Trends and Issues in Reading Research and Trends and Issues in Reading Research and InstructionInstruction

(based mainly on Cassidy et al. 2010)(based mainly on Cassidy et al. 2010)

Victor Shen

09/30/2010

Talk with Applied English MA Students

The Five Pillars of Reading The Five Pillars of Reading Instruction Instruction

((National Reading PanelNational Reading Panel, 2000), 2000)

The NRP report determined that there were five areas related to reading instruction which had sufficient research to warrant some conclusions:

phonemic awareness

phonics

fluency

vocabulary

comprehension

Meanings of SymbolsMeanings of Symbols

“Hot”= receiving attentionNot hot”= not receiving attentionHotness does not equal to importance

V = More than 50% of the respondents were in agreement (hot or not hot). VV = at least 75% of the respondents were in agreement (very hotor very cold). VVV = All the respondents were in agreement (extremely hot or extremely cold). (+) = Topic was hotter for 2010 than 2009. (-) =Topic was less hot for 2010 than 2009. (*) = New topic for 2010.

Survey Participants Survey Participants 1/21/2

Sherry Alleman, Stacy Middle School, Milford, Massachusetts;

Richard Allington, University of Tennessee, Knoxville;

Donna Alvermann, University of Georgia, Athens;

Kathryn H. Au, University of Hawaii, Honolulu;

Thomas Bean, University of Nevada, Las Vegas;

Heather Bell, Rosebank School, Auckland, New Zealand;

David Bloome, The Ohio State University, Columbus;

Karen Bromley, Binghamton University, New York;

William G. Brozo, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia;

Robert Cooter, Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky;

Patricia A. Edwards, Michigan State University, East Lansing;

James V. Hoffman, University of Texas, Austin;

Barbara Kapinus, National Education Association, Washington, DC;

Survey Participants Survey Participants 2/22/2

Lori Jamison, Toronto, Canada;

Donald J. Leu, University of Connecticut, Storrs;

P. David Pearson, University of California at Berkeley;

Taffy Raphael, University of Illinois, Chicago;

Timothy Rasinski, Kent State University, Ohio;

D. Ray Reutzel, Utah State University, Logan;

Victoria J. Risko, Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee;

Misty Sailors, University of Texas–San Antonio;

S. Jay Samuels, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis;

Timothy Shanahan, University of Illinois, Chicago;

Dorothy Strickland, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey;

Linda Young, Hans Herr Elementary School, Lampeter, PA.

Scientific Evidence-Based Reading Scientific Evidence-Based Reading ResearchResearch

Only studies that used an experimental or quasi-experimental design were included.

The standards had not been universally accepted or used in reading education research.

Only a small fraction of available reading research literature could be included. This decision defined a controversy that has followed the report since its publication.

The group reviewed a total of 24,180 articles, but only 366 met the high standard for inclusion.

Scientific Evidence-Based Reading Scientific Evidence-Based Reading Research and InstructionResearch and Instruction

Phonemic AwarenessPhonemic Awareness

Phonemic AwarenessPhonemic Awareness

Adams (1990) suggested that “the child’s level of phonemic awareness on entering school may be the single most powerful determinant of the success she or he will experience in learning to read and of the likelihood that she or he will fail”

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

Phonemic AwarenessPhonemic Awareness

• For 10 years, phonemic awareness was a hot topic.

• By 2003, most of those surveyed agreed that it should not be hot.

• Many kindergarten through third grade teachers believed that if they taught word identification skills including phonemic awareness, comprehension would follow.

• Too much attention was being paid to this skill, which even the NRP acknowledges should constitute only 18 hours of instruction, total, for most children.

PhonicsPhonics

PhonicsPhonics

The National Reading Panel (2000) found that systematic instruction was better than nonsystematic instruction, no one method was more effective than others, and there was no difference in delivery systems (whole class, small group, individual).

The impact of phonics instruction was greatest in grades K and 1, and systematic instruction was better for at-risk students and readers with disabilities.

Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.

IRA Position Statement on PhonicsPhonics• Teaching phonics is an important aspect of

beginning reading instruction. However, effective phonics instruction is embedded in the context of a complete reading and language arts program.

• Classroom teachers value and teach phonics as part of their reading programs. Rather than debate whether phonics should be taught, effective teachers of reading and writing ask when, how, how much, and under what circumstances phonics should be taught.

PhonicsPhonics

The fall of phonics from very hot, to hot, to not hot may be explained by the results of the 2007 impact study of the Reading First program of NCLB. Reading First focused on decoding skills in the primary grades. After three years, the study found no statistically significant impact on students’ reading comprehension (Manzo, 2008).

FluencyFluency

FluencyFluency

Fluency involves “efficient, effective word recognition skills that permit a reader to construct the meaning of text.

Fluency is manifested in accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading and is applied during, and makes possible, silent reading comprehension”

Fluency is only one of the essential skills involved in reading.

Fluency and comprehension should be linked. Reading rate shouldn’t be the only indicator of fluency.

VocabularyVocabulary

ComprehensionComprehension

ConclusionConclusion

All the topics have left behind valuable residue for the instruction of children in the elementary grades.

Quality children’s literature, a hallmark of whole language, is now evident in most elementary classrooms.

Phonemic awareness is now an important component of reading instruction in kindergarten and early first grade.

Phonics and fluency are now integral parts of reading instruction in the primary grades.

Scientific evidence-based reading research is embedded in much of the Response to Intervention (RTI) legislation.

It is encouraging that comprehension and vocabulary knowledge, considered by many to be synonymous with the word reading, are now getting the attention that they deserve.

ResourcesResources

Cassidy, J., Valadez, C.M., Garrett, S.D. (2010). Literacy Trends and Issues: A Look at the Five Pillars and the Cement That Supports Them. The Reading Teacher, 63(8), 644-655.National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Strickland, D.S., & Schickedanz, J.A. (2009). Phonemic Awareness: Moving From Oral Language to Beginning Links With Print . In Learning About Print in Preschool (pp. 45-66). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.