Overview of the Span
A
s students enter grade nine they embark on the
last phase of their journey through elementary and
secondary education. Students’ progress through
the high school years sees many cognitive, physical, emotional,
and social changes as these emerging adults contemplate their
future and their place in the world around them. Adolescent
brain development continues apace, and teen brains change
and become more powerful every day (Galvan 2013).
While intellectual functioning nears adult levels in older
adolescents, higher-level cognitive or executive functioning,
such as planning ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and making complicated decisions, develops
more slowly. This is the result of changes in brain structure (myelination in the prefrontal cortex)
that often are not complete until early adulthood (Steinberg 2012). Brain systems that support
self-regulation and emotional control (networking of multiple brain regions) also develop during
adolescence and into adulthood. Galvan’s research (2013) also shows adolescents have heightened
sensitivity to anticipated rewards that may lead to impulsive or risky behavior. She argues, however,
that this sensitivity also primes young adults for independence, exploration, novelty, and flexibility.
This constellation of developmental factors makes these students ripe for new intellectual adventures
and ready to exercise their language and literacy muscles by engaging with interesting inquiries,
inspirational literature, and the deep questions of humanity. These adolescents are set to turn their
developing competencies to tasks that engage with real issues of the day (and yesterday). They are
motivated by teachers, settings, and tasks that expect adolescents to challenge their own and others’
thinking and that honor their emerging stances and arguments.
High school students are also motivated by peer groups and signals of their increasing degrees of
independence. Earning a driver’s license, dating, and participating in sports and clubs all point to new-
found freedoms and identities. Teens’ expectations for acceptance and academic and extracurricular
success can sometimes lead to disappointments and sharply felt emotions. At the same time these
young adults are planning for college and other postsecondary training and attempting to make
the right choices about majors, schools, jobs, and more.
Maintaining students’ positive engagement with school is
critical for all students—even more so for students who feel
alienated or unsuccessful. Helping students develop a growth
mind-set, in which they believe that through effort and
instruction their intellectual ability can grow (Dweck 2010), is
essential as well. Although they feign nonchalance, students
in high school are particularly sensitive to teacher attitudes
and dispositions toward students; disparaging comments and
bias regarding group affiliation or student intelligence are
deeply felt. (See chapter 2 of this ELA/ELD Framework for
suggestions regarding student motivation and engagement
and culturally and linguistically responsive approaches.)
Navigating the highs and lows of adolescence, thoughtful and perceptive teachers help students
expand their world views beyond the confines of the school and community. Introducing students
to literature that reflects their lives and their languages and speaks to their personal struggles can
be affirming and motivating. Whether contemporary or canonical, literature can bring forth themes
that resonate with young adults and invite new perspectives. In addition, inquiry-based units,
interdisciplinary projects, service learning opportunities, and multi-modal projects (e.g., video,
Students’ progress through the
high school years sees many
cognitive, physical, emotional,
and social changes as these
emerging adults contemplate
their future and their place in
the world around them.Although they feign
nonchalance, students in
high school are particularly
sensitive to teacher attitudes
and dispositions toward
students; disparaging
comments and bias regarding
group affiliation or student
intelligence are deeply felt.Grades 9 to 12 Chapter 7 | 663