June 1999

– Elie Wiesel

"I am beginning to wonder whether there is a political and public mindset that literacy learning is critical only in early childhood. The faulty and misguided assumption, ‘If young children learn to read early on, they will read to learn throughout their lives,’ results in more harm than good."

– Richard Vacca, past President, International Reading Association

Background

In the May, 1998 Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Richard Vacca, past President of the International Reading Association, decried a pervasive national lack of commitment to the literacy development of adolescent learners. Vacca lamented what he terms the "benign neglect" of older literacy learners: minuscule funding for research in secondary reading, the dearth of reading teachers and specialists at the secondary level, and the nearly total omission of adolescent literacy development from state and national educational dialogue.

Over the past several years, the Madison Metropolitan School District has lost track of its vision and focus in the area of middle school reading. At one time, every middle school had at least a half-time reading consultant. At present, however, only half of the middle schools have reading specialists, programs are not visible, and the nation as well as the district have made reading at the elementary level a priority. Over time, with staffing cuts and changes at both the school and district levels, we have drifted off course. This lack of consistent reading programming is especially troubling because of the unacceptable number of students who are achieving at the minimal and low basic levels on the Wisconsin Student Assessment System (WSAS) tests. These students are experiencing limited success in our classrooms. They are at risk of failing to meet our standards, of losing hope, and of dropping out of school.

In planning to improve the reading curriculum at the middle school level, we have referred to several well-respected documents for guidance. Documents such as the International Reading Association Position Paper on Adolescent Literacy, the Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) Position Paper Reading Design for Middle Level Schools, and Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century firmly ground our recommendations in the context of the unique needs of adolescents. In addition, many articles from a review of current literature outline successful programs and effective strategies in use. The MMSD Middle School Reading Committee Statement of Philosophy and recommendations are based on our review of these references.

We are convinced that a renewed priority on middle school reading, as a district initiative, would lead toward imperative and improved instruction for all students. It would also provide a context for programming options designed to meet the unique needs of struggling readers. We are heartened by the district's request to investigate the needs of our middle school students, especially our struggling readers.

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International Reading Association Position Statement on Adolsecent Literacy

Adolescents entering the adult world will do more reading and writing tasks than at any other time in human history. They will need reading and writing to cope with the flood of information they will find about the world as it exists. They will also need to use literacy to feed their imaginations so that they can create the world of the future. In a complex, diverse, and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read is crucial, and, therefore, it is essential not only to help them survive, but also to help them thrive.

The reading, writing, and language development of adolescents is just as important and requires just as much attention as that of beginning readers. Even when they have mastered the basics of reading and writing adolescents still have much to learn about spoken and written language.

Despite the need for reading instruction to continue during the adolescent years, state and federal funding for middle and high school reading programs has decreased. For example, fewer and fewer schools are able to hire reading specialists who help individual students and who help teachers of all subjects become more effective teachers of reading. The limited number of reading education courses currently required for pre-service middle and high school teachers does not sufficiently prepare them to respond to the escalating needs of adolescent learners.

Because of the expanding literacy demands placed upon adolescents, we believe that they deserve:

Access to a wide variety of reading material that they can and want to read;

• Instruction that builds both the skill and desire to read increasingly complex materials;
• Assessment that shows them their strengths as well as their needs and that guides their teachers to design instruction that will best help them grow as readers;
• Trained teachers who model and provide explicit instruction in reading comprehension and studying strategies across the curriculum;
• Reading specialists who assist individual students having difficulty learning how to read;
• Teachers who are trained to understand the complexities of individual adolescent readers, respect their differences, and respond to their unique characteristics;
• Homes, communities and a nation that will not only support their efforts to achieve advanced levels of literacy, but also provide the very support necessary for them to succeed. (IRA, 1999)

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MMSD Middle School Reading Philosophy

We agree with the following essential components of a middle level reading program as proposed by the Wisconsin State Reading Association:

1. Experiential student-centered activities which accommodate the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional needs of the young adolescent
2. Initiatives which foster positive attitudes toward reading, learning, and thinking
3. Attention to cognitive development through higher-order thinking processes
4. Integration of the reading and writing processes
5. Utilization of interdisciplinary approaches in all curricula
6. Specific instruction in reading strategies applied to literature
7. Specific instruction in reading strategies applied to content materials
8. Instruction in the use of research skills to access information from a variety of sources
9. Instruction in a variety of study strategies
10. Opportunities for self-selection of materials across curricular areas
11. Recreational reading initiatives
12. Opportunities to respond to reading through a variety of modes
13. Utilization of heterogeneous grouping patterns
14. Assessment of learning which matches instruction

* * adapted from WSRA Position Statement (1991) Reading Design for Middle Level Schools

In addition, we believe that struggling readers:

• Need teachers who maintain high expectations for students' success
• Require relevant instruction at their point of need
• Are entitled to equal access to challenging literacy experiences, guided instruction, and materials
• Need to be actively engaged in the literacy process and in text
• Need to learn how to evaluate their own reading/learning process

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A Profile of a Struggling Reader

Who are the struggling readers in our schools? Struggling readers are those high school students who perform at minimal and low basic levels on the WSAS test, are at risk of failing their academic subjects, and are failing to realize their potential. WSAS scores for the l998-99 eighth graders, our current freshmen, showed 13% scoring at the minimal range, 11% at the low basic range, and 9% not tested. The results of the l998-99 WSAS tests for tenth graders indicate that 8% performed at minimal range, 11% at the basic range, and 16% were not tested. These results indicate that as students progress into high school many low-achieving students may either drop out or are not tested.

Figure 1 illustrates the characteristics of struggling readers in comparison with strong readers when approaching grade-level reading tasks:

FIGURE 1: CHARACTERISTICS OF STRUGGLING AND STRONG READERS

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A District-Wide Commitment to Struggling Readers

Researchers who have examined the needs of middle school students who need to progress from struggling readers to strong readers have identified four major concerns:

1. Struggling readers often receive no additional instruction in reading that continues to build their reading abilities
2. Struggling readers typically receive reading instruction in remedial programs that are isolated from the learning demands expected of them the rest of the day in their content classes
3. Struggling readers are frequently expected to perform independently in their content classrooms without the benefit of teaching strategies that foster their learning and without the availability of additional support, such as tutoring
4. Struggling readers often cope with learning in middle school with no access to professionals trained in the teaching of reading.

Strong middle school reading programs must be integral to a comprehensive K-12 curriculum. The focus of middle school reading programs is to develop students who:

• Are able to use reading as a primary method of learning
• Are able to learn from increasingly complex content area reading materials
• Are able to communicate effectively using reading and writing
• Are prepared for reading demands beyond middle school into high school and the workplace
• Acquire the habit of reading for enjoyment as a life-long pursuit.

This report acknowledges the above concerns and recommends that effective instruction of struggling readers in Madison middle schools requires a total school commitment. This commitment translates into three essential components (see Figure 2):

1. Classroom interventions: which emphasize teaching strategies which assist struggling readers, both in the effective learning of content as well as reinforcing their growth as readers;

2. Reading instruction: by trained reading teachers that recognizes the developmental needs of struggling readers and is coordinated with the general school reading program;

3. Support for learning: in content classes, such as tutoring assistance and skill development, which is offered within a class, during study periods, or outside the school day.

 

FIGURE 2: A TOTAL SCHOOL COMMITMENT TO STRUGGLING READERS

Struggling Readers

Developmental Reading Instruction		Classroom Learning Strategies throughout the Curriculum
Study Support/ Training

The above recommendations presuppose that struggling readers are served within the context of a total school reading program. Historically, attempts to address the needs of struggling readers solely through remedial interventions without also developing their potential as readers and learners in their content classes have met with disappointing results. The WSAS 10 test mandates that struggling readers successfully demonstrate their skills in the context of their content classrooms– in history and geography, in the sciences, in mathematics, and in the English/language arts. Therefore, any reading program that hopes to prepare struggling readers must involve a recognition throughout the curriculum that reading is a cornerstone of learning in all content areas, and that struggling readers need classroom strategies that will further their growth as readers and learners.

The ultimate goal of reading instruction is to develop independent readers and thinkers. Reading is a tool that spans disciplines, is integrated into all content areas, and addresses delivery. A reading program is not a reading class; it is a school's total commitment to literacy.

Let's examine how school and district infrastructures can support the teaching of literacy, including the training of teachers, if struggling readers are to become competent at the middle school level.

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Implementation

The Middle School Reading Task Force advocates the following steps to implement our recommendations for both a district-wide and total school commitment to struggling readers:

District Level

Designate a district Reading Coordinator who will:

• Develop and monitor the district-wide reading program
• Facilitate K-12 reading task forces
• Appoint and facilitate a reading council comprised of reading teachers across the district
• Help coordinate school needs with reading allocation/placement
• Evaluate each year the reading progress of Madison students
• Provide a clearinghouse for reading programs and strategies
• Develop a reading professional library for district teachers
• Publish a monthly newsletter of reading strategies and resources
• Coordinate inservices for Madison teachers
• Administer the reading budget
• Serve as a liaison with state and national colleagues to keep abreast of current research and practice

Create a "Grow Your Own" reading specialist program:

• The Reading Coordinator and district reading specialists identify and mentor teachers interested in deepening their reading knowledge to pursue advanced course work, eventually moving toward assuming reading positions in our high schools.

School Administrative Level

The principal:

• Understands what adolescent literacy is and what it requires
• Hires a reading specialist
• Schedules extra class time for struggling readers to receive instruction in addition to English or language arts, i.e. 90-minute block or an extra reading period
• Collaborates with reading personnel to develop a school reading profile including student data and available reading services
• Designs a system for heightening teacher awareness of both the reading profile and the strategies/resources to meet the needs of students
• Assigns reading staff for the reading program, including additional instruction for struggling readers
• Evaluates the school reading program
• Provides leadership and demonstrates ongoing support for a school-wide reading program
• Acknowledges the importance of implementing reading strategies across the curriculum
• Promotes and celebrates literacy events school-wide, i.e. book fairs, reading incentives, etc.
• Supports a total school sustained silent-reading time each day

Reading Specialist Level

• Collaborates with the principal to design, implement and evaluate the reading program
• Supports and is a resource for classroom teachers and coordinates with EEN teachers
• Provides testing help · Collects, analyzes, organizes, and presents data to staff'
• Provides information to parents via workshops, newsletters, and enlists their help
• Collects, analyzes, organizes, and presents data to staff
• Provides information to parents via workshops, newsletters, and enlists their help
• Coordinates the tutoring program
• Works with teachers and librarians on text and materials selection, including readability levels
• Collaborates with teachers to design and adapt curriculum, incorporating study strategies
• Teaches reading classes
• Peer coaches and models learning strategies in the content area classrooms
• Encourages colleagues' professional development in reading
• Facilitates staff development for the implementing of best practices
• Customizes staff development to meet school's needs and goals
• Provides support as the school assesses building-level student needs
• Provides ongoing articulation between the district Reading Coordinator and the designated school
• Serves as a liaison with state and national colleagues to keep abreast of current research and best practices and to disseminate this information to staff

Reading Teacher Level (in progress)

• Teaches classes targeted for struggling readers, developmental reading classes for all students, and classes for college-bound students.

Classroom Teacher Level

• Understands that reading is a process of learning to gain meaning from print
• Models reading for pleasure as well as for content
• Reads aloud to students for various purposes, i.e., to demonstrate the thinking process, to share the sheer joy of reading
• Provides pre-reading, during reading and post-reading activities
• Is aware of and implements reading and writing strategies across the curriculum
• Works with the reading specialist to meet individual student needs
• Monitors reading progress of students
• Provides time for students to practice and enjoy reading
• Provides a variety of reading experiences (lab, text, newspapers, current events materials), some student self-selected
• Consciously and consistently implements the goals of the school-wide reading program

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Language Arts | Teaching and Learning | MMSD

Updated: February 9, 2000
Editor & Publisher: Jeff Sutherland, jsutherland@madison.k12.wi.us
Language Arts Coordinator: Mary Watson-Peterson, mwatsonpeter@madison.k12.wi.us
webmaster: webmaster@madison.k12.wi.us