Urgent, Intense Instruction: Preventing Reading Failure in the Kindergarten, First Grade Urban Learner

1. Urgent, Intense Instruction: Preventing Reading Failure in the Kindergarten, First Grade Urban Learner Gwendolyn Cartledge & Shobana Musti-Rao The Ohio State University

2. Reading Issues of Urban Learners Reading report cards of children nationwide indicate that nearly 40% of the nation�s fourth-grade students fail to read at basic levels The deficiencies are greatest among ethnic/racial minorities (i.e., African, Hispanic, & Native Americans) where nearly 60% of these students fail to read at expected levels (NAEP report) Students who fail to read at grade level during elementary years remain poor readers throughout schooling, and this has long term consequences for children (Good, Gruba, and Kaminski, 2001) A poor reader at the first grade has a 0.88 probability of being a poor reader at the end of fourth grade (Juel, 1988)

3. Reading Issues of Urban Learners Poor/minority students often enter kindergarten with insufficient preliteracy experiences and oral language skills (Farkas, 2003; Hart & Risley, 1999) African American students, for example, begin kindergarten one year behind but are 4 years behind by 12th grade These data suggest school & later life failure. Greater success is predicated on improved academic performance, especially reading, at the point of school entry (Farkas, 2003)

4. Reading Issues of Urban Learners In many ways, the schools are failing to address the reading problems of poor minority students. �Undiagnosed early reading difficulties rapidly metastasize in academic deficits and disruptive/self-destructive behaviors that special education is powerless to cure� (Hettleman, 2003, p. 7) Often given fewer opportunities to learn and thus acquire skills; need more than �literacy rich� environments. Instruction needs to be explicit, intensive, & systematic State of poor reading performance for many urban students points to a crisis situation, demanding the immediate attention of the schools, parents, & policy makers.

5. Critical Approach to the Problem Early Intervention & Prevention

6. Three Organizational Principles Preventing and early intervention: Are supremely more effective and efficient than later intervention and remediation for ensuring reading success Must be anchored to the school as the host environment and the primary context for improving student reading performance Pedagogy, programs, and procedures should be based on trustworthy scientific evidence (Institute for Development of Educational Achievement, 2002)

7. Examples of Prevention-based Programs Head Start A widely known early intervention program for economically disadvantaged preschoolers and kindergartners High Scope (Perry Preschool Project) A comprehensive preschool program with focus on language development based on Piagetian theories of child development First Steps One-on-one tutoring program based on principles of Reading Recovery. Includes 30-minute tutoring sessions with reading from a series of leveled books.

8. Components of Prevention Program for Implementation Timing. Begin during pre-kindergarten years and receive explicit instruction during early grades Time. Provide instruction on a daily basis with intensive instruction. Nature of instruction. Well-formulated and systematic instructional approach. One-on-one and small group instructional formats are most effective. Progress monitoring. Regular, on-going assessments where students are evaluated in relation to predetermined program goals, benchmarks, or levels.

9. Big Ideas in Beginning Reading Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words. Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected text. Vocabulary: The ability to understand (receptive) and use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning. Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning.

10. Some Distinctions Phonemic awareness is a specific skill that involves manipulating sounds in speech. Phonics is a method of teaching reading. It may or may not include explicit instruction in PA. Phonological awareness is a more encompassing term. It includes awareness of not only phonemes but also syllables, onsets, and rimes.

11. Teaching Phonemic Awareness Critical PA skills students should learn: Sound Isolation (e.g., The first sound in sun is /ssss/). Blending (e.g., /s/-/u/-/n/ is sun.) Segmenting (e.g., The sounds in sun are /s/ /u/ /n/). PA is a critical component, but not an entire reading program. It needs to be taught, but only for 10-15 minutes per day of your instruction.

12. Teaching the Alphabetic Principle Critical features of AP Letter-sound correspondence [demonstration] What the teacher does: Models each step of the activity (i.e., letter name, letter sound, how to make the sound, and tracing the letter) using consistent wording Provides many opportunities for both group and individual student responses Corrects errors immediately What the student does: Produces and practices the new skill multiple times Answers with highly accurate responses in group and individually Participates actively during instruction

14. How to Teach Big Ideas in Reading Identify early and intervene strategically. Focus on the vital signs. Teach "less" more thoroughly. Instruction before construction. Hold instructional time sacred. Expect and plan for "different" levels of instruction (e.g., small groups, double dose). Monitor progress to determine if children are learning enough.

15. Strategic Integration of Beginning Reading Skills

16. Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention Prevention-based program Targets children in Kindergarten and at-risk first graders 30-minute daily lesson; teacher directed small group instruction 15 minutes � phonological awareness, alphabet understanding, and word reading 15 minutes � more phonological awareness, writing development, and integrating the two.

17. ERI - The Curriculum During the first 15 minutes instruction establishes and reinforces the phonologic skills of first and last sound isolation, sound blending, and sound segmentation. During the second 15 minutes instructor reinforces: phonological awareness and alphabetic skills, handwriting (e.g., letter dictation and formation), integrating phonologic and alphabetic tasks The curriculum consists of 126 lessons.

18. DIBELS A set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development Short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills Developed to assess student development of phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and automaticity and fluency with the code. For more information visit: http://dibels.uoregon.edu

19. Why use DIBELS? They are specifically designed to assess 3 of the 5 Big Ideas of early literacy: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, and Fluency with Connected Text Prevention-oriented, school-based system Compliments ERI; Includes benchmark goals Easy-to-administer, time-saver, cost-efficient

20. ERI in an Urban School Participants: Seven kindergarten and one first-grade student (7 boys, 1 girl; African American; low SES) Instructional Grouping: Supplemental reading instruction in small group format Implementers: Researcher and paraprofessional implemented instruction in a co-teaching format Duration: Twenty minutes of instruction per session Frequency: Three days a week

21. Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration Advantages: Addresses the research to practice gap Increases sustainability of interventions at the end of research project Allows practitioner to modify intervention to suit the individual needs of students in class Firsthand account of such a collaboration: Ms. M, an instructional assistant in the kindergarten classroom

22. Some Preliminary Data