ABSTRACT
The new global knowledge economy has increased the need to graduate highly literate students from our nation’s schools so that they will be equipped for higher education, employment, and citizenship (Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, 2010; Center on Education Policy, 2007a, 2007b). Yet for many U.S. students, and in particular emerging bilingual students, graduating high school as a highly literate individual is a goal that remains at some distance (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011; Pew Hispanic Center, 2007). This situation has the potential to be exacerbated as a result of a majority of states adopting the new Standards (College and Career Ready Standard Common Core State Standards [CCSS] Initiative, 2010), which have the goal of graduating college and career-ready students. Given the increased demand of the College and Career Ready Standard, and the fact that significant numbers of emerging bilinguals had for example challenges meeting prior standards, achieving the new requirements constitutes an enormous challenge (Goldenberg, 2013).
