The Influence of Effective Classroom Literacy Lessons on Readers' Individual Differences

• In Event: Reconceptualizing Individual Differences in Reading

Abstract

In the past two decades we have learned that arguments over the specific curriculum frameworks developed for beginning reading instruction (the great debate battles) are far less important than the arguments we should be having about the expertise of teachers of beginning readers. A series of large-scale studies completed at several universities by different teams of researchers provide the evidence for this bold assertion (Conner, Morrison, et al, 2013; Foorman, Schatschneider, et al, 2006; Mathes, Denton, Fletcher, et al, 2005; McGill-Franzen, Allington, et al, 1999; Scanlon, Gelzheiser, Vellutino, et al, 2008; Taylor, Pearson, et al, 2005; Vellutino, Scanlon, et al, 1996).
Texts. The volume of reading young readers experience is an important aspect of reading development. There are two factors involved here. First is the sheer amount of reading practice students engage in. Second, and relatedly, is text difficulty. Students who read much text with higher levels of accuracy (98-99% or better) generate greater reading growth than students who the same amount of text but at lower levels of accuracy (Allington, et al, 2015; Ehri, et al, 2007).
Given that researchers have noted that little actual reading (6-14 minutes daily) occurs during reading lessons (Brenner & Hiebert, 2010; Gambrell, 1984), a teacher's ability to facilitate engagement with a wide variety of texts and to foster strategic selection habits among students is a critical factor in increasing opportunities to develop reading proficiency under any instructional regime.
Tasks. Applebee, Langer and Mullins (1988) noted that American children performed reasonably well on NAEP items using a multiple choice format but most failed to perform adequately when asked to summarize or interpret passages or when asked to explain or defend their choices on multiple choice items.
Curricular conversations that foster these skills have been rare in American classrooms (less than one minute per day in the typical classroom). Yet, evidence suggests that allowing students to engage each other after reading develops higher order comprehension proficiencies (Applebee, Langer, Nystrand & Gamoran, 2003; Murphy, et al, 2009; Nystrand, 2006; Nystrand, et al, 2003). Instead of fostering discussion during reading lessons American teachers follow the advice found in commercial reading materials (Dewitz, et al, 2009) and tend to provide low-level literal recall work during and after reading assignments.
Designing and implementing such tasks requires teachers to have expertise in two important areas:
1. Creating structured routines and scaffolds for productive conversations. Conversations about text often fall flat if students do not understand what they are reading or if teachers fail to create the structures and focus questions that generate engaging conversations (Kucan, Hapgood & Palincsar, 2011).
2. Ensuring students have access to texts they can read with accuracy and understanding. As mentioned above, high levels of accuracy support and develop comprehension, but they also provide students with the raw material they need to synthesize, make claims and cite evidence in conversation with one another.

Authors

• Richard L. Allington, The University of Tennessee

• Rachael Gabriel, University of Connecticut