ABSTRACT
This second edition of Adolescent Agency and Literacy comes at an opportune time. National and state politicians in the United States now have secondary schooling on their agendas, and this foretells increased high-stakes, test-based accountability systems that emphasize reading. We contend that such systems will be counterproductive-and possibly deplorable-to adolescents and their literacies if the role of agency is ignored or misunderstood. During life in general and literacy learning in particular, adolescents exert their agency, or “self-direction” (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998, p. 4), facing choices, making decisions, and considering possible consequences. Acknowledging this dimension of adolescents embraces their humanity and bolsters secondary-school literacy initiatives.
