Transcript Document

Reflections on Reading First and
the Path Ahead: Our Continuing
Challenges and Responsibilities
Dr. Joseph K. Torgesen
Eastern Regional Center for Reading First Technical
Assistance
North Carolina Reading First, June, 2006
Chloe
Paige
Why do we have Reading First?
1. Far too many poor and minority children are being
“left behind” when it comes to growth of proficient
reading skills
The nature of the reading crises….
“Current difficulties in reading largely
originate from rising demands for
literacy, not from declining absolute
levels of literacy”
Report of the National Research Council
Increasing demands for higher
levels of literacy in the workforce
require that we do better than we
have ever done before in teaching
all children to read well.
Assessment reading proficiency at the national
level
Latest results from the National Assessment of
Educational Progress
No difference
Slight long term improvement -No recent difference
Recent improvement is largest in 30 years
Why do we have Reading First
1. Far too many poor and minority children are being
“left behind” when it comes to growth of proficient
reading skills
2. Prevention of reading problems is far more
effective and humane than trying to remediate
after children fail
There are serious consequences that follow from
getting a slow start in learning to read….
Poor readers get less reading practice from the beginning
of first grade
Mean
words read
by each
child in
reading
sessions at
three points
in the year
Biemiller,
1977-78
Good
Average
Poor
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
October
January
April
Reading
stimulates
general
cognitive
growth—
particularly
verbal skills
Why do we have Reading First
1. Far too many poor and minority children are being
“left behind” when it comes to growth of proficient
reading skills
2. Prevention of reading problems is far more
effective and humane than trying to remediate
after children fail
3. New discoveries from scientific research about
reading can provide the basis for improved
outcomes for all children
The most important Reading First goals:
1. Increase the percentage of students reading “at
grade level” each year at each grade level from
kindergarten through third grade
2. Decrease the percentage of students with serious
reading difficulties each year at each grade level
These goals are to be met while considering all
children taking the year end test, not just those
who have received the full treatment
The most important Reading First goals:
Overall student performance should increase each
year do to two factors:
In each successive year, many of the students
will have had the advantage of previous RF
instruction
By year 3, many 3rd grade students – 3 years
By year 3, many 2nd grade students – 3 years
By year 3, many 1st grade students – 2 years
Each year, instruction at each grade level, and
school-level systems as a whole, should be
stronger
Data from four other states – Florida,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Michigan
A total of 601 Schools
Percent qualifying for FR Lunch = 74
Percent minorities = 64
Percent English Language Learners = 15%
Data from four other states – Florida, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan
60
50
40
First year
Second year
30
20
10
0
1st grade
2nd Grade 3rd Grade
About a 4%
increase each
year
Percent of Students at “grade level” on measure of reading
comprehension
Data from four other states – Florida, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan
35
30
25
20
First year
Second year
15
10
5
0
1st grade
2nd Grade 3rd Grade
About a 4%
decrease each
year
Percent of Students with “serious difficulties” on measure of
reading comprehension
What remains
to be
accomplished?
Data from four other states – Florida, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan
60
50
40
First year
Second year
30
20
10
0
1st grade
2nd Grade 3rd Grade
Percent of Students at “grade level” on measure of reading
comprehension
Data from four other states – Florida, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan
35
30
25
20
First year
Second year
15
10
5
0
1st grade
2nd Grade 3rd Grade
About a 4%
decrease each
year
Percent of Students with “serious difficulties” on measure of
reading comprehension
The development of reading fluency for
students in Reading First Schools: A lesson
from Florida’s experience
For the first two years of Reading First, Reading First
schools in Florida “lost ground” in the development of
reading fluency in 2nd grade.
Many students who entered second grade with reading
fluency at “grade level” left second grade below grade
level
37th
percentile
53rd
percentile
:
Instructional Emphasis for Second Grade
Writing or lang. arts
3%
Fluency
4%
Fluency – 4%
Non-instructional
6%
Spelling
2%
Word study/phonics
21%
Comprehension
42%
Text reading
22%
About half our second
graders began second grade
not having met the February
1st grade benchmark in NWF
Slightly more than 20%
still hadn’t met the 1st
grade benchmark at the
end of second grade
One problem that arises from so many students
coming into 2nd grade still weak in effective, accurate
word reading strategies
Growth in fluency requires accurate practice
A major factor underlying growth in fluency for
struggling readers is how fast the number of words
they can recognize “by sight” increases
Children must read unfamiliar words with perfect
accuracy on multiple occasions before they can
become sight words
Sight vocabulary must grow very rapidly in second
grade to keep pace with normative development
47th
percentile
62nd
percentile
Over ½ of our
students did not
make the
benchmark on
time
Students at Benchmark in Oral Reading
Fluency at Grades 1-3, at Fall, Winter, and
Spring, 2006
Fall
Winter
Spring
1st Grade
72%
64%
65%
2nd Grade
56%
54%
53%
3rd Grade
45%
44%
49%
We have 317 Schools that have participated in the Reading
First program for two year—how are they doing?
% of students above the 40th percentile on the PPVT, and
percent below the 20th percentile
80
70
60
50
40
30
38 39
41 43
44
34 34
38 37
34
K
1
47
31
47
43
32
29
20
10
0
2
3
year 1
year 2
What must we
do to contiunue
to improve?
A broad, three pronged plan for meeting the
needs of all students
1. Increase the quality, consistency, and reach of
instruction in every K-3 classroom
2. Conduct timely and valid assessments of reading
growth to identify struggling readers
3. Provide more intensive interventions to “catch up”
the struggling readers
The prevention of reading difficulties is a school-level
challenge
1. Increase the quality, consistency, and reach of
instruction in every K-3 classroom
If lots of students in the school are at risk, the first level
of intervention is spending more time and improving
quality of initial instruction-everyone gets this –
90 minute block is an intervention
120 minute block is a stronger intervention
Lessons learned about current core reading programs
Most instruction in phonics is “whole group”. Frequently,
not enough guidance is provided on ways to provide
differentiated instruction in small groups
There is typically not enough review to improve retention
and fluency
1. Increase the quality, consistency, and reach
of instruction in every K-3 classroom
Instruction during the Reading Period is
typically divided into two sections
Whole group instruction Small group, differentiated instruction, time
Classroom organization should be
related to teaching objectives
1. Increase the quality, consistency, and reach
of instruction in every K-3 classroom
Instruction during the Reading Period is
typically divided into two sections
Whole group instruction -
Small group, differentiated instruction, time
Teacher works with small groups of homogeneously
grouped students to meet specific instructional needs
When not in a teacher-led group, students work on
“independent student learning activities
Classroom Organization: Learning
Centers for differentiated groups
• Teacher-Led Center (for part of time)
- Small group instruction (teaching station)
• Teaching “on purpose”
• Careful observation of individual students
• Addresses particular individual needs
• Student Centers (for part of time)
- Academically engaged
- Accountability
- Group, Pair, Cooperative, Individual
Classroom Organization: Learning
Centers for differentiated groups
Points of vulnerability with this system
Students waste time at independent learning
centers because they are not engaged and
centers are not focused and leveled properly
Effective independent student
learning activities…
Classroom Organization: Learning
Centers for differentiated groups
Points of vulnerability with this system
Students waste time at independent learning
centers because they are not engaged and
centers are not focused and leveled properly
To download up to 240 independent student
learning activities for K-1 classrooms, go to
http://www.fcrr.org/activities/. Activities for 2-3 will
be posted this summer
Instructions for using centers are also available, plus 70
minutes of streaming video
Classroom Organization: Learning
Centers for differentiated groups
Points of vulnerability with this system
Students waste time at independent learning
centers because they are not engaged and
centers are not focused and leveled properly
Behavior management issues interfere with
teacher-led small group instruction
Small group instruction is not really
differentiated (time, frequency, focus) by
student need
A mistake we often make in
education is to plan the
curriculum materials very
carefully, arrange all the
instructional materials wall to
wall, open the doors of the
school, and then find to our
dismay that they’ve sent us
the wrong kids.
Increasing the quality and power of teacherled, small-group, differentiated instruction
Instruction should be differentiated to meet the needs
of individual students in at least four ways
Frequency and duration of meeting in small groups –
every day, three times per week, etc.
Size of instructional group – 3 students, 6 students, 8
students, etc.
Focus of instruction – work in phonemic awareness in
phonics, work in fluency and comprehension, etc.
Lesson format – guided reading vs. skills focused
lessons
Teachers should provide differentiated instruction
using at least two different lesson formats
Guided Reading Lesson Structure
Purpose: to allow students to integrate their new acquired
skills and knowledge while reading text for meaning
Selecting the text
Introducing the text
Reading the text
Discussing the text
Teaching for strategic activities
Extending meaning (optional)
Word Work (optional)
Guided Reading Lesson Structure
The Guided Reading lesson structure provides
teachers the opportunities to monitor how well
students are applying skills to reading of text,
encourage and support application of skills during
text reading (e.g., word level skills and
comprehension skills), engage students in thinking
about the meaning of text, and build a sense of
reading as a meaningful, enjoyable activity.
Guided Reading Lesson Structure
Limitations for students still acquiring initial skills
Does not support systematic instruction and practice
on foundational knowledge and skills
Does not provide enough opportunities for mastery
oriented practice on foundational skills
Does not provide a good structure for systematic
review required by struggling readers
Often, the leveled books used in guided reading
lessons do not provide good practice on early
phonemic decoding skills
The Skills focused lesson format
Purpose:
Provide explicit and systematic instruction
Provide targeted and teacher-planned
instruction in areas of weakness
Provide mastery and fluency oriented practice
in critical skills and knowledge
Differentiated instruction in
small groups
The Skills focused lesson format
Strengths
Allows explicit re-teaching (I do it, we do it, you do it)
Provides extended opportunities for mastery
oriented practice to solidly establish fundamental
skills
Challenges
Can be dull and boring if not fast paced, energetic,
and positive
Once skills are established, they must be
integrated during reading for meaning
Three good books for summer reading
Bringing Words to Life:
Robust Vocabulary Instruction
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan: Guilford (2002)
Making Sense of Phonics:
The Hows and Whys
Isabel Beck: Guilford (2006)
Comprehension Process Instruction:
Creating Success in Grades K-3
Block, Rogers, & Johnson (2004)
Can we alter
children’s lives if
we provide very
strong early
instruction?
Recent Functional Neuroimaging findings on Adults
Auditory
Cortex
Visual
Cortex
Temple, 2001, CONB
Magnetic Source Imaging
• Detects small biomagnetic brain
signals
• Provides real-time
information about
which brain areas are
active and when
during task
performance
Early Development of Reading
Skills: A Cognitive Neuroscience
Approach
Jack M. Fletcher – PI
Students were identified as at risk
for reading difficulties in
kindergarten
Received one year of intervention
in first grade
Kindergarten
Left Hemisphere
S#1
Right Hemisphere
Weak activation
At Risk
S#31
Not
At Risk
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
Kindergarten
S#1
At Risk
S#31
Strong
activation
Not
At Risk
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
Kindergarten
S#1
Weak activation
At Risk
S#31
Strong
activation
Not
At Risk
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
At Risk Reader
Left
Right
Kindergarten
Before
Intervention
First Grade
After
Intervention
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
A final concluding thought….
There is no question but that it will be difficult
to continue making improvements after initial
successes in Reading First schools…
It will require continued professional
development, more powerfully differentiated
instruction, more powerful and sustained
interventions, and strong leadership
commitment…
However, let’s remember its not the most
difficult thing we could be faced with…
Consider this task for example…
Thank You
www.fcrr.org
Science of Reading Section