Language Arts Test Scores and Online Literacy
by Joan Hamilton, Pierce School Librarian

Two recent articles provide food for thought about current literacy practices. The first is an article released by the Massachusetts Department of Education stating that for the 2008 MCAS,
English language arts results in the elementary grades declined and the middle schools were flat.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.asp?printscreen=yes&id=4287

The second article is from the September 19, 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education and is entitled "Online Literacy is a Lesser Kind" by Mark Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University and author of a book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Tarcher/Penguin, 2008).
http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04b01001.htm
Bauerlein describes the style of literacy used for screen reading (web sites, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) as "racing across the surface, dicing language and ideas into bullets and graphics, seeking what they already want and shunning the rest." He argues that when reading a long narrative, a long political tract, a dense argument, a modern poem, a complicated narrtive or academic texts, this style of reading breaks down. He concludes by advocating "slow reading" and a plea that educators keep at least some of our students' educations "unplugged and logged off."

At Pierce School, "slow reading" is built into the culture of learning -- from read alouds in the early grades designed to grip children in the thrill of narrative, to literature circles, book discussions, summer reading, book fairs, and required independent reading projects in all grades. It blossoms as parents choose to regularly read aloud at home to their children. It is a habit of mind that will grow and bear fruit as our students go forward into a speeded-up digital world.