In 2010-11, the School District of Philadelphia (the District) operated thirteen accelerated high schools that served approximately 2,000 under-credited, over-age students. Each of the accelerated schools was managed by one of seven external providers, each with its own educational approach, and each with a contractual agreement with the District’s Office of Multiple Pathways (OMP).In 2009, the OMP, in conjunction with the dropout prevention and recovery city-wide effort entitled Project U-Turn, strongly encouraged every accelerated school to develop a focus on literacy. Many of the students entering the accelerated schools were low-level readers, and those most closely involved with efforts to reduce student dropout strongly believed that improvement of students’ reading, writing and oral communication was critical to perseverance to graduation.This report examines the development of a focus on literacy in Philadelphia’s accelerated high schools. To support the focus on literacy, the OMP, in partnership with Project U-Turn, and Jobs for the Future (JFF), adopted of the JFF Common Instructional Framework, which is a set of six instructional strategies that work together as a cross-content approach to improving literacy learning. The Framework was accompanied by professional development and coaching, as well as ’rounds’ – the practice of teachers visiting each others’ classrooms in order to observe, share and form professional communities of practice.
Boosting Adolescent and Young Adult Literacy: An Examination of Literacy Teaching and Learning in Philadelphia’s Accelerated High Schools
Eva Gold , Kimberly Edmunds , Holly Plastaras Maluk , Rebecca Reumann-Moore
Date: July 2011
Related Publications

Publication
The Need for More Teachers of Color
Leana Cabral, Mary Eddins, David Lapp, Saxon Nelson

Publication
FAQ: Superintendents in Pennsylvania School Districts
Mary Eddins, Leana Cabral, David Lapp, Molly Pileggi, Saxon Nelson, Ammani Ahmad-Khan

Publication
Access to Experienced Teachers in Allegheny County
Mary Eddins

Publication
Teacher Mobility in Allegheny County, 2014-15 through 2019-20
Mary Eddins, Molly Pileggi

Publication
Final Report: Evaluation of the Aspiring to Educate Philadelphia Pilot

Publication
Where Do We Go Next? Youth Insights on the High School Experience During a Year of Historic Upheaval
Molly Pileggi, Kri Burkander, Justis Freeman, Sean K. Flanagan, Max Margolius, Liz Glaser, Monika Kincheloe

Publication
Students Experiencing Homelessness in Allegheny County
Anna Shaw-Amoah

Publication
Special Education Funding in Pennsylvania Charter Schools
David Lapp
Publication
FAQ: Allegheny County Teachers of Color
Mary Eddins

Publication
Students Experiencing Homelessness in Pennsylvania: New Evidence of Under-Identification and Inequity
Anna Shaw-Amoah, David Lapp

Publication
School Police Presence in Allegheny County
Mary Eddins, David Lapp

Publication
Teacher Diversity in Pennsylvania from 2013-14 to 2019-20
Anna Shaw-Amoah, David Lapp, Dae Y. Kim