Nevada Adolescent Literacy Network (NALN)

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The Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy (2010) explains:

“Good early literacy instruction does not inoculate students against struggle or failure later on.”
“Beyond grade 3, adolescent learners in our schools must decipher more complex passages, synthesize information at a higher level, and learn to form independent conclusions based on evidence. They must also develop special skills and strategies for reading text in each of the differing content areas (such as English, science, mathematics and history).”
“Adolescents need a higher level of literacy than ever before, both for college-readiness and employment in the new global knowledge economy.”

What is the Nevada Adolescent Literacy Network?

NALN Vision

The Nevada Adolescent Literacy Network is a coalition of cross-agency partners building and bridging systems to help adolescents become fully literate individuals who are able to reach their goals.

NALN Mission

Across initiatives and regions of the state, our efforts will increase reading engagement among adolescents via adolescent-facing initiatives as well as professional learning resources for educators, community members, and families who support adolescents. Specifically, we will improve adolescents’ reading engagement by 25%, as measured by the NAEP survey questionnaire, by 2030.

NALN’s Accomplishments

Completed a statewide “needs assessment” to understand Nevada’s strengths and challenges in supporting adolescent literacy
Working with partners at the Nevada Department of Education, developed collaborative relationships with Nevada’s Regional Professional Development Program, Washoe County Library System, REL West and WestED, and fostered new collaborative relationships with additional regional and statewide organizations committed to adolescent literacy.
Created two graphic data reports, one on adolescent literacy achievement and on adolescent reading engagement, illustrating the “State of Adolescent Literacy” in Nevada
adolescent literacy achievement adolescent reading engagement
Facilitated statewide professional learning on evidence-based practices for teaching reading comprehension in middle and high school, including a year of monthly webinar workshops with national literacy experts and a year of supporting teams of teachers and literacy leaders in implementing best practices in adolescent literacy instruction
Formed Design Teams, which are groups of representative experts, community members, and adolescents from around Nevada, who design and facilitate NALN initiatives. Design teams have been formed to:
- study issues in adolescent literacy in Nevada
- identify promising reading engagement activities, including book clubs, currently in use in Nevada
- develop new initiatives to engage adolescents in reading and writing in Nevada, including a Nevada Adolescent Writing Magazine
- prepare resources on adolescent literacy for educators and leaders in Nevada, including two graphic data reports
- create an online clearinghouse of adolescent literacy resources for educators in Nevada, including a draft website and social media presence

About NALN

NALN’s History

In 2020, Dianna Townsend, Ed.D. at the University and Darl Kiernan, Ph.D., then at the Nevada Department of Education, founded NALN with the goal to create a connected community of adults who support teens with literacy and language development and enhance and increase support for Nevada’s teens.

Drs. Townsend and Kiernan convened the original eight-member NALN Steering Committee of educational leaders, expert teachers, teacher educators, and librarians. The Steering Committee was joined by a coaching collaborator from WestEd who provided consulting on how to adopt a continuous improvement approach to identifying, enacting, and measuring goals to support adolescent literacy in Nevada.

NALN’s Annual Goals

Each year, there will be measurable improvement in adolescent reading engagement from individual initiatives as measured by surveys aligned to the NAEP questionnaire, focus groups, and interviews. Initiatives include:
- Adolescent reading engagement initiatives
- Adolescent writing initiatives
- Collection and dissemination of adolescent literacy data
- Creation of professional learning content and programs
- Development of community partnerships

NALN Steering Committee Leadership

Dianna Townsend, Ed.D.

Professor of Literacy Studies, NALN President

(775) 682-7866

dtownsend@unr.edu

WRB 3058

Darl Kiernan, Ph.D.

Vice-President | Former Professional Learning Leader, NNRPDP & Former K-12 ELA Programs Professional, NDE

Alicia Bowman

Strategic Advisor

Melisa Garcia

Secretary | Washoe County Library System Librarian

(775) 827-3232

mgarcia@washoecounty.gov

Julie Cooper

Treasurer | Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

NALN Steering Committee Members at Large

Jennese Black

K-8 ELA Education Programs Professional, NDE

Marcella Ciaramella

Steering Committee Member at Large, Middle School ELA/Social Studies Teacher, WCSD

Rachel Knecht, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, English Education, BYU

Mandy Leytham

Steering Committee Member at Large, Education Programs Professional, Read by Grade 3 Team, NDE

Holly Marich, Ph.D.

Steering Committee Member at Large, Professional Learning Leader, Northeastern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

Manuel Ortiz, M.A.

Assistant Director

(775) 784-4237

manuelo@unr.edu

WRB 4117

Jonathan Reynolds

Steering Committee Member at Large, Principal at Pershing County High School

Vickie Smith Barrios

Steering Committee Member at Large, Doctoral Student in Literacy Studies, University of Nevada, Reno

Leandra Thompson

Steering Committee Member at Large, High School ELA Teacher, CCSD

Rachel Tillotson

Steering Committee Member at Large, Education Programs Professional, Secondary ELA and K-12 World Languages, NDE

Past Members of NALN Steering Committee

NALN is extremely grateful to past members of the NALN Steering Committee who helped to build NALN from the ground up.

Mariluz Garcia, Ph.D.
Lisa Johnson
Sarah Negrete, Ph.D.
Shaughn Richardson
Marc Rincon

Looking for more information?

Please email: nvadlitnetwork@gmail.com.

References

Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy. (2010). Time to act: An agenda for advancing adolescent literacy for college and career success. New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., & You, W. (2012). Instructional contexts for engagement and achievement in reading. In Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 601–634). Springer Science + Business Media.