The Targeted Reading Intervention: How Rural Diversity makes a difference for implementation

Targeting instructional match in every interaction…

Lynne Vernon-Feagans Marnie Ginsberg Steve Amendum

NRCRES: TRI staff

Lynne Vernon-Feagans, PI Steve Amendum Peg Burchinal Kate Gallagher Marnie Ginsberg Kirsten Kainz Steve Knotek Nathan Vandergrift Pam Winton Pledger Fedora Iris Padgett Megan Livengood Kelley Mayer Jason Rose Andrea Sauer Heather Ward Tim Wood

What is ‘Rural’

 US Census Bureau: Census Tracts http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html

  Population density Population size  NCES: Locale Codes http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/RuralEd/definitions.asp

 Population size  Distance to an urbanized area

What makes Rural different from urban?



Promotive Factors

        More two parent families Less population density Much less violent crime More homes owned by families Proportionately more children attending Head Start Fewer behavior problems in school Smaller schools More experienced teachers

What makes Rural different from urban?



Risk Factors

 Higher percentage of children living in poverty, especially minority children   Outmigration of talented young people because of job losses Fewer college graduates     More maternal depression and prescription drug abuse Lower child achievement levels Less educated teachers with lower salaries Longer bus rides to school

The consensus intangibles in rural education

 In a place at a distance from large cities  Historical roots to agrarian culture  Access to fewer resources  Smaller communities and schools   Ready to meet community needs Grounded in a “sense of place” and rooted in the lives of families

The TRI Study

 Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial to assess the effectiveness of the TRI in Low Wealth Rural Schools.

  Part of the National Research Center on Rural Education Support www.nrcres.org/TRI.htm www.nrcres.org/TRI.htm

Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

Purpose

The TRI is designed to improve the literacy teaching strategies of rural kindergarten and first grade teachers, using an individualized diagnostic teaching model, with a specific focus on strategies that are effective with

struggling readers

who do not make reading gains using traditional reading instruction.

Why focus on teacher training?

 Research has shown that the first few years of school are critical for children’s later school success, especially in the area of reading (Alexander& Entwisle, 1992; Juel, 1988).  Teachers in rural areas have more experience in teaching and knowledge about the background of their students but teachers have less access to professional development opportunities (GAO report, 2004; Lee & Burkham, 2003)  Teachers and parents are more satisfied with their schools in rural areas but children come to school with less formal and high quality preschool experiences (Israel, 2004; Vernon-Feagans et al., in press).

The TRI Strategies for Success

The TRI Model of Reading

Examples of TRI Strategies: Teaching in the context of the word and text from the beginning

Word Work

Guided Oral Reading

TRI Materials

TRI Picture Dictionary TRI Reference Tool TRI Professional Development Guide Posters • Reading Model • Stages of Word Work TRI diagnostic map

TRI Summary

        Based on research based evidence Based on research in special education that emphasizes individualized diagnostic teaching Specifically geared to children considered struggling readers because they do not make progress with traditional reading approaches.

Can be used with any reading curriculum and Reading First Teaching conducted by the classroom teacher in one on one teaching sessions between the teacher and child at least 4 times a week until the child makes rapid progress Teaching literacy that is always geared to the context of the word and text.

Material developed to be extremely affordable by any school

Delivered through a Collaborative Consultation Model, specifically geared to the needs of rural teachers

Implementation : Diversity Issues in Rural Education

Examples of challenges

      Teachers are often in classrooms with no aides and no special services Teachers know the families of the children and have both positive and negative preconceptions about child learning Teachers are often weary of new families who have moved to the area Teachers have not been observed in their classrooms and may not be comfortable with in class consultation and the use of new reading strategies Children come to school with particularly poor readiness skills with respect to learning Children come to school with better behavior than urban children

Vernon-Feagans, Ginsberg & Amendum, 2006

How to create a Community of Practice

(Buysse & Wesley, in press)   Teacher responsibility and leadership   identify struggling learners choose who to start working with   do not change their current curriculum chart progress of students Teacher collaboration (Lesson Study) (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999)    exchange ideas with others understand the value of observation suggest the ideas for monthly workshops

Collaborative Structure for Rural Teachers

 3 Day Summer Institute  Teachers identify 5 struggling readers  Biweekly classroom visits from TRI Consultant.

 Grade level meetings to discuss strategies and problem solve.

 Daily consultation from the on-site TRI consultant  Bimonthly workshops on topics teachers choose.

TRI Design Year 1

Kindergarten 1 st Grade 21 high risk (4 teachers) 20 high risk (4 teachers)

Year 2

Kindergarten 30 high risk (6 teachers) 1 st Grade 30 high risk (6 teachers) 22 low risk 19 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk 24 high risk (5 teachers) 25 high risk (6 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers) 30 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk

Child Characteristics

EXP Race Black White Other Gender Male Female Parents Married 61% 32% 7% 73% 27% 46% Maternal Education M = 11.8 yrs CON 33% 37% 31% 63% 37% 54% M = 13.3 yrs

Teacher Characteristics

# of years teaching M = 18 yrs Teacher Age Teacher Race White Black Other National Board Certification M = 43 yrs 65% 30% 5% 5% Certification type Temp Regular Specific grade certification Masters Degree 10% 40% 50% 20%

Gain Scores over 4 months

Outcome Phonological awareness (CTOPPS) Word Attack (Woodcock Johnson) F-Test F(1,69) =1.29

F(1,151) = 4.09*

Group LSMean C .52

E C 1.67

27.15

E C 35.86

34.12

Letter/Word Identification (Woodcock Johnson) Vocabulary (PPVT)

F(1,152) = 5.25*

F(1,120) = 0.38

E C 42.22

1.20

E 2.32

Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Work Attack gain score Letter/Word ID gain score TRI Non-TRI

Webcam technology

 TRI consultation in remote rural classrooms in real time  TRI grade level meetings across sites through web cam technology  Problem solving across sites to create a community of practice

Future Directions

Summary

 Rural Schools are different contexts for learning  Need sensitivity to rural structure and beliefs in schools  Need to break the barrier of access  Need to break the barrier of isolation  Individual consultation in real time using the TRI provides a major solution to these barriers while providing research based literacy strategies for struggling learners