Addressing Diversity in Rural Education

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Addressing Diversity in Rural Education

• Lynne Vernon-Feagans, UNC-CH
• Jill V. Hamm, UNC-CH
• Thomas W. Farmer, Penn State Univ.

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The Targeted Reading Intervention How Rural
Diversity makes a difference for implementation
Targeting instructional match in every
interaction
Lynne Vernon-Feagans Marnie Ginsberg Steve Amendum
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NRCRES TRI staff

• Lynne Vernon-Feagans, PI
• Steve Amendum
• Peg Burchinal
• Kate Gallagher
• Marnie Ginsberg
• Kirsten Kainz
• Steve Knotek
• Nathan Vandergrift
• Pam Winton
• Pledger Fedora
• Iris Padgett
• Megan Livengood
• Kelley Mayer
• Jason Rose
• Andrea Sauer
• Heather Ward
• Tim Wood

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What is Rural

• US Census Bureau Census Tracts
  http//www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua_2k.html
• Population density
• Population size
• NCES Locale Codes
• http//nces.ed.gov/surveys/RuralEd/definitions.asp
  
• Population size
• Distance to an urbanized area

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What makes Rural different from urban?

• Promotive Factors
• More two parent families
• Less population density
• Much less violent crime
• More homes owned by families
• Proportionately more children
• attending Head Start
• Fewer behavior problems in school
• Smaller schools
• More experienced teachers

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What makes Rural different from urban?

• Risk Factors
• Higher percentage of children living in poverty,
  especially minority children
• Outmigration of talented young people because of
  job losses
• Fewer college graduates
• More maternal depression and prescription drug
  abuse
• Lower child achievement levels
• Less educated teachers with lower salaries
• Longer bus rides to school

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The consensus intangibles in rural education

• In a place at a distance from large cities
• Historical roots to agrarian culture
• Access to fewer resources
• Smaller communities and schools
• Ready to meet community needs
• Grounded in a sense of place and rooted in the
  lives of families

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The TRI Study

• Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial
• to assess the effectiveness of the
• TRI in Low Wealth Rural Schools.
• Part of the National Research Center
• on Rural Education Support
  www.nrcres.org/TRI.htm
• www.nrcres.org/TRI.htm
• Funded by the
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

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Purpose

• The TRI is designed to improve the literacy
  teaching strategies of rural kindergarten and
  first grade teachers, using an individualized
  diagnostic teaching model, with a specific focus
  on strategies that are effective with struggling
  readers who do not make reading gains using
  traditional reading instruction.

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Why focus on teacher training?

• Research has shown that the first few years of
  school are critical for childrens later school
  success, especially in the area of reading
  (Alexander Entwisle, 1992 Juel, 1988).
• Teachers in rural areas have more experience in
  teaching and knowledge about the background of
  their students but teachers have less access to
  professional development opportunities (GAO
  report, 2004 Lee Burkham, 2003)
• Teachers and parents are more satisfied with
  their schools in rural areas but children come to
  school with less formal and high quality
  preschool experiences (Israel, 2004
  Vernon-Feagans et al., in press).

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The TRI Strategies for Success
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The TRI Model of Reading
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Examples of TRI Strategies Teaching in
the context of the word and text from the
beginning
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Word Work
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Guided Oral Reading
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TRI Materials
TRI Reference Tool
TRI Picture Dictionary
TRI Professional Development Guide

• Posters
• Reading Model
• Stages of Word Work

TRI diagnostic map
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TRI Summary

• Based on research based evidence
• Based on research in special education that
  emphasizes individualized diagnostic teaching
• Specifically geared to children considered
  struggling readers because they do not make
  progress with traditional reading approaches.
• Can be used with any reading curriculum and
  Reading First
• Teaching conducted by the classroom teacher in
  one on one teaching sessions between the teacher
  and child at least 4 times a week until the child
  makes rapid progress
• Teaching literacy that is always geared to the
  context of the word and text.
• Material developed to be extremely affordable by
  any school
• Delivered through a Collaborative Consultation
  Model, specifically geared to the needs of rural
  teachers

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Implementation Diversity Issues in Rural
Education
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Examples of challenges

• Teachers are often in classrooms with no aides
  and no special services
• Teachers know the families of the children and
  have both positive and negative preconceptions
  about child learning
• Teachers are often weary of new families who have
  moved to the area
• Teachers have not been observed in their
  classrooms and may not be comfortable with in
  class consultation and the use of new reading
  strategies
• Children come to school with particularly poor
  readiness skills with respect to learning
• Children come to school with better behavior than
  urban children

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Vernon-Feagans, Ginsberg Amendum, 2006
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How to create a Community of Practice (Buysse
Wesley, in press)

• Teacher responsibility and leadership
• identify struggling learners
• choose who to start working with
• do not change their current curriculum
• chart progress of students
• Teacher collaboration (Lesson Study)
• (Stigler Hiebert, 1999)
• exchange ideas with others
• understand the value of observation
• suggest the ideas for monthly workshops

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Collaborative Structure for Rural Teachers

• 3 Day Summer Institute
• Teachers identify 5 struggling readers
• Biweekly classroom visits from TRI Consultant.
• Grade level meetings to discuss strategies and
  problem solve.
• Daily consultation from the on-site TRI
  consultant
• Bimonthly workshops on topics teachers choose.

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TRI Design
Year 1
Year 2
Kindergarten
1st Grade
Kindergarten
1st Grade
21 high risk (4 teachers) 20 high risk (4 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers)
22 low risk 19 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk
24 high risk (5 teachers) 25 high risk (6 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers) 30 high risk (6 teachers)
30 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk 30 low risk
Experimental
Control
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Child Characteristics
CON
EXP
Race Black White Other 61 32 7 33 37 31
Gender Male Female 73 27 63 37
Parents Married 46 54
Maternal Education M 11.8 yrs M 13.3 yrs
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Teacher Characteristics
of years teaching M 18 yrs
Teacher Age M 43 yrs
Teacher Race White Black Other 65 30 5
National Board Certification 5
Certification type Temp Regular Specific grade certification Masters Degree 10 40 50 20
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Gain Scores over 4 months
Outcome
F-Test
Group
LSMean
Phonological awareness (CTOPPS) F(1,69) 1.29 C E .52 1.67
Word Attack (Woodcock Johnson) F(1,151) 4.09 C E 27.15 35.86
Letter/Word Identification (Woodcock Johnson) F(1,152) 5.25 C E 34.12 42.22
Vocabulary (PPVT) F(1,120) 0.38 C E 1.20 2.32
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Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement
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Future Directions

• Webcam technology
• TRI consultation in remote rural classrooms in
  real time
• TRI grade level meetings across sites through
  web cam technology
• Problem solving across sites to create a
  community of practice

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Summary

• Rural Schools are different contexts for learning
• Need sensitivity to rural structure and beliefs
  in schools
• Need to break the barrier of access
• Need to break the barrier of isolation
• Individual consultation in real time using the
  TRI provides a major solution to these barriers
  while providing research based literacy
  strategies for struggling learners

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• Implementation and Evaluation of the Rural Early
  Adolescent Learning Project (REAL) Commonalities
  in Diverse Educational Settings
• Jill V. Hamm, Dylan Robertson, Kimberly Dadisman,
  Matthew Irvin, Allen Murray, Jana Thompson, Kelli
  OBrien, Jenny Westrick
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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• General Aims of Project REAL
• Professional development for rural teachers who
  serve middle level youth (5th 6th grades)
• Responsive to local resources, needs, and school
  configurations
• Promote strategies that provide universal support
  for all students during early adolescence
• Promote strategies that help teachers advance the
  learning of low-achieving students

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Conceptual Framework for REAL
Supporting and Encouraging Effective Transitions



Behavioral Engagement
Academics

Social Relations
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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural Areas

• Pilot Sites Research Participants
• Recruited from all 5th grade classrooms of eight
  public elementary schools in two states of the
  rural Appalachia region
• 61 agreed to participate
• 315 participating students (170 girls and 145
  boys)
• Over 95 White
• Schools were eligible for U.S. Department of
  Educations Rural and Low-Income School Program
  (RLISP)
• locale code 6, 7, or 8 and at least 20 of
  students are from families living below the
  federal poverty level

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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural Areas

• Measures Adjustment in Multiple Domains
• Teacher-ratings on 18-item questionnaire (ICS-T
  Cairns, Leung, Gest, Cairns, 1995)
• Sub-scales/factors
• Aggression (a .84), Popularity (a .83),
  Academic competence (a .80), Affiliative (a
  .74), Internalizing (a .52), Olympian (a .78)
  
• Measures Achievement
• End-of-Year Grade Average
• School records data for end of 5th grade for
• math, English/reading, social studies/history and
  science
• Mean across four subjects (in the form of a
  percentage) was obtained and used in analyses
• State-level Standardized Achievement Test Scores
• School records data for end of 5th grade for
  similar subjects
• math, science, social studies and English
• Mean across these four subjects was obtained and
  used in analyses
• scaled scores were on different metrics by state
  average standardized achievement score were
  standardized within state.

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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural Areas

• Data Reduction Techniques
• 4 unique patterns of variables emerged in girls
• (i.e.,clusters, behavioral configurations)
• Troubled above average aggression and
  internalizing below average academic competence,
  affiliative, popularity, and Olympian
• Tough well above average aggression average
  popularity, academic competence, affiliative, and
  Olympian below average internalizing
• Sensitive above average internalizing below
  average affiliative average aggression, academic
  competence, popularity, and Olympian
• Model above average academic competence,
  affiliative, and popularity below average
  aggression and internalizing.

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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural Areas

• Data Reduction Techniques
• 5 unique patterns of variables emerged in boys
• (i.e.,clusters, behavioral configurations)
• Troubled above average aggression and
  internalizing below average academic competence,
  affiliative, popularity, and Olympian
• Low academic below average academic competence
  and Olympian above average affiliative average
  aggression, popularity, and internalizing
• Tough well above average aggression above
  average affiliative, popularity, and Olympian
  below average internalizing average academic
  competence
• High academic above average academic competence
  below average aggression average affiliative,
  popularity, Olympian, and internalizing
• Model above average academic competence,
  affiliative, popularity, and Olympian below
  average aggression and internalizing

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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural
AreasResults from Pilot Sites
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Support for Conceptual Framework in Rural
AreasResults from Pilot Sites
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• Moving from Pilot Sites to Efficacy Sites
• Research Design for Project REAL
• 8 intervention and 8 control schools
• 8 with middle school transition configuration
• 8 alternative configuration (e.g., k-8, k-12)
• Baseline data collected in spring of 5th grade
  Process/transition data collected in fall and
  spring of 6th grade
• Outcome data on school adjustment and academic
  achievement collected in spring of 6th grade

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• Implications of Rural Diversity
• for Interventions
• Special needs by region, locale
• Challenges to delivery, implementation
• Pinpointing transition

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Positive Behavior Enhancement
Academic Engagement Enhancement

Social Dynamics Training

• Positive Behavior Enhancement
• Strategies to create structure and consistency
  across classes
• Encouraging self-directed behavior
• Proactive approaches to prevent behavioral
  difficulties

Academic Engagement Enhancement -General
strategies that promote an instructional context
that is responsive to the need of a broad and
diverse range of students
Social Dynamics Training - Promoting teachers
awareness of the impact of peers on motivation
achievement. - Recognizing peer groups and social
roles - Identifying youth with social
difficulties that interfere with their own or
others learning - Strategies to use peer group
dynamics to foster classroom engagement -
Strategies to help students with social
difficulties develop positive, supportive
relationships
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• REAL Intervention Universal Components
• Summer Institute
• 15 modules completed between fall and spring by
  teachers
• On-line articles and activities
• Topics include
• Early adolescent development
• Motivation and academic engagement
• Instruction for low-achieving students
• School and classroom social dynamics
• Information processing
• Literacy support   
• REAL Intervention Targeted Components
• Bimonthly videoconferences with Project REAL
  staff
• Directed Consultation Model Focused on issues
  salient to the site, addressed through REAL
  intervention framework
• Supporting struggling writers

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Pilot Sites Findings of Intervention Effects

• Participants included 448 students (239 girls)
  who transitioned from 5th to 6th grade
• Transitioned from 11 public elementary schools
• Transitioned into 4 6-8 middle schools (2
  intervention, 2 control)
• Over 95 White
• Schools were eligible for U.S. Department of
  Educations Rural and Low-Income School Program
  (RLISP)
• locale code 6, 7, or 8 and at least 20 of
  students are from families living below the
  federal poverty level
• Data collected 5th grade spring, 6th grade
  early fall, 6th grade late spring

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Social Impact of Intervention ResultsPilot Sites
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Social Impact of Intervention ResultsPilot Sites
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Summary of Pilot Site Findings

• In control classrooms, students perceptions of
  the classroom social context evidence a
  significant decline across the transition year.
• In intervention classrooms, students perceptions
  of the classroom social context remain stable and
  positive across the transition year. 
• If teachers use strategies to enhance social,
  behavioral, and academic adjustment, they can
  maintain a positive social context for learning.
• Future analyses will examine the implications of
  these patterns forstudents' achievement in
  intervention versus control sites.
• Future analyses will investigate these patterns
  across a larger and diverse sampling of sites,
  and in relation to differences in student risk
  pre-transition and school characteristics, and
  using HLM.

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Implications for Analyses of Diverse Locales

• Representing School Differences in Meaningful
  Ways
• Configuration differences
• Concentrations of students at-risk
• Cross-state Comparisons
• State differences in achievement tests

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Conducting Educational Interventions in Diverse
Rural Contexts Issues, Challenges, and Lessons
Learned

• Thomas W. Farmer
• Pennsylvania State University

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Common Issues In Diverse Rural Areas

• Educational needs of at-risk youth
• Issues of critical mass and geographical
  isolation
• Limited resources and professional development
• Commitment to local issues and concept of place
  

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Diversity in Issues Faced by Rural Areas

• Different types of at-risk youth
• Different school structures and approaches for
  addressing isolation and issues of critical mass
• Different levels and configurations of providing
  supports and professional development
• Local values, expectations, and support for
  education differ from community to community

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Challenges for Developing and Evaluating
Standardized Interventions

• Must include universal and targeted interventions
  that can be adapted to both the general and
  unique populations of each district while
  maintaining standardization
• Must accommodate different configurations of
  grouping students and supporting teachers while
  guarding against biases that may be introduced by
  these differences
• Intervention must complement existing curricula
• Must be responsive to the fact that each
  community views themselves as unique and not
  fitting a standard curriculum or model of support

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Lessons Learned Rural Intervention Research

• There is more than one rural
• Intervention design must be responsive to
  different contexts
• Research design can be challenging and
  identifying comparable sites for randomization is
  very difficult
• Increased research costs
• Variability in district and school
  configurations, critical mass
• Isolation increases both staffing and travel
  costs
• Place matters
• Pride, loyalty, and identity linked to the land
  or the community
• Expectation that curriculum and instruction is
  linked to place
• School is viewed as a primary anchor of the
  community

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General Lessons Learned Developing Interventions
that can be Scaled-Up

• Anticipate highly varied contexts in the
  intervention development phase
• Assess the degree to which the intervention is
  instruction dependent and context dependent
  
• Instruction (e.g., reading, writing)
• Context (e.g., social, behavioral)
• Create a delivery format that promotes
  flexibility and local tailoring in preparing
  teachers for implementation
• Directed consultation (standard content and aims)
  
• Embedded in the local curricula and instructional
  philosophies