A review of “effective” reading literacy practices for young adolescent 11 to 13 year old students

This research article explores what exactly “effective” reading literacy practices are for 11 to 13 year old students and examines discourses surrounding what is meant by “effective” practices in literacy education. It discusses the issues surrounding what in today’s educational world, measurements of “effectiveness” in schooling and more specifically literacy learning are and how they are frequently sought to provide accountability and reassure public perceptions.The article argues that although the understandings and debate around measuring “effectiveness” continues, sound pedagogical practice in reading (and learning in general) is to assess, monitor and identify the individual student’s needs and use that data to provide learning opportunities to build and develop understandings. The article explores research investigations on effective schools where teachers have been nominated as effective practitioners in literacy teaching. It examines studies of schools that were undergoing school reform/professional development to improve literacy teaching.