SISI - Standards and Indicators

Standard 1 – Academic Performance - Curriculum
1.1a There is evidence that the curriculum is aligned with Academic Expectations, Core Content for Assessment, Transformations, and the Program of Studies.
1.1g The curriculum provides access to a common academic core for all students.

Standard 2 - Academic Performance - Classroom Evaluation/Assessment
2.1b Teachers collaborate in the design of authentic assessment tasks aligned with core content subject matter.

Standard 3 - Academic Performance - Instruction
3.1b Instructional strategies and learning activities are aligned with the district, school, and state learning goals and assessment expectations for student learning.

Scenario

“Another Monday” Linda sighed as she reluctantly gathered her books and a handful of disorganized papers and began her two block walk to the high school. She dreaded English class today for the homework assignment required reading a short story. A history assignment also required reading. A test in algebra was scheduled for fourth period and Linda knew this meant another experience with failure. Reading, writing and math had been difficult for Linda in middle school too. Success in school had become an impossible task, or so it seemed.

As Linda approached the main entrance, she noticed small groups of students talking happily with each other. No one spoke as she walked by. Standing alone near the entrance of the building, Linda looked in the distance at the familiar golden arches of McDonald’s. The thought of dropping out of school and getting a job at McDonald’s seemed more inviting than ever. No more embarrassment trying to read; no more struggles with a writing assignment; no more tests to fail. And besides, her boyfriend had a job and he seemed to be doing fine. The sound of the bell interrupted the moment of daydreaming as Linda slowly entered the building and became lost in the crowd of students.

Introduction

Middle and high school students in the twenty-first century face more literacy challenges than any other group. In the world of the “information highway,” the ability to read, write and comprehend increasingly complex materials is vital to success. Yet adolescent school failure in these academic areas remains a recognized state and national problem.

Results of the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, released in March by the U. S. Department of Education reported:

• Only 40% of high school students can read well enough to comfortably manage standard high school texts.

Upon entering high school, after seven or eight years of education, many students have not achieved adequate reading and writing skills. Failure to read and write at grade level prevents students from achieving in the content areas. “Poor academic performance is the single strongest predictor of dropping out of school.” (Hale, 1998). If retention occurs due to low grades and poor performance, the student becomes increasingly frustrated and even more likely to dropout.

The dropout rate is an issue that touches every taxpayer. Almost half of the welfare recipient head of households are high school dropouts (Hale, 1998). Youth who drop out of school earn, on the average, 50% less than what high school graduates earn. Often dropouts turn to crime. It is obvious that we as educators, community members, and parents must become active literacy advocates (Student Victimization and Perpetration Data Summary/Kentucky, 1996-1999; Hale, 1998).

Middle and high school students have moved from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” However, many students leave elementary school without an adequate foundation in reading and consequently are at a disadvantage for succeeding at higher levels. Secondary teachers often express concerns when asked to take responsibility for their students’ reading. In the article, What Secondary Teachers need to Know (Jacobs, 1999), the author suggests that secondary teachers might think of reading as a comprehension or understanding process that involves three stages. These stages are derived from a model of learning called “schema theory.”

Pre-reading

Know what students bring to their reading. Provide them with bridges or scaffolds, between the given and the new---clarifying unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts and offering necessary information in the process. Promote students’ engagement and interests by providing them with means to preview and anticipate the text. This preparation is crucial for comprehension to occur.

Guided Reading

During this stage students need structured means to integrate the knowledge and information they bring to the text. Probe the text beyond its literal meaning for deeper understanding. Reword the the factual questions. Ask “how” or “why” questions.

Post Reading

Give students ways to articulate their understanding of what they have read.. Apply it to a novel situation (Farber, P. J., 1999, July/August).

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Strategies

READING STRATEGIES

Increase Reading and Writing Skills and Decrease Student Dropout:

Listed below are a few overall strategies that may contribute to an increase in reading and writing skills and possibly impact the decrease in student dropout at the secondary level:

• Evaluate high-risk students early to determine academic and non-academic needs (diagnosing the student’s level of development in reading/writing is the crucial first step).
• Employ literacy education across the curriculum
• Ensure professional development opportunities relative to literacy
• Regard all students positively, providing a caring environment
• Find ways to connect with the at-risk student’s family
• Enlist community support, e.g. mentorship activities
• Work to lessen/eliminate non-cognitive barriers to learning such as:
  poverty, home-life stress, behavioral issues, English proficiency
  problems, abuse/neglect.

Strategies that can be Implemented in the Classroom to Improve Student Engagement and Academic Achievement:

• Utilize classroom “Engaged Learning” activities
• Use newspaper/magazine reading/research activities
• Use appropriate computer software for skills & motivation
• Engage students reciprocal teaching & imagery techniques to increase comprehension
• Utilize “reading apprentice” programs for content areas
• Provide incentives for participation in school activities, e.g. contributions to the school newsletter, clubs activity, etc.
• Use play scripts for interactive classroom reading
• Read and discuss current events in the classroom
• Encourage students to keep a daily journal
• Allow students to read to younger students
• Use group projects to expand language and writing skills in a social context
• Utilize peer or cross-age mentoring/tutoring

Literacy Strategies and Programs

Middle and high school students must possess adequate reading and writing skills before they can comprehend content in other subjects. In some cases, at-risk students have decoding skills but their reading is slow and labored. When this occurs, comprehension of the content is greatly hindered. The act of reading must involve both the ability to “unlock” words and comprehend the meaning of words and passages.

How to be a Fluent and Accurate Reader

A resource that has been proven effective for increasing fluency and comprehension is the Great Leaps Reading Program. This is a research-based program and is especially effective for students reading below grade level. The program materials are efficient in both cost and time expenditure. Students work individually with an instructor and the materials for less than 10 minutes per day (three days per week minimum). The Great Leaps Program uses proven instructional tactics with powerful motivators to remediate a variety of reading problems.
For additional information and ordering procedures contact:
Diarmuid, Inc., P.O. Box 357580, Gainsville, Fl 32635. Phone: (352) 271-9720
Email address: KUC49@AOL.com
Website: http://www.greatleaps.com

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Research-based program and is especially effective for students reading below grade level.

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Reader Apprenticeship Across the Curriculum

Reader apprenticeship is a concept based on cognitive and social interaction between groups of students and the teacher while reading content materials. This is accomplished by dividing students into small groups in which they first read the material, then discuss their ideas together. The teacher acts as a facilitator and helps guide discussion. A key focus of this instructional technique revolves around the metacognitive conversation---a conversation about the thinking process experienced as one reads. Reader apprenticeship case studies have shown that students gain, on average, two years of academic growth within one academic year. This strategy allows reading competencies to be addressed using the normal core content subject areas. Struggling readers gain in knowledge and reading skills from group interaction and high expectations (Greenleaf, Schoenbach, Cziko, & Mueller, 2001).

Read-Aloud Reading Program

Middle school and/or high school students can take pride in perfecting their own reading skills when volunteering to read to a younger student. The reading material will be at levels the student can easily manage while practicing basic reading skills (fluency, expressing, comprehension. These basic reading skills are reinforced and strengthened for the older student. Reading aloud in this manner allows the middle/high school student to take on a “teaching role” which helps to build self esteem and encourage a positive attitude toward reading. A Read Aloud program has been implemented in West Virginia and has demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy for secondary at-risk students (Read Aloud West Virginia Web Site).

Play Scripts as Reading Tools

Students need to be motivated to read. Reading play scripts is one strategy that makes reading fun. Begin by choosing a short play that is interesting and age appropriate. Assign “parts” and allow students to interact reading the play. This technique is not only beneficial for improving fluency and oral expression, but also has a strong social advantage. This strategy is one example of “engaged learning.” Additionally, reading plays can make content reading come to life and provide an avenue for “reading across the content.” (Reader'sTheater; Scripts for Schools).

Current Events in the Classroom

The newspaper is a unique publication in that it is updated daily. Newspapers may be donated to a school or can be purchased at a nominal cost. Teachers can be creative and motivate students at all reading levels with activities using the daily newspaper, There are many news articles/topics suitable for middle and/or high school student learning, vocabulary enhancement and reading, practice. The newspaper is also an excellent tool for reading across the curriculum. Activities might include small group discussion, journal writing, letters to the editor, illustrations or cartoons, creation of advertisements, and many other experiences. Articles from popular news magazines can also be utilized for reading practice (Aiex, 1988).

Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching is a research-based technique that helps students expand their repertorie of thinking strategies and develop flexibility in using them. This strategy allows students to take turns taking on the “teacher role” by asking questions of each other in a small group setting. The content-area teacher engages students in a dialogue and employs four thinking strategies:

• Generating questions based on what students already know
• Predicting what is about to happen in the text
• Summarizing what students have just read
• Stopping to clarify when students encounter confusing material

Through reciprocal teaching activities, students engage in higher level thinking and strengthen comprehension skills. Students learn to think about thinking and to be retrospective about themselves. These reading and interactive exercises provide opportunities for students to identify what kinds of problems they have experienced as well as what kind of role reading will likely play in their lives beyond school (Greenleaf, et al., 1988).

Reading Club Fun (reading for pleasure)

Secondary students who are below their age/grade level in reading do not typically enjoy reading and seldom, if ever, read for pleasure. A creative way to encourage reading is to provide time and resources that enable students to read for pleasure and increase reading motivation, fluency, and comprehension. The teacher can help readers identify various book clubs they can form and join, based on their reading interests. Examples: The Mystery Club, Adventure Club, or History Club. Students may enjoy designing a poster for each book club and sign their names on the poster as club members. Teachers can provide class time for students to meet and discuss their interests and readings.

At-risk students are often disengaged from their peers and may not belong to any after school clubs. Research indicates that “disengagement” is one of the causes of school dropout. The Reading Club can be established as one of the school clubs with regular scheduled meetings and activities (Cole, 1995).

Recorded Book Method

Students listen to a recorded passage two or three times and then read it aloud to the teacher or to a “buddy.” This reading practice is repeated with a variety of passages, followed by discussion of the selection. The sessions are brief, scheduled for two to five minute segments of text, allowing students to have short periods of reading success. In a study of 33 high school students with reading abilities ranging from 2nd to 4th grade level, a two year gain in reading comprehension and improved speech patterns occurred after four months of working with the recorded book method (Cole, 1995; Marie Carbo Resources).

Scanning for Answers

Scanning is a reading strategy in which key sentences, phrases, and words are read quickly in order to locate a specific piece of information in the content of a passage. By utilizing this skill, students reading below grade level can more easily find key words in written material in order to answer literal comprehension questions. Students’ ability to complete assignments quickly and accurately increases.

This strategy should be directly taught through modeling by the teacher, followed by several student practices. Assist the student in identifying “key words” in the question. Then quickly scan the reading passage to locate a match for the key words in the question. Read the entire sentence that contains these key words and determine if this answers the questions. Initially, use easy passages and questions requiring literal comprehension (names, places, numbers, etc.). After the student understands the process, use the student’s textbook to locate answers to questions.

This technique was developed by teachers and is part of the Learning Strategies Curriculum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045, University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.

WRITING STRATEGIES

Reading and writing are closely related skills and should not be separated in the instruction process. Students need periods of explicit instruction in both reading and writing if they have not mastered these skills at the elementary level. Information concerning writing at the elementary level can be utilized at the secondary level. Strategies used with secondary students will differ in content and activities need to be age appropriate. However, instruction relative to the actual writing process does not vary.

A few suggested strategies follow. For additional information regarding teaching writing at the secondary level and ideas for strategies that work, contact the middle and high school program consultants at the Kentucky Department of Education: Cherry Boyles (high school), Jennifer Bernhard (middle school). Phone: (502) 564-2106.

Writing Labs

A writing lab is a short-term, intensive tutorial instruction activity. The lab can be a part of Extended School Services for the students to practice writing skills after school. A variety of instructional methods (peer tutors, computer tutorials, workbooks, videos, etc. can be available for use by students. Instruction should be tailored to each student’s particular need and learning style. For example, students may be referred to the writing lab to accomplish such goals as:

• Learn how to write a clear, effective paragraph
• Understand a sentence fragment and learn how to avoid fragments
• Learn how to write a personal narrative
• Learn how to compose an effective response to “on demand” writing prompts

For additional information and impact of writing labs for struggling students, contact Ken Wright at Scott County Schools. Phone: (502) 863-3663
Email address: kwright@scott.k12.ky.us

Outlining is A-OK

Teaching students to outline not only strengthens writing skills but reading comprehension as well. (This strategy can be taught as early as third and fourth grade, but should be continued through middle and high school).

• Prepare a short passage of 5-10 sentences that has a clear topic sentence about a subject of interest to the students.
• Give the students a highlighted pen and have them highlight the topic sentence
• Discuss how this sentence tells what the passage is about
• Have students identify details that tell more about the subject and highlight these details
• Have students look for details in the passage that are not related to the topic/subject and explain that these would NOT be “support details” for the main idea
• Show students how to put the main idea and supporting details in an outline format
• Allow students to practice this skill, using their own class textbooks. (University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning).

Be An Author

Begin this activity by calling attention to how an author writes---how he develops the plot and describes the characters. Spend time discussing ways to describe characteristics of persons in a plot. The students may like to select a well known individual and suggest words and phrases that describe the person. Talk about how plots develop with a problem to solve or conflict to resolve. Students are then encouraged to write a story in the same style as the author.

Another activity for writing practice is giving students opportunities to submit articles for the school newspaper.

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Barriers

Barriers that may exist and make implementation of effective strategies for reading and writing a greater challenge include:

• Non-cognitive barriers such as: stress at home, behavior problems, poor motivation, lack of parent involvement/support, English as second language, socioeconomic issues
• Inadequately prepared teachers
• Student problems, e.g. truancy, frequent moves in and out of the
  school district, specific learning disabilities, low self-esteem

Overcoming these barriers will require the cooperation of all school personnel, such as counselors, social workers, principal, etc. Support from the community is also needed. One effective strategy involving the community is a mentorship program. Community members (retired teachers, business/community leaders, etc.) volunteer to become a mentor for a struggling, at-risk middle or high school student. This individual maintains positive contact with the student, encouraging consistent school attendance and achievement. For an example of how a mentorship program can be structured and effective, contact:
Sharyon Shartzer, ESS Coordinator, Grayson Co. Schools, (270) 259-4011. For more information view KDE Dropout Prevention Resource Guide topic:  Mentoring.

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Resources

Aiex, N. K. (1988). Using newspapers as effective tools in the classroom. ERIC Digest: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Digest #35. Retrieved December 15, 2002, from http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/digests/d35.html

Atwell, N. (1998). In the middle: New understandings about writing, reading and learning (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Booth, D. (2001) Reading and writing in the middle years. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2001.

Cole, R. W. (Ed.). (1995). Educating everybody’s children: Diverse teaching strategies for diverse learners: What research and practice say about improving achievement [Electronic Version]. Retrieved on December 15, 2002, from Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Web Site: http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/cole95book.html

Denman, G. A. (1992). Sit tight, and I’ll swing you a tail…Using and writing stories with young people. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Hale, L. F. (1998). School dropout prevention: Information and strategies and strategies for parents. Retrieved on December 15, 2002, from National Association of School Psychologists Web Site: http://www.naspcenter.org/adol_sdpp.html

Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction
http:www.ed.gov/pubs/EPTW/eptw4/eptw4d.html
Program designed for grades 1-10. Teaches educators effective strategies to prevent failure.

Extended School Services, KY Department of Education
http://www.kde.state.ky.us/osle/estend/ess/default.asp
Director: Brenda Hauser, 17th floor, 500 Mero St., Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: (502) 564-7056

Farber, P. J. (1999). Johnny still can't read? Harvard Research Letter: Research Online. Retrieved on December 15, 2002, from the Web Site: http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/1999-ja/read.shtml
Why high school students aren't developing the reading skills they need-and what some researchers suggest to solve this growing problem

Greenleaf, C. L.; Schoenbach, R.; Cziko, C.; & Mueller, F. L. (2001). Apprenticing adolescent readers to academic literacy. Harvard Educational Review 71(1). [Electronic version]. Retrieved on December 15, 2002, from the Web Site: http://www.wested.org/stratlit/pubsPres/HER/p01green.htm

Krogness, M. M. (1995). Just teach me, Mrs. K: Talking, reading, and writing with resistant adolescent learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Kentucky Office of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers http://cfc.state.ky.us/fry.sc/
Provides assistance and support to remove non-cognitive barriers to learning
Contact: Cabinet for Families and Children,
275 E. Main ST. 3C-G,
Frankfort, Ky 40621.
Phone: (502) 564-4986

National Education Association (NEA) National Foundation for the Improvement of Education
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/pd)cont.htm
Provides support and information on new ideas in teaching as well as information concerning available grants.

North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL)
Online source for professional development as well as other teacher-related concerns. Provides links to valuable sources.
http://www.nerel.org/sdrs/areas/pdOcont.htm

Read Aloud West Virginia (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2002 from the Web Site: http://www.educationalliance.org/readaloud.htm

Reading Theater (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2002 from the Web Site: http://www.theteacherspot.com/readers_theatre.html
This site contains link to other sites pertaining to "Reading Theater" and scripts.

Scripts for Schools (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2002 from the Web Site: http://scriptsforschools.com
Script are available for k-Adult.

Student Victimization and Perpetration Data Summary/Kentucky (1996-1999). Retrieved December 15, 2002, from Hamilton Fish Institute Web Site: http://www.hamfish.org/data/state/ky

T.V. Reading S.T.A.R. (Scripts, Taping, Acting, Reading)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EPTW/eptw4/eptw4s.html
Uses popular commercial TV to teach academic skills. Students take on various production roles.
Contact: Jacqueline Van Cott,
Reading S.T.A.R. STAR Studio,
196 Laurel Ridge
South Salem, NY 10590.
Phone: (914) 533-6852

University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning Web Site:
http://www.ku-crl.org/htmlfiles/core.html
This site contains information on the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) and Learning Strategies Instruction.

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Key Words

Pre-reading,guided reading,post reading,engaged learning,reciprocal teaching,mentoring,secondary students,non-cognitive,reader apprenticeship, writing strategies, reading strategies, literacy, reading and writing, reading, writiing,

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