This article explores similarities in literacy learning across various life-span stages and considers what actions must be taken to improve literacy attainment and achievement, whether the delivery site is prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, adult, family, workplace, volunteer, or community literacy. The emphasis here is on what it takes to successfully teach individuals to read and write well separate from any adjustments that must be made for context or learner characteristics. Research is examined for five essential variables in literacy learning, including (1) amount of teaching; (2) content of instruction; (3) quality of instruction; (4) student motivation; and (5) alignment and support.

This study investigatest he abilityo f 48 children at two grades (3, 5) and reading ability levels (good, poor) to write functionally appropriate expository texts. Their texts (96 in all) were examined for appropriateness and complexity of organization; cohesion, including cohesive harmony; and voice. They were also ranked holistically for quality of writing by adult readers. The data were submitted to descriptive and parametric statistics that examined grade and reading level effects and relationships. Results suggest that nearly all these children understood the function and audience for exposition. Reading level was found to be significantly more related than grade level to sophisticated use of cohesion, organization, and a preference for lexical rather than coreferential cohesion devices. Adult rating of writing quality correlated significantly with those texts using more cohesive harmony and complex organization

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