Improving Literacy in Middle and High Schools: Research to Practice

1. 1 Improving Literacy in Middle and High Schools: Research to Practice Network Meeting for Implementation Grant Recipients Massachusetts Department of Education ******** Dorothy S. Strickland, Ph.D. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

2. 2 Key Issues Issues – Learning in Middle & High School Issues – Teaching in Middle & High Schools Selected Models from Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap, 4-12 Classroom Strategies Lessons from Beating the Odds Research (Langer) Responsible Test Preparation

3. 3 Learning in Middle & High SchoolThe Literacy Demands Demands of instruction vs. student needs School literacy vs. out-of-school literacy Teaching content vs. teaching content literacy Parental Involvement efforts decline during the middle years

4. 4 Teaching in Middle & High School School Structures: Departmentalization Shift from self-contained to departmental classes Shift in role of the teacher Subject-matter specialists Responsible for large numbers of students Unlikely to differentiate instruction

5. 5 School Level Solutions from Bridging the Gap Project STARS (Falba & Reynolds) Middle School -Clark County Nevada Focus on improving classroom teachers’ abilities to implement intervention strategies for struggling readers Urban High School Project (Fisher, Frey, Williams) San Diego, CA Focus on in-class tutoring and Sustained Silent Reading

6. 6 School Level Solutions from Bridging the Gap Explaining Explanations (Moje, Peek-Brown, Sutherland, Marx, Blumenfeld, & Krajcik) Middle Schools, Detroit, MI Focus on Scientific Literacy Reading Apprenticeship (Greenleaf, Brown, & Litman) Urban High Schools in CA Focus on academic literacy in science

7. 7 School Level Solutionsfrom Bridging the Gap Project Creating Independence Through Student-Owned Strategies (CRISS) (C. Santa) High School – Montana Focus on content area reading Talent Development Literacy Program (McPartland, Balfanz, & Shaw High School - National Focus on poorly prepared students

8. 8 Planning: A suggested model for Departmental Structures Marking Period Plan (Focus on R/W Connections.) 4 week – Reading Focus (Selected Strategies) 1 week – Assessment/Test Taking Focus 4 week – Writing Focus (Selected Strategies) 1 week – Assessment/Test Taking Focus Weekly plan – Mon- Intro. Text/strategy T,W,R, Follow-up; Fri. Wrap up share NOTE: SIMILAR STRATEGY INSTR. SHOULD BE TAUGHT CONCURRENTLY IN ALL CONTENT AREAS by CONTENT AREA TEACHERS.

9. 9 Coordinated Strategy Instruction Across the Disciplines Strategies that Apply Across the Curriculum Comprehension monitoring Graphic and semantic organizers Question answering Question generating Text Structure Summarization Cooperative Learning Multiple strategies instruction

10. 10 Classroom Strategy Scaffolded Instruction Instruction that involves – Modeling and Demonstrating (as students watch) Guided Collaboration with students Monitoring and Assisting (as students work independently)

11. 11 Skills vs. Strategies Skills: Knowing the sound of the digraph ph is a skill. Skills are performed the same way all the time. Skill instruction relies on drill and practice.

12. 12 Skills vs. Strategies Strategies Searching for and using available cues to determine an author’s meaning is a strategy. Strategies involve problem solving during the construction of meaning. Strategy instruction relies on the learners’ control and self-monitoring in order to make decisions regarding which strategy to use under what circumstances and to make appropriate adjustments as needed.

13. 13 Asking Better Questions Use a variety of types of questions. Prediction Recall Inference Reflection Use a variety of Questioning Strategies Prove It Strategy Question/Answer Relationship (QAR) Strategy

14. 14 Differentiating with Texts in Theme-based Instruction Themes may be content or literary Whole group – teacher choice teacher reads aloud; guides student response Small group – negotiated choice students read, respond, T. guides/monitors Individual – student choice; T. monitors

15. 15 Beating the Odds Schools and TeachersIssue: Approaches to skills instruction Beating the Odds Schools & Teachers Systematic use of separated, simulated, and integrated skills instruction Typical Schools and Teachers Instruction dominated by one approach (which varies among schools and teachers)

16. 16 Beating the Odds Schools and TeachersIssue: Enabling Strategies Beating the Odds Schools and Teachers Overt teaching of strategies for planning, organizing, completing and reflecting on content and activities Typical Schools and Teachers Teaching of content or skills without overt attention to strategies for thinking and doing

17. 17 Beating the Odds Schools and TeachersIssue: Connecting Learning Beating the Odds Schools and Teachers Overt connections made among knowledge, skills, and ideas across lessons, classes and grades, and across in-school and out-of-school applications. Typical Schools and Teachers Knowledge and skills within lessons, units, and curricula typically treated as discrete entities connections left implicit even when they do occur.

18. 18 Beating the Odds Schools and TeachersIssue: Test Preparation Beating the Odds Schools and Teachers Integrated into ongoing goals, curriculum, and regular lessons Typical Schools and Teachers Allocated to test prep: separated from ongoing goals, curriculum, and instruction