Supporting Struggling High School Readers

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Supporting Struggling High School Readers

• Oregon Reading Association

The Bridge to Literacy Friday, February 10,
2006


Debra A. Franciosi, EdD Secondary Literacy
Specialist McMinnville School District
40 McMinnville, OR dfranciosi_at_msd.k12.or.us
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Supporting Struggling High School Readers

• Overview of the national research
• Research study
• McMinnvilles Reading Program 6-12
• Resources

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National Assessment of Educational
Progresshttp//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ltt/
results2004/nat-reading-scalescore.asp
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Oregon State Assessment Testhttp//www.ode.state.
or.us/search/results/?id233
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What the research says

• School-wide literacy efforts include
• Professional development designed with staff
  input
• Staff focus on literacy
• Literacy beyond test scores
• Reading specialist
• Community involvement
• Resources

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What the research says

• All adolescent readers need
• Relevant curriculum in context
• Opportunities to process understanding through
  writing and dialogue
• Independent reading of student-choice books in
  class
• Strategy-based instruction
• Expert models
• Assessment that informs instruction

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What the research says

• Struggling adolescent readers need
• Reading specialist
• Tutorials
• Peer tutors
• Reading elective in addition to English
• Access to high quality text and curriculum
  materials
• Individualized and small group instruction
• Frequent assessment that informs instruction
• Reading buddies

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Research Study

• See what is actually happening in Oregon high
  schools to help struggling readers
• Identify aspects of successful programs
• Determine which aspects are replicable across SES
  and school size

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• Research Study
• Oregon public high schools of varied SES (all
  quartiles) and size (100 to 2200 students)
• 10 of all public high schools
• 2004-05 school year
• Survey
• Site visits

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• What are high schools doing for struggling
  readers?

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• Reading Staff Development
• Workshops 64
• Conferences 50
• On-staff Experts 43
• Teachers as Readers 12

Schools using these options beat state averages
for meeting/exceeding on the OSAT.
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• Reading Staff development attendees
• Specialists 55
• English Department 50
• Content Area Teachers 42
• All Staff 33

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• Program Options
• English/Reading class 36
• Reading Elective 26
• Tutorial Before/After 30
• Tutorial During 20
• 100 of responding schools with this option
  met/exceeded on OSAT

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• Determining Student Eligibility
• Teacher/counselor rec 67
• OSAT 46
• Transitional 38
• Other formal asmt 38

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• Reading Program Staffing
• 65 Special Education teachers
• 23 Reading Specialists
• 35 Education Assistants

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• Reading Specialist Duties
• Reading teacher 80
• Staff Development 64
• Curriculum 50
• Tutorial 40

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• Text Materials used once/more a week
• Grade level basal 78
• Young adult novels 36
• Newspapers 33
• Magazines 27
• Real life texts 25
• Hi/Lo novels 9

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• Instructional Strategies used once/more a week
• SSR 85
• Guided Reading 83
• Read Aloud 71
• Direct Instruction 64
• Journals 58
• Strategy-based Instruction 57
• Shared Reading 50
• Informal Assessment 40
• Collaborative Groups 31

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• Factors impacting reading interventions
• Leadership
• Literacy is THE priority
• Staff buy-in
• Hiring new teachers
• Teacher-leaders

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• Factors impacting reading interventions
• School Size
• SES
• Resources

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• Factors impacting reading interventions
• Resources
• Avoiding expensive canned curriculum in favor
  of qualified staff
• Creative scheduling
• Prioritizing reading FTE
• Using on-staff experts
• Finding quality materials

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Questions about the study?
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McMinnville School District 40Building a 6-12
Reading Program
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(No Transcript)
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MHS Before 2004-05

• Tracking data
• TESA
• MSD Efforts
• Primary focus is K-5
• Extensive data profiling K-8

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MHS 2004-05

• Literacy TOSA
• Reading across the curriculum
• Grade-level meeting
• Data profiling
• English dept strategy training
• SLC exploration/meetings
• TESA overview
• Small group test prep
• Incentive program

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MHS 2005-06

• Addition of
• Best Practices Coach
• Best Practices Inservices
• 9th and 10th Grade Reading Classes
• Alternative Ed Literacy
• 9th grade teams (pre-SLC)

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MSD Efforts

• Literacy Coaches K-12
• Reading Intervention Specialists K-12
• Reading Elective 6-12
• Initial development of cohesive, multi-layered
  literacy system
• Focus on differentiation and other best practices

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Literacy Materials for Students

• High interest/low readability texts
• Orca Currents (6-8) and
• Orca Soundings (9-12)
• Red Brick High Five series
• Artesian Press
• High interest nonfiction
• Readers Handbook (Great Source)
• High interest fiction

Getting Books Book clubs, grants, local
businesses and service groups, store discounts,
publisher samples
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Resources for Educators

• Allington, R. L. (2001). What Really Matters for
  Struggling Readers
• Designing Research-Based Programs. New York
  Longman (Addison Wesley).
• Beers, K. (2002). When Kids Cant Read What
  Teachers Can Do A Guide for Teachers 6-12.
  Portsmouth, ME Heinemann.
• International Reading Association. (2002).
  Supporting Young Adolescents' Literacy Learning
  A Joint Position Statement of the International
  Reading Association and the National Middle
  School Association. Newark, Delaware
  International Reading Association.
• Keene, E. O., Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of
  Thought. Portsmouth, ME Heinemann.
• Krashen, S. (1993). The Power of Reading
  Insights form the Research. Englewood, CO
  Libraries Unlimited.
• Radencich, M. C. (1993). A Handbook for the K-12
  Reading Resource Specialist. Needham Heights
  Allyn and Bacon (Simon and Schuster).
• Smith, M. W., Wilhelm, J. D. (2002). "Reading
  Don't Fix No Chevys". Portsmouth, ME Heinemann.
• Tama, M. C., McClain, A. B. (2001). Guiding
  Reading and Writing in the Content Areas
  Practical Strategies (2 ed.). Dubuque
  Kendall/Hunt
• Publishing Company.
• Tovani, C. (2000). I Read It, But I Dont Get It
  Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers.
  Portland, ME Stenhouse Publishers.
• Tovani, C. (2004) Do I Really Have to Teach
  Reading? Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12.
  Portland, ME Stenhouse Publishers.
• http//www.lexile.com MetaMetrics Lexile
  Framework for Reading
• http//www.reading.org International Reading
  Association

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Resources for Educators

• International Reading Association
• National Council for Teachers of English
• www.ReadWriteThink.org
• ORA and your local council
• Your ESD
• www.ode.state.or.us
• www.ed.gov
• www.knowledgeloom.org/adlit/index.jsp
• http//www.all4ed.org/adolescent_literacy/
• Publishers
• Networking

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In your own district

• Identify population and needs
• Identify available resources
• General fund, Title I, Title IIA, Grant
• Match structure to population, needs, and
  resources
• Identify/hire staff
• Existing expertise, new hires, staff
  development
• Design curriculum and acquire materials
• Revisit, reflect, renew commitment, and renovate
  as needed

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Questions and issues for the group
What are the major issues your school/district is
struggling with right now?
In your current role, what are the needs?
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• Adolescent Literacy Networking