How current Ministry & board-based initiatives are preparing students for the literacy demands of college

1. Bridging the Gap How current Ministry &board-based initiatives are preparing students for the literacy demands of college

2. objectives to acquire an overview of: -key ideas in current reading pedagogy -research that informs it -how it is being implemented

3. implementation of reading strategies course expectations require the teaching of reading strategies in the content areas to improve comprehension

4. reading strategies are explicit thinking strategies that can be taught to help readers as they ”attempt to simultaneously extract and construct meaning from texts” Rand Reading Study Group (2002, 11)

5. Sample Ontario curricular expectations: “select and use a variety of effective reading strategies (e.g., before reading a magazine article, examine the date of publication and country of origin to determine the context; create subtitles to summarize or highlight sections of a long article; explain how the theme of a short story relates to its social or cultural context)”

6. content area literacy Every subject area has specific reading demands: • reading forms • concept & content knowledge • organizational patterns • specialized vocabulary

7. facets of comprehension

8. In Gr. 12 College English students read to . . . -- demonstrate understanding of a variety of challenging texts with an emphasis on assessing information, ideas, and issues;

9. --demonstrate understanding of a range of textual forms, with an emphasis on research articles and plays;

10. --analyze elements of style in texts, focusing on how these elements contribute to clear and effective communication.

11. writing expectations that depend on reading . . . --use a range of print & electronic primary and secondary sources to gather & analyze information & ideas & to develop topics for writing;

12. --select & use informational and literary forms suited to various purposes, audiences, and situations, with a focus on research reports, summaries, and short analytical essays;

13. --use a range of organizational structures and patterns to produce unified and effective written work; The Ontario Curriculum, English 11-12, 2000

14. research on explicit teaching of comprehension strategies • “comprehension revolution” 1970-90s • a move from behaviourist theory to cognitive theory • expanded understanding of reading as more than decoding (cf. David Pearson, 1985)

15. prior & current views of reading From the Guide to Curriculum Planning in Reading, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. In Knuth & Jones. NCREL, Oak Brook, 1991.

16. prior & current views of reading From the Guide to Curriculum Planning in Reading, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. In Knuth & Jones. NCREL, Oak Brook, 1991.

17. a growing body of research demonstrates: --what good readers do when they read --comprehension strategies worth teaching --effective approaches to comprehension strategy instruction Duke, N.K. (2001)

18. current understanding of reading • Readers construct meaning from texts through inferences and interpretations. • The essence of learning is linking new information to prior knowledge. Duke, N.K. (2001)

19. current understanding of reading 3. How well a reader constructs meaning depends in part on metacognition. 4. Reading and writing are integrally related. • Collaborative learning can enhance comprehension. Duke, N.K. (2001)

20. reading is a process • before • during • after

21. strategies research deems worth teaching

22. key “before reading” strategies • activating prior knowledge • predicting • previewing vocabulary & text • setting a reading purpose

23. Prediction: Probable Passage Beers, K., 2003.

24. key “during reading” strategies: • visualizing • self-questioning/think-alouds • knowing how words work • drawing inferences/making connections • monitoring & repairing comprehension

25. Text—it says Have you ever wondered why metal car bodies rust but plastic bumpers don’t? These metals change due to a process called corrosion . . . Think Literacy: English 7-9. 2004 Inferences from text—I say There must be some quality of metal that makes it rust. Corrosion can’t be a good change if cars rust. Drawing inferences

26. key “after reading” strategies • identifying main ideas & supporting details • uncovering text structure • summarizing • synthesizing • evaluating information

27. Problem/Solution Text Structure Marzano, R., Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. ,2001.

28. previous practise major focus has been on after reading

29. Durkin, 1978 --4000 minutes of classroom observation --11 minutes devoted to explicit comprehension instruction

30. 5 components of explicit teaching of comprehension strategies Duke, N.K. (2001)

31. explicit description of the strategy, when & how to use it Duke, N.K. (2001)

32. modeling the strategy in action Duke, N.K. (2001)

33. 3 collaborative use of the strategy Duke, N.K. (2001)

34. guided practice Duke, N.K. (2001)

35. independent use of the strategy Duke, N.K. (2001)

36. 80% proficiency can require 30+ attempts at practice (Marzano, et al., 2000)

37. whileresearch indicates that • s-e-s is the prime determinant of literacy skills acquisition & academic success . . . • direct instruction in reading strategies can compensate for other variables

38. 3 sample studies on the direct teaching of a repertoire of reading strategies

39. reciprocal teaching summarize question  clarify predict

40. Palincsar & Brown (1985) • with reciprocal teaching, students' percentile rankings went from 20 to 50+ on texts administered in social studies and science classes • “71% of students achieved criterion performance as opposed to 19 percent of the control group . . .”(pp. 19-20)

41. questioning the author • posits that texts can be difficult to understand because authors don’t or can’t always explain everything • focuses on think-alouds/ open-ended queries about big ideas rather than on questions requiring 2-5 words responses about directly-stated information From Linda Kucan, West Virginia Reading Research Symposium

42. Beck, McKeown, Worthy, Sandora, & Kucan, 1986 Constructing meaning • On pretests, more than 2/3 of the students demonstrated confusion about text ideas. • On posttests, more than ½ of the students were better able to explain the most important ideas in a text passage. From Linda Kucan, West Virginia Reading Research Symposium

43. Beck, McKeown,Worthy, Sandora & Kucan, 1986 Monitoring • On pretests, nearly ¾ of the students failed to monitor comprehension. • On posttests, nearly ¾ of the students demonstrated attention to the sense of a text passage: were better able to tell when comprehension was breaking down. From Linda Kucan, West Virginia Reading Research Symposium

44. reading apprentice program • educators adapted current research on reading comprehension for adolescent learners • all Gr. 9 students in an urban 2ndary school were placed in a course focussing solely & explicitly on academic literacy acquisition

45. Schoenbach, Greenleaf, Cziko, Hurwitz,1999 • On standardized tests, 216 ninth graders moved, on average, from a late 7th Gr. reading level (Oct. ‘96) to a late Gr. 9 level (May ‘97). • Gains were consistent across all ethnic groups in 4 classrooms. • Follow-up data for ‘98 showed continued improvement.

46. National Reading Panel, 2002 explicit teaching of “comprehension” strategies shows students how to reason strategically when they encounter barriers to understanding texts and has been shown to be highly effective in enhancing understanding

47. MOE: Think Literacy Success: The Report of the Expert Panel on Students at Risk in Ontario, 2003 • Literacy acquisition is a right & it is the duty of schools to make this happen. •  Literacy instruction must be embedded across the curriculum. All teachers of all subjects, from K-12, are teachers of literacy. • All teachers must be equipped with the knowledge & skills to model and teach effective literacy skills in their subject area.

48. conclusion • research indicates readers can become more strategic and engaged with explicit instruction • teaching reading strategies is an integral part of the Ontario curriculum, K-12

49. support for post-secondary students • Hart, E. & Speece, L. (1998). Reciprocal teaching goes to college: Effects for postsecondary students at risk for academic failure. • Shea, V. & Whitla, W. (2001). Foundations: Your non-stop guide to succeeding in post-secondary studies.