“the rhetorical and twenty-first century skills as well as habits
of mind and experiences... critical for college success”
(Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council
of Teachers of English, and National Writing Project 2011, 1).
Academic literacy, described by the ICAS statement, or the
“inseparable skills of critical reading, writing, listening and
thinking depend upon students’ ability to postpone judgment
and tolerate ambiguity as they honor the dance between
passionate assertion and patient inquiry” (2002, 12). These
competencies speak to the nature of maturing adolescents
as well as to their particular knowledge and skills in language
and literacy as they prepare to set forth into the world.
The developing competencies—of both disposition and
knowledge—are best nurtured by the entire school community, across every discipline, and within
each classroom and school setting.
As discussed, the process of enacting literacy across content areas goes beyond a mere nod to
the communicative processes inherent in each discipline. In fact, the overlapping nature of the CA
CCSS for ELA/Literacy, the CA CCSS for Mathematics (CA CCSSM), and the California Next Generation
Science Standards (CA NGSS) illustrates the interconnected nature of the thinking and communication
processes central to each set of standards. The Standards for Mathematical Practice, the Science and
Engineering Practices, and the Capacities of Literate Individuals in ELA/Literacy all communicate core
practices that students need to employ to be successful in each discipline. Described as “important
‘processes and proficiencies’... in mathematics education” (CDE 2013, 6) and “the practices of
inquiry and the discourses by which [scientific and engineering] ideas are developed and refined”
(NRC, 2012, 218), both of these statements highlight literacy and language. See figure 2.4 in chapter
2 of this ELA/ELD Framework. Practices and capacities shared by ELA/literacy, mathematics, and
science and engineering at the center of the diagram are the following:
ELA/Literacy 2: They build strong content knowledge.
ELA/Literacy 4: They comprehend as well as critique.
ELA/Literacy 5: They value evidence.
Mathematics 3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Science 7: Engaging in argument from evidence.
The reciprocal relationship between the language arts and content learning is also made explicit
by the specific standards in the CA CCSSM, CA NGSS, and other California content standards. The
examples that follow illustrate literacy expectations in all areas for which California has adopted
content standards or model content standards:
- Give an informal argument for the formulas for the
circumference of a circle, area of a circle, volume of a
cylinder, pyramid, and cone. Use dissection arguments,
Cavalieri’s principle, and information limit arguments.
(CA CCSSM, G-GMD.1) - Make and defend a claim based on evidence that
inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1)
new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2)
viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3)
mutations caused by environmental factors. (CA NGSS,
HS-LS3-2).
The Standards for
Mathematical Practice, the
Science and Engineering
Practices, and the Capacities of
Literate Individuals in
ELA/Literacy all communicate
core practices that students
need to employ to be successful
in each discipline.The reciprocal relationship
between the language arts
and content learning is also
made explicit by the specific
standards in the CA CCSSM,
CA NGSS, and other California
content standards.Grades 9 to 12 Chapter 7 | 667