Running head: TRANSFORMING TEACHING AND LEARNING

Transforming Teaching and Learning:

Summary and Analysis of Transformational Literacy
Eric Grant
North Carolina State University

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The Common Core State Standards demand higher- level thinking and deeper learning
from students. How teachers support students in achieving these demands is the primary focus of
Transformational Literacy. From outlining how expectations on students have changed to
providing practical and theoretical guidance for teachers, Berger et. al. (2014) present a literacy
rich, student centered learning environment and discuss the actions necessary to support that.
To deeply understand increasingly complex texts, to synthesize and transfer that
understanding, and to analyze, critique, communicate [and] present arguments with evidence
(Berger et. al. Kindle Locations 558-560), are demands the Common Core places on students,
according to the authors. These increased demands are accomplished through focusing on the
skills and dispositions that enable student success. In terms of skills, students need to learn how
to read complex informational texts, to speak and write from evidence, and to understand the
vocabulary required for those tasks.
Further, the authors outline the dispositions of students who will be successful in the
Common Core classroom, in college and career, and in society: They demonstrate
independence. They build strong content knowledge. They respond to the varying demands of
audience, task, purpose, and discipline. They comprehend as well as critique. They value
evidence. They use technology and digital media strategically and capably. They come to
understand others perspectives and cultures (Kindle Locations 594-599). Developing these
skills and dispositions demands more from students, as well as from their teachers.
In order for teachers to support their students in achieving these goals, practices must be
re-examined. To begin with teachers must consider how time is used in the classroom (Kindle
Location 592). The authors outline a framework for instruction focused on the examination of a
worthy text, which is defined as one that is complex and relevant. Students process that text

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through multiple draft readings, as well as thinking, talking, and writing about the text. A balance
between literary and informational readings is key, as they have the capacity to unlocked
meaning for each other (Kindle Location 728). In traditional secondary ELA classrooms, this
represents a significant shift from a heavy reliance on literature.
A deep and thorough understanding of the standards is critical for teachers to adequately
support their students. Like with the framework for students, teachers must read and re-read the
standards, discuss them with their colleagues, and analyze the standards against their students
work [to] build a shared sense of integrity to the standards and a vision of quality work that
meets the standards (Kindle Locations 4971-4973). Teachers must also develop the skills to
teach the standards. Teaching students to be strategic close readers, to determine evidence and
support for writing and speaking, to skillfully participating in small and large group discussions,
and to determine meaning of words in context represent challenges for teachers.
While the authors provide strategies a teacher can employ, teaching modules both within
the text and at their website (elschools.org/), and a series of videos demonstrating strategies in
action, they also acknowledge that successful implementation depends on district support for
teacher development (Kindle Locations 619-620). This district support can come in the form of
professional development as well as opportunities for teachers to work with the standards in
developing repositories of text- sets, learning targets, and modules. In short, the Common Core
State Standards demand transformation for students, teachers, administrators, and districts.
As a district curriculum specialist grappling with these shifts, the text-based framework
provided by Berger et. al. has become a centerpiece of my conversations with teachers. For
several years, the teachers with which I work have progressively veered from a previously
adopted Balanced Literacy Model, which divided a class period into four blocks - Self-selected

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Reading, Word Study, Teacher Directed Reading, and Teacher Directed Writing. While these are
all worthy traits of a healthy ELA lesson, time constraints and the disjointed nature of the four
often isolated activities deemed this model obsolete. Further, the quantity of time students and
teachers spent talking around a text rather than digging in has proven to be an outdated practice.
In fact, Berger et. al. recommend minimal, if any, pre-reading activities, suggesting instead that
students first-draft read a text for gist and flow before returning for a close read (Kindle
Location 3763).
Time remains one of the greatest challenges for teachers. How do I fit it all in? is a
constant question as I work with teachers. Transformational Literacy and its text-based - read,
think, speak, write framework pushes us one step closer toward an answer to that question.
Considering the previously disparate parts of the lesson as integrally connected will create a
more seamless, efficient approach. However, like with any change - especially one that will be
simultaneously theoretical and practical for many teachers, thoughtful implementation is critical.
Early in the book the authors claim that teachers who have been successful in meeting the
demands of Common Core Standards, and more importantly, in pushing their students to deeper
learning, have raised their vision of the capacity of students for high-level work (Kindle
Location 592). From a broader district perspective, we must do this not only for our students but
for our teachers as well.

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References:
Berger, Ron, Libby Woodfin, Suzanne N. Plaut, and Cheryl B. Dobbertin. Transformational
Literacy: Making the Common Core Shift with Work That Matters. San Francisco: Jossey
- Bass, 2014. Print.