Better teachers, better students: Strengthening reading instruction for middle school

• In Event: Issues and opportunities in middle school education

Abstract

Middle school students in Morocco face significant difficulties in reading comprehension across subject areas, as evidenced by the international TIMSS and PISA exams. They are presumed to possess reading skills, despite the evidence showing divergent vocabularies and abilities to make inferences, draw comparisons, connect to other ideas, and synthesize main ideas in texts. Teachers tend to place the onus of poor reading comprehension on their students; even if willing to support remediation, teachers lack the skills to explicitly teach reading comprehension and its sub-skills in various content areas. The USAID-funded ITQANE reading pilot-- Enhanced Reading Program (ERP)--developed a promising approach to improve reading instruction for middle school teachers.

This presentation tells the story of ERP, focusing on the “features of effectiveness” as identified by educators involved in the program, as well as on an empirical investigation that aims at the identification of the program characteristics that are found to be most effective for improving middle school students’ reading skills. It also highlights the helpful factors and the challenges that affected the program implementation. ERP introduced structured reading interventions which embeds reading comprehension in disciplinary instruction. It worked with teachers on remedial interventions strengthen student overall reading skills and to incorporate reading extension strategies and activities in their lessons that build oral comprehension, writing and communication skills. It helped teachers develop the environmental supports (e.g. reading corners) that reinforced literacy. Lessons are drawn about program development and the introduction of ‘educational change’ in a developing and highly centralized school system.

Author

• Abdelkader Ezzaki, Creative Associates International