Research/Policy Documents

Research Briefs

• • Word Reading Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers (PDF): This research brief summarizes what we know about successful school-based interventions for increasing the word reading skills of students in grades 4 to 12.

  • Effective Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers: This report was developed by the JP Das Centre on Developmental and Learning Disabilities, in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta under a contract funded by Alberta Education. This report provides information on word reading interventions as well as reading comprehension interventions. 

  • Teaching Reading is Rocket Science: This report, developed by the American Federation of Teachers, speaks about teacher preparation and professional development in reading.

  • Reading in the Disciplines - The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy: This report, developed by the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, focuses on adolescent literacy and reading in the content areas. It provides sample texts from different subjects to highlight the differences between content areas and their reading requirements.

Position Statements

Alberta

• • Literacy First; A Plan for Action 2010 (PDF): Prepared by the government of Alberta, this document outlines the strategies and priority actions that Alberta Education will undertake to support the provincial literacy framework.

  • Living Literacy: A Literacy Framework for Alberta’s Next Generation Economy: Prepared by the government of Alberta, “Living Literacy” provides a framework for action that coordinates the efforts of the Government of Alberta and their partners to improve literacy levels for Albertans so that they can thrive and contribute to the next generation economy. 

  • Supporting the Literacy Learner 1 (link coming soon): Prepared by the government of Alberta, this document contains a sampling of literacy projects from AISI (The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 that illustrates the work being done in schools across Alberta. The projects highlighted represent only a small cross section of the many innovative literacy projects taking place in Alberta schools. This document serves to inform teachers, curriculum coordinators, AISI coordinators, school administrators, central office staff and others involved in the education process about successful literacy strategies currently in use in Alberta schools.

  • Supporting the Literacy Learner 2 (link coming soon): Prepared by the government of Alberta, Supporting the Literacy Learner:  Promising Literacy Strategies in Alberta was developed and published by Alberta Education in 2008.  This document contained a sampling of literacy projects from Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI).  

  • High School Completion Framework: Prepared by Alberta Education, this website provides links for students, parents, and teachers to a variety of information on high school completion. The site includes information on current projects and initiatives, information on how to graduate, and parent information.

Canada

• • Think Literacy Success Grades 7 – 12; The Report of the Expert Panel on Students at Risk in Ontario, October 2003: Developed by an expert panel through the government of Ontario, this report is a call-to-action and a framework for embedding high literacy standards and effective literacy practices across the curriculum, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. It reflects current research from Canada and abroad, supported by the extensive experience of educators across Ontario. Nine guiding principles are provided.

International

• • Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement (International Reading Association): This position statement, prepared by the International Reading Association (1999) describes what adolescents deserve in terms of literacy instruction. 

  • Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York: This report, published by the Alliance for Excellent Education draws attention to the core of reading: comprehension, learning while reading, reading in the content areas, and reading in the service of secondary or higher education, of employability, of citizenship. In this report fifteen recommendations are made for effective adolescent literacy programs.

  • Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York: This report, published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, offers a number of specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help 4th- to 12th-grade students in writing. The report focuses on all students, not just those who display writing difficulties, although this latter group is deservedly the focus of much attention. The premise of this report is that all students need to become proficient and flexible writers.