Happy Easter ladies :)
This weeks reading is jigsawed just like Dr. Beach was talking about in class. I read WSQ ch 15 and B&D 15. We still need one person to Read WSQ 14 and B&D 14. We also need two people to read WSQ 7 and B&D 10. Once you decide what you want to read text the group! As you read jot down the important points from you reading. This will help the rest of us understand what you read since we're not all reading the same things this week. Once you read come back to this post, edit it, and add in your important points! To edit this post scroll down all the way to the bottom of this specific post, click the button, and there you go! Please do this by Wednesday :) after everyone does this I will come in and pose some questions for all of us to answer. Our responses to these questions will be our discussion for the week! If you have any questions just ask :) my important points are below.
Technology
in the Literacy Program - Chapter 15 of B&D
·
The rise of technology and
the internet has reading specialists thinking about how literacy is taught and
practiced now in schools
·
Students live their daily
lives constantly surrounded by lots of technology
·
“Internet reading and
learning requires skills and strategies that are complex, and in some cases
unique, to online reading and writing contexts” (B&D 296)
·
We need more leaders who
understand how technology is changing literacy and how it’s affecting education
·
In 2005 100% of public
schools had internet access
·
It is our responsibility to
give students chances to use technology in an educational setting
·
While lots of school have
lots of technology, teachers aren’t always equipped with the right tools and
knowledge to integrate technology into their classrooms, lessons, and students
learning
·
CCSS now have standards
that focus just on digital literacy skills
·
Some studies have found
that letting students work with different technology increases their motivation
to do the work and become more engaged in their work
o Helps students who aren’t as strong in traditional literacy ways
to shine
·
By using technology and how
students schema to use that technology teachers are acknowledging that students
are valuable contributors to learning
·
These strategies are
critical for online reading comprehension:
o Reading to locate online information
o Reading to evaluate online information
o Reading to synthesize online information
o Reading to communicate online information
·
A study saw that using more
technology led the class away from whole group teacher directed lessons to more
students helping students
o Students scaffold each others learning, share new strategies with
each other
o Student-to-student collaboration increased comprehension of
whatever task they were completing
·
IRA says that just
providing technology for schools isn’t enough. There also needs to be PD for
the teachers so they can explore the new technology and learn more so they can
adequately teach/help their students
·
Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow
is one of the most used continuums for teachers to get acclimated to technology
o Teachers move across a developmental continuum as they progress
with technology
§ Adoption of technology
§ Adaptation of technology into their lessons
§ Appropriation where they use new instructional approaches
§ Innovation where they use technology in new ways
o If teachers view technology as usable they are more likely to have
positive interactions with it and use it in their classrooms
o Embedding PD into a PLC will expand inquiry
Providing
Classroom Leadership in New Literacies - Chapter 15 WSQ
·
While students are well
versed in using technology in social settings they are not always well versed
in using technology for learning like finding, evaluating, and citing online
sources - this is where teachers come in!
·
“New Literacies theory
(Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004) works on two levels: lower-case (new
literacies) and upper-case (New Literacies). Lower-case new literacies
carefully explore: a set of new literacies required by a specific technology
and its social practices, for example, text messaging (Lewis & Fabos,
2005); a disciplinary base, such as the semiotics of multimodality in online
media (e.g., Kress, 2003); or a distinctive, conceptual approach, such as new
literacy studies”
·
There are 5 processing
practices require specific skills and strategies that are need to do online
research and comprehend what they are reading online
o reading to identify important questions
o reading to locate information
o reading to evaluate information critically
o reading to synthesize information
o reading and writing to communicate information
·
Online reading = online
comprehension
·
Everywhere is changing
their content standards to include standards about digital literacies
·
There are ten important ten
research-based principles that can help the administration and supervision of
classroom reading programs
o Recognize that a new literacies journey is one of continuous
learning
o Begin teaching and learning new literacies as early as possible.
o Use new literacies to help the last student become the first.
o Recognize that online search skills are important to success in
new literacies.
o Use online reading experiences to develop critical thinking skills
and a generation of healthy skeptics.
o Integrate the Internet into classrooms through online
communication.
o Open doors for teachers by using the word “pilot” in resistant
schools and districts.
o Use performance-based assessments for evaluating new literacies.
o Use Internet Reciprocal Teaching (McVerry, Zawilinski, &
O’Byrne, 2009) as an effective strategy to teach the new literacies of online
research and comprehension in one-to-one computing classrooms.
o Prepare students for their
future by using collaborative online learning experiences with classroom
partners in other parts of the world.
WSQ 7: Selecting Materials for the Literacy Program
ReplyDeleteThis chapter really makes the point from page one that each school is different; religious views, socioeconomics, ages, abilities, etc. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the educational community as a whole to choose appropriate materials and use them. Additionally, whatever materials are decided upon should include assessment materials which include multiple feedback formats. Although choosing materials might seem like a no-brainer as long as it is left to the educators and a supportive community, it can often be a volatile process and politically charged.
It is important to choose quality children's literature which are meant to connect students learning while provide entertainment and motivation. These texts can include journals, magazines, award winning books; both physical and electronic. As well, classroom texts should include various genres on text which should be engaging to young readers.
Principals can have different roles when it comes to the selection of classroom reading materials. One choice is to act as an overseer, where the principal has a minor role in the selection on materials and is in support of the teacher's decisions. Another role of the principal might be that of a consultant, where she allows teachers to present the education community with various options of support materials and makes a decision based what is presented. Finally, she may act as facilitator where the principal is ultimately choosing and heading up implementation of these materials in the classrooms.
No matter the form materials selection process makes, the major factors that contribute to the selection of classroom literacy materials are the needs and interest of the students, the adaptability to the classroom setting, the opportunity they provide for cross curricular applications, and the closeness to which the materials adhere to the state or national standards.
B & D 10: Establishing a Print-Rich Classroom and School Environment:
In this chapter, Bean and Dagen nail down the importance of creating an environment for children and students which is loaded with text that they help to create. These student-made texts should be displayed prominently and referred to often; the younger the exposure, the better in order to support and reinforce concepts including letter recognition, visual matching, and language. It is statistically proven that children who are taught in "print rich" environments achieve better than children who are not. I thought it was very interesting when B&D reference a study of daycare center "book floods" in 10 regions where low socioeconomic classrooms are the norm. "Children in the intervention group scored significantly higher than the control group on four of the six assessment measures, with gains still evident 6 months later in kindergarten."
Further, it is clear that students need to experience a wide variety of text during their time in the classroom. These opportunities should include games (scrabble, monopoly, and poetry games to name a few), instructional aids (think graphic organizers or guided reading and writing class created products), word walls, leveled texts, local magazines and newspapers, and journals. All of these within a classroom create a heightened awareness to print for the students and has the ability to transforms student achievement.
Hey Bre! I had a lot of thoughts as I was reading your points on technology in the classroom. "It is our responsibility to give students chances to use technology in an educational setting." So, I guess my question is to what extent is this our responsibility. Things are so different around our state as far as availability to technology. My school has ipads for each grade level, which I know is more that a lot of districts can provide but not as much as Norman who gives their students MacBooks use for the bulk of their school work. Our teachers are so worried about our kids when they go to Norman. They surly are not getting the tech exposure now that they are going to need in the future. Whats a smaller district to do?
DeleteB&D Chapter 10: Establishing a Print-Rich Classroom
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Bean and Dagen focus on how print-rich environments contribute to student achievement. The chapter starts with a case study referencing the presence of commercially made posters and texts, rather than student-made. Bean and Dagen The research Bean and Dagen use as support for their claims suggests that print-rich environments that are child-centered lead to higher student achievement. One study cited shows the impact that providing books and instructions on how to use those books impacts student achievement. The findings of the study concluded, “although it is important to provide classrooms with books, it is critical that teachers know what to do with the books” (p. 188).
Bean and Dagen go on to state that literacy is a social practice. They describe an instrument, called the TEX-IN3, that was created containing these three components: text inventory, text in-use observation, and the text interview. The instrument is designed to evaluate the quality of texts in teachers’ classrooms, observe teachers and students as they interact with the texts, and analyze the responses of teachers and students to the texts. Based on the findings of this instrument, it is clear that students need a multitude of texts to choose from in the classroom. This can be achieved through providing games, instructional aids, word walls, student-made books and texts, or leveled texts. Bean and Dagen suggest that there isn’t a one-size fits all mentality when it comes to print-rich environments. It is their recommendation that a process for supporting teachers through creating a print-rich environment be created. The facilitation of this process can be lead by the teacher or the literacy leader.
WSQ 7: Selecting Materials for the Literacy Program
This chapter focuses on the selection process administrators and literacy leadership teams go through in order to choose instructional material. This selection process is one that needs to be conducting considering the whole community’s perspective. In schools, there are many different beliefs, races, religions, cultures, and abilities. Because of this, it is important to take those factors into consideration when choosing materials.
One aspect to consider when choosing materials is alignment with the Common Core State Standards. These standards have been adopted by most states, and provide a framework for what students need to learn. Another aspect is the selection of basal readers and textbooks. Basal readers have been criticized in the past, but provide schools with a low-cost option that provide teachers with books to create a number of different lessons off of. In the secondary schools, teachers are often asked for their input on textbook selection, as well as are able to review the supplemental material that goes along with it. Technology should also be considered when selecting materials. Students, especially in this day and age, need to be given opportunities to engage with technology and find different ways to interact with literacy through technology.
Administrators play a multitude of different roles when it comes to selecting materials. WSQ provides different examples of how administrators felt they should play a part in it. Some felt they should act as the “overseer” where they monitor teachers and support them through the process. Others felt they should be the consultant. They felt that their literacy leadership team should come to a consensus and present the information to them. Finally, some also felt that they should be the facilitator. The principal needs to be able to facilitate conversation around the curriculum selected. Principals also felt that when choosing materials, two of the most important factors were correlation with state standards, and the relevance of students’ needs.
Kaitlyn,
DeleteI'm so glad we were able to read about print rich environments! I use to spend hours and hours rewriting notes from the Smartboard onto a giant piece of paper for the kids. This is so time consuming, but this helps me make peace with that time in my life:) In fact, I'll probably go back to creating more posters for my bigs now that I've read the research and can do it outside of the overwhelm.
WSQ Chapter 14 - Meeting the Needs of Students with Reading Disabilities through RTI
ReplyDeleteThere are students in every general education classroom who are from various backgrounds and cultures, who are ELLs, who are with and without disabilities and who vary in achievement levels that are, struggling with reading, writing, and language skills. Therefore Response to Intervention (RTI) has become a popular service delivery model included in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004). With the push of state and federal accountability mandates, common core and standards-driven reform policies, it is the expectation that students with disabilities fully participate in the general education classroom under the collaboration of general education teachers, special educators, reading specialists, coaches, and other school personnel.
RTI is identified as, “ a system that integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and reduce behavior problems.”(191). RTI gives specialized interventions to students who are not performing to grade level instruction. When RTI interventions can begin almost immediately versus waiting 6-12 months for the special education eligibility process. There are three Tiers in RTI. Within each Tier, there is instruction, assessment and collaboration.
Tier I instruction provides 90 - 120 minutes of uninterrupted, highly effective instruction to all students through a variety of differentiated opportunities (whole-group, small-group instruction an independent centers) in the general education classroom. Tier I assessment includes universal screening or brief assessment (less than 10 minutes per student and administered at least 3 times per year) of all learners to determine those at risk for reading problems. Assessments can include: DIBELS, easy CBM or AIMSWeb among others. Tier I collaboration is grade-level or cross-grade-level teams along with reading specialists, special ed teachers, administrators, or literacy coaches meeting weekly or biweekly to set goals, plan instruction, hold data meetings or problem solve for ways to address students needs.
Tier II is for students identified as at risk following an assessment or screening and after being provided with Tier I instruction. Tier II instruction is supplemental instruction provided in addition to regular instruction. It is provided three to five times per week, 20 - 30 minutes for 8 to 12 weeks. Instruction is given by a classroom teacher or someone with expertise in interventions in no more than three of the five foundational skills in reading. Two approaches to Tier II instruction is problem-solving RTI models in which a research-based intervention is designed specifically for an individual student and an alternative RTI model that uses a standard treatment protocol approach where students with similar learning problems are given a standard research-based intervention that has documented effectiveness for students with similar difficulties. An alternative RTI model results in more students likely to receive the same intervention and greater treatment fidelity (the extent to which the intervention is delivered in the most consistent, effective manner). Tier II Assessment is monitoring progress weekly or biweekly, those students receiving Tier II intervention to determine if students are responding (or responsive) to intervention and if reading performance is improving. Tier II collaboration looks the same as Tier I collaboration with the addition of discussion of data from Tier II students. Biggest concern is scheduling and managing of resources so that all students are available for intervention and there is staff available to provide instruction.
ReplyDeleteTier III is intervention with increased intensity given to smaller groups (e.g., 3 students) for increased time and frequency (60 minutes) with instruction that is tailored to the individual needs of the student and is delivered by specialists providing research-based intervention that is monitored for fidelity. Tier III assessment is progress monitoring and data collected to determine is students are responding to intervention and if reading performance is improving. Progress can be monitored using grade-level materials or instructional-level materials Tier III collaboration is continuation of Tier I and II efforts to meet and analyze data and intervention planning with special attention to students who are not making progress. This collaboration may include special education teachers or other instructional experts along with members of the IEP team and the parents of students receiving Tier III instruction.
There are three roles of reading professionals in RTI. One role is as the expert in instruction and curriculum by assessing the available resources and identifying what resources may be needed, this includes the core curriculum and the professional resources as to which personal could implement which parts of the Tier process. The second role could be to provide professional development for new practices and as the coach to support implementation efforts. Coaching can provide support and feedback to teachers and other professionals as they implement instruction at all tiers. The final role (which can be a shared responsibility of many professionals) is as a manager and facilitator of RTI efforts within a building.
Bean and Dagen Chapter 14 Literacy Assessment in Schools
ReplyDelete“Assessment is a process of reasoning from evidence that should be driven by theories and data on student cognition and learning. Cognitive theories of student proficiency and learning in the literacy domain provide a foundation for the design of literacy assessments and the interpretation of the results.” (285)
Literacy leaders need to have assessment literacy meaning that they must become competent in assessment practices. They must become familiar with the purpose, content, and accompanying validity evidence for an assessment that may be used so that before an assessment is selected, it is important to articulate the types of decisions that will be made based on the assessment results.
Literacy leaders in schools along with principles, literacy coaches, teachers and other literacy educators help to guide literacy instruction and assessment and promoting student learning under new initiatives such as the Reading First legislation, a part of the No Child Left Behind Act,(2001), The Common core Standards in ELA for K - 12, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career and the Smarter Balanced Assessment System. Literacy leaders must have a role in designing a comprehensive assessment system that includes formative, interim (assessments administered by the school or district several times a year), and summative assessments. They could do this by considering a “theory of action” in developing interpretative arguments for their assessment systems and to help guide the development of a more complete interpretative argument (“specifies the proposed interpretations and uses of test results by laying out the network of inferences and assumptions leading from the observed performances to the conclusions and decisions based on the performances.” (266)
Literacy leaders must be able to recognize that the most fundamental technical consideration in the evaluation of educational assessment systems is validity, pertaining to the meaningfulness, appropriateness, and usefulness of test score interpretations, which should be verified by both empirical evidence and a logical argument. Literacy leaders must be familiar with the fundamental aspects of validity when considering the adoption, development, and implementation of student assessments.
“Computer-based simulation tasks allow the for the assessment of complex reasoning and inferential skills that cannot be measured by more traditional assessment formats. Students’ strategies, as well as their products, can be captured, which can be valuable in monitoring the progress of student learning and guiding instruction.” (276) These simulation tasks in reading and writing domains are being designed and evaluated for their potential inclusion in an integrated accountability and formative assessment system along with several issues such as the extent to which the assessment is measuring factors that are irrelevant to the construct that is intended to be assessed. Automated scoring systems for evaluating student performance to computer-based tasks and computer-delivered writing assessments give timely feedback and address the cost and demands of human scoring and are consistent in their application of the scoring rubric.
In the last section of this chapter, brief overviews of running records, informal reading inventories, developmental reading assessments, maze technique, and DIBELS demonstrate the importance of evaluating the validity evidence obtained to support the use of a test for a particular purpose. All these assessments have limitations but they can be used with confidence for their intended purposes given validity evidence to support those purposes. If an assessment is to be used for a different purpose than originally intended, it is necessary to ensure that there is evidence to support the appropriateness for using the assessment for that purpose but to also remember that the sole use of one test score to make important educational decisions for a student is not recommended.
ReplyDelete"remember that the sole use of one test score to make important educational decisions for a student is not recommended."
DeleteYes, yes, and yes again! We use STAR and it is such a good assessment, but we all work very hard to track progress in class; formative, summative, and varied assessments. By doing all of these things, we are able to speak confidently about the progress (or gradual slide) of each of our students. I am wondering why we also need the state test. Is there no state who opts out and simply uses the assessments that we mull over, day in and day out, to show growth?