Who Are Struggling Readers and What Do They Need?

Dr. Kathleen J. Brown

University of Utah Reading Clinic

Problem: Too Many Struggling Readers

• 15-40% depending on SES (Allington, 1994)

• 2003 NAEP data– 34% Utah 4th graders “below basic” in reading

• Probability unsuccessful G1 readers still unsuccessful in G4 = .88 (Juel, 1988)

Step 1: What are the Possibilities for Joe’s Profile?

• Reading = Decoding X Comprehension

• If good readers = good at decoding & comp

• Then, struggling readers can be:– poor at both decoding & comp– worse at decoding/better at comp (bk users)– better at decoding/worse at comp (word callers)

• What does research say about these groups?

Step 1: What Does the Research Say About Joe’s Profile?

• Shankweiler et al., 1999 Scientific Studies of Reading

• N = 361 7-9 year olds w/above 80 IQ

• measures = reading comp, word id, listening comp, psuedoword id, etc.

• plotted scores on a scattergram

Step 1: What Does the Research Say About Joe’s Profile?

• 114 students = average or above readers• 71 students = “too close to call” (buffer zone)• All remaining students = poor readers • Of these:

– 127 students = – 32 students = – 17 students =

Step 1: What Does the Research Say About Joe’s Profile?

• Joe is most likely struggling with both decoding & comp (n = 124 of 361)

• It is unlikely that Joe is “bk user” (n = 34 of 361)

• It is even more unlikely that Joe is a “word caller” (n = 17 of 361)

• Even those 17 word callers are below average in comparison to “good readers!”

Step 2: Is Joe Struggling?

• Initial Screening (e.g., DIBELS or AimsWeb)

• Indicated Risk of Reading Failure? Follow up with diagnostic assessment to determine instruction/intervention level– accuracy & rate on passages of graded difficulty

Step 3: OK, Joe is Struggling. What Does He Need From Me?

• Forget how old he is; think developmentally and work at his instructional levels:– develop automaticity in decoding

• short vowels-> vowel patterns-> polysyllabic words

– “consume” as much independent and instructional level text as is humanly possible

• guided & independent, repeated reading for fluency

– develop increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking and talking about text

• complete sentences-->more complex sentences via modeling of vocab & syntax

Step 4: Automatic Decoding: Phonics Scope & Sequence for Joe

• Nonreader to Primer: master letters-sounds, use initial consonant, blends & digraphs, master easier high frequency words, blend CVCs

• Primer to mid G2: master CVC(e)s, vowel teams, easy prefix & suffix, harder high frequency words, chunk 2 syllable words

• end G2 and up: use chunks & morphemes in polysyllabic words

Step 4: Guided & Fluency Reading: What Text Level for Joe?

• Find highest place he meets both criteria and start guided & fluency reading there– min 90% accuracy & sufficient speed

• mid G1= min 30wpm mid G3 = min 90wpm

• end G1= min 40wpm end G3= min 110wpm

• mid G2= min 65wpm end G4= min 120wpm

• end G2= min 90wpm end G5= min 130wpmend G6= min

150wpm

(DIBELS, 2003; Hasbrouck & Tindal,1992, Morris, 1999)

Step 5: Pacing: When Do I Move Joe to a More Difficult Level?

• Collect regular rate & accuracy data (at least 2-3x per week)– prepare passage (count out 100 words)– must be a “cold read”– time Joe (how long does it take?)– count errors (substitutions, omissions,

insertions, “helps,” self-corrects above G1) – repetitions are not errors

(DIBELS, 2003; Hasbrouck & Tindal,1992, Morris, 1999)

Step 5: Pacing: When Do I Move Joe to a More Difficult Level?

• Evaluate rate & accuracy data:– Is Joe at least 90% accurate? – Does Joe read with sufficient speed?

• mid G1= app 30wpm mid G3 = app 80wpm

• end G1= app 40wpm end G3= app 100wpm

• mid G2= app 60wpm end G4= app 100wpm

• end G2= app 80wpm end G5= app 100wpmend G6= app 100wpm

( UURC, 2004. Note: insufficient research base for direction)

Step 5: Pacing: When Do I Move Joe to a More Difficult Level?

• At high end of level, evaluate rate & accuracy data:– Is Joe at least 90% accurate?

– Does Joe read with sufficient speed?

• If yes, move to next higher text level, work there and collect rate & accuracy data

• If no, stay at current level; if possible, increase amount of reading. Continue to collect rate & accuracy data

Will This Really Help Joe?

• At-risk G1 students who received 95 sessions of Early Steps finished the year reading between primer and late-G1.

• Matched control G1 students who received 135 sessions of regular Title 1 intervention finished the year at preprimer.

(Brown, Reynolds, & Sinatra, 2000)

Will This Really Help Joe?• G2 & G3 students who started the year just

below primer and received 45 sessions of Next Steps, made a little more than one year of progress as readers (to mid-G2+).

• Matched control G2 & G3 students who received 135 sessions of regular Title 1 intervention made one-half year’s progress (late-G1+).

Brown, Morris, & Fields, 2002

Will This Really Help Joe?• G2 students who had received Early Steps in

G1and no intervention in G2 had made one-half year’s progress by March (to early-G2).

• Matched control G2 students who received no intervention in G2 made one-half year’s progress by March (between primer & late-G1).

Brown, Morris, & Fields, 2001

What Do These Data Mean for Joe?

• Intervention can help Joe make substantial progress as a reader

• Joe may need more than 1 year of intervention to get to, and/or maintain grade level performance

• remember Dominique & Shelby!!!

What Needs to Be in Place to Help Joe? And Juan? And Jane?...

• Materials– lots of leveled text with controlled vocabulary

(carefully selected predictable, decodable, high frequency, old basals, and easy reader texts)

• Enough Trained Bodies To Go Around – educators who understand reading development,know

how to deliver effective intervention in an efficient manner and have time to do so

What Do Educators Need to be Able to Help Joe? And Juan? And Jane?

• Clinical Experience/Practicum (they’ve had enough “Sit-N-Gets!”)– watch expert model intervention with student– educator tutors 1-on-1 with a student – educator gets “on-line” feedback from expert– educator observes other tutors and students

Critical Issues: Time & 1-on-1

• Clinical Experience/Practicum– 1-on-1 clears management issues so educators can see reading

development “up close and personal” over time

– intensive and ongoing: • tutoring needs to happen 2-5x/week for 1 year to see the interplay

between intervention and development

• mentoring needs to happen at least twice monthly over time

What Needs to Be in Place to Help Joe? And Juan? And Jane?

• teachers group for reading to allow students to function at instructional level AMAP

• in non-Title I schools, staff + volunteers build a tutoring program

• in Title I schools, paraprofessionals are effective intervention tutors

• remember Granger Elementary!!