Bridging the literacy achievement gap grades 4-5 (book)

This definition of adolescence provides a key foundational concept for the edited book, Bridging the literacy achievement gap grades 4-12. Editors Dorothy S. Strickland and Donna E. Alvermann believe that thinking of adolescents as merely “pre-adults” in the 10-18 year old age range does not adequately represent their multi-faceted identities. And, while school literacy remains an important part of their lives, youth culture and its multiple literacies has a tremendous impact on the literacy learning of these young people. They argue that the push to raise achievement has resulted in the alienation of aliterate and struggling readers when the traditional school curriculum reflects only academic literacy and does not use the everyday literacies of students as a bridge to academic tasks. They also highlight the stubbornness of the achievement gap that persists, particularly between White and Black students and between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the complex interaction of contributing factors. The book is divided into two parts, Part I - Understanding the Literacy Achievement Gap: Learners and Context and Part II - Addressing the Literacy Achievement Gap: Promising Practices. Each part begins with a summary overview of the upcoming chapters, effectively previewing the content and authors contributing to this section. In addition, each chapter begins by highlighting three key points that help guide the reader and ends with a conclusion or summary section that provides important closure. This structural layout provides valuable support and greatly enhances the overall reading experience of this book.