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LETRS Vol 1 Participant Training whiteboard links_09.24.24 (2)

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LETRS Vol 2 Participant Training whiteboard links_09.24.24 (002)

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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The Conscious Competence Ladder: Understanding the Learning Journey

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The Conscious Competence Ladder: Understanding the Learning Journey

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5 Adult Learning Principles to Help Design Better Professional Development

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5 Adult Learning Principles to Help Design Better Professional Development

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Professional development is too often designed using pedagogy that works well for children. Adult learning theory can help design better PD for teachers, centering agency and genuine collaboration.

How many professional development (PD) trainings have you sat through, only to realize in the first couple of minutes that it was going to be a complete waste of time? I often feel this way after PD, and for a long time I couldn't understand why. I love to learn new things and find ways to improve my classroom, but I would sit through trainings feeling at a loss. After many years, I realized that it was because the administrators delivering PD often start as teachers, taught to educate children-not adults. The information isn't usually the thing that makes us feel like PD is a waste of time, but rather how the information is organized and delivered. Adult learning theories bridge this disconnect and provide ways of educating adults effectively.

principles of Adult Learning Theor y

Self-directed learning: Adults have fully developed interests and methods through which they like to learn or obtain new information. Training in which the individual is allowed to explore a topic on their own time, and with their own methods, results in better information retention and application. Typical professional development in education settings is often delivered in a "sit and get" or a lecture-type format.

Administrators can implement self-directed learning in their professional development in a variety of ways. For example, maybe there is a specific focus or theme for the school year (Resilience, Community, Competency-Based Learning, etc.). Administrators then allow teachers to research these topics on their own and have specific times throughout the year during PD when they can share the information they learned and discuss their varying perspectives. By allowing adults to explore, you give them the ability to learn how this information is relevant to their continued improvement as a teacher.

Building on experience: Adult learners want learning opportunities that build upon their experiences as a teacher. Often this means they do not want to sit through professional development that is presented as if it is completely new information. The point of training for teachers is to give different perspectives, methods, or approaches to classroom teaching that will improve their craft. Adult learning opportunities are best received by learners if they acknowledge the teacher's prior experiences and knowledge and then build an understanding of the new material.

Administrators can be successful with this foundational principle by having moments within a professional development that have teachers reflect upon a specific element of their classroom experience and then introduce a closely related topic after. This reflection acknowledges the teacher's expertise in the classroom setting and then provides an anchor for the new information to be received.

Taking responsibility for learning: Adult lives revolve around meeting responsibilities both at work and at home. It makes sense, then, that adults want a sense of responsibility in what they learn and how they learn it. Adult learners should be allowed more freedom in all aspects of their continuing education.

To truly give a sense of responsibility and ownership in learning new information, the training should allow learners choice as much as possible. Learners should have a choice of what information they will learn and how they will learn it. By doing this, we show adult learners that their choices will help them to better their craft in the classroom.

Administrators who want to implement a sense of responsibility in their professional development can do this by offering choices. I worked in a school once that was very driven by technology. They were constantly looking for new and innovative practices for the classroom and wanted teachers to do the same. They encouraged this with a giant Bingo board for technology professional development; all of the squares were different ways to incorporate more instructional technology in the classroom. It was a huge hit and got teachers excited about winning a prize.

Problem-focused: Adult learners are more driven by problem-focused learning opportunities. Educators especially thrive in these types of scenario-based training environments because they elicit the educators' input to fix something, and there is always room for improvement and changes in processes in this career.

Administrators can include problem-focused training opportunities through scenario-based activities. For example, maybe you are conducting walk-throughs and notice a trend of teachers not bringing their lessons to a full close. As an administrator, you feel that this is a missed opportunity for teachers to check for understanding of their students.

During the training, strategically place teachers in groups so that those who do this really well are in each group. Then, have them read through scenarios that you have observed in classrooms. Have the groups work through how they could improve the lesson. Bring the conversation back to lesson closures so that all teachers understand the focus of the lesson.

Intrinsically motivating: Adults do not do well with ultimatums or high-stakes learning environments. If this is the only way that teachers are receiving professional development, then it will be very difficult to have successful learning opportunities.

Administrators should look at a variety of professional development types to deliver to their faculty. Maybe one week it is time for sharing self-discovery topics, and then the next is a boring rollout of the new curriculum from the district. Or once a month you have an hour of an "unconference" where teachers can choose what topic to sit down for and have discussion-based learning opportunities with their peers.

By delivering this variety, you give teachers a better chance of finding something that motivates them to learn. Or, if anything, you are providing them with a learning modality that will spark their intrinsic need to participate and engage in a learning environment.

Administrators have the duty to empower teachers to be lifelong learners. During PD, administrators should remember that they are no longer teachers in the classroom, but educators to adults who have different learning needs to closely engage with content and obtain new information.

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5 Adult Learning Principles to Help Design Better Professional Development

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Professional development is too often designed using pedagogy that works well for children. Adult learning theory can help design better PD for teachers, centering agency and genuine collaboration.

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15 Top Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners 

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15 Top Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners 

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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15 Top Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners [+ FAQs] – University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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15 Top Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners [+ FAQs]. Advance your career with professional and continuing education from the University of San Diego.

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'Tis the season of professional development for many of us who work in schools. While PD can be meaningful, sometimes the experience feels like we were the unwilling recipients of an unpleasant procedure -- we were professionally developed; our descriptions employ the same tone, syntax, and non-verbal language as when describing a colonoscopy.

Let me digress for a moment. For many years, I've been trying to learn to bake bread. At first, I roughly followed a recipe, using whatever stale ingredients I had in the cupboard. The results were disastrous -- the yeast didn't foam, the bread didn't rise, the center was gooey, and the outside rock hard. I've now accepted that there's a science to making bread: the yeast can't be two years old, the water must be 110-115 degrees for the yeast to proof, the house needs to be warm, the measurements need to be exact, and so on. I doubt that any baker would argue with this fact because if you don't adhere to the science, you don't get bread.

This was what I mulled over as I sat through three days of excruciating professional development because the science behind the PD I was subjected to was all wrong. The result will be thrown in the compost.

In this day and age, there is so much information available about how adults learn that I'm shocked that professional development can still feel like a colonoscopy. In the paranoid moments when I indulge in conspiracy thinking, I wonder if well-intentioned presenters know about adult learning, but choose to dismiss that knowledge. Otherwise, how could they do what they're doing to another human being?

The Science

I like to know about the science behind things -- it helps me make sense of a phenomena and helps me get the loaf I want. In the past few decades, brain scientists, psychologists, behavioral scientists, and others have delivered a rich set of data about how adults learn. As an instructional coach, whether I'm working individually with teachers or principals, or designing and facilitating PD, applying this information is essential to me.

Here's a brief summary of what we know about how adults learn. I offer this to those who have been subjected to any colonoscopy-like PD recently and are trying to make sense of why it felt so unpleasant -- and as a reminder to those who are leading professional development. I have much of this information typed up and posted in my office, lest I forget.

#1. The learning experience has to feel good. When we feel positive about a situation, our bodies release endorphins, which make us feel good and open to learning, and dopamine, which stimulates the pre-frontal cortex and keeps us attentive and likely to remember the learning.

I'm starting with this scientific fact as a reminder and validation that learning must feel good to adults (as well as kids). Professional development that begins with a message of, "You teachers have failed your kids, you're contributing to the premature deaths of our children, let us teach you the right way to do this job," isn't going to work. Negative feelings (including feeling like you've been forced to attend a PD) cause the hormone cortisol to enter the blood stream. This catapults the brain into survival mode, and shifts the brain's attention away from learning and into dealing with stress. Instead of learning, the brain remembers the pressure and registers PD as unpleasant.

This scientific fact -- that the learning has to feel good -- doesn't mean that we all need to sit in a circle and sing "Kumbaya" all day. There are many ways in which PD can be structured so that participants feel good, learn something, and get things done.

Related to this first fact, the following are also true of adult learners:

#2. Adults want to be the origin of our own learning. They should therefore have some control over the what, who, how, why, when, and where of the learning.

#3. Adults will commit to learning when we believe that the objectives are realistic and important for our personal and professional needs. We need to see that what we learn through professional development is applicable to our day-to-day activities and problems. Presenters need to know who's in the room and what's on our plates, and if they don't know, they need to ask.

#4. Adults need direct, concrete experiences for applying what we have learned to our work. We can't just be passive subjects into which theories are poured (just like kids).

#5. Adult learners come to the learning process with a self-direction. Also, they arrive with a wide range of previous experiences, knowledge, interests, and competencies. And this last fact is what I appreciate about working with adults. While there are similarities between how kids learn and how grown-ups learn, there are notable differences. I've heard some PD presenters decry the challenges: "Kids are so much easier to teach! They're so much more fun!" While that might be true in some respects, I'd suggest that those people consider only teaching children if that's how they feel.

I appreciate what adult learners bring to the table. I enjoy the challenges and the rewards make the work worth it. And I also adhere to the science of adult learning. For more information on this topic, this article is a great place to start.

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The Science Behind Adult Learning | Edutopia

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'Tis the season of professional development for many of us who work in schools. While PD can be meaningful, sometimes the experience feels like we were the unwilling recipients of an unpleasant procedure -- we were professionally developed; our descriptions employ the same tone, syntax, and non-verbal language as when describing a colonoscopy.

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The Power of Interleaving: A Revolutionary Approach to Studying and Learning — 24/7 Teach

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Uncover how the interleaving study method boosts memory, improves problem-solving skills, revolutionizes learning efficiency, and turns you into a test-taking superstar.

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Building Phoneme Awareness: Know What Matters

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Building Phoneme Awareness: Know What Matters

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Teaching PA in 2024_A Guide for Educators

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Teaching Phoneme Awareness: A Guide for Education 2024 with Jane Ashby, PhD

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Teaching Phoneme Awareness: A Guide for Education 2024 with Jane Ashby, PhD

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Teaching Phoneme Awareness: A Guide for Education 2024 with Jane Ashby, PhD

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Dosage of Early Phonemic Awareness Instruction

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Dosage of Early Phonemic Awareness Instruction

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Reading Simplified | streamlined instruction, accelerated achievement

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Phoneme Awareness: How Knowledge About this Component of the Science of Reading Has Evolved

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We are honored to be hosting Dr. Susan Brady in a complimentary talk Phoneme Awareness: How Knowledge About this Component of the Science of Reading Has Evolved

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Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K-3

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Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in K-3

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How to Deal with Difficult Adult Learners

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How to Deal with Difficult Adult Learners

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How to Deal with Difficult Adult Learners?

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It is essential for trainers to be aware of some of the common strategies that can be used to handle difficult adult learners.

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Having Difficult Conversations with Adults

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Having Difficult Conversations with Adults

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The "bilingual brain" and reading research: Questions about teaching English Learners to read in English

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The "bilingual brain" and reading research: Questions about teaching English Learners to read in English

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The “bilingual brain” and reading research: Questions about teaching English Learners to read in English

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Controversies over how best to teach children to read go back many years. Most recently, two questions have emerged that leave teachers of English Learners puzzled:First, does research on reading, sometimes referred to as “the science of reading,” include English Learners, or is it based solely on E…

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Claude Goldenberg, Ioulia Kovelman, Young-Suk Kim, Magaly Lavadenz, Fumiko Hoeft · Neuroscience and Research: The Knowledge Base · SlidesLive

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English Learners / Emergent Bilinguals and the Science of Reading

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English Learners / Emergent Bilinguals and the Science of Reading

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History and Finding Alignment

Historically, there have been divergent viewpoints between experts in the science of reading field and some experts who support English Learner/Emergent Bilingual(EL/EB) students. However, it is important to recognize that the shared objective among all stakeholders is to facilitate positive literacy outcomes for all students, ultimately aiming for proficient reading and writing skills.

Despite a broad consensus on numerous topics, such as the importance of building language and knowledge, having high expectations for students, and the important role of foundational reading skills, there have been instances when presentations and papers have perpetuated a narrative of disconnection between these groups. For instance, in 2022, the National Committee for Effective Literacy (NCEL) published a White Paper that extensively discredited practices associated with the "science of reading" approach. Interestingly, the frustrations expressed by the EL/EB community, which led to the development of this paper, often stemmed from practices that deviated from the scientifically supported evidence on how students acquire reading skills. These practices were implemented in schools where administrators mistakenly believed they were aligned with the science of reading. One notable example is the excessive emphasis on phonemic awareness or phonics instruction, with daily instruction lasting 90 minutes, at the expense of other critical literacy areas such as oral language development, vocabulary, and language comprehension. It is crucial to note that such practices are not congruent with the principles of the science of reading.

Overall, it will be important to draw upon our understanding of what the science of reading is, and what it is not, and proceed with a united message that evidence-aligned instruction must address all components of language comprehension, writing, word recognition and, for EL/EB students, English language development.

A response to the NCEL White Paper was drafted by Goldenberg et al. (2022) in an effort to find common ground. Following this response, The Reading League assembled a group of stakeholders to discuss some of the most critical points of contention in a series of meetings. The intent was to listen, learn, and build trust. This group knew that in order to truly unpack this disconnect, collaborative conversations had to occur that began from a place of mutual respect and understanding.

In March 2022 at the first virtual convening, the group of stakeholders agreed that proponents of the science of reading do not always place enough intentional emphasis on supporting the language needs of ELs/EBs. They also worked to dispel myths often perpetuated by many referring to the science of reading as a one-size fits all approach, a program of instruction, phonics-only, or any number of misinformed beliefs that describe anything other than what the science of reading is-a body of knowledge derived from decades of scientifically-based reading research.

The group convened multiple times from the spring to fall of 2022 with the objective of addressing significant topics, fostering clarity, and establishing trust. Through these discussions, several essential areas of agreement emerged, while other important questions surfaced that required further exploration. These shared alignments and questions served as the foundation for more in-depth discussions during the in-person gathering held in March, The Reading League Summit.

During these discussions, another group of EL/EB and science of reading experts had been meeting and discussing concrete alignments in California. This group developed an excellent resource that can serve as a foundation for conversations based on collaboration.
Pivot Learning published its final conclusions in this report:
The Reading League Summit, Joint Statement, and Report

In 2022-2023, efforts to bridge the disconnect between proponents of the science of reading and experts supporting the needs of EL/EBs led to the belief that the various stakeholder groups can move forward together. Continued conversations between The Reading League and friends and NCEL and friends led to an historic one-day Summit in Las Vegas on March 25, 2023.

The Summit featured four moderated panel discussions on a variety of topics. A video archive of the 2023 Summit is available here:

Register for the second annual The Reading League Summit 2024 on April 27, 2024, in San Diego, CA.
Joint Statement:
Following the Summit, panelists and moderators reconvened to address growing misconceptions about the science of reading. The following statement was drafted in order to continue the work of advancing literacy outcomes for all students, together.
Report:
Dr. Tanji Reed Marshall, director of P-12 Practice at The Education Trust, recounts the day's events in the following report.

Research
Is there scientifically-based research that helps us understand how to meet the literacy needs of ELs/EBs?
There is a claim made by certain individuals suggesting that all research conducted within the realm of the science of reading solely pertains to monolingual contexts. However, it is important to emphasize that all scientifically grounded research aimed at comprehending the process of reading acquisition-including studies explicitly addressing questions related to EL/EB students-falls within the scope of the science of reading. Although further research is warranted to gain a comprehensive understanding of effective support for EL/EB students, it is categorically incorrect to assert that no research exists regarding optimal strategies for assisting this particular student population.
There are multiple, reliable resources that have summarized research and lifted up best practices for EL/EB students including the following:

The Reading League has purchased the digital rights with a limited number of permitted downloads of the Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (Executive Summary). We welcome you to download the PDF of this resource for future use while it is available.

Additionally, because our nation's classrooms have a growing number of EL/EB students, they have been participants in much of the research that is part of the body of knowledge known as the science of reading. For example, the initial 1990 study validating the Simple View of Reading was conducted on students along the Texas/Mexico border who spoke multiple languages.

There are also many scientifically-based research studies that help us understand how to meet the needs of ELs/EBs specifically. Unfortunately, many of them remain behind a paywall, but interested readers can contact the authors directly to request access. A sampling of just a handful of the studies that specifically address EL/EB students includes:

Curriculum and Instruction

Learning to read in a language you are learning is similar, but not identical, to learning to read in a language that is new to you. - Dr. Claude Goldenberg

One of the areas of continued discussion revolves around foundational skills. These are skills such as phoneme awareness, letter knowledge, phonics, phonic decoding, and encoding, that must be developed to automaticity in order to support accurate and automatic word recognition and spelling.

An element of instruction that is a frequent point of contention is the use of context cues when teaching reading. Emily Hanford's Sold a Story podcast explains the faulty logic and lack of research for relying on cues to decode words. An important distinction to understand is that cueing as a strategy to develop word recognition is not supported by research, but using cues to confirm the meaning of words once they have been read accurately can be beneficial for students, including ELs/EBs.
This article by Dr. Louise Spear-Swerling clarifies this distinction: Dr. Linnea Ehri and Dr. Susan Brady discuss the role of meaning:
For readers, our brains have three separate kinds of representations for words in different areas of the brain that make up words' lexical representations: 1) a phonological representation of how the word is pronounced; 2) a semantic representation that encompasses the word's meaning attributes, including how the word is used in different contexts and connects to the meanings of other words that have related meanings; 3) and an orthographic map that specifies the spelling of the word. The orthographic map results from code-based grapheme-phoneme mapping when a reader encounters a word in print and decodes it, or when the reader spells the word. Once an orthographic map is well-established for a word, the reader no longer needs to decode that word but automatically accesses the map when reading or spelling, and even just when hearing the word. The different kinds of representations become more strongly neurologically connected as the learner has experience with the word in language and in print. Thus when reading a known word, the semantic and phonological representations are activated as well as the orthographic map. For words to fully exist in our 'sight word' memory, they must have these other forms of representation well connected with the orthographic map. Research also indicates that connections with the motor region of the brain that controls handwriting are also activated when a word is used. Educational practices that integrate all aspects of word knowledge strengthen the connections, supporting automaticity of word recognition and comprehension.

Research on both monolingual and bilingual students has documented that explicit and systematic instruction in phoneme awareness and decoding are essential for orthographic mapping, however these skills are not sufficient to develop skilled reading if the other forms of representation are not established as well. If students are taught to decode the words, but do not know the meanings of the words they are reading, comprehension will not occur. Thus, ensuring that students know the meanings of words they are decoding is necessary, too. In short, EL/EB students need rich instruction in English oral language to build their second language expertise, supporting both their oral language use and providing necessary phonological and semantic representations for English words they are seeing in print.
According to Dr. Linnea Ehri in an interview for The Reading League Compass:
To be fully mapped and exist as a sight word in memory, the meaning must be connected to the spelling and pronunciation. Also the syntactic identity of the word needs to become connected to the other identities, that is, its function in sentences-especially if its meaning is only activated in sentences (e.g., function words like was, from, if, and with, and irregular past tense verbs that sound like nonsense words when produced in isolation like held, took, gave, and wrote). This would be especially important for EL students. These words need to be read in meaningful contexts in order for the connection forming processes to become complete and to establish high quality lexical representations of sight words in memory. A word isn't a word without meaning.

Thus, it is essential to undergird lessons whenever possible with meaningful vocabulary, language, and English language support is essential for EL/EB students.
Resources to further understanding
The Reading League's Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines (CEGs) include "red flags" (instructional practices that do not align with the science of reading) as well as aligned practices that support both word recognition and language comprehension. The CEGs also include specific, evidence-aligned components to support EL/EB students. Many of the evidence-aligned language comprehension components of the CEGs align directly with the WIDA English Language Development Standards (2020). Developing understanding of grammar, cohesive devices, syntax, and text structure is supported by the science of reading and advocated by those supporting EL/EBs. Understanding these connections and emphasizing these similarities will help us all move forward together to support all learners. Additionally, New Mexico's Structured Literacy and English Learners page provides helpful information on instruction and resources such as walkthrough tools and lesson templates.

The following excerpts from California's ELD Standards Publication are also helpful in thinking through the evidence-aligned needs of ELs/EBs.
English learners benefit from Reading Foundational Skills instruction.
Research Findings: Instruction in the components of reading foundational skills-such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension (NICHD 2000)-benefits ELs.
Implications: Instruction in foundational literacy skills is essential for ELs. However, the instruction should be adjusted based on students' spoken English proficiency (they may or may not be familiar with the English sound system) and native language or English literacy proficiency (they may or may not be familiar with any type of writing system or with the Latin alphabet writing system in particular). Note that some ELs at any age may not be literate in any language when they arrive in the U.S. school system; their native language may not have a written form, or they may not have had opportunities to develop literacy in their native language or in a local language of wider communication.
Oral English language proficiency is crucial for English literacy learning.
Research Findings: Oral proficiency in English (including oral vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension) is critical for ELs to develop proficiency in text-level English reading comprehension. Word-identification skills are necessary, but not sufficient. Students who have learning disabilities (as diagnosed separately from their EL designation)-or whose literacy skills in either their native language or English remain below grade level after intensive and extensive instruction-may need specialized literacy intervention services.
Implications: Instruction for ELs in oral language knowledge, skills, and abilities must be explicit, intensive, and extensive. In order to be successful in reading English, ELs must develop proficiency in listening and speaking skills in English-depth and breadth of vocabulary, as well as grammatical structures-at the same time that they are developing foundational skills in reading and writing English.
Native language literacy skills facilitate English literacy learning.
Research Findings: ELs' native language literacy skills can help them learn English foundational literacy skills.
Implications: Instruction for ELs will need to vary based on variations among ELs' native language writing systems, as well as ELs' experiences with literacy in their native language. For example, students who are literate in a language that uses the Latin alphabet (such as Spanish) will be able to transfer decoding and writing skills more easily than a student who is literate in a language with a non-Latin alphabet (such as Arabic, Korean, or Russian) or a language with a symbol-based writing system (such as Chinese). Similarly, students who are literate in a language related to English (such as Spanish) will be able to use knowledge of cognates (words with similar meaning and spelling in both languages), whereas students who are literate in unrelated languages (such as Arabic, Chinese, or Korean) will not.

Multilingualism as an Asset

In our increasingly multilingual and multicultural society, it is important to consider the impact of bilingualism on the development of language, and how exposure to more than one language from a young age might shape an individual's brain both structurally and functionally. In the recent past, bilingualism was thought to impede cognitive and linguistic development, effectively 'confusing' the child's brain with multiple languages. We now know that this is NOT the case. (Arredondo et al, 2018)

A point that was universally agreed-upon at The Reading League Summit is that from a cultural, cognitive, and an academic perspective, multilingualism is an asset. For students, learning vocabulary and background knowledge in their home language can lead to positive transfer of this knowledge when learning the language of instruction, which supports comprehension. Dual language instruction is an optimal setting for this.

The reality, however, is that most EL/EB students are not afforded the opportunity to learn in a dual language setting that instructs, at least part time, in their home language. Thus, students must learn to read in a language they are learning to understand. Even in English-only settings, educators can still capitalize on the asset of a student's home language by leveraging cognates, or words in different languages that have a similar phonological, orthographic, and semantic form. Educators can also use a student's home language to highlight similar elements of phonology, orthography, morphology, syntax, and grammar and lessen the cognitive load of new learning by engaging in contrastive analysis, or the comparing of two languages to determine the similarities and differences of specific elements of the language. Teachers can also support better comprehension skills when they are able to choose texts that relate to children's previous experiences and world knowledge. In this way teachers can provide culturally relevant content that is more likely to be familiar to children and therefore more likely to be understood.

In this EdSource article (2023), Tim Shanahan states:
There are things that, depending on the language, might overlap with English and that the children might already know, in which case, those don't necessarily need to be retaught or certainly not to the same extent as with a first language student. For example, a lot of the sound letter matches are identical across Spanish and English, so if the child already knows how to read in Spanish, the classroom instructor wouldn't need to put a lot of time into teaching those things. On the other hand, there definitely are sounds that we have in English that don't exist in Spanish. And studies have found that it's useful to teach those quite explicitly and thoroughly. These resources are useful in helping educators understand elements of language that may be similar or different across languages:
Assessment

Dr. Lilian Duran of the University of Oregon offers the following advice for The Reading League Compass on assessment for ELs/EBs:

When planning assessment to learn more about the reading abilities of English Learners, it is important to understand their word recognition abilities, but one must also understand the role of language proficiency in both the child's home language(s) and English. Assessing literacy development in multilingual children requires attention to the child's level of proficiency in all of the languages that they have been regularly exposed to and how they will interact with the child's performance on the assessments administered.

In the context of the United States, most reading assessments are conducted only in English. Many children enter US schools speaking languages other than English at home and in their communities and are in the process of acquiring English. It is mandated that all children whose parents identify that a language other than English is spoken in the home are administered an English proficiency test with the goal of more effectively providing appropriate support for learning in predominantly English instructional environments.

Language is the foundation of literacy, and for EL students, measuring language development is critical to understanding the foundation they are bringing to the task of learning to read in English. Assessment in a child's home language is also important to provide a window into their ability to learn in general. Most children in the U.S. will be exposed to English-only instruction, but prior to school entry all of their learning, their concept knowledge, and their communication abilities are simply stored in a different language. Measuring vocabulary, semantic, and morphosyntactic development provides the teacher with more awareness of the student's strengths, abilities, and learning potential.

In addition to attending to the level of language development of students, it is also important to consider the language or languages of instruction. If children are only taught how to read in English, you cannot assume that the child will have reading skills in Spanish. However, if a child is in a dual language program that systematically teaches reading in both English and Spanish, then reading assessment in both languages is important and a better reflection of their overall ability level.

The main take-away for assessing reading skills for ELs is as follows: teachers must take a nuanced approach that strategically considers the quantity and quality of a child's exposure to their home language(s) and English and how this interacts with the language of their reading instruction. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather a decision-making process that should be undertaken to choose the appropriate assessments in the appropriate language that are most likely to capture the child's overall language and reading ability.
For more information on this topic:
Students Who Use Black English Should Be Included in Conversations

Dr. Altheria Caldera, TRL's DEIB consultant, offers the following advice for The Reading League Compass regarding speakers of Black English:

According to a 2021 infographic published by the Office of English Language Acquisition, only 2.9% of Black students are English Learners (ELs). Most of these non-native English speakers are foreign-born, with 8 of the top 10 countries being located in Africa. These Black English Learners are often "overlooked" in conversations around the needs of multilingual learners. This exclusion has significant implications for the reading education, with its recent focus on the importance of teaching foundational reading skills to beginning readers.

Black English, sometimes referred to as African American Vernacular English, is a dialect of English with syntactic and grammatical distinctions from Standard (also Dominant) American English. Important, too, is the differences in vocabulary, oral language, phonics, and phonemic awareness, all of which are integral components of structured literacy. As an example, a student who speaks Black English might read the word "flow" and understand it to be a surface on which one walks and may fail to recognize the word "floor" as the standard way the term is pronounced. The impact of dialectical differences such as this are examined in this 2012 article.

Questions surrounding implications for reading instruction for speakers of Black English have been pursued since at least the 1970s. Recent scholars like Ramona Pittman and Julie A. Washington, whose research and writing center students who speak Black English are urging the broader multilingual education community to include speakers of Black English, and other bi-dialectical students, in their efforts to advance the needs of multilingual learners.

Students who speak dialects other than English have needs similar to, though not identical to, needs as speakers of other languages. The former, sometimes referred to as Standard English Learners, deserve this nuanced classification along with corresponding support. California is one of the states leading the way in this language equity work. While it is arguable that speakers of Black English should be identified as ELs; unequivocally, students who speak Black English and other bi-dialectical students should be included in the literacy conversation, and their needs should be uplifted.

Resources

These additional resources are helpful to understand research as it relates to supporting English Learners and Emergent Bilinguals.

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English Learners / Emergent Bilinguals and the Science of Reading

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Explore the science of reading for English learners and emergent bilinguals. Join us in advancing literacy education.

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Understanding the Difference: The Science of Reading and

Implementation for English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals (ELs/EBs

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Q&A: What research says on teaching English learners to read

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Q&A: What research says on teaching English learners to read

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Do you count on EdSource? If so, please make your donation today.

Este artículo está disponible en Español. Léelo en español.

Low statewide reading scores have sparked many advocates to call for California to adopt a so-called structured literacy curriculum that emphasizes phonics and follows the science of reading.

English learner advocates have raised concerns that districts may focus too much on phonics and other foundational skills and ignore other important skills that English learners need.

So what does the research say about what English learners need when learning to read?

Tim Shanahan, distinguished professor emeritus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, is known for helping to lead the National Reading Panel, convened at the request of Congress to evaluate reading research.

He also chaired the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth and co-edited the resulting 2006 report on teaching reading and writing to students who are learning English as a second language, "Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners."

The report was not published by the Department of Education, so the panel published it privately. As a result, it is available only by purchase or in libraries and is lesser known than the report of the National Reading Panel.

This interview was condensed for brevity and clarity.
What are some main takeaways from the report "Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners"?
Shanahan: Skills that are important to teach in reading, like phonics, or comprehension strategies, work with native English speakers. And the research is very clear: Those benefit second language learners too. But what I think people don't often pay attention to is that the payoff is smaller with second language learners.

Phonics or comprehension strategies enable you to apply your language skills. But they can only help to the point that you have sufficient English to be able to use them.
That's why English learners need oral language development, right? Can you describe that?
Shanahan: In far too many programs, folks have gone, 'Well, we've got the kids integrated, they're in classes with other children who know English, they're going to be hearing the lessons in English, and the kids will be talking on the playground, and these kids will pick up English just like that.' And they will pick up conversational English to some extent, just like that, some much better than others, unfortunately. But they won't necessarily pick up academic English; they're not going to necessarily learn to create sentences that are like the sentences in a book or in a news article or something like that. You actually have to have some dedicated lessons that give them a real chance to catch up.
What are some of the other things English learners need in addition to oral language development?
Shanahan: There are things that, depending on the language, might overlap with English and that the children might already know, in which case, those don't necessarily need to be retaught or certainly not to the same extent as with a first language student. For example, a lot of the sound letter matches are identical across Spanish and English, so if the child already knows how to read in Spanish, the classroom instructor wouldn't need to put a lot of time into teaching those things. On the other hand, there definitely are sounds that we have in English that don't exist in Spanish. And studies have found that it's useful to teach those quite explicitly and thoroughly.

Another example: How do we teach reading comprehension? With native English speakers, I would have them read and I'd ask them questions, get their answers, we'd talk about it. With a second language student, I could do exactly the same thing, and the kids would sit there and not participate at all.

So one little change to that lesson - what if I allow the kids, when I ask my question, to discuss it with each other in Spanish before answering me in English? And the lesson comes alive. The kids participate, give answers in English now that they've had a chance to try them out in their own language. Those tiny little things make the kids feel welcomed or give them sufficient support that they can participate.
Is writing important for English learners?
Shanahan: There is a bunch of literacy research showing that writing and learning to write can have wonderfully productive feedback on learning to read. For example, working on spelling has a positive impact. Likewise, writing about the texts that you read increases comprehension and knowledge.

Even English learners who become quite proficient with oral English and reading comprehension tend to lag in writing. Writing demands a high level of understanding of a language. Not providing adequate instruction is problematic because of the importance of writing in advanced educational opportunities.
Does teaching in children's home language help?
Shanahan: Overwhelmingly, the body of research says yes, kids benefit when you spend some time teaching them in their home language.

It's important that schools are accepting and welcoming to children of different cultures, that children feel safe and welcomed and that their language is acceptable. You see better results when schools manage to convey that kind of acceptance to the children and to the families. So that's not an unimportant idea, and it's one that's unfortunately not always honored.
There's some concern from English learner advocates in California that a push to do more phonics will leave out other important skills, including oral language and cross-language connections. What is your perspective?
Shanahan: It gets very tricky when you talk about any aspect of reading, if you say, we need to do this, without any kind of attention to how much time we are talking about. I get emails from people saying, 'They expect me to do 90 minutes a day of phonics.' Well, I can't imagine what idiot is asking for that, because the research doesn't say anything like that. [After looking at the studies on phonics instruction,] thirty minutes to me seems pretty reasonable, recognizing some kids might not need all of that and some kids might need more.

If all you do is tell people that they have to do a particular thing and that's what matters and that's what you're going to be paying attention to, everybody is going to try to do that. And sometimes they're going to overdo it. In this case, you'll probably end up doing more foundational work than language work, with a group that probably needs either greater balance or more language attention than foundational skills attention.

Making sure that everybody is doing everything that kids need, not just parts of it, is really important. I understand when people get worried that somebody's going to overdo it, because I've seen people overdo it. But it goes both ways. The analogy I use is from Chicago history. There was a ship in our river, and at some point, the boat started to lean one way and so everybody did the thing you'd expect - they ran to the other side, it tipped over and drowned like 900 people. It is absolutely legitimate to say, let's not all run to the other side, let's do this in a wise way. That notion of, gee, we're not doing enough phonics, we can fix it if we only do phonics, doesn't make any sense at all. But you can do exactly the same thing with, boy, these second language kids aren't getting enough English, therefore let's take away all the foundational stuff and we'll build these kids' language. You're going to tip the ship over.

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Q&A: What research says on teaching English learners to read

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Tim Shanahan chaired the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth and co-edited the resulting 2006 report.

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National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth

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National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth

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National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth - Center for Applied Linguistics

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U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences

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Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

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Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

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This practice guide was prepared for the WWC by Instructional Research Group under contract ED-IES-12-C-0016.

The following research staff contributed to the guide: Joseph Dimino, Kelly Haymond, Russell Gersten, Madhavi Jayanthi, and Rebecca Newman-Gonchar.

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WWC | Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School

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This practice guide provides four recommendations that address what works for English learners during reading and content area instruction. Each recommendation includes extensive examples of activities that can be used to support students as they build the language and literacy skills needed to be successful in school.

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Melissa & Lori Love Literacy: Podcast with Jan Hasbrouck on Fluency and Assessment

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Melissa & Lori Love Literacy: Podcast with Jan Hasbrouck on Fluency and Assessment

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You can find every episode of Melissa & Lori Love Literacy right here on this page starting with the most recent episodes. You can even search below for any guests or topics you are interested in to find all the episodes you want to listen to!

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Melissa and Lori Love Literacy is a podcast for educators interested in learning more about the science of reading, knowledge building, and high-quality curriculum! Join Melissa and Lori as they tackle new ways of thinking about how to teach reading and writing. Guests include literacy researchers and experts, teachers and leaders, parents and advocates.

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How to Improve Literacy for Older Students

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How to Improve Literacy for Older Students

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Melissa and Lori Love Literacy is a podcast for educators interested in learning more about the science of reading, knowledge building, and high-quality curriculum! Join Melissa and Lori as they tackle new ways of thinking about how to teach reading and writing. Guests include literacy researchers and experts, teachers and leaders, parents and advocates.

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PaTTAN Literacy Symposium- Achieving Adolescent Literacy Proficiency: The Importance of Fluency

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PaTTAN Literacy Symposium- Achieving Adolescent Literacy Proficiency: The Importance of Fluency

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37. Achieving Adolescent Literacy Proficiency: The Importance of ... | 2024 Literacy Symposium

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Estimated reading time: 3 min

Background

The conscious competence learning model helps us to understand the journey we go through when we learn something new. It is sometimes known as the conscious competence ladder or the conscious competence matrix.

The conscious competence learning model was developed by Noel Burch in the 1970s and describes 4 stages we go through when learning new skills. It also can help us understand more about learning in general.

Conscious Competence

While the conscious competence learning model has 4 stages, the stages are made up of 2 factors - consciousness and competence

Conscious - how aware we are of what we know or what we can do

Competence - whether we actually have the skills to do the things we need to do

The 4 stages of the conscious competence learning model are a mix of these two factors.

The Conscious Competence Learning Model

The conscious competence learning model has 4 stages:

1. Unconscious Incompetence - you don't know what you don't know

2. Conscious Incompetence - you know what you don't know

3. Conscious Competence - you know that you can do it now

4. Unconscious Competence - you can do it without thinking about it

Unconscious Incompetence Stage

At this stage of the learning journey, you don't know what you don't know. This means that you have identified something that you need i.e. a new skill or task, but you don't know whether you can do it or not.

If we take the idea of learning to drive and apply it to the model, at this stage it means that you may have been a passenger in a car, but have never sat behind the wheel and attempted to drive. You may have an idea of what driving a car entails but never having done it, you don't know at this point whether you can or you can't.

If this was understanding whether you can do a job or not, using tools such as a personal development plan or a SWOT analysis on yourself can be a useful way to identify what you think you current can do or the areas in which you will need to improve.

Essentially, at this stage, you just need to have a go and see what you can and can't do. In our driving example, this would be taking your first driving lesson. This might be trying something new for the first time in a work context.

Conscious Incompetence Stage

Now that you have tried, you will find out the things that you can't do. Your awareness is now raised meaning you are more conscious. This is the stage of conscious incompetence.

You now understand that you need to learn new skills and take action to get to where you need to be.

If we go back to the learning to drive example, you may have got in the car, started the engine and immediately stalled as you tried to move off. Now, you realise it isn't as straightforward as it looked.

Don't let this impact your confidence. A positive mindset is going to be key here.

Go back to your personal development plan or speak with people who have the skills. They can become a coach or mentor to help you acquire the skills that you need. You could also attend training courses or use other personal development interventions. Work out your personal development approach.

Once you have that in place, take the steps needed to to get to where you need to be.

Conscious Competence Stage

As you begin to learn and apply your new skills, your awareness of your ability to do these things will begin to increase. With this comes an increase in confidence.

You still need to apply a high level of consciousness to this, meaning you still have to think about what you are doing and concentrate.

In the learning to drive scenario, this will happen as you begin to take more lessons and have more practice - right up to the point that you pass your driving test.

In a work-based example, you will start to see the results of your actions. You will need to seek more and more opportunities to practice your skills to ensure you become fully competent in them.

Unconscious Competence Stage

When you get to this stage of the conscious competence learning model, you will find you are using your skills with little effort. They become part of your routine or everyday actions.

In the driving example, you understand that you have to concentrate, but you also find that sopping, starting, moving through the gears and switching lanes are all done without huge amounts of effort.

In a work context, you may give little thought to how you are doing things - you just know how to get them done.

A warning here though. It's really easy for complacency to kick in. If this happens, mistakes can be made. You should revisit the conscious competence stage on a regular basis to ensure this doesn't happen. This can be achieved through training or finding a coach to help you keep your existing skills sharp and identify possible new directions to go in.

Further Learning

You can develop your skills in all areas of the conscious competence learning model by attending one of our many easy to access training courses. See the full list of courses we deliver on the course overview page.

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The Conscious Competence Learning Model - Revolution Learning and Development Ltd

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The conscious competence learning model helps us to understand the journey we go through when we learn something new. It is sometimes known as the conscious

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Morphological Awareness: How Pieces Add Up

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Morphological Awareness: How Pieces Add Up

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The Importance of Morphological Awareness in Bilingual Language and Literacy Skills: Clinical Implications for Speech-Language Pathologists

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The Importance of Morphological Awareness in Bilingual Language and Literacy Skills: Clinical Implications for Speech-Language Pathologists

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Morphological Awareness: One Piece of the Literacy Pie

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Morphological Awareness: One Piece of the Literacy Pie

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Effects of Instruction in Morphological Awareness of Literacy Achievement: An Integrative Review

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Effects of Instruction in Morphological Awareness of Literacy Achievement: An Integrative Review

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Van Cleave - Morphology Matters: Using Bases & Affixes to Develop Vocabulary in Students of All Ages

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Morphemes: the smallest unit of meaning in language - it may be a word or a word unit

Morphology: the study of meaningful units of language - remember that this starts with oral language and moves to application in reading and spelling. Every student benefits from morphology, though the depth depends on the student's cognitive ability

Morphological Awareness:  This is the ability to identify, know the meaning of, analyze, and use the units of meaning that construct words. It starts with oral work - analyzing what sounds better - I jump or I jump when speaking to deep discussions on words that use the Latin root -port-

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How To Use Retrieval Practice to Improve Learning

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How To Use Retrieval Practice to Improve Learning

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SketchNotes for "Making Learning Stick" googledrive

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SketchNotes for "Making Learning Stick" googledrive

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This groundbreaking book, based on the latest research in cognitive science, offers powerful strategies to boost memory and learning.

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners

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More than 5 million English learners attend U.S. public schools-and yet fewer than 3% of teachers are certified to work with them. Fill that gap in teacher education with this practical and comprehensive textbook, an evidence-based guide to providing English learners in Pre-K-Grade 6 with explicit, systematic instruction on language and literacy fundamentals. Faculty will get helpful PowerPoint slides for each chapter, plus a sample syllabus that shows you how to use this book in your course.

Aligned with IDA's Knowledge and Practice Standards, this book prepares current and future educators to teach English learners the key components of language and literacy, as first described in the National Literacy Panel report. For each component, teachers will get a dedicated chapter with research-based insights on how to teach English learners, guidance on making connections across languages when teaching that component, and ready-to-use principles and strategies for instruction. Learning objectives, study questions, and extended application activities help educators grow their knowledge and apply it in their classrooms.

An essential text for courses on literacy foundations and biliteracy-and an ideal in-service professional development resource-this accessible book will give teachers the knowledge base they need to help English learners develop strong literacy skills and achieve academic success.

PREPARE TEACHERS TO:

Enter their classroom with a full understanding of the language and literacy development of English learners

Teach English learners the key components of language and literacy: phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling, and writing skills

Apply insights from current, reliable research on how best to teach English learners

Use specific, evidence-based principles, strategies, activities, and sample teacherâ€"student dialogues to guide and strengthen instruction

Leverage technology to adapt and enhance instruction for English learners

ONLINE COMPANION MATERIALS INCLUDED:

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction [Cardenas-Hagan Ed.D. CCC/SLP CDT CALT, Elsa, Vaughn Ph.D., Sharon] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction

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Doug Lemov (Author), Erica Woolway (Author), Katie Yezzi (Author), Dan Heath (Foreword) & 1 more

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Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better

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Amazon.com: Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better: 9781118216583: Lemov, Doug, Woolway, Erica, Yezzi, Katie, Heath, Dan: Books

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Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act, known as the READ Act, was passed and signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on May 24, 2023. The goal of this legislation is to have every Minnesota child reading at or above grade level every year, beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learner and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals. The READ Act replaces Read Well by Third Grade (RWBTG) in Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 120B.12, effective July 1, 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

MDE has compiled the most frequently asked questions on the READ Act FAQ - Updated August, 2023

MDE Approved State Funded Professional Development Offerings

The READ Act requires MDE to partner with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) to identify at least three professional development programs that focus on the five pillars of literacy and the components of structured literacy by August 15, 2023.

The approved list of professional development programs will meet the statutory requirement of ensuring educators are trained to offer evidence-based reading instruction that includes phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy (Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.12, The READ Act).

Professional Development Requirements in The READ Act

Beginning July 1, 2024, each district must provide teachers and instructional support staff with responsibility for teaching reading with training on evidence-based reading instruction that is approved by the Department of Education.

District staff required to complete approved professional development include:

intervention teachers working with students in grades K-12;

all classroom teachers of students in kindergarten through grade three and children in prekindergarten programs;

special education teachers;

curriculum directors;

instructional support staff who provide reading instruction; and

employees who select literacy instructional materials for a district.

All other teachers and instructional staff required to receive training under the Read Act must complete the training no later than July 1, 2027.

Approved State Funded Professional Development Programs

Next Steps:

MDE will execute contracts with each of the three training vendors.
Anticipated start date to register will be dependent on contract execution with a goal of offering trainings as soon as possible.

Once the contracts are executed, MDE will provide districts direction for registering. Please do not contact the vendor as registration methods will not be determined until contracts are in place.

The goal of distributing training slots will be to ensure an equitable geographic balance of available slots throughout the state.

Once the Regional Literacy Networks in each Minnesota Service Cooperative are staffed, administrative supports will be offered via these Networks in each region of the state, including the metro area.

MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tools

The READ Act requires school districts and charters to adopt and implement a K-3 literacy screener from the list of MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tools. Screening tools approved by MDE include subtests to measure foundational reading skills as well as characteristics of dyslexia. Literacy screening tools were reviewed to ensure adequate classification accuracy, reliability, validity, sample representativeness (norms), bias analysis, and ease of administration and scoring.

The MDE has approved a list of literacy screening tools to support school districts and charters in conducting universal literacy and dyslexia screening in grades K-3, as required by Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 120B.12, The READ Act.

MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tools for Grades K-3:

DIBELS 8th Edition

FastBridge
earlyReading (K-1) and CBMReading (Grades 1-3) (Renaissance)

MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tools

The READ Act requires school districts and charters to adopt and implement a K-3 literacy screener from the list of MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tools. Screening tools approved by MDE include subtests to measure foundational reading skills as well as characteristics of dyslexia. Literacy screening tools were reviewed to ensure adequate classification accuracy, reliability, validity, sample representativeness (norms), bias analysis, and ease of administration and scoring. For more information about this review process see READ Act: K-3 Universal and Dyslexia Literacy Screening Tool Review Criteria and Process.

Additional Literacy Screening Guidance is Forthcoming

MDE will provide detailed guidance for districts related to literacy and dyslexia screening including specific measures to use at each grade for each tool. Future guidance and supports will include the following:

Information about the READ Act and how it applies to the universal screening required for school districts and charters;

Guidance to support districts in the selection of an approved screening tool; the annual reporting process; and analysis of the data to inform instruction; professional development; and resource deployment;

Guidance to support the implementation of universal literacy and dyslexia screening; and

Guidance on screening for characteristics of dyslexia for struggling readers in grades 4 and above .

The READ Act Implementation Timeline:

Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI)

July 1, 2023 - MDE to post an approved list of Universal and Dyslexia Screening Tools for Grades K-3

August 15, 2023 - In partnership, CAREI and MDE are to identify at least three professional development programs that focus on the five pillars of literacy and the components of structured literacy and post them on the MDE website.

Curriculum: January 1, 2024 - In partnership, CAREI and MDE, must identify at least five evidence-based literacy curricula and supporting materials and post them on the MDE website.

Reimbursement: A process for reimbursement of approved evidence-based structured literacy curriculum and supporting materials and intervention materials purchased after July 1, 2021 by districts, charter schools and cooperatives will be developed and communicated on the MDE website. Guidance on this process will be forthcoming.

Reconsideration: MDE and CAREI must provide districts an opportunity to request reconsideration for approved curricula and professional development programs and must publish the request for reconsideration procedures on the department website. The request must demonstrate the curriculum or professional development program meets the requirements of the READ Act, is evidence-based, and has structured literacy components. Guidance on this process will be forthcoming.

Districts and Charter School

District and Charter Schools will have the 2023-2024 school year to transition to using an approved literacy screening tool. Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year- Districts and charter schools must annually administer an evidence-based reading screener that is approved by MDE to all students in K-3 within the first six weeks and last six weeks of school, including multilingual learners and students receiving special education services.

July 1, 2024 - A district must provide access to training on approved evidence-based reading instruction required in the READ Act to the following staff:

K-12 Intervention Teachers

PreK - Grade 3 Classroom Teachers

Special Education Teachers

Curriculum Leaders

Instructional Support Staff who provide reading instruction

Employees who select literacy instructional material

July 1, 2023 - Starting on this date, when a district purchases new literacy curriculum, intervention or supplementary materials, the resources purchased must be evidence-based as defined in Curriculum: Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 120B.1118. A district must use evidence-based curriculum and intervention materials at each grade level that are designed to ensure student mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency and reading comprehension.

Reading Data and Local Literacy Plan Submissions

Minnesota districts and charter schools are required to annually submit data to MDE on student performance in Kindergarten, Grade 1, 2, and 3 on foundational reading skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and oral language, in addition to their Local Literacy Plan.

Districts and charter schools will submit their Local Literacy Plan using the newly developed template on June 15, 2024. Universal screening data submission will be included the following year, June 15, 2025 to allow a full school year to transition to the new universal screening process and data submission.

Those districts who are already using an approved screening tool may be asked to pilot the data submission for the 2023-2024 school year. Guidance on the submission process and a template for submission will be forthcoming.

Resources

Updated resources and information will be made available for Minnesota districts, schools and educators to use in developing comprehensive literacy programs that use evidence-based practices and are aligned with the READ Act legislation. Please watch this webpage for updates.

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Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act, known as the READ Act, was passed and signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on May 24, 2023. The goal of this legislation is to have every Minnesota child reading at or above grade level every year, beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learner and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals.

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Blast from the Past: This blog considered the value of decodable text. Since then, there has been more research on the issue, so I thought it a good time to update. There have been several thoughtful reviews of the empirical research over the years, and these reflect a great deal of consistency among the scientists who think deeply about this issue. None of them rules out the use of decodables, but none claims that their use improves reading achievement. Those who recommend a heavy and/or long-term dose of decodable text in beginning reading programs are not doing so based on the science of reading. I've updated this piece a great deal and beefed up the research references. You might want to go back to the original blog to see the 45 comments that it elicited, so here is that link: https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/should-we-teach-with-decodable-text Please share your thinking as well as research referencing the occasional use of decodable texts for small group reading instruction in grades K-2. Shanahan responds: First published August 25, 2018; updated June 1, 2024
This is still not a highly researched topic. There have been only a handful of investigations into the effectiveness of decodable texts since the 1980s. And, truth be told, this collection of studies is a bit of a mess; with little evident agreement as to what decodable text is, what it should be compared with, and what learning outcomes should be expected.

Research has done less to solve the problem - do decodable texts advantage early reading development? - and more to demonstrate how complicated even simple ideas can be. (This is typical in the social sciences. Research studies often force us to operationalize constructs and that sometimes exposes how squishy soft our thinking is).

First issue... what is decodable text? Originally, the term was used relatively, it suggested more a continuum than a category (Juel & Roper-Schneider, 1985): phonics-oriented decodable texts used a preponderance of "words where all letters followed their major sound patterns." The contrast to this was the basal readers of the time that employed a lower proportion of such words. Words like pet, big, nap, and dot would fit the decodable definition, while words like cow, pear, and come would not.

How regular did the words have to be to merit designation as decodable? Doesn't decodability change with learning? As children know more spelling/pronunciation patterns, then those less frequent patterns become decodable, too.

Some researchers have tried setting percentages of decodability, and others have shifted the definitions to consider what the children have been taught at a given point.

If we all define decodable text in different ways then no one can be very happy with the research. No matter what a study finds, it becomes possible to reject research results out of hand because that may not be "what I meant by decodable."

In that first study (Juel & Roper-Schneider, 1985), first graders taught with decodable texts outperformed the others in word reading, nonsense word reading, and the ability to read words they had not previously encountered - well, at least this was true when tested in November and February. However, by end of year, there were no differences when it came to either decoding ability or overall reading achievement. It is also fair to point out that the decodable group received more explicit phonics instruction, too. In other words, this study was more intriguing than determinative.

Since then, there have been a handful of empirical studies into the effectiveness of decodables. Sometimes with positive results (a 14 lesson study found that students were more likely to try to decode words in text if they worked with decodables (Mesmer, 2005)), and other times this experience seemed to reduce the likelihood of fluent reading (Price-Mohr & Price, 2018), or seemed to have no effect at all (students who worked with texts 11% decodable and 85% decodable did equally well in learning to read (Jenkins, et al., 2004)).

There are now almost as many research reviews on this topic as there are primary studies. These reviews all draw pretty much the same conclusions (Adams, 2009; Bier, 2007; Birch, et al., 2022; Cheatham & Alor, 2012; Mesmer, 2001). They acknowledge that decodable texts encourage students to apply their phonics skills (though this seems only to be true for most kids during a brief time during grade one). They also conclude that it is most prudent to use both decodables and non-decodables.

Hammering home that latter point is a new meta-analysis that examined more than 90 studies of early reading interventions. These studies were divided into 4 groups: those that did not employ text at all, those that only used decodables, those that did not use decodables, and those that used a combination of both. The text regime that significantly outdistanced the others in terms of how well they nurtured decoding ability was the diet that included decodables along with other texts.

Of course, there are several studies and evaluations of phonics instruction in which the program under investigation included decodable text (look at the phonics studies synthesized in the National Reading Panel Report or the various reports of What Works Clearinghouse). These phonics programs have been successful, but there is no evidence that without decodables they would have been any less effective. Phonics programs with and without them both seem to do well.

There are still methodological problems that need to be worked out on the research end of this. Researchers have usually failed to control the effects of other text factors. For instance, the amount of word repetition and the frequency of the words in the various texts are important variables that may confound the results of these studies (Mesmer, Cunningham, & Hiebert, 2012).

Finally, English is complex, and the sounds associated with letters and letter combinations depend on the letter's position in the syllables, morphology, and etymology. That's why so much is made these days of "statistical learning."

Readers start to discern that b is more often associated with the /b/ sound in words like big and bad much more often than it will serve as a silent letter (such as in words like bomb or climb), and they learn to respond to this statistical difference accordingly. If unsure of the pronunciation of a b word, go with /b/; you're more likely to get it right. Presenting students with lots of decodable text, text that's much more regular that normal text, might mess up some of these cognitive calculations. Dick Venezky and Dale Johnson (1973) long ago showed that adults attribute sounds to letters in proportions more reflective of their appearance in children's primers than of the actual proportions in which they appear in English language overall. (This is a problem for both leveled readers and decodable texts.)
References
I think it's okay to use decodable texts as part of phonics instruction, but such practice should be limited, and even beginning readers should be reading (not just listening to) more than decodable texts.

Adams, M. J. (2009). Decodable text: Why, when, and how?" In E H. Hiebert & M. Sailors (Eds.), Finding the right texts: What works for beginning and struggling readers (pp. 23-46). New York: Guilford Press, 2009.

Bier, L. D. (2007). Texts and Beginning Readers. Unpublished paper, University of Delaware.

Birch, R., Sharp, H., Miller, D., Ritchie, D., & Ledger, S. (2022). A systematic literature review of decodable and levelled reading books for reading instruction in primary school contexts: An evaluation of quality research evidence. Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle.

Cheatham, J. P., & Allor, J. H. (2012). The influence of decodability in early reading text on reading achievement: A review of the evidence. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 25(9), 2223-2246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9355-2

Jenkins, J. R., Peyton, J. A., Sanders, E. A., Vadasy, P. F. (2004). Effects of reading decodable texts in supplemental first-grade tutoring. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8(1), 53-85. doi:https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr08014

Juel, C., & Roper-Schneider, D. (1985). The influence of basal readers on first grade reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 20(2), 134-152. https://doi.org/10.2307/747751

Mesmer, H. A. E. (2001). Decodable text: A review of what we know. Reading Research and Instruction, 40(2), 121-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388070109558338

Mesmer, H. A. E. (2005). Text decodability and the first-grade reader. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 21, 61-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573560590523667

Mesmer, H. A. E., Cunningham, J. W., & Hiebert, E. H. (2012). Toward a theoretical model of text complexity for the early grades: Learning from the past, anticipating the future. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(3), 235-258

Price?Mohr, R. M., & Price, C. B. (2018). Synthetic phonics and decodable instructional reading texts: How far do these support poor readers? Dyslexia: An International Journal of Research and Practice, 24(2), 190-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1581

Pugh, A., Kearns, D., & Hiebert, E. H. (2023). Text types and their relations to efficacy in beginning reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 58(4),710-732. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.513

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These days decodable text is often promoted as a "science of reading" idea. This blog entry reviews the surprising research on this topic which comes to very different conclusions.

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Adams, G.N. and Brown, S. (2003). The Six-minute solution. Longmont, Colo.:Sopris West.

Brophy, J.E. (1988). Educating teachers about managing classroom and students. Teacher and Teacher Education 4(1), 1-18.

Campbell, K. (1996). Great Leaps Reading Program.

Hasbrouck, J.E., Ihnot, C., and Rogers, G.H. (1999). "Read Naturally": A strategy to increase oral reading fluency. Reading Research & Instruction, 39(1), 27-38.

Heibert, E.H. (2003). Quick reads. Parsipanny, N.J.:Pearson Learning.

Ihnot, C. (1991). Read naturally. Read Naturally:Minneapolis, Minn.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (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. NIH Publication No. 00-4769. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office.

Osborn, J. and Lehr, F. (2004). A focus on fluency. Honolulu: Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.

Pikulski, J.J. and Chard, D.J. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 510-519.

Rasinski, T. (2006, April). Reading Fluency Instruction: Moving Beyond Accuracy, Automaticity, and Prosody. The Reading Teacher, 59(7), 704-706.

Read Naturally (2002). Reading fluency monitor. Minneapolis: Author.

Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. New York:Alfred A. Knopf.

Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., and Griffin, P. (Eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, D.C.:National Academy Press.

Stahl, S.A. and Kuhn, M.R. (2002). Making it sound like language: Developing fluency. The Reading Teacher, 55, 582-584.

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What should fluency instruction look like? And what can teachers do to help students whose fluency is far behind their peers'? This article can help practitioners effectively use fluency-based assessments and select instructional practices.

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Teaching Oral Reading Fluency to Older Students

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Oh goodness, everybody’s least favorite topic (except maybe Tim Rasinski’s). What I’m talking about is fluency instruction/practice for older students … grades 4 and up, let’s say.

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"Ugh! Are you kidding? Figs, pigs, wigs, and jigs! No thank you! Reading is about meaning and those dumb stories are stupid!" protested one first grade teacher when asked about decodable texts. "Decodables are essential! What good is it to teach kids to 'sound things out' if there are no words to sound out in text?" countered another teacher. "I need them to teach reading!" And so goes the typical conversation about decodable text, a worn-out love/hate relationship that seems to swing back and forth with the early literacy pendulum. But dwelling in hyperbole almost never helps kids, so I would like to suggest that we step back from extreme responses to take more a measured, middle-ground approach. In this blog, I'll share my experiences and analysis of the research literature about what I think can be a limited, but useful, tool-decodable text. This blog will discuss what decodable text is, why it might be used, when, developmentally, it might be used, and how it can be used to boost early reading skills.

Decodable text is a type of beginning reading material in which the words have been controlled to contain letter-sounds and high frequency words that the learner has been taught (Mesmer, 2001). The idea with decodable texts is that the reader should be able to apply letter/sound knowledge to independently recognize words in text. Although there has been some attempt to ensure that decodable texts contain 80% of previously-taught words, close analyses have proved this percentage to be unattainable in most "decodable" materials (Foorman et al., 2004). Instead of thinking of books as "decodable" or "not decodable," we simply consider the idea of "decodability" to vary on a continuum, with some books having words that are more or less decodable to certain readers. (See below.)

Why?

If you are like the first teacher above, you might be wondering why anyone would use decodable texts. There are three key reasons: (a) to bridge an important developmental transition in word reading, (b) to provide a field for the transfer of letter/sound knowledge to reading, and (c) to encourage and empower beginning readers to decode. What we know about word reading is that when readers use letter-sounds to figure out words, they then store those words cognitively through orthographic mapping and this allows them to later call up words by sight, automatically (Ehri, 2005). Therefore, if a child comes to the word "hot" many times and works to sound it out each time (i.e., h-o-t, hot!), he will eventually store that word and no longer need to sound it out. In addition, decoding in context also promotes reading new, unseen words (Share, 1995).

What does the research say?

The fact is that there are very few recent studies in which the effects of using any type of beginning reading texts have been systematically studied. That said, a recent research review consolidates current perspectives on texts with decodability and suggests some advantages to its use (Cheatham & Allor, 2012). Studies that have manipulated text decodability as an independent variable reveal that it prompts readers to use letter-sounds during connected reading (Juel & Roper/Schneider, 1985; Mesmer, 2001, 2005; Vadasy, Sanders, & Peyton, 2005). When students receive a heavy dose of highly decodable text, they emerge with robust decoding abilities and retain words they have read in text.
There are some caveats. In one study, two groups of first graders received one-on-one tutoring with the same scripted phonics curriculum but either more or less decodable text, and the type of text did not affect students (Jenkins, Peyton, & Sanders, 2004). Thus, a strong phonics curriculum delivered in 25 one-one sessions negates the impact of text. Other studies suggest there may be a fluency compromise in highly decodable texts (Mesmer, 2010).

Although they do not exclusively address decodability, several other text studies are useful. Researchers contrasted an uncontrolled literature-based program to one using texts designed on multiple criteria (e.g., decodability, repetition, high frequency words). After 15 weeks, first graders reading multi-criteria books outperformed those reading literature in word reading and reading level (Menon & Hiebert, 2005). In another study, a researcher used predictable big books to teach words in three different ways: (a) repeatedly reading the books (10 times over 4 days); (b) reading the words on sentence strips; and (c) analyzing the words individually. Students learned the least number of words through rereading and the most through individual analysis (Johnston, 2000).

When?

One of the reasons that people have concerns about decodable texts is that the question of when has not really been well addressed. When to use decodables is the most important consideration. I see decodable sets with hundreds of sequential books that stretch over an entire year. I do not think that is necessary at all. My reading of the research suggests that there is actually a very specific developmental window when decodables are useful.

I first discovered this material while working with a second grader who, after a year of one-on-one tutoring, was still reading at the very lowest levels. Despite having letter/sound knowledge, the child was actually using a "partial alphabetic" approach to reading words in books (Ehri, 2005; Mesmer, 1999). She would use beginning sounds along with pictures and memory to guess at words. The approach would have been fine in early first grade or late kindergarten but not in second grade. She needed to move into "full alphabetic" reading, or fully sounding out words-including the vowels. What I found was that the books I was using did not support this transition. She would come to words in text like "hair" and "grouchy," and she did not have the knowledge to decode them. When I used texts with some decodability she began to use what she knew about letter-sounds to sound out words in text. It was empowering and amazing to the see "I can do it!' smile spread across her face when she would pause at a tough word and work it out.

How?

Often when I discuss how to use decodables with teachers I get the kind of extreme responses described above (Never use decodables! Exclusively use decodables!). In my opinion, neither of these approaches is helpful. Instead, I offer the following recommendations about how to use decodables.

Use at the right developmental point.
Decodables should be used once children are extremely solid with all letter-sounds and are ready to fully decode. They should have a solid concept of word and be able to accurately point to both single-syllable and multisyllabic words in a predictable text, using beginning sounds to help them. I suggest that children be able to decode a simple c-v-c word prior to using decodables.

Use after a phonics lesson to practice target word family or sound.
The most obvious time to ask children to read a decodable is right after a decoding lesson in which they have had instruction on a specific word family. When children see words they have decoded in text, they understand that the work they are doing has a real application. Put these books in children's hands, let them do it! Let them read and reread these books. Have them "sound out" words. They should be able to do it all by themselves without a lot of "overscaffolded" instruction.

Do not use exclusively.
I do not recommend using decodables exclusively for two reasons. First, the sounding out that children have to do in a decodable is substantial and can be wearing. Second, there are other types of books that children benefit from, including multi-criteria texts like those mentioned above. Use decodables for their purpose-to practice decoding in context.

Pay attention to the level of decodability.
In reality, texts do not exactly fit into neat categories of "decodable" vs. "not-decodable." Instead, decodability exists on a continuum, with some texts being more decodable and others being somewhat decodable. In the more decodable books, there is a really tight level of control with many words having specific letter/sound patterns.

You can usually spot these because there are lot of short vowel words and each sentence will offer many decoding opportunities. The page of this Bob Book is an example:

Dot had a dog. The dog is Mag.
Mag to the bag. Dot got Mag.

Notice that the -ot, -og, and -ag families are all represented throughout the sentence. To decode the first line of print, the reader has to shift between an -ot word (Dot) then an -og word (dog), then another -og word (dog) and then an -ag word (Mag), all in the first line of print.

I like to use books like this near the end of short vowel instruction, when readers have gotten pretty fluent with decoding short vowels and can handle these shifts pretty seamlessly. If you are using a decodable and the reader is slowing down at every third word to sound out, the book is likely not quite right.

At the beginning of decoding instruction where the focus is on word families and adding a beginning sound to a family, I like to use books that I call somewhat decodable. Below is an example:

I like to win.
I like to pin.
I like to sip.
I like to dip.
I like to hop.
I like to pop.
This is me!
All I can be!

In this example, there are decodable words, but they are at the end of each sentence. In order to read this book, the reader can use the repeated sentence and the high frequency word like, then do the decoding work at the end of the sentence. The decoding work is not too overwhelming, and the reader can apply letter/sound knowledge without taking too long to read the book.

Know when to stop
I believe¹ that decodables are most useful for propelling children through the period in which they are learning to decode words or blend sounds together. This period is usually 2-3 months. Once a child can quickly and easily blend c-v-c words with all short vowels, I believe they no longer need decodables. I would also add that these words should also include c-c-v-c words that contain consonant blends or digraphs (e.g. ship, plan). By the time fluid decoding of short vowel c-v-c words is accomplished, most children will have a reading vocabulary close to 500 words that will land them squarely in text levels nearing a mid-first or early second-grade level. Typically, this point will occur in spring of Kindergarten or fall/winter of first grade.

___________________________________________________________________ Note: I am very purposefully using the word "believe" here.
[1]

* * *

For more ideas and suggestions (e.g., How to do a Bookwalk in a Decodable) see Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations that Work at Heinemann.com.

Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, PhD, is a Professor in Literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. A former classroom teacher, she works extensively with teachers, schools, and young readers, directing numerous school-based initiatives to improve reading instruction. Heidi Anne studies beginning reading instruction and text difficulty and her work has been published in The Reading Teacher, Reading Research Quarterly, The Educational Researcher, Elementary School Journal, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. She is the author of Tools for Matching Readers to Texts, Reading Interventions in Primary Grades, and Teaching Skills for Complex Texts.

References

Cheatham, J. P., & Allor, J. H. (2012). The influence of decodability in early reading text on reading achievement: A review of the evidence. Reading and Writing, 25(9), 2223-2246.

Ehri, L. C. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9, 167-188. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr0902_4

Foorman, B. R., Francis, D. J., Davidson, K. C., Harm, M. W., & Griffin, J. (2004). Variability in text features in six grade 1 basal reading programs. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8(2), 167-197.

Jenkins, J. R., Peyton, J. A., Sanders, E. A. (2004). Effects of reading decodable texts in supplemental first-grade tutoring. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8(1), 53-85.

Johnston, F. R. (2000). Word learning in predictable text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(2), 248.

Juel, C., & Roper/Schneider, D. (1985). The influence of basal readers on first grade reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 20(2), 134-152.

Menon, S., & Hiebert, E. H. (2005). A comparison of first graders' reading with little books or literature‐based basal anthologies. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(1), 12-38.

Mesmer, H. A. E. (1999). Scaffolding a crucial transition using text with some decodability. The Reading Teacher, 53(2), 130-142.

Mesmer, H. A. (2001). Examining the theoretical claims about decodable text: Does text decodability lead to greater application of letter/sound knowledge in first-grade readers? In Yearbook: National Reading Conference (Vol. 50, pp. 444-459).

Mesmer, H. A. (2005). Text decodability and the first grade reader. Reading and Writing
Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 2(1), 61-86.

Mesmer, H. A. (2010). Textual scaffolds and beginning readers: Accuracy and fluency in
qualitatively leveled and decodable text. Literacy Research and Instruction, 49, 1-20.

Share, D. L. (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: Sine qua non of reading acquisition. Cognition, 55, 151-218.

Vadasy, P. F., Sanders, E. A., & Peyton, J. A. (2005). Relative effectiveness of reading practice or word-level instruction in supplemental tutoring: How text matters. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 38(4), 364-380.

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What decodable text is, why it might be used, when, developmentally, it might be used, and how it can be used to boost early reading skills.

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What are decodable books, and why are they important?

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What are decodable books, and why are they important?

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You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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What Are Decodable Books and Why Are They Important?

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Decodable books play an important role in phonics instruction and building confidence in young readers. Learn more about decodable books, how they differ from predictable texts, and how to select high-quality texts that align with the scope and sequence of your phonics program.