The Northeast Metro Tech High School Literacy Initiative

At Northeast High School, we believe that strong reading and writing skills are the foundation for future success. Our goal is simple but powerful: we want every student to be a proficient, confident, and lifelong reader and writer.

Our Literacy Vision

We are committed to ensuring all students are capable of accessing complex texts and expressing ideas clearly in writing. These skills are essential for success in college, career areas, and the day-to-day literacy demands of adult life. Moreover, we are dedicated to fostering a lifelong enjoyment of reading for all students.

2024–2025 Action Plan: How We're Building Literacy

The following action plan outlines the key strategies we developed for the 2024–2025 school year to make our literacy vision a reality.

1. Literacy as a School-Wide Priority

• Establishing a Dedicated Literacy Team: A team of teachers and administrators meets regularly to brainstorm ideas, select effective programs, and ensure the best literacy practices are being used across all content areas, not just English class.
• Emphasizing Literacy Across All Content Areas: Reading and writing skills are not just the job of the English department. We are actively working with academic and career-tech teachers to embed relevant reading and writing practice into their daily lessons. Department Heads and Reading Specialists provide ongoing professional development to make this a reality in every classroom.

2. Targeted Assessment and Instruction

• Implementing a Screening Tool: After researching and piloting several options, we selected the IXL Flex Diagnostic as our literacy screening tool for incoming 9th graders and rising 10th graders.
• Data-Driven Placement: The diagnostic results give us valuable information on each student's specific strengths and literacy needs. This allows us to identify students who will benefit from more targeted literacy instruction in their schedules.
• Tiered Reading Interventions: We provide specific support based on a student's needs:
  • Supplemental Practice: Our English Enhancement courses for 9th and 10th graders use the IXL Language Arts curriculum to supplement teacher-led instruction in reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar.
  • Intensive Intervention: For students who need more intensive, systematic support, we introduced Foundations of Reading. This new course uses the research-backed HMH Read180 program to build foundational skills, comprehension, vocabulary, and written expression.

3. Fostering a Culture of Reading

• Creating a Positive Mindset: We believe a positive attitude about reading is crucial. We encourage students to choose independent reading selections that connect to their personal interests and background knowledge.
• Building Confidence: By helping students find success and enjoyment in reading, we can improve their perseverance and confidence when they encounter more complex texts.

Partnership and Evaluation

Using Data to Drive Decisions

We use data from the IXL and Read180 programs and the initial diagnostics to make informed decisions about:

• Adjusting the overall curriculum.
• Making appropriate scheduling decisions for students.

Involving Families and the Community

We are enthusiastic about this initiative and encourage you to partner with us! You can encourage literacy at home by:

• Having conversations about the literature and informational texts your student is reading in their courses.
• Taking trips to your local library together.
• Reading a novel as a family.

Evaluate and Adjust

Our literacy work is ongoing. We will continue to reflect on our successes and identify areas for improvement, ensuring that our approach remains aligned with the latest research on literacy curriculum and methodology.