SMALSI

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SMALSI
School Motivation and Learning Strategies
Inventory Kathy Stroud, PhD Cecil R. Reynolds,
PhD Texas AM University
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Rationale

• Research over the past 50 or more years in
  educational, school, and related areas of
  psychology has demonstrated repeatedly that
  students who engage in strategic learning and
  test-taking perform at higher levels academically
  than those who do not. Academic achievement
  levels can be improved significantly by improving
  the study skills, learning, reading
  comprehension, test-taking, and related
  strategies of learners at all ages and is
  effective with both regular and special education
  students. Yet, there are few measures of such
  skills and strategies. The current workshop
  describes the development, application, and
  interpretation of the School Motivation and
  Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI), a scale
  developed and normed for use with students from 8
  years of age through 18 years. Additionally,
  examples of techniques for remediating measured
  deficiencies in each area assessed by the SMALSI
  are presented and resources designated for
  locating and developing additional methods for
  improving student characteristics in the measured
  areas.

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Despite 50 years of supportive science, we are
not teaching strategies.

• In reading, instruction in the 11th and 12th
  grades may not prepare students for college level
  reading assignments (especially considering the
  number of college freshmen who enroll in a
  remedial reading course). A greater emphasis in
  teaching reading strategies is present in
  remedial reading courses at the postsecondary
  levelthe same strategies that seem no longer
  taught at the high school level . (p.39)
• ACT Curriculum Survey 2005-2006. Iowa City IA
  ACT (2007).

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Teaching Learning and Study Strategies Has Many
Benefits

• Knowing how to study and learn enhances student
  motivation.
• Teaching students how to study and learn produces
  empowered learners, and such students enjoy
  higher academic achievement levels and a wider
  array of lifetime opportunities
• Gubi, A., Platton, P., Nelson, A. (2008)
  Motivating students School psychologists as
  motivational change agents. Communique, 37 (4),
  37-38.

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Constructs

• The SMALSI targets ten primary constructs which
  are reflected in the subtest titles below. These
  constructs are well established in the
  educational psychology and the general education
  literatures. They have been demonstrated in
  literally hundreds of research works spanning at
  least three decades (for each construct) to be
  related to academic and educational success. The
  constructs-subscales of the SMALSI are
  Test-Taking Strategies, Study Strategies,
  Writing-Research Skills, Test Anxiety, Attention
  and Concentration, Reading Comprehension
  Strategies, Note Taking and Listening Skills,
  Time Management, Organizational Techniques, and
  Academic Motivation.

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What is a Learning Strategy?

• It is NOT what has become known as Learning
  Styles
• Learning Strategies are defined as
• The purposeful behaviors of a learner that are
  intended to facilitate the acquisition and
  processing of information.

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Current emphases in reading instruction do not
promote comprehension

• It should come as no surprisewe are
  frustrated with the over-attention to sound,
  letter, and word-level processing that
  characterizes instruction for struggling readers,
  given the evidence that progress often boils down
  to a little progress in learning how to sound out
  words and only small improvement in
  comprehension. (p. 523)
• Pressley et al, 2009.

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Pressley et al. (2009) go on to tell us that

• When skilled readers read, they are very active
  before, during, and after reading in the service
  of getting meaning from text. (p. 529)
• Passive listening to word-calling in our heads
  does not promote comprehensionwe must manipulate
  information to understand it. This requires the
  use of a strategy.

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Theoretical Models for Learning Strategies

• Weinstein Mayer (1986)
• Rehearsal
• Elaboration
• Organization
• Comprehension Monitoring
• Affective Strategies
• Weinstein (1994)
• Model of Strategic Learning Skills, Will,
  Self-Regulation

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Theoretical Models for Self-Regulated Learning

• Zimmerman (1998)
• 3 cycling phases of learning
• Forethought, performance or volitional control,
  self-reflection
• Winne Hadwin (1998)
• 4 phases of learning
• Define the task set goals and devise a strategy
  use tactics and strategies, monitor, evaluate,
  and make changes

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What is the SMALSI?School Motivation and
Learning Strategies Inventory

• Standardized self-report inventory for ages 8
  years to 19 years in 2 forms
• Child form Ages 8-12
• Teen form Ages 13-19
• Designed to assess multiple constructs related to
  Learning Strategies, Academic Motivation,
  Test-taking Strategies, and Test Anxiety

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What is the SMALSI?School Motivation and
Learning Strategies Inventory

• May be administered individually or in groups,
  large or small
• Completed in 20-30 minutes by most students
  reading at grade level 3.5 or higher (may be read
  to others)
• Yields a profile of T-scores (M50, SD10) from
  which strengths and weaknesses in specific areas
  can be determined and targeted for teaching if
  necessary
• Computer-scoring or Hand-scoring available

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Flesch-Kincaid Reading Indexes for the
SMALSIChild and Teen Forms

• SMALSI Child
• Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 3.5
• Kincaid Reading Ease Score 88.0
• SMALSI Teen
• Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 3.4
• Kincaid Reading Ease Score 87.1

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SMALSI Student Strengths Subscale Definitions

• Study Strategies Subscale Selecting important
  information, relating new to previously learned
  information, and memory strategies for encoding.
• Note-taking/Listening Skills Discriminating
  important material when taking notes, organizing
  notes, efficiency in note-taking.

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SMALSI Student StrengthsSubscale Definitions

• Reading and Comprehension Strategies Previewing,
  monitoring, and reviewing text, including
  self-testing to ensure understanding.
• Writing-Research Skills Researching topics in a
  variety of ways, organizing writing projects as
  well as monitoring and self-checking for errors.

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SMALSI Student StrengthsSubscale Definitions

• Test-taking Strategies Increasing efficiency in
  test-taking, including eliminating unlikely
  answers and strategic guessing.
• Organizational Techniques Organizing class and
  study materials, structuring assignments
  including homework and other projects.

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SMALSI Student StrengthsSubscale Definitions

• Time Management Effective use of time to
  complete assignments, understanding of time
  needed for academic tasks.
• On the child version, Time Management and
  Organizational Techniques are combined into a
  single scale.

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SMALSI Student Liabilities Subscales

• Low Academic Motivation Level of intrinsic
  motivation to engage and succeed in academic
  tasks.
• Test Anxiety Students experience of
  debilitating symptoms of test anxiety, lower
  performance on tests due to excessive worry.

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SMALSI Student Liabilities Subscales

• Concentration/Attention Difficulties Attending
  to lectures and other academic tasks, monitoring
  and adjusting attention to performance,
  concentrating and the avoidance of distractions.

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Who Can Use the SMALSI?

• School and related (e.g., child-clinical,
  pediatric) psychologists
• School counselors and LPCs
• Educational Diagnosticians
• With the Assistance of the Psychologist,
  Counselor, or Diagnostician
• Learning Disability Specialists and Special
  Education Teachers with assessment training
• Regular Education Teachers with a course in
  classroom assessment or tests and measurement

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Appropriate Usage
To use SMALSI appropriately, the user should have
a background in education and learning along with
training in assessment or tests and measurement.
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Applications of the SMALSI

• Screening in regular education
• - Identifying group weaknesses in a
  classroom or school
• - Identifying individuals with a lack of or
  poorly developed strategies for learning
• Pre-referral intervention/prevention
• Assessing students with Disabilities
• Learning Disabilities
• Emotional Disturbance
• ADHD
• TBI

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How Matt Crandell, School Psychologist uses the
SMALSI

• The SMALSI I have to say is such a great rating
  scale to be used with students, teachers,
  and parents. I have been using the SMALSI
  for initials, re-evals, as well as for general ed
  students looking to improve their study habits.
• I have been encouraging our guidance counselors
  teachers to first try the SMALSI prior
  to sending a referral package to SPED.
•  I also interview the student after scoring the
  SMALSI and then with the information collected I
  set up a plan with all parties to improve the
  students weak areas through AIS services. 

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Matt goes on to say

• Teachers find it useful because it gives them a
  clear picture of what students know about
  learning.
• Parents like it of because they get a better
  picture of how their child thinks about learning.
  
• For students it provides a real eye opener. Some
  of the items in regard to study skills on the
  SMALSI, students have never thought of, so the
  SMALSI also provides new strategies for the
  students. It makes them think about how to learn.

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Matt concludes by telling me

• Another positive from the SMALSI is it provides a
  way to show teachers, parents, and students that
  SpEd is not always the right answer--many
  teachers, parents, and students are looking to
  throw a SpEd label on the problem and not
  consider other explanations. The SMALSI provides
  a gentle way to show perhaps other avenues should
  be explored first.
• I also use the SMALSI with students I work with
  privately and have had great results with it as
  well. Overall, I think the SMALSI is a valuable
  tool and should be part of any evaluation.

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Interpreting SMALSI Results

• Individual Children
• 3 Step Procedure
• 1 Determine the validity of the protocol.
• 2 Profile and review the scores.
• 3 Interpret the individual subscales and draw
  conclusions regarding needed educational
  intervention. 1SDintervene

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Interpreting SMALSI Resultsfor Groups/Classrooms

• Use a Modified Interpretive Procedure
• Plot means on profile sheet in place of
  individual scores.
• Use altered cutoff scores to denote group
  weaknesses (consider 45-55 as WNL).
• Draw inferences for needed group instruction in
  learning strategies.

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Benefits of Using the SMALSI

• Students who engage in strategic learning and
  test-taking perform at higher academic levels
  than those who do not.
• If you improve the study skills, learning
  strategies, reading comprehension and test-taking
  behavior of students, their academic achievement
  will also improve.
• This is true at all grade levels, with both
  regular and special education students.
• The SMALSI provides a quick, cost-effective way
  to identify and target poor learning strategies
  that affect academic performance

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In RTI Models for Reading, Include Strategy
Instruction

• In a recent meta-analysis, Scammacca et al.
  (2007) examined outcomes from intervention
  studies conducted with adolescent students with
  reading difficulties.
• The overall effect size across all 31 studies
  was 0.95.
• Instruction in reading comprehension strategies
  was associated with the largest effects.
• Scammacca, N., Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., Edmonds,
  M., Wexler, J., Reutebuch, C. K., et al. (2007).
  Reading interventions for adolescent struggling
  readers A meta-analysis with implications for
  practice. Portsmouth, NH RMC Research
  Corporation, Center on Instruction.

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The Intervention Manual Has 3 Sections

• Section IAn Introduction to Learning Strategies
• Chapter 1 An Introduction to Learning
  Strategies Assessment and Development
• Chapter 2. The Research Evidence From the
  Education Sciences How Teaching Learning and
  Study Strategies Enhances Learning

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Section IIStrategies for Developing Learning
Strengths

• 7 Chaptersone for each SMALSI Strength Scale

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Ex. Chapter Outline Section II

• Chapter 3. Teaching Study Strategies
• The SMALSI and Study Strategies
• What Are the Best Study Strategies?
• Teaching the Best Study Strategies
• Teaching Students to Improve Their Concentration
  When Studying
• Teaching Students to Improve Memorization
• Teaching Students to Develop Associations With
  Prior Learning
• Teaching Students to Use Self-Talk During Study
• Teaching Students to Use Concept Maps
• Teaching Students to Use Multiple Sources of
  Information
• Summary

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Section III Strategies for Overcoming Academic
Liabilities

• 3 Chaptersone for each SMALSI Liabilities Scale

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Section III Strategies for Overcoming Academic
Liabilities, ex.

• Chapter 12. Enhancing Low Academic Motivation
• The SMALSI and Academic Motivation
• What Are the Best Academic Motivation Strategies?
  
• Teaching the Best Academic Motivation Strategies
• Teaching Students to Set Goals and Increase
  Self-Determinism
• Teaching Students About Choice and Preference
• Teaching Students About Participation and
  Involvement
• Teaching Students to Understand Situated
  Motivation and the Impact of the Environment
• Teaching Students to Unlearn a History of Failure
  by Setting Up Success
• Summary

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Also 2 Helpful Appendices

• Appendix A Web Sites With Supplemental
  Information on Improving Learning and Study
  Strategies
• Appendix B Reproducible Figures
• References

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Examples of Instructional Approaches for
Teaching Students to be Strategic Learners
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According to research summaries from the
NationalInstitute For Literacy (NIFL)

• Comprehension is the reason for reading. If
  readers can read the words but do not understand
  what they are reading, they are not really
  reading.
• Reading is comprehension of text, not
  fluency!
• Text Comprehension is improved by instruction
  
• that helps readers use specific comprehension
  strategies.
• Recall that strategies are conscious,
  purposeful
• plans for accomplishing a goal.

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NIFL Reviews Denote 6 Strategies for Improving
Text Comprehension That Have Strong Scientific
Support
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Science says the following strategies are the
most effective.

• Teach readers to
• Monitor their comprehension
• Use graphic and semantic organizers
• Generate questions about what they read
• Answer questions about what they read
• Recognize the structure of the material (e. g.,
  setting, goals of content, outcomes)
• Summarize

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What teaching strategies are most effective for
teaching strategies?

• The most effective strategy for teaching
  strategies is clear, direct instruction that
  includes 4 components
• Direct explanation
• Modeling by the teacher
• Guided practice
• Application

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Even though these strategies for instruction are
the most effective for the most learners, these
may not work for everyone .alternative
approaches are available.
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An Alternative Approach

• Describe the strategy
• Justify the strategy
• Demonstrate the strategy
• Specify when and where the strategy should be
  used
• Demonstrate how to evaluate whether the use of
  the strategy has been successful

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Student Strategy CAN-DO

• Task Area Acquiring content
• Process Create list of items to learn
• Ask self if list is complete
• Note details and main ideas
• Describe components and their
  relationships
• Overlearn main items followed by learning
  details
• Classroom Applications This strategy may assist
  with memorization of lists of items through
  rehearsal techniques.

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Student Strategy FIST

• Task Area Reading comprehension
• Process First sentence is read
• Indicate a question based on material in
  first sentence
• Search for answer to question
• Tie question and answer together through
  paraphrasing
• Classroom Applications This questioning strategy
  helps students actively pursue responses to
  questions related directly to material being read

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Student Strategy PIRATES

• Task Area Test taking
• Process Prepare to succeed
• Inspect instructions carefully
• Read entire question, remember memory
• strategies, and reduce choices
• Answer question or leave until
  later
• Turn back to the abandoned items
• Estimate unknown answers by avoiding
  
• absolutes and eliminating
  similar choices
• Survey to ensure that all items have a
  response
• Classroom Applications PIRATES may help learners
  complete tests more carefully and successfully.

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Student Strategy SQ3R

• Task Area Reading
• Process Survey
• Question
• Read
• Recite
• Review
• Classroom Applications SQ3R provides a
  systematic approach to improve reading
  comprehension.

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Wlodkowskis Model for Enhancing
Motivation ANS-ACR
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Develop Strategies for Motivation that Address a
Key Q in 6 Areas
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Wlodkowskis Strategies

• Attitude Strategies What can I do to establish
  positive student attitudes toward this learning
  task and establish an expectation of success?
• Needs Strategies How can I best meet the needs
  of the students?

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Wlodkowskis Strategies

• Stimulation Strategies How can I structure this
  learning task to stimulate students continuously
  and sustain attention and engagement?
• Affective Strategies How can I make the
  affective experience and emotional climate
  positive ones?

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Wlodkowskis Strategies

• Competence Strategies How will these learning
  tasks increase or affirm students feelings of
  competence.
• Reinforcement Strategies What reinforcement
  will this learning activity provide for students?

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Kellers Model for Enhancing Motivation

• The IREO Model
• Interest
• Relevance
• Expectancy
• Outcomes