DOCUMENT RESUME CS 002 305 TITLE- Reading in Virginia ... · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 116 141 CS 002 305 TITLE-Reading in Virginia.Volume 3, No. 2. INST*UTION Virginia State Reading Association

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 116 141 CS 002 305

TITLE- Reading in Virginia. Volume 3, No. 2.INST*UTION Virginia State Reading Association.PUB 'DATE Mar 75NOTE 35p.

EDRS PRICE MF-S0.76 HC-$1.95 Plus PostageDESCRIPTORS Content Reading; Elementary Secondary Education;

Individualized Reading; *Language Arts; ParentParticipation; Perforpance Contracts; Phonics;*Reading Instruction; Reading Readiness; ReadingTests; Vision; Volunteers

IDENTIFIERS *Virginia

ABSTRACTThe contents of this issue consist of articles

concerning various facets of the teaching of reading: A guest articleby Patrick Groff is entitled "Phonics Teachers: Join the ConsumerMovement." Other articles focus on volunteers in public schools, thehigh risk child, the importance of good vision, the testing of tests,the predictability of poor readers, parental involvement,individualization through contracts, reading-type instruction,teaching prereading skills, student teams for tutoring, the ruralhigh school and content reading, teacher incentive payments, and aperceptual-psychomotor-vocational reading project. (JM)

(13

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* materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort** to obtain the best copy available. NevertheleAs, items of marginal *

* reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality *

* of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available *

* via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not* responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions ** supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original.***********************************************************************

rI4-

t: READING IN VIRGINIAU S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

EDUCATION & WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEDED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINAT iNG IT POINiS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEDUCATION POSITION OVOLICY

HARDY ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Published by

c\4 2

vi Virginia State Reading Association OMarch, 1975

READING

Volume III,

IN VIRGINIA

No. 1, March, 1975

Reading in Virginia is published once each year bythe Virginia State Reading Association, an affiliateof the International Reading Association, as aservice to its members. Membership in the VSRAincludes a sobscription.

Membrship information and information concern-ing submitting of articles to the editors is foundelsewhere in the journal.

POLICY STATEMENT: Reading in Virginia is apublication of the VSRA. The contents do notnecessarily imply endorsement by the VSRA or bythe editors. I

FUTURE DATES TO REMEMBER:

May 13-16, 1975: International Reading Associati6nConvention, New York

March 24-27, 1976: VSRA Convention, Twin Bridges,Arlington, Virginia

March 16-19, 1977: VSRA Convention, Roanoke,Virginia

Copyright.© 1975Virginia State Reading Association% the Editor

Longwood CollegeFarmville, Virginia 23901

d

H1 F' ;,,Nr;1

Virginia StateReading Association

; ; t't; t`f

VIRGINIA STATE READING ASSOCIATION:PAST PRESWENTS

Dr. Betty YarboroughMrs. Hilda PendergrassMrs. Ruth LewisMrs. Mae FranklinMrs,. Mary JohnsonMiss Patricia King

I-0; IN IA STATE READING A.-.,Sof IATioN197,4-75 oFFICEI-LS

President

President Elect

Corresponding Secretary

Recording Secretary 0

Treasurer

State Organizational Chairman

1968-691969,717

1976.711971-721972-731973 74

Newsletter

Dr Conetta Wilson, Newport News, Virginia

Secondary

Dr Carmelita Williams, Norfolk Stalw College,Norfolk, Virginia

College Reading Vduca tors Special Interest Group

1/r Shirley B Merlin, ;Madison College.Harrisonburg. 'ieginia

VIRGINIA STATE !LEADING ASSOCIATION1974-75 LOCAL COUNCIL PRESIDENTS

Miss June Curry Chesapeake Mrs Phyllis Fary, Portsmouth. VirginiaNorfolk Public Schools Culpeper. Mr Paul K Warwick. Culpeper, Virginia ,

iioo E. City Hall Avenue Danville Mrs Charles Freed, Danville, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia (treater Washington Mrs. Eloise Calkins.: Bethesda,

MarylandDr Mae (' Johnson Hampton Mrs Audrey B Cooper. Hampton. Virginia

Virginia State College Newport News Mrs. Boma Bailer, Newport NewsVirginiaPetersburg. Virginia Norfolk Mrs. Lee S Powell, Norfolk, Virginia

Piedmont Mrs Anne Ramsey., Appomattox. VirginiaMrs Phyllis K Godden Portsmouth Mrs. Jeanne Marcus, Portsmouth, Virginia

234 Modoc Avenue Prince William Mrs. Barbara Walvius. Manassas. VirginiaNorfolk. Virginia Richmond, Dr. Mae C Johnson, Petersburg. Virginia.

Roanoke: Mrs. May Helen Brubek, Salem. Virginiafirs Mary C Holmes Shenandoah: Mrs. Eunice Powell, Mt. Solon. Virginia

12 Pratt Street Virginia Beach Mrs Anne Henry, Virginia Beach. VirginiaHampton, Virginia Williamsburg, James City, York---Mrs. Linda Sidebot tom ,

Williamsburg, VirginiaMr Burton Joyner

Roanoke City Public SchoolsBox 2129

Roanoke, Virginia

Dr. Edmund IlendersonDirector

McGuffey Reading ClinicUniversity of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

VIRGINIA STATE kLEADING ASSOCIATION:1974-75 STANDING COMMITTEES

Publicitions and Research

Dr. Robert Gibbons, Longwood College, F'armville, VirginiaMr. Roy Brinkley, Norfolk State College, Norfolk, Virginia

Elections

Mrs. Suzanne L. Elliott, Chester, VirginiaMrs. Rebecca Gallop, Portsmouth, Virginia

Budget

Mr. Burton Joyner, Roanoke, Virginia' Mr. John C. Coates, Ill, Lynchburg, Virginia

Professional Standards and Ethics,

Mrs. Linda Hess, Harrisonburg, VirginiaMrs. La Verne Smith, Richmond, Virginia

Resolutions and Legislation

Dr. Gary Kilarr, VPI &SU, Reston, Virginia

Membership

Miss Sara Naught, Virginia Beach, VirginiaMrs. Barbara Patish, Norfolk, Virginia

FOREWARD

The Virginia State Reading Association shall hea professional organization for individuals whoare genuinely concerned with the improvement ofall aspects of reading programs and ,teachingprocedures, and with providing adequate guid-ance in all situations in which reading serves as avital aid to learning.

BYLAWS, Article II, Section I

To encourage the study of reading. instrution at alleducational levels throughout all of Virginia

To disseminate to the various local councils knowledgeregarding trends, research, and new developments in theteaching of reading

To stimulate and promote ,research in developmental,creative, corrective and remedial reading

To promote mutual understanding and cooperative workamong educators in the elemehtary grades, junior highschools, high schools, special areas, junior colleges, colleges,universities, and leadership positions

These are four of the purposes of the Virginia State Read-ing Association. It is the hope of the VSRA that this, thethird official publication of the association, will help in ac-complishing these purposes.

"Reading in Virginia. March, 1975"

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

This issue of Reading in Virginia is being mailtc.1',)c)tch ofthe 3500 members of the VSRA!

A new feature of Reading in Virginia this year is the ap-pearance of a guest article, writtenby Dr. Patritic Groff of-San Diego State University, San Diego, California 'Dr Groff,who has published approximately 100 articles, was invited bythe editor to write an article for the reading teachers ofVirginia. His articles are usually provocatiYe andstimulating his article for Virginia teachers is noexception!

The fourth volume of Reading in Virginia will be publishedin March, 1976 The deadline for submitting articles for thisissue will be January 1, 1976. Guidelines for submitting anarticle are:

1 Any topic related to reading may be discussed. It can be aresearch article or it can be an article providing informa-tion on a reading project, reading series, reading mater-ials and equipment, successful methods and techniquesused in teaching readin etc.

2. Number of words proximately 500. more or less.

3 Please type your article double spaced. Please type ononly one side of each sheet

4. Please sign your name, title, and address tkchool andhome) Pleasesgive your article a title.

A new feature of next year's issue will be an article writtenby YOU! Don't procrastinate write your article now: Theuoiy way teachers can find out about reading :n Virginia is towrite an article for Reading in Virginia, Please submit yourarticle to:

Dr. Robert D. Gibbons, EditorMr. J. Lee Pemberton, III, Assistant EditorLongwood CollegeFarmville, Virginia 23901

in nu mu 1.3

VIRGINIA STATE READING ASSOCIATIONMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

If you are not a member of VSRA but would like to join

NAME

ADDRESS

ZipSchool Position

Member of International Reading Association:Yes No

Send application and dues of $2.00 to:

Miss Sara Haught908 E. Piney Branch DriveApartment No. 202Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451

(Make checit payable to the Virginia State ReadingAssociation)

mg it. . ......"Reading in Virginia, March, 1975"

The VSRA is proud to send its congratulations to RoanokeCounty's Hardy Road Elemehtary School faculty andstudents. A story reprinted below from The World-News tellswhat happened! Mrs. Mary Helen Brubeck, Supervisor ofElementary 'Reading and Language Arts for RoanokeCounty. is President of the Roanoke Valley Reading Counciland is also a member of the Board of Directors of the VSRA.

Special congratulations to three people in particular whowere most responsible for making the reading program sucha success: Richard F. Stone, Principal, Mrs DeannaGordon, Assistant Principal, and Mrs. Alice Hall, ReadingSpecialist.

Hardy Road Elementary School1200 Hardy RoadVinton, Virginia 24179

firth-NemRoanoke, Virginia, Thursday, December 5, 1974

(:OMIC!' school receives reading award,

Roanoke County's HanSchoolry

ch reading skills in a' sys-Road Elementary tematic and progressive order.received the first award 't&L She said the,, audio-visual aidssented nationally for its bnple- help maintain year-to-yearmentation and use of the consistency in the instructionListen-Look-Learn reading of phonics and other skills.program. She said the program is'flexi-

The award was presented by ble so each child progresses atRobert Ruegg of New York his or her own rate. Pupil pro-City, director of marketing for gress charts help when chil-Educational Development la- dren transfer to other schoolstxratories,LEDL), a subsidiary within the county or attendof McGraw-Hill Book CO. EDL summer school.developed the program. Mrs. Brubeck said the county

School Supt. Arnold Burton schools have exceeded thetold the pupils and teachers state and national averages inwho were assembled in the reading scores. She said Hardygymnasium, "We are being ho- Road received the award be-nored for perhaps the outstand-ing reading ptogram in tilt

causeits teatorsusedsscpnaecers

andat athedminisschool

nation." to make the program effective.EDL's ListenLook-Learn Mrs. Brubeck said that be-

program stresses audio-visual cause of. the way the programaids to prepare pupils for read- has been organized at Hardying. Ruegg emphasized this, Road, all children are able tosaying, "The purpose: above go to the reading center to useall, is to be able to go to a book the audio-visual aids each day.and read." In other schools, she said, chil-

Mary Helen Brubeck, super- dren ,often are able to use thevisor of elementary reading aids only two to three times aand language arts for the coon- week.ty schools, said the EDL pro- The. plaque, which designates

gram is used thoughout the the school an "Exemplary Lis-school system at all grade ley- ten-Look-Learn Site,' will beels. displayed in the reading cen-

She said its purpose is to ter.

INTERNATIONAL READING ASSO(lATION

Membership in the IRA is open to any individualconcerned with the rfnprovement of reading. An annual membership includes.a subscription to one.-tv.o. or three of the professional Journals published by'IRA and other services.

Application FormPrint your name and permanent address here Please pr t clearly and limitletters and spices totthe hlocks het&i hhrodating v. en -necessary Mailthe completed form to IRA Membership. x(10 Barksd le -Road. Newark,Del.ovare I971 I

First Name Initial Last Name

JILIII I.1 L 1 'II 1 FT

TI stets) Li II I T_ F ICity State or Province

I I ITCrl I I I -I-11 I Zip Code 11

Membership for. One Year

( bout: of Journals I he Reading Iherlournal of Rt....1a7gReading Rest:ARAI Quarterly

Choice of MembershipMentnerslop wish one journal -. SI', Ili,,Icrithershi.p with I v.o iournals $20 00

Alcinhcr,hip with three journal, $2, no( tonprebensoc membership* 55000

Please send information aboutstudent menthcrship ratesrates for fnetnhers outside the t S

and Canada

Subscription for One Year(Schook. libraries. Institutions only)

The Reading reacher SI5 00 I

Journal Of Reading 515.00 I

Reading Research Quarterly ¶I5 00 flComprekszsi%e subscriptions $60,00

Indudes wurnals and ocher publiLitions issued during the subscript' »r membership,ear

-.tit

0

A "Reading in Virginia March, 1975"

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PHONICS TEACHERS: JOIN THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT! I

Dr, Patrick GroffVOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN HENRICO COUNTY

, 3

,Mrs. Jennie J DeGenaroHELPING THE "HIGH RISK CHILD" INTOLONIAL HEIGHTS 4

Mrs. Suzanne ElliottTHERE'S MORE TO SEEING THAN MEETS THE EYE 5

American Optometric AssociationTESTING THE TESTS

Mr. Edward GrimsleyREADING AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

rDr. Joseph B. CarnotREADING IN',THE CONTENT AREAIS

Dr. Joseph B. CarnotMr Daniel9

,-,

Dr, Joseph B. CarnotMr. Daniel Farsaci

PREDICTION: I KNOW WHO YOUR POOR READERS ARE' 8Dr. Robert D. Gibbons

ASSIST YOUR CHILD IN READING 9Dr. Kenneth Hoski§sonDr,jhomas M. Sherman

RESULS OF READING-TYPING INSTRUCTION 11

Mrs. Dorothy H. BrittINDIVIDUALIZATION THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS CONTRACTS 12

Miss Susan FriedmanXPANDING THE READING WORLD THROUGH COMMUNITY

COLLEGE EFFORTS 13

Mrs. Dorothy M. CusterMADISON COLLEGE RIGHT-TO-READ PRESERVI('E

READING EDUCATION PROGRAM 14

Dr. Shirley B. MerlinDr. James L. LaffeyMrs. Betty Coyle

\KEACHING PRE-READING SKILLS IN KINDERGARTEN , 15

Mr. J. Lee Pemberton, IIITUTORING PROGRAM USES STUDENT TEAMING 16

Ms Diane GriewankROLE OF READING TEACHER IN READING SERVICES PROGRAM ... 17

Mr. James D. MullinsEVALUATION AS SUPPORT TO DEVELOPMENTAL READING PROGRAM 18

Sister Emily Ann AppletonSister Elaine McCarron

THE FLY CATCHER 18Miss Carol Myers

THE RURAL HIGH SCHOOL AN APPROACH TO CONTENT READING PROBLEMS 22Mrs. Patti Kahsar .

THE CHALLENGE OF THE 70'S: PROGRAMMING FOR SUCCESS IN BEGINNING READING 23Dr. Betty H. Yarborough ,

INCREASING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BY TEACHER INCENTIVE PAYMENTSYEAR III.. . ... . 25Mr. Royce QuarlesMs. Evelyn MurrayDr, Milton Jacobson .

PERCEPTUAL-PSYCHOMOTOR-VOCATIONAL READING PROJECT 26Ms. Evelyn Murray

THE SNAKE 27Miss Carol Myers

6

7

8

t iv -

"Reading in Virginia, March, 1975"

PHONICS TEACHERS: JOIN THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT!

Dr. Patrick GroffProfessor of EducationSan Diego State UniversitySan Diego, California 92115

(Editor's Note: Dr Groff was asked to write a guest articlefor Reading in Virginia by the editor.

Good consumeri demands potential buyers be wary ofclaims made for a product's virtue When this attitude isconsistently held by the consumer the inducements of anyproduct or service, first of all. is gr ted with suspicion Thewise buyer never relaxes his skepticism as to whether anarticle or service in question is genuine It has been shownone can begin to develop these habits of mind even withelementary school children

The reqtLements of good consumerism need to be placedupon ,phonM writings for several reasons Over-the yearspromises ha x e been made to teachers to put "phonics in prope prespectiv.e.. and tose rate the -tatt and fic- Despite the assurancesli about phonics "Fhese from writers to the c'onp edges of a reform forphonics that knowledge trary, bad judgmenis andabout -certain soundspell-

nosstatements about. phonmg relationships a codcan learn to use to help Min t les rage onacquire the abilities to read _and spell r ho (. rarely been kept. however Hundred's of re-search studies have failed to eradicate the critical errorsfound in modern phonics writings Despite the assurancesfrom writers to the contrary had judgments and misstatements about phonics rage on

As with other poorly-done products one looks for thereason to explain such a shoddy state of affairs Phomcswriters are, difjerent I rom manufacturers ot this respectThat is, the latter insist that accidents, an indifferent workforce. had supply systems. etc.. account for atiy of theilow -grade merchandise Phonics. writers make up no sucexcuses

Instead, they proclaim almost triumphantly there is nobest way to teach phonics, and therefore no best v ay todescribe it, of course The mark of a successful writer ofphonics to date, accordingly. has been how well he can

portray. without deroga-tory comment, almost any-thing that anyone. any-time, has said about thesubject. These writersclaim with pride to be'eclectic" in their judg

ments about phonics. Thisattitude on their part findsa hospitable union withteachers unsure aboutphonics. Teachers find re-

lief, at feast, with the reasoning that since phonics "experts"admittedly are not sure, who can say when and where aplionics teacher goes wrong?

Stated simply, this eclectic approach means phonicswriters have accepted rumor or hearsay about phonics asbeing in the same league with r search findings. Thestubbornness with which they mainta NT this dubious balancecannot he dismissed as simple eccentricity, unfortunately. Amore deep-seated cause of this often is the writer's efforts toget his papers on phonics published. The publishers of longer

phonies writers have

arceptcd rumor or hearsay

about phonics as

the same league

search findings.

being in

with re-

1 -

works on phonics. particularly those of basal readerteachers' manuals, persist in their dislike for newmanuscripts that read too differently from those already inprint To continue to offer errors about phonics therefore canbe read as expediency on the writer's part The writer of atruly new phonics also finds many fellow teacher educator.~are offenad by his work These are professors of reading ascomfortably satisfied with the traditional information onphonics as are the basal reader publishers

Other factors aid the perpetuation of the v roog headednessof phonics eclecticism The strirall amount of knoWledge ofphonemics (sounds ( and graphemics spell tiw.1( somewriters hac e as is amply evident in their IA I itin s. doubtlesscontributes to their "anything goes.' phonics S. eh writersalso often use a "cut and paste- procedure.in making up aphonics book Rooks on phonic-, written il tais maimer arenothing more than rearrangements and (ar restatiiments ofprevious one., (Mc musty there is little Deed here t4 ventureinto linguistics information that pertains or intd currentresear( h tindings,hir additional up to daft In aumil A finalrefuge of. the eclectic phonics writer is his understanding thati esearch about the teaching of reading at points isinconclusi,e Since the research is not perfect. he reasons. Iam pi-ic ileged to (1Se any unverified testimony about phonicsI choose

The restilts of this eclectic approach to phonics offers littlesupport to the claim that the age of truth has emerged fur thismatter Quite to the reverse, the perpetuation of this notionmakes it inevitahle that phonics writings remain Rill ofmistakes Some pf these are slight errors. often ratherharmless. even arousing in their erracticisin cspecially tolinguists-who have begun to comment on them Some of theother detects which are presently noticeable cannot be takenso light! . nor he so easily excused, how ever Thew are sober(-a:delimits. earnestly put forth. that appear to have a ring oftruth about them It is with these kinds of faults in phonicsthat the true danger lies ."Fhee aver ot.fenses to whatresearcki into reading methodology' arfd into/linguistics sayabout phonics must include the toll ing dozen items'

I The claim that most scho( c,hrio be "ready- forphonics instruction should first participate in visualand audit ory 'readiness- activities

2. The notion that the hila.inust know a certain humberof "sight" words before he begins his phonics learn-ings

3 The advice that children be taught to-read words asisolated entities rather than always in sentences.

4 Thy failure to consider the different problems forteaching phonics that the different parts of speechpose.

5. An avoidance of a consideration of the relationship achild's dialect (that particular style of speech he useswhether this is standard for his speech region or not )should have on the kind of instruction in phonics he re-ceives.The support of the way the dictionary syllabicateswords, and the use of this kind of syllabication in'phonics.

7. A lack of comment as to the morphophonemic natureof English spelling, and how this morphophonemicspelling (e.g., sign vs. signal) helps the child recog-nize words.

8. The assumption that polysyllabic words are as properfor teaching beginning phonics as are monosyllabicwords.The recommendation that vowel spelling-to-sound re-lationships he taught as isolated sounds or as con

tt combinations (e.g., ha, pi).10. The proposal that children should learn to mark the


accented syllable in polysyllabic words as an aid toword recognition

11. The neglect to make a clear distinction as to the in-fluence phonics has on learning to read as versuslearning to spell ( it has much more influence on theformer ).

12 The trust that writers place in the value of popularstancIardized tests as tools to evaluate children'sknowledge of phonics.

It is possible to rid phonics of these and others of its presentfaults only if the tactics of intelligent consumerism areapplied by teachers. Rather than accepting phonics writingsat face value teachers must now be ready to ask someprobing questions of the writers of phonics. Among theseshould be:

On what evidence do you base your adya.re? What is theresearch that supports; your, statements' Knowing of thelinguistic phenomena involved, is it logical to believechildren learn phonics best the way you say they do' Howmuch of the conclusion that you make about some givenaspect of phonics do you base on hearsay' What kinds ofhearsay do you accept as useful in making decisions aboutphqnics teaching?

A Beginning Bibliography for Phonics Consumers(Numbers refer to items listed above )

1. Robert Dykstra. "Auditory Discrimination Abilities andBeginning Reading Achievement." Reading ResearchQuarterly, 1 (1966) 5-34. Ruth Waugh and Zana Watson."Visual Perception. and Rea,cling." Education 91 ( 1971 )266-269.

2. Patrick Groff. The Topsy-Turvy World of SightWort's." Reading Teacher, 27 (1974) 5 -578.

3. Rose-Marie Weber. "First-Graders' Use of Grammati-cal Context ih Reading." Basic ;Studies on Reading( Harry Levin and Joanna P. Williams. editors). NewYork : Basic Books, 1970. pp. 74-89. Kenneth S. Goodman."A Linguistic Study of Cues and Miscues in Reading."Elementary English. 42 (1965) 639-643.

. Teachers,must now be ready to ask some

probing.questions of the writers of phonics.

4 Fred Brengelman. The F:nglish Language. Engle-wood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970.

5. Richard Rystom. "Dialect Training and Reading."Reading Research Quarterly, 5 (1970) 581 599.,5. AlanCohen and Thelma Cooper. "Seven Fallacies: BeadingRetardation and the Urban Disadvantaged BeginningReader." Reading Teacher, 26 (1972) 38-45.

6. Patrick Groff. "Dictionary Syllabication How Use-ful?" Elementary School Journal, 72 (1971) 107-117.

7. Richard L. Venezky.The Structure Of Ellish Ortho-graphy. The Hague: Mouton, 1970

8 Patrick Gr ff. . "Long versus Short Words in BeginningReading." ading World. in press.

9 Richard E. Wylie and Donald D. Durrell. "TeachingVowels through Phonograms." F:lementary English, 47(1970) 787-791.

10

I 1

Patrick Groff. "Teach or Not Teach Accents?" Ele-mentary School Journal 62 (1962) 457-460.

Gus P. Plessas and Dorothea M. Ladley. "Some Impli-cations of Spelling and Reading Research." ElementaryF:nglish, 42 (1965) 142-14§.

12. Carol Winkley. "What Do Diagnostic Tests Really Diag-nose?" Diagnostic Viewpoints in Reading ( Rob..-trt E.Liebert, editor ). Newark, Delaware: InternationalReading Association, 1971. pp. 64-80.

One of the urgent needs in reading is tuidevelop partnerships between reading teachers and

reading researchers. Many reading researchers now realize that the'experience and creativity

of teachers is an important resource for their understanding of the processes of reading. We

also know that as teachers grow in their awareness of new discoveries in reading, programs of

reading instruction can he improved and amplified.-

2

"Reading in Virginia, March, 1975-

Dr. John T. GuthrieDirector of Research.International Reading Association

ti

1

VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN HENRICO COUNTY

Mrs. Jennie J. DeGenaroCoordinatorVolunteers in Public SchoolsHenrico County Public SchoolsHolladay Elementary SchoolRichmond, Virginia 23228 N(Editor's Note: Mrs. DeGenaro's first article for Reading inVirginia was published last year ; this is her second article! )

The Volunteers in Public Schools in Henrico County hastwo major goals.'The first is to train volunteer tutors to assistin ameliorating deficits in learning disabled students. Thesecond goal is to train volunteers to construct educationalgames and teaching devices. Both goals were met during the1973-74 school year.

The Tutorial Program

Volunteers were recruited from among the patrons of theHenrico Count, 'Public Schools. There were no educationalrequirements for volunteers;however, many tutors hadbachelors and masters de-.grees in education as well asin other fields. Two optionswere given the volunteers.They could either participatein the tutorial program or inthe media center. The majori-ty of the volunteers selectedthe tutorial program, althougha greater commitment was required of tutors. Severalvolunteers worked in both areas.

Fifteen hours of group in-service training was provided thevolunteer tutors prior to their assignments in the schools.Mopthly in-service programs were conducted throughout theschool year. In addition, the coordinator of the prc;gram was"on call" to assist individual tutors in testing and in tutorialsessions. Each tutor worked two or three times a week withher tutee in hourly sessions.

In-service was provided by the professional staff of theHenrico County Schools. Psychologists, administrators,teachers (learning disability, resource and classroom ),guidance counselors, and supervisors contributed theirexpertise to this program. Presentations were video-tapedfor future use and one recruitment film was made.

In-service training included practical techniques forformal and informal assessments. Various methods forteaching reading and the use orreading games were includedin the training. In addition, professionalism was stressed.

Thirty-eight volunteers tutors were trained and thirty-sixof those trained completed the program in June. Severaladditional volunteers joined-the VIPS during the school year

Thirty eight volun-teer tutors were train-ed and thirty-six of

those trained com-pleted the program in

June.

The commitment on the part of the tutee was to dem-'

ohstrate fifty percent greater achievement i the read-

ing area than he had achieved previously. Of all the s

ents tutored, 94.7 percent of the students mad or ex-

ceeded, the commitment for achievement.I ()3

In analyzing the data, it appears that tutors can make asubstantial contribution in the education of learning disabledstudents. The necessary components appear to be :

1 Volunteers whoare willing to participate in a trainingprogram.

2. Meaningful in-service which is geared to the needs ofvolunteers and includes providing tutors with :

A. The skills necessary to assess areas of strengthsand weaknesses.

B. Remedial. techniques, or strategies, to help erasedeficit ateas while capitalizing on the students'strengths.

C. Continuous, on-going professional guidahce.D. An individualized, prescriptive approach to tutor-

ial sessions t include professional help in writingprescriptions

3. Parent involvementA. Prior to a tutor being assigned a student, the par-

ents of the tutees were consulted and parental per-mission obtained.

B'. A morning coffee for the parents was held. TheVIPS program was explained and the parentswere given an opportunity to meet their child's tu-tor. Techniques for helping children at home wereexplained at this meeting.

The Media Center

Volunteers were recruited from the community toparticipate in this program. The majority who volunteeredwere patrons of the Henrico County Public Schools. Many ofthe tutees' mothers volunteered tohelp in the media center.One male participated, a policeman during his off-dutyhours.

In-service was provided by the program coordinator at thebeginning of each weekly session. Instruction was followedby the construction of the materials demonstrated

Various word games and teaching devices were made.Adaptable game boards, which were used for multi-levelactivities were found to be especially useful. Packets.complete with instructional objectives, were made forvarious word attar* skills. The material was used by thetutors primarily ; however, it was available to teachers aswell.

Extra Dividends

One male. participated, a

policeman during his off-duty

hours.

Two booklets were producedr,as an outgrowth of tutorsAutteachers working together. "Flip. for Phonics Tutors.Mothers and Others" was wriUen by the -Coordinator andillustrated by a Media Volunteer..'44atse, Your GameQuotient" was a countywide project. One hundred fiftygames were contributed by teachers and tutors and printedby Henrico County's printing department Tutors andteachers have copies for their use during the 1974i5 schoolyear. In addition, volunteers use the book to construct gamesand teaching devices.

Evaluation

The VIPS in lienricrf County Schools met the goals and


objectives as outlined in the original roposal As statedearlier, 94.7 percent of the tutees- m t or exceeded the"successful growth" criterion as establ shed in the readingareas. A total of 3.959 man hours mer contributed by thevolunteers the first year

The rate of attrition is usually high among volunteers Thiswas not the case in Henrico County Many volunteersreturned to serve in the program in the 1974-75 school yearParent involvement was accomplished and these volunteers,are-some of the supporters cyt. the goals of the Ifenrico CountkPublic Schools.

The work of the volunteers was such that more volunteertutors are requested than are available Principals and

- teachers were asked to evaluate their tutors' effectiveness.and'` overall they rated the volunteers "superior" andrequested the return of their particular tutors the followingschool year:

NFLIP FOR PHONICS

FOR TUTORS, MOTHERS

AND OTHERS and RAISE

YOUR GAME QUOTIENT

booklets were published.

The VIPS in Henrico wasincluded in a booklet onvolunteer programs in theUnited States and waspresented. at the Interna-tional Reading Associa-tion's annual convention inNew 'Orleans in 1974. Aprogram description is ex-pected to appear in theAmerican Public SehodiaSystems Yearbook for 1974-1975.

The Volunteers i Public Schools in Henrico Countycommenced in the fall f 1973 and was made possible under aTitle 'I-B grant. H nrico County' Schools assumed fullresponsibility. for the 74-75 school year' The rogram isunder the direction of Dr Morton Bradman MsistantSuperintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. orty-threenew volunteer tutors completed the first ten horns ofin-service training on September 25, 1974.

_M

"It Was still early when I reached school, one morningrecently. I was surprised to see a youngster hovering nearthe door. 'It's locked.' he offered sadly as I tried the knob. Ibegan to fumble for my keys. Immediately he brightened.'You're a teacher!' he announced with both surprise andpleasure. 'What makes you think that?' I asked, amused andnot a little pleased to think my station in life shouldtheregarded with such delight. He hesitated not a moment. butsaid soply and with respect. 'You have the key.'

"I was promptly humbled as well as overwhelmed at themagnitude of that simple statement, of the implication andthe responsibility involved by merely hying a 'key.'

"This was perhaps the most pertinent statement directedtoward me in my entire teaching career. It started methinking .. . rt

Susan SchillimIts

HEI,PLNG THE "HIGH RISK CHILI)" IN COLONIAL HEIGHTS

Mrs. Suzanne ElliottCo-ordinator of Special Education and Remedial ReadingColonial Heights Public Schools512 BoulevardColonial Heights, Virginia 23834

(Editor's Note Mrs. Elliott is on the Board of Directors ofthe Virginia State Reading Association.

Reading is a topic that is of concern to everyone. Childrenentering first grade want to "learn to read", and theirparents and teachers want them to read also Many childrenencounter the experience of learning to read with littledifficulty, but what about those children who have difficulty?Because there have always been children who experiencedifficulty in their exposure to the reading process, programsother than those offered in the classroom situation have beendeveloped.

Our school system started a program in remedial readingunder a Title I grant and now supports the total program withlocal monies. This remedial reading program offerssupplemental instruction in small group situations with thegoal of getting children to read at. their ability levels.Children's ability levels were chosen-instead of a grade levelbecause some children's abilities are above the grade inwhich they are enrolled, while others have abilities that arebelow grade level. In additidn, there is a learning disabilitiesprogram which works inconjunction with the rernedial reading project. Many children who receive

Teachers in these twoprograms receive theirstudents from referralsfrom classroom teachers,parents, the school psycho-

logist, and other schoolagents. Students referredfor remedial reading aregiven a standardized test

the benefits of the remedial

reading program also at-

tend the resource program

in learning disabilities.

4Reading in Virginia, March, 1975"

4 -

and informal reading inventories. If a child shows adifference between his ability and his achievement, he isconsidered for the program. An individual ability test isadministered if there is a question concernic.g thisdifference. Small groups with .a maximum of eight studentsare then scheduled.

Many children who receive the benefits Of the remedialreading program also 'attend the resource program inlearning disabilities. Theprocedure for entering the learningdisabilities, program is more structured and follows the"State Guidelines for the Administration of a SpecialEducation Program in Virginia." The procedure includestesting with the Slingerland Screening Test for theIdentification of Children with Learning Disabilities,psychological testing, a medical report and a social history

Children who show characteristics of a "high risk child"

have been given the benefits of an early intervention

program

Special teachers-as well as classroom teachers work veryclosely together to co-ordinate an individual program foreach of the students. Classroom teachers inforth the resourceteachers of each child's academic progress and weaknesses.Children in these resource programs are present-ed reading instruction on their achievement levelwithin the regular classrooM and are graded according to theeffort and advancement on this level. When academicsubjects are discussed in the resource classes, they arediscussed on a supplemental basis. If a child has a problem inthe area of auditory discrimination, for example, thelearning disabilities teacher works on developing auditoryskills while the remedial reading teacher may work onbuilding a sight vocabulary and configuration skills

Individual programs. small pupil -teacher ratios and a widevariety of materials are used 111 these programs and havecontributed to their success Since Colonial ',huh ts has hadthe benefit of both remedial reading and learning disabilitiesprograms, those children who were facing problems in

reading hate impro% cd greatic Also the children tt ho shotcharacteristics of d "high risk child hate been '141% en thebenefits of an earl, inter% enlion program that has as its goalmaking learning a successful and happ -e perience

'THERE'S MORE SEEING THAN EFTS E EYE

American Optometric Association7000 Chippewa-StreetSt Louis, Missouri 63119

(Editor's Note The following news release is published withthe permission of the American Optometric Association

"Why Johnny's eyes are perfect, he has 20 20 vision ,"exclaimed his surprised mother when the teacher suggestedhe have his eyes examined

Mother was right Johnny had perfectly sharp vision forseeing at a distance But teacher, in suspecting that is visionwas not normal for schoolwork, was right too'

A child may score 20 20 on the Snellen eyechart test andstill have a significant visual, handicap, the AmericanOptometric Association advises. The eyechart measuresvisual acuity but tells nothing of the indirect fields of vision,the eye-muscle action, speed of seeing, the effort needed tosee, or the ability to see efficiently at near point.

The term "20 20" refers to the size of letters Johnny c9uldread from 20 feet away. These letters are about am of an inchhigh. Most youngsters can read letters of 20 20 size,although some may need lenses to do'so.

If the letters must be made larger in order to be identified,the denominator of the fraction becomes larger. The higherthe denominator, the more blurred the vision is for seeing ata distance.

A child whose vision is 20 40 would require letters twicethe size of those necessary for 20 20 vision, while 20 100

letters would be five times as large. This does not mean that20 100 is five times worse than 20 20. The visualimpairment is greater but not in direct proportion to the sizeof the fraction which expresses it.

Why Johnny's eyes are per-

fect, he has 20 20 vision.

However, the ability to see clearly and effortlessly at adistance is only one of the visual skills a child needs to read,study and learn effectively. For example, a child with poorbinocular coordination the ability to focus and point hiseyes as a team may be classified as a "reading" or"behavior." problem by teachers, even though his visualacuity is 20 20. Yet once the vision problem is detectqlosuchstudents can be taught by trained personnel to aim and locotheir eyes properly throughvisual training, the 16,000-mem-ber association advises.

5

Protect your eyes.Take care of your vision.Our world is full ofthings you will wantto see."

Because children often do not realize they have a visionproblem, parents and teachers should watch for signs whichmay indicate a need for vision care. Some such symptoms towatch for are: the child losing his place whiio reading . . .

holding reading material closer than normal . . . frequentheadaches the tendency to rub his eyes ... . or the turningof the head to one side while reading.

Most important of all, parents should have, a child's eyes'periodically examined by a vision care specialistespecially at the first hint that the child is not measuring upto his potential in school.

Among the skills a child needs for maximum schoolachievement are:

1 To see clearly and effortlessly at distance and near witheach eye.

2 To use both eyes together to see both near and far ob-jects.

3 To move the eyes easily from one place to another.4 To change focus from far objects to near print.5 To identify objects by their shape, size and color.6 To recognize thesize mitt:distance relationship between

objects.7 To have good eye-hand coordiriation.

The American Optometric Association will be glad to senda free copy of each of several parn-Alets and news releases toeach 'of the VSRA members. If you are interested, pleasesend, a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the:

Public Information DivisionAmerican Optometric Association7000 Chippewa StreetSt. LAWS, MO 63119

"Beading in \ irginia, March, 1975'.

Publications of the AOA include:

A Teacher's Guide to Vision ProblemsDo You Know These Facts About Vision and School Achieve-

ment?The Place of Vision in Child BehaviorYour Child's First Vision ExaminationSchematic Section of the Human EyeSeymour Safely Flyer (see preceeding page)There's More to Seeing Than Meets the EyeNipping Vision Problems in the BudMuscles Affect Ability to SeeGood Marks for Good VisionEye Care.- - Do You?

Mr. Edward GrimsleyEditor of the Editorial PageRichmond Times-DispatchRichmond, Virginia 23219

Mr. J. William Doswell is Administrative Director of theVirginia Optdmetric Association. His addressis P. 0. Box4586, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

A child may score 20 20 on the Snellen eyechart test

and still have a significant visual handicap,( How does

YOUR school test pupils' vision? Is 'the Snellen the

ONLY test you use???^? )

TESTING THE TESTS

(Editor's Note: The following editorial, appearing in theRichmond Times-Pispatch on Saturday, October 26, 1974, ispublished with the permission of Mr. Grimsley. The editorialis being reprinted because of its appropriateness to thediscussion by the public concerning reading test scores ofstudents in Virginia. The editor believes this editorial is oneof the more objective statements written so far about thecontroversy of reading test scores.)

The State Department of Education's release last July ofthe results of achievement tests administered to pupils theprevious fall stirred a great deal of concern across theCommonwealth. The average Virginia scores on reading andmathematics tests appeared to be continuing a trend inrecent years of skidding even farther below the nationalaverage of 50.

To some observers, thismay have been evidenceThat the state's "Standardsof Quality" for publiceducation were a flop.Taxpaytrs were payingmore, but pupils werelearning less. "Quality'sUp, Scores Down," was theheadline in a Norfolknewspaper.

". . . concern ought to be

tempered by much caution

in using the standardized

tests as absolute measures

of school "quality."

Improved teaching of thebasic skills is an objectivethis page has supported onmany occasions. There are abundant indications here andelsewhere in the nation that the schools need to return toreading and computation and forget some of the exoticexperiments' that have been palmed off on them asinnovation. Nevertheless, concern ought to be tempered bymuch caution in using the standardized tests as absolutemeasures of school "quality." This cautionary side of thestory needs telling. t 4

Some of the limitations of test interpretation were lucidlyexplained this month to the House Appropriations Committeein a staff report prepared by Cecil F. Jones. In the first place,the report reminded the legislators, the recent test resultsshowed that one performance objective of the Standards ofQuality, that students achieve at or above )heir ability level- - was actually being met nicely. In more than 95 per cent ofthe school divisions, average achievement scores equaled ortopped average ability (or "intelligence") scores.

However, the fact that both ability and achievement scores


are below the national average and falling remains a sourceof legitimate concern. Some of the explanations offered bythe report are as follows:

* The harmful impact of busing. It is estimated that 10 to 15per cent of the public-school system's students have beenwithdrawn and placed in private schools in reaction to forcedbusing. Since these pupils come from homes affluent enoughto pay for private schooling, it may be logical to presume thatthey come from backgrounds that stress and reward literacyand that their withdrawal lowers the pool of self-motivatedlearners.

* The extension of public editegtion to children Imreneglected -I.e., slow learners, the emotionally disturbed,retarded and disabled. This may have had a furtherdepressing effect on test averages.

*Time lag. The Standards of Quality were not adopted until1972 and were not fully financed until 1974. Hence, the resultsof tests given in October, 1973, could not reflect much of animpact of the new standards.

Most of the other cautionflags raised by the reporthave to do with the natureof the tests themselves.Similar warning have beensounded by the HenricoCounty School Board, and,nationally, by GeorgeWeber, associate directorof the Council for BasicEducation. In summary,these are some of thepossible flaws in the testing asces :

"The STEA would appear

to have quite limited use-

fulness and little reason for

being published."

culled from the above sour-

The State. Department of Education switched last year tonew tests the Short Test of Educational Ability (STEA)and the Science Research Associates (SRA) Achievementtests, both of which are published by SRA. These testsrequire only 30 minutes to take, as compared with 90 minutesfor ones used previously, but they are far less comprehensivethan the old tests. In the Seventh Mental MeasurementsYearbook published in 1971, several experts criticize the testssharply. For example, "The STEA would appear to havequite limited usefulness and little reason for beingpublished" . . . "The principal advantage claimed for theSTEA is the limited time required for its administration

, (but) this advantage was achieved at the cost of reducedreliability at some levels."

In another break with the past, the state's tests for 1973-74were given at the beginning of the school year instead of inthe spring as had been the custom. How many pupils are

.7 primed for serious test-taking promptly upon return from -

-6

summer vacation?

Additionally, the tests are geared to the curricula used infive Chicago suburban schools. There is'a question whetherthe curricula there are compatible with those of Virginiaschools. If not Abe tests may not offer a fair measure of theperformance of Virginia pupils.

As for the inadequacy of achievement testing generally,Weber notes that neither speaking nor writing, two importantskills, are measured at all. Nor are interest in learning,initiative, imagination, morality, self-discipline, knowledgein the arts, foreign-language ability and physicaldevelopment - all whosesome objectives of schooling.Moreover, the reading tests oftep measure extent of generalinformation known, not reading ability. Selection ofvocabulary, pictures and subject matter may bias the testsin favor of some children, against others. Raking leaves andgoing to the beach may not be in the experience of aninner-city child.

The tests are geared to the

curricula used in five Chi-c,

caalsuburban schools.

The purpose of this editorial is not to suggest that tests canoffer no useful comparisons if drawn carefully, or that theschools should not be held accountable for producingdemonstrable results. It is to suggest that standardized testsfall far, short of perfection and Virginia may be using theleast perfect of all for its needs. Dr. Woodrow W. Wilkerson,superintendent of public instruction, has acknowledged thatthe criticisms leveled agajnst the current tests "have somedegree of validity" and his departmInt is stildying the testingproblem. Until further clarification is forthcoming, it may bewell not to leap to too many conclusions.

. .

READING AND SCHOOIN ADMINISTRATION

Dr. Joseph B. CarnotBrunswick County Public SchoolsLawrenceville, Virginia 23868

How the teaching of reading can be made more effectiveand the results longer lasting has been a perplexing problemfor decades. Since effective reading is the prerequisite toefficient assimilation of written material, many proceduresfor teaching reading have been intellectualized upon,researched, attempted and rejected. However, the questionstill remains and remains unanswered.

-The improvement of reading programs in our schools ishighly dependent upon the attitudes and priorities of theschool administration. If the reading programs are toimprove, then the impetus must come from the schooladministration. Also, the lack of improvement can be tracedback to the lack of administrative involvement in curriculumand instruction. Also, the degree of involvement will varywith the size of the school division; consequently the smallerthe size of the division the potential will he higher foradministrative involvement in the improvement of thereading program.

High priority areas for funds also come from the schooladministrator and the priority areas are usually at the levelthe administrator taught before leaving the classrooms.Quite often surplus funds, if they do occur, are allocated tothose areas where the administrator had taught, isknowledgeable and had positive attitudes.

If the reading programs are to improve, then the im

petus must come from the school administration.

Today, reading and reading scores on achievement testsare local, state and national political issues. Increasedfunding has made reading a major concern of the citizens ofour country. Reading is responsible for a large per cent ofmany school budgets. Consequently, reading is everyone'sbusiness and a big and profitable business it is.

School administrators must be knowledgeable andcompetent in the area of reading. The administrator is theinstructional leader of the school and has the majorresponsibility in curriculum development and supervision.He must act as a change agent to improve instruction.However, adminktrators should not implement their willupon their staff as a benevolent dictator, but serve as a

- 7

catalyst to bring together the best educators and availablematerials to improve instruction.

Also, the administrator must be a c munications and ahuman relations specialist. The organ nation pattern of theschool is not important, but What Makes place in theclassroom is. The administration must provide openchannels of communication regarding reading as well as thetotal school program. After all, everyone has opinions on 9education and schools because everyone has at some timeattended school.

We need to have a regular, scheduled reading time in ourschools directed by competent reading teachers. We, alsoneed meaningful in-service programs designed to makereading teachers even more effective and subject teachersknowledgeable of reading skills. We need to better use ourexisting personnel and facilities. Parents can help theirchildren and workshops should be organized by theadministrators and staff to provide assistance. Also, studentswho are better readers can help those who are poorerreaders. Pride and status should be given to these studentaides.

Also, the RIF (Reading isFUNdamental ), sponsoredby the Smithsonian Insti-tute in Washington, D.C.,program should be invest-ed and used if possible.Local libraries and book-mobiles can provide con-siderable resources to sup-plement existing schoolfacilities.

We ... need meaningful in

service-programs designed

to make reading teachers

even more effective ...

Administrators and teachers should closely evaluate statetesting programs and determine if these materials are reallyappropriate to the students of the division. Also, there shouldbe extensive diagnosis of the reading program used in thedivision rather than the child.

In conclusion, school administrators must be knowledge-able of reading programs and/ bear the greatestresponsibility for improving reading skills for the children ofthe school division. By providing instructional leadership andstaff developipent the reading skills should improve. Schooladministratods are in positions of authority to effectivelyinstitute programs and personnel which will be reflected in

}the improvement of the reading program.


READING IN THE CONTENT AREA

Dr. Joseph B. CarnotBrunswick County Public SchoolsLawrenceville, Virginia 23868

and

Mr. Daniel FarsaciUnion Springs SchoolsUnion Springs, New York

One of the most recent innovations in the field of readingimprovement is reading in the content area. This approachunites the entire learning process through reading skillswhich are taught using the total school curriculum. Thisprocedure involves subject area teachers in the entire

. learning process rather than simply as subject matterspecialists.

The importance of complete funding cannot be over-emphasized because whenever money is inadequate,Implementation of any program can be severely jeopardized.If the value of the program is not accepted by the staff and ifthe teachers feel that the program may not continue to befunded, in future years they will view it as no more thananother innovation on its way out. The "Relax, it'll be gone ina year" syndrone will take effect leaving staff in no differentattitude.

..IMPROVEMENT OF' READING SKILLS IN THECONTENT AREA MUST INCLUDE THE IMPROVEMENTOF' TEACHER'S SKILLS. The most certain means oftraining teachers to achieve a specific goal is to develop aprogram wherein all members of the school unit, includingadministrators, receive the same training during the same

year. The desired effect is to achieve maximum teachingefficiency and maximum reading effectiveness through acooperative, coordinated effort on the part of the total staff.The most problematical feature of district in-service seemsto be allocation of time to produce a viable workshop. Thetotal amount of time to complete the workshop SHOULD BENOT LESS THAN FIVE DAYS FOR SEVEN HOURS PERDAY. this span affords sufficient time to understand thebasic philosophy of the program, enables staff members tobecome involved in procedures of learning similar to thoseused in content-reading classroom, and time to developcontent-reading materials to be used in their own classroomsat a later date. Also, alternative times within which toconduct reading in the content areas workshop will includeafter-school classes, summer programs, or regular schoolday workshops.

However. not all school systems can successfullyincorporate reading in the content area. If the assessment ofneeds, viewed by administration and staff, dictates that sucha program is desirable, the first step should be theprocurement of funds necessary to develop and maintainoptimal effectiveness of the program.

In conclusion, reading in the content area should operate inconjunction with the basal program through all grades.Through this procedure skills are taught not in isolation, butas an integral part of the reading-content area program. Atthe end of the basal program students should not end theirreading classes but should have a natural continuum ofcontent area reading replacing the developmental orremedial reading program. .

PREDICTION.: I KNOW WHO YOUR POOR READERS ARE!

Dr. Robert D. GibbonsAssociate Professor of EducationLongwood CollegeFarmville, Virginia 23901

Beethoven was told he was hopeless as a composer. WaltDisney was told he had "no good ideas." Caruso was told hecould not sing. Dr. Von Braun failed algebra and WinstonChurchill failed the sixth form (grade). Eddie Richenbackerwas told he would never make it as an airplane pilot. FredWaring was once rejected for high school chorus. Ted Mackfailed to "discover" Frank Sinartra. Even though Tiny Timtried out ten different times for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour,Ted Mack never did "discover" him.

1. Question: What did all of these people have in common?

In a recent survey by the Department of Health, Educationand Welfare, 4.8 per cent of today's secondary schoolstudents were tested as being illiterate (they could not readat a beginning fourth-grade level.) For the boys, the percentwas 6.7; for the girls, 2.8. A further breakdown shows that 4.7per cent of the white males and 20.5 per cent of the blackmales were tested as being illiterate. For the females, 1.7 percent of the white females and 9.6 per cent of the blackfemales weee tested as being illiterate.

2. Question: What did this study ha,ve in common withBeethoven, etc.

More girls usually graduate from high school each

"Reading in Virginia, March 1975"

58

year than boys. Girlsusually have, on the aver-age, a higher grade pointaverage than the boys.Five times as many boys asgirls are referred to psych-iatric clinics. Four tomes asmany boys as girls arereferred to speech thera-pists for stuttering prob-lems.

. . . 4.8 per cent of today's

secondary school students

were tested as being illiter-

ate.

3. Question: What do these statistics have to do withBeethoven, etc.

In the same Department of Health, Education and Welfaresurvey as mentioned before a young male, born and raised inthe South, as a member of a large low-income family, havingparents of limited education was the most likely candidatefor illiteracy. As shown bystatistics from a 1971 Harris Pollsurvey, and reaffirmed by theHEW survey, the South has ahigher rate of functional illitera-cy than any other region in theUnited States.

4. Question: And what does allthis have to do with knowingwho your poor readers are?

Five times as many

boys as girls are re-

ferred to psyNffatric

clinics.

In a recent National Education Association study, nine outof every ten students who have reading problems are boys.

More men than women go to jail (95 per cent of all inmatesin jail in 1972 were male and 60 per cent of those men wereunder the age of 30). Men usually receive harsher jailsentences than women. Mostly, "dumb" people go to jail.Mostly "poor" people go to jail. People without jobs arehighly likely to wind up in jail. Blacks make up 11 per cent ofthe population, but 42 per cent of the jail population. Thesestatements come from a recent report of the LawEnforcement Assistance Administration.

5. Question: So, who are your poor readers?

A recent study completedby the Virginia State de-partment of Educationstated that although blacksaccount for 24 per cent ofVirginia's school popula-tion, 41 per cent of all gradefailures were blacks. Of allstudents who were sus-pendi71, 46 per cent wereblac . Of all students whowere classified as educable50 per cent were black.

. . . the South has a higher

rate of functional illiteracy

than any Other region in the

United States.

Or trainable mentally retarded,

By now you shoWd be able to answer all five questions:

1. All are males2. More males than females are illiterate3. Males are more often referred for remedial help than

females.4. Males living in the South are most likely to be candi-

diates for illiteracy.5. Your poor readers are mostly likely to be the males in

your class.

Solutions are not easy to find. But a teacher must diagnosebefore possible solutions can be found. Diagnosing your classto find out who the poor readers are will probably be fairlyeasy. Your poor readers will be:

Dr. Kenneth HoskissonAssistant ProfessorCollege of EducationVPI & SU

A. Boys instead of girls.B. Black boys more often than white boys.C. Black girls more often than white girls.D. Poor boys.E. Poor boys who live in the South.

Other predictions:

A. You will refer more boys than girls to the school psy-chologist,

B. You Will refer more boys than girls to the speechtherapist.

C. You will give lower grades to the boys in your roomthan you will to the girls.

D. You will have more discipline problems with your boysthan with your girls.

E. You will fail more boys than girls.

Nothing is more unequal than equal

treatment of unequals.

In a recent study, boys in only two countries were found tobe better readers than girls: Japan and Germany. The onlysignificant factor seemed to be that in those two countries,there were more male teachers than female teachers in whatwe woWd call the elementary schools.

There is an old saying that "nothing is more unequal thanequal treatment sf unequals." Knowing that boys are notequal to girls in reading achievement, it is time for teachers,particularly female teachers, to begin unequal treatment fortheir male students.

Fortunately, Beethoven, Disney, etc. were able toovercome their teachers' negative comments. Will the boysin your class be as fortunate???

ASSIST YOUR (7.1,13IN READING

ALid

Dr. Thomas M. ShermanAssistant ProfessorCollege of EducationVPI & SUBlacksburg, Virginia 24060

Parents-who wish to become involved in the education oftheir children are frequently frustrated by not knowing whatto do to help. The schools have in the not too distant past beenvery explicit in telling parents not to intervene in helpingtheir children learn to read. Teachers on the other hand areaware of the necessity of adequate home support for childrento succeed in school but are sometimes at a loss fnrsuggesting means by which parents can be actively involvedin assisting their children. The techniques of assistedreading suggest one way that parents can become activelyinvolved in assisting thetr children in learning to read.

I Fr- 9 -

Assisting reading is bas-ed on the assumption thatchildren process written Parents who wish to be-language in a mannersimilar to the way they come involved . . . are (re-process or learn spokenlanguage. The similarities quently frustrated by notexist in the manner inwhich parents read to their knowing what to do to helpchildren. Children who arelistening to stories that arebeing read to thein and are folloWing the lines of print areessentially processing spoken language. It seem reasonablethat a child who follows the lines of print with his eyes whilebeing read to is in effect having an experience very similar tothose he had while he was learning to speak.

In learning to speak the child actually reconstructs thelanguage of whatever speech community he is a member. Heformulates the relationships with the words he learns and theobjects, actions, and descriptions they represent. He alsomakes the connections between his internal, abstract,conceptual world and the outside world by means of thelanguage he employs. The remarkable aspect of this


linguistic feat is that it occurs without any formal training. Inlearning to read the child applies his knowledge of thelanguage to the printed words he experiences as he is readingin much the same way he applies it when listening andspeaking.

4

Assisted reading is 'Llsed differently with children who

have different levels of reading ability.

Parents, therefore, can provide the reading environmentfor their children just as they provide the language andexperiential environment for children, when they arelearning to talk.'

Assisted reading is used differently with children who havedifferent levels of reading ability. With the pre-schoolnon-reader the parentmust read to the child three to fourtimes a week until the child has a love for stories and hasdeveloped a fairly long story-attention span. Those parentswho begin reading to their children when they first begin totalk are setting the stage for success in reading. Generallychildren should have developed an adequate grammar-of thelanguage and a fairly extensive vocabulary before beginningassisted reading. This occurs between the ages of four andseven for most children. Since reading depends more on theinforieation that one brings to the printed page than on theprint one finds on the page, the more background a child hasthe greater are his chances for success when he begins toread.

One parent, who employed the assisted reading approachbegan by reading a picture book to his four-year-old son andthen had the child read each word after him. At each readingsession the procedure was repeated until the book wascompleted. Subsequent books were treated the same until thechild had acquired a sight vocabulary sufficient to handlemost beginning picture books. Once the .child could transferhis knowledge of words by recognition on sight from book tobook he would read and the parent supplied the words thechild did not immediately recogniF. This included newwords he did not have in his sight vocabulary and words notreadily recognized. In this manner the parent couldanticipate the vocabulary load and the problems likely to beencountered in his son's reading. It was also observed thatthe boy generalized the beginning consonant soundsassociated with those letters that have a regular one-to-onecorrespondence. He also began to use context as a, means ofverifying the words he selected from his vocabulary thatmight make sense in the story. After one year of assistedreading the child was reading on a high second grade level asmeasured by the Stanford Achievement Test, Prmary IBattery (SAT).

A variation of the word by word repetition approach toassisted reading for pre-school non-readers is to read asentence at a time and have the child repeat the'sentenceimmediately. The parent who used this approach reportedthat her five-year-old daughter would not repeat a line ofprint word.by word but would repeat sentence by sentence.Individual learning styles or preferences must be respectedwhen using assisted reading. The child should not be forcedto do something that is not comfortable for him. It should alsobe stressed that the reading situation should be relaxed andfun for both parent and child. The child should not bepressured to read any longer than he wants to. This maymean that sessions on some occasions may only last oneminute before the parent is asked to read without the childdoing any reading. Do not force the child to read if he resists- encourage but not force.


It should . . . be stress-

ed that the reading

situation should be re-

laxed and fun for both

parent and child.

To test the effectiveness of theassisted reading approach morethoroughly the authors identified,wo second grade children whonot only were very poor readersbut also intensely disliked to read.Bothchildren regularly-refused toparticipate in their school readingclasses. With the classroomteacher's cooperation, a tvio,phase assisted reading programwas established to help these twochildren. First, while in the class-room, the children were given theopportunity, along with the rest ofthe class to listen to recordedstories over earphones and readalo.ig as they listened. Alsostudents in the class took turnsreading and listening to each

other read. The second phase of the program dealt withinvolving the two children's parents.

We met with the parents and explained the assistedreading approach to them, stressing that they provide apleasant atmosphere at home while the children read. Each'child's mother read with her child from three to five timesper week for about twenty minutes each time. The childrendid the majority of the reading with the mothers only supply-ing unknown words. We asked the parents to give frequentreinforcement for correct responses and for attempts tofigure out words. We feel it is just as important for thechildren to find out what they are doing .correctly as it is tohear about their errors. Both parents were asked to read withtheir children at a time when both wanted to read and not tocriticize their children's mistakes.

After four months of working with their children we wereable to report that both children had raised their reading testscores from 9 to 5 months in the areas of word recognitionand paragraph comprehension. In addition both childrenbegan to check books out of the school and public librariesand were found to read on their own voluntarily. When wefirst visited the homes both children refused to read to us andby the end of the four months, both children insisted uponreading at least one story. One child, in fact, refused to stopreading while we were talking to her mother.

We feel this approach, as this experience demonstrates,has real merit for parents in helping their children learn toread. It requires no special training or complicatedequipment. In fact, by following the basic outline given belowanyone should be able to assist a child without specificlearning disabilities to become a good reader.

PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTED READING

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

1. Read to your child three to four times a week to develop alove for stories and a wide background of experiences.

2. Provides many educational experiences for your childas possible. Explore your home, neighborhood, city andthen visit historical places, museums, art galleries,stores of all kinds, farms, public parks, the zoo, rivers,lakes; in short provide all kinds of experiences so thatyour child can bring this information to the stories helistens to or reads himself.

3. Begin to have your child repeat words or sentences toyou. You may do this with only one page at first andgradually increase the number of pages that they repeatafter you as you read to them. Do not insist that he repeatthe whole book if he is not willing to do so. Remember ittakes four or five years to learn to talk; learning to readis an equally long process.

4. By the end of the second or third month of assisted read-ing some children will be ready to do the major portion of

5.

the reading with the parent supplying those words whichare ne to the child or for which he has trouble recogniz-ing imm ely. In the beginning it may take as many asone hundred repetitions of a word before the child; mayremember the word and read it each time he sees it.Don't be discouraged or get angry aith him ; reading isan extnemely complicated act.When the child is reading most of the words in simplebooks, the parent assists him by supplying the words hedoes not remember or that are new to him. Thenumber of .

times a word will need to be supplied will depend on themeaning the word has for the child. Wordsmsuch as what,that, they, these, those, when, where, etc. require manyrepetitions. These words still need to be supplied after ayear or two of assisted reading. Don't be too precise inyour corrections of the child's reading mistakes. Therewill be many times the child will make word substitutionsthat will have the same meaning as the words he mis-reads. Do not correct him when this happens if he hasread the word correctly on previous occasions since he isreading for meaning, not precise word identification.

6. The child should be involved in selecting the books thatare read to him and which he will read with parental as-sistance.

CHILDREN IN SCHOOL

1. If he is a beginning reader follow the procedures for pre-school children.

2. Selection of books of interest to the child is very impor-tant. The child should be allowed to select the books hewants to read. The assumption is that he can read any-thing he can understand when it is read to him if he is as-sisted with the word,s he does not know.

3. The child reads the story and the parent supplies thewords the child does not know. This keeps the flow of thestory moving ahead and does not force the child to inter-rupt his train of thought and struggle with a word he can-not recognize immediately. When adults read, they'readfor meaning,not for word identification.The child's vo-cabulary will be increased and his ability to piOnouncenew words will also improve as a result of assisted read-,ing.

4. Children have remarkable power with language. Assist-ed reading allows them to use this ability without thefrustrations of the more formal methods used in schools.It also does not interfere with any method being employ-ed by the schools since parents are encouraged to read totheir children and assisted reading is merely. an exten-sion of this activity.

A basic ingredient in a successful assisted readingprogram is to create a good reading environment. At alltimes, you should be very positive during the readiQgsessions. IVIake this a special time for both you and yourmud. You might want to regularly schedule a "quiet time"when you both will get together. This should be in a placewhich is quiet and relatively free from distraction. At notime should you force the child to read; nos only maKes"having to read" a punishment and results in learning todislike reading. Also remember,not to read too often so as todo too much of a good thing. When you start your readingsessions you may want to have a special drink or candyavailable which your child normally only gets on specialoccasions - make "reading time" a special occasion. Mostimportant of all allow your child to make mistakes and bepatient with him as reading is a very complex skill to learn.And when he finally recognizes that word, praise him. Give a

' lot of positive feedback to your child. Be constantly alert forthings he does correctly. It is probably more important to tellyour child what he has done correctly than to tell him whatmistakes he has made. In general, to make a good readingenvironment, have a special time for reading and make this a'time both of you and the rest of the family enjoy and lookforward to. Encourage your child to use the library andencourage him anytime he reads.

It is possible for you to have a child who loves to read andreads well with -only a minimum of effort on your part. Readtogether and enjoy each other's reading; it is quite a pay-offfor only one and a half or twahours.a'week: Have fun withassisted reading!

RESULTS OF READING-TYPING INSTRUCTION

Mrs. Dorothy H. BrittReading SpecialistHidden Valley Intermediate SchoolRoanoke County Public SchoolsSalem, Virginia 24153

A clqss combining reading and typing instruction wastaught during the schodl year 1973-74 at Hidden ValleyIntermediate School, Roanoke County, Virginia. The classwas taught for a period of eighteen weeks and the studentswere twenty seventh graders who had experienced greatdiffiFulty in reading throughout their school year.

The purpose of including typing in the instruction was toimprove eye-hand coordination, visual-memory and visual-perception. It was anticipated that if improvement could bemade in these areas, errors in reversals, omissions, andperception would decrease.

Instruction was divided equally between the two subjects.The typing room was available for the class as well at theMulti-Media Reading Laboratory. The teacher was certifiedin both fields. 18

The purpose of including typing in reading instruction

was to improve eye-hand coordination, visual-memory

and visual-perception.

`typing was taught in the usual manner and at all timesemphasis was placed on accuracy. Speed was never stressedand no standards had to be met in order to pass. A good dealof the time was spent in dictation from the teacher. Gameswere played in which fouls were called on the students wholooked at their hands. 'Visual recall and concentration weredesired during this activity. Placement of material onstandard-size and odd-size paper was taught to help correctpoor placement and spacing. Proofreading of all work wasrequired, and the students had an opportunity to check otherstudents' work as well as their own.

Reading instruction consisted of dictionary skills,vocabulary building, listening skills and comprehensionimprovement. Students worked in materials on the level oftheir ability.


The I Gates-McGinitie test was administered at thebeginning of the semester. The test consisted of three.parts:Speed and Accuracy, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. InSpeed and Accuracy, pupils were timed and were asked tomark as many correct meanings of the different words givenas possible. The number of words attempted was scoredunder Speed: the number of words which were correct wasscored under Accuracy. The Vocabulary section consisted ofwords common to this age group. The first words were easyand increased in difficulty as the pupils progressed. The

' Comprehension section of the tests consisted of shortparagraphs to be read silently and questions to be answeredabout each.

Another form of the test was administered at the end of thesemester to determine the progress made by each student.The teacher held a conference with each pupil and discussedtotal scores of the beginning and final tests: No grade Itvelswere discussed.

The results of the twenty participants were as follows:

IMPROVEDSpeed Accuracy Vocabulary comprehension

19 15 14 11

REMAINED THE SAME

.0 3 1 3

REGRESSED1 2 5 6

The most significant result of the tests was the fact that allbut one,pupil improved in speed. Of these nineteen, fifteenimproved in accuracy. Many of these pupils improvedseveral grade levels in both areas.

Fourteen improved in Vocabulary as follows:3 improved 12 grade level3 improved 1 grade level2 improved 112 grade levels4 improved 2 grade levels1 improved 212 grade levels1 improved 3 grade levels

-Eleven improved in Comprehension as follows:

-

3 improved 1-grade level2 improved 112 grade levels4 improved 2 grade levels1 improved 2 grade levels1 improved 3 grade levels

a

Another result was the intense interest by the students intyping as a class. Many of the students chose typing as Anelective in the eighth grade. Since these pupils are oftenunable to keep up with the pace of a regular typing class, this veexperience gave them a feeling of security and' P.-accomplishment.

A book tight shut is but a block of paper.Chinese Proverb

INDIVIDUALIZATION THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS CONTRACTS

Miss Susan FriedmanCoordinator of ReadingFalls Church Public SchoolsFalls Church, Virignia 221146

Walking into an upper elementary grade classroom inFalls Church the observer immediately notes a startling di-versity of activities taking place. A child gets up, picks aspelling exercise, completes it and brings it to his partner tocheck. Several children are found in rather unlikely positionsengrossed in trade books, others are busy in readinglabs, yetothers are involved in skill exercises. There is a hum ofactivity in the room, a child looks perplexed and is assistedby the teacher, elsewhere a child answers another's question.

To counter the ,boredomand resistance of upper ele-mentary level students to astrictly basal reading andworkbook instructionalapproach, many of our fifthand sixth graders are on in-dividual language arts con-tracts. The contracts are for a specified time period of usual-ly one or two weeks. They generally include independentreading, work in skill areas needing practice, spelling,creative writing and any individual or group projectscurrently in progress. The language arts contract does notspecify daily assignments. Therefore, children are

Children are encouraged to

make responsible de-

cisions.


encouraged to make responsible decisions. They learn tobudget time and to select activities for themselves.Motivation stays high since children know they have manyoptions to choose from and unlike more traditional groupapproaches they are clearly responsible for themselves.

Parents are consulted prior to initiation of the contractualarrangement so that questions and concerns can beeffectively dealt with and cooperation solicited. Parents arealso periodically advised of their child's progress.Student-teacher conferences are held at the culmination ofthe weekly or bi-weekly time period and both teacher andchildren participate in evaluating achievement- towardsspecific goals.

The benefits of the contractual language arts program' areevident throughout Falls Church City Schools. Children growin independence and responsibility as well as in specific.skills. The teachers, freed from working with several readinggroups each day. can work more effectively with individualchildren as needed. Of course, this is but one of a multitude ofinstructional approaches that can be successful, but we inFalls Church are very pleased that it has worked so well forUS.

EXPANDING THE READING WORLD THROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE EFFORTS

Mrs. Dorothy M.Custer (Ed.D.)Coordinator of Learning LaboratoryJ. Sergeant Reynolds Community CollegeRichmond, Virginia 23230

Community and junibr colleges are uniquely qualified topromote as major national thrust toward the goal ofincreasing the reading skills, abilities, interests and tastes ofstudents. These institutions foster renewed efforts to assurethat problems uncovered as they study student needs are

'solved and that suggestions for implementing adequateprograms are initiated immediately. New projects are basedon the belief that the community and junior colleges will havea great impact on meeting the reading needs of the citizens ofAmerica. The students come from all segments of thepopulation and environment.

The community and jun-ior colleges have the poten-tial for playing significantroles not only in identifyingand correcting readingneeds of citizens of thecountry, but in extendingthe reading tastes andinterests of the people. Thereading centers in the col-leges of the nation todayalso have tremendous opportunities for extending expertiseto other countries since a great influx of foreign students areenrolling in community colleges, seeking help immediatelyin reading skills, grammar, and language usage. Manyforeign students disseminate these skills to families, friendsand natives of their own countries. They carry back withthem the great enthusiasm they have captured from learningin the community colleges' open-door approach to reading.There are gratifying changes in these students who travelback and forth between this nation and their own. Theyreturn from their travel to express appreciation for the helpthey have received in developing the reading skills necessaryfor success in their daily activities and to seek-further help intransmitting these skills to their fellow citizens.

Community colleges offer a 'new frontier for readingimprovement in the business world. Businessmen use theresources and technical assistance of the reading facilities atthe community college for'sharpening reading skills neededin their work. Employees of banks, real estate and insurancefirms, government agencies, department store staffs andSupervisory and managerial workers from hotels, restau-rants, chemical plants, factories, and other industrie in themetropolitan area find time to seek the aid of professionallyprepared instructors.

Engineering students use the college reading-learningcenter for increasing speed and accuracy, refining criticalreading abilities, grasping significant facts, vocabularydevelopment and ether communication skills. Professorseminently qualified in the field of reading instruction andrelated professions prepare learning packages that teachreading skills in the various content areas, vocations andprofessions. Materials are assembled pertaining to variousfields ofleclumlogy so that students have the opportunity toread the kinds of materials they will encounter on the job.

Many foreign students dis-

seminate these skills to

families, friends, and na-

tives of their own coun-

tries.

2()- 13

This additional practice in job-type reading and Vocabularyacquisition makes for mer successful employees when theyenter the jobmarket.

The reading-learning center at J. Sergeant ReynoldsCommunity College occupies a unique position in innovativeeducation in that it emphasizes learning rather thanteaching. All efforts and attention are directed toward whitis happening to the learner. Teaching plays an importantrole, however, in the learning process since a wise selectioof materials, software, methods and techniques and carefuguidance are necessary to meet the needs of students at thright moment for learning.

Businessmen use the resources and technical assistance

of the reading facilities at the community college ...

The interdisciplinary approach is the major stress in thisreading-learning facility. This approach cuts across allsubject lines. No one discipline receives greater attentionthan another. Insight into each subject area is exploredcarefully in consultation with teachers and leaders from eachof the various disciplines. The learning packages andprograms are developed or selected by the teachers,counselors, and coordinators whose students use them.

Reading skillskabilities, attitudes and understandings playan important roleffevery subject area. College teachers arealert to thelact that certain reading skills must be masteredby students to assure success in a particular subject.Through the joint efforts of teachers, scholars, technicians,and learning center personnel, these skills can besuccessfully explored, utilized and mastered to producemore effettive and efficient mastery of subject matter.

Multi-media materials,_equipment and software makelearning to read an intriguing experience for students.Various audio-visual techniques motivate and challenge thestudent to delve more deeply into his learning activities andto strive for improvement. Making 'reading more closelyrelated to English usage and composition skills of students bycombining the efforts of composition and reading instructorsconstitutes a major thrust in the J. Sergeant ReynoldsCommunity College reading program. This proves mosteffective and promotes efficiency in student work. Asstudents learn to read and analyze paragraphs, they begin towrite and arrange them in a sequenced unit to developthemes, essays, and other compositions. Consequently theiranalytical and comprehension skills in reading improveextensively. Styles of writing begin to shape up. Students whoare weak in vocabulary engage in word study activities withinstructors and tutors. This type of meaningful associationwith new words fosters vocabulary mastery for the students.

Reading is an all-encompassing field with skills that canmake a man master of his own mind. Through reading he isbetter able to use his mind to make decisions in the areas ofhis endeavors.

The philosophy of the community college provides themeans for responding to changing societal needs in the localeof a region: the cities, rural areas and suburbia. Collegesmust constantly formulate new projections by establishing


et

reading centers throishout the nation to insure expansion oftheir capabilities as neat agencies for effecting, changes inthe reading habits and abilities of our citizens. This requiresrestructuring existing curricula to promote effectiveinstruction and learning through improved reading skills and

habits. A nation of reading citizens in a reading environmentis a goal the colleges must seek.

MADISON COLLEGE RIGHT -TO -READ PRESER VICE READING

EDUCATION PROGRAM

Dr. Shirley B. Merlin, Project DirectorDr. James L. Laffey, Project Staff MemberMrs. Betty Coyle, Project Staff MemberMadison College Reading CenterMadison CollegeHarrisonburg, Virginia 22801

(Editor's Note: Dr. Merlin is a member of the VSRA Board ofDirectors.)

Madison College has received a national Right-To-Readgrant for the 1974-75 school year to develop a model teachertraining program in reading for elementary teachers. TheRight-To-Read Preservice Reading Education Program hasas its primary 'purpose the development of a comprehensive-coordinated program in reading and related areas oflanguage arts and library science. A competency basedmodular approach to teacher training will be featured in theprogram.

Project Plans include:1. Cooperative Planning

Three planning committees are organized to assist inthe planning and evaluation of the program as itevolves.A. Reading Education Advisory Team : This com-

mittee is responsible for reviewing and selectingthe important competencies needed by the class-room teachers for teaching reading and relatedareas in the elementary school. The review ofreading modules, teacher education materials,evaluation procedures and other plans devised forthe project is anoth4 function of this committee.Madison faculty, students and reading specialistsfrom Rockingham County are represented on theplanning team.

B. Field Based Advisory Team : This group includesreading specialists and, administrators from fourRight-To-Reading elementary schools in Rock-ingham County along with the Madison Collegereading faculty. This committee reviews and as-sists in scheduling and planning field based activi-ties which are required in all the reading modules.

One Committee is responsible for reviewing and select-

ing the important competencies needed by classroom

teachers for teaching reading and related areas in the

elementary school.

"Reading in Virginia. March, 1975"

C. Inservice Advisory Teams:One inservice team isprganized in each Right-To-Read school to plan

-Nland develop a series of inservice meetings for itsschool. The meetings are planned in accordancewith the needs and interests of each school's staff.Included on each school's team are the readingspecialist, principal, classroom teachers and aMadison faculty member in reading.

2: Development of Modules and Materials

A series of competency based reading modules will bedeveloped for the first elementary developmentalreading course. These modules will be coordinatedwith modules which have been in use for the secondreading course in diagnostic reading. Through themodular format students will have an opportunity toselect various types of learning activities and evalua-tion of their competencies. Evaluation of students willinclude assessment of knowledge, skills and attitudes.A variety of audio-viival, programmed and otherprint materials will be reviewed by the projectstaff for possible utilization in the reading modules.Through the- grant, materials will be purchased ordeveloped by the. project staff.

3. Inservice Program

A series of thirty-two or more inservice meetings arescheduled for the 1974-75 year. Each school will lie in-volved in a total of Tight meetings, four inservicemeetings and four planning, evaluation meetings.The purpose of the inservice program is to acquaintthe school's staff with the project and to introducereading techniques and materials of interest to theteachers.

4. Evaluation and ResearchAll areas of the program will be evaluated. A pre-testand post-test will be utilized in the developmentalreading course and the inservice program. Researchplans call for the evaluation of the effectiveness of thecompetency based approach compared to thetraditional methods of teacher train*. Students willbe evaluated for research purposes;upon entry intoteaching and several years after finishing theprogram.

For further information, write to the project director.

2-14-

77TEACHING PRE-READ G SKILLS IN KINDERGARTEN

J. Lee Pemberton, IIIAssistant Professor of EducationandDirector, John P. Wynne Campus School

-Longwood CollegeFarmville, Virginia 23901

It is not the purpose of this articlele debate the pros andcons of formally teaching beginnidg reading at a uniformearly age. A review Of the literature on this subject willundoubtly bring to one's attention such studies as those.conducted by McKee4, Ching', Sutton8, Durkin2, and to bringit within the borders of our own state, Scherwitsky7.

Instead the author will concentrate on a suggested modelfor teaching pre-reading skills as carried out in thekindergarten at the John P. Wynne Campus School ofLongwood College.

First however I wish to identify three points that the readershould keep in mind while reading the remainder of this ,

article:

1. Pre-reading activities are important especially when

prescriptive in nature.

Most reading authorities agree that/a child will be morelikely to succeed and profit with' beginning readinginstruction if he has experienced a variety of pre-reading

ck\activities. Such activities shout oster self-confidence andindependence as well as further velop visual and auditoryskills. Not every kindergartener needs to be involved in allpre-reading activities as provided by most of the majorreadiness programs.Paradis indicated this in his study whenhe stated the following :

"Most kindergarten children from middle socio-econo-mic areas possess the skills necessary to perform typicalvisual discrimination exercises prior to ,formal training.For these child en there is little to be gained in terms ofvisual d' Illation skills by working. additional exer-cises ontained in readiness materials." b

Thus pre-testing and prescriptive instruction are vital.

2. The teaching of such skills and earlier starts in read-

ing have no value if we fail to alter what is taught in

those years that follow kindergarten.

Subsequent instruction must reflect this earlier involve-ment. The first grade teacher in Virginia's public schools can'no-longer continue to,teach reading the way she did for years

_ prior to the advent of public kindergartens. We must buildupon what has been learned in kindergarten ; not repeat it.

3. We must do more than give lip service to individualiz-

ing instruction.

215

On a national level Durkin3 still views the need forindividualized instruction, as remaining unfulfilled in the1970's and cites two possible causes. Scherwitzky's survey ofVirginia's kindergarten teachers implies that we are movingin the direction of individualizing in kindergarten. A majorityof the 354 kindergarten teachers who replied to the surveyexpressed,a--need to individualize reading instruction Qn thislevel.?

The pre-reading skillS program used at the Wynne CampusSchool reflects all three of the above considerations. It wasdeveldped at the Wisconsin Research and DevelopmentCenter for Cognitive Leaning at the University of Wisconsin.The project director was Dr. Richard Venezky. This PRSprogram has been produced commercially by theEncyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation.

The program meetsQur needs in that it is an individualizedapproach that prepares children to be ready to learn to readwhen they begin formal instruction in an ungraded program;involves individually administered pre-testing for specificpre-reading skills, incorporates a variety of disciplinesincluding art and music, involves parents via communicat-ions home which include instructional games, utilizeslearning centers, and offers a means of evaluation as well asa prompt and efficient method of record keeping. In addition,the PRS program supports the Wisconsin Design for ReadingSkill Development designed by Dr. Wayne Otto and used bythe remainder of the school as a part of the total readingprogram.

The program concentrates on the following five specificpre-reading skills that are listed in the two areas below :

A. Visual skills1. letter order2. letter orientation3. word detail

- B. Sound skillsrlitiatching2 blending

Program components of PRS include:

1. Skills tests: diagnostic to help identify individualneeds

2. Schedules and teacher's files. Both sound and visualschedules are suggested with each activity in the schedulekeyed to the teacher's file. The file card for each activitygives the purpose, materials, a detailed lesson plan, and acriterion for evaluation.

3 Instructional activities: small group and individualgames to teach each skill rincluding take home 'Not every kindergartenergames which the childrenmake in school and keep.There are many materialsused in this approach pre-reading activities aswhich the children takehome. Such materials cre- provided by most of theate parental interest be major readiness programs.cause they offer tangible

needs to be involved in all

evidence of what the childis doing in school. As the parent of a kindergartener involvedin the program I have observed the genuine excitementexpressed by my five-year-oloi when she brings home one ofthese games which she made in school and now explains to


her pat-bras.4. Management system : the typical McBee pupil profile

card which can be notched and skewed. This promote.sindividualization of instruction and enables the teacher tokeep tract daily of which skills and activities are needed.

Conclursion

PRS alone cannot solve all reading programs. We willnever find any one approach or program that will it doeshowever prepare children for learning to read by showingwhat reading is' about and by providing them with thenecessary pre-reading skills. PRS views reading as not asingle skill but rather a composite of separable skills. Fiveyears of research as well as large and small scale fieldtesting isolated those skills necessary for beginning readingfrom those having little or no relationship to readingsuccess.

Observers of the program in action are always welcomell.

Bibliography:

1. Doris C.' Ching. "The Teaching of Reading in "Kindelgarden." California Journal of Educational Research,September 1972, Vol. 1, No. 23, pp. 156-162.

2. Delores Durkin. "A Six-Year Study of Children WhoLearned to Read in School at the Age of Four. ReadingResearch Quarterly, Vol. X, 1974-75, No. 1, pp. 9-61,

3. Delores Durkin. "After Ten Years: Where Are We Now inReading?" Reading Teacher, Vol. 28, No. 3, December,1974, pp. 262-267.

4. Paul McKee, Joseph E. Brzeinski, and Lucie -M. Harri-son. "The Effectiveness of Teaching Reading' in Kinder-garten." Cooperative Research Project No. 5-0371. Den-ver Public Schools and Colorado State Department ofEducation, 1966.f

5 Wayt Otto and Eunice Askor. The Wisconsin Design forReading Skill Development, Wisconsin Research andDevelopment Center for Cognitive Learning, Universityof Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 1972.

6 Edward E. Paradis. "The Appropriateness of Visual Dis-crimination Exercises in Reading Readiness Materials."The Journal of Educational Research, Vol 67, No. 6,February, 1974, p. 277.

7. Majorie Scherwitzky. "Reading in the Kindergarten: ASurvey of Virginia." Young Children, Vol. 29, No, 3,March, 1974, pp. 161-169.

8. Majorie H. Sutton. "Children Who Learned to Read inKindergarten: A Longitudinal Study." Reading Teacher,April, 1969, Vol. 22, pp. 307-311.

9. Richard L. Veriezky. PRS Teacher's Guide Folders, En-cyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation andBoard of Regents of the University of Wisconsin, 1974.

THE FIRST AIM

In all reading instruction, the first aim should be toproduce children and adults who want to read and who doread; the second aim should be to help them to readeffectively. If the second aim is given priority, it is probablethat the first aim will never be achieved.

Carl Anderson in Educational Courierand reported in The Education Digest,

December, 1974

TUTORING PROGRAM USES STUDENT TEAMING

Ms. Diane Griewank'Reading TeacherGreen Acres Elementary SchoolFairfax County Public SchoolsFairfax, Virginia 22030

"Inservice? Terrific! . . . as long as. It is applicable,practical and relevant to my situation!"

A

This has certainly been the reaction of numerous teachersko,the question of teacher training within a school system.With the pressures that are on today's teachers in almostevery area, it is understandable that they might besomewhat jealous of their time and energies. Yet, most aremore than willing to become involved in an experience whichleads to a more exciting classroom.

Recently, eighteen teachers at Green Acres ElementarySchool committed themselves to implementing a tutoringprogram based on a course entitled Programed Tutoring inReading (PTR) sponsored by La Verne College in California.Using student teaming for individual reinforcement was notnew to Green Acres, but the structure provided in PTR madeit possible for expansion. The staff was definitely interestedin the possibilities.


2,516

As the children gained insight as

to what was expected of them as

tutors, they became anxious to

begin working with their younger

counterparts.

The orgaRizaticia..of teachers, pupils, and materials was themost difficuilaspect of the program. Once the structure wasestablished, the children's enthusiasm and proficiency madethe actual tutoring process a fairly simple operation.

Teachers were grouped into two clusters and paired intoteams each consisting of one upper and one lower gradeteacher. These teams then worked closely in scheduling,testing, making the necessary components of the program,and choosing appropriate treading materials Cassettes andfilmstrips were used to acquaint the teachers with PTR at thecluster meetings.

A pretest and posttest were included in the program as a

means of pairing students and evaluating their progressHowever, teacher judgment and other e'v aluative. tools werealso considered when pairing

To introduce' the idea t she students, the upper gradeteachers used the same tapes and cassettes and paired thepupils to work as tutors and tutees within their own class-rooms Because PTRoffers a great amountof structure it was ne- With ninety pemient student in-cessary to spend sev-eral days in this "involvement, there is no questiontraclass tutoring- ar-rangement before ad- that it is applicable !vancing to the "inter-class tutoring" whichinvolved the younger students. A ?the children gained insighas to what was expected of them as tutors, they becameanxious to begin working with their youngericounterparts.

PTR consists of three main phases: word review, reading,and word study The program is basically aimed at increas-ing the student's sight vocabulary as well as his knowledge ofword meanings. However, the tutors have intuitivelyaugmpted the basics by using their on creative techniques

-4-

of teaching.

PTR. does not replace the instructional reading program atGreen Acres, where children learn to read at least one andone-half hours of each school day. It has proven to be animportant supplement. Programed Tutoring in Reading isone example of an inservice program which has proven to berelevant and practical. With ninety per cent studentinvolvement, there is no question that it is applicable!

Because the project includes students on all levels, thecommunication between upper and lower grade teachers hasdefinitely increased. The staff are working together in teamsto reach a common goal, and there seems to be a willingnesson the part of teachers and students to make it a successfulexperience. The children have accepted the responsibilityeither as tutors or tutees and have learned to give and takeconstructive criticism as well as commendations. Because oftheir positive response, teachers have begun to consider thepossibilities of adapting a similar structure to otheracademic areas.

7ROLE OF' READING TEACHER IN READING SERVICES PROGRAM

K

Mr. James D. MullinsCurriculum Specialist for ReadingFairfax County Public Schools10,700 Page AvenueFairfax, Virginia 22030

Not all the services enumerated below can beaccomplished by a single reading teacher. Priorities shouldbe established according to the needs of each school

1. A reading teacher:

a Is a member of the facultyb Works direCtly oi indirectly with pupils who may

benefit from additional instruction in reading .c. Works with administrators, teachers, .other..pro-

fessionals, and parents to improve and coordinatethe total reading program of the school

2. A reading teacher may serve a school by:

a Acting in an advisory capacity with the administra-tion and instructional staff concerning the readingprogram through:(1) Conferring with individual classroom tea-h-

ers, groups of teachers (teams, grade level,etc.), other specialists (speech. hearing, psy-chologist, etc.), administrators, parents andstudents

(2) ?Working directly with teachers in a classroomsetting

( 3) Arranging and or conducting inserviceworkshops for improving dev4lopmental andcorrective aspects of the program includingthe use of diagnogtic teaching procedures

(4) Surveying, evaluating, recommending, order-ing and demonstrating appropriate materialsand techniques for teaching reading

(5) Interpreting test data to teachers, administra-'tive staff, students, and parents

17 -

( 6) Assisting the teachers and or administra-tive staff to plan presentations concerning thereading program to the community

(71 Guiding parent volunteers working with treading program

b. Identifying, diagnosing, prescribing, and teachingchildren with observed or potential reading prob-lems through:(1) Testing and reporting results to appropriate .

personnel(2) Observing children in the classroom suggest-

ing instructional materials and techniques(3) Teaching individuals or small 'groups, when

appropriate, in a clinical situation(4) Teaching a particular reading skill to _small

groups in classrooms in cooperation withclassroom teachers and or teams

(5) Teaching demonstration lessons(6) Recommending certain referrals to pupil ser-

vices through appropriate channels

c. Keeping records of:(1) Testing(2) Planning and executing effective progress re-

porting(3) Parent and team conferences

The role of the reading teacher does not includeevaluating staff, substituting, for a classroomteacher, or being a teacher's aide.


Sister Emily Ann AppletonDirector of Pupil Personnel

and

Sister Elaine McCarronCoordinator of Elementary EducationDiocese of Richmond817 Cathedral PlaceRichmond, Virginia 23220

(Editor's Note: Sister Elaine wrote an article for last year'sReading in Virginia. Her second . contribution is mostwelcomed. She is also a member of the VSRA Board ofDirectors.)

Early each January, Catholic schools in the Diocese ofRichmond give the California Test of Basic Skills, gradesthree through eight. The test offers valuable assistance tostudents, parents, teachers, schools, and the school systemas one means of assessing reading ability as well as othercurriculum areas.

Reporting forms are available, giving information onnational, school system, and individual student performance.There is also a parent report form giving the parent astandard tool in addition to skill sheets, report cards, andsubjective teacher observation for studying the reading

progress of their children

Teachers meet with parents and students in an effort todiscuss individual needs of students. Test data help teachersdeal in terms of needs with each child and the total class.

The.. school obtains new insights into the specific needswithin the school, the outgrowth being identification of. forexample, matOrials, additional staff, and scheduleadjustments that could improve the reading program

..Instead of testing being a weapon to batter children, orfrighten teachers, we find our testing program an aid inhelping assess where we are and how to intro% e. Realizingthe pitfalls of a halo effect and avoiding total dependence ontesting to give all knowledge about a student or school, webelieve that a school system can look to testing for limeinsights about its reading progress.

Available from this test are scores for reading vdcabulary,reading comprehension, and total reading. On the chartsfollowing are the total reading scores representing fifty-six( 56 ) schools in the Diocese of Richmond for the oast threeyears. " represents national norms. "-o-o-oAASS"represents anticipated achievement 'standard scoresobtained through academic aptitude tests. "- :ESS"represents expanded standard scores or actual achievement.(See the next three pages for these charts. )

EVALUATION AS SUPPORT TO DEVELOPMENTAL READING PROGRAM

THE FLY CATCHER

Have you ever in your lifeSeen a fly catcher with his wife,Sitting on a lily pad round,Trying to make not even a sound?

Here it comes in a great big hurryThe big, black fly - Oh, how nervy!Flying here and flying thereHaving a good time without a care.

Zipping by froggie without even looking,Didn't see frog with his tongue for the hookingLong and sticky it reaches out high,Mr. Frog's tongue caught that big, black fly!

Drawing a child's imagination out into the world aroundhim can make reading much more exciting Bring a scienceor a history lesson alive with a little action. Children can readabout the facts, turn it into a poem and act it out. Reading canbe a lot of fun!

Miss Carol MyersElementary Physical Education Teacher

Fox and Southampton SchoolsRichmond Public Schools

Richmond, Virginia

"Reading in Virginia. March. 1975"

RESEA RC!! TELLS US??

Little, is known about how to encourage the readingabilities M the intermediate student, stated Jeanne Chan,director of the Harvard Graduate -School of EducationReading Laboratory, Teachers who do a good job seem to doso instinctively, and cannot say why they are effective.That's one subject that needs to be investigaterd. Someintelligent students from inner-city areas who manage to getinto college test out at the seventh-grade level in readinginstead of at the college freshman level, and their needs areanother subject of reading research. Finally, practicallynothing is known about how to teach the adult to read,another research otre which needs intensive study.

Jeanne ('hallRight-To-Read Conference

( Reported by Capitol Publications andPhi Delta Kappan, Nlarch. 1971.)

/*A

187:1

.. "In general. reading has not been successfully taught inour primary schools. Good readers are the exceptions."

NEA Proceedings, 1873

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THE RURAL HIGH SCHOOL - AN APPROACH TO.CONTENT

READING PROBLEMS

Mrs. Patti KahsarReading SpecialistGoochland County High SchoGoochland, Viiginia 23063

Reading inservice programs can be successful in ruralhigh schools when time has been taken to prepare thesuccess. The initial step in this preparation must be theobservation of strengths and weaknesses of faculty andstudents. Keeping in mind the factors which make a schoolunique will help insure that inservice hits its mark.

Goochland HighSchool has a studentbody of 530 studentsa n d standard izedreading scores well,below the state me-dian. It is the secondyear of an ESAA Basic Project. Initial skepticism existedconcerning how students who reached high schoolunprepared to read their textbooks could be helped. If therewas a way; teachers generally believed that the magic wouldbe performed anywhere but in the ,classrootn. That waswhere the finished product was to be tested. The generalapproach in dealing with school-wide reading problems hadbecome avoidance of reading activities. An extremely highpercentage of information was being dispersed through thelecture with little activity-type reinforcement. Textbookswere purchased and rarely used. In 'terms of reading,students were accepted where they were and left there.Teachers' concern over content led them to cover thatcontent even if it meant making students completelydependent on them for information. Students wanted toimprove their reading skills but wanted quick, tangibleresults, preferably in terms of improved grades.

If the ESAA program were to reach as many students asneeded help, it became clear that changes in classroominstruction would have to be affected. Inservice was ananswer, provided that faculty interest could be caught andheld. First, a state mini-course grant was obtained to conducta full staff inservice program in content reading skills.Isolating and eliminating elements which often causeinservice disaster came next. Rural schoql faculty membersoften commute long distances. In scheduling the mini-course,every possible consideration was given to making the coursetoo accessible to be refused. Sixteen hours of instruction wererequired for one credit hour. The cooperation and. advice ofthe principal was sought out from the planning stagesthrough the last session of the course. He made it possible toutilize two full inservice days (previously used as work daysand for departmental meetings). Three monthly facultymeetings were also relinquished to provide shorter follow-upsessions. Using these times meant that each faculty memberwould be exposed to new ideas and would be preknt for thesessions whether or not that person desired to complete thecourse for credit. No extra time was required of teachers whowere already spending hours each day in commuting.

While searching for a high school reading consultant can bediscouraging, it is important to be selective. An outline ofspecific activities and skills, to be included in the course wasprepared before contacting any potential consultants.Although many "prepackaged" inservice programs include

Inservice was an answer, provid-

ed that faculty interest could be

caught and held.

22 -

"Reading in Virginia. March. 1975"

able elements, it seemed logical that a faculty wouldespond more enthusiastically to a program tailored to their

needs. Wasting time which teachers had come to expect to beavailable for personal planning would haye killed any facultysupport for inservice. It was not imperative that our outlinebe accepted in total by the consultant, but it did point out thedirection in which we wished to move and specificweaknesses to which he would need to address himself. Theconsultant knew our expectations and was able to point tothose which he could meet. This seemed a more sensibleprocedure in selecting a consultant then trusting that astrong recommendation would insure a program fitting theneeds of any staff.

The sessions themselves were planned to include worktime. Considering that teachers teach a$ they are taught,lecture situations were used only when necessary. Teacherswere asked to bring strident text-books with them to each sessionand to select an upcoming unitfrom which to work. It was sug-guested that units be selectedwhich had caused the most diffi-culty in previous years. Word re-cognition exercises, vocabularyextension exercises, three levelguides, and concept guides weredeveloped then tried in class-rooms. Readability formulaswere used to- valuate textbooksin use. Aftir4 cloze tests were developed, they wereadministered and results were plotted. A directed leadingactivity was demonstrated using staff members. All itemswere incorporated into a thematic unit by teachers whowished to receive credit for the course. Time to completemuch of this work was provided with the consultant and thereading teacher present to allow specific questions to beanswered. Sessions were held in the library where availableInstructional materials could be reviewed and rediscoveredin terms of the thematic unit. Time was provided to discusssuccesses, problems, and observations.

The consultant knew

our expectations and

was able to poilit to

those which he could

meet.

While such sessions may seem possible with a highlycooperative staff, it should be noted that cooperative staffsare often made in one-to-one encounters, lunch tablediscusgions, and work groups before and after hours.Limitations of time or personality may mean that thereading teacher is not always the right person to help everyteacher. Seeking out willing and available staff members toact as leaders may include several benefits. Reassurancefrom a peer may encourage a teacher to attempt an activityhe hadfonsidered unworkable in his classes. Departmentalgroups can share specific solutions to specific problems.Pairing or grouping across content area lines, often opensnew approaches to similar problems. Special personnelserving as leaders gain insight into classroom problemswhich may make them more effective in their jobs. Theprincipal, librarian, math resource teacher, and a guidancecounselor served as dispensers of moral support. Eachexpressed personal gain, and each encouraged at least oneother person to complete the course for credit. The readingteacher attempted to give specific, concrete' help. Sampleactivities were prepared with teachers. Two techniques usedin providing this service were being extremely accessible

and sometimes doing more than is comfortable for a teacherto accept without responding by giving it a try.

Evaluation from participants emphasized the value interms of improved staff communications. Over half of diestaff completed the course for credit. Approximatelyeighty-five percent of the total staff tried techniques ordeveloped materials to use in their classrooms Personalobservation seems to indicate that major changes inclassroom philosophy have occurred in perhaps twenty per

cent of the staff. If our target has not been hit on the mark, itis because we still have work to do in understanding andproviding for unique factors of our school - not because thesituation is a small, rural high school.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE 70's:

PROGRAMMING FOR SUCCESS IN BEGINNING READING

Dr. Betty H. YarboroughProfessor of Elementary EducationProgram Leader, Office of Human DevelopmentOld Dominion UniversitySchool of EducationNorfolk, Virginia 23508

( Editor's Note: Dr. Yarborough was the first president of theVirginia State Reading Association.

The one goal of every entering school child, above allothers, is to learn to read. Early excitement and enthusiasmare quickly dimmed, however, if first attempts to learn toread are disappointing. Failure in beginning readingexperiences can have such far-reaching effects. both'affectively and academically, that the child's entire schoolfuture is threatened.

The most frequent cause of unsuccessful beginning readingexperiences is lack of readiness. When initial readinginstruction is offered to a child who has not developedadequate pre-reading skills, natural, continuous progress inthe reading curiiculum is impossible. As one painfulfrustration leads to another, a syndrome of failure can ensuefrom which the child may never completely recover.

In recent years educators have become increasingly awareof the importance of designing developmental readingprograms that . are truly developmental in terms of thevarying rates at which children learn. Most elementaryschools are attempting toindividualize reading in-struction through both ad-ministrative and instruc-tional adaptations of theschool curriculum. Suchadaptations, h o w e v e r,have not been made asfrequently at the readinesslevel as at other levels inthe reading curriculum - -although the need for themchild's first school years.

The most frequent cause of

unsuccessful beginning

reading experiences is lack

of readiness.

appears to be greatest in the

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" may beinterpreted by reading educators to mean that, "studyingchildren upon school entry and ministeting to their needs isconsiderably more productive than later offering tediousremediation to children who are reading failures. ' An earlyfailure tends to foretell continuing failure, a good start inreading tends to lead a child to continued success. Recentresearch has provided understandings about learning and 3

23

teaching which, if applied to pre-reading activities, promiseto insure "good starts" for most children.

Since learning to read is every child's tight, productivereadiness programs are a mandate for primary educators ofthe 70's. The following guidelines are suggested for educatorswishing to develop such readiness programs:

I. Children enter kindergarten and first grade with varyingdegrees of readiness for reading and differ in readinesscompetencies, not only among themselves but also 'on anintra -individual basis. Therefore careful screening -of eachchild upon school entry is essential. To accomplish effectivescreening various instruments and techniques should beused. General measures of cognitive ability are needed aswell as a battery of diagnostic tools to determine each child'slevel of development in each of several specific skills,including visual and auditory perception and memory as wellas general language development.

2. Objective-based readiness programs hoick as much, if notmore, promise at the readiness level as objective-basedprograms at any other level. The goals of instruction for eachchild should be explicitly clear.' When goals are clear,mastery can be sought. When each skill is mastered beforeanother is undertaken, the child grows in confidence and inmotivation to learn. At the readiness level, haste does trulymake waste.

3. Ideally a Child should be provided reading instruction onthe basis of his presenting strengths. Accordingly, a schoolshould have available three or four basal reading programs,

each emphasizing visual, audi-tory, kinesthetic, or language-based procedures. If however,there is only one basal program,it should be multi-sensory so that a child with any severelimitation will not be doomed to failure.

4. When the child's needs have been determined, anappropriate readiness program should be prescribedindividually for him, and he should remain in readinessinstruction until mastery of deficient skills is attained. Thereare some "margially ready" children who may enterreading with one or more minor deficiencies. Suchdeficiencies may become the source of serious problems ifthey are not corrected, however. The teacher shouldtherefore remain alert to any pre-reading inadequacies aftera child enters reading and continue to work toward theircorrection.

Since learning to read

is every child's right..

5. Some children may go directly into reading at an early


age while others may need several months or even semestersof pre-reading training, but the readiness period is not awaiting period. Growth can and should be atcelerated bycarefully applied instruction.

6. The readiness program, is not a "thing apart," an entityunto itself. It is a viable component of the readifigcurriculum. Failure to recognize the relationship of thereadiness program to initial reading instruction and

'therefore failure to correlate it with subsequent instructionmay render the readiness program unsuccessful, regardlessof the apparent worthwhileness of its individual components.

Certain reading programs have specific requirements forsuccess in initial reading experiences (such as colorknowledge, or the ability to write, etc. ) Although suchcomponents may not be fundamental-to learning to read,they are essentiak to learning to read in given basals. Thereadiness program should take into account not only thetraditional pre-reading curriculum but also the requirementsof any specific basal program which pupils are expected toenter.

7. The readiness program should be internally consistentand well organized. Many materials may be used, but theyshould be selected to complement one another and, moreimportantly, to match the stated goals of the readinessprogram.

Most young children profit from the security of structure.At the readiness level it is likely that they will profit morefrom simple, well-defined programs than from more generalprograms where goals are nebulous and instruction ischaracterized by random happenings that do not form a"total package.; Easily distracted children in particularneed fewer stiatli than are often found in lower-levelclassrooms. To the extent possible, children shouldunderstand the objectives toward which they are working.

A readiness program may be at once both carefullyplan'hed and pleasurable. A structured program does notrequire the teacher to abandon happy hours with children.

Readiness for writing and readiness for reading should

not be confused.

8. Monitoring of the readiness program should be accom' plished by on-going evaluation of pupil progress and careful

record keeping.

9. ouping and regrouping of pupils is usually necessarysince children differ so widely in both skills needs and ratesof growth. Pupils requiring intensive instruction should betaught in very small groups and / or on a one-to-one 15asis.Other children, even at the age of five or six, may be capableof many self-directed activities. The teacher should therefore'carefully evaluate and re-evaluate each child's growth-as anindependent learner as well as his growth in skillsdevelopment before making decisions as to the group orgroups to which he will be assigned.

10. Certain social skills are needed for success in reading,including ability to attendoto tasks at hand, ability to waitone's turn, ability to work in group situations, and the like.Care should be taken that children lacking desired socialskills are not misidentified as lacking academic skills.

Often children regarded as not ready for reading are, infact, as ready for reading instruction as for instruction of any .other type. Lack of needed social skills, however, causesthem to be unable to take tests well' or to otherwiseparticipate in routine activities. Such children should be 1


identified and assisted accordingly. Of course, at all times allpupils should be able to understand and follow all directionsgiven them.

11. Readiness for writing and readiness for 'reading shouldnot be confused. Writing involves certain motor skills (use ofthe hand ) not necessary for success in reading. Unless areading program requires writing for its execution, theteacher should not use samples of a child's writing ordrawings to estimate readiness for reading. Most childrenacquire pre-reading competencies before they acquirepre-writing competencies. Children lacking pre-writing skillsshould not be delayed in their development of reading skills.

- 24 -

A structured program does not require the teacher to

"abandon happy hours with children.

12. Oral fluency appears to have little to do with developingefficient reading skills. Certain shy children or children whofind it difficult to verbalize well may be regarded as notready for reading when they are: .1,

13. Listening tests are recommended as the best indicatorsof a,child's language bank for reading not oral evaluations.Most children come to school with extensive listeningvocabularies so that vocabulary development per se is notusually a major goal of beginning reading, but any specificword to be taught, as a "reading word" should first he in achild's listening vocabulary. The "listening language" of thechild and that of his reading experiences should be

"4- ,

compatible.

14. Parents of "not yet" children need considerablecounseling and understanding guidance. Often parents insistthat children be taught skills for which they are not ready.Such parents need help in learning something of the nature ofthe reading process and the importance of each child'sacquiring this process 'at a rate that matches his owndevelopmental rhythms.

* * * * *

Our goal in this decade is success in reading for everychild. Preconceived ideas about grade levels and givenstandards for given ages are barriers to attainment of thisgoal and should be replaced with the realization t hat successin any task is more possible if its components are clearlyunderstood and if carefully prescribed instruction isprovided. It is estimated that whereas approximately one infour children is unsuccessful in reading at some time duringthe elementary years, we can reduce this number to no morethan one in twenty if we ."program for success." Suchprogramming should be begun the day the child enters school

d be continued throughout his developmental life there.

Are You Concerned?

Take any school day of the year, and you will find 13,000kids of school-age in correctional institutions and another100,000 in jail or police lockups.

The state of Virginia spends $3877 to maintain a student inan institution for juvenile delinquents.

James A. Harris, President, NEA

INCREASING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BY TEACHER INCENTIVE

PAYMENTS - - YEAR III

Mr. Royce Quarles, Superintendent of SchoolsMs. Evelyn Murray, Director, Title IIIBristol Public Schools222 Oak StreetBristol, Virginia 24201

and

Dr. Milton JacobsonSchool of EducationUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia 22903

OBJECTIVE

This project utilized teacher incentive payments. toincrease student achievement gains in reading and toincrease children's I self-concepts and attitudes towardlearning to read.

METHODOLOGY

The population for the study consisted of 450 students ingrades one through eight of the Bristol, Virginia Schools whowere one or more years behind in reading achievement. Inthis,'the third year of a three-year USOE Title III project,teachers were paid incentives based on student achievement.

Student achievement was based on both criterionreferenced measures and norm referenced measures.Expected gains for each student on norm referencemeasures were calculated by the Fromkin-Piccarielli or theHarris formulas. Teacher incentive payments of, up to amaximum of $900 per class of sixty students could be basedon $90 increments for each twenty per cent increase inaverage grade equivalent gain above the average expectedgain.

At the beginning of the term the teachers specified he

number of performance objectives each studentexpected to master at the seventy-five per cent profic ncylevel. The average number of objectives to be master d byeach student was set at forty to forty-five. An inc ntivepayment of-$1,000 per class was made to the teache if thestudents mastered the prescribed number of objecti withincremental payments of $150 for each ten per cent in easeover that prescribed. The maximum .payment f theobjective mastery was $1,300 per teacher.

To insure against undue teacher pressure for obtainingstudent gains, each classroom was evaluated in two ways todetermine if a positive learning climate was maintained.Children's development of a positive attitude toward readingwas measured by the "Affective Reading Index." Taskorientation and performance attitude were measured byinformal observation, interview, and observation withPROSE-LC II. In addition, children's self-concept was pilotstudied with an instrument entitled "Self-Perception."

The split-half reliability of the Affective Reading Indexwas 0.86.

A total of 1046' behaviors were observed employing thePROSE instrument. Frequen y counts and percentages weregenerated fo each cat ry. Of four models of ideal,behavior, o , consisti of a child working on his own

initiative with materials in a sustained orientation and withpositive or neutral affect, was computed. The second modeldelimits peer interactions, cooperating on instructionaltasks. Tilt third and fourth models deal with teacher-pupilinteraction

The "Self-Perception" instrument was administered anditem analyzed to produce factors. Three factors were seen tocomprise Self-Concept. They are: Factor 1 Self to Self ;Factor 2 - Self to Social Norms; and Factor 3 - 2 Self toOthers. The analysis related these three factors to the fourmodels defined by the PROSE instrument.

RESULTS

On the standardized reading achievement tests thestudents made an average gain of nine and four months (9.4).This exceeded by more than four months the averageexpected gain of five and one-third months. Teacherincentive payments ranged from $374.67 to $900.00 with anaverage of $701.04.

On the criterion reference measures all teachers reachedthe criterion level for student mastery of the prescribedobjectives. In addition. all but one teacher exceeded theprescribed level by more than thirty per cent and attainedthe maximum incentive payment of $1,300.00. The averagepayment for objective mastery was $1,214.29, with 5,169objectives assigned with ninety-two per cent mastery.

These excellent gains in reading achievement wereaccomplished while maintaining a positive classroomlearning climate. Affective Index Scores were significantlyhigher than were those of a control group and weresignificantly more positive than in the preceding two years ofthe project. Classroom behavior was primarily of the idealindependent. task-oriented model. Finally, self-conceptscores were high. This analysis indicated that the classroomclimate was almost totally individualized. In fact. there wasa lack of cooperation between peers and a lack of use of theteacher as a resource. Thus the classroom climate hasevolved from a partially individualized instructionalprogram in the first year to a program in the third year thatmay have too much individualization.

Bristol. Virginia Schools have implemented many aspectsof the individualized program, e.g., diagnostic andprescriptive teaching, contracts with parents and students,and community involvement.

32

-25

A Good Buy

A new special report on the nation's reading crisis has beenprepared by the editors of Education USA. The reportentitled Reading: Issues and Actions: Current Trends inSchool. Policies and Programs, 1974', is available frog theNational School Public Rthtions Assn., 1801 N. Moore Street,Arlington, Va. 22209. Price is $6.75.

AReading in Virginia, March 1975"

PERCEPTUAL-PSYCHOMOTOR-VOCATIONAL READING PROJECT

Ms. Evelyn Murray, Director, Title 111Bristol Public Schools222 Oak StreetBristol, Virginia 29201

For years school psychologists and reading diagnosticianshave found many children with difficulties in visual memory,,visual discrimination, eye-hand coordination, balance, andgeneral coordination.

Test results have indicated the deficiencies, but left theteachers with the problem of eliminating these deficiencies.Further, the children suffered the consequences of beingunable to cope with the educational experiences expected ofthem.

This story is different in the nation today. Well-plannedperceptual-psychomotor programs are being organized, andresearch is available for educators to examine and study.

Research done in the area of perceptual -motor theoryholds that each child normally must pass successivelythrough stages of neuromuscular development duringchildhood. If one or more of these stages is omitted orunderdeveloped, then the child will have trouble with

It is an innovative program designed for prevention and

remediation of the perceptual-psychomotor deficiences.

appropriate motor responses which may cause him difficultyin normal academic progress, specifically with reading,speech, spelling, and writing. The theory is that a program ofselected perceptual-motor activities can help develop 'themissed stages, thus providing a better basis for normalacademic achievement,

One of these programs in the nation is the new Title IIIproject. Perceptual-Psychomotor and Vocational Reading.in 'Bristol, Virginia. financed by the State Department ofEducation. It is an innovative program designed forprevention and remediation of the perceptual-psychomotordeficiences. It is an intensive and comprehensivemulti-disciplinary approach of working with pre.schoolers,prirkary children, teenaprs, and with their parents

Through innovative instruction, built around the( skillsessential for effective reading, to project provides

,educational activities that will raise the achievement andgoals of children and their families. Emphasis is pnprevention of conditions that contribute- to educationalproblems.

The objectives of the Perceptual-Psychomotor oject are( 1 ) to prepare pre-school children ages two to ur for thetransition from home to school: ( 2) to increase learningpotential by strengthening the perceptual-psychomotorfunctioning of the students, age two to four, kindergarten andgrade one, and grades nine through twelve; (3) to help thehigh school student achieve effectively in an individualizedprogram in English-reading, using a diagnostic andprescriptive approach; (9) to help the beginning ,studentdiagnosed as having psychomotor-perceptual problempachieve through an individualized program stressinglearning through movement; (5) to improve the self-conceptof the student, and reduce rates of failure through changed

-Reading in Virginia, March, 1975"

e

t ) t

- 26

behavior; (6) to improve the vocational- vocabulary andtechnical reading of the students in high school for thetransition to the world of work; and (7) to improveschool-community cooperation and parent involvement ineducation.

There are two-hundred twenty-five students in the newproject: forty-five students ages 2-4; ninety students inkindergarten and grade one; and ninety students in gradesnine through twelve.

Five reading specialists and five assistant teachers workwith these students. Tutors from the community and collegesassist the staff and director.

The pre-schoolers, kindergarten and first graders' highestpriority has been assigned to the development andimplementation of a carefully planned extensive andintensive perceptual-psychomotor training program. Such aprogram attempts to reduce the effects of perceptual-motorproblems on the learning process of children. These youngchildren are given special instruction in perceptual-motortraining -The special centers are equipped with physicaleducation equipment as well as perceptual learningmaterials.

The high school program stresses reading - English skills.Vocational reading modules have been developed whichinvolve the students in psychomotor experiences, and a smallportion of the program is devoted to reading about sports.

The students involve themselves in sports activities thatthey have learned from reading, e.g., tennis, bowling, andping pong.

A mobile van visits the homes of the pre-school chilkivenages two to four, emphasizing perceptual-psychomotorskills.

The program combines the cognitive, psychomotor andaffective objectives in developing the program. Theobjectives are developed around these topics' visual motor,auditory: motor, conceptualization through movement,language development and social experiences.

The staff develops weekly packets for the parents whichcontain a description of the skills to be taught, directions forteaching the skills, and the material necessary for teachingthe lessons. The parehts return their assignment sheet anddenote how well they have done for the week.

A lending library provides the parents with educationaltoys, books, and records that can be borrowed. Parents also"check out" cassette players, viewers, and filmstrips toview, gaining further help in teaching their children at home.

Workshops are orgdnized for the parents. These workshopsare held on the van, in' the 'parents' homes or in the schools.The parents are taught how to teach their children the skillsof "learning how to learn" through play. The students, theirteachers, and parents go to the YMCA twice a week toexercise and swim.

Criterion reference tests have been developed by the stafffor evaluating the psychomotor. cognitive, and affectiveobjectives which the staff wrote for their diagnostic andprescriptive program. Standardized tests for assessinggrowth in the psychomotor and cognitive areas were

administered to the project group and control groupInstruments have also been administered for checkingchanged behavior at the students in the project

The aim of the project is to combine the three domainsDsychom ot or , cognitive. and affective, in a comprehensiverogram developed for prevention and remediation of

'learning

Region

NortheastWestNorth CentralSouth

Dropouts

CHILDREN NOT IN SCHOOL

ChildrenOut ofSchool352,641266.471446,299833.827

Portion ofSchool-agePopulation3.4 per cent3.4 per cent3.5 per cent5.9 per cent

Source: Washington Research Project. Children Out ofSchool in America," 1974. Based on children ages 7-17

EPIE

EPIE is Educational Products Information ExchangeInstituje, a nonprofit, consumer-supported agency charteredby the Regents of the University of the State of New York.

EPIE Report ... Number 62 63 .is a "how-to" guide foranalyzing instructional .materials in reading in relation tolocal programs and resources.

EPIE Report : Number 64 provides analyses of 76commercially available reading materials, prepared byEP1E's National Task Force of reading specialists.

This reading "SET- ( 62 53 and 64 i is available at a cost of$40.00. Write to EPIE Institute. 463 West Street, New York,New York 10014.

NUMBER

The Fourth Annual Longwood College Reading Institutewill be held on Saturday, September 20. 1975 in F'arm ville.Virginia. Two outstanding speakers have agreed to presenttheir views to those participating in the Institute. For furtherinformation, write to the editors of Reading in Virginia.

National Assessment of F:ducational Progress

According to the 1972 report of the National Assessment ofEducational Progress on reading, the results suggeststrongly that the reading pt blem in the United States.although formidable, may not be as great as many personshad believed! J. Stanley Ahmann, National Assessment staffdirector, said the test makers had expected most of theapproximately 100,000 students tested (from ages 13-35) to beable to answer correctly some 50 per cent of the testexercises. Yet, the final rate of success was about 70 percent !

3

- 27

ThYfrFrograin is evaluated by the Bureau of EducationalResearch :Methodology at the University of Virginia

DID VOL' KNtiW ?????

that the IRA Convention Hill he held May 1316. 1975 at theAmericana and Hilton Hotels III Ne11 (irk City

that Norman Cousins will he one of the featured speakersat the IRA Convention

that the IRA publishes: annotated bibliographies,convention publications. publications produced cooperative-ly by IRA with Eric Crier, Eric RCS. or the NationalReading Center. perspectives in reading; reading aids,selected IRA reprints. special interest publications; andworld congress proceedings.

that the Right to Read campaign is a national effort toeh minate illiteracy It involves state, local. private, andfederal contributions. One objective is to focus nationalattention on the fact that approximately 26 millionAmericans lack the single most important skill for copingwith life in a technological society reading,

The Shenandoah Reading Council is sponsoring areading conference on April 1i 1975 in Chandler Hall,Madison College. Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dr. John Manningof the University of Minnesota will speak on the "Role of the.Administrator in Reading Pebgrams." Please write to Dr.Shirley Merlin. Coordinator, Reading Center. MadisonCollege, Ilarrisonburg, Va. 22801 for further information.

THE SNAKE

Slithering snake so long and thinMoving so close to the ground.How can you bend and twist in your skinSliding without a sound?

Many concepts and movements (see those which arehold M.' the above poem, for example) can be taught andexplored using exciting and intriguing poems. Such poemsare a great incentive for thinking and moving.

Children learn to understand what words mean morequickly through movement than sitting still at a desk. Ateacher can help teach concepts through fun poems to whichchildren can relate.

Miss Carol MyersElementary Physical Education Teacher

Fox and Southampton SchoolsRichmond Public Schools

Richmond, Virginia


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Do You Know a Statistic?

There are nearly 2 million school-aged children who are notin school. Most of them live in the large cities.

Of the students who are attending classes, more 'of themwill spend some portion of their lives in a correctionalinstitution than those who will attend all the institutions ofhigher learning.

Of every 100 students attending school across the nation, 23drop out, 77 graduate from high school, 43 enter college, 21receive a B.A., 6 earn an M.A. and 1 earns a Ph.D.

James A. Harris, PresidentNational Education Association

INTERACTION

"Reading is not a mechanical thing, not simply a matter ofrecognizing words, it is the meaning, the emotions, thecommunication of ideas . ., no machine can replace theinteraction of human being to human being. The Teacher isthe key to excellence."

Dr. Wilson Riles,7 California Superintendent of

Public Instruction(Reported i eading Today. International, July, 1974

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Dyslexia

Dr. Rudolph E. Wagner, Chief Psychologist for the city OfRichmond Public Schools haS published a book entitledDYSLEXIA: A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS.Write to Harper and Row. Publishers, 49 E. 33rd St., NewYork, N Y. 10016 for further information. Publication date is1971.

Correct Spelling

Have you read Dr. Edmund Henderson's article in theNovember, 1974 issue of The Reading Teacher concerning"Correct Spelling An Inquiry"? Dr. Henderson is Directorof the McGuffey Reading Clinic of the University of Virginia.

Power Reading

Dr. James L. Laffey, Professor, Department ofEducation, Madison College, Harrisonburg, Virginia is one ofthe authors of THE POWER READING SYSTEM, publishedby Winston Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Wet Cement

Almost every child would learn to write sooner if allowed todo his homework on wet cement

.1 CLOSING THOUGHT

"THAT WHEN CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT TO READ, THEY LEARN TO READ. NO MATTER WHAT YOUDO WITH THEM .. , AS LONG AS THE TEACHER KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING."

Dr. William SheltonSyracuse University

(From a speech presented at the IRA Convention in New Orleans, 1974.

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"Reading in Virginia, March. 1975"