CSI Literacy Information

Ever heard of 'the Matthew Effect'? It's a term adopted by Professor Keith Stanovich to describe the long tail of achievement in literacy, particularly in the middle years of schooling. It’s a Biblical reference – if you look up Matthew 13:12 you’ll read, “To he who has something, more will be given. From the one who doesn't have anything – even what he has will be taken away.” In other words, the gap between our successful and our struggling readers keeps getting wider. And when we look at the research, another problem pokes it head up: the students who seem to be on a track to success sometimes stumble when they encounter more difficult texts. This often happens through the middle years of school when students begin to encounter texts which pose new challenges (in science, mathematics, social studies, English). As teachers, we don’t always prepare them for these challenges. Pushing the achievement of all students is what drove us to create CSI Literacy. It’s our mission to help teachers explicitly teach strategy and skills using contemporary, engaging texts which students really enjoy! We know that all students can increase in competency when exposed to rich pedagogy, explicit teaching, and engaging texts and tasks. We gathered the evidence, and we know it works – using CSI Literacy resources, all students in diverse classrooms benefit. They ‘learn how to learn’. Find out how it works and try it for yourself.