For adolescents who struggle to read and write, being chosen to read aloud in class can be a wrenching experience. If I thought the teacher was going to call on me to read, my heart would start pounding real hard. I kept saying to myself, "Don't call on me, don't call on me." It could be cold in the classroom, but I'd be sweating all over. Then if she called on me, I always came up with some good excuse to get out of reading, like, "I"ve got a headache," or "My eyes are bothering me and I can't see the words."
Thanks to a joint effort between the Orange County, Florida, schools and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, middle school students like this young man are improving their reading and writing skills in more than 120 classrooms. Recognizing that many students entering middle school could not read and write at even basic levels, administrators and teachers launched the Orange County Literacy Project. The project combines the benefits of computer technology, sound principles of literacy instruction, an accommodating schedule, and small class sizes to help students develop the skills and confidence they need to be successful in content area classes.
A New Approach to Literacy Instruction
For many Orange County students, the inability to read and write resulted in embarrassment, defiance, truancy—and failure. For these learners, common classroom activities simply compounded feelings of shame. One student recalls how he tried to be the last person to read because he hoped class would end before his turn came. Unfortunately, as he put it, "my last name began with an 'A' and so I was often picked first." Other adolescents who could not understand what they read reported skipping school because they did not consider it to be of much use to them.
Teachers and administrators realized they needed a new approach to literacy instruction to help growing numbers of young people with serious reading and writing difficulties. These learners, both native and non-native speakers of English, did not qualify for special education services. Many of the students had low self-esteem, poor school attendance, and serious discipline problems. In an ambitious response to these needs, three middle school classrooms piloted the Orange County Literacy Project during the 1994-95 school year. The program grew to 13 classes the following year, and it was implemented districtwide last year.
Although each school used slightly different approaches in the experimental program, all schools built their efforts on several key elements. First, for students identified as having serious reading and writing difficulties, schools allocated two-hour time blocks for daily literacy instruction. No more than 20 students were scheduled into a classroom during this block of time. Second, the teachers selected for these classes knew how to teach literacy and were committed to teaching students in the program. Third, teachers based their instruction on two complementary approaches to developing literacy: (1) The Peabody Learning Lab, a computer-based program in which a virtual tutor guides students through a series of skill-development activities in reading, spelling, and writing (CTGV 1994), and (2) the Literacy Workshop (Allen 1995), a method of teaching that encourages students in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Finally, each participating classroom was supplied with five computers capable of running the Learning Lab software, and all teachers participated in more than a week of professional development for the literacy project.
Peabody Learning Lab
In a central feature of the program, students participate in daily literacy instruction with the multimedia Peabody Learning Lab software. The Learning Lab uses video to provide a meaningful context for learning content and applying important literacy skills. The software is designed to improve the word recognition, reading comprehension, and spelling skills of middle-level students. Melvin, an animated tutor, leads learners through instructional activities in a virtual laboratory, and he supports them throughout the program.
As the middle schoolers work on the computer each day for 20-30 minutes, Melvin guides them through the reading lab, the word lab, and the spelling lab. Each time students enter the reading lab, they watch a segment of a video and then read a passage about it. The video gives students some background for their upcoming reading and provides a mental model of the text passage. After students view the video, Melvin instructs them to read a related text passage. Melvin provides individualized help on an as-needed basis. If they need help, students can ask Melvin to read the passage slowly (word by word) or fluently (sentence by sentence) to them. Or, if students attempt to read the passage themselves, they can get help from Melvin by clicking on individual words for the pronunciation or definition.
After reading the text passage several times, students move on to the word lab. The words presented in this lab are taken from the reading passage. Melvin asks students which words they can read without help. Melvin puts a short list of words on the board, and as quickly as possible, students click on the word that Melvin pronounces. The computer records accuracy and speed. In all three labs, the computer keeps track of individual assessment and performance data. When the assessment is complete, Melvin lists the words that the student needs to practice and begins a series of interactive exercises to help the student become fluent in decoding and recognizing these words.
Finally, students proceed to the spelling lab, where they spell words that were presented in the reading and word labs. Following a pretest, Melvin pronounces each word, uses it in a sentence, breaks it into parts, and then pronounces it again. Melvin then asks students to type the word. During each attempt at spelling the word, Melvin analyzes a student's spelling and, if incorrect, provides specific corrective feedback to the student. Students must correct their errors to continue. Following the initial instruction, learners do additional guided practice to develop spelling fluency. Students see a graph of their results after each session.
Once students have mastered the words from the original reading passage in the word and spelling labs, they engage in comprehension activities back in the reading lab. The first activity presents three passages similar to the one that had accompanied the video. Only one of the passages accurately describes the video segment. Students must read the passages and select the appropriate one. The last activity is a cloze exercise in which students must fill in missing words that have been deleted from the comprehension passage.
In addition to their work on the computer, students participate in other literacy activities. Janet Allen describes some of these instructional approaches, designed to motivate reluctant secondary students to become active readers and writers, in her book It's Never Too Late (1995). Allen contends that by the time students with reading and writing difficulties reach middle school, they are so used to meaningless exercises that they no longer have any interest in print.
Much of Allen's approach to reading instruction for middle school learners centers on literacy exploration, motivation, and self-esteem. She asserts that students must learn to love reading to become readers. The Orange County Literacy Project introduces students to many forms of literature, uses techniques including books-on-tape and guided reading, and encourages students to select their own reading.
Measures of Success
The data collected during the first two years of the pilot study included measures of reading achievement, overall school achievement, and student attitudes and behaviors. The average scores of the 376 students on the vocabulary and reading comprehension subtests of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test improved significantly over the course of the program. Students also made significant gains on the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory and the Test of Written Spelling. And their school attendance and grade point averages improved. The number of disciplinary referrals continued to grow, but close inspection of the records revealed that this trend was due to a few students with chronic misbehavior problems.
As pleased as we were by the statistical data, it was the comments of students and their families that led us to believe that the program should continue. We interviewed 24 participating students about their reading problems and their attitudes toward school. More than half of the students made comments like, "My reading and study habits have improved" and "I no longer fear or dislike reading." Many of the students addressed their feelings of avoidance and shame about their reading problems. For example, one boy said, "I don't have to avoid being called on anymore. I can work all the time without being criticized." Other students gave high marks to their teachers: "My teacher makes sure that each student learns words. She has high expectations for me."
The middle schoolers also discussed how the Peabody Learning Lab had helped them read and spell better. One young man wrote an entire page about his experience (see below). Other students commented on how the software had affected their self-esteem: "The computer corrects me without making me feel ashamed." "Students don't pick on me anymore." "I will succeed."
In our telephone interviews with the families of 19 participating students, many parents described improvements in the behavior and attitudes of their children. They indicated that their children read more, were happier about school, earned better grades, and did not get into as much trouble. Several families also reported that students had begun to read to their younger brothers and sisters.
How This Program Has Affected Me
I didn't know how to read. I said to myself, how can I do my work if I can't read? I was ashamed to ask for help.
I was getting all F on my report card. My mom was very disappointed at me. So I said, why come to school? And I missed half of the school year.
In 7 grade I started going to this program. I started to realizing that this program started helping me. So I came to school and doing my work. Then I knew my life was chinging. I could read better. Now I wasn't ashamed to read in my classes. My grades was A, B, and C. My mom was impress of how I chinged. Now am getting rewards in all my classes.
—as written by a 7th grade student in the Orange County Literacy Project
Critical Factors
One of the most serious problems in teaching reading to students from disadvantaged backgrounds is their lack of compatible prior knowledge and experience. Students without this rich base find it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to attach meaning to what they read. The Learning Lab supplied some of this experience through the videos displayed in the software. Because reading passages, word recognition practice, and spelling exercises were all based on a common frame of reference provided by the videos, students quickly found meaning in their reading.
Reduced class size was another important factor of our success. We are quick to point out, however, that smaller classes do not automatically lead to higher achievement. Our teachers knew how to take advantage of smaller class sizes by structuring learning activities that offered students the greatest amount of individual attention.
Vital to the success of the program was the belief that all students could make significant gains in reading and writing. This belief guided practice. First, classroom teachers—and Melvin—gave students individual attention and high-quality instruction. This instruction communicated to the middle schoolers that they were important and capable of improving their reading and writing skills. Teachers made frequent home contacts and encouraged families to initiate communication. Second, the administration supported the program by providing time for staff development, necessary software and computers, and reduced class sizes. Finally, staff from the school district and Vanderbilt University collaborated to design and carry out a program based on the effective use of technology and a solid foundation of literacy research.
Shame to Pride
We tend to underestimate the shame and embarrassment that older students feel about their reading and writing difficulties. Often, these feelings are masked by any number of discipline problems. The Orange County Literacy Project gave students the opportunity to improve their skills in a risk-free environment. Students knew that Melvin would not criticize or make fun of their responses. The combination of talented teaching and well-designed software helped students improve their skills and strengthen their fragile self-concepts. As one student put it, "I don't mind reading now because the computer doesn't embarrass me."
