1. READING RECOVERY: ASOCIAL JUSTICE INTERVENTION A presentation at theCanadian Institute of Reading Recovery January 24 2011 Sheraton Parkway Hotel, Richmond Hill, OntarioDr Jerry Diakiw York University[email_address]

2.

MY name is Jerry Diakiw and I am a reading recovery addict. Let me tell you how I became an addict.

I am a high school geography teacher at heart but as a school superintendent I applied my passionfor social justice and equity issues and an emerging passion for literacy across all grades and subjects. Each of you know more about Reading Recovery than I will ever know, but I bring to you my passionand proof,for the long term benefitsReading Recovery can bring to our society through narrowing the gap further betweenthe childrenfrom the well to do,and those who struggle in our society.I commend and salute you for the work you do. There is not a more important role in education at the moment for me than the reading recovery teacher. Bravo!

3. Let me begin at the beginning

Read aloud the day of Ahmeds Secret

This 10 year old Egyptian boy discovers how to write his name andhe is anxious to share it with his familyafter his days work delivering propane tanks around the city .This isbook celebratingthe act of breaking the code but condemned by the Egyptian government. . .. Why use it then?

4. 5. MEMORIES

WHAT ARE YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES OF WRITING YOUR NAME?

WHAT ARE YOUR EARLIEST MEMORIES OF LEARNING TO READ?

6. BREAKING THE CODE

Alberta Manguel calls learning to read,themosthumanof creative acts

Empire of the Word, TVO, Dec 3 2009

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.

- Frederick Douglass

7. Why Use Ahmed?

Unlocking the literary code is like magic. It opensus upto the whole world, over all ofwritten time. Whetherthrough J.K. Rowling, Eric Carle or Aristotle.

While this book is a powerful reminder of the act , or magic of unlocking the code, it is a controversial book as it portrays a 10 year old child delivering propane gas bottles around Cairo to support his family in aCairo that appears positively mediaeval. The book portrays Cairoin the 1990s. As luscious is the depiction of the colorful caravan,and poetic language, there hasnt been a camel caravan in the city for over a hundred years. Egypt is proud of the fact they have compulsory schooling till the age of 15. Yet theAmerican authorand illustrator portray a romanticized and exoticized picture of this young 10 year boy and his city. Despite these failings, it does portray a happyIslamic family and a positive image of a friendly city.A nice contrast to the Islamophobicportrayalof the Middle East and its people in the media. We can celebrate its strength, and interrogateand learnfrom its failings with an appropriate age group.

8. Cairo in the 1990 compared to Ahmedsauthors depiction.Egypts compulsory schooling till 15 compared to Ahmeds 10 year old life on the street 9. Apart for celebrating the act of literacy in Ahmeds secret with its beautiful writing, and exquisite watercolors,it provides an opportunity to interrogate the text and createa rich discussion around social justice issues, values, and personal concerns

As Katherine Patterson writes:

It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations--something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.

10. MY Awakeningsto the Power of Literacy

Early childhoodas an ELL-absence of any literacy in the homeilliterate parents43 and 44 out of 44 students in grade 6 on reading and writing

As a high school geography teacherI had a number of epiphanies

-Grade 10 geography class stunned watchingone student reading with finger one word at a time. I had no idea what to do! (I wish I could do it over again now)

-Geography textbooks Gave up textbooks and moved to novels

E.g.. Nectar in the Sieve,for India, Caravans for Middle east

-Roberts plan general level credits introduced and the credit system The big boom! -colleges suddenlymore lower achieving students in schools than ever before and they needed a different kind of teaching.

11. AWAKENINGS CONTINUED

15Language development concerns across the Board a prioity for 5 years. 1988 to 1993

Lucy McCormick Caulkins, Marie Clay,James Britton,Nancy Atwell, Donald Gravescame to town ,as we implemented language across the curriculum--My war cries! Reading and writing float on a sea of talk( James Britton), How do I know what I think until I see what I write. (E.M.Forster): Understanding is at the point of utterance ; it takes two to read a book( Atwell); the writer only writes half thebook.

12. FURTHER AWAKENINGS AND EUREKAS

Globally: UNICEF MANTRA- a literate mother never has illiterate children ..

Greg Mortensen and rebuilding schools for girls, my charity of choice

Ypsilanti studyfor every dollar spent on Head start saved 6$, down the road -- unemployment , welfare, teen pregnancies police, drugs, crime, courts, prisons.

The same argument can be made for reading recovery

13. More EUREKAS

Bristol Study ,Gordon Wells and Jan Wells

Children of all classes with mics turned on randomlyfrom age two till primary school andtheir conversations transcribed.One startling conclusion was there was no difference in the oral development between high and low SES, BUT when they entered school, high SES children sped ahead. In homes with books and read aloud and travel and museums high SES kids had picked up story codes:

Once upon a time . . . Far away in ancient Rome

Long ago inoriental Japan

Storying in the home gave them the advantage of book culture in school. They came to school with literarycapital to spend, and went to bank with it.

14. FINAL EUREKA

But a High School Drop out Prevention conference led me to Reading Recovery

An obsessive preoccupation with lowering the drop out rate.

15. RR: WHERE IT ALL STARTED--DROPOUTS!

While great strides have been made there is still a problem. Toronto Case Study based on 2009 Census study

Drop out rates 2009 TDSB

84% of students who took a majority of academic courses in Grades 9-10 graduated.DROP OUT RATE 16%

BUT. . . . 56% of students who took a majority of applied courses dropped out!

67% of students taking a majority of locally-developed courses dropped out.

16. DROPOUTS BY ETHNICITY

Theaverage dropout rate is about23% ,

Students who speak Portuguese it is42.5 %,

Those who speak Spanish39.1 %,

Somali36.7% .

Students born in the English speaking Caribbean40% ,

Unacceptable!

17. DROP OUT RATES BY NEIGHBOURHOOD

in poor neighbourhoods only 57 % of students graduated

84% graduation rate in students from more affluent neighbourhoods .

dropout rate in the poor neighbourhoods was 33% ,

3Xinrich neighbourhoods (11%)

18. HOW I Became a Reading Recovery Addict

Highschool administrator conferenceput on by the MOEon drop out prevention strategies

Ofdozens of sessions I was attracted to one simply called Grade oneReading Recovery

I was puzzled,but fascinated. It blew me away!

For a full story see my memoirentitled:

• Reading Recovery: A social justice intervention

• Birth, demise and rebirth of an Idea, A personal memoir

• goto:: http://blogs.yufe.ca/jdiakiw/2010/11/17/reading-recovery-a-social-justice-intervention/

19. WHO ARE THESE DROPOUTS? FAMILY INCOME AND LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT LET US GO BACK TO EARLIER DATA

2008 EQAO Grade 3/6 Reading Writing, Results by Family IncomeTDSB

Grade 3Grade 6( reaching Level 3 or 4)( reaching Level 3 or 4)

Reading WritingReading Writing

$100,000+66%67%86% 85%

$75K - $9964% 69%76% 78%

$50K - $7563% 68%73% 77%

$30K- $60K58% 67%65% 71%

- $30,00047% 58%55% 62%

20. EQAO and POVERTY

How did we get here? TDSB: A CASE STUDY This most powerful precedingchart shows the huge discrepancies between children from high income families and low ones 20-30% diff. and the correlation is precise over the 5 categories of income and , the numbers get wider moving from grade 3- 6. A 30% difference on average! Unacceptablein our society!WHY?

21. Affects of Poverty

Children living in poverty are at higher risk of a variety of health problems, developmental delays, and behaviour disorders. They clearly attain lower levels of education, and studies show they will likely live in poverty as adults.

22. What to do

Debilitating effects ofchild poverty

12 % in Canada , ( 16% two years ago in TO. . . Now?) In 1989 our government promised to eliminate child poverty by 2000. . . . .it is still 12%

in the USA over21%child poverty rate

andin Finland 4%They outperformed Canada on PISA. . .A correlationbetween child poverty rate only or a causality?

23. WHO ARE THE FAMILIES WITH UNDER $30,000 FAMILY INCOME?

I ARGUE CHILDREN THAT THESE FAMILIES IN PARTICULAR ARE READING RECOVERYTARGET GROUP IN GRADE ONE

WHO ARE THEY, BESIDES BEING POOR?

24. Who is in that low income -$30,000 group? They are largely foreign born 1. Parents born outsideCanada

White21&

Black82%

East Asian92%

Lat American93%

SE Asian95%

Mid eastern97%

South Asian96%

25. Language spoken in the Home They are disproportionately non english speakers

43%English first language learned

41%speak another first language

43 % speak Englishplus another

33% speak only another language at home

26. Racial background

33%white

19%South Asian

20% East Asian

12%Black `

5% Mid Eastern

3% South East Asian

2% Lat American

27. UniversityEducationby Race They are lesseducated than dominant grouips

White68%

East Asian57%

Eastern53 %

Aboriginal 24%

Black22%

28. Income by education

+$100,000-$30,000

University 37%16%

College9%28%

High school3%47%

None3%64%

LICO$34,500 GTA area family of 4

29. Income by Race They are largelyfrom low income groups

+$100,000-$30,000

White529

East Asian1328

South Asian437

Black 445

Middle Eastern 455

30. Single parent at home by race They disproportionately come from single parent families

White12%

South Asian19%

Black39%

Aboriginal53% (plus9 % none)

31. EQAO RESULTS BY RACE Grade 3Level3/4Grads 6Level 3/4 Reading WritingReading WritingEast Asian68% 74%78% 83% White60% 60%76% 75% South Asian60% 71%68% 74%S/EAsian55% 65%69% 77%MiddleEast40% 55%55% 57% Lat/Am37% 47%51% 55%Black1843% 51%47% 55% 32. DANGER OF GENERALIZATION

Thebiggest discrepancies are among different racial groups, followed by income groups. one should be cautioned against generalizing about groups of students,as there are high achieving students in all groups

E.g. single parents are not the problem, many Latino and Black students at university. . . .but

33. EQAO Grade 3/6 Reading, Writing, Gender

Grade 3( Level 3 or 4)Grade 6( Level 3 or 4)

Reading WritingReading Writing

Female63%71%70%75%

Male52%57%57%58%

34. In summary,Who are they? What hurdles do their children face in becoming literate

Family income below $30,000

Over 85 %born outside Canada

New immigrants

43 % have another first language

Disproportionate families single mothers

• eg 40 % of Black families

Largely visible minority families

Low levels of parental education

Parents in high numbers favour breakfast and lunch programs

Disproportionately boys

35. COSTS OF POVERTY

Poverty is such an enormous negative influence, that it must be part of the educational reform agenda whether justified on grounds of economic interest or of social justice

Ben Levin

36. READING RECOVERY TARGET GROUPS IN GRADE ONE

This pattern of low income,coupled with all the other hurdles, applied layer upon layer, upon layer of difficulties to overcome provides a population of students who have the greatest possibilityof being lagging grade one readers. We must meet the needs of these children through reading recovery

37. Converselywho goes to College and University?

Parental Income

Family Income

HS School marks, attitude,literacy,

(Ross Finnie study)

38. POST SECONDARY EDUCATION BY PROVINCE( AND URBAN /RURAL) 39. 40. 41. PISA and PSE attendance 42. The above charts show the power of parental education and parental income on who goes to college and Finnie proves parental education is a greater factor than family income for Post secondary participation, but when other variable are introduced. . . PISA reading scoresare the best predictor

READING SCORE BEST PREDICTOR OF WHO WILL GO TO UNVERSITY

The largest determinant of university participation however, is the score on the reading portion of the PISA.Finnie and Mueller 2009

43. LITERACY AND LOW SES

Empirical Support for the Role of Engaged Reading

Drawing on both the 1998 NAEP data from the United States

and the results of the PISA study of reading achievement in

international contexts, Guthrie (2004, p. 5) notes that students

whose family background was characterized by low income and

low education, but who were highly engaged readers,

substantially outscored students who came from backgrounds

with higher education and higher income, but who themselves

were less engaged readers .Based on a massive sample, this

finding suggests the stunning conclusion that engaged reading can overcome traditional barriers to reading achievement, including gender, parental education, and income.

44. PISA: Reading Engagement

For example, data on the reading attainment of 15-year olds in almost 30 countries showed that the level of a students reading engagement is a better predictor of literacy performance than his or her socioeconomic background, indicating that cultivating a students interest in reading can help overcome home disadvantages (OECD, 2004, p. 8)

45. How are we doing?

Teachers however in Canada have made a difference.Focus on literacy, RR and quality of teachers.

We have thebest teachers , drawing applicants from the top third of graduates, compared to those from the bottom third in the UK and USA.

Rank in the top 3 countries in the world on PISA scores in reading

Canada narrowest gap in achievement between low SES and high SES students. . Stunning!

Despite thefact that high immigration countries do not do as well as uni-cultural ones

Private vs publicschool perform the same for same SES.

Highest percentage of students in collegesand universities of any country in the world

46. Non-reading children are the greatest problem in American education. - Glenn Doman, 47. How do we solve this continuing gap

WHAT GOVERNMENTSCANDO

Reduce child poverty as promised in 1989

2.Continue to attract the best and the brightest into teaching

3. Early childhood education

48. WHAT YOU CAN DO . . are doing

1. GreaterFocus on literacy

2. Reading Recovery in all grade 1 classes across the country

3. Reading recovery modelK-8 across all schools

49. THE THIRD WAVE

A need to have Reading recovery teachers to play a larger role

Our most expert, our best trained teachers on staff need to have a wider impact.

RR teachers as principal consiglieris--partners in distributive leadership.

Trainingparent volunteers in running records, guided observation and programming ;facilitating booster programs ; active on school improvement committees.

workingand training K_6 teachers

50. As David Moriartyputs it: Reading Recovery steps into a childs life at a critical time before the cycle of failure begins. It remains world wide as an example of the most powerful, effective staff development program available, yielding the best trained teachers of reading in their districts, and compared to other programs that go on for years and never get children reading on grade level, Reading Recovery is a bargain.(North American Reading Recovery Institute website) 51. READING RECOVERY RULES!

While we are doing better in literacy than anyone else in the world on many criteria we have a long way to goand Reading Recovery can and will better meet the needs ofdisadvantaged children. Those skills, that expertise of the RR teacher needs to spread throughout the school.

I commend you for the important work you have done and are doing