Heartland AEA Literacy Newsletter

Four Reasons Literacy Leadership Matters

1. School Leaders Directly Impact Student Achievement

School leaders are second only to teachers in their impact on student learning. Fullan & Pinchot, 2018; Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008

2. School Leaders Promote Equitable Outcomes

School leaders play a critical role in supporting the literacy needs of all students, including those with or at risk for literacy-related disabilities, by designing and evaluating effective schoolwide reading plans within multi-tiered systems of support. Eagle, Dowd-Eagle, Snyder, & Holtzman, 2015

3. School Leaders Build Strong Literacy Teams

School leaders improve teaching and learning by promoting staff motivation, commitment, and a positive school culture. Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D., 2006

4. School Leaders are Instructional Leaders

School leaders actively support implementation of evidence-based literacy practices by providing access to high quality professional development and coaching/feedback opportunities. Steiner and Kowal, 2007

Literacy Leaders: What Do You Need to Know?

What are the priority reading skills?

Language Comprehension

• Background & Vocab Knowledge
• Literacy Knowledge
• Language Structures
• Verbal Reasoning

Word Recognition

• Phonological Awareness
• Decoding (and Spelling)
• Sight Recognition

Skilled Reading

Fluent execution & coordination of word recognition and text comprehension.

cite: Scarborough, 2001

How to support teachers with implementing evidence-based literacy practices

Workshops, coaching, and professional learning communities can be leveraged to provide teachers with ongoing, job-embedded support and feedback geared toward improving their practices.

How to evaluate, prioritize, plan and implement an effective reading model

By creating a culture of continuous improvement, effective school leaders are always working with staff to make their multi-tiered systems of support in reading more e cient and effective for students.

Literacy Leaders: What Do You Need to Do?

Recognize features of effective literacy instruction

When leaders prioritize spending time in classrooms, they recognize that how reading instruction is delivered is just as important as what is delivered.

Make evidence-based literacy instruction a schoolwide priority

Schools with a clear vision and mission for improved reading achievement demonstrate an understanding of evidence, and prioritize the adoption, and implementation of evidence-based literacy practices among all staff.

Collect information and provide feedback on the content and delivery of literacy instruction

Classroom walkthroughs that are focused on lesson quality and integrity to evidence-based practices will give leaders valuable information about what's working --or not working-- in their school.

The What Works Clearinghouse practice guides provide succinct recommendations that address challenges educators encounter in their classrooms and schools, as well as ancillary resources like process videos and webinars.

Practice Guides for Literacy Leaders

This infographic describes The Lead for Literacy Framework elements.

Lead for Literacy Framework Overview

If you have questions or want additional supports, contact Heartland AEA literacy supports:

Wendy Robinson (wrobinson@heartlandaea.org)

Tim Blakeslee (tblakeslee@heartlandaea.org)

Lynn Bowen (lbowen@heartlandaea.org)

Jodi Cross (jcross@heartlandaea.org)

Angie Lorenz (alorenz@heartlandaea.org

Barb Shutt (bshutt@heartlandaea.org)

Judy Zeka (jzeka@heartlandaea.org)

Most educators understand that early intervention is important for the prevention and/or remediation of word reading difficulties. But how did we come to know this? Over the past few decades, there have been a series of landmark studies that have demonstrated the importance of assessing risk for reading difficulties early on (e.g., screening at the beginning of Grade 1 or ideally in kindergarten) in order to deliver targeted, supplemental instruction to young students who show weaknesses in phonological processing and word reading skills. This article will highlight some landmark, scientific studies that have provided us with three key findings:

1. When children do not receive adequate reading instruction, early reading difficulties are likely to lead to later reading difficulties. Studies such as the ones shared in this article built our understanding that reading difficulties do not resolve on their own. We now understand that we should not believe there is such a thing as a “late bloomer” when it comes to reading development.

With universal screening for all students in Iowa K-3, we know the students who are at risk.

2. Many reading difficulties can be reduced or even eliminated as a result of evidence-based instructional interventions.

Are we providing core instruction and intervention with sufficient effectiveness that these students "catch up."? We know how to do it.

3. Evidence-based intervention provided in the early grades is more effective than intervention provided in the later grades.

It is never too late but it is cheaper and more effective to intervene early.

Brick by Brick Takeaways

Eye-opening research studies conducted by Juel (1988) and Francis et al. (1996) showed us that students who have reading diffi culties in the early elementary grades do not “catch up” to their peers naturally, over time, in the absence of intervention. A later series of revealing studies built our understanding that we can accurately identify students who are at risk for reading diffi culties as early as kindergarten (e.g., Catts et al., 2001), and that early reading interventions can reduce or even eliminate reading diffi culties (Mathes et al., 2005; McMaster et al., 2005; O’Connor et al., 2005; Torgesen, 2000; Torgesen et al., 1999; Vellutino et al., 1996). Perhaps most importantly, a final series of research studies provided evidence that reading interventions are more effective in the earliest grades (Connor et al., 2013; O’Connor et al., 2014; Lovett et al., 2017). All of this research, brick by proverbial brick, has accumulated so that it is now a foundation of evidence supporting the provision of early intervention to students at risk for reading difficulties. School leaders and educators of all kinds should push for early screening of all students in K and Grade 1, to determine which students are at risk for reading difficulties. Evidence-based reading intervention can then be provided for school-age students who are identified as being at risk— the earlier the better.

Virtually every 4th -9th grade teacher works with students who struggle to read on grade level. Low reading scores in these grade levels are particularly troublesome when considering that so much of the curriculum in grades 4–9 (and beyond) requires the ability to read and understand increasingly complex texts. Recent research has demonstrated that interventions can help improve the reading level of students in grades 4–9 with reading difficulties. This practice guide, developed by the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) in conjunction with an expert panel, distills this contemporary research into easily comprehensible and practical recommendations for educators to use when providing reading interventions. The recommendations outline evidence-based practices that can help teachers meet the needs of their students with reading difficulties.

Recommendation 1 and Recommendation 2 focus on practices to improve students’ ability

to read words accurately and automatically, while Recommendation 3 and Recommendation 4 focus on practices for helping students to understand the text they read. The recommendations are grounded in high-quality evidence based on research studies focused on reading interventions and have the potential to improve reading and comprehension. These recommendations are designed to be

used by educators providing reading intervention or those who oversee multi-tiered

systems of support (MTSSs) in reading. Recommendations are easy to read but hard to make happen. Please find the following steps to make these recommendations happen with your students and change their literacy outcomes now.

Recommendation 1: Build students’ decoding skills so they can read complex multisyllabic words (Strong Evidence).

How-to Step 1: Identify the level of students’ word-reading skills in the intervention group and teach vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations, as necessary. For students who are having difficulty identifying sounds that are made by common vowels and consonants and their combinations, spend more intervention time reviewing or reteaching common vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations.

How-to Step 2: Teach students a routine they can use to decode multisyllabic words. How-to Step 4: Engage students in a wide array of activities that allow them to practice reading multisyllabic words accurately and with increasing automaticity.

How-to Step 3: Embed spelling instruction in the lesson. Spelling words will help reinforce the vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations students are learning. Include practice in spelling monosyllabic and multisyllabic words. This activity is called encoding practice. Begin by asking students to read the word aloud and spell it. Encourage students to think about the different parts of the word and how many parts or syllables are in the word before they write it. Give students additional words to spell that include the same vowel and consonant letter-sounds and combinations.

Recommendation 2: Provide purposeful fluency-building activities to help students read effortlessly (Strong Evidence).

How-to Step 1: Provide a purpose for each repeated reading.Rather than merely asking students to reread the same passage orally several times to increase their speed, the panel suggests providing students with a purpose for each reading of the same passage. Although the primary goal is to build effortless reading, rereading a piece of text with a purpose will often lead to increased understanding.

How-to Step 2: Focus some instructional time on reading with prosody. Draw students’ attention to what prosody entails by dramatizing why prosody is important. Read a short paragraph aloud twice. The first time, read it quickly without expression and without stopping at punctuation marks. Then read the passage again, this time at a conversational pace and with prosody. After reading, discuss which rendition of the passage was easier to understand. Teach students to pause at commas, stop at periods, raise or lower their voice when encountering a question mark, and show emotion when encountering an exclamation point.

How-to Step 3: Regularly provide opportunities for students to read a wide range of texts. Reading a wide range of texts counterbalances the limitations of repeatedly reading the same brief passage by exposing students to a variety of sentence structures and text topics. As students explore a wider range of texts, they are exposed to unfamiliar words and syntax, and their reading becomes more fluent. Choose texts at the higher end of students’ instructional reading level. When possible, choose texts that align to grade-level content or other topics of high interest to the group of students.

Recommendation 3: Comprehension building: Routinely use a set of comprehension-building practices to help students make sense of the text (Strong Evidence)

Part A: Build students’ world and word knowledge so they can make sense of the text.

How-to Step 1: Develop world knowledge that is relevant for making sense of the passage.

Provide a brief 3-to 5-minute introduction on the topic before reading to help students develop knowledge that might help them understand what they are reading. Another way to prepare students for reading about a topic is to present a short 2-to 4-minute video clip, podcast, or brief informational lecture with illustrations. Another way to develop world knowledge before reading is to ask students questions about the topic. Not only will this will provide students with an opportunity to think about what they have read or learned about before, but it can also potentially pique their interest in the topic.

How-to Step 2: Teach the meaning of a few words that are essential for understanding the passage.

Identify words that are critical and conceptually central for understanding the passage but are likely to be difficult for students. Choose words that appear early or frequently in the passage and for which knowing the meaning is critical for understanding the text. During reading, stop intermittently to briefly provide the meaning of additional essential words that are critical for understanding the passage.

If students are reading independently or in pairs, ask students to look up and make eye contact when they get to the sentence with the essential word you would like to discuss.

How-to Step 3: Teach students how to derive meanings of unknown words using context. In some circumstances, the sentences surrounding an unknown word can help students determine its meaning.

Teach and explicitly model how to find clues in the surrounding sentences to help students determine the meanings of words they do not understand. Demonstrate three steps for determining the meaning of unknown words using surrounding sentences.

How-to Step 4: Teach prefixes and suffixes to help students derive meanings of words. Teach the meanings of prefixes and suffixes, especially those that students will encounter in the text. If the intervention curriculum does not have a sequence for teaching prefixes and suffixes, start by teaching commonly used prefixes (e.g., un-, re-, dis-) and suffixes (e.g., -s, -es, -ed). If students know the common prefixes and suffixes, move on to less frequently used prefixes (e.g., trans-, under-, anti-) and suffixes (-ial, -eous, -ence). Teach students to isolate the base word, prefix, and/or suffix and determine the meaning of each separately. Show students how putting the meanings of each of the parts together can help them determine the meaning of a word.

How-to Step 5: Teach the meaning of Latin and Greek roots. Latin and Greek roots appear frequently in words in math, science, and social studies textbooks (e.g., micro: microbiology, microscope, microbe; equi/equa: equivalent, equation, equal, equator, equalizer). Spend some time explicitly teaching the meaning of the roots, how these roots contribute to the meaning of a word, and how words with the same root are related. Work with students to develop a word map for each root. Word maps provide a graphic display of a group of words that are meaningfully related.

Part B: Consistently provide students with opportunities to ask and answer questions to better understand the text they read.

How-to Step 1: Explicitly teach students how to find and justify answers to different types of questions.

Teaching students to answer questions and justify their answers prepares students to read independently. By understanding common types of questions that may be asked, students develop habits for sifting through the information in the text or connecting to their world knowledge to figure out the answers. Teaching students how to answer different types of questions helps them find information that is either directly stated in or inferred from the text. Teach students to answer each type of question one at a time. Begin by modeling how to answer Right There questions by locating the words in the question in a sentence in the text. Once students show some facility answering Right There questions, explain that the answers to Think and Search questions are usually not right next to each other; the answers to the questions are separated by other information that does not answer the

question. Model how to answer Think and Search questions several times before gradually including students in searching for the information that can help answer the questions. Move on to Author and Me questions only after providing ample practice opportunities with Right There and Think and Search questions. Demonstrate how to answer Author and Me questions. Begin by telling students that the answers to Author and Me questions go beyond what is explicitly stated in the text.

•Show students how to integrate the information from the text with their knowledge to formulate an answer.

How-to Step 2: Provide ample opportunities for students to collaboratively answer questions. Provide opportunities for students to work collaboratively to answer each type of question. Begin with Right There questions, move to Think and Search questions, and finally to Author and Me questions, as students demonstrate they can answer each type. Make sure to include previously learned question types as each new type is added. Guide students through the process of answering each question type by reminding them of what each type

How-to Step 3: Teach students to ask questions about the text while reading. As students get more comfortable answering different types of questions, ask them to think of their own questions about the text. Ask students to develop their own Right There questions before moving on to Think and Search and Author and Me questions. Students can find the answers to the questions they develop themselves or work with a partner. To facilitate independence, provide students with prompt cards that include question stems to help students develop.

Part C: Work collaboratively with students to generate gist statements.

After modeling generating a gist statement using a routine or text structure once or twice, include students in collaboratively generating gist statements by prompting them through the steps of the routine. Have students provide rationales for their decisions and point to the portions of the text that support their thinking. Have students identify irrelevant information and provide their reasoning for why they consider the information to be irrelevant. Guide students by asking leading questions as the group works together to synthesize the most important information into a gist statement.

Part D: Teach students to monitor their comprehension as they read.

How-to Step 1: Help students determine when they do not understand the text. To help students become more comfortable with acknowledging when portions of a text do not make sense to them, have students practice with isolated sentences. After students have practiced

identifying whether or not what they read makes sense at the sentence level, move on to longer pieces of text with multiple sentences.

How-to Step 2: Teach students to ask themselves questions as they read to check their understanding and figure out what the text is about. When students ask themselves questions, they have an opportunity to check their understanding. Asking themselves questions about their understanding helps students see what they know and do not know, so they can think about what they should do to better understand the text.Teach students to stop periodically and ask themselves what the section of text is about or what the gist statement is for the section of text. When they think about what the section is about, they can figure out whether what they are reading is making sense. If they do not understand, they can reread the section slowly and carefully, if necessary.

How-to Step 3: Provide opportunities for students to reflect on what they have learned. Giving students opportunities to note what they have learned not only helps students integrate their learning and take stock of what they are understanding, but it also helps teachers prepare for the next lesson. Before the end of the intervention session, ask students to write down what they learned in the day’s lesson, what they are still confused about, and what they might have done to help themselves understand better.

Sentence starters can help students write about what they learned. Have students choose 2–3 sentence starters to complete at the end of class. Alternatively, ask students to answer some comprehension questions.

Recommendation 4: Stretch Text: Provide students with opportunties to practice making sense of stretch text that will expose them to complex ideas and information (Moderate Evidence).

How-to Step 1: Prepare for the lesson by carefully selecting appropriate stretch texts, choosing points to stop for discussion and clarification, and identifying words to teach. Consider texts that are at the upper range or somewhat above the upper range of students’ independent reading levels. Sequence the stretch text passages so that the difficulty and passage length gradually increase. Choose texts related to topics students are studying in their subject-area classes when possible, rather than isolated passages or excerpts from the subject-area textbooks. Look for texts that are engaging and that discuss interesting ideas or perspectives.Before the lesson begins, read through the text to choose logical points to stop for group discussion. Also create a list of difficult multisyllabic words, proper nouns, and essential words to discuss before and during reading.

How-to Step 2: Provide significant support as the group works

through a stretch text together. Work through stretch texts as a group with teacher support, rather than assigning stretch texts to students to work on independently or with a partner. Before reading, help students understand that stretch text activities will be very difficult at times. Explain to them that all readers (including their teachers) read material that includes words that are difficult to read or understand, or about topics for which they lack relevant world knowledge. Explain (and then remind them often) that, as in athletics or learning to play a musical instrument, readers need to challenge themselves to build their skills. Explain that the goal is to keep trying to make sense of challenging texts together, so students develop the habit of sticking with difficult passages.

How-to Step 3: After students demonstrate comfort with reading stretch texts with the group, provide students with electronic supports to use when independently reading stretch text to assist

with pronunciation of difficult words and word meanings. Over time, students will demonstrate increased comfort in working with stretch texts. In addition to providing students with challenging text to grapple with in a supportive small-group setting, students can work with stretch texts during independent reading using electronic supports available on tablets, laptops, and other devices. Most of these devices include electronic dictionaries that can help students understand difficult words. Some devices may contain software that reminds students about their knowledge of word parts to help discern a word’s meaning.

Heartland AEA literacy consultants can provide support in implementation of these evidence-based practices. We can conduct diagnostic assessments to determine word level needs for targeted intervention, model strategies, help develop checklists and conduct walk-throughs, observe instruction and provide instructional changes for students who are currently not making progress.

This report describes the experiences of teachers of grades 3–8 working with striving readers, those teachers' knowledge of reading instruction, and the tools and resources available to or needed by them to support their students in becoming strong readers. It highlights the importance of including teachers in upper elementary and middle grades in resource development and offer guidance to policymakers implementing reading instruction reforms.

Key Findings

• According to a nationally representative sample of U.S. grade 3–8 teachers across all subjects, students spend more than half of their class time reading and writing.
• These grade 3–8 teachers estimate that 44 percent of their students always or nearly always experience difficulty reading the written content within their instructional materials.
• Among teachers in grades 3–8, 40 percent hold misconceptions about how students develop word reading skills, and nearly half of teachers in these grades report that their primary source of knowledge about reading instruction comes from their personal experiences in the classroom.
• Almost three-quarters of teachers in grades 3–8 say that they need access to more resources to identify and support students with reading difficulties.

The nationally representative survey results are based on 1,483 teacher responses between October and November 2023. Respondents were determined to have misconceptions about foundational reading skills if they agreed with statements that most students “will learn to read on their own if given the proper books and time to read them” or “can understand written texts with unfamiliar words even if they don’t have a good grasp of phonics,” or that phonics instruction isn’t useful for those struggling to learn to read.

Most teachers said they modified their instruction to support students at least once a week, and over half said they modified their instruction three or more times per week. But most teachers also report not having enough resources to support students who are struggling to read. However, middle school teachers are less likely than elementary school teachers to say they have access to tools and training to support struggling readers — including having enough staff, recommendations for digital materials, reading specialists, tutors and training. This is despite middle school teachers reporting that 42% of their students — or almost as big a share as elementary students — always or nearly always have difficulty reading their learning content..“In short, our findings suggest that late elementary and middle grade teachers who teach both ELA [English language arts] and other subjects need evidence-based support to improve students’ reading skills given the high proportion of their students who have difficulty reading,” the report’s authors wrote.

According to a 2023 American Instructional Resources Survey, released by Rand, between one-third and one-half of teachers in upper elementary and middle school grades engaged their students with foundational reading skill activities. Most state laws are not meant to target or support older readers. In fact, according to the 2023 AIRS survey, only one-quarter of states with reading laws include requirements around secondary ELA instruction. However, researchers in the report published Wednesday said children continue to need reading support even after the early elementary grades — traditionally when foundational reading skills are targeted the most — and that “reforming reading instruction in the United States” likely requires that resources be aimed at older students, as well. According to results from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national litmus test of student performance in reading and math, only 33% of 4th grade students and 31% of 8th grade students scored at or above NAEP proficient level on the reading assessment.

Declines in reading performance compared to pre-pandemic NAEP scores, while less significant than those in math, were present for both grades 4 and 8.

Summary and Implications

Findings suggest that late elementary and middle grade teachers who teach both ELA and other subjects need evidence-based support to improve students’ reading skills given the high proportion of their students who have difficulty reading.Teachers in grades 3–8 need more information on the aspects of reading with which their students are experiencing difficulty to inform how they modify their instruction to support readers. Second, beyond helping teachers identify the specific reading skills that older students need, teachers in grades 3–8 need more resources to support those readers. Third, teachers in grades 3–8 need more knowledge and training on how to help students who are experiencing difficulties with word reading, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.