Term of Award

Spring 2013

Degree Name

ED.S in Instructional Technology

Document Type and Release Option

Education Specialist Paper (open access)

Department

Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Education Specialist Chair

Randy Carlson

Education Specialist Chair Email

rcarlson@georgiasouthern.edu

Abstract

Literacy is an essential part of the curriculum in education today. Educators strive to influence students to read and gain more experience as readers. There are several reasons why literacy in the classroom is so important to the education of 21st century students. In the workplace today, jobs are requiring that students have a greater ability to read and write fluently (The Time, Learning, and Afterschool Taskforce, 2007). The bar of expectation that the corporate sector has for workers has been raised. It is the job of the school system and educators to motivate, instruct and cultivate literacy in the classroom, so that the future workforce will be prepared (Bottoms, 2003). There is also a need for students to be prepared to not only be fluent readers in fiction, but in nonfiction like technical readings and in technology formats (The Time, Learning, and Afterschool Taskforce, 2007). If a student has difficulty reading, it can affect his or her future earning potential and the ability to gain a post-secondary education. There are several instructional practices that students can participate in that will raise literacy scores and make students better readers. The main practice for adolescents in middle grades is to simply read. Reading for at least an hour a day and at least eleven books per year will raise reading achievement (Bottoms, 2003). Students who read at least eleven books per year scored thirty points higher on performance assessments (Bottoms, 2003).

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