What are the Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies (TALA)?
The 80th legislature provided direction (HB 2237) and funding for the statewide implementation of adolescent literacy academies for teachers in grades 6 through 8, beginning in the summer of 2008. These academies are intended to acquaint ELA/reading and content area teachers with successful, research-based strategies for improving students’ academic literacy. In addition, the academies are framed within a school-wide approach to addressing the needs of struggling adolescent readers. The sessions will provide examples of the strategies and their applications, both in hard copy and video formats, with appropriate subject area materials in the middle school classroom. There will be a 4-day ELA academy for English and reading teachers in grades 6–8 and a two-day content area academy for mathematics, science, and social studies teachers in grades 6–8.
