Noting that literacy instruction often is not implemented at the secondary level in part because of discipline-specific frameworks and characteristics, this briefing paper from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) addresses the following key points:

  • Developing content-area literacy in students is critical to social and economic health.
  • Content-area teachers have the responsibility for developing reading skills specific to their respective content areas.
  • Literacy within a discipline must involve understanding how the discipline’s practitioners read, write, and think.