1st Edition

Raising Standards in Literacy

Edited By Greg Brooks, Ros Fisher, Maureen Lewis Copyright 2002
    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    Raising Standards in Literacy represents the best current thinking and research about literacy. The book is the outcome of a high-profile series of seminars on raising standards in literacy, and includes contributions from an impressive group of international researchers and policymakers.

    By offering a rich and unique mix of contemporary perspectives on literacy education, this book provides an invaluable source of study and insight into the latest research and developments in the teaching of literacy. It includes sections on:

    * how research into literacy teaching can inform new approaches found in England, the USA and Australia
    * the ways in which literacy education is developing in England, the USA and Australia
    * the issues involved in assessing progress in literacy and the validity of research claims made about standards of attainment.

    The book celebrates the apparent success of current literacy initiatives at the same time as raising questions about the feasibility and relevance of such initiatives to the literacy co-ordinators and consultants and for all those undertaking further study or research in literacy education.

    Section 1: Research into the Teaching of Literacy 1. What does Research Tell Us About How to Develop Comprehension? 2. What Does Research Tell Us About How We Should be Developing Writing? 3. As the Research Predicted? Examining the Success of the National Literacy Strategy 4. What do Effective Teachers of Literacy Know, Believe and Do? 5. Developing Literacy: Towards a New Understanding of Family Involvement 6. Words in Basal Readers: An Historical Perspective from the United States; Discussion: Research into the Teaching of Literacy Section 2: What Counts as Evidence? 7. The Irrelevancy and Danger of the 'Simple View' of Reading to Meaningful Standards 8. Understanding National Standards in Reading 9. Validity in Literacy Tests 10. Trying to Count the Evidence; Discussion: What Counts as Evidence Section 3: Developing Teacher Practice 11. Textbooks and Model Programmes: Reading Reform in the United States 12. Teacher Education Programmes and Children's Reading Achievement 13. The Implementation of the English National Literacy Strategy in England 1998 - 2001 14. Examining Teaching in the Literacy Hour: Case Studies from English Classrooms 15. The Literacy Block in Primary School Classrooms: Victoria, Australia 16. Globalisation, Literacy, Curriculum Practice; Discussion: Developing Teacher Practice

    Biography

    Greg Brooks, Ros Fisher, Maureen Lewis

    'This book is a stimulating and important text that is perhaps most suited to academics and policy-makers that to teachers. However, for me its greatest significance lies in the fact that although some chapters attempt to answer questions and define standards in the field of literacy education, they actually only serve to demonstrate what others acknowledge - the complexity of even defining literacy in the modern age, let alone improving it.' - Peter Anstee, Cambridge Journal of Education