Secondary Level Reading Comprehension Deficiencies by Jessica Bierhalter

"Readicide": The Systematic Killing of Reading in Public Schools

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 21:01:33 UTC

A Resource Worth Investigating Further?

Article Sources for Research

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 21:10:03 UTC

Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals About College and Career Readiness

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 21:20:09 UTC

This article brings to light what the ACT test can determine about student vocabulary and reading comprehension and their potential career and/or collegiate success.

Deficient Reading Comprehension at the Secondary Level... What is to Blame?

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 21:21:09 UTC

I believe it could be...

A lack of vocabulary due to not enough time spent reading
Not enough exposure to academic language outside of school
A technology-dependent attitude ("I can just 'Google' it if I forget")
A lack of reading strategies utilized while reading difficult texts
Many other various reasons...

Essential Question

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 21:55:24 UTC

As a high school English teacher, how can I best prepare my students for their collegiate and professional journeys beyond high school?

Reading and writing are critical skills to master in order for students to become successful, and let's face it, tests like the ACT are what colleges (and the state) measure their academic skills by. Standardized tests aren't going away any time soon, and the job market is more competitive than ever; I want to enable my students to take advantage of opportunities by teaching them the skills they'll need to do so.

Deficient Vocabulary Hinders Students From...

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 22:16:06 UTC

Understanding academic texts
Doing well on tests
Communicating effectively
Succeeding in courses
Reading fluently

Action Research Questions & Concerns

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 22:21:50 UTC

Where do I begin-- reading comprehension as a whole, or vocabulary?
What if my topic is too broad? Will I be able to narrow the scope if I need to?
Does this topic actually lend itself to any real ethical concerns?
Is this a problem that can be 'fixed' in my classroom?

Is this actually something I will be able to fix, or is this issue too big?!

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 22:29:42 UTC

Studies Show... "High School Students Not Prepared for College, Career"

jbierhal — 2013-05-10 22:36:53 UTC

Interesting article...

Vocabulary Acquisition: Synthesis of the Research

jbierhal — 2013-05-19 19:57:59 UTC

This article discusses common themes of vocabulary deficits, such as the vocabulary gap between groups of students, vocabulary size, vocabulary growth, individual differences in vocabulary development, generalized linguistic differences, memory deficits, and depth of word knowledge.

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR): Improving Secondary Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills

jbierhal — 2013-05-19 20:20:47 UTC

This article covers the CSR method, which requires both teacher and student to participate in reading strategies to improve reading comprehension.

Teaching Reading in High School English Classes

jbierhal — 2013-05-19 21:28:58 UTC

As vocabulary acquisition is very much related to reading comprehension, this article is helpful in that it discusses effective techniques in teaching reading to secondary level English Students.