Implemetig ad Sustaiig a Middle ad High School Readig ad Itervetio Program Lida Diamod Executive Vice Presidet, CORE For secodary-level studets i grades seve through twelve, the social ad ecoomic cosequeces of ot readig well ca be cumulative ad profoud: the failure to attai a high school diploma, a barrier to higher educatio, uderemploymet or uemploymet, ad difficulty i maagig persoal ad family life. Southwest Educatioal Developmet Laboratory, 2000 Our middle ad high schools are facig a literacy crisis of moumetal proportios. Too few studets eter with the skills they eed to complete grade-level work. All too may leave umotivated, with limited futures ad promises urealized. While blame ca be assiged to social coditios ad to uprove readig istructioal practices i the elemetary grades, middle ad high schools caot wait for a well-prepared eterig class. They caot wait for studets who come to them from literate homes, well ourished, ad speakig fluet Eglish. O the cotrary, the populatio eterig middle ad high school today, ad surely cotiuig to eter middle ad high school i the future, is more diverse tha ever. These diverse learers deped almost etirely o the schools for their educatioal success. Who are these studets with great eed? Some are studets with mild learig disabilities for whom regular classroom teachers are resposible. Some are studets whose primary laguages are differet from the laguage of the classroom. May are skilled evaders of readig, who kow the stress of ot beig able to read successfully (Peterso, Caverly, Nicholso, O Neal, ad Cusebary, 2000). These are the studets who
demostrated poor readig ability i third grade; atioal logitudial studies show that about 75% of studets with readig problems i third grade will have them i ith grade (Shaywitz et al. 1999). I fact, the research shows that the gap betwee good ad poor readers actually wides i later grades. Mikulecky studied a group of secodary studets two or more years behid their peers i readig ability ad foud that they actually experieced declies i readig comprehesio over the two-year period of the study (Mikulecky, 1990). I additio to poor academic achievemet, these studets suffer emotioal ad psychological cosequeces from their readig problems, icludig low motivatio, axiety, ad lack of self-efficacy (Wigfield ad Eccles, 1994). They also maifest behavior problems, although the relatioship is uclear. Some studies have actually foud readig difficulty to cause behavior problems rather tha the other way aroud. Fially, the movemet to curriculum stadards ad high-stakes exams, while importat steps for improvig overall studet achievemet, make the middle ad high schools task all the more challegig. For without effective strategies for teachig studets with diverse eeds, high stadards merely highlight the limitatios of teachers ad the failure of schools. To esure achievemet for diverse learers, middle ad high schools must desig programs ad curriculums that take ito accout a lack of backgroud kowledge, delayed laguage developmet, ad limited successful readig experieces. This meas that middle ad high schools will eed to desig programs of itesive itervetio for the least prepared, a sort of educatioal triage with well-ru itesive care uits. I additio, middle ad high schools will eed to pla other curriculum itervetios of lesser itesity, ad will eed to help all teachers reach a icreasigly diverse populatio. I order to pla effectively, it is useful to thik of four types of learers with differet eeds for curriculum, istructio, itesity, ad duratio (Kame eui ad Simmos, 1999). Table 1 summarizes these learers, their characteristics, ad their curriculum optios.
Table 1. Four Learers Learer Characteristics Curriculum ad Assessmet Advaced May already kow much of the cotet At or above grade-level stadards Beefits from opportuities for elaboratio May appear bored Bechmark Geerally ca meet stadards Average learer Ca adapt ad adjust to teacher s style Strategic Typically tests betwee the 30th ad the 49th percetile o ormative measures Gaps i skills ad kowledge 1 2 years behid Ca basically read but ot with depth Does ot apply him/herself ad may appear umotivated Cotet area work may be challegig May ot complete homework Itesive Tests below the 30th percetile o ormative measures Very low performace Readig skills are very limited Very frustrated ad umotivated Demostrates behavior ad absetee problems Caot hadle cotet area work Does ot tur i homework Advaced classes Exteded opportuities withi the regular program Erichmet Regular program (about two periods i MS) Well-checks every 5 8 weeks Occasioal i-class modificatios Prove vocabulary ad comprehesio strategies istructio May be i regular core program (usually two periods) with added support (back-up) class Targeted itervetio Separate readig itervetio of 1 2 periods, replacig Eglish class, but for a short time (semester) Added tutorig period Well-checks every 3 5 weeks Separate itesive itervetio of at least 2 hours replaces traditioal Eglish class plus somethig else for 1 2 years Well-checks every 1 3 weeks Explicit, systematic istructio ad direct istructio Middle ad high schools will eed to desig their programs with these differet learers i mid. Presetly, most middle ad high schools are desiged to meet the eeds of bechmark learers, with a few hoors classes throw i for the advaced learers i high schools. Oly studets formally idetified as qualifyig for special educatio receive specialized help, ad the help they receive may ot be adequate. To meet the eeds of all studets, middle ad high schools will wat to rethik their orgaizatio ad schedules, their teacher skills ad kowledge, ad their curriculum materials ad programs. It is crucial to implemet well-desiged itervetio classes
(replacig the regular Eglish class) of sufficiet duratio (usually two periods at least) to lift the itesive learers (more tha two stadard deviatios below the mea) to basic literacy withi two years. While some cosider this trackig, others recogize it as the oly way to meet the eeds of sigificatly below-level studets. I additio to this itesive itervetio, middle ad high schools ca add support classes for studets i the core curriculum (utracked classrooms) who are oly oe to two years behid their peers the strategic learers. I fact, i order to complete the comprehesive curriculums most good publisher programs ow provide to middle schools, two periods are eeded by all studets. Fially, middle ad high schools ca support all teachers i learig to use more powerful research-based strategies for helpig all studets i all cotet areas develop vocabulary ad comprehed text. The successes of Chipma Middle School i Alameda, Califoria illustrate how a carefully plaed, multi-proged approach to literacy istructio ca result i sigificat icreases i the skill levels of strugglig readers. The key compoets of Chipma s model, which was developed i cosultatio with the Cosortium o Readig Excellece (CORE), icluded idetifyig studets i three of the categories listed i the chart above: bechmark, strategic, ad itesive. With the guidace of CORE staff, a carefully coordiated team of admiistrators ad teachers received both ogoig professioal developmet ad coachig, i accordace with the priciples outlied i this paper. As a result, the percetage of studets at Chipma who were readig below grade level dropped from early 50 percet to 38 percet over two school years. Give the success of this model, the school district adopted it for all schools servig studets i grades 6 12. Effective readig itervetio programs exist with prove track records, yet just implemetig these research-based programs may ot be sufficiet to produce sigificat gais i studet performace. Leslie McPeak ad Frak Smith, educators from the Staislaus Couty Office of Educatio i Califoria, documet six reasos that implemetig research-based readig programs may fail (McPeak ad Smith, 2001).
1. Not all teachers ivolved receive sufficiet i-service traiig to successfully teach the ew program. 2. Coachig is ot provided durig the year to support implemetatio. 3. The groupig ad schedulig requiremets of the selected program were ot followed. 4. The program is ot implemeted with sufficiet itesity to catch studets up quickly. 5. Teachers do ot moitor progress frequetly eough. 6. Too may iitiatives iterfere with effective implemetatio of the readig program, diffusig time, resources, ad support. Three compoets are critical to the desig, implemetatio, ad sustaiability of readig itervetios for the average middle ad high school to overcome these problems: effective professioal developmet to equip educators with a solid kowledge base; effective istructioal tools aliged to the kowledge base; ad sigificat systemic reorgaizatio ad support. I additio, middle ad high school staffs will have to seriously rethik the curret popular reform models, most of which do ot sufficietly improve literacy for our most vulerable studets ad, i fact, may actually impede successful program implemetatio. The Pasadea Uified School District i Souther Califoria created a ew literacy program based o all of these compoets. CORE cosultats helped admiistrators ad teachers at the middle schools ad high schools choose itervetio materials for studets who were readig more tha two years below grade level. The cosultats also helped school staff pla for placemet ad schedulig of studets ad the traiig of teachers durig the summer before the iitial implemetatio. The district held multi-day itesive, istructioal sessios for teachers workig with various readig programs, icludig Holt Literature, Laguage!, REACH, Read 180 ad, for Eglish Learers, High Poit. Literacy coaches at each site were give additioal traiig by CORE cosultats i the cotet ad approaches of the various readig programs as well as i the skills ad resposibilities eeded to be effective literacy coaches. Ogoig support with coachig, demostratio lessos, ad classroom observatios was provided for each site ad for each of the readig programs. I additio, a literacy coordiator for the district
esured that resources were available throughout the system to meet the eeds of participatig schools. Professioal Developmet Professioal developmet is critical to equip teachers ad school leaders with the research-based kowledge they eed to desig their readig programs, select the right tools, ad develop support systems. The most effective school implemetatio desigs will take ito accout the eed for ogoig professioal developmet i order to create ad sustai a culture of cotiuous learig ad cotiuous improvemet. The targeted audiece should be the teachers who will teach a itervetio class as well as those cotet area teachers who would beefit from improved strategies to help studets develop vocabulary ad comprehesio. To facilitate ogoig learig, teachers eed time to lear. Professioal developmet eeds to be multidimesioal to be effective. Effective professioal developmet will take ito accout teacher backgroud, the school culture, ad the particular eeds of adolescets. Some professioal developmet will occur i traditioal workshop settigs ad semiars, some will take place at the school durig collegial meetigs, ad some will take place withi the classroom. I The New Structure of School Improvemet: Iquirig Schools ad Achievig Studets, Joyce, Calhou, ad Hopkis (1999) describe a approach to staff developmet vastly differet from the workshop traiig packages employed by most schools. They argue for five major compoets. Presetatio of Theory Participats eed to lear the theoretical uderpiigs of the teachig approach. This compoet is the traditioal workshop ad cosists of readigs, lecture, discussio, ad iteractio. Sice readig istructio is complex ad most middle ad high school teachers have ot bee taught to teach readig, 20 to 40 hours may be required to provide teachers ad school leaders with the ecessary uderstadigs (Joyce ad Showers, 1982). For a particular itervetio program, the theory should be coected directly to the program materials. For middle ad high school teachers the theory preseted must iclude adolescet learig issues as well. If presetatio of theory is the sole compoet of traiig, however, as few as 10 percet of the participats are
likely to be able to implemet the ew approach (Joyce et al., 1999). Ogoig support ad metorig are essetial to implemetatio success. Modelig ad Demostratios Modelig of the istructioal procedures ad demostratio lessos will icrease the likelihood of implemetatio. Demostratios ad modelig ca be preseted live or through the use of videotapes, but it is crucial that teachers expected to implemet a ew strategy or program see effective illustratios. Modelig ad demostratios should take place durig visits to actual classrooms. The model lessos may be provided by outside experts as well as by skilled teachers from the school itself. For itervetio programs, it is importat that demostratio lessos come right from the material selected. Whe this compoet is added to the theoretical traiig, aother 10 to 15 percet of the participats are likely to be able to implemet the practice (Joyce et al., 1999). Practice i Workshop Settigs ad Uder Simulated Coditios I additio to seeig models ad demostratios withi the classroom, participats beefit from simulated practice i the workshop settig. Such practice, doe with peers or studets brought i for the sessio, provides participats with a cotrolled eviromet for learig without worryig about maagig the whole class of studets. Teachers ca make mistakes ad improve. Structured Feedback Structured feedback helps all ew learers to correct ad adjust their behaviors. To provide such feedback, a system for observig participat behavior is critical. Those givig the feedback eed to kow what to otice. Feedback ca be selfadmiistered, or it ca be provided by the outside traier or by skilled colleagues. It ca be combied with the simulated practice i the workshop settig ad offered durig classroom visitatios ad observatios. Joyce et al. state that eve with a combiatio of practice ad feedback, they would be surprised if as may as 20 percet of participats could trasfer their learig to their classrooms o a regular basis (Joyce et al., 1999). Whe structured feedback is combied with theory, modelig, ad practice, the total implemetatio rate may icrease to about 40 percet.
Coachig for Classroom Applicatio Whe the first four traiig compoets are combied, the implemetatio rate is stregtheed cosiderably. However, for sustaied, cosistet use, the most importat compoet of traiig appears to be direct coachig i the classroom. I a earlier study of trasfer of traiig to classroom implemetatio ad cosistet use, Joyce ad Showers (1982) foud that o teachers trasferred their ewly leared skills without coachig. Coachig ivolves helpig teachers pla ad deliver lessos usig the ew approach. It icludes modelig, side-by-side teachig, ad helpig teachers to reflect upo their ow teachig ad to make improvemets. Coaches, whether outside experts or peers, must themselves receive traiig ad support i the use of observatio tools ad feedback techiques. Whe coachig is added, implemetatio rates go up sigificatly as high as 90 percet. The implemetatio plas created by the Pasadea Uified School District ad Chipma Middle School show the importace of a professioal developmet strategy that is based o soud priciples, with approaches that ca be tailored to fit the specific eeds of a school or district. Pasadea s professioal developmet pla focused o buildig capacity withi the schools. District leadership wated all secodary-level cotet-area teachers to improve their uderstadig of vocabulary ad comprehesio strategies so that they could atted more effectively to the readig skills of their studets. However, istead of sedig hudreds of teachers to outside traiig, the district collaborated with CORE to trai a cadre of coaches ad other teacher leaders withi the schools. First, the selected teachers atteded oe-day semiars i which they studied the learig processes ivolved i vocabulary ad comprehesio skill developmet. Later, they participated i oe-day follow-up sessios durig which they deepeed their ow learig ad received materials that they could use i traiig other teachers ad school staff members. Fially, all took part i a half-day follow-up sessio that required them to apply their recetly acquired uderstadig to their ow teachig. Durig this workshop, all participats practiced modelig ew istructioal strategies ad developed implemetatio plas for teachig the ew strategies to fellow staff members plas that icluded demostratig the strategies i select classrooms for their peers to observe.
At Chipma Middle School, oe aspect of the professioal developmet program focused o EL (Eglish Learer) istructors who, like may secodary teachers, had received little traiig i phoics or bledig techiques. CORE held a workshop devoted to these two areas ad followed up with demostratios i each classroom, usig the school s ewly adopted istructioal materials. O a follow-up visit, as the EL teachers demostrated what they had leared, CORE cosultats observed them ad provided feedback. I this collaborative atmosphere, teachers i the process of developig ew skills ad employig ew approaches were able to do so i a othreateig eviromet. Ogoig discussios allowed teachers to share their cocers ad lear from each other. As their skills improved, so did their attitudes about the ew istructioal tools, alog with their cofidece i usig them. Istructioal Tools I additio to a traiig desig that should iclude the compoets listed above, teachers eed the best possible istructioal tools. Not all readig programs or readig itervetio programs are alike. May published programs claim to be based o research; few, however, actually live up to that claim. The Southwest Educatioal Developmet Laboratory published a summary of the research o effective readig itervetio program resources for secodary studets (Peterso et al., 2000). Research idicates that for secodary studets, effective programs will address the followig four compoets: 1. Motivatio to read This refers to itrisic motivatio to wat to read ad read widely. 2. Decodig skills ad fluecy This icludes basic decodig skills ad fluecy. 3. Laguage comprehesio This icludes liguistic kowledge, morphemic kowledge, ad sematic ad sytactic kowledge. 4. Text comprehesio This icludes teachig studets how to be active with text ad make persoal coectios, how to make ifereces ad activate backgroud kowledge, ad how to iteract with differet types of texts.
Traditioally, secodary readig itervetio has focused o comprehesio rather tha o decodig. This has occurred because strugglig readers most ofte maifest comprehesio weakess; however, the uderlyig causes geerally have ot bee treated. That is why comprehesio itervetios aloe may result i short-term gais that are ot sustaied ad do ot trasfer (Kulik, Kulik, ad Bagert-Dows, 1990). Research clearly supports the eed for programs that address the four compoets oted above. Middle ad high school staffs should use the research o effective readig istructio for older studets to select program materials. Motivatio to read Proficiet readers ted to read widely. They do so because readig is ot laborious ad because they fid readig rewardig. As studets move up the grades, their motivatio to read declies (Guthrie ad Wigfield, 2000). For usuccessful readers, readig is associated with failure. The older strugglig reader does t like to read, ad therefore avoids readig. Thus the amout of actual readig practice these studets get is very low. For these studets it is especially importat to desig programs that iclude materials studets ca read successfully but are age-appropriate, as well as to provide ewspapers ad magazies for real-life readig opportuities ad for choice. It is also importat to help studets select their ow materials ad to match studets to appropriately readable text. Programs eed to help teachers uderstad how to build a classroom climate that fosters studet motivatio, how to establish effective idepedet readig programs, ad how to moitor studet readig. Decodig skills ad fluecy Well-desiged readig itervetio programs will iclude istructio i basic decodig skills. Most scietific research idicates that a core liguistic deficit is at the heart of readig problems (Catts et al., 1999; Shaywitz et al., 1999). Regardless of age, whe a idividual s readig comprehesio lags behid listeig comprehesio, word recogitio problems are geerally the root cause (Shakweiler et al., 1999). By middle ad high school, eve the most strugglig reader has leared to read some words by sight. Yet most ofte these words are irregular, high frequecy words; these studets have ot iteralized the basic soud-symbol relatioships of Eglish to be able to use that kowledge to figure out ufamiliar words, ad have ot become sufficietly automatic at a large eough umber of words to lead to
fluet readig of coected text. Basic decodig depeds o recogitio of letters ad phoemic awareess (awareess of the smallest soud uits of laguage) ad o the ability to maipulate phoemes to decode ad to spell. I oe study of strugglig high school studets, Shakweiler, Ludquist, Dreyer, ad Dickiso (1996) foud that differeces i phoological processig accouted for differeces i text comprehesio. While these readers could map phoemes to prit, they had difficulty at the morphemic level, the level that should be obtaied by high school. May also foud decodig of multisyllabic words ad more complex vowel patters to be the stumblig block. The ability to fully aalyze words by their soud/spelligs helps the reader to decode ufamiliar words ad to spell words as well. Spellig ability cotributes positively to word recogitio, ad idirectly to comprehesio (Staovich ad Cuigham, 1993). Therefore, middle ad high schools eed to fid itervetio programs that explicitly teach studets decodig ad multisyllabic word attack skills ad develop spellig ability through idetifiable stages, from basic alphabetic spellig to withi-word patter spellig ad ultimately to spellig patters based o meaig. I additio to explicit istructio i decodig skills, well-desiged programs will eed to address the eglected skill of fluecy developmet. Fluecy icludes speed ad accuracy ad a third dimesio prosody. This third dimesio, the musicality of readig, is a hallmark of a comprehedig reader, oe who recogizes phrasal juctures ad uderstads the words sufficietly to kow which words to emphasize, where to pause, ad where to move quickly. Fluecy improves with practice (Dowhower, 1987), ad it depeds o a reader s basic decodig skills ad sytactic kowledge. Fluet readers demostrate greater comprehesio. This is because excessively slow readig impedes comprehesio by usig up metal resources eeded for makig meaig. Laborious readig also dimiishes the desire to read (Natha ad Staovich, 1991; Samuels, 1994). The use of cotextual clues to decode actually does ot compesate for a lack of automaticity i decodig skill (Shaywitz, 1996). May strugglig secodary readers lack fluecy. These studets read less ad therefore fail to develop vocabulary sice wide readig is the greatest cotributor to vocabulary growth. Thus comprehesio suffers
further. This correlatio is well established. A well-desiged readig itervetio program for older strugglig readers will iclude a great deal of practice to develop automaticity i decodig, ad rapid ad accurate readig of seteces ad easy level text. Well-desiged base programs for regular middle school studets will also iclude added fluecy practice. Laguage comprehesio Laguage comprehesio icludes liguistic ad sytactic kowledge as well as sematics or word meaig kowledge. Text comprehesio rests o the ability to recogize words fluetly ad effortlessly. This implies that readers uderstad the laguage system we use i our texts our phoology (souds), our morphology (uits of meaig withi a word), ad our sytax (the uderlyig grammatical structure). While weaker readers eed explicit istructio i Eglish phoology as they lear decodig, most secodary studets have a rudimetary uderstadig of the souds ad sytax of our laguage. However, they may still profit from systematic istructio i morphemic elemets of Eglish roots, prefixes, ad suffixes as well as from careful developmet of vocabulary. Buildig a strog vocabulary is absolutely essetial sice research is quite clear about the strog correlatio betwee comprehesio ad the size ad depth of oe s vocabulary (Beck ad McKeow, 1991). Proficiet readers read widely, ad books are their greatest source of vocabulary growth (Hayes ad Ahres, 1988). Because strugglig readers do ot read widely, a huge gap i word kowledge distiguishes them from their proficiet readig peers (Baker, Simmos, ad Kame eui, 1995). I additio to liguistic ad word kowledge, strugglig middle ad high school readers will beefit from more explicit uderstadig of Eglish sytax. Weaker readers ted to have more difficulty as the setece legth ad complexity icreases, ad seteces iclude adverbial clauses, subordiate costructio, ad proou refereces. This is especially true for Eglish laguage learers. Text comprehesio Strugglig secodary readers suffer from a lack of backgroud kowledge about readig ad about differet text structures. This is largely because the source of backgroud kowledge about academic laguage ad books is wide readig,
ad strugglig readers avoid this. Therefore, i additio to opportuities for self-selectio of appropriate texts, strugglig readers will beefit from explicit istructio i makig coectios, i self-moitorig while readig, ad i uderstadig texts. Strugglig high school studets may comprehed at a surface level but have difficulty makig ifereces. The ability to make ifereces is depedet ot oly o solid vocabulary, word recogitio, ad sytactic kowledge, but also o the ability to read betwee the lies. To build iferecig skills, secodary studets profit from clear istructio, ofte through the use of teacher models called thik-alouds. This icludes teachig studets how to locate both text-explicit iformatio ad text-implicit iformatio (Carie et al., 1997; Raphael, 1982, 1984, 1986). I additio to difficulty with ifereces, strugglig readers do ot geerally kow how to moitor their comprehesio. Teachers ca help these studets build self-moitorig capacity by agai modelig expert readig through thik-alouds ad by explicitly teachig comprehesio strategies ad helpig studets kow whe, why, ad uder what coditios to use various meaig-makig strategies. Fially, because strugglig readers lack text experiece, the more teachers ca do to explicitly upack the uderlyig structure of differet types of texts the better. Studets eed to be taught how to deal with arrative story structure ad arrative story elemets. More importat to the middle ad high school curriculum, studets will eed explicit istructio i dealig with cotetarea iformatioal text. Pearso ad Fieldig (1991) foud that whe studets uderstood the structural patters i expository text, they were better able to recall iformatio ad the mai ideas withi the text. This icludes directly teachig various expository text structures, sigal words ofte used i the structures, ad the use of graphic orgaizers to assist i text comprehesio. Additioally studets eed istructio i locatig iformatio ad usig the presetatio sigals provided by headigs, differet fots, ad charts ad graphs (Dickso, Simmos, ad Kame eui, 1998). All of these strategies will eed to be icorporated i itesive itervetio classes, i regular Eglish classes, ad withi the teachig repertoire of cotet area teachers.
School Support Systems ad Leadership Over the past several years, school reforms have bee too umerous to cout. All have bee well itetioed, but few have resulted i improved studet achievemet. May of the reforms have focused o processes (site-based decisio makig ad block schedules) with little attetio paid to teachig ad learig. Others have focused o istructio but failed to address systemic matters that make it difficult to implemet the ew approach. The best reforms focus o both these factors processes ad istructio. At the heart of ay successful implemetatio is leadership. Leadership comes ot just from the buildig pricipal or district superitedet, but also from teacher leaders ad metors. Above all else, it requires determiatio, commitmet, ad perseverace. Oce the school embraces a ew curriculum for readig istructio, it must be urtured by frequet review, regular meetigs for collective discussio ad troubleshootig, ogoig professioal developmet, implemetatio moitorig systems, ad coachig support for cotiuous improvemet. Assessmet systems, plaed restructurig of classroom orgaizatio, ad istructioal time ad groupig for differetiated istructio are also part of the crucial support package. It falls to the school leadership to esure that systematic chages are made. School Leadership It is the school leadership who must uite the etire staff i support of a collective visio of readig istructio for strugglig readers ad readig istructio guarateed to raise the achievemet of all studets i geeral. The admiistrators, departmet chairs, ad teacher leaders must thoroughly uderstad the elemets of research-based readig istructio ad should establish a school culture that values effective research-based prove practices. The school leadership is resposible for marshallig resources, providig time, ad stayig the course. The school leadership must be heroic, able to resist the may forces that may ihibit implemetatio of a effective school-wide readig program pla. Those forces will iclude the eed to atted to other curriculum areas or to district- ad state-madated reforms. School reform models that fail to address the eeds of the most-vulerable studets also bombard middle ad high school leaders. Schedulig challeges may prove the most itractable. Still other forces will come from withi the staff, as teachers struggle with
implemetatio problems. The first year of the implemetatio of a ew readig program presets the challege of chagig teachers beliefs about readig istructio ad iitiatig the ew research-based approach. The secod year cosists of refiig the approach while esurig cosistecy ad adherece to the program desig. The third year, however, poses a ew challege, described by oe Sacrameto educator as domesticatio (Cooper, 1999). As educators become comfortable with a program, they ted to wat to alter it, adjust it, ad do it their ow way i short, to domesticate it. Ufortuately, teachers ofte utilize a pick-ad-choose approach to program implemetatio. This tactic will result i less fidelity to the program desig ad cosequetly a lower success rate. Just as it is importat for a ill perso to carefully follow a established medical protocol for maximum results, a readig teacher eeds to implemet a well-desiged readig itervetio as iteded. It is durig the secod ad third year of a implemetatio that the school leadership will face its most serious challeges. This is whe stayig power is essetial. Durig these years the school leadership eeds to have the best research to support cotiued use of the readig approach. This icludes studet achievemet iformatio, or assessmet. Assessmet Studet achievemet iformatio is crucial. The best assessmets will be aliged to the readig itervetio program selected ad will provide clear placemet iformatio, track studet progress, ad moitor teacher pacig ad program use. I a effective overall readig approach, assessmet is used to iform istructio for both large groups ad idividuals. Differet assessmet istrumets serve differet purposes. For example, statewide achievemet tests serve to iform the public about system-wide istructioal efficacy. Idividual diagostic tests eable the classroom teacher to target istructio as well as to iform parets of studet eeds. Regular assessmets are ecessary to guide decisios about groupig, istructioal pace, ad idividual eed for support. Easy-to-use diagostic ad progress-moitorig tests are crucial. Assessmet is ecessary to moitor progress but also to idetify causes of readig weakess. Schools eed to orgaize their assessmet toolkits aroud three broad categories: screeig assessmets (assessmets that provide iformatio about a studet s existig
kowledge ad skill base); formative ad ogoig assessmets (assessmets to moitor progress ad adjust istructio); ad summative assessmets (assessmets at the ed of a quarter, semester, or year, used to evaluate). I all cases, teachers eed to uderstad the expected targets of mastery for idividual skills i order to idetify studets at risk of difficulty ad to tailor istructio to meet idetified eeds. Time Of all the variables uder a school s cotrol, the most importat is makig good use of time to maximize learig. For sigificatly below-level secodary studets, at least two hours (or two periods blocked) a day of targeted readig itervetio is crucial. Additioal time beyod the two periods is eeded for special oe-to-oe or small-group itervetio. Studets idetified as poor readers face what Kame eui (1993) refers to as the tyray of time i tryig to catch up to their peers. Simply keepig pace with oe s peers is ot eough. These studets will eed icreased time ad istructio of the highest quality. Istructioal Groupig for Itervetio To make istructio effective for the mostaïve readers, studets will eed to be carefully placed based o idetified eed. This is i stark cotrast to the curret de-trackig movemet. While de-tracked, heterogeeous classes are the goal, for the sigificatly below-level studet, this is impractical ad actually does a disservice to the studet. These studets are ever fully equipped with the skills they eed to be idepedet learers. Typical oe-period itervetios are ot itesive or of sufficiet duratio to brig these studets up to speed ad help them lear to read as quickly as possible. To esure that their istructio is targeted, swift, ad complete, placemet tests tied to the selected itervetio program will provide the iformatio eeded for effective ad efficiet groupig. Coachig Sice coachig is so importat to the effective implemetatio of ay ew cocept, it falls to the leadership to desig ad implemet a system of peer ad expert coachig. Such coachig should be supported by clear expectatios ad guidelies ad should be aliged to the selected materials as well. Coaches will assist ad support teachers as they try a strategy, implemet ew materials, ad egage i the assessmet of
ad plaed itervetio for studets. Coaches eed to be traied ad metored as they grow ito this role. The Home-School Coectio For implemetatio to be effective, there must be a deep coectio betwee the school ad the studets homes. Sice idepedet, outside readig is so importat to ehace readig vocabulary ad build backgroud kowledge, parets must thoroughly uderstad the school expectatios for outside readig, the ature of the readig program, ad strategies that they ca use at home. Paret educatio ad paret egagemet are vital. Parets may also fill vital tutorig roles. The Pasadea Uified School District aggressively tackled its literacy problems o may frots, begiig with its selectio of research-based istructioal materials for all studets, a basic core curriculum, the ecessary support materials, ad specialized itervetio materials for Eglish Learers ad for studets who were readig sigificatly below grade level. I additio, the district provided all teachers with five days of itesive staff developmet liked to their grade level ad teachig resposibilities. Literacy coaches were placed at sites system-wide ad were provided with targeted traiig ad o-goig support. District office leadership, coaches, ad site admiistrators were traied i observatio procedures for each readig program. Coaches ad teacher leaders received traiig i basic istructioal priciples for developig vocabulary ad comprehesio across cotet areas, alog with materials that they could use to trai other teachers. The success of the Pasadea program, however, required more tha traiig teachers ad providig materials to studets. The leadership, directio, ad support of district admiistrators were essetial. It was their commitmet that led to additioal fudig for coachig, supplies, ad professioal developmet. It also led to madated schedule chages for strugglig readers to allow loger periods of readig istructio. Importatly, the deputy superitedet, director of secodary curriculum ad istructio, ad the district literacy coordiator all supported the pla. At the site level, the leadership teams of school pricipals, assistat pricipals, literacy coaches, ad Eglish departmet chairs were expected to participate actively i implemetig the pla.
The well-coordiated effort i Pasadea is payig off. After just oe full year of the pla s istitutio, results are impressive. Ulike the district s previous experieces, i which readig gais by elemetary school studets typically flatteed out or declied i the middle ad high school grades, this year Eglish Laguage Arts test scores for studets i grades 7-11 wet up i every grade. The umber of ith-grade studets scorig i the advaced or proficiet categories icreased by 12% over 2004, after remaiig uchaged for the two previous years. Ad all four traditioal high schools posted Eglish Laguage Arts gais i every grade tested. Similarly ecouragig results are beig see i the Yakima School District, Washigto, which has bee workig sice 2002 to implemet a ew K-12 readig program. The district s goal at the secodary level is to help studets gai at least two grade levels of readig durig the course of oe school year s istructio. Iitial results are promisig. I the first year of the middle school program, the readig scores of seveth graders rose a average of 17 percetage poits. I 2004-2005, the secod year of the program, scores wet up aother 15 percetage poits. These impressive gais are directly attributable to the well-plaed itroductio of a scietifically based readig curriculum (High Poit) at every grade level, supported by osite implemetatio assistace from CORE. Program compoets iclude the placemet of a readig coach i every school, workig i close collaboratio with cotet-area teachers, ad exteded class time for readig istructio: 90 miutes a day i middle schools ad 110 miutes a day i high schools. Assessmet is a vital compoet of the program. Studets whose test scores show them to be readig two or more grade levels behid are assessed regularly throughout the school year. As Yakima s successes demostrate, a coordiated, multi-tiered approach to improvig readig skills ca produce positive, ad measurable, outcomes. Coclusio Desigig, implemetig, ad sustaiig a effective readig program is everybody s busiess. It requires well-desiged ad ogoig professioal developmet to equip educators with the
kowledge base they eed for effective readig istructio; it requires the selectio of appropriate tools tightly liked to the research; ad, fially, it requires support systems iitiated by the local leadership to esure smooth implemetatio ad edurig effects. Refereces Baker, S. K., Simmos, D. C., ad Kame eui, E. J. 1995. Vocabulary acquisitio: Sythesis of the research (Tech. Rep. No. 13). Natioal Ceter to Improve the Tools of Educators, Uiversity of Orego, Eugee, OR. Beck, I. ad McKeow, M. 1991. Coditios of vocabulary acquisitio. I R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, P. Mosethal, ad P. D. Pearso (eds.), Hadbook of Readig Research, Vol. II. 789 814. New York: Logma. Califoria State Board of Educatio. 1999. Readig/Laguage Arts Framework for Califoria Public Schools: Kidergarte Through Grade Twelve. Sacrameto, CA: Califoria Departmet of Educatio. Califoria Departmet of Educatio. 1999. Readig/Laguage Arts Framework for Califoria Public Schools. Sacrameto, CA. Carie, D. W., Silbert, J., ad Kame eui, E. J. 1997. Direct Istructio Readig. (3rd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pretice-Hall. Catts, H. W., Fey, M. E., Zhag, X., ad Tombli, J. B. 1999. Laguage basis of readig ad readig disabilities: Evidece from a logitudial ivestigatio. Scietific Studies of Readig 3, 331 361. Chall, J. S. 1967. Learig to Read: The Great Debate. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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