Teaching Reading Well:

1

• Teaching Reading Well
• A Synthesis of the International Reading
  Associations Research on Teacher Preparation for
  Reading Instruction
• Six essential features of
• effective preparation programs

2
(No Transcript)
3

• Research and theory
• Word-level instructional strategies
• Text-level comprehension strategies
• Reading-writing connections
• Instructional approaches and materials
• Assessment

4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9

• Outstanding reading education programs are
  grounded by content, powered by teaching,
  energized by apprenticeships, enriched by
  diversity, evaluated by assessment, and sustained
  by vision and good governance.

10
Research we have

• Backward mapping from exemplary programs
• Critical analysis of published, peer-reviewed
  research
• 82 studies, primarily qualitative research
• Primarily conducted within researchers courses

11
Conclusions

• Convergence of patterns across studies is useful
  for
• Identifying positive features
• Beliefs changed in positive directions
• Sensitivity to cultural differences increases
• Pedagogical knowledge develops within guided
  teaching formats and when coupled with
• explicit demonstrations,
• thinking aloud,
• practice with peers, and
• precise feedback during teaching.

12
Research we need

• Multiple starting points (Arnetha Ball, 2005)
• Belief research is like telling half the story
• (Kane, Sandretto, and Heath, 2002).
• Can not answer the content question, What do
  teachers need to know?
• A crucial need for research in area of diversity
• Finding of impact of explicitness and guided
  teaching requires careful scrutiny
• Research lacks direction for how to represent
  learning with few directions
• Work as a whole is under-theorized lacks
  conceptual explanations for multiple layers of
  development

13
From Research to Application

• IRAs Certificate of Distinction
• QUESTER
• Quality Undergraduate Elementary and Secondary
  Teacher Education in Reading

14
QUESTERQuality Undergraduate
Elementary Secondary Teacher Education in
Reading

• by
• Jack Cassidy, Ph.D.
• Chair, QUESTER Task Force
• Texas AM University-Corpus Christi
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• jack.cassidy_at_tamucc.edu

15
CERTIFICATE OF DISTINCTION

• Issued by IRA, the Certificate of Distinction
  recognizes only distinguished college and
  university programs that consistently prepare
  well-qualified elementary and secondary teachers
  to teach reading.

16
The Sixties

• A. 1961 - The torch lighters Tomorrows
  teachers of reading. Harvard University
• B. 1965 -Title One
• C. 1967 - the role of the reading specialist

17
The Seventies

• 1977 - The torch lighters revisited.
• International Reading Association.
• B. 1978 Guidelines for the Professional
  Preparation of Reading Teachers

18
The Eighties

• A. 1980 - IRA becomes interested in NCATE
  joins
• B. 1982 IRA standards are adopted by NCATE
  (primary teacher, reading specialist, teacher
  educator)
• C. 1986 - Guidelines for the Specialized
  Preparation of Reading Professionals Adopted by
  NCATE but only for reading specialists, teacher
  educators
• D. 1987 - National Board of Professional
  Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
• E. 1988 Specialized Reading Professionals
  (IRA SIG) formed

19
The Nineties

• 1992 - Standards for Reading Professionals
• accepted by NCATE for reading specialists
  including teacher educators
• B. 1994 Standards for the Assessment of
  Reading and Writing
• C. 1998 - Standards for Reading Professionals
  Revised accepted by NCATE for reading
  specialists including teacher educators

20
The New Millennium

• A. 2000 teacher education for reading
  appears on the Whats Hot
• list for the first time Handbook of
  reading research Volume III
• devotes a chapter to teacher education
  research
• B. 2001 - Learning to teach reading Setting the
  research agenda
• C. 2003 - Prepared to make a difference
• 2004 - Standards for Reading Professionals
  Revised 2003 accepted by NCATE only for
  reading specialists
• E. 2005 Accreditation task force formed
  Trivializing teacher education The accreditation
  squeeze published Standards for middle and high
  school literacy coaches is published
• F. 2006 IRA/ACEI task force formed QUESTER
  task force formed.

21
Standard 1 Content

• The program content and pedagogy prepare
  candidates with knowledge and evidence-based
  teaching skills necessary to help all students
  learn to read.

22
Standard 2 Faculty and Teaching

• Program faculty meet IRA Standards for Reading
  Professionals Revised 2003 for teacher
  educators and model best professional practices
  in scholarship, service, and teaching.

23
Standard 3 Apprenticeships,Field
Experiences,and Practica

• The reading program and its school collaborators
  design, implement, and evaluate apprenticeships,
  field experiences and clinical practica that
  ensure candidates meet Standard 1. Institutions
  must provide evidence that their programs offer
  field-based and/or clinical experiences,
  specifically in the teaching or reading.

24
Standard 4 Diversity

• The program designs, implements, and evaluates
  curricula and experiences for candidates to
  ensure that school collaborators and higher
  education faculty work effectively with diverse
  candidates and diverse students in p-12 schools.

25
Standard 5 Candidate and Program Assessment

• The program has an assessment system that
  documents that candidates meet Standard 1 and
  that the reading preparation program meets the
  remaining standards.

26
Standard 6 Governance,Resources,and Vision

• The reading program has the governance, vision,
  and resources including financial, personnel,
  technology and facilities to meet standards one
  through five.

27
WEBSITES

• http//www.reading.org/
• http//www.reading.org/downloads/resources/teachin
  g_reading_well.pdf
• http//www.reading.org/downloads/resources/quester
  _application_process.pdf
• http//www.reading.org/downloads/resources/quester
  _standards_rubrics.pdf

28

TEACHING READING WELL
29
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

• Ontological Issues
• Epistemic Concerns
• Expertise Development
• Pragmatic Questions

30
ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES

• What is the orientation toward reading and
  learning being conveyed?
• Who are the teachers of reading being described?
• What is meant by student diversity?

31

• While often beginning teachers appeared to
  abandon the orientations of their preparation
  programs, strong students from the eight
  Commission programs were able to maintain their
  theoriesand, in fact, to convince others in
  their school settings to change their theoretical
  orientations and their practice.
• (p. 3)

32

• Effective teachers must respect and respond to
  these differences while they
• help children learn how to read.
• (p. 13)

33

• A clear manifestation of a focus on diversity is
  a commitment to reaching struggling readers.
• Findings in multiple studies have shown that
  eliminating this deficit mentality is critically
  tied to the guided instruction beginning teachers
  receive when working with struggling readers.
• (p. 14)

34
EPISTEMIC CONCERNS

• What should be expected from even model teacher
  education programs in the development of
  preservice teachers?
• What are the indicators of success that merit
  consideration?
• How are the findings of research communicated?

35

• Only when programs are intentionally striving
  for excellence will they produce teachers who can
  meet the demands of todays classroom
  environments. (p. 2)
• identified six essential features for creating
  and sustaining preparation programs that produce
  teachers who teach reading well
• ... these teacher educators produce graduates
  who are better equipped

PRODUCE???
36

• produce readers who are successful in the
  classroom and on standardized tests and use
  reading effectively to negotiate the world.
• (p. 2)

37

• Within this area of word-level strategies, the
  research is extensive and unambiguous. Children
  who are systematically taught to manipulate
  spoken phonemes show significant improvement in
  both their spelling and word recognition ability
• (p. 3)

38
EXPERTISE CONCERNS

• When does ones development as a teacher of
  reading begin and when does it end?
• Can high competence or expertise be expected of
  even outstanding preparatory programs?

39

• The research indicates that learning to teach
  reading cannot happen after a single course, but
  requires intensive study of instructional methods
  and materials over several semesters (Roskos
  Walker, 1993Walker RamsethWolf, Carey,
  Mieras, 1996b).
• Excellent preparation programs provide students
  with in-depth knowledge of literary and
  informational texts and other reading materials.
• (p. 5)

40

• In the best programs studied, undergraduates
  learn about teaching reading by developing an
  integrated set of content knowledge and
  application skills that incorporates
• Conceptual understandings about the
  foundations of language development
• Proficiency with formal and informal
  assessment tools to determine readers reading
  strengths and weaknesses
• Expertise with instructional strategies and
  materials for readers of all backgrounds and
  abilities
• (p. 5)

Proficiency with
FRAGILE COMPETENCE
Expertise with
41
PRAGMATIC QUESTIONS

• How do the qualities and qualifications of the
  entering students figure into the equation?
• What about the partnership role played by the
  participating schools and their leadership?
• What is the prognosis for these preservice
  teachers over time?

42

• Problem
• How do we disseminate and encourage
  implementation of recommendations for improving
  preparation for teaching reading?
• Publication available for free download on IRA
  website www.reading.org
• For more information, contact
• Karen Douglas
• kdouglas_at_reading.org