The Best Time of Day for Literacy Instruction

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: 3 Statement of the Problem: 4 Review of the Literature: 5-9 Hypothesis: 10 References: 11

INTRODUCTION American education has shifted its directions to include literacy as a major focus as students continue to perform poorly on tests that gauge their abilities to read with comprehension. Schools in New York City now devote the first 90 minutes of the day to reading instruction.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM At a private urban school in Brooklyn, reading and writing is taught earlier in the morning at 9’o clock, but students there continue to struggle with word decoding and content comprehension. If the time of literacy instruction were moved to later in the day, specifically afternoon, would reading comprehension and decoding skills improve?

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Learning Styles: Time-of-Day Preference Pros “Is one parent an early-bird and the other a night owl? Chances are the child may share a time-of-day preference with a parent and have a best time for learning.” – (Borchetta & Dunn, 2010) “Students were grouped for reading according to their … highest energy levels--early morning, late morning, or afternoon. Students' standardized achievement reading and mathematics test scores between 1986 and 1989 increased from the 30th to the 83rd percentile under State Education Department observation.” – (Braio, Beasley, Dunn, Quinn & Buchanan, 1997) “Reading instruction should use students‘ reading style strengths and preferences.” – (Carbo, 2009) “Studies at many grade levels revealed that students who studied for, or took tests at their "best" time of day, earned statistically higher standardized achievement and attitude test scores than when they studied for, or took tests at other times.(FN3) Researchers citing these results have urged administrators to consider school schedules based on students' and teachers' learning-style time preferences.” – (Dunn, 1998) “…we have chosen to base our classroom instruction on the 21 elements of the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model…We saw dramatic improvements during the next two years as we implemented the reading styles strategies and inclusion practices.” – (Hodgin & Wooliscroft, 1997)

Learning Styles: Time-of-Day Preference Cons “…learning style instruments have not been shown to be valid and reliable, there is no benefit to matching instruction to preferred learning style, and there is no evidence that understanding one's learning style improves learning and its related outcomes. This conclusion is based on the lack of well-designed investigations by researchers who are not committed to any particular framework, and replicated in numerous educational settings.” – (Dembo & Howard, 2007 “The reason researchers roll their eyes at learning styles is the utter failure to find that assessing children’s learning styles and matching to instructional methods has any effect on their learning.” – (Stahl, 1999)

Morning Pros “Individual instructional structures were more frequently observed in the morning (14.2% AM; 10.4% PM), and entire group instructional structures were more frequent in the afternoon (68.0% AM; 78.4% PM). Considering these structures, it is not surprising that academic responding time was higher in the morning (78.1% AM; 71.5% PM), and inappropriate behaviors were more frequently observed in the afternoon (16.9% AM; 19.3% PM).” – (Muyskens & Ysseldyke, 1998) Cons “We often operate under the mistaken assumption that reading should be taught in the morning when, supposedly, most children are alert; the Lynch (1981) and Virostko (1983) investigations demonstrate the fallaciousness of that belief. Normal school hours restrict the achievement of approximately percent of secondary youngsters; no matter when instruction is being offered, it is the wrong time of day for almost one of every three students.” – (Dunn, 1984)

Afternoon “The results of this study support the research hypothesis that beginning readers who receive instruction in the afternoon benefit more in terms of reading achievement gains than beginning readers who receive instruction in the morning.” – (Davis, 2001)

HYPOTHESIS If reading instruction in a fifth-grade class is moved to the afternoon, students at a private urban school in Brooklyn, New York, will show gains in reading comprehension and decoding skills.

REFERENCES Borchetta, J., & Dunn, R. (2010). Helping parents understand how children learn. Momentum, 41, Braio, A., Beasley, T. M., Dunn, R., Quinn, P., & Buchanan, K. (1997). Incremental implementation of learning style strategies among urban low achievers. The Journal of Educational Research, 91, Carbo, M. (2009). Match the style of instruction to the style of reading. Phi Delta Kappan, 90, Davis, Z. (2001). Effects of time-of-day of instruction on beginning reading achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 80, Dembo, M. H., & Howard, K. (2007). Advice about the use of learning styles: a major myth in education. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 37, Dunn, R. (1984). Learning style: state of the science. Theory into Practice, 23, Dunn, R. (1998). Timing is everything. Momentum, 29, Hodgin, J., Wooliscroft, C. (1997). Eric learns to read: learning styles at work. Educational Leadership, 54, Muyskens, P., & Ysseldyke, J. (1998). Student Academic responding time as a function of classroom ecology and time of day. The Journal of Special Education, 34, Stahl, S. (1999). Different strokes for different folks? A critique of learning styles. American Educator,