DIAGNOSTICIAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS AND READING FLUENCY

1. DIAGNOSTICIAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS AND READING FLUENCY Julia Chappell Dr. Johnnie Pettigrew

2. Rationale This presentation will discuss the results of a research study/survey conducted to assess educational diagnsoticians’ knowledge of the reading process in light of Response to Intervention legislation and discussion.

3. Objectives of the Presentation • Participants will hear the results of a study conducted last year related to the development of early reading skills. • Participants will interact and discuss with the presenters the implications of this research. • Participants will have the opportunity to determine if additional research needs to be completed within their service region.

4. Learner Outcomes • The participants will learn the basic reading components identified by the National Reading Panel. • The participants will evaluate responses of their colleagues related to university-based preparation knowledge and knowledge obtained through professional development related to the 5 components of reading instruction. • The participants will leave with introspection of their personal knowledge base related to assessment of the 5 components of reading.

5. Importance of Early Reading Recognized • No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (Pub. L. 107-110, §1208, 115 Stat 1550) • Illiteracy - House Education and Workforce Committee • Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA)

6. “…when determining whether a child has a specific learning disability as defined in section 602, a local educational agency shall not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning. (B) Additional authority.—In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention as a part of the evaluation procedures described in paragraphs (2) and (3).” (Pub. L. 108-446, §614, 118 Stat. 2706, 2004).

7. Changing Role of the Diagnostician • RTI

8. Purpose of Study The purpose of this study was to ascertain educational diagnostician’s perceived knowledge and skills in determining early reading difficulty, specifically in the areas of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and fluency.

9. NCLB Defines Reading • The term ‘reading’ means a complex system of deriving meaning from print that requires all of the following: (A) The skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes,or speech sounds, are connected to print. (B) The ability to decode unfamiliar words. (C) The ability to read fluently. (D) Sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension. (E) The development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print. (F) The development and maintenance of a motivation to read” (Pub. L. 107-110, §1208, 115 Stat 1550).

10. Impact of NCLB on Diagnostician

11. Components of Reading Instruction • Phonological Awareness • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Vocabulary Development • Reading Fluency • Reading Comprehension

12. Assessing Reading

13. Survey • Consent statement • Background information • Rank common assessments in the order of frequency of administration • questions related to diagnostician knowledge of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and fluency • Diagnostician training

14. Results – Years as Teacher • 24% indicated 3-5 years of teaching • 43% indicated 6-10 years of teaching • 17% indicated 11-15 years of teaching • 9% indicated 16-20 years of teaching • 3% indicated 21-25 years of teaching • 3% indicated 26+ years of teaching

15. Results – Years Experience as Diagnostician • 45% indicated 0-2 years of experience • 24% indicated 3-5 years of experience • 16% indicated 6-10 years of experience • 5% indicated 11-15 years of experience • 5% indicated 16-20 years of experience • 3% indicated 21-25 years of experience • 2% indicated 26+ years of experience

16. Training Site • 95% University Training Program • 5% Alternative Certification

17. Last Training in Reading • 22% Undergraduate Level • 49% Graduate Level • 26% Inservice • 3% Other – district provided

18. Most Commonly Used Tests WJ-III KTEA-II WIAT-II Occasionally Used Tests CBM IRI GORT-4 WRMT

19. 5 Areas of Reading • Phonological Awareness – 53% • Phonemic Awareness – 51% • Fluency – 69%

20. Which of the following definitions best describes the term “phonological awareness”? • The way words are formed and are related to each other. • The general ability to attend to the sounds of language as distinct from its meaning • Stored information about the meanings and pronunciation of words • Understanding of the way language conveys meaning • The understanding that every spoken word can be conceived of as a sequence of smaller units of sound

21. Which of the following definitions best describes the term “phonemic awareness”? • The way words are formed and are related to each other. • The general ability to attend to the sounds of language as distinct from its meaning • Stored information about the meanings and pronunciation of words • Understanding of the way language conveys meaning • The understanding that every spoken word can be conceived of as a sequence of smaller units of sound

22. Phonological awareness is among the best predictors of success in learning to read.

23. What does research say? • When students are provided with an appropriate understanding of phonological awareness and, specifically, phonemic awareness, the incidence of reading failure is diminished (National Research Council, 1998

24. When assessing fluency, what elements do you measure? • Prosody • Retell fluency • Automaticity • Silent reading rate • Accuracy • Oral reading rate • I don’t know

25. Development of Phonological Awareness – Can you order these? • Recognition that sentences are made up of words • Recognition that words can be broken down into syllables • Recognition that sounds can be deleted from words to make new words • Recognition that words can rhyme • Recognition that words can begin with the same sound or have the same medial sound • Ability to blend sounds to make words • Recognition that words can be broken down into onsets and rimes • Recognition that words can be broken down into individual phonemes

26. Fluency • The end goal of fluency is reading effortlessly with good comprehension, but in order for fluency to be empirically validated, it must have measurable components. This may be why fluency is usually defined in terms of elements related to it, which may include accuracy, automaticity, prosody, speed of processing, and word recognition rate. Accuracy refers to the accurate decoding of text (Rasinski, 2004).

27. Fluency • Automaticity refers to the use of minimal attentional resources for decoding, and prosody refers to the use of appropriate phrasing and expression. • Both are influenced by speed of processing.

28. Fluency • National Reading Panel (2000) fluency refers to the ability to read text “quickly, accurately, and with proper expression” (p. 3-5). • Partnership for Reading defines fluency as the ability to read text accurately and quickly (less emphasis on prosody) (CIERA, 2003).

29. Fluency • Others argue that the definition of fluency should expand to include prelexical components of word recognition, such as onset-rime, phonemic segmentation, and letter-sound correspondences (Kame’enui & Simmons, 2001).

30. Fluency • Wolf and Katzir-Cohen (2001) include the development of accuracy and automaticity in sublexical and lexical processes, and their integration in single-word reading and connected text that includes “perceptual, phonological, orthographic and morphological processes at the letter, letter-pattern, and word levels, as well as semantic and syntactic processes at the word level and connected-text level.”(p. 219).

31. Fluency • However it is measured, once developed, fluent oral reading is smooth, accurate, and expressive and attention is turned to comprehension of the text being read.

32. Dialog • a reciprocal conversation between two or more entities