How Schools and Universities Collaborate for Change

1
How Schools and Universities Collaborate for
Change

• The Case of Logan Utah City School District and
  Utah State University
• International Reading Association Meeting
• Toronto, Canada
• May, 2007

2
A Perfect Storm 2001

• New Superintendent appointed in local school
  district.
• New Director of Elementary Curriculum appointed
  in local school district.
• New Professor appointed at the University

3
A Need to Build Capacity

• New administration was well trained in
  administering programs but not in building
  literacy instructional capacity
• Demographics of the district were rapidly
  changing rendering previous ways of teaching
  literacy less effective

4
Seeking Public School Partners

• New university faculty member reaches out to
  establish a partnership
• New administration gives this new faculty member
  a chance
• Over time a relationship of trust was built
  through multiple conversations

5
Establishing A Felt Need

• Internal District Level Meetings were held with
  Elementary School Principals and Director of
  Elementary Curriculum to discuss the nature of
  literacy instruction.
• University Professor was put on hold until
  internal meetings had been held Well get back
  to you!

6
Establishing A Felt Need

• University professor, elementary school
  principals, and director of elementary curriculum
  meet to discuss the nature of literacy
  instruction in the elementary schools in the
  district.
• Meeting revealed an eclectic, patchwork quilt of
  locally derived, nationally published reading
  curricula and programs from classroom to
  classroom and grade to grade

7
Establishing A Felt Need

• Without some level of curricular and
  instructional coherence the district and school
  administrators were unable to determine an
  appropriate course of action to ameliorate
  declining literacy instructional effectiveness

8
Designing a District Literacy Model

• A statewide literacy model was under development.
• A statewide revision of the core language arts
  curriculum K-6 was under development.
• A framework for guiding the districts literacy
  instruction was needed to provide some degree of
  unity and coherence in instructional content and
  focus.
• Drafts of the model were circulated and discussed
  with teachers in schools.

9
Fall 2002 District-wide Inservice on the New
District Literacy Model

• The partner University Professor was enlisted to
  provide a ½ day inservice on the literacy model
  for the entire school districts K-6 teachers.
  Topics included classroom management,
  environment, differentiated instruction, resource
  allocations, and the state eight of the core
  curriculum- oral language, concepts of print,
  phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
  comprehension, and writing.
• Other university faculty began entering into the
  partnership by asking how the university might
  align its curriculum with the needs of the school
  district.

10
Fall 2002 District-wide Inservice on the New
District Literacy Model

• School principals continue their literacy academy
  study for a second year and begin to accept the
  responsibility to provide literacy instructional
  leadership within their own buildings.

11
Assessment Drives Instruction Adopting an
Assessment Approach

• State CRTs are revised and begin to be used to
  assess adequate yearly progress under 2002 NCLB
  requirements.
• DIBELS is introduced as a series of quick,
  efficient, and predictive measures of early
  literacy skills acquisition.
• Data collection and monitoring become part of the
  process of revising literacy instruction.

12
Legislation Adds the Force of Law to Literacy
Instructional Reforms

• No Child Left Behind (NCLB)U.S. Legislation
• Part B, NCLB Reading First (Utah was 5th RF
  grant to be funded in the U.S.)
• State of Utah begins the development of the UPASS
  state accountability/assessment system.
• State Core Language Arts Curriculum, K-6 is
  unveiled and put into practice.
• Utah Governor, Olene Walker, successfully arm
  twists Utah Legislature into providing millions
  for the Utah Reading Initiative.

13
Legislation Adds the Force of Law to Literacy
Instructional Reforms

• Logan School District Board of Education passes a
  local tax levy to access Utah Reading Initiative
  funds to provide school level Literacy Coaches.

14
Pressure Mounts for Change

• School principals begin to provide regular
  professional development meetings on effective
  literacy instructional practices.
• School literacy coaches press for teachers to
  make changes in content and method of literacy
  instruction.
• Video taping of teacher literacy instruction for
  coaching is proposed.

15
A Revolution in the Making

• Teachers feel increasingly under pressure.
• Accountability for student performance and
  examining student data is required by literacy
  coaches.
• Differentiating small group instruction in
  literacy to meet student needs requires greater
  planning and management.

16
District Administration Under Fire

• Teachers begin to fight back against unwanted
  changes.
• Feel that their professionalism is questioned
  and disregarded.
• Superintendent is forced out under political
  pressure.
• Director of Elementary Curriculum is subject of
  Local Education Association survey study and
  personal attacks.

17
New Leadership Selected

• New Superintendent is appointed by the Local
  Board of Education.
• Literacy model under attack but supported by the
  Local Board of Education
• New Superintendent stays the course on literacy
  change.
• Elementary schools make AYP under NCLB.
• Changes in literacy instruction are gaining
  increased support and acceptance among teachers
  as they have begun to perceive results and
  resolute leadership. A sense of collective felt
  need is emerging as success and demographics
  continue to provide challenges.

18
Moving Forward Where from Here?

• Moving the literacy instruction reform to the
  middle school and secondary levels for a K-12
  focus on increasing students literacy skills,
  strategies, concepts, and motivation.

19
Selected References

• Allington, R.L., Cunningham, P. (1996). Schools
  that work. New York Harper Collins College
  Publishers.
• Allington, R. L., Johnston, P. H. (2002).
  Reading to learn Lessons from exemplary
  fourth-grade classrooms. New York Guilford
  Press.
• Anderson, R. C., Hiebert, E. F., Scott, J. A.,
  Wilkinson, I. A. G. (1985). Becoming a nation of
  readers The report of the commission on reading.
  Washington, DC The National Institute of
  Education.Braunger, J., Lewis, J. P. (2006).
  Building a knowledge base in reading, 2nd
  edition. Newark, DE International Reading
  Asssociation.
• Dickinson, D.K, Tabors, P. O. (2001). (Eds.),
  Young children learning at home and school
  Beginning literacy with language. Baltimore, MD
  Paul H. Brookes, Pub.
• McCardle, P., Chhabra, V. (2004). The Voice of
  Evidence in Reading Research. Baltimore, MD
  Paul H. Brookes. Mosenthal, J., Lipson,M. Torncell
  o, S., Russ, B., Mekkelsen, J. (2004). Contexts
  and practices of six schools in obtaining reading
  achievement. Elementary School Journal, 104 (5),
  343-367.
• Morrow, L. M, Reutzel, D. R., Casey, H. (2006).
  Organization and Management of Language Arts
  Teaching Classroom Environments, Grouping
  Practices, and Exemplary Instruction, p. 559-582.
  In C. Evertson (Ed.) Handbook of classroom
  management. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Earlbaum
  Associates.
• National Institute of Child Health and Human
  Development (2000). Report of the National
  Reading Panel Teaching children to read.
  Washington, DC.
• Pressley, M., Allington, R. L., Wharton-McDonald,
  R., Collins-Block, C., Morrow, L. M. (2001).
  Learning to read Lessons from exemplary
  first-grade classrooms. New York Guilford
  Press.Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., Griffin, P.
  (1998). Preventing reading failure in young
  children. Washington, DC National Academy Press.
• Snow, C. E., Griffin, P., Burns, M. S. (2005).
  Knowledge to support the teaching of reading
  Preparing teachers for a changing world. San
  Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.
• Taylor, B. M., Pearson, P. D. (2002). Teaching
  reading Effective schools, accomplished
  teachers. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum
  Associates.
• Taylor, B. M., Pearson, P. D., Clark, K.
  (2000). Effective schools and accomplished
  teachers Lessons about primary-grade reading
  instruction in low-income schools. Elementary
  School Journal, 101(2), 121165.
• Taylor, B. M., Pearson, P. D., Clark, K. E.,
  Walpole, S. (1999). Beating the odds in teaching
  all children to read (Ciera Report No.2006). Ann
  Arbor, MI Center for the Improvement of Early
  Reading Achievement.

20
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presentation please contact or visit the website

• D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D.
• Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair Distinguished
  Professor
• Emma Eccles Jones Center for Early Childhood
  Education
• Utah State University
• Logan, UT
• www.cehs.usu.edu/ecc
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