FAQs:  CELA’s Partnership for Literacy

 

What is the Partnership for Literacy?

The Partnership for Literacy is an approach to instructional development and professional growth that focuses specifically on helping schools to identify and address their critical needs related to student literacy achievement.  It brings together theory and practice with the goal of improving student learning and achievement in English, other content areas, and literacy.

Who developed the Partnership?

The Partnership was developed by researchers at the Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA) at the University at Albany, along with dozens of teachers in classrooms across the US over several decades.  CELA began in 1987 under the direction of Drs. Judith A. Langer and Arthur N. Applebee in the University at Albany’s Graduate School of Education.

What are some of the major ideas behind the Partnership?

 The Partnership draws on many decades of research that have helped us understand how students learn best, particularly how they learn to use language to think more deeply, and how teachers best acquire and use new strategies for effective instruction. These ideas include:

• Effective teaching activities guide students in gaining the knowledge and skills needed for development of high literacies.
• The more cohesive instruction and curriculum are, the more effective. 

  

• Reading, writing, listening, and speaking reinforce learning of challenging subject matter.
• Readers read differently depending on whether the text is informational or literary.
• Diversity of perspective, life experiences, culture, language, etc., enhances comprehension and learning.
• People move through various levels of understanding as they engage with any text, and there are many effective ways for teachers to foster deeper understanding and higher level thinking.
• The most effective teachers possess both conceptual and pedagogical tools – both deep knowledge of their subjects as well as strategies for teaching their subject to others.

Who is the Partnership for?

 The Partnership is for teachers in any school committed to improving their students’ reading, writing, speaking, thinking, and listening achievement.  Teachers who teach any subject that involves developing students’ literacy abilities are welcome to participate.

What are the goals of the Partnership?

 The goals of the Partnership are to

• Increase teachers’ ability to increase student learning
• Deepen teachers’ knowledge, skills, and understandings
• Help students develop better reading, writing, speaking, thinking, and listening skills
• Help students meet state literacy standards and demonstrate their performance in a variety of ways, including on high stakes assessments
• Foster the development of a self-sustaining professional community of teachers

What are the components of the Partnership?

• Periodic 1-5-day institutes for sustained learning and reflection
• Regular group meetings for sharing, learning, and reflecting
• Individual classroom visitations with debriefing and feedback
• Professional networking
• Ongoing email and phone support
• Supplemental web-based resources available 24/7
• Coaching for teachers experienced in the Partnership approach to assume a supportive leadership role (mentoring) with colleagues

What does CELA provide to participating teachers, schools, districts?

• Structured learning opportunities in the form of institutes and group meetings
• Regular classroom visits by a skilled facilitator/coach assigned to each participating teacher
• Research artifacts and case studies for discussion at the institutes and meetings
• Problem-based activities and practice-based inquiry
• Ongoing support in the form of suggestions for instruction and classroom activities; email and phone contact as needed
• Coaching for mentors
• Updates for school leaders
• Progress reports and opportunities to reflect and revise
• Support for developing a self-sustaining professional community

• Supplemental web-based resources available 24/7
• Progress reports and opportunities to reflect and revise the program

What do participating teachers do?

• Attend all-day institutes and after- or during-school group meetings
• Engage in a variety of activities that deepen their understanding of student learning, state standards, and assessments
• Discuss texts and develop questions to scaffold student comprehension
• View videos of other classrooms and discuss learning, instruction, and materials
• Take high stakes tests and identify skills that need to be embedded in the curriculum
• Learn from relevant research findings
• Select new approaches to try in their classrooms and reflect on their effectiveness
• Share results with colleagues, e.g., in the form of student work, class transcripts or videoclips
• Analyze student learning and adjust their instruction to foster deeper and broader learning
• Work with colleagues and coaches to develop ways to share information about the Partnership with parents
• Welcome coaches and mentors into classrooms for observation,  reflection, and feedback
• Contribute to the development of a self-sustaining professional community

What do participating teachers learn?

• A process for reflecting on learning and instruction in order to strengthen practice
• A variety of instructional strategies and activities that support student literacy learning and continued growth
• To identify students’ strengths as a resource on which to build
• How to adapt and refine practice based on students’ strengths, needs, and progress
• Concrete steps they can take to apply what they learn in the classroom
• How to analyze assessments to identify the underlying knowledge and skills that need to be embedded in the curriculum
• Multiple strategies for introducing new skills and ensuring that students can apply them
• To improve the cohesiveness of curriculum and instruction
• To engage students in higher-order thinking, talk and writing
• To increase alignment between curriculum and assessment
• A common language for discussing learning, instruction, and literacy achievement goals with colleagues
• How to contribute to and benefit from a professional community focused on improving student literacy achievement
• For those who become mentors, a protocol for observing their peers and providing feedback

 

 

 

 

 

What is required of school leaders? 

• Becoming familiar with the Partnership approach and the requirements for successful implementation
• Using a set of rubrics for observing effectiveness of classrooms implementing the Partnership
• Observing participating classes using the rubric
• Supporting participating teachers by providing required space, time, and materials
• Meeting with CELA coaches re progress
• Informing Board of Education and interested others of the approach and progress
• With participating teachers, providing opportunities to inform parents about the approach
• Providing time and space for teachers to meet across disciplines, if applicable

What are the expected results?

Results of participating in the Partnership accelerate and accumulate over time as more teachers and students adopt the approach.  In general, a school can expect that

 

• Students of participating teachers will be more engaged in high-level literacy activities, with a resulting improvement in performance.  The more years that an individual student has benefited from teachers using the approach, the greater the performance gains.  The more teachers using the approach, the greater the impact of student performance overall.
• A professional community of informed and reflective teachers will form, grow, and strengthen.

What materials does CELA provide?

• A binder of primary articles, classroom transcripts and other artifacts; activity suggestions, readings, suggested resources; CD of video clips; journal for participant reflections.