My school was given a tremendous gift this fall. We’ve become a Focus School. That means we have been given extra
counselling and Child and Youth Care support, and a half-time Literacy
Coordinator. We have such an opportunity
to make a significant difference for our kids-
the means to provide additional resources and support where it’s needed
the most.
To prepare for the year, I decided to do a bit of a
literature review to see what it said about intermediate readers. I was looking for a launch-point, some
information about the best way to target these supports- even with all this extra help, I have a hunch
that we’ll still feel stretched - being strategic and deliberate will be the
key to making this work.
After combing through about 20 research studies and articles
that have been published in the last 10 years, my hunch about being strategic
and deliberate was actually the reassuring piece that fell out the bottom. There are definitely some key strategies and
understandings that have been shown to make a HUGE difference in student achievement
outcomes. Some things that, time and
again, helped intermediate students become strong, confident readers.
What I DIDN’T see was a big list of stuff I’ve never heard
of.
What I DID see was that the implementation of tools and
strategies has a much greater effect when they are chosen super carefully, used
in a targeted way, and tracked carefully
so that teachers knew whether or not they were working, and what adjustments
need to be made along the way.
That makes sense. In
his research regarding teacher efficacy, John Hattie has learned that the
impact of “[teacher efficacy (d=1.57)] is more than two times bigger than that
of feedback (d=0.72), and almost three times bigger than the effect of
classroom management (d=0.52). The message seems to be clear:
together teachers can achieve more, especially
if they collectively believe that they can do so!”[i]
Working collaboratively to make thoughtful, strategic,
deliberate decisions, based on what we know about our learners and their needs,
is the most powerful thing we can do to help our kids have success.
So what are
the underlying principles to keep in mind when planning support for
intermediate struggling readers?
Overwhelmingly, the research focused on a several key
things:
1. A foundation of differentiated, flexible
classroom structures that provide an entry-point for all learners. Shelley Moore has a whole bunch of info and
templates on her site that are useful in this regard.[ii]
Deshler et. al encourage us to “consider
differentiated instruction by examining the demands placed on students”(2007)[iii]. Are we giving them a starting place they can
manage? Have we provided tools and opportunities
that allow them to work independently towards success?
2. Intervention
that happens outside of the classroom needs to be IN ADDITION TO, not
instead of, classroom literacy learning.
A number of studies showed that struggling readers are exposed to significantly
less print than their more successful peers. They need to read MORE OFTEN, and
have MORE PRACTICE to move ahead. When
the team decides that Tier 2 or 3 supports are needed, they need to be super
strategically scheduled so students are still part of key literacy learning in
the classroom.
3. Interventions can’t be one-size-fits-all. Every “reading group” shouldn’t be structured
the same way. While there are a number of areas that are
consistently explored in the research, it is equally clear that, by the
intermediate grades, struggling readers
need an intense, strategic, focus on the areas they find the most difficult. If they are word-spotters who can’t
comprehend what they read, help them understand it. If they chew over every vowel sound and
phonetic pattern, explore that.
4. Intermediate
learners are super-sensitive to their peers, and their perceptions of where they
fit in with their peer group. We
need to honor them and listen to them.
Insisting they participate in a type of intervention that they are not
comfortable with will almost always backfire.
Instead of being invested in the learning, they’ll be fine-tuning their
radar for what is going on in their environment, or will be pre-occupied with
the activities back in their classrooms.
Bass describes this as the “Discursive Identity Impact.” She explains that “research has shown that
while struggling readers may appear unmotivated or uninterested, this may not
always be the case. Discursive identity
theory aids in the understanding of the intrinsic perceptions and motivations
that drive outward actions of a middle school readers….by understanding how
struggling readers view text, perceive themselves, and want others to perceive
them, teachers can more likely respond to students’ needs.”[iv]
What are
the areas of focus that have proven to be the most effective?
In summarizing the studies, the part I was most excited
about was how recursive this list was.
The same few areas of focus cropped up for classroom learning, small
group work, and individual supports.
What changed was the intensity and frequency of them.
Repeatedly, the research indicated that the most impact for
struggling readers came from supporting classroom teachers in creating deep,
supportive, literature-rich, classroom environments. Any intervention should add layers to what
was already in place- an individualized
focus on specific areas of difficulty, not something totally different
altogether, or a replacement for the stuff that is “too hard” in the classroom.
The research also repeated a few themes in terms of
instructional focus:
- · Comprehension: systematic and explicit instruction in flexible tools and metacognitive strategies to tackle print…strategic reading being key….
- · Time with High Success texts: free, voluntary reading with books kids like, paired with corrective feedback and opportunities for reflection (oral and written)
- · Vocabulary knowledge: making sure we build on prior knowledge and add layers before, during and after reading
- · Fluency: comfort and “flow” with the written word
- · Working with words: phoneme structures, syllabication, grammar (which is related to, but different from, a traditional spelling program)
I’ve plotted some of the more specific suggestions and
strategies onto an RTI framework by way of a visual.
This is thoughtful, strategic work, for sure. The good news, is that we’re charged with doing it together. Beginning by making sure that classroom teachers have the tools and supports they need to effectively engage all readers in their classrooms will allow those of us in support roles to know when, how, and what, to add in support of our kids who struggle.
This is a super-optimistic bunch of research. Over and over again, it confirms that we can make a significant difference for our kids. There has been a lot of research done in the area of early intervention over the years. What some of this research shows us is that significant gains can also be made by intermediate learners if we really get to know them and create lots of opportunity for them. I can’t wait to see what this year brings. After all, They’re All Our Kids!
[i] Hattie,
Visible Learning (website), https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/
[iii]Houghen
(2015) “Evidence-Based Reading Instruction for Adolescents Grades 6-12,” http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/IC-13_FINAL_05-26-15.pdf
If the visual is helpful to you, download it
