Key Principles of Effective Reading Instruction: Outline and Country Examples

Fathi El-Ashry

Creative Associates International December, 2013

Objective of the Presentation

• To identify the key principles of effective reading instruction programs for improving reading outcomes.

Outline of the Presentation

• What we know

• What we think we know

• What we do not know

• What’s next

What We Know

Five Pillars of Reading Instruction

Challenges for EGR in Arab Countries

Problems in Reading Achievement Throughout the Region (grade 4)

Country C1 C2 C3

% of teachers with Univ. Degrees

89% 21% 91%

Student-teacher ratio

9:1 27:1 11:1

Per capita GPD (in USD)

$43.200 $4.600 $29.800

Population 2.4 million

33.2 million

885.000

28

26

33

country 1 country 2 country 3

PIRLS 2006

% of students

(Gavin, 2013)

In PIRLS 2011..

• 3 Arab countries achieved the lowest scores of all participating countries.

• In 2 of the 3 countries, significant percentages of students had scores “too low for estimation”.

• These findings demonstrate a pressing need to improve reading achievement across the Arab countries.

28 consonantal phonemes and 6 vowels, three short vowels and three long

Disglossic -- Classical Arabic (Fusha) v. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) vs. Spoken Arabic Vernacular (SAV)/Ammiya

Diacritics/Harakat – Vowel pointing system to indicate sounds (vowels and tones) not conveyed by alphabet. ,ـ َ ,ـ َ ,ـ َ 

Letter shape changes per position in word

No manuscript letter shape in Arabic

Unique Features of Arabic Orthography

Extensive research on Arabic has shown that brain functioning may impact learning to read Arabic because:

Visual complexity of Arabic orthography activates left brain for decoding (unlike other languages which use left and right brain)

The learning effects are:

Perceptual overload

Reading processes take longer to be ‘automatized’ in Arabic

Native Arabic-speaking child requires more practice and particular pedagogic effort

Learning to read in Arabic is harder and

takes longer than in other languages.

Implications of Orthography on Learning to Read

Implications of Orthography on Teaching Reading

Greater reading instruction time required than in most curricular timetables

Diglossia

Arab children may learn literary Arabic as a second language

Few Arab children have exposure to books written in literary Arabic before entering school

Unvoweled text impedes reading accuracy and reading comprehension

Vocabulary instruction

Prevalent “whole word” approach presupposes reading-ready children

High rate of illiteracy in the Arab world contributes to the EGR problem

What works?

• Time

• Teaching

• Texts

• Tongue

• Testing

Time

Problem: In typical classrooms, students read and write for as little as 10% of the day.

Response: Increase time spent on reading:

Egypt Reading instruction increased 20-30 minutes per day (phonics).

Yemen Using Arabic language periods (total 70 minutes) to teach reading

(more than phonics).

Time on Reading should not be restricted only to the classroom.

Teaching

• Teachers need to be familiar with

– Components of reading

– Effective practices for teaching each component

• Training focused on building teachers’ knowledge of

– How to teach reading

– General pedagogy

Teaching (cont.)

• Training focused on building teachers’ capacity to:

– Provide explicit instruction in meta-linguistic

skills. – Provide meaningful contexts and multiple

exposures in vocabulary instruction. – Begin with words common to children’s oral

vocabularies. – Replace whole word approach with phonics

instruction. – Provide robust instruction on the alphabetic

principle (Gavin, 2013)

Arabic word

Word that differs by one dot

خال حال

صريح صريخ

تشاهد نشاهد

غالي عالي

أقالم أفالم

Texts

• Students need rich supply of text they can actually read.

• The text must be calibrated to the scope and sequence of the reading program.

• The simpler the better—large letters, generous spacing, black and whit script.

Tongue

Familiar language

facilitates children’s

ability to learn to read.

Arab children may learn

literary Arabic as a

second language

Few Arab children have

exposure to books

written in literary Arabic

before entering school

• Response:

– Modern Standard Arabic

– Start with words children know

– More text in MSA

Testing

• Good instruction lead to enhanced test performances

• Teachers acquired knowledge of methods for evaluating student learning

• Classroom EGRA (T’EGRA) in Yemen

– Using real words

– Writing assessment

• Results of more formal tests of reading can be used to inform decision making

Testing Issues and Approach

Problems: MOE requirements + Arabic Orthography Response: Focused on real words and not invented words

Letter sound vs. syllable sound assessment

Two parts--familiar word list and oral reading fluency (passage) holding students responsible for all diacritics/harakat

Reading all the harakat slows down reading speed and may decrease comprehension at the early stage of reading

• What We

Think We Know

• What We

Do Not Know

Instructional Materials

We think we know that teachers love detailed daily lesson plans:

– Familiar format

– 5 components of reading in every lesson

– Active learning strategies

– Authentic reading & writing strategies

– Formative assessment

– Exercises for remediation & enrichment

We do not know:

• When/How to help a teacher move from using scripts to designing and implementing his/her own instruction?

Learning Materials

We think we know:

• Providing the following is essential: – Decodable readers for

learners

– Supplemental books (leveled and decodable)

– High success reading

– Activities, games

We do not know:

• How to scaffold difficulty in the most optimal way so that confidence is not lost but skill increases?

Coaching / Support

We think we know:

• Multi-tier coaching structure works: – Opportunities to observe

and be observed

– Teacher Learning Circles in cluster groups

– Identification and training of coaches

– Coaching tools

– Supervision of coaches

We do not know:

• What is the best model for coaching?

• How to take Coaching to scale?

Class Size

We think we know that:

• Significant differences in students’ achievement were found when classes were reduced.

We do not know:

• What are the limits of class size?

• What are the best strategies to be used in classrooms enrolled between 80 and 120 students?

With

What We Know.. And

What We Think We Know..

We can achieve…

Percentages of Mean Scores Increase in TWO Reading Programs (Grade 2)

192

111

91

176

118

176

Syllable Sound Word Reading Oral Reading Fluency

EGRP YEGRA EGRP-Egypt

2009-2011

YEGRA-Yemen

2012-2013

Baseline End-line Baseline End-line

Syllable

Reading

9.76

28.47

7.30

20.14

Word

Reading

7.35

15.50

4.67

10.18

Oral

Reading

Fluency

11.09

21.14

3.82

10.54

What’s next?

Setting Standards

For Arab children in the early grades:

– How many correct letter sounds per minute by the end of 1st grade? 2nd grade? 3rd grade?

– How many correct words per minute?

• Since all children learn to read in MSA, is it possible to set common standards among Arab countries?

Learning Materials

• More texts in the hands of students

• Decodable readers and more opportunities for practice in-school and after school.

• Stories closely linked to country's values and culture.

Teacher Preparation

• Unified approach to teach reading in pre-service and in-service.

• Active learning opportunities

• Opportunities to practice

• Extended duration of training

• Intensive hands-on coaching.

• Quality trainers and coaches

Community Participation

• Engage stakeholders

• Working with parents to support readiness

• Classroom volunteers

• Reading activities to boost literacy

Resources

Abadzi, H. 2006. Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights from the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Washington,

DC: The World Bank.

Allington, R. (2002). What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction From a Decade of Studying Exemplary Elementary Classroom Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/96/.

Garet, M.S., A.C. Porter, L. Desimone, B.F. Birman, and K.S. Yoon. 2001. What Makes Professional Development

Effective? Results from a National Sample of Teachers. American Educational Research Journal 38(4): 915-945.

Gavin, S. (2013). Addressing the Reading Crisis in the Arab World: Teacher Professional Development for Improving Arabic Reading Instruction. Retrieved from: http://sewardinc.com/white-papers

Gove, A. and P. Cvelich. 2011. Early Reading: Igniting Education for All: A Report by the Early Grade Learning

Community of Practice. Revised Edition. Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute.

Five Pillars of Reading Instruction. http://www.readinghorizons.com/research/five-pillars-of-reading-instruction-strategies