Abstract
Despite the vital importance of developing proficiency in academic language and vocabulary for informed citizenship and the direct connection between education and increased workplace literacy, national and international assessments show a disturbing lack of improvement in adolescents’ reading comprehension or science achievement over the past two decades. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine the intervention research focused on adolescent literacy. This review analyzed 31 experimental and quasi-experimental studies to identify effective intervention characteristics and student outcomes across grades 4-12. Findings revealed that most interventions (71%) were implemented by general education teachers in general education classrooms (55%). Nearly 90% of interventions focused on science or history. While vocabulary (53%) and comprehension (80%) were the most common reading components addressed, 57% of studies targeted only a single component, despite recommendations for multi-component interventions. Effective interventions demonstrated positive impacts on reading comprehension, vocabulary, and disciplinary thinking, particularly for emergent bilinguals and students with disabilities, often through integrated, explicit instruction. The review underscores the need for more comprehensive, multi-component interventions and improved reporting to better understand effective strategies for all adolescent learners.
A significant concern in education is the persistent struggle many students face with reading and writing, a challenge demonstrably linked to alarming dropout rates (National Center for Literacy, 2007). This stark reality underscores an urgent need to extend robust literacy instruction far beyond the elementary years, ensuring its continuous presence throughout the middle and high grades (Ferreira & Zygouris-Coe, 2013). Disturbingly, approximately eight million young people between fourth and twelfth grade struggle to read at grade level (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008), highlighting a profound societal challenge in equipping adolescents with the fundamental skills necessary for academic success and future participation in a global economy (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006).
