Your letters needed requesting support
IRA has directly affected reading legislation that will impact older readers for generations to come. IRA, along with the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Alliance for Excellent Education, has worked for the past year to expand the Striving Readers program. This act will authorize adolescent literacy grants to be awarded to states on a formula basis according to poverty levels and 8th-grade NAEP reading scores. Local districts will be able to use these funds to develop schoolwide literacy plans and provide professional development in core academic subjects.
The Striving Readers Act was introduced on March 22 by Senator Jeff Sessions (R–AL) and Senator Patty Murray (D–WA). IRA helped draft this legislation, and members of IRA’s Legislative Action Team made visits on Capitol Hill on February 16 seeking support for this bill. To follow up the efforts of IRA’s LAT, we need you to send letters to your senators asking them to sign on as cosponsors to the Striving Readers Act now.
“We must not risk squandering the investments Congress has already made through the important Reading First program for younger students,” said Senator Sessions. “But with 70% of our middle and high school students reading below grade level, we know we must continue our support with ongoing programs that reflect the needs of the older student for more advanced vocabulary and comprehension skills. All students, throughout their K–12 educational experience, deserve adequate support to ensure on-time graduation with appropriate skills and knowledge that meet the demands of the 21st century.”
“Given the recent announcement that two out of every three high school seniors read below grade level on the Nation’s Report Card, it is clear that America’s older students need help improving their reading and writing skills,” noted Senator Murray. “The Striving Readers Act, combined with the PASS Act that I introduced in February, are an important one-two punch that will help middle and high school students read and write better, and will also help keep students in school and on track to receive their high school diploma.”
Last year’s funding for Striving Readers was US$29.7 million, enough for only eight grants across the nation. This new bill authorizes US$200 million in FY2007 with increasing funding to FY2011. This increased funding will allow Striving Readers grants to be at work in every state.
Highlights of the Striving Readers Act include the following (for details see www.reading.org/resources/issues/press_fact_sheets.html):
improvement of teacher training and professional development in literacy
help for districts and schools to create improved literacy plans, assessments, and training in literacy strategies for teachers in every subject area
training for parents to support literacy
connections between classroom literacy and learning outside the classroom
state, district, and school participation in evaluation of adolescent literacy
We need IRA members to write a brief note to their senators asking them to support the Striving Readers Act of 2007. This can be a personal letter from you or an e-mail submitted to your senator on the senator’s website. For a sample letter, see the February 21 entry at www.latadvisory.blogspot.com. Use this information to create your own letter or to fill out the e-mail form on your senator’s website. Ask your friends and associates to do the same.
Your efforts to ensure more money for adolescent literacy improvements are needed more than ever. According to IRA President Timothy Shanahan, “The latest 12th-grade reading scores are troubling. Particularly distressing are the results for boys and language-minority students. They are definitely going in the wrong direction, and reveal why enhanced primary grade reading instruction is insufficient. Teachers—of all subjects—simply must be better prepared to address the literacy demands of their subject matter.”
Striving Readers Act introduced. (April 2007). Reading Today, 24(5), 16.
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