Mixed Ability Group Analysis

[The students were placed in small reading groups, which were based on their level of reading. The classroom teachers tracked the students’ language and literacy on forms they created on their own. This helped to keep the students working at their own level, however; this has created many different reading groups for the teacher to manage as the classroom varied a great deal in levels.]

The role of the reading specialist is to be able to teach all children to read, which requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction and that children who are struggling with reading receive additional instruction from professionals specifically prepared to teach them. Teaching all children to read also requires reading specialists in every school because the range of student achievement in classrooms, with the inclusion of children who have various physical, emotional, and educational needs, requires different educational models from those of the past. In order to provide these services, schools must have reading specialists who can provide expert instruction, assessment, and leadership for the reading program. Reading specialists are professionals with advanced preparation and experience in reading who have responsibility for the literacy performance of readers in general and struggling readers in particular. This includes early childhood, elementary, middle, secondary, and adult learners. Learners can be in public, private, and commercial schools, or in reading resource centers or clinics (Roles). This paper will explore what it means to be able to encourage and enhance instruction within content area learning and literacy competence, as well as identifying research initiatives, which have a profound impact upon teaching, and learning of reading and the language arts.

The researchers goal was to know if the effects of small-group reading interventions implemented positive behavior in support model, on elementary students that show any emotional and behavior disorders or that do not show any emotional and behavior disorders. The following are the research questions they addressed: (a) the differences in reading instruction in a general classroom for students at risk and to compare schools that combine behavior/reading risk. (b) differential effects with small-group instruction. (c) how do any of the observable differences translate to the outcome of students’ growth in reading.

Early reading success is the foundation of a student’s knowledge and self-esteem. The foundation also provides future opportunities for growth. Students must learn to read proficiently so that they are able to learn more in future grades, post-secondary schools, and the workforce. Beverly Tyner’s Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Beginning and Struggling Readers states “In the United States, which offers few career opportunities for the illiterate, teaching children to read proficiently is the most important single task in education.” (Tyner, 2009). Beverly Tyner created the Small-Group Differentiated Reading Model which incorporates research-based strategies for teaching beginning reading skills and skills

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it affects your class.

he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society:

Reading and writing is crucial for increasing achievement among people of all ethnicities. For many young kids, books are their primary source of learning how to read and write besides the parameter of the classroom. However, there is a significant decrease in the literacy rate found in African-American communities. There is a need for stronger literacy education for this particular group of the population. A huge problem associated with that can be attributed the failure of the public school system to effectively educate the youth. According to the 2009 NAEP data, only 33 percent of 4th graders and 32 percent of 8th graders in the U.S performed at or above proficiency in reading on national tests. These results are very discouraging, in the African-American community, but the results are even worse because only 16 percent of African American 4th graders and 14 percent of African American 8th graders performed at or above the grade proficiency level in 2009.

As the United States falls farther behind on education tests in math reading and science, there has been a push for a redesign of the education system. Of the 64 countries tested in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012, 19 other industrialized countries ranked ahead of the United States (United States, n.d.). Because of these results and the stagnating American education, parents, teachers, and the government are pushing even more standards for math, reading, and science even more. To try to resolve from the problem from its root means that there needs to be a change in how reading is taught. By improving the reading skills of students, it has the potential to promote higher success in other subjects like

The challenge that many students face upon entering first grade in a low social-economic status area is low literacy skills. The students represented in this developmental paper come from low income families whose parents were poorly educated, many illiterate. As a result, students would rarely read to at home, either due to the lack of literature in the home or the parents were non-readers and unable to read to or read with their child.

Differentiation is the key for these students. All students may be working on the same objective, but for this group, the assignment will be given in a different style to accommodate their learning. This will help ensure that they complete understand the material being taught. The student may just need the process or the product of the material to be different. The distinction between below – average readers and severely disable readers is an important one. Wherever we as educators draw the line separating the two groups, the idea is that instruction should vary depending on the severity of a child’s reading difficulty. Because fluency incorporates automatic word recognition, it is reflected in the narrow view of reading. However,

Researchers have found that 75 percent of students identified with reading problems in the third grade still struggle with reading in the ninth grade (Shaywitz, Escobar, Shaywitz, Fletcher, & Makuch, 1992). No wonder our diverse populations are not successful in school.

Literacy at the elementary level then becomes critical to all students in achieving academic success and reaching their goals. If literacy levels are not enhanced during the childhood years, it could possibly lead to problems later in adolescence and adult life. According to a research study conducted in 2009 on reading management programs, the study found that less attention was being made on reading programs (Hansen, Collins, & Warschauer, 2009). The purpose of this research study proposal is to demonstrate how a new and updated reading program can help enhance elementary students in their reading comprehension skills in order to achieve academic success into the next grade level by improving their cognitive abilities. The goal of the study is to test the efficiency of the current reading curriculum in elementary schools and compare them with a new reading curriculum by the use of two classrooms that will contain an experimental group and controlled group by randomly selecting elementary students at the 4th grade

Things they have acquired from friends, family and the environment they were brought up in. The contrast of academic growth between each child can be quite vast and teachers need to ensure they are aware that this difference exists and put in processes that allow for each child’s individual needs. Socio-economic status and the family environment are a major factor that can help or hinder the reading development of a child. Diversity in ethnic background, socio-economic class and language can be intentional or unintentional causes for disadvantage in learning for young children (Siraj-Blatchford & Clarke, 2004). This is where teachers are required to have knowledge of a child’s circumstances and access to certain resources so they can better understand the methods required for reading instruction. Children who lack the exposure to the English language at home will be disadvantaged when it comes to learning to read as opposed to language enriched children (Konza, 2010). This lack of phonological awareness can hinder the reading development of young children and therefore it is imperative that teachers can identify the lack of reading skills and intervene. Children develop rapidly in their early years from infancy to pre schooling and require parent or guardian interaction which can increase the likelihood of better equipped and successful readers (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). The National Institute

Many students around the United States have reading difficulties, which can be due to a variety of reason such as: low socioeconomic status, family history of learning disabilities, a neurological disorder, limited exposure, etc. Reading difficulties can lead to further problems with education and learning, therefore the struggles should be addressed and intervention techniques should be implemented promptly. The interventions need to be individualized for the student based on their needs in order to improve the student’s reading to the best of their abilities.