Examining Core Instruction in an RTI Model: Literacy

1. Examining Core Instruction in an RTI Model: Literacy Kay Stahl kay.stahl@nyu.edu www.nysrti.org/

2. Who are they? Who doesn’t belong? 2 4 4 1 8 6 7 3 5

3. Building A Roadmap

4. Let’s Review What We Know • Yes, we are all sick of talking about the NRP. • Yes, we all know the 5 pillars and the “explicit, systematic” jargon. • Therefore, it makes a good starting point. • It has been 9 years…so what have we forgotten? Or where have we drifted and called it the NRP anyway? • We will need our own School Reading Panel to investigate the research on: writing, hypertext and new literacies, and motivation.

5. Literacy: True or False

6. True or False

7. National Reading Panel:Phonemic Awareness Findings • Many programs were effective. • Lasting benefits depend on the effectiveness of the comprehensive literacy program. • Programs should present material in an interesting, engaging way that maintains student attention. • Effect sizes were largest when training lasted less than 20 hours.

8. National Reading Panel:Phonemic Awareness Findings • PA training is effective in helping children manipulate sounds in words. • PA helps all types of children learn to read words and pseudowords. (SES, K, 1, disabled readers in 2-6) • PA helps K, 1 children (all SES) learn to spell. • PA training did NOT help disabled readers learn to spell.

9. Implications for PA Instruction Instruction is most effective: • when based on pretests to determine an appropriate match with development. • in small developmentally based groups. • when conducted in conjunction with letter work. • when involving fewer manipulations (1-2) rather than more manipulations.

10. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings • “Phonics should not become the dominant component in a reading program,neither in the amount of time devoted to it nor in the significance attached.” (2-137) • Explicit, systematic phonics instruction is essential.

11. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings “There was one group for whom phonics instruction failed to exert a statistically significant impact on the students’ growth in reading. This occurred in the eight comparisons involving low achievers in 2nd through 6th grades (d = 0.15). Although smaller, the effect size for low achievers did not differ significantly from the effect size of disabled readers (d = 0.32).” (NRP, 2-117)

12. Overall, phonics instruction had a significant effect on reading achievement. Most (2/3) of the effect sizes involved measures of decoding or word recognition Effects were significant, but smaller, on measures of comprehension and oral reading. Absence of effects on spelling for students over grade 1. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings

13. The effects of different types of phonics programs (synthetic phonics, programs which emphasized phonograms, miscellaneous) did not differ from each other. This suggests that there is no one right method of teaching phonics, but that many methods of teaching children to decode are effective. National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings

14. Phonics instruction is more effective in kindergarten and first grade than in grades 2-6. Phonics instruction meets a developmental need. It is preferable to assess needs and match instruction to those needs. (2-136) National Reading Panel:Phonics Findings

15. What the report does not say • It does not support any particular phonics program. • It does not talk about “decodable text.” • It does not support intensive phonics instruction. • It does not talk about the content of a phonics program.

16. The report does not support “extreme” phonics instruction e • An hour a day or more on phonics alone. • Focus on rules and terminology. • Focus on isolated words. • No extension into connected text, or use of highly contrived text.

17. Fluency • What is your definition of reading fluency?

18. Fluency “Fluent reading is when a reader’s recognition of words in context is so transparent that readers are able to move from the text to comprehension without conscious attention to words.” (Stahl & Hiebert, 2005, p. 164).

19. Fluency The ability to decode and comprehend at the same time. (Samuels, 2006)

20. What makes up the ability to read fluently? • Accuracy of decoding • Automaticity of word recognition • Appropriate use of prosodic features such as: • stress • pitch • phrasing • expression

21. Measuring Fluency • Prosody ratings • NAEP • DRA • Words Correct Per Minute • DIBELS • IRI’s (timed) • Commercial packages

22. Guided oral reading is effective in improving reading fluency and overall achievement. Guided oral reading is a grab bag including a lot of different procedures including repeated reading, assisted reading, impress reading. Not all approaches are going to be equally effective in every situation. National Reading Panel:Fluency Findings

23. Encouraging children to read on their own does not seem to improve fluency or general reading achievement. This includes DEAR, SSR, Accelerated Reader. This has been an area of controversy. Often children do not choose to read material of adequate challenge. National Reading Panel:Fluency Findings

24. Development of Fluency • Repeated Reading • Assisted Reading • Wide Reading

25. Repeated Reading Terminology Repeated Reading: Any number of techniques that result in children reading the same text more than once. Assisted Reading: Teacher and student read passage together, repeatedly, until desired level of fluency is achieved.

26. Wide Reading • The most important thing we can do to improve children’s reading achievement is to have them read as much connected text at their instructional level as possible. • It is important that children read challenging (but not too challenging) material.

27. Rasinski’s 6 principles • Modeling • Direct instruction and feedback • Support or assistance • Practice with phrasing • Repetition • Use of easy and appropriate text for independent practice • Use of challenging text with scaffolding (Stahl)

28. Texts in Tier 1:Turn Up the Volume • Complex texts consist of well-developed plots with universal themes or informational texts with conceptual density and rich vocabulary. • Direct instruction, modeling and scaffolding are essential to the meaning-making process due to the complexity of ideas presented in texts. • Research indicates that complex text has a positive affect on fluency (including prosody) and comprehension. (Schwanenflugel et al., 2008; K. Stahl, 2009).

29. Text: Turn Up The Volume • Complex text provides the opportunity for comprehension strategy instruction, high level discussion, vocabulary development, research projects. • Grade level texts expose struggling readers to more words and richer vocabulary than little books. • Use the ZPD as a guide.

30. Unrehearsed sight reading, with turn-taking (Rasinski, 2006) Modern RRR: Popcorn reading Names on popsicle sticks Guerilla/pitch reading Content reading: call only on good readers to read text to class The Biggie:No Round Robin Reading

31. Research-Validated: Younger Readers • Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction (2nd graders) - 13 publications/robust • Stahl & Heubach, 2005 • Schwanenflugel et al., 2008 • Kuhn & Schwanenflugel, 2008 • Fluency Development Lesson (Rasinski & Padak, 1998) • Readers’ Theater (Rasinski)

32. Fluency for Older Readers • Research-validated • Paired Reading Technique (Topping, 1987) *This is NOT partner reading!!!! • Research-based • Radio reading (Rasinski) • Repeated reading of speeches See www.timrasinski.com for more ideas.

33. Let’s Shift Gears • Constrained abilities are fairly linear and with instruction children develop mastery within a few years. • Unconstrained abilities are multidimensional, incremental, context dependent and develop across a lifetime. Paris, S. (2005). Reinterpreting the development of reading skills. Reading Research Quarterly,40, 184-202.

34. Continuum: Constrained to Unconstrained Abilities (Paris, 2005) Vocabulary Phonemic Awareness Fluency Phonics Comprehension Unconstrained Constrained

35. Constrained Skills Automatic Over-learning Immediate Simple/single step Certainty of success Accuracy Interval training Unconstrained Strategies Intentional Metacognitive Reflective Complex/multi-step Probability of success Approximation Massed practice Important DifferencesShanahan (2009)

36. How does this theory affirm or contradict your beliefs? How is this different than you have thought about the pillars? How does this confirm your current instructional choices? Testing choices? How are you thinking differently about your choices? Stop, Think, Write, and Talk

37. Vocabulary

38. Vocabulary • Oral vocabulary refers to words we know in listening and speaking. • Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use to read or write in print. (NRP, 2000)

39. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings • Vocabulary is related to comprehension. • More recent research provides evidence that it also influences word recognition (McFalls, Schwanenflugel, S. Stahl, 1996) and fluency (Hudson, Pullen, Lane and Torgeson (2009).

40. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings • Most studies in NRP were conducted in grades 3-6, followed by Pre-K and K. • Instruction makes a difference in vocabulary learning. • Standardized assessments only provide global baseline…view results tentatively. • Teacher-generated assessments that match instruction are recommended. It is critical to use more than a single measure.

41. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings-Instruction • Words instructed should be words that are useful in many contexts. • A large portion of vocabulary items should be derived from content areas. *CREDE and others have found that sheltered instruction within disciplinary units is effective for ELLs. *Themes provide cohesiveness and repeated exposures.

42. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings-Instruction • Direct Instruction • Combine definitions and contextualized examples • Rich, extended instruction before and after reading • Include instruction on affixes and derivations at developmentally appropriate points

43. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings-Instruction • Repetition and Multiple Exposures • Repetitions in same setting • Multiple exposures in multiple contexts

44. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings-Instruction • Task Restructuring • Group size-dyads, small groups • Explicit definition of tasks, clarifying • Manipulating materials • Active Engagement • Discussion by children • Active use of words in reading, writing, talking, listening

45. National Reading Panel:Vocabulary Findings-Instruction • Implicit Learning • Repetition • Rich Content • Computer technology • Engagement • Restructuring tasks

46. Putting It All Together • Experts estimate that students learn 2000-3000 words/year of reading vocabulary - too many to teach (Nagy, Anderson, & Herman, 1987). • Read-alouds and shared reading are important sources of vocabulary for the youngest and poorest readers!!!

47. Putting It All Together • Insisting on student engagement • Small discussion groups • Research projects • Eliminating isolated, mundane vocabulary work • Wide Reading (Hmmm, sounds familiar) • Literature • Disciplinary • Developing an evidence-based assessment system to document vocabulary growth

48. Research-Validated Instructional Techniques • Text Talk (Beck & McKeown, 2003; 2007) • Possible Sentences (S. Stahl & Kapinus, 1991) • Teaching Morphemic and Contextual Analysis (Baumann et al., 2002; 2003)

49. Research-Validated Vocabulary Assessments • Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (Wesche & Paribakht, 1996) • Vocabulary Recognition Task (K. Stahl, 2008) • Vocabulary Assessment Magazine (Bravo, Cervetti, Pearson & Hiebert, 2006) • See Blachowicz & Fisher (2005) for research-based ideas and activities

50. Comprehension • The reason for reading • Everything else is in its service • Multidimensional • Context dependent • Reader constructed • Transactional