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Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) Course

Revisions to the RAAL Course are underway!

The RAAL curriculum and corresponding professional development are being updated with grant funding from the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program. With updates underway, the current RAAL materials are only available to existing clients.

About the RAAL Course

The Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) year-long course is organized into three discipline-specific units — English language arts, history, and science — each of which supports the integration of literacy and subject area instruction.

Within and across the three units, students read increasingly complex text and apply their growing repertoire of literacy skills with more flexibility and control. In addition, a carefully scaffolded program of sustained silent reading is provided for each unit, building reader enjoyment, independence, stamina, and persistence.

Step-by-step lesson plans integrate instruction and assessment. Student materials include a full year of course readings, interactive notebooks for working with the disciplinary texts, and metacognitive logs for the sustained silent reading program.

“In all my years of teaching, I have seen a lot of programs come and go and had to teach a lot of them. This is the only program I have been excited about. It doesn’t demean my kids, it works, and not just for a couple of kids.”
— Grade 9 academic literacy teacher, reading specialist, and teacher leader

“The curriculum works because it addresses students’ social needs at the same time as their reading needs. The students’ affect is different, it’s the magic of the class.”
— Grades 7-9 academic literacy teacher, participant in federal study of RAAL

RAAL Materials

Unit 1: Reading Self and Society

Unit 2: Reading History

Unit 3: Reading Science

Bundled Sets

How Do Students Benefit From the RAAL Course?

In a randomized, controlled study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, ninth-grade students in the two-semester course made statistically significant gains in reading comprehension, grades, and standardized test scores. Students also had significantly lower suspension rates compared to control students.

The experimental study followed ninth graders who were reading significantly below grade level. In addition, RAAL has been used successfully in English language development classes, with students reading at and above grade level, and in grades 6-12. Many middle schools use RAAL schoolwide, to provide a literacy and engagement advantage for all students.

How to Order

Schools and educators currently implementing a RAAL Course can order RAAL materials by contacting Diane Lee at [email protected]. Visit the Reading Apprenticeship website to learn more about the Reading Apprenticeship research base and professional development services for middle school, high school, and community college teachers.