CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model

CTL has developed and tested its Adolescent Literacy Model (ALM) over the past decade, most recently through a federally funded Striving Readers research project, one of eight in the nation.  ALM is designed to help middle and high school students master content across all subject areas as they improve their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.  The model has demonstrated positive impact on teacher practice, teacher and student self-efficacy, and student performance in reading in grades 6 and 9, as well as increases in student motivation and achievement in other content areas.  Click here to learn about Striving Readers/ALM results >

Implementation of ALM involves a commitment to intensive professional development and engagement in regular on-site and distance coaching on the part of teachers and administrators.

• Minimum of 12 days engaged in formal professional development over a three-year period, and 24 days in job-embedded coaching over the same period of time
• Additional leadership training for school administrators, literacy coach and literacy leadership team
• Resources and tools for school self-assessment and to support implementation of new teaching and leadership strategies
• Online network of ALM schools
• Grant funds, School Improvement Grant dollars and Title I allocations are all appropriate sources of funding for ALM implementation.  

ALM  provides a school-wide framework for improved student learning by addressing all aspects of instruction.  Designed for customized implementation, specific components are combined to address the targeted needs of the school, determined in part by a self-assessment process using CTL's ALM School Performance Guide.  ALM advances:

• Foundational instruction in English/Language Arts classes
• Content literacy, applying literacy strategies across disciplines to increase student learning in all subjects
• Support for existing classroom interventions designed to bring struggling students to grade level
• Development of school literacy coaches who work daily with colleagues to improve instruction
• Leadership development, including training and support for principals and creation of a literacy leadership team to support literacy instructional improvement
• A school instructional culture of high achievement based on literacy development in all subjects

Through ALM, teachers are engaged in deep and significant training on content literacy best practices that apply across subject areas, and on approaches unique to individual disciplines.  Teachers and principals come to understand how literacy development prepares students to master content in mathematics, science, social studies, and arts and humanities.

CTL staff works closely with middle and high school faculties in implementing the model.  Summer institutes, full-and half-day training sessionss throughout the year, on-site and distance coaching, leadership seminars, and participation in an online network all support efforts to develop professional practice leading to increased student literacy.  CTL mentor coaches work closely with teachers while they develop the capacities of school-based literacy coaches and the principal, who gradually assume responsibility for improved instruction.  Through a gradual release approach, coaches and principals are supported directly while key staff assumes responsibility for improved classroom practice through implementation of ALM.
 
Click here to learn more about CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model Tools and Processes >

Click here to read Dr. Deborah Walker's CTL blog post related to the Adolescent Literacy Model, "Achieving Sustainability When a Project Ends: What is the Principal's Role?" >

Click here to see what clients are saying about CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model >

For more information about CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model, contact:
Sherri Beshears-McNeely, Literacy Project Manager
502.895.9500 x339