FOR-PD’s Reading Strategy of the Month

Rationale:

More than eight million children in America in grades four through twelve read at "below basic" levels, according to the most recent National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) test results. Approximately two-thirds of secondary school students read below grade level and almost one-third do not graduate from high school (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2005). Over the last two decades, middle and high school teachers have faced exploding numbers of students who don’t read and write well enough for minimal functioning in their content area classes (Greene, 1998). These statistics emphasize the crucial need to focus on literacy skills at ALL grade levels.

Reading data at both the national and state level indicates a need for a systematic and comprehensive plan to improve reading skills of all students. The state of Florida has developed the K-12 Comprehensive Research-Based Reading Plan. These plans, submitted by Florida districts to the Just Read, Florida! office, detail the curriculum and instruction all schools and grade levels will use to ensure that students are not left behind when it comes to reading. It is the philosophy of the Just Read, Florida! office to use scientifically-based reading research (SBRR) found in the National Reading Panel Report and in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation passed by Congress in 2001. This research shows that all children benefit from reading instruction that is systematic and explicit. Schools must offer classroom instruction in reading in a dedicated, uninterrupted block of time, most often consisting of 90 minutes.

What does research have to say about reading instruction?

The ability to read has a profound impact on our success in society. It is so critical that it has risen to the level of a major health problem. Early identification and intervention is crucial to preventing reading difficulties. However, not all children experience the benefits of effective reading instruction and intervention. The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Department of Education have documented the necessary components of effective beginning reading instruction:

•  Create appreciation for the written word;
•  Develop awareness of printed language and the written system;
•  Teach the alphabet;
•  Develop students' phonological awareness;
•  Teach the relationship between sounds and letters;
•  Teach children how to sound out words;
•  Teach children how to spell words; and
• Help children develop fluent, reflective reading.

The NICHD (Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1988) studies also tell us that for 85 to 90 percent of poor readers, prevention and early intervention should combine instruction in phoneme awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, spelling and comprehension provided by a skilled teacher. This research indicates that if instruction is delayed until 9 years of age, approximately 75 percent of these students will continue to have reading difficulties through high school and into their adult years.

Through a review of evidence-based research on how children learn to read, the National Reading Panel concluded that the most effective way to teach children to read is through instruction that includes a combination of methods. The panel determined that effective reading instruction includes teaching children to break apart and manipulate the sounds in words (phonemic awareness), teaching them that these sounds are represented by letters of the alphabet which can then be blended together to form words (phonics), having them practice what they’ve learned by reading aloud with guidance and feedback (guided reading), and applying reading comprehension strategies to guide and improve comprehension. To determine how children best learn to comprehend what they read, the panel reviewed studies that focused on vocabulary development, text comprehension instruction, and teacher preparation and comprehension strategies instruction. Vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly with multiple exposures to the words. The panel emphasized that teachers should not rely on a single method for teaching vocabulary, but on a combination of methods. The panel also found that reading comprehension of text is best facilitated by teaching students a variety of techniques and systematic strategies to assist in recall of information, question generation, and summarization of information. The panel recommended that teachers be provided with appropriate and intensive training to ensure that they know when and how to teach specific strategies. The research reviewed showed that training both new and established teachers generally produced higher student achievement. The Reading Panel report provided the basis for No Child Left Behind and Reading First.

During the last decade, much attention has been focused on improving reading education. This focus has lead to the generation of reports, reviews, revised curricula, redesigned professional development, and the provisions of the Reading First initiative, which focuses on early reading instruction and intervention.

“Neglected in these efforts was attention to learning while reading, reading in the content areas, and reading in the service of secondary or higher education. It is clear that getting third grade readers to read at grade level is an important and challenging task. But many third-grade readers falter and fail in later academic tasks if the teaching of reading is neglected in the middle and secondary grades. (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004).”

In 2004, the Carnegie Corporation of New York in conjunction with Alliance for Excellent Education produced the document Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004). Reading Next outlines 15 research-based elements of effective literacy intervention, which lead to improving adolescent literacy. The key elements are divided into instructional improvements and infrastructural improvements. It should be noted that while the instructional improvements do have a tremendous impact, it is important to realize that they would be more effective if they were implemented in conjunction with infrastructural supports. The instructional improvements identified by Reading Next include:

• Direct, explicit comprehension instruction
• Effective instructional principals imbedded in content
• Motivation and self-directed learning
• Text-based collaborative learning
• Strategic tutoring
• Diverse texts
• Intensive writing
• Including a technology component
• Ongoing formative assessment of students

The Challenge

In today’s society, students who leave high school without excellent and flexible reading and writing skills stand at a great disadvantage (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004). Today’s students must acquire the knowledge, skills, and strategies that will allow them to read, write, and think critically. Coordinated efforts, K-12, must be made to ensure our students do not face a future of sharply diminishing opportunities.  

How to Use the Strategy:
Effective reading instruction is multifaceted and involves teachers planning assessment-based instruction that incorporates research-based practices. Effective reading instruction is founded in research, is determined by ongoing assessment, is systematic and flexible, is implemented by informed teachers, and is focused on meeting student’s diverse needs (FOR-PD Course, Lesson 3). When designing your reading block it is important to incorporate the following:

• Explicit instructional strategies that address students’ specific strengths and weaknesses.
• Instruction is provided in a coordinated sequence.
• Students are provided ample practice.
• The allocation of time, including a protected, uninterrupted block of time for reading instruction. Research indicates that instruction for beginning readers and struggling readers be at least 90 minutes a day or more.

This month, FOR-PD will take a look at the 90-minute reading block and how  instruction should be organized during this time.

To ensure that Florida students are not left behind, teachers should ensure that they follow the formula for reading success -  5 + 3 + ii + iii = No Child Left Behind (Florida Department of Education, Just Read, Florida!)5 + 3 + ii + iii = No Child Left Behind.

In order to achieve Florida's goal of having every child reading at or above grade level by the year 2012, the reading block should include all elements of the formula during an uninterrupted block of time.

• Instruction in the 5 components of reading
  
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension

• 3 types of assessment to guide instruction
  
• Screening
• Diagnosis
• Progress monitoring

• Initial Instruction (ii)
  
• In elementary classrooms, an effective reading program has to integrate the five instructional components of effective reading instruction into a comprehensive and cohesive instructional design.
  
• In secondary classrooms, the formula is designed specifically for the reading classroom and not for all content area classrooms. Initial instruction refers to the whole classroom instruction a teacher provides in a reading classroom. An effective reading program in the secondary reading classroom has to integrate the five (5) instructional components of effective reading instruction into a comprehensive and cohesive instructional design. Students who have not mastered the five (5) instructional components, will need initial reading instruction. Reading in the content areas does not constitute the entire secondary reading perspective. Reading in the content areas needs to be seen as a support mechanism for secondary reading.
  
• Classroom teachers must use assessment data to plan for and provide "student-tailored" instruction that includes the following:
• Explicit instructional strategies
• Coordinated instructional sequences
• Differentiated instruction
• Print-rich environments

• Immediate Intensive Intervention (iii)

• Also includes a classroom teacher or other teaching personnel who can provide the additional instruction and practice some children may need it.
  
• Immediacy is challenging at the secondary level. Immediate intensive instruction is particularly relevant for those students who have not demonstrated progress in mastery of the five (5) instructional components. 
  
• iii can be provided within the classroom as differentiated classroom intervention for those students with identified reading difficulties.
  
• iii can also be provided outside the classroom for students that require time beyond differentiated intervention on specific targeted reading needs.

There is a body of evidence in reading research, which repeatedly points toward TIME. It shows that students need a minimum of 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction per day in order to for sufficient reading development, the goal being to read on grade level. Research evidence also shows that the most effective teachers are those that deliver reading instruction with density. This means that teachers match instruction to student need and deliver instruction at a pace appropriate for the student. Instruction is systematic, explicit, and scaffolded over time. At-risk students require more instructional time each day with instruction that has greater density (Gumm & Turner, 2004). 

(image from Gumm & Turner, 2004)

The reading block must be organized and include high quality reading instruction is Classroom instruction must be multi-dimensional and delivered in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes (Gumm & Turner, 2004). Whole group instruction is used to introduce new information explicitly and systematically. The instruction is delivered at the instructional level of most of the students in the classroom. Small group instruction is delivered through differentiated instruction in order to reinforce and review skills explicitly and systematically. Small group instruction is provided based on student need and is usually grounded in diagnostic and progress monitoring data. Small groups should be flexible and developed based on assessment results.

While teachers are working with a small group, the remaining students should be working at literacy stations or on other instruction that reinforces the skills they have learned during whole group instruction. Stations may include:

• Word Stations – at this station student’s work on phonics, word study, spelling, and vocabulary skills.
• Writing Station – at this station student’s work on reading through writing activities.
• Inquiry Station – at this station student’s research authentic questions.
• Reading Station – at this station student’s practice reading a variety of text.

It is important to remember that these activities should be completed independently, without help from the teacher. Texts used for these activities should be on the student’s independent or instructional level.

90-minute Elementary Reading Block

90-minute Secondary Reading Block

55-minute Secondary Reading Block

At the secondary level, placement in a reading block should be based on the following (Lefsky, 2005):

• Students in need of decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction should be placed in a 90-minute reading block.
• Students in need of vocabulary and comprehension instruction should be placed into a 45-55 minute reading block.

There are three types of assessment that teachers should use to inform their instruction in the five components: screening, diagnosis, and progress monitoring. Screening assessments are designed to assist teachers in finding students who experiencing difficulty. The screening assessments pinpoint those students who are not meeting proficiency levels. In Florida, the FCAT reading test is a form of screening, it identifies those students who are non-proficient (levels I and II). This population then should be given diagnostic assessments to determine need. Diagnostic assessments identify the areas needing improvement. These assessments pinpoint the area needing remediation. Progress monitoring assessments provide data on how students are learning the content and strategies needed for effective reading. If students are grasping the instruction then the teacher can move on, if the students continue to struggle then progress monitoring assessments provide information needed to adjust instruction. These three types of assessment drive initial instruction (ii) and immediate intensive instruction (iii).

Resources:

Adolescent Literacy: Instruction -This web site offers both research and practice information on fostering successful reading practices in adolescent students. A section with research-based strategies that offers examples and advice is included as well as information on reading behaviors. Research papers and bibliographies for aspects of literacy are also available.

Adolescent Literacy – Research Informing Practice: A Series of Workshops - These workshops were developed to examine the state of the science and identify research needs related to adolescent literacy. You can view the notes taken from both workshops as well as view video.

Beating The Odds: Teaching Middle and High School Students to Read and Write Well- These guidelines draw upon a series of research report studies that share findings based on research in 25 schools in 4 states. This booklet is designed for middle and high school teachers and administrators who wish to improve their English programs.

Primary and Secondary Diagnostic Instruments - A list of assessment instruments generated through a review conducted by Just Read, Florida! in consultation with the Florida Center for Reading Research.  

Reading Block Video – requires Real Player

Elementary Reading Block Questions and Answers

Elementary Reading Block Presentation - [PDF] Presentation providing guidance for district and school administrators, reading coaches, and teachers at the elementary level in developing and implementing a 90-minute reading block. Though originally designed for delivery to reading coaches, this presentation may be helpful to all elementary educators implementing a reading block.

Reading Intervention Curriculum - [PDF] Whether reading mentors or classroom teachers, this curriculum is a great guide that includes an overview of current reading research and weekly lessons for intermediate struggling readers.

Reading Program Specifications - [PDF] This document provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for all Florida educators as a blueprint for developing effective reading programs.

Secondary Assessment Presentation - [PDF] This presentation provides guidance for districts and school administrators, reading coaches, and reading teachers at the secondary level in developing an effective assessment structure and practices to impact school-wide student reading performance.

Secondary Assessment One Pager - Chart and summary of the information found in the Secondary Assessment Presentation.


References:

Alliance For Excellent Education (2005). Adolescent literacy policy update. Available: http://www.all4ed.org/publications/Adolescent%20Literacy%20Policy%20Update.pdf

Biancarosa, G. & Snow, C. (2004). Reading next: A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy. New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation of New York. Available at http://www.all4ed.org/publications/ReadingNext/ReadingNext.pdf

Florida Department of Education, Just Read, Florida! Florida Formula for Success.

Florida Online Reading Professional Development. Lesson 2. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL. Available: http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/

Florida Online Reading Professional Development. Lesson 3. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL. Available: http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/

Greene, J. (1998). Another chance: Help for older students with limited literacy. American Educator, Spring/Summer, 1998. Available: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring_sum98/greene.pdf

Gumm, R. & Turner, S. (2004). 90 minutes plus: Demystifying the reading block. National Reading First Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota. July 13-14, 2004. Available: http://www.fcrr.org/staffpresentations/Ruth/90MRBfinal2.pdf

Lefsky, E. (2005). Intensive reading instruction at the secondary level: A “How to session.” NEFEC: Literacy Through Leadership Conference. Daytona Beach, Florida. July, 2005.

Report of the National Reading Panel (NRP) (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed on 8/10/05. Available: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubsky.cfm?from=nrp

Snow, C., Burns, M. , & Griffin, P. (Eds.) (1998) Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Available: http://books.nap.edu/html/prdyc/

Go to Adobe PDF instruction page.

Last Updated May 25, 2005
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FOR-PD is a project of the ITRC @ UCF College of Education and administered
under a grant from the Florida Department of Education and Just Read, Florida!