Thanks to No Child Left Behind and a push for the buzz word RTI, many schools are looking for "researched based" materials to give teachers so that they can't screw things up. The fact of the matter is that the NUMBER ONE factor that affects student achievement is the EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TEACHER...NOT the basal the kids were reading or the program used for RTI. "Researched-based" does not always mean that the "program" works. Research is relative in and of itself. What is important is that your teaching matches what a VARIETY of research tells us is "best practice" and what is not. For example, Allington's research tells us that programs and basal readers that require a variety of students that have different needs and are reading at different levels are NOT considered best practice. Kids need to be reading 90 minutes a day (ACTUALLY READING!!!) in a book that they can read with 99% accuracy and 96% comprehension. Would a basal fit that description for every student in your class? Of course not. Research shows that students need to have a part in their learning and must take responsibility for their goal setting. Students need individualized instruction, not a program. Students need REAL AUTHENTIC strategies that they can use when they go to read at HOME...because isn't that the goal, after all? Do kids have basal readers or a bunch of leveled readers at home? No. They need to be taught explicit strategies that match their needs that teach them how to choose a text and how to comprehend it, read it accurately, fluently, as they expand their vocabulary with the goal that they will continue to grow as readers and be able to read my challenging texts.
With administrators under such tight scrutiny, we as teachers must have ammunition, if you will, to defend best practice structures like The Daily 5 and CAFE from being phased out and replaced by basal readers that could be taught by robots and people without education degrees. We have to DEFEND teachers! In a society that is building RUSH teacher certification programs and providing scripted curriculum to eliminate the teacher. Don't go down so easily. WE KNOW WHAT OUR STUDENTS NEED. They need TIME. They need STRATEGIES. They need GOALS. They need to grow to LOVE reading. Don't replace authenticity with structure and data.
So colleagues, I am asking for your help. PLEASE do your research and post your findings here...
"WHAT MAKES CAFE "RESEARCHED-BASED?"
If we can help each other to answer this question...we can team together to protect teachers and what we know to be best practice.
Thank you.
http://www.slideshare.net/OrlandoP/the-cafe-book
ReplyDeleteSummary:
-Emmet Betts 1946-Spoke on marching readers with appropriate text that they can read independently. (FLUENCY and "Just Right Books")
-Pressley 2006-The most effective classrooms have a distribution of whole-class, small-group, and side-by-side instruction.
http://www.the2sisters.com/q_and_a.html#q4
The sisters answer a question about basals
Q4: Balancing the basal and meaningful work for all children.
Question: I'm a fourth grade teacher who just loves your philosophy and your book. Although I would love to use your system, I don't know how comfortable I am going away from the basal. Do you have tips that would help me do both and still cut down a lot of the paperwork as well as keep parents happy?
Answer: Thanks so much for your message. We are glad you enjoyed our book!
We get many people asking the basal question. We know that basals are a wonderful resource, but are also aware that they are not the magic bullet, as they cannot meet the needs of each and every child in our class. That being said, we also understand that some districts and schools require the use of the basals.
We begin each year, whether using a basal or not, by doing a one-on-one assessment with each child in our class. We use DRA and/or IRI and running records along with a couple of other assessments.
Once the assessments are given, we are able to see the strengths and needs of each child and the level in which they read (If we have kids who are in 4th grade, yet read at a 2nd grade level, or the opposite end, read at a 6th grade level, then the 4th grade basal stories are not the best fit for them). We then put our children into like strategy groups, grouping them together based on their similar needs in terms of strategies used in reading.
Now, using the basal….We teach the skills presented in the basal as whole group focus lessons, as pertain to the needs of the class (Of course we know what they need because of their assessment results). For those children who need more extensive work with those skills included in the basal, we use the basal strategies during their guided groups. (You can refer to the form on page 14 of The Daily 5 to see how the guided groups and whole group focus lessons fit).
We also use the stories in the basal only with those children for whom it is the appropriate reading level. The wonderful thing about the basal skills is that they can be taught with ANY story, not just those found in a basal reader. So if you have kids reading below level and they cannot read the basal story, you can still teach the skills highlighted in the basal- just pull books at their good fit level!
This is a very brief answer to a big question! We are hoping that it can give you a bit of a different look at using the basal as a resource and letting your philosophy drive your instruction! Hope this helps.
Richard Allington's website: teachersread.net has a list of books and also papers and articles that you can download with his research.
ReplyDeleteRTI From All Sides by Mary Howard is really really good.
I'm also looking at Resisting Reading Madates: How to Triumph With the Truth by Elain M. Garan.
It is from 2002 but addresses NCLB specifics.
Thank you Daryl for your passion. We need you.