Improving Adolescent Literacy: Suggestions from Research Dr. Joseph K. Torgesen Florida Center for Reading Research at F

1. Improving Adolescent Literacy: Suggestions from Research Dr. Joseph K. Torgesen Florida Center for Reading Research at FSU Florida Adolescent Literacy Workgroup, Aug, 2006

2. Adolescent Literacy:The Domain The term Adolescent Literacy can be used to encompass both more than reading, and reading in many and varied forms “The privileging of one form of literacy (academic literacy) over multiple other forms (e.g. computer, visual, graphic, and scientific literacies) has been criticized for ignoring the fact that different texts and social contexts (reading for whom, with what purpose) require different reading skills.” Alverman, 2001)

3. Adolescent Literacy:The Domain In the present context, it seems that we should be most concerned about academic literacy. The kinds of reading abilities that support success in the classroom The kinds of reading abilities that are assessed on state level accountability measures of reading comprehension such as the FCAT

4. Adolescent Literacy: The Questions 1. How is adolescent literacy growth different than growth in K-3? 2. What are the most important instructional challenges? 3. What instructional improvements need to occur in middle and high schools to meet our goals for improvement in adolescent literacy outcomes?

5. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading K-3 Acquire strategies for “decoding” unfamiliar words Build “sight word vocabulary” of many thousands of words

6. These are iNTirEStinG and cHallinGinG times for anyone whose pRoFEshuNle responsibilities are rEelaTed in any way to liTiRucY outcomes among school children. For, in spite of all our new NaWLEGe about reading and reading iNstRukshun, there is a wide-spread concern that public EdgUkAshuN is not as eFfEktIve as it shood be in tEecHiNg all children to read.

7. The report of the National Research Council pointed out that these concerns about literacy derive not from declining levels of literacy in our schools but rather from recognition that the demands for high levels of literacy are rapidly accelerating in our society.

8. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading K-3 Acquire strategies for “decoding” unfamiliar words Build “sight word vocabulary” of many thousands of words Learn to coordinate skills for fluent reading of text Begin extension of vocabulary beyond oral language limits Acquire variety of strategies for enhancing comprehension, or repairing it when it breaks down Develop or maintain a positive attitude about reading and view it as an important skill for learning and for pleasure

9. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading 4-12 Extend “sight vocabulary” to unfamiliar words in increasingly challenging text

10. Text difficulty increases Text difficulty increases 18 WPM 23 WPM 22 WPM Correct Words per Minute on Grade Level Text 160 150 140 Correct Words per Minute 130 120 Tindal, Hasbrouck, & Jones, 2005 110 100 F W S F W SF W S 6th Grade 7th Grade8th Grade

11. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading 4-12 Extend “sight vocabulary” to unfamiliar words in increasingly challenging text Learning meanings of thousands of new words – vocabulary expansion

12. Why Oral language experience is not enough • Frequency of Word Use in Major Sources of Oral and Written Language (Hayes & Ahrens, 1988) • Rare Words per 1,000 • Printed texts II. Television texts • Newspapers 68.3 Adult shows 22.7 • Popular magazines 65.7 Children’s shows 20.2 • Adult books 52.7 • Children’s books 30.9 III. Adult speech • Preschool books 16.3 College graduates 17.3 • talk with friends/ • spouses

13. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading 4-12 Extend “sight vocabulary” to unfamiliar words in increasingly challenging text Learning meanings of thousands of new words – vocabulary expansion Increasingly detailed knowledge of text structures and genres Expansion of content knowledge in many domains Thinking and reasoning skills increase Reading specific comprehension strategies become more complex

14. Reading K-3 vs. 4-12 Reading 4-12 Extend “sight vocabulary” to unfamiliar words in increasingly challenging text Learning meanings of thousands of new words – vocabulary expansion Increasingly detailed knowledge of text structures and genres Expansion of content knowledge in many domains Thinking and reasoning skills increase Reading specific comprehension strategies become more complex

15. “Ensuring adequate ongoing literacy development for all students in the middle and high school years is a more challenging task than ensuring excellent reading education in the primary grades, for two reasons: first, secondary school literacy skills are more complex, more embedded in subject matters, and more multiply determined; second, adolescents are not as universally motivated to read better or as interested in school-based reading as kindergartners.” Biancarosa & Snow, (2005)

16. Assuming a focus on academic literacy: How do the requirements for proficient reading change as students move from 3rd grade to 10th grade?

17. Changes in the factors that influence reading comprehension from grades 3 to 10: An example from the FCAT About the FCAT It was specifically created to examine students increasing abilities to comprehend complex text It requires students to read relatively long passages before asking them to answer questions. Passage length at different levels 3rd grade – 325 words 7th grade – 816 words 10th grade – 1008 words

18. How the study was conducted: Gave 2 hour battery of language, reading, nonverbal reasoning, and memory tests to approximately 200 children in each grade (3rd, 7th, and 10th) at 3 locations in the state Language – Wisc Vocab and Similarities Listening comprehension with FCAT passage Reading– Oral reading fluency, TOWRE, Gray Oral Reading Test NV Reasoning – Wisc Matrix Reasoning, Block Design Working Memory– Listening span, Reading Span

19. 55 47 23 12 Fluency 60 Verbal Non Verbal Memory 50 40 3rd Grade Percent of variance accounted for 30 20 10

20. N=218 R=.76

21. What skills are particularly deficient in level 1 and level 2 readers in 3rd grade? Skill/ability FCAT Performance Level 1 2 3 4 5 WPM on FCAT 54 92 102 119 148 Fluency percentile 6th 32th 56th 78th 93rd Phonemic decoding 25th 45th 59th 74th 91st Verbal knowledge/ reasoning 42nd 59th 72nd 91st 98th

22. December, 3rd Grade Correct word/minute=60 19th percentile The Surprise Party My dad had his fortieth birthday last month, so my mom planned a big surprise party for him. She said I could assist with the party but that I had to keep the party a secret. She said I couldn’t tell my dad because that would spoil the surprise. I helped mom organize the guest list and write the invitations. I was responsible for making sure everyone was included. I also addressed all the envelopes and put stamps and return addresses on them…..

23. 51 43 22 5 Fluency 60 Verbal Non Verbal Memory 50 40 7th Grade Percent of variance accounted for 30 20 10

24. What skills are particularly deficient in level 1 and level 2 readers at 7th grade? Skill/ability FCAT Performance Level 1 2 3 4 5 WPM on FCAT 88 113 122 144 156 Fluency percentile 7th 25th 45th 82th 95th Phonemic decoding 27th 53rd 53rd 74th 84th Verbal knowledge/ reasoning 34th 45th 64th 88th 93rd

25. 52 32 28 5 Fluency 60 Verbal Non Verbal Memory 50 40 10thGrade Percent of variance accounted for 30 20 10

26. What skills are particularly deficient in level 1 and level 2 readers at 10th grade? Skill/ability FCAT Performance Level 1 2 3 4 5 WPM on FCAT 130 154 175 184 199 Fluency percentile 8th 30th 68th 87th 93rd Phonemic decoding 18th 27th 45th 56th 72nd Verbal knowledge/ reasoning 30th 60th 66th 84th 89th

27. Two definitions of reading that summarize the findings from the study and identify shifting instructional challenges “Reading is translating between oral and written language.” (Perfetti, 1985) “Reading is thinking guided by print.” (Perfetti, 1985)

28. Adolescent Literacy: The Questions 1. How is adolescent literacy growth different than growth in K-3 2. What are the most important instructional challenges 3. What instructional enhancements need to occur in middle and high schools

29. Each year skills and knowledge required to meet standards increases Must become more strategic, and able to adapt to a variety of texts and demands Must be able to draw upon more extensive and deep background knowledge Must learn to deal with more complex ideas – reasoning and inferential skills Must acquire many new vocabulary words Must learn to recognize many new words automatically 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

30. Each year, new skills and knowledge are required to meet standards increases Must become more strategic, and able to adapt to a variety of texts and demands Must be able to draw upon more extensive and deep background knowledge Must learn to deal with more complex ideas – reasoning and inferential skills Must acquire many new vocabulary words Must learn to recognize many new words automatically 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

31. Based on what we currently know, efforts should focus on three goals 1. Improve overall levels of reading proficiency for all students –more level 4 and level 5 readers

32. Williamson, 2004

33. When all of this data is brought together, it is apparent that society in general and the workplace in particular demand higher levels of reading proficiency than schools. Moreover, many students are barely meeting those minimal education requirements. (p. 3) -- Pennsylvania Department of Education (2004)

34. Based on what we currently know, efforts should focus on three goals 1. Improve overall levels of reading proficiency for all students –more level 4 and level 5 readers 2. Insure that students at “grade level” in third grade are also at “grade level” in 10th grade

35. 213,000 186,000 Percent of students at grade level or above from grades 3 through 10 in 2006 75 66 67 64 61 46 40 32

36. Based on what we currently know, efforts should focus on three goals 1. Improve overall levels of reading proficiency for all students –more level 4 and level 5 readers 2. Insure that students at “grade level” in third grade are also at “grade level” in 10th grade 3. Accelerate development of students “below grade level toward grade level standards

37. Adolescent Literacy: The Questions 1. How is adolescent literacy growth different than growth in K-3 2. What are the most important instructional challenges 3. What instructional enhancements need to occur in middle and high schools

38. To accomplish goals #1 & 2, both research and logic suggest that content area teachers must bear the main responsibility Adolescent literacy depends on broad and deep knowledge and high-level thinking skills, as well as skills specific to reading Some reading strategies and approaches are specific to content and style in science, mathematics, history, etc. Students spend most of their time during the school day with content area teachers

39. Current research provides support for five areas of improvement/change by content area teachers to enhance literacy.

40. 5 Areas of Improvement 1. More explicit instruction and guided practice in the use of reading comprehension strategies 2. Increasing the amount of open, sustained discussion of content and ideas from text. 3. Maintaining high standards for the level of conversation, questions, vocabulary, that are used in discussions and in assignments 4. Adopting instructional methods that increase student engagement with text and motivation for reading 5. More powerful teaching of content and use of methods that allow all to learn critical content

41. To accomplish goal #3, both research and logic suggest: 1. We must work to prevent the loss of “grade level readers after grade 3. 2. We must find a way to deliver more intensive, more powerful instruction to students reading below grade level, because they must accelerate in their development.

42. Struggling readers are typically lagging behind in several critical areas: Poor readers in 7th grade have struggled with reading from the beginning—they have lots of bad habits Poor readers in 7th grade have, for several years, engaged in much less reading than their grade level peers

43. Teaching Reading is Urgent A student at the 10th percentile reads about 60,000 words a year in 5th grade A student at the 50th percentile reads about 900,000words a year in 5th grade Average students receive about 15 times as much practice in a year (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988)

44. The consequences of early and continuing reading difficulties Lack of reading practice-affects fluency Lack of wide reading-affects growth of vocabulary and knowledge of the world Lack of wide reading- affects growth of strategic reading skills Limited reading of classroom assignments- affects growth of essential knowledge Loss of interest in reading and learning

45. Primary Characteristics of Struggling Readers in Middle and High School They are almost always less fluent readers—sight word vocabularies many thousands of words smaller than average readers Usually know the meanings of fewer words Usually have less conceptual knowledge Are almost always less skilled in using strategies to enhance comprehension or repair it when it breaks down Will typically not enjoy reading or choose to read for pleasure

46. As an initial approximation, there are two broadly different groups of struggling readers for us to be concerned about Students who are still struggling significantly with initial word reading skills (say, below the 3-4th grade level) What proportion of struggling readers is this? Reading Next estimates 10%

47. Findings from U.Kansas Study • Struggling readers are diverse in reading skills. Different schools present different profiles of students and instructional needs. • Many Struggling Adolescent Readers (ASR) in urban high schools perform at very low levels on multiple measures of reading proficiency. More importantly, they represent about 65% of the urban high school population. • Many ASR in urban schools struggle with word level reading and comprehension. • Balanced reading instruction seems warranted • Intensive instruction seems warranted

48. 17 (30%) of students below 90 wpm “benchmark” for end of 2nd grade (9% of total) 38 students(66%) below 110 “benchmark” for end of 3rd grade (21% of total) 7th Grade Level 1&2

49. 24 (20%) students below 110 “benchmark” for end of 3rd grade 7th Grade Level 3 and above 4 (3%) of students below 90 “benchmark” for end of 2nd grade

50. 14 (11%) of students below 110 “benchmark” for end of 3rd grade (8% of total) 10th Grade level 1 and 2