Effective Instruction for Middle School Students

with Reading Difficulties

The Reading Teacher’s Sourcebook

by

Carolyn A. Denton, Ph.D.

Children’s Learning Institute
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.

Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk
University of Texas at Austin

Jade Wexler, Ph.D.

University of Maryland, College Park

Deanna Bryan

and

Deborah Reed, Ph.D.

University of Texas at El Paso

Contents

• Introduction
• I Assessing Struggling Readers at the Secondary Level
  • Terms to Know
  • 1 A Schoolwide Approach to Reading Intervention
  • 2 Overview of Assessment at the Secondary Level
  • 3 Selecting and Administering Assessments
  • 4 Using Assessment Results to Plan Instruction
• II Effective Instruction for Struggling Readers
  • 5 Components of Effective Instruction
  • 6 Delivering Effective Instruction
• III Research-Supported Instructional Practices
  • 7 Comprehension
  • 8 Vocabulary
  • 9 Fluency

About the Authors

Carolyn A. Denton, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Children’s Learning Institute, part of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. A former teacher, she conducts research in schools focused on reading intervention, response to intervention models, coaching as a form of professional development, and reading comprehension. Her current projects include a study of reading comprehension in middle and high school students, a study of interventions for elementary-age children who have both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and severe reading difficulties, and a project developing a Tier 2 first-grade intervention that targets both decoding and comprehension.

Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D. holds the H.E. Hartfelder/Southland Corp. Regents Chair in Human Development and is Executive Director of the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, an organized research unit at the University of Texas at Austin. She was Editor in Chief of the Journal of Learning Disabilities and Co-editor of Learning Disabilities Research and Practice. Dr. Vaughn is the author of numerous books and research articles that address the reading and social outcomes of students with learning difficulties.

Jade Wexler, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Wexler has almost 15 years of experience as a teacher and researcher in the field of special education. Her current research focuses on investigating effective practices for adolescents with reading difficulties, including those in the juvenile justice system.

Deanna Bryan began her teaching career working with children with severe disabilities. She spent most of her teaching career working with middle school students. Ms. Bryan currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children.

Deborah Reed, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Texas at El Paso. She has spent 19 years working with adolescents as a middle and high school teacher, technical assistance provider, and researcher.

A Schoolwide Approach to Reading Intervention

Planning Checklist for Implementing Schoolwide Reading Intervention

STEP 1. SELF-EVALUATION: REVIEW CURRENT READING PRACTICES WITHIN THE SCHOOL TO DETERMINE NEEDS AND PRIORITIES

• Does the school have a unified vision and plan for ensuring that all students are able to read and learn from academic text and are motivated to read?
• Is there a safe and positive school environment that is conducive to learning?
• Do teachers provide effective instruction supported by strong instructional leadership from the principal or other persons in the school?
• Is academic achievement given priority in scheduling, budgeting, and allocation of personnel?
• Are benchmark reading assessments administered three times per year to identify students who need supplemental reading classes or intervention?

STEP 2. DEVELOP A PLAN FOR COLLECTING, MANAGING, AND USING BENCHMARK AND PROGRESS-MONITORING DATA

• Who will administer benchmark assessments?
• Who will compile progress-monitoring data and display them as easily interpreted graphs or in other accessible formats?

STEP 3. DEVELOP A SCHOOLWIDE PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING CONTENT-AREA STRATEGIES AND ROUTINES

• Is there a plan for providing quality professional development to content-area teachers?
• Are content-area teachers committed to implementing research-based strategies and routines across classes?

STEP 4. DEVELOP A PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC INTERVENTION

• Who will provide strategic intervention?
• When will strategic intervention be provided?

STEP 5. DEVELOP A PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING INTENSIVE INTERVENTION

• Who will provide intensive intervention?
• What scientific research-based, explicit, systematic program(s) will be used to provide intensive intervention?

The next section in this sourcebook provides information about administering assessments to collect student data and how administrators and teachers can use the data to inform decisions about placing students in strategic and intensive interventions.