1 What We Know About Adolescent Reading

Reading proficiency has historically been valued as the fundamental enabling competency in public education in the minds of parents, educators, and the general public. The study of reading instruction and literacy has been exhaustive, so we will focus on a few broad themes that we have frequently observed in the course of our research and during our school improvement efforts with some of America’s most inspiring and promising high schools and middle schools. The school improvement process approach that the International Center for Leadership in Education has advocated and helped institute is based on three questions: Why? This first question is key to identifying the issues so we can build consensus around solutions. What? The second question allows us to suggest a plan based on data, research-based models, and successful practices. How? This final question addresses solutions by looking at proven and reliable models.