Teaching Children with Down S Syndrome to Read: a Phonics Based Approach

Teaching Children with Down Syndrome to Read: A Phonics Based Approach
MED-ME

Katherine Eggie

1/14/2011

A Capstone Presented to the Faculty of the Teachers College of Western Governors University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education

Chair: Dr. Mario Castro

Abstract

Children with Down syndrome have a high capacity for learning. Typically, the majority of this population is taught to read via sight word/whole language instruction instead of an explicit, systematic phonics based approach. I believe we need a program that teaches children language through their challenges. Down syndrome is a genetic disorder and is not specific to any one race, gender, socioeconomic group or geographical location. My overall goal is to show that children with Down syndrome can increase their reading skills through a phonics based program. The learner, once completing the program, will increase their reading scores by 50% from initial assessment data within a six month period. This goal will be attained by working with students utilizing a phonics based, multisensory approach to reading instruction.

Keywords: Down syndrome, literacy, instruction

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM

Introduction………………………………………………….5
Problem Statement………………………………………..…6
Description of Stakeholder Groups…………………………12
Research Question and Goal Statement…………………….12
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEWIntroduction…………………………………………………14

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY
Learner Analysis…………………………………………....19
Research and Evaluation Instruments……………………...21
Special Populations………………………………………...22
Materials……………………………………………………22
Performance Objectives………………………………….....23
Learning Theories and Instructional Strategies………...... 24
Procedure…………………………………………………...26
Integrity of Data……………………………………………33
Permissions and Anonymity………………………………..34
Technology Used in the Curriculum……………………...... 34
Data Analysis……………………………………………….35
Chapter 4: RESULTS

Report of Results…………………………………….……..36

Recommended Revisions……………………………………38

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION

Discussion……………………………………………………40

Implications and Limitations…………………………………40

Conclusion……………………………………………………41

References……………………………………………………………42

Appendix A………………………………………………………….44

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM

Introduction

What I did

For this research project, I worked with six students with Down’s syndrome. I worked with them over the course of six months and implemented a phonics based reading program. Prior to instruction, I performed a pre-assessment to determine the student’s reading ability prior to instruction. I then began instruction twice per week for one hour. After the six month period, I then performed the pre-assessment once again to determine the progress made over the course of the six months.

Why I Chose This Project

I am a special education teacher and have worked in many different domains over the years. I feel strongly that children with disabilities should be held to higher standards that what we currently expect and feel that with appropriate instruction, these students can exceed expectations in reading to live more independent lives as adults.

Why It Is Important

Individuals with disabilities such as Down’s syndrome often outlive their caregivers. It’s crucial that we help these individuals become as independent as possible. In addition, it is important that we provide instruction to give such individuals the best possible opportunity to enjoy an independent life. Reading is so important to our lives. We use the skill of reading every day, all day. Whether we are reading for pleasure or reading street signs, bus schedules or paying our bills, we must be able to read in order to care for ourselves and function in a literacy based society.

How It Related To Appropriate Theory For Your Discipline

It is important for the students and their educators that we develop appropriate tools to evaluate their needs and their abilities in reading. This research will show that students are capable of higher level reading skills, thus proving that we need to create evaluations and instruction to aide in this learning.

How the Project Fits Into Teaching and Learning in Your Field

Students with disabilities can learn. We, as educators, must revise our previous ways of thinking and encourage the development of literacy in children who are challenged cognitively. Special education is a field that is constantly changing. We are always reading and studying to learn new ways to challenge and educate individuals that some feel may not be successful. It’s this desire to prove successful that this research project came about. I am extremely excited to share the results with teachers, parents and therapists. It is my hope that I will be able to prove this type of instruction is not only valid, but appropriate for children with Down’s syndrome.

Problem Statement

Definition of the Problem

Most previous instruction and instructional strategies have focused on teaching students with Down syndrome to read by utilizing sight word instruction and focusing on comprehension. This research will heighten our expectations of children with Down syndrome by going beyond sight words and incorporating a phonics-based approach to language instruction. This will require recognition of deficits common amongst individuals with Down syndrome and working to overcome those difficult areas.

Possible Causes of the Problem

Children with Down syndrome are not provided with the opportunity to read material due to the belief that they should be taught to read using a sight word based reading instruction program. Many children with Down syndrome have the capacity to learn at a higher level and that includes the ability to learn to read material beyond what a sight word program can teach. This research proposes that children with Down syndrome are can increase their reading ability using a phonics based approach to reading instruction.

Background Information

Children with Down syndrome have a high capacity for learning. Typically, however, the majority of this population is taught to read via sight word/whole language instruction instead of an explicit, systematic phonics based approach. Although, this researcher believes that we should begin sight words at a very young age, she also believes we need a program that teaches children language through their challenges. This language program must teach phonics systematically through multi-sensory avenues and must include rehearsals and strategies to assist with overcoming verbal short-term memory deficits, as well as, communication cues and strategies.

Currently, most children with Down syndrome begin learning to read using sight words in a look-and-say method or through drills. This often begins at a very young age, sometimes during the first year of life and continues on through the child’s educational career.

Some schools will teach beginning phonics in secondary school. But, the majority of a child’s reading instruction consists of rote memorization, continual drills and combining those learned words into sentences. Through experience, this researcher believes that many children with Down syndrome can be taught to read using an explicit, multi-sensory phonics approach to instruction. As there is no one way to teach all children, we should not deny a child with Down syndrome the opportunity to further their literacy skills because of their disability. The researcher is not proposing that all children will gain decoding ability with this type of program, rather that many children who are now denied the opportunity can indeed succeed in a multi-sensory, explicit phonics program.

The researcher chose two methods of data collection to analyze the need for this type of instruction. The first method of collection was a survey issued to parents of children with Down syndrome to gather information on the child’s current programming. The researcher created the survey questions to understand what parents were experiencing in their child’s school. This survey was sent out to hundreds of people including organizations locally and nationally. With such a wide range of recipients, the researcher feels she obtained a good sample of current experiences of children with Down syndrome.
The second method of data collection was completed through direct interviews. The researcher contacted ten parents across the country that were willing to speak to her about their child and the literacy programs used to teach their child. The researcher chose this method because various parts of the country do things quite differently. She wanted to get a perspective from many regions of America. An interview format was chosen because she wanted more information than a simple survey would provide.

Through a computerized data search, the researcher found that 1 in every 800 children is born with Down syndrome. Approximately 340,000 individuals in the United States have Down syndrome. Illinois state testing scores in reading align all children with developmental disabilities into one category. However, most children with Down syndrome fall into the cognitive disability group. 2006-07 data shows that 286,112 children in the state of Illinois, ages 6-21, have some form of a disability. 25,562 of those children have a cognitive disability. In grades 3rd, 4th and 8th, at least 40% of children with disabilities scored in the meets range on state reading tests. In grades 5th, 6th and 7th, at least 30% of children with disabilities scored in the meets range on state reading tests. This is in contrast to their non-disabled peers, of whom at least 75% scored in the meets range in 3rd-6th grades and at least 80% in the 7th and 8th grade. Analyzing the survey results proved to the most difficult due to the quantity of responses. The researcher went through each survey and reviewed comments and tallied scores to come to a percentage.

The interview portion of the data collection was similar to the survey portion as the researcher asked the same questions and included that data into the survey data results. By performing an interview, the researcher was able to reach individuals in various parts of the country. She was able to compile responses into a table and put the comments into a narrative.

State data was readily available from the State of Illinois educational report card data located online and in print.

Through this analysis, the researcher discovered that the hypothesis is correct. Most children with Down syndrome are still taught through a sight word curriculum with some phonics included to round out the program. She also found that parents want their children to be taught through phonics to increase their ability to read. In fact, 81.5% of the respondents felt that their child would benefit from a program that teaches phonics/decoding in addition to sight words in a multi-sensory, small group setting. An alarming 46.2% of the respondents consider their children beginning readers and the ages of the students surveyed varied between 10-24. Approximately 51.9% of children read using both phonics and sight words, with an emphasis on sight words. Sight words will not get children through adulthood; therefore we must include phonics in the reading program of children with Down syndrome. The researcher also found that children with disabilities score much more poorly on state testing than their non-disabled peers. This data further supports the need for a reading program that will allow students to read unknown words.

Parent Survey/Interview Responses

Response / % of resp. / Response / % of resp. / Response / % of resp. / Response / % of resp. / Response / % of resp.
My child in a beginning reader / 46.2 / My child in a emergent reader / 26.9 / My child in an independent reader / 26.9
My child uses phonics to read / 7.4 / My child uses sight words to read / 29.6 / My child uses both, but mostly phonics / 11.1 / My child uses both, but mostly sight words / 51.9
My child is taught using phonics / 0 / My child is taugh using only sight words /
17.4
/ My child is taught through a combination of both phonics and sight words /
60.9
/ My child is taught through guided reading/balanced literacy /
17.4
/ My child does not have a literacy program in school / 17.4
My child is taught reading in a small group / 45.8 / My child is taught reading in a 1:1 setting with a teacher / 41.7 / My child is taught reading in a large group / 0 / My child is taught reading in a resource room / 8.3 / My child is taught reading in a general education setting / 29.2
I believe my child would benefit from a program that teaches phonics/decoding in addition to sight words in a multi-sensory, small group setting / 81.5 / I do not believe my child would benefit from a program that teaches phonics/decoding in addition to sight words in a multi-sensory, small group setting / 3.7 / I am not sure if my child would benefit from a program that teaches phonics/decoding in addition to sight words in a multi-sensory, small group setting / 14.8
Considering my child's school reading program as it is currently, I feel that my child will be able to independently read things he/she needs to read to function in life, hold a job, pay bills, etc / 60 / Considering my child's school reading program as it is currently, I do not feel that my child will be able to independently read things he/she needs to read to function in life, hold a job, pay bills, etc / 12 / Considering my child's school reading program as it is currently, I feel it's doubtful that my child will be able to independently read things he/she needs to read to function in life, hold a job, pay bills, etc / 28
I have approached my child's program to request a phonics program be used/introduced and was refused. / 26.1 / I have approached my child's program to request a phonics program be used/introduced and we now incorporate this into his/her education. / 21.7 / I have not approached my child's program to request a phonics program be used/introduced. / 52.2
I am satisfied with the reading instruction my child has received. / 57.7 / I am not satisfied with the reading instruction my child has received. / 42.3

Description of Stakeholders Group

The results of this research project will be provided to interested parties. Those interested parties include parents, therapists, educators, school boards and non-profit organizations. As this is a topic that lacks much exploration, the findings of this research will provide information that will drive instructional decision making. Parents can use this information when working with their child’s IEP team as evidence of successful research. Therapists, educators and school boards can use this research to assist with curriculum decisions for special populations. Finally, non-profit organizations can use the research aide in determining program funding and grant decisions. This is an area of much interest to adults that work with and teach children with Down syndrome.

Research Question and Goal Statement

Given that students receive consistent, 2 times weekly instruction with a phonics-based reading program, such as SLANT, a multi-sensory language program, will students improve their reading level significantly (50% increase in assessment scores) by the end of the 6 month research period?

My overall goal is to show that children with Down syndrome can increase their reading skills. The learner, once completing the program, will increase their reading scores of real and nonsense words by 50% from initial assessment data within a six month period. Since many children utilize sight word reading as their main form of reading. We must include nonsense words to ensure they are decoding and not simply reading words they know by memory. This goal will be attained by working with students utilizing a phonics based, multisensory approach to reading instruction. Through this increase in skills, students will be able to transfer this reading ability into their everyday life.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

As a source of reference, I am a special education teacher at Antioch Elementary School in Antioch, IL. I work with students in grades 2-5. In addition, I own a small corporation that focus on working with teachers and parents of children with disabilities. Specifically, I focus on working with children who have Down syndrome. I currently teach 6 students with varying severity of Down syndrome to read in a private setting. I work with each student in their home for 1 hour per week. Instruction is provided with a 1:1 ratio.

Most previous instruction and instructional strategies focused on teaching students with Down syndrome to read by utilizing sight word instruction and focusing on comprehension. In my capstone project, I want to heighten our expectations of children with Down syndrome by going beyond sight words and incorporating a phonics based approach to language instruction.

What becomes very clear during this research is that most agree that children with Down syndrome should initially be taught through a sight word, whole language approach to instruction and then gradually move toward teaching phonics and phonemic awareness. The purpose of this review is to ascertain the most reported method and chronology to teach reading instruction to children with Down syndrome and how to incorporate a phonics based approach to broaden the reading skills and abilities. Many children with Down syndrome exhibit short term memory and communication deficits. We must examine how these issues affect literacy and what we can do to overcome them. We must also delve into the importance phonemic awareness plays in reading and how to assist children with Down syndrome in solidifying those skills to improve their ability to break words into phonemes. Finally, we must examine how communication difficulties affect reading ability.

“Reading is a fundamental life skill.” (Up for Reading, 2007) Although, this may be obvious to most, we must remember and not limit children simply because of their disability. We must always remember that reading is a very critical and basic life skill. Down Syndrome Education International states, “Reading will help children with Down syndrome to develop vocabulary and grammar knowledge.” (Up for Reading, 2007) Children with Down syndrome, like neurotypical children, gain great practical knowledge from reading. The importance of reading cannot be diminished and must be encouraged as the literacy ability of all individuals, including those with Down syndrome, directly affects the quality of life and independence of an individual. It is crucial for the literacy success of a child that the educators move beyond sight words and toward a phonics based approach to reading. (Buckley, Bird, 1993) Since we, as educators, cannot possibly teach a child all of the words they may encounter via sight words, drills and repetition, we must empower them with decoding skills.