Adolescent Literacy: Forging A Local, State, And National Vision Of How To Help All Students Acquire The Foundational Skills That Will Enable Them To Succeed In School, Work, And Life

The Honorable Rodney Alexander, United States House of Representatives, 5th District
The Honorable Bill Cassidy, United States House of Representatives, 6th District
Ms. Glenny Lee Buquet, Board Member, Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Mr. Andrés Henríquez, Program Officer, Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Honorable Kip Holden, Mayor-President, East Baton Rouge Parish
Mr. Dwayne Lemoine, Superintendent, Avoyelles Parish Schools System
Mr. Paul G. Pastorek, State Superintendent of Education, Louisiana Department of Education
Dr. Mel Riddile, Associate Director for High School Services, National Association of Secondary School Principals
The Honorable Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education; Former Governor, State of West Virginia

Approximately 120 educators, policymakers, and business and community leaders gathered on June 8 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to learn more about the critical role that adolescent literacy plays in preparing students for college and career readiness and the critical nature of building a local, state, and national vision for how to help all students acquire these foundational skills. The event was sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Louisiana Department of Education.

Bob Wise, President of the Alliance for Excellent Education, opened the forum with a discussion on the high school dropout crisis facing the nation and the failure of high schools to adequately prepare students for postsecondary success.

Mayor-President Kip Holden of East Baton Rouge Parish, while brandishing a pair of handcuffs, implored everyone to work to stamp out illiteracy and educational underachievement that holds back so many poor students and students of color.

Andrés Henríquez, program officer at Carnegie Corporation of New York—an organization that has played a critical role in bringing national attention to adolescent literacy—emphasized the critical role of literacy in ensuring college and career readiness and commended the work of local and state education leaders in Louisiana and the efforts of the Alliance for Excellent Education..

A distinguished panel, comprised of Louisiana State Superintendent Paul Pastorek, Avoyelles Parish Superintendent Dwayne Lemoine, and Ms. Glenny Lee Buquet, a member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, presented the adolescent literacy efforts in Lousiana and their results at the state and local levels as well as their impacts on the higher education community.

Congressman Rodney Alexander (R-LA), cosponsor of the Striving Readers Act of 2007, emphasized the high poverty level in his congressional district and the critical role that literacy plays in eliminating poverty and minimizing its impact. Applauding state and local leaders, he also acknowledged that the comprehensive P–12 literacy approach currently being drafted in Congress mirrors the approach of Louisiana’s effort.

Congressman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) provided additional details about the comprehensive literacy bill being drafted in the Congress, and emphasized the significant increase it would provide to adolescent literacy efforts in particular.

Dr. Mel Riddile, former secondary school principal-of-the-year and a nationally recognized expert on high school reform, described the role of literacy in transforming J.E.B. Stuart High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, as well as transforming secondary education in other settings. He emphasized the importance of alignment, time, and capacity as crucial ingredients for success. He went on to describe the need to view literacy as an ongoing pre-K–12 issue and he cited recently released research from ACT and NASBE on the relationship between college and work readiness and literacy skills.

EVENT-DAY MATERIALS:

Event-Day Agenda PDF
Speaker Biographies PDF
Avoyelles K-12 Literacy Pilot Program, a PPT presentation by Mr. Dwayne Lemoine PDF (Please be patient; large file to download)
Literacy for Learning, a PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Mel Riddile PDF (Please be patient; large file to download)
Louisiana State Literacy Plan PDF
High Value High Schools, a Louisiana Department of Education Handout PDF (Please be patient; large file to download)
Louisiana High Schools State Card PDF

AUDIO and VIDEO from the event:

Welcome and Opening Remarks Audio^* and Video (Flash popup)

The Honorable Kip Holden, Mayor-President, East Baton Rouge Parish
The Honorable Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education; Former Governor, State of West Virginia
Mr. Andrés Henríquez, Program Officer, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Session 1  Audio^* and Video (Flash popup)
Learning From and Building On Louisiana’s K–12 Literacy Pilot Program

Mr. Paul G. Pastorek, State Superintendent of Education, Louisiana Department of Education
Mr. Dwayne Lemoine, Superintendent, Avoyelles Parish Schools System
Ms. Glenny Lee Buquet, Board Member, Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Session 2  Audio^* and Video (Flash popup)
Congressional Efforts to Support Adolescent Literacy and the K-12 Literacy Continuum

The Honorable Rodney Alexander, United States House of Representatives, 5th District
The Honorable Bill Cassidy, United States House of Representatives, 6th District

Session 3  Audio^* and Video (Flash popup)
The Connection Between Literacy and High School Graduation and College and Career Readiness

Dr. Mel Riddile, Associate Director for High School Services, National Association of Secondary School Principals

Closing Remarks  Audio^* and Video (Flash popup)

Governor Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education; Former Governor, State of West Virginia

* To download audio MP3 files, right-click over “Audio” link in Internet Explorer and select “Save Target As…”. Other browsers (Firefox, Safari, etc…) have similar functionality. To listen only, simply left-click on “Audio” link.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS:

Handout: Missing Middle Chart – FY 2009 PDF
Handout: Adolescent Literacy Fact Sheet
Handout: Comprehensive Literacy Bill Summary PDF
Handout: Key Pieces of High School Legislation PDF