No Miracle Cure: Selecting a Reading Curriculum
The What Works Clearinghouse has recently released the results of several studies of early elementary reading programs, giving some accolades and others heavy criticism. It comes as no surprise, however, that no one program was effective for teaching all reading students...
0 Comments Posted Thursday, September 06, 2007
Hopes of the “Harry Potter Effect”...Vaporized?
For decades, the amount of "quality reading" in which children engage has been of vast concern for parents and educators alike. The idea is that the more children read novels and quality literature, the better readers they become; the better prepared they are for college; and the better chance they have of succeeding in the world when they grow up...
0 Comments Posted Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sooner Is Better: When to Assess
Elementary school teachers in Vail, Colorado have got it right! According to an article in Vail Daily, this year elementary teachers spent the first two days of school administering a one-on-one reading assessment to all of their students.
0 Comments Posted Friday, August 31, 2007
The Myth about “Predictive” Measures
Measures like DIBELS, SRI, or MAPS are the result of schools and districts wanting to predict how their students will do on specific state standardized tests. Will scores go up this year? Will they go down? The companies that publish these tests focus much of their energy on studies that show how scores compare to a "normalized" population, as well as on potentially specific assessments.
1 Comments Posted Thursday, August 23, 2007
Are we teaching the “right stuff?”
Recent studies are showing us two facts. According to a recent study by the Center on Education Policy, math and reading are being taught MORE during the school day in 62% of America’s school districts, often at the expense of other subjects like science, social studies, and the arts. But progress in raising math and reading scores has actually decreased since the passing of No Child Left Behind instead of going up, according to a study published in the Educational Researcher, despite the increased “back-to-the-basics” emphasis. So if we’re teaching more reading and math, why are our students’ test scores not improving? Why are the gaps in achievement not narrowing? Perhaps we’re teaching the wrong things....
0 Comments Posted Monday, August 13, 2007
Myth: Teaching “test-taking skills” is the best way to raise test scores
Test prep can indeed give schools a short-term boost in state scores. But long-term sustained improvement of school or district wide student achievement can only be gained through understanding underlying reasons why students are not scoring well.
0 Comments Posted Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Myth: “Reading level” testing is effective for diagnosing reading problems
Reading-level testing is often used to place students within a reading series, usually for instructional purposes. While this might sound like diagnostic testing and a good idea, in reality, it is not.
0 Comments Posted Monday, July 30, 2007
Reading Software Takes a New Role in the Classroom
An article in Education Week, "Computer Software Helping Students' Reading," focuses on the benefits of computer-based educational programs as supplemental instruction inside the classroom and out.
0 Comments Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Algebra I Success Necessary for Higher Achievement
School districts all over the country are requiring more and more math classes for graduation, meaning that students will have to find success beyond the Algebra I level in order to graduate.
0 Comments Posted Monday, July 23, 2007
Myth: Benchmark assessments = good classroom diagnostics
Benchmark assessments measure student growth against a series of benchmarks established for a grade level.
1 Comments Posted Monday, July 16, 2007
Fluency Gone Wild!
Fluency is a hot topic in reading instruction these days, but what is fluency?
0 Comments Posted Monday, July 16, 2007