Language & Literacy

Students

2011 Current Class Profile

• 83% Female
• 17% Male
• 69% Generalist Students
• 31% Specialist/Literacy Coach Students
• 20% International Students
• 49% Self-Identified Students of Color
• 5 Countries / 10 States
• 4.5 Average years of work experience
• 44% Have Worked in an Urban Setting

Students came most recently from working in:

• Public Schools: 43%
• Private Schools: 14%
• Business: 10%
• Student: 13%
• Other: 20%

Interests: Adolescent literacy, language minority learners (policy and practice), urban, low income schools, reading development, gender and ethnicity, reading difficulties, instruction and classroom practice, reading comprehension, literacy (instruction and theory), children's literature, educational publishing.

Allison Leedie, L &L Literacy Coach Strand, Ed.M '11
After teaching for five years, I felt that my instructional practice was becoming stagnant. I was interested in expanding my understanding of literacy pedagogy, while at the same time enhancing my credentials to allow for more flexibility in my career. I came from a teaching situation that afforded me a lot of leadership opportunities. I wanted to build on this experience and learn more about adult development and mentor teaching. The Literacy Coaching strand was new to L&L, and it sounded like a perfect fit. When I graduate, I hope to become a literacy coach, allowing me to maximize my impact on student achievement by helping teachers improve their instruction. In the meantime, I am really enjoying everything HGSE has to offer. The L&L cohort is like a family, and I am learning so much from both my professors and my classmates.

Soo-Kyung Lee, L&L Generalist Strand, Ed.M '11
Before applying to HGSE Language and Literacy program, I had been working in a field miles away from education, the banking industry! What drove me to come here was my belief in human to human contact, and what field besides education can a single person impact so many lives? I had no experience in education, which is why I applied to HGSE, a place where I believed the very best resources would be available to equip me with knowledge and experience. I found all of them through my professors, my peers, and my classes. What I love most about my program is its specificity and clear focus on one of the most important skills a child should have, the ability to read and read well. With so much information out there on literacy, I learned that as an educator, one needs to be open minded but discerning, always ready to question the validity of even the most widely accepted practices unless they have been backed by meticulous research. Upon graduation, I know that I can be held accountable for any instruction or practice that I choose for my students. It's great to be at HGSE and L&L where accountability actually matters!

Internships

L&L's Favorite Books

During Orientation Week, faculty and students talked about their favorite children's books. Below are some of the books mentioned as well as some adult favorites. Children's Books:
The Dot, Peter H. Reynolds
The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams
Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate di Camillo
Children Just Like Me: A unique celebration of children around the world, Barnabas & Anabel Kindersley
Knots on a Counting Rope, John Archambault & Ted Rand
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
The Missing Piece, Shel Silverstein
The Nunga Punga and the Booch, Jean Kennedy
Love That Dog, Sharon Creech
The Giving Tree, Shel Sivlerstein
Mama, Do You Love Me?, Barbara M. Joosse
The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
The Witches, Roald Dahl
Trouble with the Fiend, Sheila Lavelle
Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White
Robert Munsch picture books
Patricia MacLachlan books
Hush! A Thai Lullaby, Mingfong Ho.

Adult:
The Ladies' Number One Detective Agency series, Alexander McCall Smith
Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollen
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
Dance, Dance, Dance, Haruki Murakami
Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonegut
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Jane Austen novels

Life at Harvard

In addition to the formal curriculum, students at HGSE have a rich panoply of extracurricular opportunities for academic and professional development, social life, and community service. Students regularly have individual and small group conversations with national leaders in education who come to Harvard to speak in classes, to attend Harvard's executive education programs, or to consult with Harvard faculty. Informal career exploration conversations with senior administrators are scheduled throughout the year.

HGSE students can also take advantage of the extraordinarily rich offerings found throughout the Harvard University campus and the greater Boston area. For a sample of Harvard programs, see:

• the Harvard University Events Calendar
• the Harvard College Events Calendar
• KSG Today
• the Askwith Forum

Links to Harvard Square and Cambridge:

• Harvard Square
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Map of Harvard

Language & Literacy Related Links

  Readings:

• Alliance 4 Education's 2005 Policy Update on Adolescent Literacy 2005 update from the Alliance 4 Education group around the literacy needs of 4th through 12th graders.
• Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension authored by the RAND Reading Study Group, and chaired by Catherine Snow, this report is an invaluable resource to both researchers and practitioners.
• Seeing Themselves as Capable and Engaged Readers: Adolescents and Re/Mediated Instruction focuses on ways to engage youthin school-related literacy activities with the aim of not only completing the task, but facilitating a positive relationship to reading and self-esteem.

Organizations:

• Massachusetts Department of Education A comprehensive resource that offers information in categories such as News, Resources & Information, Education Reform, and Educational Technology.
• National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) is a research and development center focused on adult literacy and learning issues.
• The International Reading Association (IRA) is a membership organization for literacy professionals. In addition to current topics within the field, their website contains information on professional development opportunities as well as a comprehensive list of grants offered to support professional development, graduate work and research.
• The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is a non-profit organization that focuses on the study and treatment of dyslexia. Anorganization made up of both professionals in the field and parents/individuals with dyslexia, their website is accessible to both the laymen and the expert, providing current information on educational policy issues pertaining to dyslexia as well as research and upcoming conferences in the field.
• The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is a professional membership organization that is devoted to scholarly inquiry within education. Many members of the HGSE community, faculty and students, attend or present their work at AERA's annual meeting.
• American Psychological Association (APA) style and guidelines are used when writing papers within Language and Literacy courses. Their website includes quick APA style tips.

School Districts:

• Cambridge Public Schools: Provides general information about Cambridge Public Schools and contact information for schools and administrative departments.
• Boston Public Schools: Provides general information about BPS and contact information for schools and administrative departments.
• Newton Public Schools: Provides information about Newton Public Schools and administrative departments.