"Researched Based"-Why CAFE works

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.