Nebraska ASCD Conference Facilitated by Jenn Utecht November 8, 2010 Equipping Adolescent Readers: Instructional Strategies That Boost Student Achievement

The Scoop on Adolescent Readers Each partner group needs a research card. Read your card and think together: –Restate the cards message. What does it mean? –What are the implications to the student? On educators? Society? –How can schools begin to target the need and improve this issue?

Only about one-third of 8th- and 12th- graders read at or above the proficient level as measured by NAEP, which means approximately 70 percent of adolescents struggle to read. Only 13 percent of African American, 16 percent of Latino, and 17 percent of Native Americans are reading at or above proficient level compared to 41 percent of white 8th-graders. A 2004 report from RAND Education identifies major concerns in meeting the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goal of 100 percent proficiency of all students. The report states that fewer than half of all students reach proficiency standards for reading on either state assessments or on the NAEP.

In the face of stiff competition for jobs and markets, more than 80 percent of American businesses complain that high school graduates lack adequate reading and writing skills and spend more than $60 billion per year to bolster employees basic competencies. Only about 32 percent of high school graduates are adequately prepared for college, and of those who matriculate, more than half must take remedial courses. U.S. 11th graders have placed close to the bottom, behind students from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, and other developing nations, on international comparisons of performance on reading assessments.

About 1.3 million students nationwide drop out of school between 8th and 12th grades. Only 68% of 9th- grade students complete high school on time with a regular diploma. High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested in their lifetime. One-third of all juvenile offenders read below the 4th-grade level and two- thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts. Seventy percent of unemployed Americans, aged 25 to 64, read at the two lowest literacy levels. These adults cannot read a bus schedule or write a letter explaining an error on a credit card bill.

Challenges Adolescents Face with Content Area Reading Reading ability level of the student Limited vocabulary or background knowledge of topic Understanding of text features and organization of the text Students who dont have strategies or tools when they get stuck Low motivation or interest in the content Difficulty of text and textbooks

The Big Five for Secondary Readers For elementary readers: –Phonological awareness –Phonics –Fluency –Vocabulary –Comprehension For secondary readers: –Word Study –Fluency –Vocabulary –Comprehension –Motivation

The Big Five: #5 - Motivation Reading comprehension requires not only knowledge and skills, but also cognitive EFFORT. The goals, values, and beliefs regarding the topics, processes, and outcomes of reading affect students motivations for reading. Motivation also involves self-efficacy (confidence) – the belief that one is capable of success.

What are the reasons adolescent readers lack motivation with assigned school reading?

Adolescent struggling readers often lack motivation to read. This impairs their comprehension and limits their ability to develop effective reading strategies or to learn from what they read, thus limiting their exposure to important content-area information, world knowledge, and vocabulary.

Teaching Tools for Increasing Motivation in Adolescent Readers 1.Set clear goals and outcomes for each reading task. Make sure students understand what information theyre reading for! 2.Invite variety and student-choice in reading materials. 3.Provide opportunities for students to interact through reading (discussions, writing, projects).

Do students know WHAT to read, and WHY?

Motivating Adolescent Readers: 1. Set Clear Goals & Reading Outcomes Be explicit on what students will gain from reading the text provided or assigned Use questioning strategies as a guide to students reading. Activate prior knowledge to build interest in text. Model behaviors of a curious reader who is rewarded with new knowledge about an interesting topic!

Purposeful Reading Knowing a purpose for reading allows the reader to: –Determine whats important in the text –Determines what the reader will remember (retain) –Know what comprehension strategies are needed to comprehend the text –Increases motivation and engagement in reading.

Without a purpose, students say: I dont care about the topic I cant relate to the topic I daydream and my mind wanders I cant stay focused I just say the words so I can be done I get bored

Sue Beers, 2010

Motivating Adolescent Readers: 2. Provide Student Autonomy Motivation increases when... –we provide opportunities for students to choose texts they read and groups theyll work with. –students have control over some aspects of the task (product, subject, presentation style) –we allow students to choose a partner, group, or to work alone

Providing CHOICE for Students Reading and Writing Independent reading selections Topics for writing Outcomes for projects Reading goals per semester (duration, genres, quantities, authors, eras)

Providing a Variety of Texts Motivation increases when we choose interesting texts for students to read! –Interesting to diverse students –Based on topics of which students have background knowledge or experience –Visually compelling: is the reading doable? Are there graphics, pictures, illustrations? Is the text old? –Appropriate readability levels

Adolescents are motivated in their reading by having interactive classrooms! Motivating Adolescent Readers: 3. Interactive Classrooms

Power of Collaborative Learning for Building Motivation (and Comprehension!) Discussions: –should focus on the construction of meaning and analysis of text. –They questions or issues are often student-generated, but teacher facilitated. Technology Use for Instruction & Student Response –Class blogs for text-based, critical literacy-based discussions, record keeping at Goodreads.com

Save the The Last Word for Me Students will read carefully and purposefully, think critically about the text, and use evidence from the text to support thinking. Engages ALL students in reading and engaging with the content and the text. Provides a cooperative learning format, and uses small groups instead of large class discussion. Works best with material that elicits differing opinions or multiple interpretations. See handout in packet.

Inside – Outside Circles: A Cooperative Learning Strategy Create a group of 6 with participants in the room NOT at your table. –Split this group in 2 forming two circles (an inside circle and an outside circle), facing one another. Using the questions you wrote down regarding Adolescent Literacy earlier this morning, the inside circle participant asks the question while the outside circle participant responds.

Other resources from the National Center on Instruction (all available free at Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction Improving literacy instruction in middle and high schools: A guide for Principals Academic literacy instruction for adolescents: A guidance document from the Center on Instruction Language and Reading Interventions for English Language learners and English Language learners with Disabilities (K- 12) Effective instruction for adolescent struggling readers Adolescent literacy walkthrough for principals: A guide for instructional leaders