that all men are equal “before God,” and that they are, or at least ought to be, equal in the eyes of the law. But most Americans also believe that some people are more competent than others, and that this will always be so, no matter how much we reform society. Many also believe that competence should be rewarded by success, while incompetence should be punished by failure. They have no commitment to ensuring that everyone’s job is equally desirable, that everyone exercises the same amount of political power, or that everyone receives the same income.
2,315 citations