Literacy Engagement, Classroom Talk, and College and Career Preparedness

Gay IveyUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison

The state of school engagement

• Steady decline over the school years, with particular road bumps during transitions to middle and high school (Dotterer et al. 2009).

• Strongest decline among racial minorities, boys, and low socioeconomic groups (Wigfield, Eccles, Schiefele, Roeser, & Davis- Kean, 2006).

The state of reading engagement:

• Reading engagement is identified as a tool for improving reading achievement

• Disengagement in reading is a persistent problem nationally

• U.S. ranks 38th out of 40 nations in terms of reading interest and engagement (PIRLS)

• Current reform efforts focus on cognitive skill and strategy instruction and increasing text complexity to boost achievement (CCSS)

Linked to school engagement:

• Academic achievement• Cognitive strategy use• Attendance• Graduation• Academic resilience• Expanded social regulation• Social competence • Protective factors against problematic social behaviors

(drug and alcohol abuse; risky sexual behaviors)

Some ways people think about reading and engagement

• Engagement begets more reading which begets greater fluency which begets greater comprehension (e.g. Hank et al., 2010)

• Engagement is created through a combination of interest, self-efficacy, and cognitive strategy use (Guthrie et al., 1996)

• Engagement is about the individual experience• Engagement is a tool for improving reading

achievement (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000)

Another way to think about reading and engagement

• Reading is a dialogic, relational activity (Langer, 1995; Lysaker, 2011; Rosenblatt, 1938/1983)

• Reading is a tool for constructing self and sense of others

• Engagement is social• Engagement is related to the development of the

whole person

A shift to engaging books

• Daily self-selected, self-paced reading• No strings attached (e.g., projects, reports,

response journals)• Beginning-of-the-year BOOKFEST• Rotating collections• Edgy young adult literature (difficult topics,

moral uncertainties)

Consequences

Shifts/Expansion of:

• Identity• Agency/autonomy• Social imagination• Self-regulation• Expanded knowledge• Engagement• Happiness

• Intellectual stance• Moral stance• Response• Talk about books• Relationship• Community• Test scores

A cascade of effects (Ivey & Johnston, 2012):

Engagement and the things we worry about….

• Academic language/vocabulary (e.g., limitation, benefit, process)

• Reading “dense” texts• Writing• Research

The status quo is limiting

• Individual achievement• Cognitive achievement