Literacy Instruction

Literacy Instruction

Part A: Differentiation of Instruction

Literacy is simply the ability to read and write; it is the set of basic skills that provide individuals with entry into the realms of written language and communication (Lehr & Osborn 1994). Literacy is sufficient competence in reading, writing, and computation (numeracy) required to meet the demands of daily life. In this second sense, literacy represents a threshold of functional competencies that allow an individual to adapt to the demands of a complex and technologically sophisticated society. It is a pragmatic perspective linked to skills essential to employment, personal finances, consumer behaviors, and family life.

Literacy is the state of being highly educated, well read, well informed, and knowledgeable in the realms of culture, art, music, literature, history, economics, science, technology, mathematics, geography, politics, and public affairs—as such, it enables full participation in the cultural, economic, and political life of the society. A college-level education and preparation to enter a profession are commonly recognized as indications of literacy in this sense of the term.

Instructional literacy is a characteristic of a social or cultural group. Literacy, in this sense, like language, can be regarded as varieties of cultural practices that entail the creation and use of texts. Individuals are literate to the extent that they may participate in the literate social activities that are important to the social groups to which they belong.

In education and psychology, theorists and practitioners have, for the most part, addressed literacy as the acquisition of the skills and competencies required for reading and writing. Throughout the past century, research and practice have been directed toward discovering the complex perceptual processes, cognitive systems, motivational factors, and social contexts that underlie an individual's ability to read and write and toward devising the most efficient methods to teach those skills (Hettich, 1998). Basic research has drawn from all branches of learning theory, educational psychology, child and adolescent development, cognitive science, neurology, sociology, and cultural anthropology. Applied research has examined alternatives in teaching and instructional practices, in the development and implementation of curriculum and curriculum standards, in support for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and other special needs, in support of English language learners, and in assessment and evaluation practices.

That literacy is essential for citizenship and for full participation in the cultural, political, and economic life of a free society is one of the most fundamental tenets of American education. There is agreement on all sides that illiteracy and marginal literacy preclude equal opportunities for employment, education, and civic engagement. Yet, despite decades of research and the repeated promises of developers of innovative approaches to teaching and learning, there are, by various estimates, between 20 and 50 million Americans who are functionally illiterate. The “literacy crisis” has prompted fierce controversies in educational theory and practice, which range from concerns for the relative success of alternative methods of instruction in reading and writing, to the value of liberal education, to the wholesale critique of public schooling in this society. (Ormrod, 1990)

In recent decades, scholarly discourse ...