Overview of Scientifically Based Reading Research

1
Overview of Scientifically Based Reading
Research Dr. Linda McDonald Dr. Mary Jo
Taylor National Center for Reading First
Technical Assistance RMC Research
Corporation Adapted from Dr. Joseph K.
Torgesen and Dr. Charlotte Johnson-Davis, Summer,
2004 Second Annual National Reading First
Conference
2
The Purpose of this Talk

• Provide an introduction and discussion of the
  major findings from scientific research on
  reading

• Show how the major elements of Reading First are
  based on the most important conclusions from this
  scientifically based research in order to help
  teachers and schools plan and implement more
  effective reading instruction for all children

3
Why is this a good time to be thinking about ways
to improve our programs of reading instruction?

• Far too many poor and minority children are being
  left behind when it comes to growth of
  proficient reading skills

4
Right now, all over the United States, we are
leaving too many children behind in reading2003
NAEP results
Percent of Students Performing Below Basic Level
- 37
And, a large share of those children come from
poor and minority homes
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
90 100
White
Black
Hispanic
Poor
Non-poor
5
The nature of our current reading crises.
Current difficulties in reading largely
originate from rising demands for literacy, not
from declining absolute levels of
literacy Report of the National Research Council
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
Why is this a good time to be thinking about ways
to improve our programs of reading instruction?

• Far too many poor and minority children are being
  left behind when it comes to growth of
  proficient reading skills

• Prevention of reading problems is far more
  effective and humane than trying to remediate
  after children fail

• New discoveries from scientific research about
  reading can provide the basis for improved
  outcomes for all children

9
How the new research is different--

• It is much, much more extensive

• It has been much better funded, so it has been of
  higher quality better measures, longitudinal
  designs, larger samples of children

• It has involved a convergence of findings from
  both basic science on the nature of reading and
  from instructional studies that implement those
  findings

10
In 1995, the U.S. Department of Education and
the National Institutes of Health
National Academy of Sciences
Report from the National Research Council 1998
11
(No Transcript)
12
In 1997, United States Congress
National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development U.S. Department of Education
Report of the National Reading Panel
13
Available from National Institute for
Literacy 1-800-228-8813 EdPubOrders_at_aspensys.com w
ww.nifl.gov
14

• It is very important for young children to
  acquire strong phonemic decoding skills early in
  reading development

• Many children struggle in learning phonics
  because of lack of skill and/or preparation in
  phonemic awareness

• Children must become accurate readers early in
  development in order to become fluent readers by
  3rd grade and fluency is important for
  comprehension

• The large individual differences in oral language
  vocabulary that arise from pre-school experiences
  begin to exert a powerful influence on
  comprehension by grade three

• Many children must be taught explicitly and
  directly how to think about what they are
  reading to improve comprehension

15
Effective early reading instruction must build
reading skills in five important areas
Phonemic Awareness
16
Phonemic Awareness
Ability to understand that the sounds in spoken
language work together to make words
Phonemic awareness is not the same thing as
phonics
Phonemic Awareness Activities

• Phoneme isolationrecognize individual sounds in
  a word
• example What is the first sound in fan?

• Phoneme identityrecognize the same sound in
  different words
• example What sound is the same in ball,
  boat, and boy?

• Phoneme blendinglisten to sequence of separately
  spoken
• phonemes, then combine the phonemes to
  form a word
• example What word is /f/ /a/ /t/?

• Phoneme segmentationbreaking a word into
  individual sounds
• example What are the sounds in sheep?

• Phonemic deletionrecognize the word that remains
  when a
• phoneme is removed
• example What is truck without the /r/?

17
Effective early reading instruction must build
reading skills in five important areas
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
18
Phonics
Phonics is the understanding that there is a
predictable relationship between the sounds in
words (phonemes) and the letters that represent
those sounds (graphemes) in written language.
The goal of phonics instruction is to help
children learn and use the alphabetic principle.

19
Effective early reading instruction must build
reading skills in five important areas
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
20
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read text accurately,
quickly and with prosody.
Fluency develops as a result of many
opportunities to practice reading with a high
degree of success.
Fluency is important because it provides a bridge
between word recognition and comprehension.
Fluency Activities

• Student-adult reading. Adult reads passage
  providing student
• with a model. Then student reads passage.
  

• Choral reading. Students read along as a group.

• Tape-assisted reading. Student reads along with
  an audio-tape.

• Partner reading. Paired students take turns
  reading aloud to each
• other.

21
Effective early reading instruction must build
reading skills in five important areas
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
22
Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to words that we must know to
communicate effectively.
Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in
speaking or recognize in listening.
Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize
or use in print.
23
Effective early reading instruction must build
reading skills in five important areas
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension strategies
24

• It is very important to get off to a strong start
  in learning to read during early elementary
  school.

Children who catch on to reading early get much
more reading practice than those who catch on
late
Children who catch on early are more accurate
readersaccuracy is important as children form
memories for words that allow them to identify
them at a single glance
Children who read more have more opportunities to
add words to their vocabulary
25

• It is very important to get off to a strong start
  in learning to read during early elementary
  school.

• It is critical that children acquire skill in use
  of the alphabetic principle to help accurately
  identify unknown words early in the development
  of reading skill.

From all these different perspectives, two
inescapable conclusions emerge. The first is
that mastering the alphabetic principle is
essential to becoming proficient in the skill of
reading. (Rayner, et al., 2001)
Rayner, K., Foorman, B.R., Perfetti, C.A.,
Pesetsky, D., Seidenberg, M.S. 2001. How
psychological science informs the teaching of
reading. Psychological Science in the Public
Interest, 2 31-73.
26

• It is very important to get off to a strong start
  in learning to read during early elementary
  school.

• It is critical that children acquire skill in use
  of the alphabetic principle to help accurately
  identify unknown words early in the development
  of reading skill.

• Children who are delayed in the development of
  alphabetic understanding and skill struggle to
  become fluent readers.

• Accurate and fluent word reading skills
  contribute importantly to the development of
  reading comprehension.

27
In fact, the automaticity with which skillful
readers recognize words is the key to the whole
systemThe readers attention can be focused on
the meaning and message of a text only to the
extent that its free from fussing with the words
and letters. Marilyn Adams
28

• Oral language vocabulary and other forms of
  verbal and conceptual knowledge also contribute
  importantly to the development of reading
  comprehension.

29
Relationship between Vocabulary Score (PPVT)
measures in Kindergarten and later reading
comprehension
End of Grade One -- .45
End of Grade Four -- .62
End of Grade Seven -- .69
The relationship of vocabulary to reading
comprehension gets stronger as reading material
becomes more complex and the vocabulary becomes
more extensive (Snow, 2002)
30

• Oral language vocabulary and other forms of
  verbal and conceptual knowledge also contribute
  importantly to the development of reading
  comprehension.

• Children must also develop and actively use a
  variety of comprehension monitoring and
  comprehension building strategies to reliably
  construct the meaning of text.

31
Our ultimate goal is to help every child acquire
the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that lead to
proficient reading comprehension
Acquiring meaning from written text Gambrell,
Block, and Pressley, 2002
the process of extracting and constructing
meaning through interaction and involvement with
written language Sweet and Snow, 2002
thinking guided by print Perfetti, 1985
32
What skills, knowledge, and attitudes are
required for good reading comprehension?
33
What we know about the factors that affect
reading comprehension
Proficient comprehension of text is influenced by
Accurate and fluent word reading skills
Oral language skills (vocabulary, linguistic
comprehension)
Extent of conceptual and factual knowledge
Knowledge and skill in use of cognitive
strategies to improve comprehension or repair it
when it breaks down
Reasoning and inferential skills
34

• Life Experience
• Content Knowledge
• Activation of Prior
• Knowledge
• Knowledge about
• Texts

• Oral Language Skills
• Knowledge of Language
• Structures
• Vocabulary
• Cultural Influences

Reading Comprehension

• Prosody
• Automaticity/Rate
• Accuracy
• Decoding
• Phonemic Awareness

• Motivation
• Engagement
• Active Reading
• Strategies
• Monitoring Strategies
• Fix-Up Strategies

35
The development of proficient reading skill the
ideal developmental path
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Alphabetic Principle and other word reading
strategies
Acquisition of Fluency
Development of Vocabulary, Knowledge and Thinking
Skills
36
To be successful in leaving no child behind
schools must do at least three things well

• Increase the quality and consistency of
  instruction in every K-3 classroom

• Conduct timely and valid assessments of reading
  growth to identify struggling readers

• Provide more intensive interventions to catch
  up the struggling readers

37
Improving the quality and consistency of
instruction in every K-3 classroom BIG IDEAS

• Select a core reading program that implements
  instructional content and strategies consistently

• Provide strong support for the implementation of
  the core program with fidelity and consistency

38
What are the advantages of having an
evidence-based core program as the base?
Teaching reading to at-risk children is a very
complex activity that requires a curriculum that
includes explicit instructional strategies,
coordinated instructional sequences, ample
practice opportunities and aligned student
materials. This is very difficult and too time
consuming for most teachers to construct on their
own.
A well developed curriculum that blends explicit
instructional strategies within a coherent
instructional design acts as an important
scaffold to guide teacher behaviors so they will
be more consistent with the principles of
effective instruction.
39
A high-quality core reading program can provide a
kind of on-going professional development for
teachers in the critical elements and methods of
instruction for phonemic awareness, phonics,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies.
Interestingly, many seasoned teachers commented
that their abilities to teach phonics flexibly
and responsively were grounded in experiences
they had as novices working with reading programs
that featured a systematic phonics component.
(Villaume Brabham, 2003)
40
Because of the need for good judgment and
differentiated instruction.
The right answer is the hard answer The
solution for helping struggling readers succeed
is to cultivate a population of teachers who are
very knowledgeable about how children learn to
read and who are adept at applying their
understanding of reading acquisition to the
assessment and instruction of individual
children.
41
Improving the quality and consistency of
instruction in every K-3 classroom BIG IDEAS

• Select a core reading program that implements
  instructional content and strategies consistently.

• Provide strong support for the implementation of
  the core program with fidelity and consistency.

• Provide professional development to improve
  teachers broad and deep knowledge of reading,
  reading instruction, reading assessment, reading
  interventions.

42
Because of the findings from scientifically based
research in reading, we are asking teachers to
change the way many have been teaching reading in
their classrooms.
The most significant change will be toward
instruction that teaches each of the major
components in a more explicit, and more
systematic way.
43
Although some children will learn to read in
spite of incidental teaching, others never learn
unless they are taught in an organized,
systematic, efficient way by a knowledgeable
teacher using a well-designed instructional
approach. (Moats, 1999)
44
What we know about reading instruction

• Systematic and explicit approaches to instruction
  are consistently more effective than approaches
  that depend on student discovery and inference.

From all these different perspectives, two
inescapable conclusions emerge. The first is
that mastering the alphabetic principle is
essential to becoming proficient in the skill of
reading.
and the second is that instructional techniques
(namely phonics) that teach this principle
directly are more effective than those that do
not. (Rayner, et al., 2001)
This seems to be especially the case for children
who are at risk in some way for having difficulty
learning to read
45
What we know about reading instruction

• Systematic and explicit approaches to instruction
  are consistently more effective than approaches
  that depend on student discovery and inference.

• The need for explicit instruction extends beyond
  phonics to fluency, vocabulary and comprehension
  strategies.

46
Bringing Words to Life Isabel Beck M. McKeown L.
Kucan Guilford Press
47
Big ideas from Bringing Words to Life
First-grade children from higher SES groups know
about twice as many words as lower SES children
High school seniors near the top of their class
knew about four times as many words as their
lower performing classmates
High-knowledge third graders have vocabularies
about equal to lowest-performing 12th graders
Individual differences in vocabulary have a
powerful impact on reading comprehension
beginning about third grade
48
Big ideas from Bringing Words to Life
Poor children, who enter school with vocabulary
deficiencies have a particularly difficult time
learning words from context
Research has discovered much more powerful ways
of teaching vocabulary than are typically used in
classrooms
A robust approach to vocabulary instruction
involves directly explaining the meanings of
words along with thought-provoking, playful,
interactive follow-up.
49
To be successful in leaving no child behind
schools must do at least three things well

• Increase the quality and consistency of
  instruction in every K-3 classroom

• Conduct timely and valid assessments of reading
  growth to identify struggling readers

• Provide more intensive interventions to catch
  up the struggling readers

50
A central problem in reading instruction arises,
not from the absolute level of childrens
preparation for learning to read, but from the
diversity in their levels of preparation (Olson,
1998)
51
What kind of assessments do we need Big Ideas
Screening assessments that identify children who
are lagging behind in growth of critical skills
Progress monitoring in growth of critical reading
skills for all children during the year to help
plan instruction
Diagnostic assessments for children who may
require very specialized types of interventions
End of year outcome assessments in the critical
elements of reading growth is the child on
track to read at grade level by third grade?
52
What should we be monitoring in K-3? Big Ideas
Kindergarten phonemic awareness, letter-sound
knowledge, phonemic decoding, oral
language-vocabulary
1st grade phonemic awareness, letter-sound
knowledge, phonemic decoding, oral
language-vocabulary, reading fluency
2nd grade phonemic decoding, vocabulary,
reading fluency, reading comprehension
3rd - 5th grade reading fluency, reading
comprehension
53
To be successful in leaving no child behind
schools must do at least three things well

• Increase the quality and consistency of
  instruction in every K-3 classroom

• Conduct timely and valid assessments of reading
  growth to identify struggling readers

• Provide more intensive interventions to catch
  up the struggling readers

54
The top five myths about interventions for
struggling readers

• If a child is a visual learner, they should be
  taught to read using a visual, not an auditory
  strategy.

• If a child has not learned phonics by the end
  of first grade, they need to be taught to read in
  some other way.

• Children who struggle with phonemic awareness,
  vocabulary, or phonics in kindergarten and first
  grade will frequently catch up if given time.

• We should take guidance from theories of
  multiple intelligences or learning styles to
  help us adapt our reading instruction for
  different children.

• A little quality time with an enthusiastic
  volunteer tutor can solve most childrens reading
  problems.

55
Two kinds of scaffolding are important
Programmatic Scaffolding
The program of instruction is carefully sequenced
so that students are explicitly taught the skills
and knowledge they need for each new task they
are asked to perform
Oral blending skills before blending printed words
Awareness of phonemes before learning how they
are represented in print
Grapheme-phoneme knowledge before decoding
Vocabulary instruction before reading for meaning
Strategies for oral language comprehension that
support reading comprehension
56
Two kinds of scaffolding are important
Responsive Scaffolding
After an error, or inadequate response, the
teacher provides responsive support to assist the
child in making a more adequate, or correct
response
Through appropriate questioning or provision of
information, the teacher supports the child in
doing a task they cannot immediately do on their
own
57
Classroom Organization Learning Centers for
differentiated groups

• Teacher-Led
• Small group instruction

• Student Centers
• Academically engaged
• Accountability
• Group, Pair, Cooperative, Individual

58
Putting it all together the story of one
elementary school
The school serves a population of students with
many at-risk children
70 children qualify for free/reduced lunch
65 children from racial/ethnic minorities
Elements of change and improvement
Adopted a common, explicit/systematic curriculum
and began training teachers for high-fidelity
implementation
Began identifying children being left behind
and providing more intensive, small group
instruction
59
Hartsfield Elementary Progress over five years
Proportion falling below the 25th percentile in
word reading ability at the end of first grade
30
20
10
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Average Percentile 48.9 55.2 61.4
73.5 81.7 for entire grade (n105)
60
A concluding thought
There is no question that significantly improving
reading outcomes for all children is going to be
a significant challenge
It will involve professional development for
teachers, school reorganization, and a relentless
focus on the individual needs of every child
Teaching reading Is Rocket Science and it must be
based upon SBRR!!
61
Thank You
62
Resources

• National Reading PanelThe NRP has completed the
  research assessment of reading instruction
  approaches. NICHD has formed a partnership with
  the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and
  the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to work on
  continued dissemination and implementation
  efforts of the NRP Report, as part of NIFL's
  overall mission to disseminate and implement
  research-based reading practices.
• No Child Left BehindOn Jan. 8, 2002, President
  Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act
  of 2001 (NCLB). This new law represents his
  education reform plan and contains the most
  sweeping changes to the Elementary and Secondary
  Education Act (ESEA) since it was enacted in
  1965. It changes the federal government's role in
  kindergarten-through-grade-12 education by asking
  America's schools to describe their success in
  terms of what each student accomplishes. The act
  contains the President's four basic education
  reform principles stronger accountability for
  results, increased flexibility and local control,
  expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on
  teaching methods that have been proven to work.
• United States Department of EducationThis is the
  official site for the United States Department of
  Education.

63
Resources

• National Institute for LiteracyThe National
  Institute for Literacy (NIFL) is a federal
  organization that shares information about
  literacy and supports the development of
  high-quality literacy services so all Americans
  can develop essential basic skills.
• What Works ClearinghouseThe What Works
  Clearinghouse was established by the U.S.
  Department of Education's Institute of Education
  Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, and
  the public with a central, independent, and
  trusted source of scientific evidence of what
  works in education. It is administered by the
  Department through a contract to a joint venture
  of the American Institutes for Research and the
  Campbell Collaboration.
• Partnership for ReadingThe Partnership for
  Reading offers information about the effective
  teaching of reading for children, adolescents,
  and adults, based on the evidence from quality
  research. The Partnership invites you to explore
  this site for information on the research,
  principles about reading instruction suggested by
  the research, and products for parents, teachers,
  administrators, and policy-makers.

64
Recommended Reading

• Phonemic Awareness
• Liberman, I. Y., Shankweiler, D., Liberman, A.
  M. (1989). The alphabetic principle and learning
  to read. In D. Shankweiler I. Y. Liberman
  (Eds.), Phonology and reading disability Solving
  the reading puzzle (pp.1-33). Ann Arbor
  University of Michigan Press.
• Torgesen, J.K., Mathes, P. (2000). A Basic
  Guide to Understanding, Assessing, and Teaching
  Phonological Awareness. Austin, TX PRO-ED.
• Phonics
• Ehri, L. (2002). Phases of acquisition in
  learning to read words and implications for
  teaching. In R. Stainthorp and P. Tomlinson
  (Eds.) Learning and teaching reading. London
  British Journal of Educational Psychology
  Monograph Series II.
• Ehri, L.C. (1998). Grapheme-phoneme knowledge is
  essential for learning to read words in English.
  In J. Metsala L. Ehri (Eds.). Word recognition
  in beginning reading. (pp. 3-40). Hillsdale, NJ
  Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
• Iversen, S., Tunmer, W. E. (1993) Phonological
  processing skills and the reading recovery
  program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85,
  112-126.
• Juel, C., Minden-Cupp, C. (2000). Learning to
  read words Linguistic units and instructional
  strategies. Reading Research Quarterly, 35,
  458-492.

65
Recommended Reading

• Fluency
• Ehri, L. (2002). Phases of acquisition in
  learning to read words and implications for
  teaching. In R. Stainthorp and P. Tomlinson
  (Eds.) Learning and teaching reading. London
  British Journal of Educational Psychology
  Monograph Series II.
• Ehri, L.C. (1998). Grapheme-phoneme knowledge is
  essential for learning to read words in English.
  In J. Metsala L. Ehri (Eds.). Word recognition
  in beginning reading. (pp. 3-40). Hillsdale, NJ
  Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
• Torgesen, J.K., Rashotte, C.A., Alexander, A.
  (2001). Principles of fluency instruction in
  reading Relationships with established empirical
  outcomes. In M. Wolf (Ed. ), Dyslexia, Fluency,
  and the Brain. Parkton, MD York Press.
• Vocabulary
• Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G. Kucan, L. (2002).
  Bringing words to life Robust vocabulary
  instruction. New York The Guilford Press.
• Hart, B., Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful
  differences. Baltimore, MD Brookes Publishing.
• Comprehension
• Beck, I. Et al. (1998). Getting at the meaning.
  American Educator, Summer, 66-71.

66
Recommended Reading

• Scientific Studies of Reading
• Cunningham, A.E. Stanovich, K.E. (1998). What
  reading does for the mind. American Educator,
  22(Spring/Summer), 8-15.
• Gough, P. B. (1996). How children learn to read
  and why they fail. Annals of Dyslexia, 46, 3-20.
• Rayner, K., Foorman, B.R., Perfetti, C.A.,
  Pesetsky, D., Seidenberg, M.S. (2001). How
  psychological science informs the teaching of
  reading. Psychological science in the public
  interest, 2, 31-74.
• Share, D. L., Stanovich, K. E. (1995).
  Cognitive processes in early reading development
  A model of acquisition and individual
  differences. Issues in Education Contributions
  from Educational Psychology, 1, 1-57.
• Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in
  reading Some consequences of individual
  differences in acquisition of literacy. Reading
  Research Quarterly, 21, 360-407.
• Stanovich, K.E., Stanovich, P.J. (1995) How
  research might inform the debate about early
  reading acquisition. Journal of research in
  reading, 18, 87-105.

67
Recommended Reading

• Principles of Effective Instruction and
  Intervention
• Elbaum, B., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M.T., Moody,
  S.W. (1999). Grouping practices and reading
  outcomes for students with disabilities.
  Exceptional Children, 65, 399-415.
• Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Mathes, P.G., Simmons,
  D.C. (1997). Peer-assisted learning strategies
  Making classrooms more responsive to academic
  diversity. American Educational Research Journal,
  34, 174-206.
• Foorman, B.R., Francis, D.J., Fletcher, J.M.,
  Schatschneider, C., Mehta, P. (1998). The role
  of instruction in learning to read Preventing
  reading failure in at-risk children. Journal of
  Educational Psychology, 90, 37-55.
• Gaskins, I.W., Ehri, L.C., Cress, C., OHara, C.,
  Donnelly, K. (1997). Procedures for word
  learning Making discoveries about words. The
  Reading Teacher. 50, 312-327. Rayner, K.,
  Foorman, B.R., Perfetti, C.A., Pesetsky, D.,
  Seidenberg, M.S. (2002) How should reading be
  taught? Scientific American, March, 85-91.
• Hiebert, E. H. (1999). Text matters in learning
  to read. The Reading Teacher, 52, (6) 552-566.
• Moats, L.C. (1998) Teaching decoding. American
  Educator, Summer, 42-51.
• Palincsar, A.S. Brown, A.L. (1984) Reciprocal
  teaching of comprehension-fostering and
  comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition
  and Instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 2,
  117-175.
• Vaughn, S.R., Moody, S.W., Shuman, J.S. (1998).
  Broken Promises Reading Instruction the Resource
  Room. Exceptional Children, 64, 211-225