Creating Literate Environments

Abstract

As middle school educators, our concern for young adolescents' literacy learning certainly is not new, nor is it unique. For some time each of us, along with others, has worked to improve the literacy learning experiences of students in mid dle grades schools. We believe that if the young adoles cent students of today are to be the productive citizens of tomorrow, they must be literate. We also maintain that middle school educators need more focus on the literacy needs of their students to enable them to deal with advances in knowledge as we move into the 21st centu ry. The idea of a themed issue of the Middle School journal dedicated to young adolescents' literacy learning grew out of these convictions. Even though they are knowledgeable, articulate, and insightful about many topics, young adolescents often tell us they do not understand their texts and they do not like all the reading and writing teachers expect. Middle school teachers frequently confront us with ques tions and concerns about students they face daily who cannot or do not want to read or write. Research on stu dents' literacy development consistently implies that we need to do a better job of meeting the literacy needs of young adolescents. We believe strongly that important issues related specifically to young adolescents' literacy development should be examined. In response to our call for manu scripts, middle school educators from across the country indicated that, indeed, there are many issues to examine — from school-wide programs, to instruction in individ ual classrooms, to resources used in literacy instruction. Contributors have also described a variety of ways to respond to young adolescents' literacy needs — from providing collaborative learning experiences, to using alternative methods of assessment, to using literature in the content areas. In this issue of the Journal authors examined a variety of aspects of literate environments. In a second literacy issue in November 1997, topics specifi cally related to using literature in the classroom will be addressed. Have we identified all issues middle grade educa tors should consider as they design programs to meet the literacy needs of their students? Have we considered the widest range of perspectives on these issues? Probably not, but we do believe we have given you much food for thought. We encourage you to begin, contin ue, or expand conversations with colleagues about the best ways to create literate environments for young ado lescent students so they may eventually reach their full potential as literate adults. We also challenge you, the readers, to tell us about important issues and points of view that we may have omitted. □