This spotlight highlights resources designed to assist in your efforts to create and sustain literacy instruction across content areas that is equitable and based on high expectations for all students. We hope you find these insights useful.

Building Academic Literacy in Young Multilingual Children

“Will our young multilingual children, including our English learner and dual language students, be confused if we try to teach more academic vocabulary? Shouldn’t we just stick with the basic vocabulary first?” This 90-minute archived webinar, hosted by REL West and the Leading with Learning program at WestEd, addresses this common question from teachers of grades PreK–1 and illustrates how teachers can build language- and vocabulary-rich classroom environments to support the language development of young students, with an emphasis on supporting students who are dual language learners. Watch. 

Building Academic Literacy in Middle and High Schools

Literacy skills are fundamental to meeting academic standards that emphasize reading and writing in all subjects. Maryland, one of many states focusing on this issue, is undertaking large-scale implementation of the Reading Apprenticeship model to improve literacy across the curriculum. Reading Apprenticeship is rated “strong” in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act’s evidence rating system.

Ensuring Students’ Literacy Skills Are College-Ready

School systems throughout the country are developing new courses and supports to prepare students to succeed in college. One example is the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC), a grade 12 English course developed by California State University (CSU) to better prepare students for college-level English. A 2015 study found that the ERWC has a statistically significant positive impact on student achievement. Learn more.

Academic Literacy Development for Adolescent English Learners

The Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative understands that educators must recognize the immense learning potential of all students, particularly English Learner students. Students must be invited to participate in rigorous instruction no matter their level of language proficiency. These papers, written for the New York State Education Department, expand on this concept.

Online Professional Development Opportunities

Reading Apprenticeship: Transform instruction, strengthen literacy, build success. Professional learning solutions from Reading Apprenticeship are proven to support teaching and learning across a range of demographics and educational settings. Several decades of research demonstrates that the Reading Apprenticeship approach results in more engaging and effective teacher assignments with significant impact on student literacy and overall test scores. A suite of flexible solutions help you quickly get started implementing the Reading Apprenticeship approach and sustain ongoing success through options for in-person professional learning, as well as facilitated online courses.

Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL): Engaging English Learners in Deep Learning. Learn how to design academically rigorous learning experiences for English learners while offering them the supports to simultaneously develop language and disciplinary practices. Find out about QTEL’s virtual learning options.

WestEd understands the importance of literacy as the foundation for all learning. Students’ linguistic competencies impact their success in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, extending to all academic content areas. We pursue new ideas, conduct research, and create solutions that help all students succeed in literacy.

Visit our Literacy web page for more resources and solutions, and stay tuned for more discussion about literacy in our E-Bulletin and on social media — Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.