Every Teacher a Literacy Teacher? An Analysis of the Literacy-related Messages in Secondary Methods Textbooks

Abstract

Every teacher a reading teacher has been the call of educators who have made their life work the promotion of reading and writing for middle and high school students (Gray, 1925; Herber, 1970; Ruddell, 1997; Vacca & Vacca, 2002). State departments of education in many states in the United States require secondary content-area teachers to complete course work in content-area reading and writing in order to obtain a teaching license (Romine, McKenna, & Robinson, 1996), seemingly to support this notion that every content-area teacher should also be a teacher of reading and writing. Although these requirements may be changing to accommodate other state requirements (Stewart & O'Brien, 2001), course work in content-area literacy remains common. Instructors with expertise in adolescent and content-area literacy have provided preservice courses to inform secondary teachers of methods to infuse literacy instruction with content instruction in ways that strengthen students' content-area learning and promote general literacy development. However, despite the slogans, the legislation, and the coursework, limited instruction in literacy occurs in secondary content-area classrooms (Eldridge & Muller, 1986, in Alvermann & Moore, 1991; Ratekin, Simpson, Alvermann, & Dishner, 1985).