Chapter 1

The first chapter of the book, Adolescent Literacy Turning Promise into Practice, written by Kylene Beers and edited by Kylene Beers, Robert Probst and Linda Reif, addressed many of the concerns I have about the future of education. I quickly found that I am not alone in thinking that it is important to address underlying societal issues while working to increase the literacy of young people.
This chapter made me think about what is going to happen to the students who graduate from high school and have learned how to choose the correct answer on a test. Will these students have the necessary skills to survive in a climate that expects them to know how to answer open-ended questions? What about the students who do not graduate from high school? Where were they failed? I think an interesting study would be to interview people who chose not to complete high school. what could have been done differently to encourage them to stay in school? The answers to this question would surely yield useful insight into the needs of students today and would possibly allow changes to be made to reduce the high school dropout rate. I am thankful that all citizens have access to free K-12 education and that it is worthwhile to find ways to engage all students in school.