Improving Literacy in the Health Science Career Tech Classro

My Students: The future of the US economy depends on a well-educated and skilled workforce; literacy forms the critical foundation of this education and training. Nationally, only 35% of 1...

My Project: Reading can be life-changing! The effects of reading on a student's ability to think, reason, problem solve and create is unbelievable. My students struggle daily with applica... more»

My Students: The future of the US economy depends on a well-educated and skilled workforce; literacy forms the critical foundation of this education and training. Nationally, only 35% of 12th graders are proficient in reading. Without improvement, our students will not be prepared to meet their career goals.

My students are 10-12th graders, approximately 60% female, 40% male. Our high school is an inner-city school made up of a very high level of impoverished and minority students. Asking students to provide school supplies of any kind is often asking too much of any of them, therefore, teachers rely on as many community sources as possible for everyday supplies. My students are taking classes this year that offer them an introduction to the healthcare industry, such as Diagnostic Medicine, Rehab Therapy, Health Science Education, Clinical Internship, and Medical Terminology. In any class, students vary from special ed through those in our International Baccalaureate degree program, offering challenges for the instructor in differentiating instruction. Our district has just implemented career academies two years ago. Our healthcare academy was overwhelmingly welcomed by our students. It has been amazing seeing the growth in these students academically thus far due to career education.

My Project: Reading can be life-changing! The effects of reading on a student's ability to think, reason, problem solve and create is unbelievable. My students struggle daily with application of their academics to their chosen career courses in healthcare. By providing a classroom set of medically-related books for the students in each of my courses to read, it will inspire more creative thinking and ability to solve problems in my classroom. The titles I have chosen are titles that I have seen former students enjoy reading, each of which have medical connections to my class standards. Lesson plans based on these books can be easily created to apply to real healthcare situations and simulations in class.

Improving literacy of my students is a prerequisite to learning all subjects and to being able to think on their feet. Through reading, writing improves. Through writing, thinking improves. Through thinking comes application of learning. These books would deepen my students' level of learning.

We have all heard the saying, "Reading is fundamental." Many of my students today have made it to high school with a low ability in this area, affecting all other aspects of their learning. Students' literacy levels must be improved before they get passed into the workforce. Allow me to do my part by getting my students excited about reading in their chosen career field. If I can get my students to realize that reading in an area of interest can also be entertaining, then maybe I've done my job. hide»