Term Paper on "Reading Problems in Middle Schools With Content Material"

Term Paper 3 pages (1004 words) Sources: 1+ Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Middle Schools With Content Material

Identifying and Resolving Reading Problems in Middle Schools with Content Material

When something is made a priority, it is by definition supposed to get better. Alas, this has not been the case with initiatives intended to improve adolescent literacy rates in recent years, and despite legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), many students are in fact being left behind because of poor reading skills. According to Conley and Hinchman (2004), "As America enters the 21st Century full of hope and promise, too many of our neediest students are being left behind" (p. 42). Good reading skills are important in achieving academic success in virtually every subject. Unfortunately, many middle schools students today continue to experience problems in achieving the required levels of literacy due in large part to difficulties comprehending the material in social studies text because they do not possess the requisite skills such as background reading or the motivation to understand what they are reading. This paper provides an overview of the issues involved and the extent of the problem, as well as some useful teaching strategies that can be used to help these students develop good reading skills in the content area. A summary of the research and salient findings will be provided in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

The growing body of research into adolescent literacy has examined a wide range of potentially contributing factors including multiple literacies; personal identity issues; the influence of race, gender, and ethnicity; teaching and learning beliefs and practices; and the roles of text and context (Conley & Hinchman 42). In spite of this body of knowledge, there remains a dearth of timely studies concerning what can be done to improve the literacy rate among adolescent students today. As a result, the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) (2006) emphasizes that, "Without a focus on literacy instruction at the secondary school level, many students are left to drift, often faking their way through high school reading assignments" (Jobs for the 21st Century 2). The AEE cites the following alarming statistics in this regard:

More than 8 million students in grades 4-12 read below grade level;

Only 31% of America's eighth grade students and approximately the same percentage of 12th graders -- meet the National Assessment of Educational Progress standard of reading "proficiency" for their grade level;

Among low-income eighth graders, just 15% read at a proficient level;

In a typical high-poverty urban school, about half of incoming 9th-grade students read at the 6th- or 7th-grade level;

Just 3% of all 8th graders read at an advanced level;

High school students' ability to read complex texts is strongly predictive of their performance in college math and science courses;

Between 1971 and 2004, the reading levels of America's 17-year-olds showed no improvement at all;

On average, African-American and Hispanic high school seniors read at the same level as white 8th-grade students; and,

The 25 fastest-growing professions have far greater than average literacy demands, while the… READ MORE

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