St udent a chievement IN R EADING

1. STAR Student achievement IN READING

2. What is STAR? • STAR is a professional development package to assist teachers, program administrators, and state leaders in implementing evidence-based reading instruction.

3. What is that?? • Evidence Based Reading Instruction (EBRI) is instruction based on practices that have a track record of being successful. • Scientific Research • “Professional Wisdom”

4. Promising Practices from the research: • Assessment of learners’ strengths and needs on each component of reading • Alphabetics • Fluency • Vocabulary • Comprehension

5. Alphabetics • The process readers use to decode printed words into meaningful spoken words • Assessed by having students read graded word lists

6. Fluency • The ability to read with efficiency and ease • Includes • Accuracy • Rate • Prosody Assessed by listening to students read connected text out loud

7. Vocabulary • The words a person knows and understands • Assessed by having students provide definitions/explanations of words on graded lists

8. Comprehension • Interaction between the reader and the text that results in understanding • Assessed by having students read graded passages silently, and then answering questions or retelling the information.

9. Four Reading Components Alphabetics Fluency Reading Vocabulary Comprehension

10. Each learner has a “profile” of strengths and weaknesses.These profiles are used to group students and plan instruction.

11. Other promising practices include.... • Direct and explicit instruction, consisting of teacher explanation and modeling, and student opportunities for guided practice and application. • Continuous monitoring—by both teachers and learners—of instructional effectiveness.

12. What STAR is NOT.... • A curriculum • Published materials • A lock-step approach to working with adult readers • A panacea – darn it!

13. What level students does the STAR Initiative focus on? • Adult Intermediate Readers • Grade Level Equivalent of 4-8 • Why? • These students often need all four components of reading • This is the largest group of adult students in ABE programs

14. STAR learners might also be students who are second or other language learners (ELL), adults with learning disabilities, etc. • Adult learners who test above or below the 4-8 grade level would benefit from some of all of the techniques and instruction, but STAR has a focus of intermediate level learners. • Below 4... learners need mostly alphabetics and fluency • Above 8.0, they need mostly vocabulary and comprehension

15. What is involved in STAR training? • Three 2-day training sessions • Work done outside the training sessions to practice and apply the skills and techniques involved • Development of Action Plans – to guide your work in between the training sessions • A commitment to try to implement STAR/EBRI at your site

16. Benefits of STAR training • Learn more about adult readers (especially important if you do not have training in reading pedagogy) • Learn useful techniques and strategies to teach your students • Know you are doing your best to help your students improve their reading • Use of the STAR Tool Kit (online resource) • Technical Assistance (site visits, etc.)

17. Responsibilities..... • Attendees must attend all the training sessions. • Attendees must commit to doing work in between the training sessions (conducting assessments, etc.) • Attendees and their team will develop Action Plans to guide your STAR implementation • Attendees may need to make some structural, programmatic changes to implement STAR

18. Contact Person Peggy Meyers, Education Director Wisconsin Technical College System Office 4622 University Avenue Madison, Wisconsin 53707 608-267-9684 Peggy.meyers@wtcsystem.edu Questions??