Adolescent literacy is complex, varied, and deeply connected to students’ success in school and beyond. As students move through middle and high school, they are expected to read increasingly complex texts, communicate ideas clearly, think critically across disciplines, and navigate academic language in all content areas. Supporting literacy development is a shared responsibility across educators and systems.

This Instructional Playbook for Adolescent Literacy was developed to provide educators with credible, research-informed resources about how adolescents develop literacy and language across content areas. Each essential practice is grounded in foundational research and connected to instructional application.

• Build understanding of evidence-based adolescent literacy practices

• Provide flexible professional learning through varied formats and resource lengths

• Support reflection on instructional practices and student access

• Encourage collaboration within professional learning communities

• Connect learning to actionable next steps for classrooms and systems

Each essential practice includes:

• A research-informed rationale for why the practice matters

• Classroom look-fors and content-area examples, including CTE (Career and Technical Education) examples

• A self-check and reflection questions to guide planning

• A Plan a Lesson template, with differentiation for multilingual learners and students with disabilities

• A Put It Into Action section with a no-prep/low-prep move and A Routine to Try

• Evidence to Collect and a Reflect, Plan, and Assess Impact cycle