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By Todd Brekhus
To achieve the vision of higher standards and ensure all students are on track to be college and career ready, schools must develop struggling readers into proficient and avid learners. But reaching them early in their academic journey is key.
Numerous studies have shown that when students are not proficient readers by the time they reach fourth grade, they continue to fall further behind their peers. The Children’s Reading Foundation has found that about 25 percent of all 4th graders understand less than a third to a half of the printed curriculum they encounter from that point on—and the situation worsens as they progress through the system. By the time they reach high school, many simply give up.
The reasons why each student grapples with reading are as varied as the children themselves. So schools must employ multiple strategies to support struggling readers and accelerate improvement. It can seem overwhelming for educators to individualize instruction for a class full of 20-30 students, but new adaptive and online technologies can help ease the burden – as long as proven instructional strategies are applied.
When evaluating new technologies and methods to implement to help your struggling readers, consider following these recommendations based on recent literacy research and the successes of other schools.
Boost Motivation
When students are given a choice of what to read, based on their interests and preferences, they become more motivated to read. According to a 2010 Dominican University study, improved motivation results in students spending more time reading and enjoying it. In turn, increased reading time contributes to higher achievement.
In Charleston, S.C., the school district began offering a digital reading platform that enabled students to select the books they wanted to read. Following implementation, the average digital book was read 337 times, compared to only 10 times a year for the average print book in school libraries. The title turnover was more than 30 times greater for digital books. More children were reading more because they were empowered through choice, and the books were easily accessible.
Focus on Reading Fluency
A significant number of struggling readers in fifth grade lack the foundational skill of reading fluency, and the problem tends to persist into middle and high school, based on research by Timothy Rasinki, Andrew Rikl, and Susan Johnston in 2009.
Rasinki contends that fluency should be a core focus for elementary schools, and proficiency in fluency can be achieved through various forms of scaffolded reading, such as modeling fluent and expressive reading, choral reading, assisted reading and wide reading.
The Orange County Public Schools Title I Services teamed up with the City of Orlando Families, Parks, and Recreation to create the Summer Learning Academy to prevent the summer slide and help build a community of confident and fluent readers. Students had the opportunity to participate in several project-based reading units led by highly-qualified Orange County teachers using research-based reading programs and instructional technology tools. During the course of the 6-week program, more than 1,200 K-8 students spent over 43,000 minutes reading, and they gained an average 44-point increase in their Lexile scores.
Target Text Complexity Based on Student Reading Levels
The Common Core State Standards state that being able to read complex text independently and proficiently is essential for high achievement in college and the workplace. However, the text complexity of current school texts throughout K-12 do not prepare students for the reading demands of college and career.
To encourage optimal progress, teachers need to be aware of the complexity level of the text relative to a student’s reading level. A text that is too difficult may serve to undermine a student’s confidence and diminish learning. Frequent use of text that is too easy may foster poor work habits and unrealistic expectations that will undermine the later success of even the best students. Targeting reading levels with increasing complexity promotes growth and literacy by providing the optimal balance.
When Paulding County Schools in Dallas, Ga., implemented a personalized reading environment that enabled students to choose books that matched their targeted reading levels and interests, the number of books students read jumped – and so did their Lexile scores. In just the first seven months of use in the 27 schools where it was rolled out, students read more than 321,647 books and logged over 55,308 hours of reading. Every grade level, from grades 3-8, achieved gains in Lexile reading scores, by as much as 70 points in 3rd and 5th grade.
Address Multiple Learning Styles and Modalities
A report by the Metiri Group in 2009 showed that involving multiple senses in the learning process increases understanding and retention. More specifically, it found that well-designed combinations of visuals and text enable students to learn more that they would by text alone. Educators will garner greater results by incorporating multimedia with the literature to address students’ varied learning styles, which can often be achieved with digital books.
Additionally, teachers can incorporate note taking and highlighting with reading assignments to enable students to use multiple modalities as well as practice close reading. Students learn to identify key ideas from their reading and show evidence for their interpretations of the text. This fosters critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the content by answering questions such as, “what is this text about and what details from the text support this?” Digital literacy tools allow students to seamlessly read, take notes, highlight and share their learning in one platform.
Putting it all Together
These research-based instructional strategies can be achieved through a personalized reading approach, which takes into account students’ interests, preferences reading levels, strengths and learning styles. Personalized reading boosts motivation, and a greater desire and enjoyment for reading leads to more reading. Ultimately, this results in improved fluency and proficiency. As students experience success in reading, they become more avid readers and better able to comprehend the materials across the school curriculum.
Furthermore, the advantages of personalized reading extend to students across the spectrum, from struggling to gifted, as well as English language learners. By focusing on the needs and preferences of the individual, all students are better served.
New adaptive technologies and digital content platforms enable schools to provide personalized reading at a lower cost and time-investment than is possible through print and one-on-one instruction. Through digital reading environments, educators can assess student’s individual skills and ability levels and offer students a broad range of books to choose from that match their needs and interests, as well as the opportunity to read anytime, anywhere. Teachers and students receive real-time feedback on progress and the ability to monitor growth toward standards mastery.
Recent data from districts showcase the impact digital books can have. In Hillsborough County School District in Tampa, Fla., struggling readers in grades 2 through 5 attended a summer reading camp to boost their skills. During the six-week session, students read the equivalent of 160,000 books—far more than would have been available if the program had relied only on print resources. Additionally, the savings far outweighs the costs of making the print to digital transition. Paulding County Schools saved $1.4 million, the amount it would have had to pay to purchase the print books to implement the personalized reading program.