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More about whole language methods of reading instruction for students at risk for early reading failure
Abstract
Discusses the usefulness of the whole language (WL) philosophy in teaching reading to learning disabled students (LDSs). The effects of WL on literacy instruction are explored, and the historical background of the WL movement is presented. Measurement and methodological issues related to WL are discussed. An open-ended questionnaire to investigate what outstanding literacy teachers actually do in the classroom is described. It is concluded that reading instruction strictly consistent with WL precepts is probably not the most effective instruction for students who are at risk for reading difficulties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Informal methods of learning may not be uniformly effective for all students (Mather, 1992;Pressley & Rankin, 1994). Process writing teachers provide more direct assistance, but they may offer little or no explication: instead they may use hints, questions, tactful responding to guide students' discovery during conferences, teachable moments, or mini-lessons (Freedman, 1993). ...
... Informal writing instruction may not be uniformly effective for all students (Mather, 1992;Pressley & Rankin, 1994), and for some students, explicit instruction may be the most effective instruction for students who are at risk for reading and writing difficulties, including students with learning disabilities, those who are economically and socially disadvantaged, and those who are culturally and linguistically diverse (Delpit, 1986;Reyes, 1991). The body of research on struggling writers has implications for writing instruction that addresses the needs of struggling writers. ...
This study examined the interactions between teachers of writing and struggling writers. There were two main research questions: (1) What is the nature of the interaction between exemplary teachers of writing and struggling writers? (2) What arethe responses of struggling writers to exemplary teachers' scaffolding? To answer these questions, qualitative analysis was conducted on data. Two struggling writers were selected for the study based on their responses to the Writers Self-Perception Scale,writing samples, and teacher recommendation. Data collection included observation in two separate fourth grade classrooms during the writing block for 30 days. Data sources included audio-recording of writing instruction and teacher and student interviews, field notes, and writing samples. Several areas of similarity across the participants emerged from the data. They included mediated action through teacher response, written response to mediated action,social positioning, and best practices? By examining the interactions the researcher was able to speculate on social consequences of the interactions between teacher and studentas they relate to literacy learning.
... Para que los escritores con dificultades lleguen a convertirse en escritores eficaces e independientes necesitan programas de escritura sistemáticos e intensivos. En muchos casos, la instrucción explícita es indispensable (Pressley y Rankin, 1994). ...
... Aunque el conocimiento de las estructuras textuales aumenta con la madurez, como señalan Laughton y Morris (1989), los estudiantes con dificultades en el aprendizaje pueden ser escritores eficaces e independientes si se les brindan programas sistemáticos e intensivos (Pressley y Rankin 1994;Graham y Harris, 1997;Graham, Harris y Troia, 1998). ...
Este estudio analiza los resultados de un programa de instrucción en procesos cognitivos y estructuras textuales desarrollado en un grupo de escolares con dificultades en el aprendizaje de la escritura (DAE). Los participantes fueron 65 niños y niñas con una media de edad de 9 años, de tres colegios públicos de La Coruña. De los 65 sujetos, 39 presentaban DAE, 22 de ellos fueron asignados al grupo experimental, 17 al grupo control y los 26 restantes fueron considerados buenos escritores. Todos los sujetos fueron evaluados en tres ocasiones, pretest, postest y retest. El grupo experimental recibió entrenamiento en estrategias cognitivas de escritura, cuatro horas a la semana durante cinco meses, en horario extraescolar. Los análisis de varianza realizados indican que la instrucción específica en estrategias de escritura mejora los procesos de planificación, organización y textualización en niños que presentan DAE.
... Türkiye'de 2005-2006 eğitim öğretim yılından itibaren öğretmenler resmi olarak parçadan bütüne yaklaşımı içerisinde olan "ses temelli cümle öğretimi modelini" benimsemektedirler. O� zellikle öğrenme güçlüğü çeken öğrenciler için bu öğretim biçimini destekleyen çok sayıda araştırma bulunmaktadır (Beck & Juel, 1992;Podhajski vd., 2009;Pressley & Rankin, 1994). ...
Bu araştırmada “Öğretmenlerin Okuryazarlık ile İlgili İnanç Düzeyi Ölçeği”nin Türk¬çe uyarlamasının, geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışmalarının yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu Ankara ilinde görev yapan 169 sınıf öğretmeninden oluş-maktadır. Ölçeğin geçerliliğini belirlemek için kapsam, yapı, ayırt edici ve yordama ge¬çerliği analizleri yapılmış; güvenilirliğini belirlemek içinse iç tutarlılık Cronbach Alfa katsayısı hesaplanmıştır. Analizlerin sonucunda DFA sonuçlarına göre ölçeğin tek fak¬törlü bir yapısının olduğu, model uyum indekslerinin iyi düzeyde olduğu (χ2/sd=2.39, RMSEA=.078, SRMR=.055, NFI=.95, NNFI=.97, CFI=.97, GFI=.85) bulunmuştur. Ölçe¬ğin Cronbach Alfa iç tutarlılık katsayısı .81 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Ölçek maddelerinin ayırt edicilik düzeylerinin .30 üzerinde yani yeterli olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç olarak, 20 maddeden oluşan tek faktörlü geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçek geliştirilmiştir.
... because treatment fidelity has been found to be a significant predictor of student reading outcomes (O'Donnell 2008), and past studies have shown attempts to measure the effectiveness of reading approaches have been hampered by variation in teacher implementation (e.g., Pressley and Rankin 1994). In the sections to follow, we describe recommendations put forth in psychology, health, and social science that have influenced the conceptualization, measurement, and reporting of treatment fidelity in educational intervention research, as well as the results of past reviews of fidelity reporting in educational intervention research. ...
Treatment fidelity data (descriptive and statistical) are critical to interpreting and generalizing outcomes of intervention research. Despite recommendations for treatment fidelity reporting from funding agencies and researchers, past syntheses have found treatment fidelity is frequently unreported (e.g., Swanson, The Journal of Special Education, 47, 3–13, 2011) in educational interventions and fidelity data are seldom used to analyze its relation to student outcomes (O’Donnell, Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 33–84, 2008). The purpose of this synthesis was to examine how treatment fidelity is supported, measured, and reported in reading intervention studies conducted with students at risk or with reading difficulties in grades K–3 from 1995 through 2015. All studies (k = 175) were coded to extract and classify information related to (a) the characteristics of the intervention study (e.g., publication year, research design); (b) treatment implementer training and support; (c) treatment fidelity data collection procedures, dimensions (i.e., adherence, quality, receipt, dosage, and differentiation), and levels of treatment fidelity data; and (d) the use of fidelity scores in the analysis of treatment effects. Results indicated that less than half (47%) of the reading intervention studies synthesized reported treatment fidelity data (numeric or narrative). Exploratory analyses showed that several study features were associated with the prevalence of fidelity reporting. Studies reporting treatment fidelity largely measured treatment adherence, and scores were, on average, high. Other dimensions of treatment fidelity (e.g., treatment differentiation), and analyses relating fidelity data to outcomes, were consistently absent from the corpus of reading intervention studies reviewed. Recommendations for enhancing how treatment fidelity data in intervention studies are collected and reported are presented.
... In contrast, other researchers and teachers argue that learning the code is a critical part of early reading and that children are most likely to become skilled in this when they are provided with systematic teaching in decoding (e.g., Chall, 1967). There is growing evidence that such teaching increases reading ability (Adams, 1990), especially for children who experience difficulties in learning to read (Mather, 1992;Pressley and Rankin, 1994). ...
This article reports the results of research into the characteristics of teachers who could be shown to be effective in teaching literacy to elementary school students. The findings are based on a close study of a sample of teachers whose students make effective learning gains in literacy and of a sample of teachers who were less effective in literacy teaching. Important findings emerged from the research concerning the literacy subject knowledge, the beliefs about literacy teaching and the literacy teaching practices characteristic of the effective teachers of literacy. There were also several implications regarding effective professional development in literacy.
... The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of both code-and meaning-emphasis approaches to reading instruction with students who had mild disabilities and received reading instruction in a resource room environment. Our goal was to provide a controlled study of both types of instruction using direct measures of reading performance (e.g., words read correctly) rather than standardized reading tests, which are the most common methods of evaluating reading performance (Pressley & Rankin, 1994). We chose to use direct measures of reading performance to obtain a more precise measure (as opposed to a global) measure of reading gains. ...
Policy and legislation pertaining to special needs education in South Africa has been undergoing transformation since the democratic government came into power in 1994. The various policy documents that have emerged have stressed the principles of human rights, social justice, quality education for all, the right to a basic education; equality of opportunity, and redress of past educational inequalities. The most important development has been the emerging paradigm shift from the notion of learners with special needs to the concept of barriers to learning and participation, and the recommendation for a community based inclusive education agenda. This paper will firstly, examine this paradigm shift in special needs education in South Africa, and secondly, it will provide insight into a collaborative action research project in the province of KwaZulu-Natal that draws on emerging policy and aims at developing inclusive education practices within a cluster of schools in a rural district.
... After a thorough and balanced review of the literatur~, Pressley (1998) concludes that there is very good reason for researchers to pay attention to word-level processes and the identification of instructional methods designed to increase word recognition ability in children. While acknowledging many positive effects of whole-language teaching, Pressley and Rankin (1994) conclude that the positive efTects attributable to its methods are less pronounced with weaker snidents. ...
... Various researchers have examined the instructional practices of teachers who have had success in teaching children to read (e.g., Pressley & Rankin, 1994;Pressley, Rankin, & Yokoi, 1996). Effective teachers of reading used an approach that combined a variety of language-based and literature-based activities with comprehensive, explicit instruction (Honig, 2001). ...
... Decoding and oral language skills in preschool are also predictive of comprehension skills in the primary grades (Kendeou et al., 2009). Children who do not develop these skills are subsequently at an increased risk for becoming poor readers when they are older (Juel, 1988) and often lack the skills necessary to be successful in school and work (e.g., Pressley & Rankin, 1994). ...
Despite growing interest in early intervention, there are few measures available to monitor the progress of early academic skills in preschoolers. The Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI; DiPerna, Morgan, & Lei, 2007) were developed as brief assessments of critical early literacy and numeracy skills. The purpose of the current study was to examine the factor structure of the EARLI probes via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a sample of Head Start preschoolers (N=289). A two-factor model with correlated error terms and a bifactor model provided comparable fit to the data, although there were some structural problems with the latter model. The utility of the bifactor model for explaining the structure of early academic skills as well as the utility of the EARLI probes as measures of literacy and numeracy skills in preschool are discussed.
... This type of training may impede teachers' ability to directly teach parts of concepts or parts of procedural steps. Additionally, the current instructional philosophy or holistic constructivism (Ellis & Fouts, 1997;Pressley & Rankin, 1994) does not encourage breaking down instruction into smaller parts. Teachers' failure to identify accurately the specific error pattern as the instructional focus may cause teachers to use their very limited instructional time inefficiently. ...
The present study investigated 90 elementary teachers' ability to identify two systematic error patterns in subtraction and then prescribe an instructional focus. Presented with two sets of 20 completed subtraction problems comprised of basic facts, computation, and word problems representative of two students' math performance, participants were asked to examine each incorrect subtraction problem and describe the errors. Participants were subsequently asked which type of error they would address first during math instruction to correct students' misconceptions. An analysis of the data indicated teachers were able to describe specific error patterns. However, they did not base their instructional focus on the error patterns identified, and more than half of the teachers chose to address basic subtraction facts first during instruction regardless of error type. Limitations of the study and implications for practice are discussed.
... For example, McKenna, Stahl, and Reinking (1994) suggested that Fry (1993) and Goodman (1993) mean different things when they use the words "reading," "whole language," and "research," and that this contributes greatly to their difficulties when trying to converse. Proponents of whole language and eclecticism also mean different things when they discuss "meaningful," "purposeful," and "worthwhile" learning experiences, with proponents of eclecticism referring to a wealth of research supporting the utility of direct skills instruction when suggesting that direct and systematic instruction should have a more prominent role in instructional programs than whole language programs usually provide (e.g., Adams, 1990; Ehri, 1991; Juel, 1991; Pearson & Fielding, 1991; Pressley & Rankin, 1994; Roehler & Duffy, 1991). Although differences in the way such terms are understood can serve as an impediment to dialogue, these meanings can be clarified without leading to ...
The purpose of this paper is to consider whether any single philosophy of teaching can provide teachers with the freedom necessary to meet the needs of the diverse range of students they face in classrooms and move those students toward flexibility, creativity, and freedom. Using the writings of Chuang Tzu, a Taoist philosopher from the fourth century BCE, I discuss the three most central factors he considered to be limitations to true understanding and impediments to complete freedom (conceptualization, attachment, and language), and I consider how these factors apply to educational philosophies, particularly whole language and eclecticism. The paper closes by considering how Chuang Tzu understood “effective” actions and “true freedom” and the implications of these understandings for teachers.
... It does, however, provide a sense of Michael's reach as a scholar. These accomplishments included: @BULLET Evaluating the effectiveness of mental imagery (Pressley, 1976Pressley, , 1977), the keyword method (Levin, Pressley, McCormick, Miller, & Shriberg, 1979; Pressley, Levin, & Delaney, 1982), verbal elaboration (Pressley, McDaniel, Turnure, Wood, & Ahmad, 1987), and pictures (Miller & Pressley, 1987) as tools for remembering information @BULLET Exploring the role of metacognition in strategy use (Pressley, Levin, & Ghatala, 1984) @BULLET Developing the good strategy user model (Pressley, 1986) @BULLET Applying methodological analysis (i.e., the evaluation of internal and external validity criteria ) to determine the overall quality of a body of intervention research (Almasi, Palmer, Gambrell, & Pressley, 1994; Lysynchuk, Pressley, D'Ailly, Smith, & Cake, 1989) @BULLET Analyzing the effects of whole language (Pressley, 1994; Pressley & Rankin, 1994; Symons, Woloshyn, & Pressley, 1994) @BULLET Developing guidelines for using verbal protocol analysis as a tool for studying reading (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995) @BULLET Championing the concept of teaching multiple interrelated comprehension strategies instead of single strategies (Brown et al., 1996; Pressley, Schuder, SAIL Faculty & Administration, Bergman, & Dinary, 1992) @BULLET Observing exemplary literacy teachers to identify effective practices for teaching reading and writing (Pressley et al., 2001; Pressley, Rankin, & Yokoi, 1996) @BULLET Studying and identifying effective strategies for motivating young students (Bogner et al., 2002; Pressley et al., 2003). @BULLET Observing highly effective schools in order to develop a theory of effective instruction (Pressley, Raphael, Gallagher, & DiBella, 2004) @BULLET Challenging the federal governments vision of scientifically based reading instruction () @BULLET Promoting the use of multiple research methodologies by educational psychologists (Pressley, 2000; Pressley et al., 2006) Not included in our scholarly highlights are practitioner-orientated books, special issues of journals, and articles. ...
... A second area for collaborative research is the issue of motivational effects of whole language on low-achieving, at-risk, and minority students. A concern of several commentators has been that such students may not fare well in whole language and other less directive approaches to instruction (Delpit, 1988; Pressley & Rankin, 1994;StaM et al., 1994;Stahl & Miller, 1989) despite whole language claims that it is precisely those students for whom the approach works particularly well (e.g., Edelsky, Altwerger, & Flores, 1991;Scala, 1993). Purcell-Gates (1995) pointed out that low-achieving students often do not share the culture of the school and are at a disadvantage when expected to infer the cultural rules; she stated that they need explicit instruction, though not the type that "moves all children through a preset scope and sequence of isolated skill work regardless of the conceptual development of individual children" (p. ...
The purpose of this article is to show that motivation research is generally compatible with and supportive of the whole language philosophy of instruction and to provide explicit motivational reasons why whole language practices might be effective. Both motivation research and whole language instruction emphasize the following: providing choice in order to foster perceptions of autonomy, emphasizing the mastery goal of learning in order to improve personal competence rather than the ego goal of doing better than other people, using assessment that encourages a deep personal construction of meaning and learning for understanding, providing students with experiences that will increase their belief that they can succeed, modeling appropriate literacy activities, responding to students' social goals, providing an emotionally supportive atmosphere, and making learning interesting. Whole language classrooms provide settings where motivation researchers can investigate the success of motivation principles, and whole language classrooms might benefit from the motivation technique of goal setting. It would be useful for practitioners if whole language and motivation researchers investigated appropriate levels of teacher control more precisely.
... Educational researchers argue that children do not learn to read naturally; therefore, when used independently, whole language or language experience methods are not an effective way to teach reading to elementary students (Pressley & Rankin, 1994). As Spache and Spache (1969) (Matthes, 1972). ...
The ability to read written language proficiently is an important skill in modern society; however, reading seems to be a lost art in many ways. In order to correct this problem, educators must determine the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students. The most prominent methods include the whole language method, the phonetic method, and the balanced method. Research on the techniques, advantages, disadvantages, and case studies associated with each method indicates that the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students is the balanced method.
... There is a whole body of research to conclude that such approaches and techniques are beneficial for all children (e.g. Adams 1990; Mather 1992; Pressley & Rankin 1994; Brady & Moats, 1997). Research findings would lead one to conclude that reading should be taught to all children through a multisensory approach (Falzon, 2010). ...
This study investigates whether a structured multisensory programme of early
literacy’ (’M-POW’R - Multisensory Programme of Writing and Reading (Muscat,
unpublished early literacy programme) implemented in a Maltese private school is
perceived by teachers using it as an inclusive strategy, as respectful of the learning
modalities molding and shaping each learner’s path through learning. This study
makes use of the interactive learning model proposed by Johnston (1994, 1996, 2006,
2007 and 2009) and explores the extent this multisensory early literacy programme
compliments the four learning patterns proposed in Johnston’s theory. This research
embraces and is underpinned by a number of philosophies and frameworks, namely
the social model approach to disability and beyond (Barnes & Mercer, 1997; Barton &
Oliver; 1997; Oliver, 1992; 1996), the Adams’ Model of Reading (1990), Piagetian
genetic epistemology (Schwebel & Raph, 1973) , Vygotskian concept of scaffolding,
(Steffe & Gale, 1995; Ormrod, 2007) and the concept of Universal Design Learning
and Inclusive strategies (Falzon, 2010; Hegarty, 1993; Mengon & Hart, 1991; Pugach
1995; Tod, 1999; Rose & Meyer 2002; Turnbull, Turnbull & Wehmeyer, 2010). The
data were collected through a questionnaire given to all nine teachers working with
the Early Years of the school. Teachers unanimously perceived the multisensory
programme as respectful of the four learning patterns to each of the 16 themes in
the questionnaire. In line with the aims and ethos of the ’M-POW’R programme, the
more predominant learning patterns were Technical and Sequential, followed by
Confluence and Precision respectively. Statistical differences were only found in four
themes. The confidence interval in this study is very high and therefore inference to
the actual mean can be made.This study confirms that the structured multisensory techniques developed and designed by Muscat are inclusive strategies and respectful of the learners’ individual learning preference.
... In contrast, other researchers and teachers argue that learning the code is a critical part of early reading and that children are most likely to become skilled in this when they 6 are provided with systematic teaching in decoding (e.g., Chall, 1967). There is growing evidence that such teaching increases reading ability (Adams, 1990), especially for children who experience difficulties in learning to read (Mather, 1992;Pressley & Rankin, 1994). ...
Fresh demands are currently being made upon teachers of literacy. How do these fit with what we know about teachers who are effective at teaching literacy? The research reported here aimed to explore the characteristic features of teachers who were effective literacy teachers, in terms of their knowledge, beliefs and teaching practices. It was found that effective teachers were already teaching literacy in a manner sympathetic to that implied in the National Literacy Strategy. The article goes on to discuss some of the implications of these findings, especially in terms of the design and content of future in-service courses.
... In contrast, other researchers and teachers argue that learning the code is a critical part of early reading and that children are most likely to become skilled in this when they are provided with systematic teaching in decoding (e.g., Chall, 1967). There is growing evidence that such teaching increases reading ability (Adams, 1990), especially for children who experience difficulties in learning to read (Mather, 1992;Pressley & Rankin, 1994). ...
There have been several investigations into the effective teaching of reading, but very few into the qualities of teachers who are effective practitioners in this area. In this article, the authors report some of the findings of a project commissioned by the Teacher Training Agency to investigate the characteristics of effective teachers of literacy. The effective teachers studied had a number of features in common, including a coherent set of beliefs about the importance of meaning in literacy teaching and an ability to help their pupils to make connections between language at the text, sentence and word levels.
... In discussions with the special educators at these schools, we noted that they tended to be schools using whole-language methodology as the primary means of teaching beginning reading. This approach consistently creates problems for lower-performing students (Gersten & Dimino, 1993;Jeynes & Littell, 2000;Pressley & Rankin, 1994;Stahl, 1999). We thought that targeting kindergarten prereading instruction would be an effective means of addressing this problem. ...
This paper synthesizes key findings to facilitate the translation of research into classroom practice and provides guidelines for how effective instructional practices might be implemented, supported, and sustained in schools. Excerpts from a case study are presented to show how research‐based instructional approach translates into classroom practices in a local school district that tailors the approach to the realities of the local situation.
In this paper, we review what the research suggests are the functions that allow a person in a leadership role to facilitate the translation of research into classroom practice. We describe how these functions were used to translate research into classroom practice in 2 school districts that are part of the Elementary and Middle School Technical Assistance Center (EMSTAC) project, a national research‐to‐practice effort. Examples of how these principles were put into practice and why different technical assistance approaches were used to implement research‐based practices in a primary and middle school setting are discussed. We conclude with reflections on the intricate nature of effecting change at the local level, and the progress that can be made within those intricacies.
... This type of training may impede teachers' ability to directly teach parts of concepts or parts of procedural steps. Additionally, the current instructional philosophy or holistic constructivism (Ellis & Fouts, 1997;Pressley & Rankin, 1994) does not encourage breaking down instruction into smaller parts. Teachers' failure to identify accurately the specific error pattern as the instructional focus may cause teachers to use their very limited instructional time inefficiently. ...
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pennsylvania State University, 2001. Microfilm (positive).
The aim of this study is to examine and analyze the opinions and the views of teachers about the effectiveness of different teaching methods and strategies, applying to students with special educational needs, and at the same time making references and correlations with educational practice. The main research focuses on the teacher and its teaching method. It will deal with the teaching of reading to students with special educational needs, in the first primary classes of Primary School. It will highlight teachers' methods and teaching practices on the first reading, in a specially selected sample of students with learning difficulties. At the same time, the research aims to examine whether and how these difficulties are influenced by old and new language-learning concepts. There is a need to visualize how teachers make their choices and how they use data from reading theories in order to proceed with the implementation of this complex teaching procedure. The analysis of the practices, the techniques they use, and their opinions on the effectiveness of first-reading methods requires further scientific and cognitive exploration. The way of teaching, the educational application of methods they select, as well as the urgent need to search for the mechanisms that contribute to reading and reading success, is now combined with the difficulties of learning in Special Education. The goal is to make teachers assistants and collaborators on trying to read and decode the written code. Therefore exploring the views and examining the choice of mechanisms and methods on reading is a matter of major importance.
The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of code-emphasis and meaning-emphasis approaches to reading instruction. Five students with mild disabilities participated in the study. The Swain Beginning Reading Program (Swain, 1984) was used as the code-emphasis intervention and consisted of teaching words in isolation before introducing them in context. The meaning-emphasis intervention was a teacher-made program that employed trade books and always presented words in context rather than in isolation. Following implementation of both approaches, weekly teacher-made probes were administered to measure the number and rate of words read correctly in isolation and in context. Negative statements, such as I don't know and I can't do this, made during the probes were also measured. The participants read more quickly and read more words correctly both in isolation and in context with the code-emphasis intervention than with the meaning-emphasis intervention. In addition, participants made fewer negative statements during the code-emphasis probes.
This study analyzes the results of an instructional program about cognitive process and textual structures developed in a group of schoolchildren with writing disabilities. It was conducted with sixty-five children attending three different public schools in La Coruna; thirty-nine of them presented writing disabilities. We assigned twenty-two children to the experimental group and seventeen to the control group, whereas the remaining twenty six were considered good writers. The subjects were evaluated in three occasions, through a pretest, a postest, and a retest. The experimental group received strategy training four hours per week over a period of five months, as an extracurricular activity. According to the analysis of variance carried out, specific instruction in writing strategies improves the processes of planning, organizing and textual-making.
A neuropsychological perspective of LD provides an understanding of the underlying forces that impact rate and level of achievement across academic domains. A neuropsychological perspective provides an understanding of the reasons why some children struggle academically. Adult evaluators must be well versed in academic assessment and school issues. This chapter provided an overview of the current literature concerning the history, etiology, definition, evaluation, treatment, and efforts to accelerate achievement for adolescents and adults with LD. There is an increasing appreciation within educational systems for the role underlying neuropsychological processes play in rates of achievement. An increasing body of research is demonstrating that not only do brain structures and function impact learning, but also that, over time, achievement changes the brain in a bidirectional manner.
The current, mantra calls for resolving the early reading wars through a "balanced" approach. Defining balance will require careful theoretical and practical examination of specific elements in the acquisition of early reading skill. Phonemic awareness provides one opportunity for such an exercise. This article reviews origins of the construct from auditory perception through onset-rhyming patterns to the current emphasis on phoneme manipulation. Two points emerge from this review. First, both analysis of English orthography and survey of correlational data suggest that beginning readers are more likely to grasp the alphabetic principle when they can grasp the concept of the individual phoneme. Second, acquiring this competence is quite difficult for young pre-readers, but may be feasible if(1) students learn to use, articulatory features as the basis for understanding phonemes, and (2) phoneme awareness and spelling-sound relations are taught synergistically. Remaining to be completed is the task of development and evaluation of effective instructional programs to assess these hypotheses in large-scale naturalistic settings. The article describes a design-experiment strategy for approaching this task.
This chapter documents the success of a 12-month individualized structured language curriculum (LANGUAGE!) provided to middle and high school juvenile offenders (n=45; 43 males; 2 females) enrolled in a rehabilitation program. Although individual students participated in the program for an average of just 22.7 weeks (SD 8.51), they made significant gains (more than three years growth) over this period in written language expression (composition), encoding (spelling), and decoding (isolated word recognition), as documented by standardized literacy measures, moving from standard scores in the 60s and 70s to the 80s and 90s. Gains on the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT III) were consistent with these measures and well exceeded gains made by a comparison group (n=51; 48 males, 3 females) which included students attending similar rehabilitation programs for a comparable period of time, but these students were not offered the individualized LANGUAGE! curriculum. Details of the LANGUAGE! curriculum and the basis of its success are discussed.
Four issues facing the field of learning disabilities are discussed: (a) defining learning disabilities in terms of discrepancy scores, (b) delineating the boundaries of how specific a learning disability must be, (c) identifying treatments with scientific credibility, and (d) implementing instructional policy that is in the best interest of the child. Although these issues have been discussed in the literature for some time, some deeper conceptual issues lie below the surface. These issues are related to (a) a weak research foundation for operationalizing learning disabilities; (b) too narrow a research focus, thereby excluding work in other areas; (c) few answers to some practical instructional questions; and (d) implementation of policy independent of data. Illustrations and possible redresses are provided.
Recent advances in sensor technology, microelectronics, and telemetry technology make it feasible to produce miniature wellbore logging tools and instrumentation. Microboreholes are proposed for subterranean telemetry installations, exploration, reservoir definition, and reservoir monitoring this assumes that very small diameter bores can be produced for significantly lower cost using very small rigs. A microborehole production concept based on small diameter hydraulic or pneumatic powered mechanical drilling, assemblies deployed on coiled tubing is introduced. The concept is evaluated using, basic mechanics and hydraulics, published theories on rock drilling, and commercial simulations. Small commercial drill bits and hydraulic motors were selected for laboratory scale demonstrations. The feasibility of drilling deep, directional, one to two-inch diameter microboreholes has not been challenged by the results to date. Shallow field testing of prototype systems is needed to continue the feasibility investigation.
This research focused on the teaching behavior of a small sample of rural self‐described whole language kindergarten teachers to determine the level of consistency between their perceptions of whole language teaching and the extent to which whole language concepts were applied in their classroom instruction. Locally constructed and pilot‐tested forms, “Whole Language Checklist Observation Form” and “Focus Group Interview Schedule,” were used to gather evidence of teaching behaviors. Results indicate that although these teachers were able to articulate the components of whole language teaching, they were unable or unwilling to incorporate many of its most central features into their classroom instruction. Implications for further research are discussed.
Three explicit instructional alternatives to whole-language instruction are reviewed. Each is targeted at children with high risk for reading failure, and each enjoys more empirical support than whole language. The case is made that whole language is obsolescent relative to reading instruction developed and validated in the 25 years since whole language was conceived. Notably, however, experiencing more explicit instruction of reading skills and strategies in no way precludes the authentic reading and writing experiences emphasized in whole language. Rather, explicit instruction enables at-risk students to participate more fully in such literacy experiences.
The ages from 3 to 9 are critical for the acquisition of literacy. National surveys show that U.S. schools have sustained constant levels of student achievement during the past few decades, a time during which student and family demographics have declined, a time of increased demands for high levels of literacy. This article proposes a framework for thinking about the relation between home and school during a developmental period when the school becomes increasingly significant in the acquisition of language and literacy. The primary thesis is that, in order for home and school to cooperate on behalf of the student, they must share a vision of the outcomes from these years. I present the concept of critical literacy,the capacity to use language as a tool for problem‐solving and communication, as the foundation for this shared vision. Critical literacy offers an effective model for describing student outcomes, while also serving as a tool that allows teachers and families to join forces. The paper contrasts the endpoints of third grade and kindergarten, then sketches the journey from school entry to third‐grade graduation, and next reviews efforts to improve home‐school linkages designed to improve literacy during these years. I conclude with four recommendations; (a) establish standards that clarify literacy outcomes from the early years of schooling, (b) create a developmental perspective for thinking about the student's progression during these years, (c) implement more effective outreach programs from schools to homes, and (d) bring students into the “loop”.
Children are ready to begin learning how to read at about six years of age and do so in six to eight years. This chapter illustrates the concepts of excellent reading as constructively responsive reading, the information processing components that interact to produce constructively responsive reading, emergent reading during the preschool years, phonemic awareness, experimental research on primary-grades instruction, and comprehension strategies instruction. It also highlights the excellence of elementary literary teachers in detail. Good readers exert great effort comparing parts of text, holding disparate ideas in working memory while searching for related ideas throughout the text, and rereading to clarify how previously encountered information is related to parts of the text just covered. The most important principles of brain functioning is that most processing is broadly distributed across the brain rather than strictly localized. Good readers possess a great deal of declarative knowledge that can be used in conjunction with procedural knowledge as part of skilled reading. Preschoolers are active in the development of their own literacy, seeking out and initiating many behaviors that are literate and literacy fostering.
The effectiveness of an intervention that involved both English as a second language strategies and effective reading practices (based on research with monolingual English speakers) for English language (EL) learners at risk for reading problems and learning to read in English is described. 26 second-grade students who were both EL learners and at risk for reading difficulties were identified and provided an intensive reading intervention in English. Students received 13 weeks (58 sessions) of supplemental reading instruction
daily for 30 minutes per day individually or in groups of 2 or 3. Students' oral reading fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, nonsense word reading, and reading comprehension were assessed prior to, immediately after, and on 2 subsequent occasions following intervention (4 weeks and 4 months). Students made significant gains from pre-
to posttest on the outcome measures: word attack, passage comprehension, phoneme segmentation fluency, and oral reading fluency. The largest standardized mean differences
in scores at posttest were for passage comprehension and oral reading fluency. Scores at 4-week follow-up increased significantly for word attack, passage comprehension, and phoneme segmentation fluency. Long-term follow-up (over 4 months) indicated significant gains for oral reading fluency and significant losses for phoneme segmentation fluency.
The aim of this book is to provide a compromise between past and present theories of language teaching and learning. The book is organized into six main parts. In the first part, the author highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both the skills-based approach and the whole-language approach. He then presents a theory that emphasizes the strengths of both and shares the weaknesses of neither. Part two consists of six chapters that are devoted to the integration of subsidiary skills with main language skills. Part three consists of four chapters that focus on the integration of main language skills with subsidiary skills. Part four consists of four chapters that are devoted to integrating main language skills with each other. Part five deals with the integration of all language skills through literature. Part six consists of two chapters that address error correction and assessment. In following the above organization, the author aims at building gradually toward whole language, and weaving error correction and assessment into the suggested approach. [This book was first published in 2002 by Dar An-Nashr for Universities, Cairo, Egypt.]
Two groups of grade 2 students who differed in their teacher's instructional approach to reading were compared on various word recognition tasks. Fifty-four students participated in the study, 27 from whole language classrooms and 27 from phonics/skills-based classrooms. Reading level was assessed using the Gates MacGinitie reading comprehension subtest (MacGinitie & MacGinitie, 1992). From the Gates MacGinitie, a criterion at or above the 25th percentile was established for participation. At the end of grade 2, these tasks were administered to all the students: (a) word identification with words presented in isolation and in context, (b) a grapheme substitution passage, and (c) a cloze procedure. The cloze procedure was the only measure to show significant difference between the groups favoring whole language classrooms. There were no other significant findings between the two instructional groups suggesting that for these students instructional approach had little effect on word recognition strategies.
Examines 2 myths about writing that have suddenly influenced the instruction offered to many students who find writing difficult: good writing cannot be taught, and writing develops naturally. For each myth, the authors develop an alternate proposition and recommend methods for achieving it. The proposed instructional procedures focus specifically on the development of knowledge, skill, will, and self-regulation in writing. Methods for fostering student confidence and motivation for writing are explored as well because writers are unlikely to engage in the types of mental activities that epitomize skilled writing if they do not value writing or what they write. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article addresses the myth that children will be able to comprehend a text simply because they can decode words in it. Evidence is provided to support the claim that developing readers benefit from explicit teaching of comprehension strategies via direct explanation and modeling of strategies. Transactional strategies in which readers interact with text and with each other are more effective in improving reading comprehension than reciprocal teaching, which involves less explicit instruction by the teacher. Classroom observation studies show that insufficient attention is directed to comprehension, which needs to be taught and not just monitored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Incidental and informal methods of learning to spell should replace more traditional and direct instructional procedures, according to advocates of the natural learning approach. This proposition is based on 2 assumptions: (a) Spelling competence can be acquired without instruction and (b) reading and writing are the primary vehicles for learning to spell. There is only partial support for these assumptions. First, very young children who receive little or no spelling instruction do as well as their counterparts in more traditional spelling programs, but the continued effects of no instruction beyond first grade are unknown. Second, reading and writing contribute to spelling development, but their overall impact is relatively modest. Consequently, there is little support for replacing traditional spelling instruction with the natural learning approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article seeks to answer the question, What factors characterize highly productive educational psychologists? Using qualitative research methods, we identified three top scholars in educational psychology—Richard Anderson, Richard Mayer, and Michael Pressley—and examined factors that influence their work. Although each scholar had a distinctive trademark characteristic, they had much in common. Each had an impressive lineage, gravitated to centers of excellence, was guided by routine, contributed significantly to educational service, pursued outside interests, strived for clarity in writing, collaborated heavily and effectively with students, and shared the same guiding philosophy regarding scholarly productivity. The article concludes with advice to budding educational psychologists and with unanswered questions that perhaps merit further research.
Learning disabilities, including reading disabilities, are the most prevalent group of neurobehavioral disorders affecting
children and adults. There is a strong genetic component to these disabilities.
Thirty-three preschool children who were learning English as a second language participated in 16 weeks of either comprehension-oriented or letter/rhyme-focused small group instruction. Pretests and posttests of book vocabulary, story comprehension, print concepts, letter naming, writing, rhyming, and English oral proficiency were given. Children who participated in comprehension instruction outperformed letter/rhyme children on vocabulary and print concepts. Letter/rhyme instruction children outperformed comprehension children on letter naming and letter writing. English oral proficiency was more strongly correlated with the linguistic comprehension domain of early literacy than with the decoding-related domain. There was clear evidence that children at the very initial stages of English acquisition could learn both linguistic comprehension and decoding-related components of early literacy from explicit small group instruction.
In this paper, we reply to Pressley and Allington's (1999) contention that research supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in recent years has been narrowly focussed. We point out that their criticisms of this agency are opaque because they do not take account of the fact that research priorities of virtually all funding agencies are necessarily constrained by their unique missions. We also express our befuddlement over the apparent inconsistency, on the part of at least one of the co-authors, between the point of view expressed in this paper compared with the point of view expressed in a previous paper as to the weight given to phonological skills in early literacy instruction. Finally, we point out that Pressley and Allington's criticisms of recent intervention studies supported by NICHD are fraught with errors and misleading characterizations, and we use their criticism of an intervention study we have recently completed as a prime example.
A reading program utilizing five components--a shortcut to phonemic awareness, Adapted Dolch words, Bridge lists and the Bridging process, reading comprehension, and American Sign Language development/language experience stories--was administered to 48 elementary school students at a residential school for the deaf. Data analyses reveal dramatic gains in students' reading levels and academic behavior, teachers' growth in reflective sign skills, and students' and teachers' overall growth in ASL skills, resulting in a more organized, consistent approach to linguistic input and usage.
The present article provides a meta-analysis of instructional research with samples of children and adolescents with learning disabilities in the domains of word recognition and reading comprehension. The results of the synthesis showed that a prototypical intervention study has an effect size (ES) of .59 for word recognition and .72 for reading comprehension. Four important findings emerged from the synthesis: (a) Effect sizes for measures of comprehension were higher when studies included derivatives of both cognitive and direct instruction, whereas effect sizes were higher for word recognition when studies included direct instruction; (b) effect sizes related to reading comprehension were more susceptible to methodological variation than studies of word recognition; (c) the magnitude of ES for word recognition studies was significantly related to samples defined by cutoff scores (IQ > 85 and reading < 25th percentile), whereas the magnitude of ES for reading comprehension studies was sensitive to discrepancies between IQ and reading when compared to competing definitional criteria; and (d) instructional components related to word segmentation did not enter significantly into a weighted least square hierarchical regression analysis for predicting ES estimates of word recognition beyond an instructional core model, whereas small-group interactive instruction and strategy cuing contributed significant variance beyond a core model to ES estimates of reading comprehension. Implications related to definition and instructional components that optimize the magnitude of outcomes are discussed.
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