Action for Jackson
RE 5040
Teachers as Researchers
Fall 09
Dr. Gary Moorman
Action for Jackson
Karen S. Gold
Introduction
I was not a child that played school as a young child, I played sports. As a youngster I never imagined that I would have a career as a teacher. Even as a young adult it was not a career that I entertained as a possibility. It was not until I began volunteering at my daughters’ school that I began to let this possibility exist in my mind. In 1995 I felt God’s tug on my life to make a change in my job. Working as a church secretary, I sat at my desk and prayed, “Dear God, I know you want me to do something, please, reveal that to me. I am willing to go.” About thirty seconds after that prayer my telephone rang. It was the principal at my younger daughter’s school offering me a job as a teacher assistant in the Title I program. Another influence upon my life to accept the challenge to become a teacher came about during a mission trip to Littleton, Colorado in 1999. Having been to the site of such a tragedy just two months after the incident really impressed upon my heart a desire for children to have every advantage I could provide. Not that I am any type of savior or extraordinary person but I want to make children feel special, wanted and successful not just for a little while but for a lifetime. I have a copy of a poem on my desk at school from that trip. This poem was stapled to the tree outside the campus of Columbine High School just after the shootings that occur there earlier that year. The title is “Not In Vain” and the words follow:
For you, I hugged my kids today,
So long, so hard, and heard them say…
Don’t worry Mom, I’ll be OK.
I love you too, have a good day.
For you, I stood in their cluttered rooms,
Emotions tugging my heart, my womb.
Thankful once for the toys and clothes strewn.
While gripped by the fear they’d be taken soon.
For you, I’ll take time to play,
To listen to what they have to say…
Their fears, their peers, and everyday,
I’ll get down on my knees and pray…
For you. -Author unknown
I worked as a teacher assistant for eleven years in the Title I department with a teacher and principal that fostered my enthusiasm and trained me to be the person to take over the Title I teacher’s job when they left. The principal that hired me suggested that I should consider being a teacher and to go back to school. At the age of 39 years old I had my third daughter and at age 44 I enrolled in the local community college and received my college transfer degree. I graduated from a nearby university with an Elementary Education degree and received my North Carolina Teaching license in 2008, just thirty years after graduating from high school. Within a couple of months I passed the Praxis for Reading Specialist and now at age 50, I am pursuing a master’s degree in Reading Education. I personally think that my experience of waiting later in life to go to college is a point of inspiration for youngsters and some young adults. I have been a licensed teacher for just two years but my experiences throughout all 14 years have made me the type of teacher that I am today.
One burden for me that has developed over the years in my position as the Title I teacher is the fact that I send students from the fifth grade to sixth grade without reading on grade level. Last year only 48% of our black students went to middle school reading on grade level (according to the North Carolina End of Grade tests). I realize there are many issues to consider when making this point. I don’t think I am superwoman and that this is my sole responsibility for all students. However, I do feel that it is my responsibility to provide a quality reading program for, advocate for and intervene with students that fall into the category of below grade level in reading. It is also a dream or goal of mine to not fail any child and to send as many students as I possibly can to middle school reading at or above grade level. This brings me to one problem in my classroom that I feel I can do something about.
My teaching philosophy is always changing as I continue my journey as a teacher and now as a researcher. I am sure that it will change many more times. One thing that stays consistent however, can be summed up in a quote that I love. This quote is in the office at my school, “At our school, all students are gifted – they just open their gifts at different times and in different ways. -author unknown
I have a student that is currently repeating third grade. His grades were not sufficient to pass and he failed the North Carolina End of Grade tests in reading and math this past year. According to his beginning of the year assessments is performing just at third grade level. I am concerned with his realization that he has been left behind his peers and how this will impact him as he goes to middle and high school. I feel that what I can do for him right now is to provide the opportunity of having 30 minutes reading extra each day. My goal is that he will not only stay on grade level but exceed that and develop self confidence and a positive self esteem in the process.
During my 12 years of experience as a Title I teacher assistant and then 2 years experience as a Title I teacher, I have always been interested in teaching reading to elementary students that are considered “at-risk”. Through those years I have not always understood why some students say they “don’t like reading.” I just assume and have many times commented to their parents that “they just haven’t found what they like to read yet.” I suggest that they take their children to the bookstore or library or even look through my books in the classroom to find something they could be interested in reading. I have attended countless workshops about processes to teach reading, philosophies about teaching reading and about programs that claim to be the next best perfect solution for the struggling reader. What I have learned through my hands-on experience with struggling readers is that if one can’t find what motivates a child to learn and/or read and help provide that to them, then it is likely that very little reading or learning will be taking place.
As a Title I teacher in a K-5 public school, I feel a heavy burden for those that struggle to read and read fluently. It concerns me that research has proven that states plan construction for future prisons by the number of third graders that are reading proficiently at third grade. David Boulton states that, he was interviewing Lesley Morrow, the Past-President of the International Reading Association, and she made a statement which flabbergasted him. She said this was a fact: “that there are some states that determine how many prison cells to build based on reading scores.” (http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/whitehurst.htm#PrisonCellsandReadingScores). It concerns me too, that the drop-out rate is a point of concern for our school district and that the future of students that do not graduate from high school is bleak. One major contributing factor to the drop-put rate is linked to retentions. (Thompson and Kolb)
One observation that is prevalent in my school is that in the second grade for the past two years we have served in Title I twice as many boys as girls because they are lacking adequate oral reading fluency skills. When investigating the reasons why these students are lacking, individuals must look for answers within the reading material being offered the male students. One should also take a look at the personnel, where at my school all teachers are female. A lack of male positive role models is a problem that we encounter each year. I am inclined to believe however; any teacher that is dedicated to doing so can instill motivation for reading in any student given the right circumstances, whether male or female.
This leads me to investigate this question, what happens when a repeating third grade male student is given an additional thirty minutes of Title I intervention which is filled with choices of reading material, educational games and a one-on-one tutor as the facilitator. Will this give him added incentive to read and will his reading performance increase?
Review of Literature
In preparation for researching my question, I found articles and journals relating to the factors that I feel are the most important issues surrounding this matter. Those issues include retention, interest in reading, reading materials that should be available and appropriate and the methods by which we assess reading.
In the article, Keeping Score, by Karin Chenoweth, suggestions about the validity of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program is that it does not adequately measure the reading ability of books, nor the motivation a reader has as a result of participation in the program. At the time of print there was little research to support that AR inspires students to become lifelong readers. It does offer teachers an avenue to track student’s independent reading and provide data to help pinpoint possible difficulties for those in need of additional help in reading.
The North Carolina Education Research Council studied research on retention and social promotion. While there are advocates for social promotion and for retention, there is no conclusive evidence that support either concept as the best choice for a low-performing student. The best practice for schools that have low-performing students that are at-risk of retention is prevention and early intervention. (Thompson and Kolb.) Also, retention is not always the best practice. With retention being linked to a high dropout rate for students that are retained in early elementary school, all avenues should be explored before the decision to retain is made. Some alternatives to help encourage low-performing students are to intervene early and in the classroom. Find community resources to provide after school and enrichment activities or provide them through the school. Provide professional development on low-performing students and link those students to teachers that have a “can-do” attitude. When working with these students, focus on literacy and involve the parents in the whole process. (Kindergarten Readiness Issues Group, Partners in Research Forum)
Struggling readers can become skilled readers when they are taught reading in the content areas according to Fran Silverman. Lucy M. Calkins, professor of English education at Columbia University states that English is usually taught 45 minutes each day but data show that two hours of reading is required to maintain grade level. More time is needed for struggling students to maintain or make gains needed to stay at grade level. Not only should teachers be given appropriate professional development to teach their struggling readers but they should provide instruction and time for practice reading in the content area classes provided.
Methods:
Subject
Jackson is 9 years old, Caucasian and a very lively young fellow. He is currently repeating third grade because he did not pass the North Carolina End-Of-Grade tests in reading or math. He did not have the grades to support the notion that he had provided “grade level” work in third grade last year and his teacher was not willing to take him through the waiver process.
This young man has been served in Title I and the Response to Intervention (RtI) process for the past two years. Title I is the largest federally funded education aid program in our nation. “Response to Intervention aims to prevent unnecessary assignment to special education. With RTI, low-performing children are offered intense, individualized academic intervention. Student progress is monitored to see if response to this intervention yields adequate academic growth”. (http://www.reading.org/resources) Last year, he went through the first 3 stages of the RtI method of intervention.
Jackson participates in the AR program for reading in the classroom and is being served in the classroom in oral reading fluency within a small group setting for 15 minutes each day. He receives no modifications with any of his class work.
This student does have a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but is not on medication at this time nor was he medicated the previous year. He has difficulty focusing on tasks according to his teacher, tutor and parent. Last year, he had difficulty with homework assignments and not completing his class work. His teacher observed his lack of motivation and carelessness in his work and noted that on his RtI tier plan.
Procedures
Jackson was again this year placed for services in Title I as a result of poor performance from last year and poor performance on Curriculum Based Measurements (CBMs) that were administered at the beginning of this year. He was assigned a tutor for one-on-one services each day for 30 minutes per day. For the purposes of this research, his tutor prepares choices for Jackson each day with the intention that the activities will not only be educational for him but also spark enough interest for him to want to read independently for three days per week. Two days per week Jackson is served through the Read Naturally program. This is a CD assisted model where students read a story of their choice (from those provided) and reads without assistance. They are timed for one minute and the “cold” score is recorded. They listen and read with a CD and practice reading independently. After sufficient practice rereading, they read to the teacher for a “hot” score in the hopes that they have met a previously agreed upon goal of so many words per minute. He receives instruction in the classroom related to AR and receives classroom instruction as it relates to oral reading fluency.