ACTION RESEARCH IN OUR WORLD

1. ACTION RESEARCH IN OUR WORLD

2. The Timing of School Entry and Reading Instruction Older and Later Always a Disadvantage?

3. Problem Statement and Conceptual Framework The timing to begin formal reading instruction is a matter of great concern to two key stakeholders. The first are enlightened parents dedicated to ensuring their child’s developmental readiness for learning. The second are school districts who determine school age entry guidelines to maximize students’ educational opportunities to develop prerequisite reading skills.

4. Lead In • Today in beginning reading instruction, • the common paradigm and general consensus • among educators today is that “earlier is better” • for a child to start school. Otherwise a child will • miss out on this “one and only” window of • opportunity to learn the essential basics in order • to master and succeed in mastering the reading • process.

5. Research Background Waldorf schools are an anomaly in today’s educational environment. They are one of the few environs besides homeschoolingwhere formal schooling in teaching reading is typically delayed and even preferred. Waldorf Kindergartens are still developmental classes that are primarily play based. True beginning reading instruction begins in First grade and real reading from books is delayed until second grade. And yet in spite of these factors, children who are typically older at the onset of First grade and begin their reading instruction 1 or 2 years later than most of their American peers in schools still learn to read at a proficient level – It’s just later. This flies in the face and contradicts the current paradigm that early reading instruction is necessary for all children to learn to read proficiency or they’ll never catch up.

6. Research Question Are students who are atypically older, (due to later birthdates or who waited to enroll in school at a later age) and attend a school that teaches formal reading later (in first grade rather than in Kindergarten) at a disadvantage in achieving reading proficiency by the age 9 and what percentage do “catch up” to their typical younger peers by the end of 3rd grade or beginning of 4th ? Of these students to what degree are home literacy practices a part of their lives and thus support students to become proficient in literacy development without beginning "formal school" earlier?

7. WHAT THE DATA SAY • However, delayed school entry for other children who begin school as an older child gives them an advantage in academic performance particularly in the early grades up to grade 2 before leveling off in the eighth grade.

8. Methods – Student Population Schools Corvallis Waldorf School Zion Lutheran School __________________ Grade Level: 3rd grade __________________ Number of students: 25-40 __________________ Gender: Female and male Age at First grade entry (years/ months) Early, Middle, and Late for 5, 6, 7 year olds 5.4 –5.7 5.8- 5.11 6.0- 6.3 6.4 -6.7 6.8-6.11 7.0-7.3 7.4-7.7

9. Methods -Assessments • Literacy skills assessed • English Orthographic knowledge, spelling patterns of vowels and digraphs • High frequency sight words • Grade Level reading passages with embedded Comprehension cloze sentences. • Easy CBM fluency passages

10. PROCEDURES • Each child’s birthdate and school entry date from the third grade classes from the schools are located and recorded. • Students in the third grade are assessed with a battery of literacy assessments for the third grade. • Scores and grade levels equivalencies are recorded and compared between grade level state wide norms. • Differences between genders and preschool attendance are included for comparative analysis as listed above. • Survey: literacy behaviors in the home are filled out by the parents and the students and recorded.

11. NUMBER OF STUDENTS 3rd Grade F- Female M-Male PA – Preschool Attendance NPA No Preschool Attendance HHL –High Home Literacy MHL- Medium Home LiteracyLHL- Low Home Literacy

12. Individual Student data record sheet STUDENT DATA Name: _____________________ Age: Months/Years: ___________ Grade:_____________________ Gender: Male Female Primary Language is English Yes or No _______________________ Preschool Attendance: Yes or No Home Literacy Level : Low, Medium, High ASSESSMENTS Scores and Grade level equivalency CORE Phonics Survey Test ____________________________________________________ High Frequency Sight words ___________________________________________________ San Diego of Quick Assessment_________________________________________________ Of Reading Ability Grade Level Passages: Easy CBM________________________________________________ Cloze passages: Comprehension____________________________________________________________

13. Methods -Survey How often do you read books to your child during the week? once 2 - 3 time 4 - 7 times Visits to the library - # number of time per month Once twice a month 3 or 4 times a month Purchasing books or magazines for your child/family infrequent occasionally often Number of children’s books in home None 1-10 11-25 26 -50 or more Frequency Son/Daughter reads books at home Rarely few times a week Often

14. DATA GRAPHS WAITING ON DATA……..

15. RESULTS Hypothesis: Those students who have families that support literacy with a high level of literacy activities will achieve the same level of literacy competency as their grade level peers by the end of the third grade. Factors of gender and preschool attendance will influence achieving grade level norms in reading skills sooner in the second grade.

16. CONCLUSION TO BE DETERMINED....