Dive Brief:

• At the end of the English/language arts section of the Common Core State Standards are recommendations for integrating literacy into history, social studies, science and technical subjects that many districts ignored in their first years of implementation.
• Education Week reports the Denver Public Schools has a 2-year-old department focused on content-area literacy that is reaching more students every year, helping teachers develop lessons on reading and writing unique to the sciences, history, etc.
• Some teachers of these additional subjects have been reluctant to take on the burden of teaching literacy, especially if they have their own new content standards to integrate, but Forest Park Middle School in Springfield, MA, is among those asking all teachers to share accountability for students’ ability to read and write.

Dive Insight:

The logic for teaching literacy in classes outside of language arts should not be just to spread the responsibility for student performance on written, standardized tests, but a recognition of the value of discipline-specific literacy skills across all subjects. Students who are strong in math and science need to learn how to read and write, too. Their future careers will require literacy and their future participation in a democracy will require literacy.

Six years into the release of the Common Core State Standards, it is time for districts to expand their attention beyond the core tested subjects of English and math. The standards provide a framework and a growing body of educational resources provide a concrete path to implementation.