READING
Struggling adolescents
Struggling
that should have been mastered at primary
school. Yet a growing number of secondary
heads and teachers have dramatically
changed the literacy performance of struggling
learners, and, in doing so, altered the overall
achievement trajectory of their schools.
adolescent
While every school is unique, those that have
turned the corner with their literacy problems
have all recognised that priorities had to be set.
They concluded that, since good literacy skills
are the foundation of success in every subject,
effort must be focused on improving literacy.
readers
A growing body of evidence points to a set of
high-leverage factors that can make dramatic
differences in the outcomes for struggling
adolescent learners. These factors are at
the heart of transforming the overall literacy
Struggling readers present a particular challenge for
performance of struggling readers in secondary
schools.
secondary schools, as without adequate literacy skills
students cannot succeed in their individual subjects.
Change the culture
Secondary schools are made up of
Donald Deshler and Michael Kennedy ask how their
fundamentally different and often incongruous
outcomes can be improved
parts. As such, it can be challenging to bring
staff together around a common vision and
shared goals. When a large percentage of
the student body lack key literacy skills, the
problem exceeds what a teacher or a teaching
assistant alone can address. Everyone on a
school staff can (and should) play an important
role in improving literacy outcomes. Thus, a
fi rst step in improving literacy performance is
for school staff to agree upon some shared,
high-priority literacy goals. Shared goals can
promote collaboration and create a culture
of growth and achievement. The schools that
show the greatest achievement gains are
those that:
●
Have an unrelenting and uncompromising
focus on quality instruction;
●
Detail specifi c protocols for describing,
observing, analysing, and talking about
instruction;
●
Insist on transparency of practice and results;
and
●
Provide coaching and other instructional
support to teachers.
Collectively, these actions create a culture
that promotes quality instruction and, in
turn, student achievement.
Engagement and motivation
Improved reading performance is closely
related to the amount of time students spend
reading. As one teacher said: “It’s all about
‘eyes on the page’.” The more time students
INCREASINGLY, school leaders and teachers must be found to help struggling adolescents are exposed to the printed word, the more
are exhorted to prepare pupils to perform at become learners who can fl uently navigate their vocabulary and background knowledge
higher levels. Meeting government targets and successfully respond to rigorous academic grows and the more profi cient they become
is especially challenging at secondary level, demands. This challenge is compounded as readers. To put this into perspective,
as many students lack the literacy skills by the fact that secondary teachers do not students at the 10th percentile read about
needed to readily access and understand their have enough time to teach all that needs 60,000 words a year. Students at the 50th
subject-matter classes. Consequently, ways to be taught – especially the literacy skills percentile read about 900,000 words a year.
10 Better: Evidence-based Education spring 2009
Better Spr09 pp10-11 Struggling.indd 10 20/4/09 09:15:53
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