�鶹ӳ�� Adolescent Literacy Network (NALN)

Vision statement

The �鶹ӳ�� Adolescent Literacy Network is a coalition of cross-agency partners building and bridging systems to help adolescents become fully literate individuals who are able to reach their goals.

Adolescent literacy refers to the literacy skills, strategies, and knowledge students need from fourth grade forward to effectively read, write, listen, and speak in a variety of communities, including academic, social and professional.

As explained by the Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy (2010):

“Good early literacy instruction does not inoculate students against struggle or failure later on.”

“Beyond grade 3, adolescent learners in our schools must decipher more complex passages, synthesize information at a higher level, and learn to form independent conclusions based on evidence. They must also develop special skills and strategies for reading text in each of the differing content areas (such as English, science, mathematics and history)”

“Adolescents need a higher level of literacy than ever before, both for college-readiness and employment in the new global knowledge economy”

What is the �鶹ӳ�� Adolescent Literacy Network, and What is the NALN Mission?

What is NALN?

What is the NALN Mission?

Across initiatives and regions of the state, our efforts will increase reading engagement among adolescents via adolescent-facing initiatives as well as professional learning resources for educators, community members, and families who support adolescents. Specifically, we will improve adolescents’ reading engagement by 25%, as measured by the NAEP survey questionnaire, by 2030.

�鶹ӳ�� NALN

NALN’s History

In 2020, Dianna Townsend, Ed.D. at the University and Darl Kiernan, Ph.D., then at the �鶹ӳ�� Department of Education, founded NALN with the goal to create a connected community of adults who support teens with literacy and language development and enhance and increase support for �鶹ӳ��’s teens.

Drs. Townsend and Kiernan convened the original eight-member NALN Steering Committee of educational leaders, expert teachers, teacher educators, and librarians. The Steering Committee was joined by a coaching collaborator from WestEd who provided consulting on how to adopt a continuous improvement approach to identifying, enacting, and measuring goals to support adolescent literacy in �鶹ӳ��.

NALN’s Annual Goals

Each year, there will be measurable improvement in adolescent reading engagement from individual initiatives as measured by surveys aligned to the NAEP questionnaire, focus groups, and interviews. Initiatives include:
- Adolescent reading engagement initiatives
- Adolescent writing initiatives
- Collection and dissemination of adolescent literacy data
- Creation of professional learning content and programs
- Development of community partnerships

NALN’s Accomplishments

Completed a statewide “needs assessment” to understand �鶹ӳ��’s strengths and challenges in supporting adolescent literacy
Developed collaborative relationships with , , and , and fostered new collaborative relationships with additional regional and statewide organizations committed to adolescent literacy.
Created two graphic data reports, one on adolescent literacy achievement and on adolescent reading engagement, illustrating the “State of Adolescent Literacy” in �鶹ӳ��
Facilitated statewide professional learning on evidence-based practices for teaching reading comprehension in middle and high school, including a year of monthly webinar workshops with national literacy experts and a year of supporting teams of teachers and literacy leaders in implementing best practices in adolescent literacy instruction
Formed Design Teams, which are groups of representative experts, community members, and adolescents from around �鶹ӳ��, who design and facilitate NALN initiatives. Design teams have been formed to:
- study issues in adolescent literacy in �鶹ӳ��
- identify promising reading engagement activities, including book clubs, currently in use in �鶹ӳ��
- develop new initiatives to engage adolescents in reading and writing in �鶹ӳ��, including a �鶹ӳ�� Adolescent Writing Magazine
- prepare resources on adolescent literacy for educators and leaders in �鶹ӳ��, including two graphic data reports
- create an online clearinghouse of adolescent literacy resources for educators in �鶹ӳ��, including a draft website and social media presence

NALN Needs Assessment Findings

Needs Assessment:Collecting data on the "state" of adolescent literacy in �鶹ӳ��.
- Statewide Quantitative Data: Demographics, Achievement Data, Risk Indices, etc. (REL collaboration)
- Statewide Qualitative Data: Themes Generated from Empathy Interviews with Stakeholders

Themes from statewide data on adolescent literacy achievement

Based on , fewer than half of �鶹ӳ��’s eighth graders read at the proficient level.
Based on , 38% of �鶹ӳ��’s eighth grade students read below the basic level.
Prominent racial disparities exist, with the scores of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native students suggesting far fewer or lower-quality educational opportunities.

Themes from interviews of educators and leaders around �鶹ӳ�� who support adolescents

Teachers need sustained, research-based professional learning opportunities to support adolescent literacy.
Adolescents need choice and relevance in their reading and writing activities.
Social emotional learning is a critical component of supporting adolescent literacy.

Themes from listening sessions with �鶹ӳ��’s adolescents

Teens need diversity in approaches to support their literacy habits and purposes – one size does not fit all.
Teens wish teachers had more empathy and flexibility for their out-of-school lives.
Social media is a “mixed bag”: it offers important opportunities for connection and learning at the same time as it promotes negative content and misinformation.
Teens value writing and write for a variety of purposes in their personal lives.

NALN Steering Committee Leadership

Dianna Townsend, Ed.D.

Professor of Literacy Studies, NALN President

(775) 682-7866

dtownsend@unr.edu

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Alicia Bowman

NALN Steering Committee Collaborator | Improvement Specialist | WestEd, Region 15CC

Julie Cooper

Treasurer | Southern �鶹ӳ�� Regional Professional Development Program

Melisa Garcia

Secretary | Washoe County Library System Librarian

Darl Kiernan, Ph.D.

Vice-President | Former Professional Learning Leader, NNRPDP & Former K-12 ELA Programs Professional, NDE

NALN Steering Committee Members at Large

Holly Marich, Ph.D.

Steering Committee Member at Large, Professional Learning Leader, Northeastern �鶹ӳ�� Regional Professional Development Program

Jennese Black

K-8 ELA Education Programs Professional, NDE

Marcella Ciaramella

Steering Committee Member at Large, Middle School ELA/Social Studies Teacher, WCSD

Rachel Knecht, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, English Education, BYU

Mandy Leytham

Steering Committee Member at Large, Education Programs Professional, Read by Grade 3 Team, NDE

Manuel Ortiz, M.A.

Assistant Director

(775) 784-4237

manuelo@unr.edu

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Jonathan Reynolds

Steering Committee Member at Large, Principal at Pershing County High School

Vickie Smith Barrios

Steering Committee Member at Large, Doctoral Student in Literacy Studies, �鶹ӳ��

Leandra Thompson

Steering Committee Member at Large, High School ELA Teacher, CCSD

Rachel Tillotson

Steering Committee Member at Large, Education Programs Professional, Secondary ELA and K-12 World Languages, NDE

Past Members of NALN Steering Committee

NALN is extremely grateful to past members of the NALN Steering Committee who helped to build NALN from the ground up.

Mariluz Garcia
Lisa Johnson
Sarah Negrete
Shaughn Richardson
Marc Rincon

References

Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy. (2010). . New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., & You, W. (2012). Instructional contexts for engagement and achievement in reading. In (pp. 601–634). Springer Science + Business Media.

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