WETA Learning Media Launches New Service for Adolescent Readers

WETA Learning Media Launches New Service for Adolescent Readers

AdLit.org is 'All About Adolescent Literacy'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AdLit.org, a new website that targets educators and parents of adolescent readers, launches this month from WETA Learning Media. Building on the success of sister sites ReadingRockets.org, ColorinColorado.org and LDOnLine.org, the new service focuses on helping students from fourth through 12th grades to read and write better.

AdLit.org offers research-based articles, instructional material for classroom teachers, tips for parents, book recommendations, exclusive interviews with top authors, and a free, monthly e-newsletter called "Word Up!" The project is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.

"This is just the beginning of what we hope will become the most engaging, authoritative source of information on helping young people become better readers and writers," said Noel Gunther, executive director of AdLit.org.

AdLit.org includes an exclusive blog called "The MashUp" by librarian and book reviewer Jamie Watson, and an "Ask the Expert" forum. First author interviews on the site include authors Jack Gantos, Lois Lowry, Brian Selznick and Christopher Paul Curtis, with many more to come.

Some of the top names in adolescent literacy research serve as advisers, including Dr. Donna Alvermann, University of Georgia; Dr. Fenice Boyd, State University of New York at Buffalo; Dr. Donald Deshler, University of Kansas; and Dr. F. Todd Goodson, Kansas State University.

"According to the latest figures from the Nation's Report Card, many students still struggle with reading. One-third of fourth graders and more than one-quarter of eighth graders still read below the basic level," said Susannah Harris, manager of AdLit.org.

AdLit.org's sister sites include ReadingRockets.org, which uses television, the Internet, print and outreach to disseminate research-based information about teaching young children how to read; LDOnLine.org, the world's leading website on learning disabilities and ADHD; and ColorinColorado.org, the first major, comprehensive bilingual website for Spanish-speaking families and teachers of English-language learners.

WETA Washington, D.C., is the third-largest producing station for PBS. WETA's other productions and co-productions include The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal, In Performance at the White House, and documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, including The Civil War and, most recently, THE WAR. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available on the website at www.weta.org.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: WETA

CONTACT: Laurie Fry of WETA, +1-503-399-7999

Web Site:

http://www.adlit.org/
http://www.weta.org/

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